This is page numbers 3837 – 3872 of the Hansard for the 16th Assembly, 4th Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was communities.

Topics

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If that’s the case, the aboriginal people would have agreed. Why is it that when I call my leadership in the Sahtu, they say this is not right, this is wrong. The Wekeezhii board has to make a decision and it has not yet made a decision. The government, in its wisdom, jumped the gun. Mr. Speaker, was there an agreement to say, yes, we’ll come back? Is that part of the consultation? Sometimes I hear consultation in terms of this is what you shall do and that is it. Was there an agreement in terms of putting a ban here and waiting for people? You should really come to the communities and talk to the elders. Why are the elders saying I would like to

come and talk to the government as to what they are doing with this issue?

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

Let me restate the two separate issues: the broader issue of the long-term management plan for the Bathurst that’s going to flow the Wekeezhii process tied in with working with the Akaitcho, the Yellowknives and the Northwest Territories Metis.

The process was supposed to flow to certain deadlines. Those deadlines slipped. We had a situation where it was clearly identified that this herd is in very dire straits. Because that process had slipped, there was a gap. There was going to be full hunting going to happen this winter when the herd cannot survive further hunting at this point requiring interim emergency measures tied to the completion of the Wekeezhii process. We are committed to that. We have to remember the caribou are asking for our help. The numbers tell us they are in trouble. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to pick up where I left off with some questions on the future of business-related support here in the Northwest Territories. I want to just pick up where I left off again. We talked a little bit earlier about SEED. The average SEED contribution, Mr. Speaker, is only $6,000. You wonder how can we expect much in the way of business and employment creation when the average is $6,000 and the majority of that SEED funding, Mr. Speaker, appears to be for community events and ongoing subsidies like tools and snow machines and things like that. So I want to ask the Minister what are we doing in thinking larger picture on real job creation and business start-ups here in the Northwest Territories. What support is there for that, Mr. Speaker? Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bob McLeod.

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have a tool kit of programs that can be accessed for a number of different programs. Through our loans programs, we can make business loans up to $2 million and we do have some grants and contribution programs. On an ad hoc basis, we can go approach FMB to see if there is funding that falls outside the different programs that can be used to promote development. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

The Minister talks about the departmental contributions. Like I said in my statement earlier today, just last year 15 of these

clients received more than $100,000 in contribution financing. That’s two-thirds of the entire value of ITI’s contributions and not one of them, zero, was a private business. I would like to ask the Minister how do we get more funding in the hands of private business so we can create jobs and diversify our economy here in the Northwest Territories? Thank you.

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

I think it was two years ago when we went to establish the SEED program. We consulted with various committees and at that time, everyone agreed that we needed to get more funding into the level II communities and I think we’ve been very successful in doing that. The larger businesses can approach the banks or they can approach the BDIC for loans. Thank you, Mr Speaker.

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

That last question, that was about departmental contributions, it wasn’t about SEED, but I’ll take the answer for what it’s worth.

I want to talk about manufacturing and I talked about that as well being in serious decline. We’re losing value-added opportunities such as Fortune Minerals. We’ve got other opportunities on the horizon and I would like to ask the Minister why doesn’t the government of the Northwest Territories have an industrial development strategy. Thank you.

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

Perhaps if the federal government would devolve the responsibility for mining and oil and gas to the Government of the Northwest Territories, we would have an industrial strategy. Right now, all of the royalties go to the federal government. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is an excuse, I guess, but we could use it as an excuse or we could use it as an opportunity. We have opportunities, Mr. Speaker, especially in the value-added side of things. I would like to ask the Minister again where is the department and the government when it comes to an industrial strategy so we can attract value-added opportunities here in the Northwest Territories to diversify our economy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

I guess in the fact that the federal government has responsibility for oil and gas and mining and they collect all the royalties, we have been able to get through the back door through the environmental assessment process to promote value-added. I am pleased that the Member is supportive of value-added, because in Yellowknife when we set up the secondary diamond industry, we put a lot of money into it and we had a lot of pushback on it. To this date, we are reviewing our Diamond Policy and it’s something that’s tentative out there. I think everybody here wants to

see value added. To date that’s the best way we’ve found to take advantage of development and certainly it’s something that’s probably, until such time as devolution and resource revenue sharing occurs, one of the only ways where we can get benefit from development.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to follow up on my Member’s statement earlier. My questions are for the lead Minister for energy or any other appropriate Minister. We all await the formal release of the internal NTPC review and we’ve seen the reports on the rate review. We’re interested in what the contribution is to providing to our energy future. Can the Minister confirm that a major intent of these reviews is to improve the affordability of power for all users through reduced costs?

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Minister responsible for energy initiatives, Mr. Bob McLeod.

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When we started this process where we undertook the electricity review, it was understood that initially it was a three-part process. The first part was the electricity review, an NTPC review, and an ATCO proposal. We are working very closely with all Members of this Legislative Assembly and certainly our basic tenant is affordability.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

I think we’ll all be keenly watching for improved affordability there. Obviously we can’t afford to endlessly review our energy providers. We’ve had other energy reviews of NTPC in the past and so on, and how we supply power. The public clearly wants action on this. The rates are going through the roof. Cheaper power, improved local opportunities and environmental sustainability must be key pillars in the results of these reviews. How is the Minister intending to ensure that these three needs will be advanced through the final decisions that result from the reviews?

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

I guess, first and foremost, I’ll be working very closely with my Legislative Assembly colleagues. We have also received input from almost all the sectors or interveners who have intervened in the process and also we’ve heard from a number of different associations and a number of municipalities that have given us their views on the direction we should go with the electricity rate review. What we are proposing to do is to put in front of the Members a number of different costs of modelling and to see the direction we’re heading in, to see if everybody is supportive.

Hopefully when we do that it will cover the three basic principles that you outlined.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

I think the last comment the Minister provided, I appreciate that information. The last comment is the source of my concern; that we’re waiting to see if these things are covered. I’m very concerned that those three pillars have not been sufficiently provided in the guidance to the reviews. Can the Minister assure us that they indeed were and we’re just not waiting to see if they happen to be covered in the results?

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

The terms of reference have been out there since last year sometime. Certainly our expectation is we will come up with rates that would cover all those pillars.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Bromley.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for that response. On the question of energy efficiency, which I again raised in my statement, the government has been providing rebates, which do help some of our public but certainly not those, and there are many, who cannot afford the other 80 to 90 percent of the cost of energy-efficient appliances and so on. We know that there are big expenditures within government, but I’m concerned that we’re not doing nearly enough in the outreach. I don’t really see in the review information I’ve seen so far that it’s addressed there. I’m wondering where the focus is on helping our citizens directly through energy efficiency and the huge gains we know are out there so that their cost of living can be reduced. Is there an opportunity for the Minister to make sure that gets addressed in there?

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

With regard to energy efficiency, I think the largest part of areas where you can make efficiencies would be the benefit from conservation. I think if we change the way costs are allocated with regard to the generation of electricity, I think that there is an avenue there. Certainly with the $60 million Alternative Energy Initiative that this government has instituted to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, I think we would benefit significantly from that. As well, through our Green Government Initiative I think there are certainly opportunities for government to reduce their consumption of energy. I think the biggest area in the scenario, where I’d be looking to my colleagues for some feedback and direction, I think is to change the way costs are allocated so that when you do practise conservation and become more energy efficient, then you benefit from those practices.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The time for question period has expired. Item 8, written questions. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.