Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I appreciate where the Member is coming from. I know many Northerners are constantly concerned about the ever-increasing cost of living, especially those in small communities.
However, what these amendments were designed to do is to empower cities, towns, and villages to implement taxes to support tourism opportunities in their communities. When the standing committee consulted with all of the six cities, towns, and villages that would be subject to these new bylaw provisions, the vast majority of them spoke in favour of the City of Yellowknife being allowed to do this.
My concern is, if we bring forward this kind of blanket exemption, we already know that the current list of exemptions is going to eat up 30 to 40 percent of the current taxes. An all-NWT exemption is going to further erode the tax revenues and potentially make this amendment pointless in terms of its design, which is to provide the City of Yellowknife with much-needed resources to support tourism operations and a thriving tourism economy.
Again, I appreciate where the Member is coming from. The municipalities are able to offer their own list of exemptions. This is something that a sports organization or a financial organization with limited resources could potentially negotiate with the City of Yellowknife. My understanding, as well, is that the hoteliers often provide discounted room rates to sports teams or other charity organizations.
I think there is goodwill in the community to support people with limited resources, and I don't think that we need to put this broad an exemption in place, because, again, I think it will defeat the purpose of the motion, make it a moot point, and send the City of Yellowknife, who has worked very hard bringing this forward, worked very hard with their colleagues in the NWTAC, and bring them back to square one in finding new revenues for tourism.
I can't support this amendment, and I encourage my colleagues who have looked over our reports to do the same. Thank you.