Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. This week is National Tourism Week, from May 24^th to the 31^st of this month, and I wish I could stand here today to celebrate the incredible success of my constituents, the Lutselk'e Dene First Nation, the LKDFN, for their leadership and successful acquisition of the Frontier Fishing Lodge, which has operated for 40 years on the doorstep and has a global reputation as one of the premier fishing lodges in the Northwest Territories, but unfortunately, I can't.

Mr. Speaker, in December 2019, the LKDFN purchased the lodge and the entire business, including the operating company, of all its assets. The community intends the lodge to be the gateway to the Thaidene Nene, drawing tourists from all around the world to discover the beauty of the East Arm and the Dene way of life. They see the lodge as critical infrastructure that will become an economic engine for the community, and one of the primary employers in a village that already suffers from high unemployment.

However, in my opinion, the GNWT is standing in its way. The only thing that has changed is the business ownership, yet the GNWT has required the LKDFN to apply for brand new permits to extend the operation of the lodge. Over the past few months, the LKDFN has sought and obtained the transfer of its tour operator's licence and has obtained conditional health and occupancy permits. In the process of obtaining a remote lodge liquor permit, the LKDFN was advised that it would also require a MACA business licence. Previously, a lodge required a business licence, as remote lodges until recently had been regulated by ITI under the Tourism Act. However, changes to the liquor regulations now appear to require MACA to issue business licences to remote lodges. After more than two months of unresponsiveness and delay, MACA has informed LKDFN it needs to develop new policies in order to issue the licence. Lutselk'e and the Frontier Lodge are apparently the first remote tour operation subjected to these now policy requirements in obtaining a MACA licence.

Mr. Speaker, instead of granting the LKDFN a temporary exemption to operate while MACA develops these new policies, MACA's Office of the Fire Commissioner has instead advised the LKDFN that it is cancelling the temporary occupancy permits for the lodge that were previously issued. I am seeking unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

Marsi cho, colleagues, Mr. Speaker. Simply put, MACA is withholding critical permits from the LKDFN in the middle of a pandemic that is already having a devastating effect on our tourism industry. The effect of this decision is obvious; the lodge cannot open for business, and the LKDFN will have received no revenue. Something has got to give, and I sincerely hope that this does not result in a defunct business in the NWT.

I want to take a quote here from the website for the National Tourism Week. It says, "Tourism matters, and Canada cannot afford to lose another tourism sector." I think I will take that a little bit further. The Northwest Territories cannot afford to lose any of its tourism operators. Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. I will have questions for the MACA Minister later on.