I wanted to also ask about, and I mentioned it in my opening comments, the municipal wastewater effluent requirements that are coming from the federal government. I’m not too sure where ENR fits into this plan but it is mentioned in the business plans that we looked at in November, but it also mentions other departments. So I wonder if I could get an explanation of just what the department is doing. If it’s in conjunction with other departments, what they’re doing in conjunction with other departments and a timeline on this particular initiative. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Minister Miltenberger.

We are working along with other departments -- Health, Public Works and MACA -- on the issue of water

from taking it from the rivers and lakes to the tap and from the tap and toilets back to be processed. This wastewater standard is an agreement that took seven years to negotiate. Now, for the first time, with the exception of three jurisdictions that haven’t signed on at this point, we now have all the other jurisdictions accepting national standards for the treatment of wastewater. Minister Prentice, I believe, summed it up the best where he summarized it and said as a country we have to agree and start working towards the day when we no longer, if we say we’re concerned about the environment and the water, that we’re no longer going to agree or allow raw sewage to be pumped into the waterways across the land.

These standards set the plan in place over the long term. It’s going to take decades and it’s got many billions of dollars nationally tied to it to do this. The first step was thought to be the need for standards that we can now ascribe and aspire to meet. We’re going to have to do our planning over the coming years to adjust our infrastructure development along with communities and keep working with the federal government for additional funding, to get this done so that we can have primary and secondary treatment of wastewater. Thank you.

Two concerns: One is the financial, and I know the Minister mentioned about going after the federal government for dollars and that it will take a number of years to accomplish what needs to be done. At this point, is there a deadline by which communities will have to meet federal standards? Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, ongoing northern work has been to assist us to continue to sort out the implementation, because there’s a clear recognition through the northern part of Canada that there are special considerations in terms of what type of treatment, the cold weather, the distance, the cost. We’re going to be working on that over the...This plan is going to stretch out for a number of decades, recognizing the long-term requirements. The federal government has told us that their Build Canada infrastructure and gas tax money is their contribution, however, I think the general sense from around the FPT table was that it’s our opinion that they have further obligations, although at this point they were very clear that that was their contribution. Thank you.

I was, unfortunately, expecting that response from the federal government. That seems to be their answer to everything. I’m particularly concerned with not necessarily the amount of money that’s required -- that’s one concern -- but I’m also concerned that the communities are not going to have the capacity, human resource capacity and the skills, whether it be either skilled people or enough people to deal with these large

projects. I guess I would like to know from the Minister if the department, in conjunction with these other departments, have you given any consideration to how you’re going to assist communities. It’s one thing to say that, okay, they’ve got gas tax money or they have infrastructure money and tell them to go away and, you know, provide the plants or the treatment of their water to meet these federal standards, but I really think that there’s going to be difficulties on the part of particularly small communities to get these projects done, because they kind of won’t know where to start and they won’t have the human resources to help them get started. Is that something that’s in consideration by this northern research working group or by just GNWT departments, the four that you’ve mentioned that are working on this particular issue? Thank you.

It was a little over a week ago that we were in Whitehorse and signed the agreement. As we go forward now on the implementation side, it will be part of the business planning process and it will be one of the challenges that this government and this Assembly will have to build into their planning on a go-forward basis, recognizing that what has been laid out has a timeline of 20 to 30 years, recognizing the cost and the complexity of getting all the communities onside and recognizing the fundamental goal as a country is to no longer make it acceptable to pump raw sewage into our waterways. Thank you.

If I suggested that I disagree with this particular issue or initiative, I don’t at all. I totally agree with the premise that we don’t want to be dumping raw sewage into anywhere in our land.

I would like to ask the Minister one last question relative to working on this issue. Are they working with or have they considered working with the NWT Association of Communities? Are they advised of what we are doing as a GNWT and where they fit in, what they can and should do to help out? Thank you.

The work that’s gone on over the last number of years has been, from what I understand, a territorial effort including communities and NTAC. In fact, I know one of the water people from Fort Smith sat on working groups and the big push to try to move from guidelines to standards. Clearly, and the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs will be able to speak more thoroughly to this, but we are by just the very definition, since these are community-based systems, we’re going to be continuing to work very closely with communities. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Miltenberger. Next on my list is Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, just in regard to the discussion about the aboriginal rights and water rights and the quality and quantity and rate of flow that’s in their agreements. I think one thing we’re finding is that you can have all the words in the world, but if you don’t have the baseline data that’s going to be needed to prove your case, it doesn’t stand for anything. I think that as a government, I know in my previous experience on the land and water board, that we’re totally appalled at the federal government. Once they handed that Mackenzie Valley Resources Act over to the Northwest Territories they shut down all the water monitoring stations they had in the Northwest Territories and there was only one in the Yukon at the Snake River. I think, as governments, in order to press your case, you have to have baseline data. I’d like to ask the Minister if we’re doing anything by way of putting monitoring stations in place, say at Fort Smith where the Alberta water flows into the Northwest Territories or at Fort Liard where the water flows from Yukon into the Northwest Territories, and the waters that flow from other drainage systems such as the Peel River from Yukon into the Northwest Territories. I think in order to have an argument about the effects that water is having downstream you have to be able to monitor and develop that baseline that’s going to be needed to argue those cases. I’d like to know what this government is doing to ensure that the monitoring is taking place. If that means that we put our own systems in place, that’s something we can consider. There are remote systems in place that you can monitor from afar. In most cases if you have a community close by like in Fort Smith or Fort Liard, you can monitor right out of the community. It’s just a matter of having that system in the water that monitors the flow of the water and the temperature and taking the tests that will be needed to determine what is in the water. I’d like to know if that is something your department is doing.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. If I could start back down in Alberta and B.C. I attended a water and hydrological conference that had all the specialists that come in to measure water, glaciers, snow packs, all the things in rivers and groundwater. And out of that meeting came a proposal that is going to go to the western Premiers to deal with making sure we build in resources for all these different involved agencies, provinces and territories to put adequate resources into the monitoring and evaluation of all the water for the reasons that my colleague talked about. As well, in addition, to try to track the very critical things like flow rates. Also built into our strategy is the plan and the need for us to, in partnership with the federal government, look at

trying to increase the number of monitoring stations that currently exist in the Northwest Territories. Of equal importance, of course, is to make sure that there’s adequate monitoring done in Alberta right up to the headwaters of the Athabasca and the Peace for us down here in the North. So there are a whole number of different places that we’re pushing to improve the monitoring. Because we recognize and agree, as well, that our baseline information is very poor and in the North our knowledge about groundwater is almost non-existent. That’s one-third of the hydrological cycle and it leaves a huge gap in our ability to plan effectively.

I also have to agree with Mr. Abernethy that for $65,000 of our portion into the Mackenzie Basin stuff...I mean, those dollars have been there for years as far as I can remember. I think that if we really mean to do justice and we really mean what we say that this is an important issue, then I think we should be putting more money into that.

The same thing with regard to traditional knowledge. I noticed that you have $70,000 in there and I think that again...I mean, for $70,000 how much data and information are you going to compile for $70,000? There are a lot of cultural groups throughout the Northwest Territories, not just one or two. There are six or seven. You have to be able to work with all the groups to develop that traditional knowledge baseline and to compile the information by the studies. I’d like to ask the Minister if there are any plans to increase those amounts, realizing the importance of these two areas in dealing with the whole area of climate change, monitoring the water systems, and also the need to put resources into these areas so that we can expand the capacities so they can do more work in those areas?

On the issue of the Mackenzie River Basin Board contribution we agree. We have made the case to the other signatories that we should be at least increasing the budget by 50 percent so that they in fact have money to do more meaningful work with the small amount that’s there, which is tied up mainly in staff. We are prepared to, and plan to, increase our contribution to $100,000.

On the traditional knowledge there’s other money in the budget. Another $110,000 for traditional knowledge. This is a contract, this piece. There’s other money in the budget that I can get Mr. Dalley to speak to.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mr. Dalley.

Thank you, Mr. Dalley. Mr. Krutko. Nothing further. Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’m looking at the Interim Resource Management Assistance Program Agreement. I know that I was advised by the Minister that the idea will be, it’s fairly consistent that you guys go through supplementary appropriation once the federal dollars are secured and this is 25 cent dollars. Would the department consider increasing that amount? Even a modest increase of $95,000 would bring an extra $280,000 or $285,000 to this budget; to the overall budget. As it stands now I believe that the $305,000 brings us $915,000 from the Department of Indian Affairs. I was wondering if the Minister could...Because I feel I’m being advised by the people in Tu Nedhe that there could be more activity going on with the resource management in that area. I’m assuming it will be the same in Deh Cho. But I know for the Akaitcho they’re saying that the monitoring and so on that they use this money for is very short term.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Member did raise this in the House. I have the interim agreement lying on my desk in anticipation of our meeting that we’re going to be having on Friday, I believe, to discuss this very issue. I can say in this House that we’re prepared to look and have that discussion with the Member and we’re prepared to talk to the federal government to see. I know the issue is about additional monitoring, the longer-term monitoring to see what funds we could possibly find from within.

I’d also point out that my understanding in talking to the deputy is that there is unsubscribed money from one of the Member’s communities -- Lutselk’e, to be specific -- where they haven’t applied for the money that’s there for them that could be used if they would do that. But we’re prepared to have that discussion with the Member.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Committee, we’re on page 13-13, activity summary, corporate management, operations expenditure summary, $10.645 million.