Debates of Feb. 16th, 2017

This is page numbers 1699 – 1740 of the Hansard for the 18th Assembly, 2nd Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was going.

Topics

Oral Questions

Prayer

Anti-Poverty

Airport Infrastructure Funding

Inuvik-Aklavik Seasonal Winter Road

Socio-Economic Agreements

Northwest Territories Outstanding Volunteer Awards

Reducing The Cost Of Living For Northwest Territories Residents

Land Rights Agreements

Community Energy Plans

Anti-Poverty Initiatives

#lovenwtwater Bottled Water Campaign

Inuit-Crown Partnership Committee

Condolences To K'atlodeeche House Fire Victims

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

Land Rights Agreements

Socio-Economic Agreements

Ice Road Maintenance Contracts

Northwest Territories Outstanding Volunteer Awards

Arctic Energy Alliance Programs In Sahtu Communities

#lovenwtwater Bottled Water Campaign

Summer Student Employment

Land Use Plans

Ice Road Maintenance Contracts

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Tabled Document 261-18(2): Main Estimates 2017-2018, Industry, Tourism And Investment, Deferral Of Minerals And Petroleum Services Activity

Tabled Document 261-18(2): Main Estimates 2017-2018, Industry, Tourism And Investment, Deferral Of Further Consideration Of The Estimates For The Department Of Industry, Tourism And Investment

Report of Committee of the Whole

Orders of the Day

Committee Motion 51-18(2): Tabled Document 261-18(2): Main Estimates 2017-2018, Industry, Tourism And Investment, Deferral Of Minerals And Petroleum Services Activity, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister Schumann.

Wally Schumann Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As I have said many times in this House, the number of tourists coming to the Northwest Territories has gone up substantially and so has the number of dollars spent in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Chair Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister Schumann. Ms. Green.

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am not looking for a number of total visitors. I acknowledge that, in fact, they have gone up. Let's take the Tourism Product Diversification Program; what kind of evaluation happens annually on that program? Thank you.

The Chair Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister Schumann.

Wally Schumann Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Tourism Product Diversification Program is an important one to diversify and expand the tourism market. We don't, as such, do a review of the exact spending on that department, but as a whole, like I said, the tourism numbers are up and so is the spending in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Chair Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister Schumann. Ms. Green.

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, in other parts of his portfolios, the Minister has been able to rhyme off statistics for dollars spent and benefits for the Northwest Territories economy. I am puzzled that he doesn't do a systematic evaluation of this program as well to ensure that money is well spent in this area. I wonder if the Minister has given any thought to a systematic evaluation of the Tourism Product Diversification Program. Thank you.

The Chair Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister Schumann.

Wally Schumann Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Chair. If you go to, as I referred you yesterday in the grants and contribution book for 2015-16, in there on page 33 is the product diversification marketing allocations that we have spent. It has a number of clients in there that have received funding and their amounts. As I have said, it has a total amount of money that was spent in there. It was $1,178,732 versus the amount of increase in tourism and dollars spent in the Northwest Territories, is what I see value for money spent in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Chair Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister Schumann. Ms. Green.

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I think it is good practice to measure outcomes for grants and contributions, and so I'm not hearing that the Minister is interested in doing that and I'm puzzled by that. Can the Minister commit to doing a systematic evaluation of the outcomes of this program that goes beyond just the number of people who visited the NWT? Thank you.

The Chair Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister Schumann.

Wally Schumann Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Chair. One of the things we do is make sure that the money that's allocated in the funding applications is these people do what they say they're going to do. So for instance, let's pick number four; $250,000 went to the Village of Fort Simpson. I believe Fort Simpson's probably very happy to get that money. They did three community tours of infrastructure enhancement projects in the Simpson with the Liidlii Kue First Nations and the Heritage Society. They did landscaping, branding, signage, dock lookout, teepee renovation at the Papal grounds which we had an opportunity to see, interior completion of the Fort Simpson Heritage Centre.

This is the type of expenditures that this program is used for, and we believe they're value for money in every one of them. I don’t feel that we need to be doing a systematic review of this tourism product diversification and marketing funding at this time. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Chair Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister Schumann. Ms. Green.

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I'm not doubting that the recipients are doing what they said they would do with that, but is this self-reporting or is this the department providing oversight on the self-reporting? How is this information determined? Thank you.

The Chair Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister Schumann.

Wally Schumann Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This would have been actual expenditures on these projects. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Chair Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister Schumann. Ms. Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, and for this particular example that the Minister used, can he correlate that to number of visitors in Fort Simpson and the amount of money that they spent? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Chair Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister Schumann.

Wally Schumann Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm not sure I can take one little community like that in isolation and compare those numbers, but what I can tell the Member I can do is have a look if we tracked the number of actual visitors who visit Fort Simpson. I'm not saying that every visitor checks into the Village Tourism Information Booth or not, but I can get the numbers for that particular community, the number of visitors that they had. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Chair Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister Schumann. Ms. Green.

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that commitment by the Minister. This is the kind of reporting or evaluation that I'm asking for, is to look at the outcomes of the funding; not just to say that it happened, but what did it produce, and the more specific the better. I don’t have any further questions. Thank you.

The Chair Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Ms. Green. Any further questions, committee? Mr. O'Reilly.

Debates of Feb. 16th, 2017

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