Mr. Nitah, your time for your Member's statement has expired.

Thank you. The honourable Member is seeking unanimous consent to conclude his statement. Are there any nays? There are no nays. Mr. Nitah, you may conclude.

Thank you, Mr. Nitah. I think I prefer the solar wall over the hairy dog. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for North Slave, Mr. Lafferty.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This being Friday, I would like to speak on something half-seriously and maybe with a personal touch. I would like to speak on the burgeoning aurora tourism industry in Yellowknife.

Mr. Speaker, I had the honour of taking part in a dinner hosting 14 Koreans who made a two-day trip to Yellowknife to learn more about the magic of aurora a couple of weeks ago. The group was made up of travel writers and photographers of three major national newspapers in Korea, whose combined subscription makes up almost 60 million people in Korea in newspaper and electronic media. Also in the group were major travel operators based in Korea, as well as an employee of the Canada Tourism Commission and Air Canada, based in Korea.

Even though I was there as a Yellowknife MLA, it was personally a very moving and emotional occasion for me. Of course, I gave this great speech on how when my family moved here from Korea to Yellowknife in 1978, no one in Korea knew where Yellowknife was and there was not a lot of contact from Yellowknife with that part of the world. The speech was very moving. It was in English and it brought tears to the mayor's wife, except that I realized only about two people in the crowd understood English enough to hear my very moving story. I repeated my speech in Korean.

I think the question they had was how I ended up in this part of the world and how was I able to get elected to an office when there were no other Koreans in the city.

Anyway, I ran into them again the next day and had dinner with them. They were very anxious to catch the aurora because they only had two days here. They had packed all of their suitcases and they were going to stay out every single second until they got on the plane so they could catch the aurora.

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to report that I have heard from them and they did indeed catch the aurora. They wrote glorious reports in their national newspaper and on the web, although I cannot read Korean, because my computer is not able to do it.

Ms. Lee, your time for your Member's statement has expired.

Mr. Speaker, may I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement?

Thank you. The honourable Member is seeking unanimous consent to conclude her statement. Are there any nays? There are no nays. Ms. Lee, you may conclude.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, colleagues. Mr. Speaker, I would just like to advise you that there is now a special club in Korea called the Aurora Canada Club. The criteria for this club is it is only for those who have seen the aurora in Canada. Right now, the membership is 14, and they have asked me to join that club as an honorary member. I understand that these tourism operators were impressed enough that they are organizing it to start the industry there.

I would also like to thank Raven Tours for hosting this gathering. I would also like to inform you that I have had time to visit Aurora Village and other places that cater to the aurora industry, just so I am not mentioning one group only. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am pleased today to speak about the economic contribution of one sector of the tourism industry, and that is outfitters who conduct barrenland hunts for visitors to the Northwest Territories.

Members will have received a covering letter and report from Jim Peterson, president of the Northwest Territories Barren-Ground Caribou Outfitters Association just recently, Mr. Speaker. I would like to highlight a few comments from his correspondence and the report entitled Economic Benefits of Outfitted Hunts for Barren-Ground Caribou in the NWT, produced by the Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development.

Big game outfitting is a growing business sector that creates jobs, earns foreign currency and contributes to the overall health of the Northwest Territories. This new study indicates that since the barren-ground outfitting industry was created in 1982, it has grown from five operators to 11 today.

In 1993, Mr. Speaker, the industry generated $1.92 million. Today, it has generated an estimated $3.13 million in 1999. Members provided hunts for 595 non-resident hunters and a harvest of 921 caribou. On this basis, Mr. Speaker, each caribou allocated to outfitting was worth $3,400 to the Northwest Territories GDP and each hunter contributed $5,300 to our economy.

Other significant benefits include some 880 weeks of employment, half of which accrues to communities outside of Yellowknife. As well, 57 percent of the meat goes to Northwest Territories communities.

Mr. Speaker, I am encouraged and optimistic with the successful steps being made toward the implementation of the Dogrib self-government agreements. There have been some issues in the past, Mr. Speaker, in terms of resolving the interests of the tourism operators, including the barren-ground caribou outfitters in this region. I understand that progress is being made through improved consultation, communication and trust between the parties, Mr. Speaker. I look forward to a satisfactory resolution of the issue. It is incumbent upon this government to make sure it takes forth its responsibility to recognize the interests of the broad public in negotiations. I think this is an example where progress is being made. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Braden . Item 3, Members' statements. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Mr. Dent.

Merci, Mr. Dent. Bienvenue. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, Mr. Allen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This morning I would like to recognize two important people who are going to be participating in the Youth Exploration Program: Dianna Beck, the youth coordinator for the Territorial Youth Association; and also from the corporate sponsor, Patrina McDaniel, who is the marketing sales analyst from Canadian North. Welcome. Also, two members to their left is Mr. Stanley Keevik and also Carol Ovayuak from our region in the Mackenzie Delta. Welcome to the gallery. Thank you.

-- Applause

Thank you, Minister Allen. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is always a pleasure to recognize constituents of the riding of Great Slave and also people who represent the media and carry the message out to the people. I would like to recognize Mr. Lee Selleck. Thank you.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Nitah.

Mahsi, Mr. Nitah. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Hay River North, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, I would like to recognize my constituency assistant, Deborah Pottle, in the gallery. I want to thank her for coming over this week to help me get through the constant flow of paper that goes through during session week. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause