At the public hearing in Hay River, Don Fergusson, (vice-president of the NWT Hotel Association) told the committee:
"The Northwest Territories Arctic Tourism apparently have a lot of people that are supporting them, but I have not talked to them, I do not know who they are. In this region, I know for sure that the majority of the lodge owners are against this proposal and these are the ones that I understand that are supposed to be benefiting from this tax. They do not want it. The hotels do not want it either. I really think our MLAs should listen to this." (Committee transcript, p.47)
John Pollard, a former Member of the Legislative Assembly appeared before the committee representing his wife Ellen, owner and operator of the Brabant Fishing Lodge on the Mackenzie River. Mr. Pollard, like many of the established hotel and/or lodge operators, told the committee:
"...we do not belong to any organization in the Northwest Territories, any tourist establishment, organization, Northwest Territories Arctic Tourism or whatever they are called and we have not been contacted, to my knowledge, by any of those organizations to talk about any kind of tourism strategy. We are a premier lodge in the Northwest Territories and, as I say, we do business around the world. So, I would have thought that if somebody is doing something they might have contacted us and said, "Hey, look, we are doing something. Are you interested?" (Committee transcript, p.52 )
Jim Peterson, representing Peterson's Point Lake Lodge, appeared before the committee. Mr. Peterson is also the president of the Barren-Ground Caribou Outfitters Association, which has a membership of 11 outfitters. As an active member of the Northwest Territories Arctic Tourism Association, Mr. Peterson told the committee that he had only very qualified support for the hotel room tax. When urged by the committee to clarify his position, Mr. Peterson stated:
"We want to promote our industry; however, we do not want a tax. It is as simple as that. We do not. However, what alternatives do we have? What alternatives do we have as an industry?" (Committee transcript, p.14)
Mr. Peterson gave the committee a long list of amendments and possible funding alternatives which the Minister of Finance had told him could be considered.