Question has been called. To the amendment.

---Carried

To the motion as amended.

Question has been called.

---Carried as Amended

Motions. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Income exemption for newly employed public housing tenants.

WHEREAS the Government of the Northwest Territories recognizes that homeownership is more viable and sustainable than public housing for both families and the government;

AND WHEREAS the delivery of public housing is very costly;

AND WHEREAS the tenants in public housing find it difficult to remain working due to the high cost of rents that are charged when the tenants are employed;

AND WHEREAS the communities with a higher percentage of homeownership are more viable than communities with a high percentage of public housing;

NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, that the Government of the Northwest Territories and the NWT Housing Corporation take immediate action to incorporate changes to their programs and public housing rental policies that would allow for an income exemption for public housing tenants for a period six months from the start of the tenant’s employment;

AND FURTHER, that the Government of the Northwest Territories and the Housing Corporation undertake immediate efforts to work with these public housing tenants to encourage and empower these tenants to pursue the longer-term benefits gained through homeownership.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. A motion is on the floor. The motion is in order. To the motion.

Question has been called.

---Carried

The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to deal with the motion I gave earlier today.

---Unanimous consent granted.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. A motion is on the floor. The motion is in order. To the motion. The honourable Minister responsible for Transportation, Mr. Michael McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Laughter

Oh, sorry. Sorry, Mr. Speaker. This is an issue that has been on the drawing board for some time. It has been raised by many of the representatives from the Sahtu and the Sahtu has really been focusing on improving the infrastructure in their riding, in their region in the area of air transportation. It is probably the most used form of transportation for that region.

We’ve responded in the last while by including in our budgets the runway for Tulita, extending that runway. It’s a $2.5 million project. We are also dealing with Fort Good Hope, the extension in that community. And we are moving the airport completely in Colville Lake so that they’ll have a new location.

The discussion on the 2010 rule came about several years ago as a result of a concern that there was two types of aircraft currently flying in the Sahtu: the Beech 99 and the Twin Otter. The federal government’s new guidelines would require that testing be done to show that these aircraft can land and take off within the size of our airports. Given the age of when these airplanes were built, there was no history, there was no documentation to show that these tests were done. We had incurred the air carriers to follow up on that and have the actual testing done. That was never, ever done by any of the companies that were concerned around this issue, so we took it upon ourselves as a department to contact some of the companies that were manufacturing these planes and upgrading these plans and that we knew could do the testing.

As a result, the information will be coming forward on the Beech 99 aircraft. We expect that to be

favourable to meet what we have in terms of runway lengths. We also had been dealing with Viking Air out of B.C. that has also indicated they are finalizing their testing. In that light, once we have all the information in place and provided to the federal government, there will be really no negative impact by this new 2010 rule.

The people in the Sahtu have indicated that they still have a strong desire to fly some of these other planes that have come on the market, the Beech 1900. Mr. Speaker, this plane is in high demand in the Sahtu and some other communities as a result that they are now becoming very cheap as other jurisdictions won’t allow them and are restricting them from their runways because they’re in the same situation as what our Twin Otters were. There are some changes in the very recent months and it’s really taken away some of the urgency of looking to extend the runways.

Mr. Speaker, we are, as a Cabinet we might be voting on this. This is a recommendation to the government, but I think the circumstances have changed as to the requirement to extend runway lengths. I would mention that to have to extend runway lengths at both these airports would probably cost us close to $2 million. It’s about $800,000, $900,000 for each runway and we’d have to do it, in all fairness, to all the communities where we have airports. We’re probably looking at more to the tune of $60 million to do them all so that we’re fair to all the different ridings. At this point we don’t agree that it’s required. We have far more urgent investments that are needed. We need to do the airport in Fort McPherson. We need to move the airport in Trout Lake. Mr. Speaker, we would be required to find these dollars from somewhere within our own budget and right now it’s going to be very difficult. Those are my comments, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. To the motion. I’ll allow the mover of the motion some closing remarks. Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Yakeleya, before you make your closing remarks, I’ll allow the Member from Weledeh to make some remarks.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Very briefly, I was able to participate in a briefing on this in the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Infrastructure and I agree that there are good reasons not to be spending money on these additional extensions. I think there are a lot of extensions happening already. But I do agree with the Minister that there are aircraft available that can service the needs right now and take the same loads as the Beech 1900, I think it is, and so on. The reason they are so cheap is because in the rest of the country are having to meet these standards. I think in this day and age of restricted resources, I don’t think we can be spending money where just because a company is not willing to get

the proper aircraft and so on. I don’t think it’s a huge problem there. So I will be voting against this motion. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. To the motion. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the airports in the Sahtu have gotten the majority of the attention the last number of years, where we’ve relocated the airport in Deline in which they got a brand new airport which is upgraded and been extended from its original length. The same thing applies to Fort Good Hope. Then this last summer work was completed in Tulita in regard to the extension there. I believe, Mr. Speaker, there was work done looking at the other airports in the Northwest Territories. I know the issue in regard to Colville has been raised in this House where the department has committed to relocating that airport. The issue in regard to Trout Lake, that has been addressed before committee and also in this House.

I believe the department is clear in regard to where their commitments are and as the standing committee that oversees this, they are taking those issues seriously. There are other communities that are out there that are in the same boat. I think, as government, we have to realize that we have a federal regulation that we have to apply for and it’s not just the three or four airports; it’s all airports in the Northwest Territories that we have to bring up to a certain standard within a short timeframe.

So I think if we’re going to continue to focus on those airports that have already received the majority of the attention, a lot of the capital dollars have been expended already on new airports for those particular communities. I do not support this motion on the basis that there are other urgent needs out there, other communities, and I think we have to realize that we only have so many dollars to go around. I think from the communities, you know, I do support the efforts in Jean Marie and in regard to Nahanni Butte and Trout Lake where we realize that those communities depend on relocating their airports and upgrading their airports because it’s their only means in and out.

I think, Mr. Speaker, again, I would just like to reiterate that a lot of capital investment has been made by this government for these particular airports that have been mentioned in this motion and I think the government has already done its part, but there are other airports we have to put our attention to, so I will not be supporting this motion.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. To the motion. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m going to support my colleague from the Sahtu in

his efforts here to bring forward this motion. I think that this speaks to the issue of the cost of living in the small communities and, yes, different aircraft can get into these communities on the existing runways; however, when you look at the unit price per weight, it can be much more cost effective to be brought into these communities in DC-3s and DC-4s and planes that have a bigger payload. The ultimate price for the people who are receiving the goods is then lower. We talk a lot about trying to offset the cost of living in the small communities and I think this is one way that we could do it.

The federal legislation changed. That’s not our fault. We can’t help that; however, in order for goods to be delivered into these communities on an economic basis, I believe that this is infrastructure which is badly needed and would be good. Although there’s a lot of competition for capital dollars, I think this would be a real show on the part of this government in their true concern for the cost of living in our small communities. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. To the motion. I’ll allow the mover of the motion closing remarks. Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this issue has been on the minds of the partners in Deline and Fort Good Hope and the whole Sahtu region, especially with North-Wright. It’s been on the books as an issue for about nine years. Mr. Speaker, actually it’s been an issue with the Northern Air Transportation Association also, which represents all carriers North of 60. Actually, they passed two motions at their annual assembly to support North-Wright and their partners to build longer runways in the Sahtu. It was brought up in the North American Northern Air Transportation board meetings and it’s been supported by all the members in those association meetings.

Mr. Speaker, we are very appreciative of the Department of Transportation to put the additional runway length to bring it up close to 4,000. I think it’s 3,933 feet in the communities of Fort Good Hope, Tulita and Deline. Actually, Deline itself added a huge amount of their own money to bring the extension up. You talk to the people in Deline, they put a lot of money into it. It wasn’t all of our government’s money. So these are things that they are looking forward to.

Mr. Speaker, the issue here is with the airline companies in the Sahtu. They have been in business in our region for over 23 years, longer than any carrier in the Northwest Territories. North-Wright is owned 51 percent by the Dene in the Sahtu and in the Territories. Their ownership is with Deline, the Yamoga and the Aklavik Indian bands

As I said, this issue has been on the books since the year 2000 in trying to get an additional required runway. North-Wright with its partners want to expand their business. We do not and I don’t quite

understand where the Minister is coming from, but my understanding is the rule 2010 from Transport Canada. They have been doing some logging. We are saying that we want to expand our business. We don’t want to fly around in Twin Otters and Beech 99s. We want to expand our business. The Beech 1900 or the King Air 1900 is the most popular available commuter in North America. These guys at North-Wright have done their homework. They looked around. They did their shopping. The best airline is the Beech 1900.

Mr. Speaker, it frustrates the residents in the Sahtu that if we are going to go with the 2010 rule, we will be paying higher costs in our isolated communities. We want to introduce a pressurized aircraft into our region. Our nearest flight to a larger centre when we leave the Sahtu is about an hour and a half, almost a two hour flight. No washroom, small aircraft. We want no less than what other people fly around in the Northwest Territories on these long flights. We have elders, 60 people that travel on these flights.

North-Wright and its partners have more terminals and land from all the airports than any other carriers in the Northwest Territories. They take up most of the spaces at the airport. North-Wright and its partners have improved infrastructure throughout the system. They have put $150,000 in the Norman Wells Airport lease for the last two years. This summer, North-Wright will spend $320,000 at the Norman Wells float base and cater to tourists, flight service to enhance infrastructure in the Norman Wells. Deline and the Yamoga has invested $1.6 million at its infrastructure here in Yellowknife to enhance services in the Sahtu region. It’s going to be called the Sahtu Terminal.

GNWT says that we have to improve our runway, improvements or length in all the communities, then we ask them, where are roads and bridges like any other community that has them? As I said, in the Sahtu communities, we are 350 miles from the nearest road system and I have flown many, many trips. It takes an hour to two hour flight from here back to the Sahtu. I wonder if any Members here would want to continue flying in an aircraft that we fly, and sit and wonder why we can’t have a bigger and better aircraft with a washroom. There are elders. I know that people told me that they went to the washroom on those aircraft. That is the most shameful and embarrassing thing for an elder when someone is sick. For us here in the Sahtu, in order to get help and improve, the Sahtu has been very busy in oil and gas industry in the Beaufort-Delta and in other regions down here with oil and gas. We have been busy. We have invested lots into the Northwest Territories.

In the community of Fort Good Hope, I had a call from Chief Frank T’Seleie and some calls from the Yamoga board in Deline. They are willing to see if

they could be a partner in this extension. I’m not asking the government to fund everything. They are willing to put some dollars to it and get a partner. Isn’t that one of your future goals in this government here, to build partnerships?

We are asking them to be open. The Minister knows about that. We had some discussions with them. We talked about that. The Yamoga Land Corporation president said they are willing to put some dollars to it. They are serious about it. That is mindboggling. I think we need to really consider some of the options here and some we are looking at. We just had some discussions on P3s. I think for the Sahtu partnerships and North-Wright, we see these opportunities as something that will benefit the Northwest Territories, benefit our people.

In the smaller communities, I understand about the runway length and the safety to them. I have landed many times on the Colville Lake runway. I can only imagine seeing it in Nahanni or Jean Marie or any other small communities in the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, this is not something that is taken very lightly by our residents in Fort Good Hope, Deline, Tulita, Colville Lake or Norman Wells. Our people every day have to get on those small flights, get on the flights and fly. We want to make a contribution to the Northwest Territories and be a partner. I do thank the Members for their comments. I thank Members for their support and Members who spoke on this motion. Sahtu people will remember this type of issue here, that it makes a difference in their life. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. To the motion.