Mahsi, Madam Chair. Bill 11, Tourism Act. The Standing Committee on Governance and Economic Development met on September 5th, 2006, and October 16th, 2006, to review Bill 11, Tourism Act for the Northwest Territories.
The committee had a brief presentation from Ms. Robin Wotherspoon, president of the NWT Tourism Association.
The committee is pleased with the new simplified process of obtaining a tourism licence in the Northwest Territories. The existing tourist establishment licence and travel and tourism outfitter licence will be replaced with a single tourism operator licence. A new licence will only be required by operators who are running guided commercial tours and activities.
The committee was also pleased to hear the Minister state that where the licence activity does not change in terms of the payment process, licences could be automatically renewed annually.
The committee would also like to see the licence renewal process extended to three to five years, instead of the current annual renewal. As Ms. Wotherspoon stated, many operators run a high-end business, where tour packages are sold several years in advance, making it important to have the surety of a long-term licence. The Minister said the length of time required for licence renewals would definitely be discussed during the consultation process on the regulations.
Although the act also endeavours to protect the NWT tourism industry and tourism experience, the committee was not convinced the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment, or ITI, has sufficient processes in place to identify serious problems that might warrant refusing to renew a licence. For example, there is no mechanism for other government departments which also regulate the industry to be notified of upcoming renewals and advise ITI of any concerns.
Currently, ITI relies only on the informal process of complaints from customers to determine if there are problems. Committee suggested instead the Minister model the licence renewal process on that of the municipal business licence renewal process. All of the information regarding an operator would be kept on their file in a central registry. This process would allow the government to protect the public and help the NWT Tourism Association to monitor the membership, without making it difficult or onerous for the tourism operator to renew their licence.
The committee was also concerned about the non-remittance of fishing licence fees by tourism operators, and urges ITI to put in place a requirement in the regulations stating that these must be remitted on a regular basis before the government will supply the operator with more fishing licences. The committee was pleased with the Minister's commitment to look into this matter.
Finally, both the NWT Tourism Association and the committee agree this act and the regulations need to come into force as soon as possible, and urge the Minister to ensure this happens. The Minister confirmed that Industry, Tourism and Investment will work closely with stakeholders to accomplish this.
Further, given committee's concerns with the regulations, the Minister has committed to providing both a copy of the regulations and a copy of the communications package to the committee.
Following the clause-by-clause review, a motion was carried to report Bill 11 to the Assembly as ready for Committee of the Whole.
The committee would like to thank the NWT Tourism Association for their presentation, and the Minister and his staff for presenting the bill. This concludes the committee's general comments on Bill 11. Individual committee members may have questions or comments as we proceed. Thank you, Mr Chair.