Thank you, Mr. Chair. Okay. Well then, I appreciate that. Then I guess the question is: if they're not registered and if they're not going to take the safety plan, what are the repercussions for an operator who is going to be providing tourism services in the Northwest Territories that -- and I'm not talking about just someone from down South now. I'm talking about anyone who might not be registered and might not take the safety training. If we've done our inspection and we find some of these operators that haven't undertaken these initiatives and haven't registered themselves with ITI, then what are the repercussions or penalties that one might expect if they're not registered or haven't taken a safety plan? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Debates of Feb. 26th, 2018
This is page numbers 3443 – 3488 of the Hansard for the 18th Assembly, 3rd 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
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
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Wally Schumann Hay River South
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The safety plans going forward is a condition of your TOL, so, if you don't have your safety plan in place, I suspect that you’re not going to get your tourism operator licence and you will be forced to shut down. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
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Cory Vanthuyne Yellowknife North
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, I mean that's the point I'm trying to raise. You're saying "forced to shut down." What does that look like? Is this you're asked to leave town if you're from out of town? Your vehicles get confiscated like your tour buses, or you're handed a fine? I'm just trying to understand so that I can report back to those who raised the concern with me.
What are the details, or have we drafted any kind of penalties, or are there any kind of repercussions specifically that someone would be dealt if they weren't registered and didn't take the safety training? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
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Wally Schumann Hay River South
Thank you, Mr. Chair. First of all, I'll have to go back to the department to see exactly, if you're non-compliant, what would the actions be taken. I suspect we'll be working closely with the City of Yellowknife because most of these guys are going to have a business licence to be able to conduct business in the municipality of Yellowknife as well. There must be some measures in place between the two of us that would shut down an organization, but I'll have to get more details and get back to the Member. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
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Cory Vanthuyne Yellowknife North
That would be appreciated, as much as you can provide on that. I have a few different operators in my riding who would appreciate knowing that detail. I have no further questions at this point on this activity. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
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R.J. Simpson Hay River North
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have a couple of questions. A lot of people in my riding ask me about why the parks in the South Slave close generally earlier than any other parks in the territory. I was wondering if the Minister could give me an explanation as to why that is. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
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Wally Schumann Hay River South
Thank you, Mr. Chair. As I've stated in the House before, this was a part of our normal operations and our seasonal operations and the amount of money that was allocated to it. I made a commitment in the House when our parks went out to tender that we would have an option on there to have the parks operators give us a price for an additional timeline and we would take that as a consideration if we'd be able to extend the hours of operators and the length of time that they would be open. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
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R.J. Simpson Hay River North
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I noticed those tenders have gone out. Can the Minister confirm that that option was included on there? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
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Wally Schumann Hay River South
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will have to follow up and make sure that that was in there, but I can't give the Member a direct answer right now. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
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R.J. Simpson Hay River North
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I generally ask the same question in committee that I ask when we're doing business planning, just for future reference. The answer I was kind of looking for is that part of the problem is that there are technical reasons why they don't stay open: it gets cold, and there's infrastructure that can't freeze; they're not winterized, so the plumbing freezes; things like that. I would appreciate an answer like that. Does the department know how much it would cost to winterize some of these properties so that they can stay open even a few weeks or a month past what they are staying open now? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
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Wally Schumann Hay River South
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I don't have that type of detail here, but we can have a look at what that would cost. We would probably need more specifics from the Member about the time frame he's thinking. I made the commitment in-House that we would change those tenders, what it would take to keep these parks open a couple of weeks longer at the end of the year because I hear this ongoing concern from a number of people, and particularly both our ridings of Hay River, of wanting to be able to access these things. We can have a look to see what it would cost, but maybe the Member could ask me a specific length of time that he'd want us to consider. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
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February 26th, 2018
R.J. Simpson Hay River North
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I guess the issue is that the campgrounds are built for summer. They aren't built for winter. What would it cost to get them up to standards where everything's not going to freeze, that we're not going to have all this damage if there's a cold spell a month later. I understand that's technical. I'm not looking for an answer for that right now, but that's the kind of stuff that, looking forward, it would be nice to investigate. I know both my constituency meeting and the constituency meeting for the MLA for Hay River South always end in talks with tourism and parks and why can't get the campgrounds open longer. I'd like a bit of follow-up on that at a later date from the Minister. If you give me one second here, I'll turn to the correct section.
I notice that there's no mention. The tourism industry contribution is for marketing and industry association support to NWT Tourism. Where is that money spent? They say, “We never see the ads for NWT Tourism because they're in Vancouver. They're advertising elsewhere in the country.” Can we get a little detail about how that money is spent? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
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Wally Schumann Hay River South
Thank you, Mr. Chair. That money is split up between core funding and marketing, and, if you look in a reference to the grants and contribution book again as well page 31, for 2016-2017, page 31 and 32 will lay out exactly where most of that money went. Thank you, Mr. Chair.