Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister tell me if he has been in consultation with the First Nations organizations, the Inuvialuit, the Gwich'in, people in the Sahtu, the other claimant groups and also the Dene Nation or the Metis Association on this matter? Because it does have a major effect on First Nations' hunting rights.
Debates of June 21st, 2000
This is page numbers 27 - 64 of the Hansard for the 14th Assembly, 3rd 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 aboriginal.
Topics
Supplementary To Question 21-14(3): Appeal Of The Federal Firearms Supreme Court Decision
Question 21-14(3): Appeal Of The Federal Firearms Supreme Court Decision
Revert To Item 6: Oral Questions
Page 52
Supplementary To Question 21-14(3): Appeal Of The Federal Firearms Supreme Court Decision
Question 21-14(3): Appeal Of The Federal Firearms Supreme Court Decision
Revert To Item 6: Oral Questions
Page 52
Further Return To Question 21-14(3): Appeal Of The Federal Firearms Supreme Court Decision
Question 21-14(3): Appeal Of The Federal Firearms Supreme Court Decision
Revert To Item 6: Oral Questions
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Jim Antoine Nahendeh
Thank you. I have met and talked briefly on the telephone with some of the leaders. I have not consulted with all of them yet. I met with Bill Erasmus, the national chief of the Dene Nation, on this particular case. There is no information that I gather from these brief initial contacts that any of these groups are looking at taking any intervention action at this point in time. This court decision is very recent. Perhaps something will evolve in the next little while. One of the options that we have to consider is whether we support any intervention action by any of the groups that may come forward.
Like I said earlier, we are reviewing this decision and we will be coming out with a decision very soon. Thank you.
Further Return To Question 21-14(3): Appeal Of The Federal Firearms Supreme Court Decision
Question 21-14(3): Appeal Of The Federal Firearms Supreme Court Decision
Revert To Item 6: Oral Questions
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Supplementary To Question 21-14(3): Appeal Of The Federal Firearms Supreme Court Decision
Question 21-14(3): Appeal Of The Federal Firearms Supreme Court Decision
Revert To Item 6: Oral Questions
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David Krutko Mackenzie Delta
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe that time is critical. The legislation states you must have a license by January 1st in order to acquire ammunition. It is important that we do not start seeing our citizens being branded as criminals because they do not understand something or they have not had enough time to fill out the applications. If you look at the application, it is complicated and you pretty well have to be a lawyer to understand it. How soon can the Minister get back to the House to inform us on what progress is being made in this area?
Supplementary To Question 21-14(3): Appeal Of The Federal Firearms Supreme Court Decision
Question 21-14(3): Appeal Of The Federal Firearms Supreme Court Decision
Revert To Item 6: Oral Questions
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The Speaker Tony Whitford
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The Minister responsible for Justice, Minister Antoine.
Further Return To Question 21-14(3): Appeal Of The Federal Firearms Supreme Court Decision
Question 21-14(3): Appeal Of The Federal Firearms Supreme Court Decision
Revert To Item 6: Oral Questions
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Jim Antoine Nahendeh
Thank you. As a government, we are going to be reviewing this. We understand that while this is a federal legislation, some of the other jurisdictions we have checked with are not going to be administering this legislation.
I think we are going to leave it up to the federal government at this point in time. I understand that it is turning out to be a very costly venture. It is a law now, so our people in the North have to comply by it. There are some really tight timeframes we are looking at. From the information that I have, the chief firearms officer from the Northwest Territories is in the process of hiring some people who will travel throughout the Northwest Territories over the next few months to help people understand the law and to fill out the forms correctly. These registrations are needed to be done on a timely basis. We would like to encourage that.
In discussion with the national chief of the Dene Nation, maybe one way of doing it is if different chiefs and band councils, different Metis locals get involved at this level. So that the people who do not understand English, who do not know how to read or write, who use rifles as a tool to put food on the table, will be taken care of as soon as possible through the local organizations. Thank you.
Further Return To Question 21-14(3): Appeal Of The Federal Firearms Supreme Court Decision
Question 21-14(3): Appeal Of The Federal Firearms Supreme Court Decision
Revert To Item 6: Oral Questions
Page 53
Supplementary To Question 21-14(3): Appeal Of The Federal Firearms Supreme Court Decision
Question 21-14(3): Appeal Of The Federal Firearms Supreme Court Decision
Revert To Item 6: Oral Questions
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David Krutko Mackenzie Delta
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Since these rights flow from treaties and modern treaties and also in regards to treaty obligations, where ammunition shells and what not are given on an annual basis, have you looked at the aboriginal aspect of this legislation to see how it could interfere with those rights and how you can try to find ways of using that if we do go forward to a court case? Are you looking at that also?
Supplementary To Question 21-14(3): Appeal Of The Federal Firearms Supreme Court Decision
Question 21-14(3): Appeal Of The Federal Firearms Supreme Court Decision
Revert To Item 6: Oral Questions
Page 53
Further Return To Question 21-14(3): Appeal Of The Federal Firearms Supreme Court Decision
Question 21-14(3): Appeal Of The Federal Firearms Supreme Court Decision
Revert To Item 6: Oral Questions
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Jim Antoine Nahendeh
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My understanding of this legislation is that anybody who has a rifle has to register. As of January 1st, you can no longer buy ammunition for rifles unless you have a registration number. I think time is of the essence to try and get these registrations in place.
Furthermore, according to the treaties, Treaty 8 and Treaty 11 in the Northwest Territories, part of the original treaty is that there are certain provisions that are given out every year as part of the treaty agreement of nets and shells. This new legislation is certainly going to be in contravention of the original treaty.
As I said earlier, the decision of the Supreme Court did not venture into the area of deciding whether treaty and aboriginal rights questions were dealt with. I am certain that there are going to be other interventions, other than the NTI. We will be making a decision on how we are going to get involved at this level. Certainly we are still reviewing the decision to see what kind of implication it has in regards to treaty agreements, of Treaty 8 and Treaty 11. Thank you.
Further Return To Question 21-14(3): Appeal Of The Federal Firearms Supreme Court Decision
Question 21-14(3): Appeal Of The Federal Firearms Supreme Court Decision
Revert To Item 6: Oral Questions
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The Speaker Tony Whitford
Thank you, Mr. Antoine. Item 6, oral questions. The Member for Yellowknife South, Mr. Bell.
Question 22-14(3): Tourism Strategy
Revert To Item 6: Oral Questions
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Brendan Bell Yellowknife South
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Finance. I was concerned about his response to Mr. Braden's question. I think our constituents who are going to be upset with this possible hotel tax would possibly be even more reassured if they thought this was part of a larger master plan. If there was a strategy in place, and from this strategy a hotel tax had come down. However, we hear that the tax is coming first and not the other way around.
I did not hear Mr. Handley roll out a non-renewable resource tax before rolling out his strategy. I am wondering if he can explain again why he feels a tax is important, before we decide what we are going to do with the money. Thank you.
Question 22-14(3): Tourism Strategy
Revert To Item 6: Oral Questions
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The Speaker Tony Whitford
Thank you, Mr. Bell. The honourable Minister responsible for Finance, Mr. Handley.
Return To Question 22-14(3): Tourism Strategy
Question 22-14(3): Tourism Strategy
Revert To Item 6: Oral Questions
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Joe Handley Weledeh
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The two have to go together, as I mentioned earlier, the strategy and the source of revenue go together if we want to have any action plan put in place. The tax is not scheduled to go into effect until April 1st. In the meantime, we will be completing the strategy. I assure you that we will have a strategy in place.
In the meantime, we will also do consultation. We will prepare legislation later in this Session in the fall. I think there is a lot of time. This is not something that is being put on people immediately. There is a lot of time for us to work it all together.
I assure you that the two, the strategy and tax, the source of revenue, have to go together. Thank you.
Return To Question 22-14(3): Tourism Strategy
Question 22-14(3): Tourism Strategy
Revert To Item 6: Oral Questions
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Supplementary To Question 22-14(3): Tourism Strategy
Question 22-14(3): Tourism Strategy
Revert To Item 6: Oral Questions
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Brendan Bell Yellowknife South
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am wondering about the money that we currently spend on tourism, meagre as it might be. Is there some sort of strategy for the money we are currently spending and how we spend it? Thank you.
Supplementary To Question 22-14(3): Tourism Strategy
Question 22-14(3): Tourism Strategy
Revert To Item 6: Oral Questions
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The Speaker Tony Whitford
Thank you, Mr. Bell. The honourable Minister responsible for Finance, Mr. Handley.
Further Return To Question 22-14(3): Tourism Strategy
Question 22-14(3): Tourism Strategy
Revert To Item 6: Oral Questions
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Further Return To Question 22-14(3): Tourism Strategy
Question 22-14(3): Tourism Strategy
Revert To Item 6: Oral Questions
Page 53
Supplementary To Question 22-14(3): Tourism Strategy
Question 22-14(3): Tourism Strategy
Revert To Item 6: Oral Questions
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Brendan Bell Yellowknife South
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Could the Minister tell us what the budget for tourism and marketing is this year?
Supplementary To Question 22-14(3): Tourism Strategy
Question 22-14(3): Tourism Strategy
Revert To Item 6: Oral Questions
Page 53
The Speaker Tony Whitford
Thank you, Mr. Bell. The honourable Minister responsible for Finance, Mr. Handley.
Further Return To Question 22-14(3): Tourism Strategy
Question 22-14(3): Tourism Strategy
Revert To Item 6: Oral Questions
Page 53
Joe Handley Weledeh
Mr. Speaker, it is difficult to tell you exactly what the budget is for marketing. We do not break the tourism dollars up that way. The biggest chunk, or piece, of the tourism dollars is given as a grant to the Northwest Territories Tourism Association. To a large extent, they determine how much they are going to spend on the advertising.
We also spend some money within the department on advertising, but I cannot tell the Member how much that totals exactly. Thank you.
Further Return To Question 22-14(3): Tourism Strategy
Question 22-14(3): Tourism Strategy
Revert To Item 6: Oral Questions
Page 54
Supplementary To Question 22-14(3): Tourism Strategy
Question 22-14(3): Tourism Strategy
Revert To Item 6: Oral Questions
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Brendan Bell Yellowknife South
I am wondering if the Minister could get that information for the House? Can he tell us what the grant is and come back to us and sort of summarize the amount of money that is currently spent on tourism? Thank you.