Thank you very much, Mr. Whitford. We are on general comments. Are there any further general comments?
Debates of Feb. 27th, 1995
This is page numbers 309 - 336 of the Hansard for the 12th Assembly, 7th Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was development.
Topics
Committee Motion 30-12(7): To Adopt Recommendation 7, Carried
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 332
The Chair John Ningark
Committee Motion 30-12(7): To Adopt Recommendation 7, Carried
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 332
An Hon. Member
Line by line.
Committee Motion 30-12(7): To Adopt Recommendation 7, Carried
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 332
The Chair John Ningark
Shall we go line by line?
Committee Motion 30-12(7): To Adopt Recommendation 7, Carried
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 332
Some Hon. Members
Agreed.
---Agreed
Line By Line
Directorate
Committee Motion 30-12(7): To Adopt Recommendation 7, Carried
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 332
The Chair John Ningark
Okay. We are on page 14-12, directorate, Department of Economic Development and Tourism. Operations and maintenance. Mr. Dent.
Committee Motion 30-12(7): To Adopt Recommendation 7, Carried
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 332
Charles Dent Yellowknife Frame Lake
Mr. Chairman, before we get to page 14-12, I wonder if I might ask the Minister questions about the definitive objectives. If I may, I would like to start on page 14-7.
Committee Motion 30-12(7): To Adopt Recommendation 7, Carried
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 332
The Chair John Ningark
Thank you. Does the committee agree that we go back to 14-7, definitive objectives?
Committee Motion 30-12(7): To Adopt Recommendation 7, Carried
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 332
Some Hon. Members
Agreed.
---Agreed
Committee Motion 30-12(7): To Adopt Recommendation 7, Carried
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 332
The Chair John Ningark
Thank you. Mr. Dent.
Definitive Objectives
Committee Motion 30-12(7): To Adopt Recommendation 7, Carried
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 332
Charles Dent Yellowknife Frame Lake
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, this Minister is noted for brevity, except for today in his opening remarks and, typically, one who in the past has said nasty things about obfuscation and bureaucratize when it comes to speaking about things. Therefore, I just wonder if I can get the Minister to explain something that really stands out in the definitive objectives to me as being incomprehensible bureaucratize. Under the definitive objectives for corporate and technical services, what exactly does "Implement discrete programming for quality control in the arts and crafts industry," mean?
Committee Motion 30-12(7): To Adopt Recommendation 7, Carried
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 332
The Chair John Ningark
Mr. Minister.
Committee Motion 30-12(7): To Adopt Recommendation 7, Carried
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 332
John Todd Keewatin Central
I don't know. I'll ask my deputy minister. I'll put him on the spot. Is it Friday? I don't know, Mr. Chairman, just stand by and I'll check with my illustrious compadre, Mr. Bailey.
Committee Motion 30-12(7): To Adopt Recommendation 7, Carried
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 332
The Chair John Ningark
Mr. Minister.
Committee Motion 30-12(7): To Adopt Recommendation 7, Carried
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 332
John Todd Keewatin Central
I understand, Mr. Chairman, that this is a typographical error. Thank you.
Committee Motion 30-12(7): To Adopt Recommendation 7, Carried
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 332
The Chair John Ningark
Thank you. Mr. Dent.
Committee Motion 30-12(7): To Adopt Recommendation 7, Carried
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 332
Charles Dent Yellowknife Frame Lake
Mr. Chairman, I was wondering, since this department is going to have to come back as a result of the motion we passed earlier today, perhaps we could ask the Minister to provide us with some explanation of exactly what this means, at the time he appears before us to conclude the departmental budget.
Committee Motion 30-12(7): To Adopt Recommendation 7, Carried
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 332
The Chair John Ningark
Thank you. Mr. Minister, go ahead.
Committee Motion 30-12(7): To Adopt Recommendation 7, Carried
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 332
John Todd Keewatin Central
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. There is nothing that would satisfy me more than to explain this situation and I would only be too happy when we come back to discuss the zone money that Mr. Dent has such a problem with. Thank you.
Committee Motion 30-12(7): To Adopt Recommendation 7, Carried
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 332
The Chair John Ningark
Thank you very much. Mr. Dent.
Committee Motion 30-12(7): To Adopt Recommendation 7, Carried
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 332
Charles Dent Yellowknife Frame Lake
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'm not sure that tourism zone funding was solely my problem. I would point out that it was a committee motion, passed by a majority of Members in this House, just for the record since the Minister seemed to make me the heavy in this one. I have one other question about the definitive objectives under tourism development and marketing. I know the Minister touched upon this in his opening comments and it reads: "Assess the need and feasibility for a major tourism destination awareness campaign for electronic and print media."
Just so the Minister understands, I fully support the evaluation of how we spend our money, where we spend it and then making decisions based on that. What I would like to get is a bit more detail than what he has given us already on exactly how this is to be undertaken. For instance, have we hired an outside agency to conduct the evaluation? I would just like some details on how we're planning to pursue this.
Committee Motion 30-12(7): To Adopt Recommendation 7, Carried
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 332
The Chair John Ningark
Thank you. Mr. Minister.
Committee Motion 30-12(7): To Adopt Recommendation 7, Carried
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 333
John Todd Keewatin Central
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is something that I've driven myself. I think there is a need to evaluate, as Mr. Dent says, where we are spending our money. We've been unable, up until recently, to even determine what the return on investments is and we spend $1 million a year on most of this. We are doing some of this internally. We are also getting some information from Tourism Canada. We alluded to that, I believe, in SCOF hearings where we said we were able to buy a whole bunch of information about where the traffic flows are, what the impact is of advertising, and what the impact is of TV, for a total of about $5,000.
Really, there is no specific consultant hired to do this work. We are trying to do it with a combination of in-house work and externally seeking advice and details from organizations like Tourism Canada and Manitoba and Alberta tourism people. I think this has been badly needed for a long, long time. Hopefully, we'll be able to come forward with a fairly comprehensive position. I will get back to what I said earlier. In my opinion, this is a role for the private sector. This is for those who are most directly affected: the operators. My personal preference would be, before the next election, to see this money and responsibility in the hands of the zone associations.
That's really what I want to see. But, it is incumbent upon us to provide those associations, should it come about, with the best advice possible and that's what we're endeavouring to do at this time. Thank you.
Committee Motion 30-12(7): To Adopt Recommendation 7, Carried
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 333
The Chair John Ningark
Thank you. Mr. Dent.
Committee Motion 30-12(7): To Adopt Recommendation 7, Carried
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 333
Charles Dent Yellowknife Frame Lake
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Does the Minister mean before June or October when he says before the next election?
---Laughter
Just kidding. Seriously, Mr. Chairman, I think it's important that this evaluation take place. The question is, will the Minister share the results with all the MLAs so it is not just an internal document but so there will be broad understanding of the reasoning behind the decisions?
Committee Motion 30-12(7): To Adopt Recommendation 7, Carried
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 333
The Chair John Ningark
Thank you. Mr. Minister, do you mean October 15th at midnight? Mr. Minister.