The honourable Minister of Transportation, Mr. Yakeleya.

Mahsi. Mr. Speaker, the N’Dulee ferry has undergone some major refits. I’d advise the Member and the good people of Wrigley that our department has put a lot of resources into this issue. We’re keeping the community of Wrigley and also the Member updated on the status of when we can get the ferry into the water to deal with the issue of their children going to Hay River for the track and field event.

Absolutely that’s the content of the petition. The schoolchildren are very concerned about making the track and field event, which is one of the best attended events in our North, and with our gracious host.

Once again, the communities still don’t understand why the department waited until springtime to conduct these repairs when they should have been done before and not interrupt the travelling public, not to mention the residents of Wrigley who want to get out, too, for their grocery shopping, et cetera.

Mr. Speaker, our first priority within the department is the safety of our facilities, our streets, our roads.

When we originally looked at the refit for the N’Dulee ferry, when the scope of work was laid out, it was planned that we would do this before any of this type of delay would be happening for this specific ferry.

When we looked at the refit and saw that further work needed to get done within the ferry, that required us to put in extra resources and time, and those other circumstances that happened are out of our control.

Again, we want to make sure that we do a proper job. Safety is number one, and sometimes it does make it inconvenient for people in small communities.

I come from a small community in our region, in Sahtu, and we are also aware of these winter roads and the undue circumstances that happen that hinder our transportation of goods — and people to events such as the well-attended event that is happening in Hay River.

Well, the next logical question. They’ve been telling me: “Our trip’s been interrupted. We’ve done our planning; the department didn’t. Is the department willing to contribute to some of the costs of getting us across the river, getting us to our sporting event?” Indeed, constituents are also asking for assistance to get out, because it’s not their fault, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I want to let the Members know that when the department looks at major refits of our ferries or operations, we do very meticulous planning in terms of things that are happening and what needs to happen.

I took on the job in October. I had to look at what things had to get done. I asked these serious questions. The department has looked at this type of operation that needs to happen. Safety is number one. I do sympathize with the people in Wrigley and other communities. I have faced similar situations, and we’re doing everything within our means to make sure that the ferry is in before the track and field event does take place.

However, our first priority, again, is safety. If we do not do an adequate job, we would come to this situation again in the middle of our operations, and that’s something that we’re not entertaining right now.

Final supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to ask the Minister: is there an expected operating date when the repairs will be completed, and could they convey the progress to the community of Wrigley as they see it? Mahsi.

Mr. Speaker, I've informed my officials to keep the community of Wrigley informed in terms of the dates. We're working very hard to ensure that the ferry operation is in the waters by the end of this month, and have it tested, have it inspected, have it checked off okay so that we could help out the community of Wrigley. Certainly we'll do everything in our powers to make sure this happens and put some smiles on some of the children in Wrigley.

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. I know he was well practised in the swimming actions there. I'm interested if our ferries are dead in the water without a fuel supply. Other than that response, has the Minister ensured, given the volatility of fuel supplies and the increasing uncertainty, that our communities have developed effective emergency management plans to deal with that situation?

The Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Michael McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, the issue of oil, fuel, and the associated costs, and supply is certainly something that we wrestle with on a daily basis. Today I think the price of oil is pegged at over $1.28. All our communities across the North face the challenges of not only the high costs but the additional costs of transportation and having it delivered to our communities. In most cases our communities are responsible for their own supply. There is a market in most of the communities.

We, on the other hand, as a government look after the supply and storage and sale in 15 communities across the North. More recently we've also incorporated supply for the Power Corporation, and that's brought on an additional 20 sites, which has given us a lot more flexibility in terms of economies of scale.

We have had numerous discussions with suppliers across the North, and we have looked at alternate methods of getting the fuel into the communities, especially the communities on the north end of the Northwest Territories, from Norman Wells north along the river system in the Beaufort area. We are looking at markets in California and also in Asia that will allow us to have flexibility. If there’s a short supply in one area, that will allow us to go to a different area. So we've had quite a bit of discussion.

In terms of an emergency fuel supply it's something that's always, of course, an issue. We deal with it on a situation-by-situation basis. However, we've not had that situation in isolated communities. It's something we continue to work on.

All our communities are responsible for energy plans, and this is something that they would look at also. We've had a number of communities move forward on those plans, and we continue to work on that.

Mr. Speaker, I'll take that as a no, in effect.

The Minister has not ensured that there are emergency plans. Every community in the Northwest Territories faces this potential. I'm talking about the declining ability of global production to meet global demand, and of course, we're totally dependent on demand. As per my Member's statement there's solid evidence that that concern is increasing.

I'm looking for a commitment from the Minister. Will the Minister commit to do more than just discussing it and actually put in place emergency plans if communities are faced with a complete lack of fuel supply, oil in particular?

Mr. Speaker, I don't know how he got a no out of what I thought was a yes.

All our communities have an adequate supply. We have the ability to make alternate arrangements if there is a situation where there is a need. We've not encountered that. We have new sources of supply that don't lock us into one source. We're flexible, and our fuel provider has indicated to us that there are a number of different areas where they can get the fuel from, so it's not an issue.

An emergency fuel supply at this point I don't think is something we need to do. We have adequate facilities in each community that will provide that fuel, and to have a commitment to say that we will have an emergency supply is just something that we're not ready to do at this point.

Thank you for those remarks. I'm not necessarily insisting that we have an emergency fuel supply, but I would like to know that the communities have some plan to deal with a complete shortage. Even if they do have an emergency supply, perhaps it won't be enough to get them through a period of time when the oil shortage occurs.

In 1973, of course, we experienced that with gasoline, but now with peak oil, we're on the declining side. We’re on the other side of 50 per cent of the fuel oil availability in the world, so this is a real situation. We're entering sort of a new era, if you will, and that's what these agencies are realizing, and I think we need to be progressive.

So, again, will the Minister commit to encouraging, promoting emergency preparedness plans for serious and significant disruptions in oil supplies by the communities?

Mr. Speaker, we do have all communities working on an integrated sustainability plan for the long term, and part of that plan is to have the capital plan included, the human resource plan and also a community energy plan. Thirty-two communities have already completed their portion of the capital process and the capital

plans. We have eight communities that are working on energy plans.

Now, we have a system where we have resources and will continue to support the communities to look at other sources of fuel. At this point we have not indicated and earmarked any sort of alternate energy or additional fuel sources that we would specifically term as emergency. It's something we'd like to have at some point. At this point we're not in the position to have the communities specifically earmark alternate energy or an alternate fuel system in case of an emergency. That's something that would have to come down the road.

Final short supplementary, Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you for those remarks, Minister. Of course, this is a real situation. Inuvik failed to get their fuel supply last year, and the surrounding communities suffered accordingly. Residents paid more and so on. But it wasn't a real shortage, and that's obviously a real possibility.

For the Minister's information, catastrophic events are going up by about an order of magnitude around the world, both in costs and frequency, so we can expect this to be a real situation.

I understand that we're losing our emergency preparedness coordinator. I'm asking that the Minister reconsider that. Will the Minister reconsider that position in light of this increasing need for emergency preparedness? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I fully recognize that there have been emergency situations and that fuel is of short supply. Incidents happen across the world. We have not yet encountered that in the Northwest Territories. We’ve had situations where some fuel suppliers were not able to get the supply that they required. They were able to work around it. We provided support and will continue to do that.

We recently met with some of the people that deliver the fuel and talked about looking at new methods and new sources and trying to rectify the situation that happened last year. We are not in a position right now to reconsider the position that has been targeted for reduction. We are, on the other hand, hiring and creating a new position titled sustainability coordinator, which will be funded through gas tax dollars. It will provide direct support to the communities that will continue to work on this plan. There are four different areas, but all communities are working on it, and this will help them complete those documents.

Mr. Speaker, in my Member’s statement I talked about the fact that I get calls from constituents on a fairly consistent basis talking about their frustration with getting information on retirement options and support for planning their retirement and then acquiring the pension benefits that are due to them. There are certainly examples of private- and public-sector industry standards in this area. I want to make sure that our public service is entitled to, and is receiving, that same level of service that anyone else would expect.

Mr. Speaker, I’d like to ask the Minister of Human Resources what kind of support is available now in the Department of Human Resources for people who are wanting to plan for their retirement options.

The Minister of Human Resources.

We have pension specialists within the Department of Human Resources who are available to assist. Also, all employees are encouraged to take pre-retirement training programs through their department.

Is the pre-retirement program that was advertised and sent out to all government recipients — the one that costs $400 — intended for people planning to retire? Does our government expect retiring employees to pay $400 to learn about their retirement options?