Thank you, Madam Chair. I believe the Member is looking for a commitment that I gave in standing committee the other day about our desire to move forward, look at professional corporations and work towards introducing that in the next government. It does involve some other departments. We think Finance, certainly Health with the Medical Professions Act and possibly some others. So we have flagged it. We are going to bring those departments, which we would logically be involved, together and discuss how we could move this forward. There are also some questions as to why we didn't deal with this at the same time we were dealing with this piece of legislation. It wouldn't be an amendment to the Partnership Act; it would be a new act. It would be amendments to various acts, so it has to be dealt with in another manner. But we are committed to moving that forward and we will do so in the next government. Thank you.

Madam Chair, thank you. It does require that we develop some new regulations. We think we can do that before the end of this calendar year. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. With me today, on my left is Gary MacDougall; on my right, Mark Aitken from the Department of Justice.

I would, thank you.

I would. Madam Chair, if you would allow me just before I start, I would like to say hello to my daughter, Emily, who is watching at home with her friend Myra, I understand. They are probably onto other things by now, but they were watching for a brief moment.

The primary purpose of this bill is to permit the registration of limited liability partnerships formed or operating in the Northwest Territories and to establish basic rules and procedures for the registration of these partnerships.

In a general partnership, each partner is liable for the obligations of the partnership, as well as the obligations of

all other partners. Once the partnership assets have been used to satisfy any claims, the personal assets of each partner are available to satisfy claims. In a limited liability partnership, only the personal assets of the negligent partner would be available in addition to the partnership assets. The personal assets of non-negligent partners would be protected.

Limited liability partnerships currently exist in almost all provinces in Canada. Over 50 such partnerships operate in the Northwest Territories but the limited liability of the partners that applies elsewhere is not currently recognized in the NWT.

An ad hoc committee representing the self-regulated professions, in particular the legal and accounting professions, first proposed the registration and recognition of limited liability partnerships. The Department of Justice supported this request and ultimately prepared a consultation draft of amendments to the Partnership Act that was released to the committee. The committee has indicated its support for the proposed bill in all respects.

The bill also includes a number of minor amendments. In most instances, no change would be made to the substance of the law. The amendments simply update or clarify the language of various provisions of the act.

I wish to thank the Standing Committee on Social Programs for its considered review of this bill. I will be pleased to answer any questions that the committee may have. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Monday, May 14, 2007, I will move that Bill 11, Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act, 2007, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I will certainly meet, as I periodically do, with our tourism marketing advisory committee. They are industry stakeholders, representing the tourism industry, and they've been tasked with identifying our business plan priorities. There are four of them this year: recreational vehicle general touring, outdoor adventure, German and Japanese markets. I will sit down and talk to them about ecotourism and outdoor adventure, make sure I understand the nuances, and if we can work to build that into their priorities, that's something that I'm prepared to do. What they do is bring this forward, this business plan, after the industry has looked at it. We endorse it and make the contribution. So it's very much one of working with our stakeholders. I'll continue to do that, but I appreciate the Member's suggestions. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I would propose that I could meet with the NWTT to talk about this. They have identified the segment as outdoor adventure. I think, in their minds, this includes ecotourism. If there are some specific nuances here or references here to programs internationally that have been successful, that's certainly something that I'd like to learn more about. I could talk to the Member. I'm also, Mr. Speaker, in the process of trying to plan for a trip south of the lake to both Hay River and Fort Smith and when I have some acceptable dates identified, I will come back to the Members of those communities and talk about meetings that might be scheduled. Probably a good meeting with the Member if he'd be prepared to work with me to host to bring in some tourism stakeholders into the community, possibly with the mayor and council. We could talk about that kind of thing. But that's certainly something that I think is a good idea and I'd be prepared to discuss further. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to assure Members that we're certainly doing what we can to support this sector. I think we can do more but, as Members will be aware, in the 2010 proposal and documents, since about 2003-2004 we've essentially virtually doubled the marketing money that we're spending in tourism; the amount of money of the contribution that goes to our partner, NWTT. They are spending a lot more on marketing. One of the areas they've targeted, Mr. Speaker, is outdoor adventure.

I think that Members have probably by now had a chance to see the 2007 Explorer's Guide. A nice feature in there, some 13 pages of operators who are advertising and promoting outdoor adventure. There's a nice piece on south of the lake. We're doing a number of things related to this segment. I think the Member's region is probably particularly very well suited for this and the promotion of this industry. So we will continue to work with him in that respect, but, as I say, this has been now I think our third year of the 2010 program. There's more to come, but I think we are off to a good start. Thank you.