Today, the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Wally Schumann announced that tourism numbers have reached record heights in the Northwest Territories (NWT) in 2017-18. For the first time, over 110,000 visitors travelled to the NWT with spending totaling just over $203 million in the process.
Mr. Speaker, over the last five years the Government of Northwest Territories has worked in partnership with people and organizations across the NWT to better understand and meaningfully address the root causes of poverty in this territory. This outreach supports our mandate commitment to reduce poverty in the Northwest Territories.
Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories has made a mandate commitment to implement the 2030 Energy Strategy. This includes renewable and alternative energy solutions and actions that the GNWT and our partners will undertake to meet targets for greenhouse gas reductions in heating and power generation as well as a 10-year strategy for investing federal and other funding towards energy projects.
Mr. Speaker, six community governments in the Northwest Territories had an election on October 15th, 2018. These elections took place for all of our communities with City, Town or Village status, including the City of Yellowknife, the Towns of Hay River, Fort Smith, Norman Wells and Inuvik and the Village of Fort Simpson.
There were 87 candidates in total, vying for 52 available seats. The large number of candidates shows that there is keen interest in the local level of government and that individuals want to serve as leaders and decision-makers for their community.
Mr. Speaker, access to housing continues to be one of the most serious issues for people in the Northwest Territories. Many new players are coming to the table with a new interest in addressing this need and roles and responsibilities for housing delivery continue to change and evolve. Our government is committed to working with other governments and housing stakeholders to implement northern solutions for northern housing to help address our high cost of living.
Check Against Delivery
Mr. Speaker, today I am pleased to provide an update on the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs’ progress on our mandate commitment to develop and implement a Northwest Territories Physical Activity Strategy. This strategy will promote community wellness and encourage individuals and families to lead healthy lifestyles through the promotion of physical activity.
Check Against Delivery
Mr. Speaker, the numbers are in and I’m pleased to say that the Northwest Territories tourism sector continues to lead our territory’s march to a more diverse economy. Even on the heels of what was an extraordinary year of growth, in 2017-2018, we have, once again, seen our tourism numbers climb.
Today, Minister of Infrastructure Wally Schumann announced the launch of a new grant initiative—the Government Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Grant Program.
The Government GHG Grant Program is an application-based, non-repayable grant program designed to support GHG emissions reduction projects and initiatives for NWT community governments, municipalities, and Indigenous governments.
Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Caroline Cochrane, is pleased to announce the names of five recipients inducted into the 2018 Minister’s Culture and Heritage Circle on October 29, 2018.
Recipients are recognized and respected in their communities for leadership, participation and significant contributions to the arts, culture and heritage. By category, the recipients for the 2018 Minister’s Culture and Heritage Circle are:
Check Against Delivery
Mr. Speaker, today I would like to highlight and celebrate the 2018 inductees into the Northwest Territories Sport Hall of Fame.
The Northwest Territories Sport Hall of Fame was created to honour athletes, coaches, officials and contributors to sport from all parts of our society. Sponsored by the Sport North Federation, the Hall of Fame shares the history and the impact of our greatest contributors to sport.
