Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I was talking about the Site C Dam in BC, and I have some questions for the Premier. My first question is: what discussions, if any, has the GNWT had with the BC Government on the downstream impacts of the Site C Dam? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. The Honourable Premier.

Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Premier for that answer. I appreciate the government trying to do what we can do with the BC government. Unfortunately, they seem to be not listening to us in some of these areas. Has the GNWT made a public announcement regarding this position on this mega project and the impact it has on Northwest Territories residents and our First Nations communities?

Through the environmental assessment process for Site C, the Government of the Northwest Territories provided numerous submissions, including advice regarding potential downstream impacts to aquatic ecosystems in the Northwest Territories.

Our Government of the Northwest Territories submissions are pubic and are available on the Canadian and environment assessment agency's website. The Government of the Northwest Territories incorporated into its submissions concerns heard about the Site C expansion from Northwest Territories residents and Indigenous governments and organizations. As the Member has stated, several Indigenous governments, including the Deninu Kue, Salt River and Smith's Landing First Nations, and Northwest Territories Metis Nation also participated in the environmental assessment process.

I appreciate the Minister and the answer he's provided here. My next question is: what is the government doing during this Assembly to mitigate the negative impact of this project on our Northwest Territories First Nations and communities, and has the Premier contacted in writing the Premier from BC?

Following the three-year environmental assessment process, the Site C project received federal and provincial approval in 2014. Construction of the Site C expansion project began in 2015, and the decision to approve the project included 80 conditions, which are intended to prevent or reduce impacts to the Peace River.

As well, our government negotiated transboundary water agreements with Alberta and also with British Columbia. The Transboundary Water Agreement with British Columbia primarily focuses on the Liard River basin, whereas the Peace River system flows into Alberta, so we are relying on the Transboundary Water Agreement with Alberta to monitor the impacts and effects of the water quality and water quantity. We have increased significantly the monitoring at the border on the downstream impacts so that we will be aware of any negative impacts. We have a process set up through the Mackenzie River Basin Board where, if there are any concerns, we can raise them with the applicable government. We're working very closely with Alberta and British Columbia on transboundary waters. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Further to my statement on Destination Deline, my question to the Minister of ITI is: Mr. Speaker, we saw record-breaking tourism numbers last year, which bodes well for the future of this important industry in the Northwest Territories. Is the GNWT Department of ITI going to change the way it looks at tourism because of the new numbers? Mahsi.

Masi. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Member stated, with the high numbers, no, we are not going to change the way we are looking at this. We believe that our approach to this whole thing coming forward is showing that our strategy of tourism 2020 is actually working for the Northwest Territories and it's showing great success. We're on track to hit our $207 million spent by tourism by 2021.

As I've said in this House just recently, our numbers are up, hitting record-breaking numbers again. The NWT marketing plan, which I tabled last week, is a big part of that equation, as well.

Thanks to the Minister for the reply. The 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang were broadcasted around the world, and I was pleased to see TV commercials advertising the Northwest Territories as a tourist destination. I'd like to ask the Minister who developed and placed these commercials? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.

I'd like to take credit. NWT Tourism does our marketing plan and our destination marketing for our organizations in the NWT. I had a chance to see our "Just a Bit Different" commercials as well, and we provide a lot of funding to the organization NWT Tourism to carry out these marketing initiatives. Kudos to them for having them during the Olympics. I just want to update the House. The Premier and I were just at PDAC, and I never even had a chance to tell the Premier this, but I ran into the old ADM of Tourism for Ontario a couple of days ago while I was down there, and he just finished working there, but he said his Minister pulled him aside there lately and said, "What the heck's going on in our department, here? How come Newfoundland and NWT have such good commercials, and ours aren't very good? So what's going on here?"

That's a positive report and positive comments. My third question, Mr. Speaker: the tourism industry is certainly working at large centres like Yellowknife, but can the Minister tell me what the GNWT is doing to promote tourism in the regions like the Sahtu?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Even this month coming up, we're going to have our first-ever tourism conference on March 21st and 22nd in Tulita, and we're doing that in partnership with Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada. So kudos to Tulita for hosting that here in the next couple of weeks. We've talked in this House about a number of programs and supports we have around tourism, and all the people within the Sahtu region and the NWT can access those, as well. Lately, we've supported a couple of business initiatives in his riding in particular: a paddleboard business, ski trails, cabin maintenance and renovation to the museum. We've also, I think, helped out the Norman Wells Historical Society. So there are a number of initiatives going on, along with training and mentorship programs that can be accessed, and there are a number of them doing them in his region. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Member for Sahtu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm glad to hear the Minister included cabin maintenance. I'm hoping that will include the shelters for the future highway. My last question here, Mr. Speaker: this government has a mandate to expand tourism options, specifically by building new parks, such as the Dodo Toi Canyon Park. Can the Minister provide an update on work being done to develop the Dodo Canyon Territorial Park? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

The Member is well-aware that the remediation of the Canol Trail is the responsibility of the federal government. We continue to hold their feet to the fire on that, but the federal government has tendered out the next step of this contract. It has been awarded, and remediation is expected to begin next summer on that project. Since 2015, the Government of Canada and Dodo Toi Territorial Park has through us, I guess, and working with the Park Corporation cleaned up 350 kilometers of telephone wire along that trail, and that project has been completed as of last summer. This year, we're going to add two additional shelters to complete the work on the trail that we're committed to for this coming season. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier today, I talked about reducing the effects on climate change while growing our economy and wondering if it's possible to do both at the same time. My questions today are for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, and I recognize and appreciate that we're in a bit of a unique situation here in the North. We've signed on to the Pan-Canadian Agreement on Clean Growth and Climate Change, and, yet, we're mandated and we want to reach the goal of growing our economy. So I have a question to the Minister: does the Minister believe that our obligations to reduce the impacts on climate change can be met while we undertake initiatives to grow the economy? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I believe we can do both, and the Member is right. We signed on to the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change and the Paris Accord Agreement. These are commitments that we have made as a government. We are moving on those. We are moving on these strategies. They're all in lock sync. The Energy Strategy, the Petroleum Resource Strategy, and the Climate Change Strategic Framework is coming out. They're in lock sync together. All of these departments have been working very closely together. It's a complicated issue when all of a sudden we shift our economy from a resource-based economy, around mining, around petroleum and oil and gas, and all of a sudden now we're signed on to these international agreements. We've had to change how we think and move forward. It is a challenge on how we pull these things all together because we're such a small jurisdiction and we live in probably the harshest part of the country, but our government is working very hard on how we can grow these initiatives to continue to grow our economy as well as meet the obligations that we've signed on to.

That's a reply that I like to hear; that we can grow our economy and meet our environmental obligations at the same time. Mr. Speaker, there are a number of studies out there that are looking at different types of weather events around the world, such as heat waves and precipitation and the huge storms that we've been having, and many of those same studies also look at the impacts on agriculture, industrial output, even labour productivity. So I'd like to ask the Minister: what is our government doing to measure the impacts of climate change on economic activity in the Northwest Territories?