Thank you, Mr. Chair. I’m a
supporter of tourism. I’ve talked about tourism an awful lot. I’ve talked about creating opportunities to encourage people from the south to come to the North. Obviously, I have conflicted feelings on this. At the end of the day we’re not killing tourism in the Northwest Territories by not spending this $1.5 million. We’ll still be investing $2.3 million this year, and then according to the strategy it’ll be coming forward for an additional $3 million over the three years, which is still a significant investment in tourism.
I mean, I clearly understand why the Member for Deh Cho is upset. We are knocking off $300,000 for the 60th parallel visitors’ park. I understand why the Member for Fort Smith is upset. We’re knocking off $500,000 for the Fort Smith Mission Park. I also understand why the Member for Sahtu is upset; we’re knocking off $100,000 for the CANOL Trail.
These things aren’t necessarily dead. We may have an opportunity to bring these back when that side of the House meets with this side of the House and we talk clearly about the priorities and infrastructure that is important to the Northwest Territories. I get it. This isn’t necessarily the time. It can come back, and we can talk about this, and we can put this infrastructure in place. We’re talking a delay; we’re not talking a termination.