Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just want to comment on what the witness was saying in her statement. I appreciate where the witness is coming from on this point. I do think that a healthy tension between elected bodies, whether they be school boards or Members or municipal governments, perhaps having a different opinion on how policies are implemented or rolling out, I think that is not confusing the issues. I think what was confusing the issue was who is paying for what? The role of the consultants' report, the role of the standing committee, how much information was being shared, whether the...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Would this, the corporate management, be an activity to start to have a discussion around communications issues within the department? Thank you

Mr. Speaker, thank you, and a thank you to the Minister for that commitment. I just note that there has been a lot of discussion about this from the new federal government. Even His Holiness Pope Francis has made a very clear commitment to the rights of Indigenous peoples, so I wonder if the Minister then can give us some assurance that these plans will be in place by midterm? Thank you.

Thank you to the Minister for that clarification. Let's get back to land use planning. As it is not directly related to a settled agreement, what can the Minister do outside the Deh Cho process to move this file along, apart from assuring me that an ADM is on top of it? Is there any concrete policy change and political leadership he can apply to the file to settle this 10year, this decadelong, lapse of approving the plan?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker earlier today I spoke about the Premier's commitments to settling land claims by the end of this Assembly. The direct quote is, "Let's get these land claims completed, all of them, in the life of the 18th Assembly." I would like to ask the Premier today if we are on track to do that and if these claims will be settled by the end of the 18th Assembly? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman and thank you to the Minister for that. However, I am a bit disappointed that that is the only concrete thing we can look at. Surely, there must be more. I am a bit beside myself that we are doing nothing new in what we are offering to develop this industry. Does the Minister agree with that assessment of this status quo as terms of support to the industry? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think one of the most important things that we can do for future generations is invest in the foundations of a strong and stable economy that can withstand the often tumultuous boom-and-bust cycle that our resource-driven industries so often leave us in. We want to diversify our economy. We want to reinvest in mining so we can use the benefits of that to fuel that diversification, to build a knowledge economy, to fund critical infrastructure. The one thing holding all of these objectives back, Mr. Speaker, are land claims or, as they should be known, land...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I look forward to the detailed information on that tourism destination marketing spending. With that, I will conclude my questions. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. That decrease was from last year to this year. However, in the 2015-16 actuals, also listed on page 206, we see almost a million-dollar decrease to the NTGS. What explains that sharp loss in available funding? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to the Minister for that clarification. How much contribution funding do we provide specifically for the purpose of destination marketing to NWT tourism and through other sources as well? How much are we spending on destination marketing? Thank you.