Thank you, Mr. Chair. Bill 18 received second reading in the Legislative Assembly on May 29, 2018 and was referred to the Standing Committee on Government Operations for a review. To commence consultation on Bill 18, the standing committee invited input on the bill from 99 hotel and bed and breakfast operators offering tourist accommodations in the six tax-based municipalities. This consultation list was kindly provided by the Department of Community and Municipal Affairs, who used to same list when consulting on the development of the bill. On behalf of the committee, I want to thank the honourable Minister for his willingness to collaborate on this work.

The committee held a public hearing on Bill 18 in Yellowknife on September 19 of this year, where we received presentations from the City of Yellowknife, the Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce, and the Explorer Hotel. The committee also met with the mayor of Inuvik and the representatives of the town council in Inuvik on October 2^nd. Finally, the committee received written submissions from those who presented at the Yellowknife meeting, as well as the Town of Fort Smith, the Yellowknife Days Inn and Suites, and Embleton House Bed and Breakfast.

The committee thanks everyone who provided input on Bill 18.

Individual Members, in addition to these comments, earlier today, we read our complete report into the record, and I encourage anyone who'd like to be informed of the committee's work on this bill to read that report, as it is quite substantive and clearly outlines the work we did in reviewing the bill.

That concludes my opening comments, Mr. Chair. Individual Members may have additional questions, concerns, or comments as we proceed with consideration of this bill. Thank you, Mr. Chair.