Thank you. Member.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I guess I just want to revisit the fish plant, the proposed fish plant. Have we revisited how we're going to approach that? Are we looking at receiving stations in, say, for instance, Yellowknife? The Member for Yellowknife North had indicated there are fishers here doing quite a bit of fishing, so we may need a receiving station here. With respect to all this, I just want to make sure that we do the right thing. It would be nice to have a big shiny plant in Hay River, but, if it's not the right thing to do, then I would like to have what we need in Hay River and then something that's either in Yellowknife or Fort Resolution if that's the best route to go. I'm just wondering what the department has done in terms of reviewing that. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member. Minister.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, we actually do have intakes in Yellowknife and Fort Resolution, and they will support the plant in Hay River. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Member.

Thank you, Madam Chair. With respect to marketing, what plans does the department have to assist the fishers in marketing their fish outside of FFMC? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member. Minister.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm not intimately dialed into the marketing plans for the fishers, but we are continuing to partner with the FFMC to do so, and we have a large capital cost that we're going to roll over, the $500,000, so I think that would be more in the capital budget where we would be discussing the plant itself. However, I'm committed to promoting NWT fish and promoting it locally as well as interprovincially, interterritorially. Yes, we will work hard with them to promote our fishers. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. Member for Hay River South.

Thank you, Madam Chair. It was mentioned about safety, as well. What plans does the department have to ensure that, when the fishers go out, there's some safety component to it? Because we know what happened in the past, especially last year. It was a tragedy of what happened. In looking at that, I read an article, probably that was done 15 years before, by Alex Morin, and he said exactly the same words as to what actually happened out there. He said, ""This is going to happen," and it happened. I just want to make sure that those fishers who are out fishing are kept safe. What are we doing about it? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member. Minister.

Thank you, Madam Chair. We do work with the marine training centre on training as well as providing funding for safety programs and safety equipment around the fishers. I would agree, with my other hat on, WSCC, that I very much want to see the fishers stay safe. I do commit to the Member that, putting that hat on, I am going to have a conversation with WSCC soon about what we do to ensure that the fishing is a much safer industry. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Member.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I would like just to turn to agriculture. I had a chat with a few of the farmers in Hay River, and a number of issues come up. It is associated with cost, the cost of land leases, the cost of taxes for the land, the cost of power, the cost of fuel. It just makes it unfeasible to actually farm. Is the department looking at how to address that, and do they have any plans? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member. Minister.

Thank you, Madam Chair. One of the mandate items for us to look at is reducing red tape, so I think that would be an area where we could actually be helping our agriculture sector, if we could help them sort of navigate some of the processes. I know we've advocated for some things around meat licensing and such on their behalf. We have about $1 million in funding. We have a Canadian agricultural partnership that we do work with. Agriculture and commercial producers, we provide funding for some of their equipment. We have programs that support their shipping, and we do feel that there was a good reduction in the red tape in conjunction with Health and Social Services around getting some of our commercial products out to the public. A great success story is the growers around Hay River. I recently purchased lettuce grown in Hay River in the co-op, so that was really nice. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Member.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I guess one issue that has come up in Hay River, as well, you have private sector, people trying to grow and run a business; and then, the other hand, and we have say, non-profits doing the same thing. How is the department going to address that issue? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member. Minister.

Thank you, Madam Chair. This is part of what we're doing under food security review, as well, too, with the agricultural association that's being created. I would imagine these are all conversations we will be having with them, that we would then be looking at their inputs on how do we navigate that line because I would not want to, any which way, shape or form, discourage anybody from growing food, or if they can share that food with others, whether that be small scale selling at a farmers' market versus the success story we were just discussing. We need to first figure out what is the situation. How many growers do we have that are sort of small scale producing and selling to friends versus a larger production? Once we have a good assessment of what we are doing, I think we'll be able to figure out how we go forward. I think there's room for everybody. I'm not looking to have preference of the commercial growers over the small scale growing. I would like to see everybody be able to take part in this. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Minster. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Thank you, Member. Minister.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Technically, it was just reviewed because we somewhat updated our guidelines for COVID. I do think that maybe what the Member is looking more for is an overarching, not just COVID-related review. I don't have the date of the last review, but I do commit that, as a new Minister, I do want to look at these types of programs and see where we can be doing better. Thank you, Madam Chair.