Mr. Speaker, I guess if I start with the Baffin, that is where much of the fish is being sold out of, Arctic char and turbot. That fishery is becoming a major industry for Pangnirtung and some of the benefits overflow into Iqaluit as well. In the south Baffin, the big thing that is taking off there, Mr. Speaker, is tourism. There are many people who are coming to the two parks there. Although one, Kitannilik, is not even built yet, people were there last year and they are coming in quite sizeable numbers again this year. Just recently, there was an announcement that will affect all of the Arctic, from Baffin all the way across to the Kitikmeot. The Blythe and Co. will be bringing cruise ships up in those areas this year. It looks like it is going to be successful. We could look for more of those visits from offshore dollars to the communities along the Arctic coast.
Mr. Speaker, in the Keewatin, the decentralization aspect which I referred to, has really done a great deal for Rankin Inlet, helping develop their fishery as well and their new fish plant. Baker Lake's arts and crafts centre is also contributing. All of those communities will be sending fish into Rankin Inlet for processing. They will also be harvesting caribou this year and reselling into the local market. The relocation of the resupply point, which is now Churchill into Rankin Inlet, is being looked at. Rankin Inlet is looking at a health centre there which would handle many of the cases that are presently going to Winnipeg, which will keep more of the dollars in the Northwest Territories. Tourism is not as strong in the Keewatin, but it is not bad either, Mr. Speaker. We will keep working with those people to get more visitors up into the area.
When we get into the South Slave region, we are actively pursuing the opening of the Fort Resolution sawmill again. Lumber prices are extremely high this year. We are also looking at receiving lumber from Fort Providence. Fort Providence has expressed an interest to us. That would create some jobs for local people in the area. We would hopefully be exporting some of that lumber out of the Northwest Territories to increase our exports.
In Fort Smith we are interested in tourism, but I think one of the things which must be addressed is the likelihood of a road south. The Department of Transportation recently attended a meeting in Fort McMurray. There has been all kinds of suggestions from Fort Smith about a road, linking it to Alberta. Some people say it will let more dollars out, but in the long-term, we at Economic Development and Tourism believe it will be beneficial for the town of Fort Smith, and that more dollars will come in than go out. I am interested in putting a greenhouse into Fort Smith. I have had recent discussions with some people from Fort Smith. I think it has the potential to become a place where we can grow green vegetables, lettuce, et cetera, and sell it into this particular area.
Mr. Speaker, when you move across to the Deh Cho, in that area the Inuvialuit petroleum corporation and the Dene reserve in Hay River are actively looking at participation in the Cameron Hills project, and being participants in the ownership of the company. This is very exciting because it is a major development.
The community of Fort Simpson is giving us a great deal of cooperation as far as decentralization is concerned. I would say that in the South Slave, decentralization also affects Fort Smith, Hay River and Fort Simpson. Fort Simpson and also the Deh Cho Tribal Council, have recently had talks to see about extending the gas pipeline from the Pointed Mountain gas wells into the Deh Cho region. The Deh Cho, in our opinion, has good potential for lumber. There will be a test cut this year, Mr. Speaker. It also has excellent potential for gas in that particular area.
Mr. Speaker, we have run into a snag with the tanker base going into Fort Smith. It came up as a result of us looking at a long-term plan about how we intend to fight fires in the Northwest Territories. That came about when we thought about how can we get more dollars into the hands of northerners, and are we fighting fires properly. Mr. Speaker, if I am going on too long you can stop me. Obviously, you will. How we can fight fires more effectively in the Northwest Territories is another way to get northerners jobs because the more people we hire up here, the better it is for us.
So, we are still committed to putting that tanker base in Fort Smith. We just do not know the dimensions yet, what its capabilities need to be and Renewable Resources are conducting a study for us in this regard.
Mr. Speaker, in the Delta, they are already looking at a tannery. Mr. Zoe has an experimental project going on in his communities with the tanning of hides. If we can correct the problem of the tanning, then we may be able to do some tanning in the Northwest Territories and stop people having to ship hides out. There has been some activity in this area and this will be the next challenge for us in that renewable resource area, our ability to tan in the Northwest Territories.
Mr. Speaker, here and there, we are trying to build on the strengths of communities. We are trying to build on the resources they have around them. I did not mean to leave anyone out before, but I was going on at some considerable length, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.