Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As it is, I am standing as the Minister of Finance. This is actually a finance-led initiative, and it is one of the items that we are responsible for under the mandate. Indeed, yes, there has now been a red-tape working group established, including both GNWT representatives as well as people from the private sector. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Can I have the Minister of Finance speak to some of the areas that this working group is going to review? My concern is that the term "red tape" and the amount of regulations that the GNWT has, it runs for miles. There are potentially many rabbit holes to go down and many areas to look at. Have some parameters been set for what this working group is actually going to look at?

It is specifically focusing on red tape that impacts the functioning of small business and small- and medium-sized businesses, and it's done within a context of understanding that, of course, some regulations are necessary, whether for public health and safety or for environmental protection, for example. What the initial order of business is for the working group is indeed to establish some parameters of where they are going to focus on and how they are going to be able to move the needle. Even the common words of "red tape" I rather shy away from, but really the idea is: what do we have as regulations; what regulations are required; why are they required; which ones can be facilitated to move forward and be a little more streamlined. It really is within that spirit of finding that balance and trying to improve the functioning and process for the benefit of the small-business community but also for the better functioning of government.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business, for years, had a report card on red tape, and every year, the Northwest Territories got an "F," and then eventually, they just took the territories off of the report card, presumably because we were doing so badly at it. One of the first steps that they recommended in measuring red tape is: is the government actually doing an assessment of how much regulation it has? I have seen some of our regulations that were copied and pasted from the federal government decades ago, and I don't think that they ever have been looked at since. Is part of this work to reduce red tape going to be an evaluation of our regulations? Perhaps we could even start by just knowing how much regulation we actually have on the books?

As it turned out, I believe the organization the Member was speaking of had a red tape reduction week only just recently in January. I had the opportunity to have some correspondence from them, and I am actually hopeful that we do get back on the report card. I don't mind getting a bad grade if it means that we can improve our grades going forward. I am hopeful that this initiative is one step towards that.

As we are doing the broad scan, again, Mr. Speaker, right now, what we are proposing to do is two-fold. It's to really figure out what regulations we have and whether we need them. Step one, indeed, is going to be that there is an inventory done. It is being done by the working group and within the context, again, of small- and medium-sized business as the focus. It's not necessarily an entire government-wide initiative as of yet. We want to make sure we are biting off something that we can chew and be successful with. The initial focus is on regulatory improvements for the small- and medium-sized business sector, but indeed, looking to gather that inventory.

Mr. Speaker, it certainly is my hope that this is not intended to be exclusive to this working group. This is going to be an opportunity to seek out contributions from across the Northwest Territories, from across sectors, from across business communities, business organizations, environmental communities, environmental organizations. This is really an opportunity to look at what we are doing and try to find a way to be more streamlined and do it better.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe sometimes the wording of "red tape" can be a bit confusing. To me, it's actually more of an issue of user-friendliness or user experience for someone approaching the government. I spoke earlier about agriculture, and, for example, if you wanted to start a farm in municipal boundaries, you would have to go to the town first. Then you would have to go to the GNWT for approval, and then you would have to get lost in the world of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. The idea that there could be one simple agriculture form is impossible. My question is: I recognize those other areas of government are not the mandate of the Minister of Finance, but is part of this red tape working group going to be to look at possible ways of working better with the other levels of government? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As it is, the red tape reduction working group membership is chaired by the Department of Finance. However, it also includes departmental representation from the Department of Infrastructure as well as a regional superintendent from the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment. It was actually at the suggestion of committee that we ensure that those representatives were not only from Yellowknife, but were regional, so there is representation from across different regions. Indeed, the functioning of the government needs to be streamlined and needs to be one that is responsive to the needs of different communities and is aware of some of the challenges that small- and medium-sized businesses might be facing in different communities, as that might be different in different areas.

Mr. Speaker, I feel like the Member had a couple of questions for me there. I was worried I wouldn't run down the time. That's no longer my challenge. My concern now is ensuring that I have actually answered his question. Let me conclude, Mr. Speaker, with one comment, which is: again, not only does it need to be multi-sectoral or multi-departmental, which, again, I believe it is, but really looking at the functioning, as well, again, using one-window services, using reporting systems that are singular rather than multiple, and really trying to ensure that we have one form for business or users rather than multiples. Those are exactly the kinds of issues that are on the agenda for this working group. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Our time for oral questions has expired. Item 9, written questions. Item 10, returns to written questions. Item 11, replies to Commissioner's address. Item 12, petitions. Item 13, reports of committees on the review of bills. Item 14, reports of standing and special committees. Item 15, tabling of documents. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.