For the last three years that I have had this file, I have very limited conversation with industry around the BIP policy, as I said. In particular in the Member's riding, I cannot recall any of the major contractors in his region reaching out to me and having a discussion about it.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. After our conversation the other day, I talked to my assistant deputy minister, and she is in conversations with BC, and we are actually gathering some more information on internal trade on this issue.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to recognize Robert Bouchard. He used to live in Hay River North; now he moved to the good side of town, Hay River South; and deputy mayor. Welcome to the House, Robert.

Mr. Speaker, our territory has no shortage of spectacular sights for visitors and residents to enjoy. Our territorial parks are the starting point for many looking to experience these world-class wonders.

Through the life of this government, and in line with our mandate, we have invested in enhancing these vital assets for the benefit of the growing contingent of tourists choosing the NWT, and our residents seeking to enjoy their recreational time.

With the construction season in full swing, many Northwest Territories residents are already seeing those investments in action. Today I would like to highlight our work to invest in world-class parks infrastructure throughout this mandate, and what that has meant for the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, this summer alone there is almost $7.3 million in work planned. Some of the bigger projects include campsite enhancements in the Deh Cho at Blackstone Territorial Park, new camping loops and structural improvements on our waterfalls route in the South Slave, and smaller improvements that make these parks that much more enjoyable, like kitchen shelters, sports areas, and road repairs.

Throughout this government, we've dedicated more than $3.5 million annually to keep that momentum going, meaning our parks users come back to better facilities at their favourite spots year after year.

Mr. Speaker, we invest in more than just infrastructure. We have invested in planning, like the work under way to enhance North Arm Park to become an even more vital part of our parks infrastructure, or to lay the groundwork for a future where the NWT/British Columbia boundary crossing gets social media coverage like the 60^th Parallel.

We have invested in better service by revolutionizing our online service delivery and consistently delivering a better experience for our users, and by upping our staff presence at our parks to keep them clean and safe for our users, and we have invested in marketing our parks to new audiences, reaching road travelers at conferences using targeted advertising for these world-class assets.

These investments have led to big improvements in our parks indicators across all of our regions. At the beginning of this government, we welcomed just over 28,000 overnight visitors in a season. As of last season, we're getting close to 37,000. We have also reached a point where more of these visitors are coming from outside the Northwest Territories, a reflection of how our spectacular parks are reaching new audiences. In fact, some regions see almost 70 percent of their traffic arriving from beyond our boundaries.

Mr. Speaker, early indications are that it will be another great season. From record-breaking opening-day bookings on our website, to packed parking lots and the posts I see across social media, I know residents and visitors alike are enjoying our parks, and our investments in making them better.

We have committed to investing in world-class parks, and the next Legislative Assembly is in a good position to make continued improvements. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member from Yellowknife South, that Bill 37: An Act to Amend the Oil and Gas Operations Act be read for the third time. Mr. Speaker, I request a recorded vote. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As per the conversation yesterday with the Minister of Finance, he is in charge of the fibre line, but, as maybe the Member is not quite aware of, the table that I am responsible for with Minister Bains is that we have allocated money, or the federal government has allocated money through our discussions, to support rural communities with infrastructure to have Internet across Canada; 50 up, 10 down. That's the federal government's responsibility. They're working on that. They've allocated, I believe, some money to do that in the North in rural and remote communities. As the Finance Minister said yesterday, our responsibility is the line, and maybe bring it as far as the communities, particularly for our own use, but we are not in the business of supplying Internet. The Member didn't even like when we bought MTS, so we don't want to be an Internet provider. We'll let the private businesses handle that, but our table for sure with Minister Bains is well aware of this situation across Canada.

A lot of people don't even realize that a lot of rural and remote communities in northern provinces don't have any Internet, and the challenges that they have, similar to what Nunavut has. Every one of our communities does have Internet, but what we're trying to do as a table with the FPT table is bring 50 up, 10 down for everybody. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Mackenzie Valley fibre link is the very first one the Government of the Northwest Territories took on, and I think that, when you look at it and the challenges that were around that whole project, and I think the Finance Minister will concur with me, it definitely buffers the Government of the Northwest Territories. P3s are on the back of industry going forward, and they face the challenges, and they take the risks, and they do this, and it gives us some assurance to the Government of the Northwest Territories that, when we enter into these contracts, we are going to get what we paid for.

That is something I think that we are going to have a look at and evaluate as this project goes forward because this is a very unique project because the Tlicho government worked side by side with us to bring this project to fruition, and they were a big supporter of what we were doing. The federal government obviously supported the process that we are doing under the P3 concept that they had, that is now rolled up. However, we want to try this out, make the best benefits we can for the Tlicho residents and their businesses and see the opportunities and see how this works out, but that is not something I do not think is off the table for anything else.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do not have that level of detail, of course, at my fingertips here on something like that, but this is something that the department took as an initiative under this P3 project, that we want to be able to capitalize as much as we can for northern opportunities for businesses and people in the region. I think our staff did a great job in implementing that, but I can certainly get all of the details and supply that to this House.