Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

Mr. Speaker, will the Minister commit to working with interested Members on this side of the House on this very important matter so an arrangement or an agreement can be put in place to allow Dene elders to harvest bison outside and northeast of the Mackenzie Wood Bison Sanctuary for subsistence purposes?

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

Yes, we are interested in working with the Members. This is a threatened species. There are specific restrictions and criteria that we have to use and follow. There is work underway, but yes, the commitment is that we will work through the appropriate committees as we come forward with the various strategies and proposed changes.

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. With all the communities we serve — 33 communities — we do provide client service officers to deal with those clients in the communities. Where communities may not have client service officers, we do have visitations on a regular schedule. If there are any issues or concerns, that should be brought forward to the regional representative of the income support assistant as well. Certainly, we provide all income support related issues to these clients in the communities on a regular basis. Mahsi.

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister commit to me that he will speak to all staff on how they are treating the people in my riding? I’m getting more than one call in regard to staffing issues. I’m not going to name names; I just think people should be treated with respect, and they don’t deserve being ridiculed. They don’t want to go and get help; they want to be working. But the staff should have a little bit more respect for the people and who they are serving.

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

I appreciate the Member’s addressing this issue to my attention today. If it is an issue, we need to deal with it as a department.

Certainly, the respect should always be there between the community members, the clientele and Education, Culture and Employment employees. We do an orientation package for all employees on how to deal with the clients. Even at stressful moments or most critical moments they need to deal with it at a professional level. That is what we’re faced with, and we’ll continue to do that. I certainly commit to the Member that I will look into this matter in his riding. Mahsi.

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Again, the people we represent are not happy with going there. Just remind the staff that we work for the people, and it’s not the other way around.

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

This message has been clearly laid out here in the House, and I’m sure people are watching as well. My staff are fully in gear, watching this process as well. Certainly that message will be carried over to the department and on to the region as well. Mahsi.

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Mr. Speaker, three well established tourism businesses in the Yellowknife region are closing the doors, if they have not closed them yet. I don’t feel comfortable mentioning their names, because I know only one, as of yesterday, gave notice to employees, and I can’t speak to the other two specifically.

Their issue for closing their doors, they told me, is the economic climate, the slowdown in tourism, and there is concern that the support levels might not be there from the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment. Setting that sort of framework up, my questions are directed, of course, to the Hon. Bob McLeod, Minister of ITI.

I don’t want to cry doom and gloom, but this is not a good situation in this climate, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to know what the Minister of ITI is doing to make sure if there is any way to turn some of this around. What type of work is he doing so other tourism businesses don’t follow the same lead as these three well established businesses, by closing their doors because of this problem?

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bob McLeod.

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The tourism industry is facing a number of challenges these days for a number of reasons: partly the volatility of the financial market, the currency

exchange rate, and there seems to be a trend to move away from the consumptive sports — hunting and fishing — toward more adventure, ecotourism opportunities. As a department we recognized this several years ago, and we put forward a number of different diversification and marketing programs to help existing operators develop new tourism products.