Good afternoon, colleagues. Welcome back to the Chamber. Orders of the day. Item 2, Ministers’ statements. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am glad to inform the Members today of the work underway towards a new strategy for supporting the nine official aboriginal languages of the Northwest Territories.

In the late 1990s, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment consulted with communities about developing a long-term plan supporting our Territory’s traditional languages. The strategy, Revitalizing, Enhancing and Promoting Aboriginal Languages: Strategies for Supporting Aboriginal Languages, outlines what the government was doing in support of healthy aboriginal languages in our communities. It was meant as a “living document” and modified as aboriginal language communities continued explaining their needs, defining priorities and taking greater responsibility for achieving their language goals.

In 2008, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment proposed renewing the strategy. The first step in the process was conducting a review of the current strategy, identifying areas where it can be updated and improved. The final report was submitted in November of 2009.

At the end of March, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment hosted the Aboriginal Languages Symposium in Yellowknife. The symposium was a great success, drawing over 200 delegates representing official language

communities, including elders, youth, language speakers, practitioners and other stakeholders.

Over the three days of presentations, meetings and workshops, we heard many good and innovative ideas of how to increase support for our traditional languages. I was impressed by the level of passion and commitment in the room, especially from our elders who inspired us not to forget where we come from. The ideas generated at the symposium will be posted on the Department of Education, Culture and Employment website shortly and will play a key role in shaping the new strategy. I would like to acknowledge Mr. Kevin Menicoche, MLA for Nahendeh and the chair of the Standing Committee on Government Operations, for co-hosting the symposium with me. Moving forward, we are planning more meetings and will table the final strategy in the fall session of the Legislative Assembly.

Once finished, the new strategy will guide the Government of the Northwest Territories on decisions about policy, priorities and supporting aboriginal languages over the coming years.

I am confident that by continuing working together, we will see more Northerners proudly using the traditional languages of their cultures.

Mr. Speaker, as Minister responsible for languages, I am also very excited to announce that on June 22nd and 23rd, the Government of the Northwest Territories is hosting the Ministerial Conference on the Canadian Francophonie for the first time. This conference is being co-chaired with the federal Minister for Official Languages, the Honourable James Moore. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.

Mr. Speaker, as outlined in the Department of Health and Social Services action plan, A Foundation for Change, we are taking actions to ensure the accessibility to health care services is optimized for NWT residents.

As Members are aware, the incidence of colorectal cancer in the Northwest Territories is among the highest in the country. Men are 1.5 times more likely, and women 1.3 times more likely, to be diagnosed with colorectal cancer than their Canadian counterparts. Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the Territory for both men and women. NWT Colorectal Cancer Advisory Committee in November 2009 report cites that 20 residents are diagnosed with this type of cancer each year in the NWT.

For this reason, in January of this year NWT Colorectal Cancer Screening Guidelines was issued by the department. The response to this important preventative measure has been very positive and has resulted in a long wait-list for endoscopy procedures. For non-urgent endoscopic procedures such as colonoscopy, gastroscopy and cystoscopy, the current wait-list for non-urgent procedure is up to two years.

To respond to this need and to reduce the wait times, I am pleased to announce today that the endoscopy blitz will take place in Yellowknife, Hay River and Inuvik. This involves the work of both local and locum specialists and the cooperation of many health authority staff who will coordinate this schedule.

For the first time, two one-week endoscopy blitzes are planned in Hay River; one from May 25 to 29 and one from September 21 to 25. The procedures will be performed by a specialist at a rate of 10 procedures per day. A total of 100 endoscopies will be performed on high need patients during the two weeks on clients from the South Slave region. This will more than complete the urgent and semi-urgent cases for the entire South Slave region.

For Beaufort-Delta region, plans are underway to have its own endoscopy blitz in the fall. This blitz will serve clients from the Sahtu region as well as Beaufort-Delta, who are currently on a waiting list.

Mr. Speaker, Stanton Territorial Health Authority is also finalizing a plan to maximize efficiency and to increase the number of procedures being performed to 10 procedures per day in order to reduce its wait-list. Together with two blitzes being planned in Hay River and Beaufort-Delta, we will decrease the wait-list at Stanton Hospital.

Mr. Speaker, endoscopy is a common procedure which includes colonoscopy and gastroscopy. Gastroscopy detects cancer of the stomach. The good news is that colorectal cancer is preventable, treatable and beatable. If detected early, this disease can be successfully treated 90 percent of the time.

Mr. Speaker, it is also important to note that wait-lists are consistently monitored and updated by clinicians based on need. As mentioned, we have wait-lists, and will continue to do so, as does the rest of Canada. Access to specialists and medical equipment continues to be a challenge.

By consistently monitoring and updating the wait-list and making better use of all of our health facilities and staff and working closely with our authorities, we are able to put together this territorial service plan to better serve our residents all across our regions.

I would like to thank the CEOs and medical directors in each authority for their leadership and commitment. It is by working as a territorial team, as envisioned in Foundation for Change action plan, that we will continue to meet the challenges of delivering essential medical services to the NWT residents.

I would also like to advise the House that in the next few days I will be announcing a mammography blitz in South Slave region aimed at improving breast health screening and early detection of breast cancer. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Ministers’ statements. Item 3, Members’ statements. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I had an opportunity to travel to 10 communities with the Social Programs committee on the review of the child and family services legislation. As part of the tour we took the time to listen to the MLAs, community leaders, and also through public meetings hear from the residents throughout the Northwest Territories.

We had the opportunity to get an insight to the challenges all communities are facing. One thing that stood out in my mind, of the challenges that they are facing in program and service delivery, was the lack of programs and services being delivered in our communities and housing. Without these fundamental programs and services, a lot of the government initiatives cannot be delivered.

In regard to the area of housing, it was very appalling to see the number of public housing units boarded up in these communities, yet communities insist on realizing that housing is one of the biggest challenges that they’re facing.

We as a government have to do a better job of ensuring the services we deliver and the challenges that we face such as housing. We have to ensure that we can not only deliver those programs and services but meet the fundamental needs of our residents.

From the Hay River Reserve we noted 12 units which were boarded up, because they were not being provided to the residents of the community. In talking to the chief and council we were told that they had asked the Housing Corporation to remove the housing from the reserve because they were not being used or occupied.

We heard the same thing in Fort Liard where a lot of money was put into the Kotaneelee Housing Project. Millions of dollars were expended on this retrofit and yet a lot of those units are boarded up and not being used because of vandalism.

We have to find a way to ensure that the programs and services we do deliver are used, are accessible, and are providing value to our communities. Hearing from the head nurse in Fort Liard, she said that they asked for the problem, the question directly, what is the biggest challenge you see here in Fort Liard. All she said was housing, housing, housing.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today my Member’s statement is on substance abuse programs. Communities all across the Territories are continuously struggling with severe substance abuse problems. I’m sad to say that we’re leading in Canada in many of these areas as this problem progresses. Even more sad to say is that communities are coping with these challenges alone and there is very little support from this government.

I have spoken with the mayor of Tuktoyaktuk. He appreciates a contribution commitment for the years to run their centre. We hope we can start helping the people in similar ways as the House of Hope, which was operating as a place for people to go and gather and talk to counsellors about their addictions and evenings of fun things to interact free of alcohol. Funding is limited in the short term and more is needed. It is unreasonable for the government to expect community governments to contribute considerable amounts of their operational funding.

More than ever we need continuous support since we have, in Tuk, alcohol rationing in the community. We have compared the notes, since 2009 to 2010 that the criminal reports have been cut in half already. I feel alcohol restrictions are working, but we need support from our people to better ourselves. What we can hope for is to keep lobbying for the long-term system that we can work continuously, that we can work and plan our way to the future. With the residential school funding in jeopardy, this government needs to support small, remote communities even more than before.

The substance abuse situation and lack of real support services is in crisis. The Northwest Territories has been one of the highest levels of addiction needs per capita in Canada with one of the lowest expenditures in program assistance. This government continuously criticizes the lack of real initiatives that comes against the war against drugs and other forms of subsistence abuse, especially for our youth.

The government is in an excellent position to take the lead, work with all levels of government, including the federal government and organizations to create meaningful programs and infrastructure.

Mr. Speaker, I understand the government continues to spend millions out of the province in support resources.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

Mr. Speaker, I see the government continues to spend millions out of province in support resources only for participants to return to their home communities without aftercare. That’s not only not compassionate, it makes no business sense, Mr. Speaker.

The root of all problems comes from these issues: kids not doing well in school, people in an endless cycle of social assistance, and dependencies on drugs and alcohol. The fact the communities lack real support from returning from substance abuse treatment is a shame, Mr. Speaker. I will have questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services at the appropriate time. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to raise an issue today that I believe is something this government cannot continue to ignore. This issue is the impending closure of the City Centre Airport in Edmonton.

The City Centre Airport receives approximately 4,500 medevac flights per year from northern Alberta, Northwest Territories and Nunavut. About 1,000 of these flights originate in the Northwest Territories. Of the 1,000 flights, typically 10 percent are of a critical nature. The Cross Cancer Clinic, Stollery Children’s Hospital and other health facilities at the University and Royal Alexandra Hospitals are established to serve the needs of critical care patients arriving from the Northwest Territories by medevac. The closure of the City Centre Airport will undoubtedly put lives in peril and cost this government thousands of dollars more in transporting our residents from the international airport.

Mr. Speaker, in an emergency situation, a STARS helicopter service will charge $2,500 an hour, and at the best of times it will take 30 minutes to get a patient from the international airport into a major hospital. A ground ambulance for a return trip to the international airport would be in the neighbourhood of $700.

Mr. Speaker, as the Members of this House are well aware, all jurisdictions across this country are dealing with ever-growing expenditures in health care. Here is an example of the City of Edmonton, who like to say they are the gateway to the North, showing little regard for the safety and well-being of our residents.

Make no mistake about it, Mr. Speaker, the closure of the Edmonton City Centre Airport will increase health risks for NWT residents. NWT residents will be exposed to longer flight times and riskier hospital transfers. And again, these increased patient risks will be accompanied by increased costs.

Mr. Speaker, where is our Health Minister at in this process? Has she had discussions with the mayor of Edmonton, the Premier or the Health Minister in Alberta to convey obvious concerns that this government would have? I have not heard her say anything publicly about it. Is she waiting for the bulldozers to move in or what, Mr. Speaker?

In life and death situations, minutes count and we owe it to our residents to champion the fight to keep the City Centre Airport open. We need to ensure all of our citizens have the best access to medical services when they need it the most. We need to find allies in northern MPs, MLAs and municipal politicians to lobby the City of Edmonton and province of Alberta to try and keep this airport open.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

This closure will affect each and every community in the Northwest Territories and all of our residents. In the North, air ambulance service is a service that our residents depend on. Why doesn’t our government have anything at all to say about the closure of the City Centre Airport in Edmonton? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.

MEMBER’S STATEMENT ON

MOTORCYCLE RIDE FOR DAD

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Motorcycle Ride for Dad is an event that raises funds and awareness to combat prostate cancer. The ride is in its 10th year nationally and this is the first year that it will be happening in the Northwest Territories. To date, the national ride is involved with over 100,000 people and raised over $5 million. The NWT Ride for Dad is proud to be adding to these impressive figures.

Prostate cancer is a deadly disease that most men try not to think about. In fact, most patients don’t even know they have it. Nationally, there are an estimated one million cases, 80 percent of which are undiagnosed. If caught early, this disease is curable and the ride is trying to make sure that men are talking to their doctors and, if necessary, getting tested.

The NWT Motorcycle Ride for Dad is also trying to make this a truly territorial event by encouraging riders from all over the Territory to take part. People who want to take part in the ride do not have to be a rider. They can get pledges to be a passenger if they know someone who has a motorcycle or they can raise pledges as a spectator. The ride is also always looking for donations, sponsors and volunteers.

Mr. Speaker, the ride will take place on Sunday, June 6, and will include a parade through Yellowknife, a poker run and a barbeque afterwards. Money raised from this event will go towards education awareness campaigns right here in the Northwest Territories. These funds will help to provide information about this disease and inform men about the risks of contracting prostate cancer, and encourages them to see their doctors and become better informed. So far there has been a huge amount of interest from sponsors and the general public and this is shaping up to be an excellent first year for what many hope will be an annual event in the Northwest Territories.

People interested in volunteering or making a donation can contact

[email protected]

and people who want more information can visit the website at

www.motorcycleridefordad.org\nwt

. Please support this worthwhile cause. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Imagine going to the store and paying $8 for two kilograms of sugar or paying $4 for a litre of milk. Imagine not being able to cash a government cheque or if you do cash it, only getting half the cash and getting an IOU for the balance or even less; maybe getting $200 or $300 cash and the rest goes onto your account.

If you are living in the Sahtu community of Fort Good Hope, you wouldn’t have to imagine this, Mr. Speaker. You would be living it in colour or in black and white. In most of our small communities there are limited options for grocery shopping and cashing cheques, making it harder still the fact that perhaps eight months of the year there is no winter road. So we have no option but to shop locally and then in Fort Good Hope one of the two stores in town burned down and the option was even more limited. Everything is flown into the one store. Boy, oh, boy, you sure have to pay.

Mr. Speaker, in Fort Good Hope, people are paying $8.99 for a 2.5 kilogram bag of flour, $7.49 for 72 tea bags. Recent figures on the average weekly cost for a family food basket shows the cost in the Sahtu being almost twice as high as in Yellowknife.

Mr. Speaker, the people of Fort Good Hope need our help. At the co-op, the people own the building and the business. By gosh, it sure doesn’t seem a darn thing to them. They are getting gouged from this government through its fuel supplier or transportation company when it gets in trouble, by not getting enough gas for the community or subsidize the cost. I think we have to subsidize the cost of food in Fort Good Hope. I know fuel for cars and trucks and for houses is important, but, by golly, fuel for our children’s bellies has to be seen to be even more important. People hope that the winter road prices at the co-op would come down but that hasn’t happened. I think we need to declare a state of emergency or something, because if we don’t have a good job in Fort Good Hope, there are not too many good high paying jobs there. You cannot feed yourself or your family. You continue to go and get...

Mr. Speaker, what the co-op is doing, the cashing of cheques, sure seems wrong to me, giving an IOU or forcing to pay three-quarters of your cheque onto your account. Isn’t that extortion, Mr. Speaker? This is where the government can, and must, stand up for the people. It is time we got to sort this out. It is time we protect our people first and foremost. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The government tabled their response to the electricity rate review and Power Corporation review recently. I would like to provide some additional perspectives on that.

First I would like to start with a few positive results of the recommendations in that report. The first is that a reduction in power rates for commercial users is real and especially in the very expensive communities. We need additional local economic development and this will hopefully help businesses with that.

The second is collapsing the rate system from 33 to seven rate zones. Surely we will enjoy a modest administrative gain there and a slight reduction in cost.

Finally, the government has agreed to stabilize rates, with no additional costs for the next two years. I think that will be a welcome relief to our ratepayers, although at what cost?

Mr. Speaker, what is the government really doing here? In my mind, they are largely simply shifting our costs from upfront rate rider ratepayer costs to behind the scenes costs to taxpayers, and they’re doing this in three ways. The first is buying out the rate riders at the rate of $3 million per year for the next two years, and, by the way, where is that money coming from? That’s money coming from the $60 million fund slated supposedly for energy efficiency and renewable energy, real reductions in costs. So we’re getting this artificial transfer of dollars to buy out the rate riders.

Secondly, we’re forgiving the dividends that the Power Corp normally pays to the government, which indirectly we use to help pay the subsidies. So, again, the taxpayer is picking up those subsidies which used to be minimized through those dividends.

Finally, Mr. Speaker, we’re adjusting our thresholds in communities where in every single diesel community the average consumption is already well below the current threshold of 700. We’re raising it to 1,000. We’re telling people go spend more energy, use more energy and we’ll provide the huge subsidies to cover those costs, which I don’t think is the message we really want, and it was the one saving grace of the current system. So that reduces the personal incentive to reduce energy use and offering these up as savings to local resident users is the ultimate shell game because, of course, those residents are not using that energy now.

Mr. Bromley, your time for your Member’s statements is expired.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, we can expect in a couple of years from now a real shock as these realities of high fossil fuel prices and water shortages click in, as they of course will.

We’ve spent countless dollars on these reviews. I’ll be asking how much. It’s money that could have been spent on real reductions to real costs. What could those have been? The Lutselk’e and Whati mini-hydro projects, action on residual heat recovery in individual communities, the major savings the Arctic Energy Alliance has pointed out from switching water heaters, real action on local electrical generation through biomass, grid system development and so on.

So, Mr. Speaker, it’s time to stop this endless musing and jump into the future. I’ll file this report, along with all the others, and continue to devote my energy to getting this government to stop talking and start acting. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m going to follow up on my colleague Mr. Bromley’s comments and speak, as well, about the electricity review response, and we are not in collusion.

As Members are aware, the Minister of ITI tabled the government’s response last week and the changes outlined in that report will have a huge impact on power rates for our NWT communities, and I feel it is a significant achievement for this Assembly. Though, Mr. Speaker, I cannot fully endorse the report.

I’m concerned about the philosophy, which underpins the substance of the report, and I have concerns about some of the recommendations. There’s no doubt that most of our residents struggle with the high cost of living and that one of our greatest costs is the cost of power. The plan outlined in the government’s response will positively impact our residents by reducing their cost of living, both at home and at the store.

Mr. Speaker, we’ve missed the golden opportunity that this review process offered us. We had an opportunity to make substantial and real changes to the way our electricity system operates. We could have found substantive efficiencies and reduced the huge subsidies that the government pays out to keep our power costs down, but that we did not do. Instead we did minimal revamping, shuffled the subsidies from one pocket to another and missed a great opportunity to effect real change and to find real and systemic savings.

What am I worried about? A couple of things. Firstly, this is only a two-year plan and in that two years rate riders will be paid off to the tune of about $6 million; taxpayer dollars. Power rates will be frozen, but what increases will be waiting to pounce on us in the fall of 2012? Production costs, fuel, materials and so on never seem to go down, only up, and that can only result in increased power rates. I fear a jump in our power rates at the end of this two-year period. I think we’re going to experience rate shock.

Secondly, there will be no adjustment of the power rates for government customers at this time. I see that as artificially inflating NTPC’s revenues and I ask again what will be the impact on rates and on the system when those are reduced as we are told that they will be?

There are some elements of this plan which are positive, it’s not all bad, but I regret that both the electricity and the NTPC reports did not look for systemic changes which would reduce the cost of power generation and distribution. Instead we have a report that moves money from the government’s right hand to its left hand and which leaves us with an uncertain electrical future.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. [English translation not provided.]

In this month’s edition of The Native Journal there’s a news brief about investment of $7 million by DIAND in the Atlantic region. Almost half of this funding is being directed to water and wastewater projects in First Nation communities. Funded projects include water and sewer lot development, water and wastewater improvements, and water tank maintenance. All across Canada there are issues and challenges related to water and wastewater management. There are also problems in the Northwest Territories.

Presently the health inspector is checking Wrigley’s water tanks in the homes to determine their safety, and residents have also asked the doctor in Fort Simpson to do some tests. The people in Wrigley have experienced problems with their water tanks. The water in Wrigley is very hard and this leads to scale forming and building up on the inside of water pipes. This, in turn, leads to clogged water pipes that block the water tank flow. Eventually the pipes are clogged and these tanks and pipes must be replaced.

Many homeowners cannot afford to replace their water tanks. If there are arrears with the Housing Corporation with payments, they cannot access funds from any of our housing programs.

Clean water is a health issue. There are cases where DIAND had provided funding for tank replacement. I believe that this government, either through the Housing Corporation or Health and Social Services, should provide program funding to residents of Wrigley to maintain and replace water tanks. In this way the most basic necessity of healthy, clean water, will be available to them.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Not by collusion, I want to speak to the electricity rate review and the good news. Minister Bob McLeod was down to Hay River on the weekend and spoke to the NWT Association of Communities, and the news about the power rates was well received and the people are looking forward very much to those next couple of years of some relief on their power bills.

We need to view that two years as a window of opportunity to get very serious with that substantial amount of money that we have set aside as a government to consider green energy initiatives. One of those is the whole idea of biomass. I’m happy and proud of the government that they have been moving toward pellet boilers in some of the capital infrastructure in the South Slave and even here in Yellowknife. We only have this money set aside for a certain amount of time and we need to make sure it is well used.

I have characterized this temporary offset that will help with the cost of living over the next two years as just a time in which we need to take that $60 million and literally do an end run on some of the things that are costing the people of the Northwest Territories so much in our communities. That is in the area of energy.

We have an opportunity with the vegetation and inventory of trees in the Northwest Territories to create a pellet mill here to make pellets. We have a transportation infrastructure in Hay River to even ship those pellets down the Mackenzie River to other communities. The inventories are there. The capital, I believe, is there and the money that we’ve set aside. And we need to find a proponent, maybe an operator, we need to find a location. Might I suggest it should be Hay River? We have people there who are already very experienced in the sawmill business. The product that would be turned into pellets could be a by-product of the harvesting that would be done and the loggable, sizable trees that could be turned into lumber.

We have a great opportunity before us, but I would like the energy and heat created from the $60 million to be more than the BTU created by the burning up of the many studies that we could waste it on.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Colleagues, before I proceed with the orders of the day I’d like to draw your attention to the visitor’s gallery and to the presence of Mr. Bruce McLaughlin, former Member of this House and representative from the riding of Pine Point.

Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize, as well, Mr. Bruce McLaughlin, former Minister, former Member of the House.

As well in the gallery today is Ed SchlemKo, director of flight operations for Airco from Edmonton, Mary Anne Stanway, who is with the Kingsway Business Association in Edmonton, and Dr. Joseph Fernando, aviation medicine specialist.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. If we’ve missed anyone in the gallery today, welcome to the Chamber. I hope you’re enjoying the proceedings. It’s always nice to have an audience in here.

Item 6, acknowledgements. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 6-16(5):

BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION CERTIFICATE AWARDED TO KAREN HORN

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the accomplishment of Frame Lake constituent Ms. Karen Horn. Ms. Horn is employed by Aurora College and she has been a stalwart at the Yellowknife Campus for many years now. She recently completed the first step towards a bachelor degree in Business Administration. At the YK Campus graduation held May 1st, Karen was one of the graduates receiving her Business Administration Certificate. I offer my congratulations and wish her every success as she continues her education journey.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Item 7, oral questions. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are directed to the Minister of the Housing Corporation. In the last session there was a document tabled regarding the housing needs in the Northwest Territories. It showed that we are not meeting the needs of the residents of the Northwest Territories. If anything, things are getting worse. I think it’s important to realize that, as a corporation whose responsibility it is to deliver social housing in the Northwest Territories and to ensure that we’re able to bring down the needs of our residents and meet the challenges that we are facing.

One of the biggest challenges we’re facing, as I stated, in our term in the area of Fort Wrigley was a problem they are facing with overcrowding and mould in a lot of their residences. This is a problem not only to the health effects of the residents but also to the social effects of overcrowding.

One of the things that I’ve also mentioned in my statement was the number of houses that are sitting empty and boarded up, not being used. I think we have to do everything that we can to fill those residences. We’re hearing problems with staffing challenges with regard to staff housing. I know they’ve found a solution for Fort Resolution and hopefully they can implement that solution in other communities.

People in our communities are paying over $2,000 a month for rent in a social housing unit. Why aren’t those people qualified for lease units in those communities so they can occupy them so they are not left empty? Why is that the case?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation, Mr. Robert McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Housing Needs Survey that was recently completed does show that the needs have gone up, and I’ve said in this House before that our capital budget for the 2011-2012 fiscal year will use the Housing Needs Survey to determine where we allocate a lot of our capital projects.

We do have a lot of units that are vacant right now. I think at last count we had 224 across the Northwest Territories and 130 of them are under repair. We did have quite a significant investment from the federal government as far as the Housing Fund goes, so we have 130 under repair and we have some that are up for sale and some that are slated for demolition. So we are trying very hard to address the needs in the community and the Housing Needs Survey will go a long way in determining how we allocate our money.

Again, I believe one of the challenges we’re facing is dealing with the applications for these units and the length of time it’s taking to get people into these units. I’d like to ask the Minister, in light of the solution he found for Fort Resolution with regard to professional housing development where they put teachers into public housing, is that something we can look at for other communities? Can we look at the clients in social housing who are paying over $2,000 a month? Can we get them into a mortgage program, get them into these housing units so that these units are being occupied?

That is our goal. This was a gap in the housing programs that I’ve referred to in the past. We do have some people that are in the public housing system that are paying fairly significant rent. It is our desire to get them in. We have some options that we’re exploring for that right now. It is something that’s out there.

As far as the housing for staff goes, we have had real good uptake from a lot of the community groups that are looking at providing housing for staff. There is an incentive that we provide to them if they want to see that come about. They would be the ones that would be the landlord and they would be providing the housing for staff. I think we have about 64 units across the Northwest Territories that have been identified by these community groups as possible housing for staff.

I’d like to ask the Minister if it’s possible for his department to come forward with quarterly reporting to this House regarding the vacancies of these units, where they are, and what efforts are being made to fill out those vacancies so that we have houses in the communities that are being occupied.

I can commit to the Member and the Members of this House that I’ll provide some statistics every three or four months as to the status of the vacant units.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d also like to ask the Minister regarding the Housing Needs Survey that was completed, if the Minister can also report back to this House on exactly what action is going to be taken by the department in light of the report on housing needs showing that we do have a major problem in the Northwest Territories with housing.

I will commit to providing regular updates on our plans to deal with the Housing Needs Survey. We do have a couple of things that we’re working on right now. The investment that’s being made on housing repairs I think will bring the core need down, because adequacy is one of the conditions of the needs survey. I’ll make a commitment to the Members that I’ll provide regular updates on how we’re addressing the needs survey.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have questions today for the Minister of Health and Social Services going back to my Member’s statement where I talked about a thousand medevac or ambulance flights that originate in the Northwest Territories that head for Edmonton and use the City Centre Airport in Edmonton, Alberta. There’s talk now of closure of that airport and I’m wondering if the Minister of Health could let us know what the closure of the City Centre Airport in Edmonton will mean to our health care expenditures here in the Northwest Territories.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is not a new issue to us. There have been two referendums passed by the people of the municipality of Edmonton going back to 2007. The final report was in 2009. So the department has been working very closely with those involved on the ground to make sure that our medical transportation issues are taken care of. I think we’re fortunate that we have somebody within the department who is very familiar with the workings of the Alberta government as well as the municipality of Edmonton. We are deeply involved in making sure that the needs of the NWT with regard to transferring our patients are taken care of.

The patients will be looked after once they arrive in Edmonton, that’s not the case. The case is with the City Centre Airport closing down. The international airport, as everybody knows, is about a 40-minute ride into the city of Edmonton, and if you require STARS air escort into a major hospital in Edmonton, that’s 30 minutes and at a cost of $2,500.

The Minister didn’t answer my question. What is it going to cost the Department of Health and Social Services should the City Centre Airport close in Edmonton? I’m talking about ground ambulance and STARS service into a major hospital in Edmonton. Thank you.

I’m not sure… The Member mentioned different numbers than what we anticipate. Obviously in terms of air flight, flying to the municipal airport or the international airport, the cost would not be that much different, whether you’re flying from the Yellowknife municipal airport, well, from the NWT to municipal or international, because air distance is not that large.

The issue in the health field is we provide medical and medevac services as required, and obviously if there’s extra costs involved we would have to absorb those. What we are concentrating on is working with the people involved in working on medevac issues, because we have to prepare for the closure of the municipal airport, and we’re working closely with the people who are designing the plan to make sure that NWT patients are part of the equation. There are various options being considered: faster on-the-ground transportation, as well as helicopter service. So, Mr. Speaker, we are deeply involved in making sure that we minimize the impact of the possible closure of the municipal airport.

With people’s lives hanging in the balance on a medevac or an air ambulance flight from the Northwest Territories into Edmonton, you would think that the Government of the Northwest Territories would have a position on the closure of the City Centre Airport in Edmonton. I’m wondering why the Minister and why the government hasn’t taken a position on that closure. I think that’s very strange, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

As I indicated already, we have been involved. We have put our input into the review process. This closure comes as a result of two referendums over 10 years. This is not a new issue. I know it’s coming to the attention of some people as a new issue, but this has been in the works for a long time. The NWT is not the only one who flies into the municipal airport for medical services; people from all over Alberta, B.C. and Saskatchewan are landing at that airport. So we are all involved in working together to come up with a plan, because we do respect the fact that the people of Edmonton have passed two referendums wanting this airport to be closed so that they can use the real estate for different reasons. That’s a democratic process. My job as Minister of Health and Social Services is to make sure that we are at the table and put forward our concerns and our needs, and we are doing that. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Your final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I’ve been here for almost seven years and I’ve never heard this Minister or a previous Minister talk about this issue publicly. I’ve never seen a Minister of Health and Social Services come before standing committee and share the concerns of the Government of the Northwest Territories. Mr. Speaker, I believe the Minister of Health and Social Services has an obligation to the people of the Northwest Territories to protect them, to make sure that they have access to the services available in Edmonton and that is at the City Centre Airport, Mr. Speaker.

I’d like to ask the Minister if she could share with us any correspondence that the Minister’s had with, let’s say, the mayor of Edmonton or, let’s say, the Premier or Health Minister in Alberta, to show that the Government of the Northwest Territories actually cared and actually had a position on this. Thank you.

We have communicated in this regard and I believe I have given a copy of that previously. I would be happy to share that with the Member. That’s not a problem. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, let me just first say that I did fail to mention that not only Minister Bob McLeod was in Hay River on the weekend, but, in fact, all of the McLeods were there, including Ms. Lee and Minister Miltenberger. So I do thank them for their trip down there.

I’d like to address my questions today, Mr. Speaker, to the Minister responsible for Environment and Natural Resources and a Minister who sits on the Ministerial Energy Coordinating Committee. I’m getting my initiatives mixed up here.

Mr. Speaker, we have, as a government, been trying to convert government buildings, where possible, from burning fuel heating oil to having pellet boilers to heat them. This has required a considerable amount of investment, but it is something that is visionary in terms of looking forward in trying to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions here in the North and contributing and doing our part to protect the environment. Mr. Speaker, I’d like to ask the Minister if having a pellet mill in the Northwest Territories is part of a strategy on the part of the government for manufacturing the pellets here in the North. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Minister responsible for Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is a two-stage process that we are interested in and investing in. First, of course, is building the market, doing the retrofits, encouraging people to use alternative forms of energy, which is well underway, and through that process build a market so that we can, in fact, sustain our own value-added industry in the Northwest Territories. There are two basic approaches: the one is to have a fixed site where we invest in a fairly large production facility similar to what’s there in High Level, but there’s also significant interest that has been expressed almost everywhere we’ve been in the Boreal forest area for a regional or small community-sized wood pellet plants or woodchip plants. So we’re looking at those two approaches. But the key is we do really want to push for a value-added industry that will allow us to provide our own energy. Thank you.

Where are we at in terms of determining whether or not the inventories for the harvest of product that could be made into pellets is available and sustainable in the Northwest Territories?

We have done some broad inventories. Very specifically, in the South Slave we’ve worked with the mill down there and we’ve brought a consultant in to look at both the market and the inventory that would be available. And that work has been concluded, I believe.

Mr. Speaker, if the Minister could be so kind as to share with us and with the public the summary or a quick conclusion of that process of that study. What would it have determined would be the viability of making pellets in the Northwest Territories?

Mr. Speaker, there are two key issues. At present, the market is still in its infancy in terms of what’s needed in terms of supply. Then the other one, especially in the South Slave, given it’s an unsettled claims area, is the issue of access to appropriate amounts of timber that would allow us to, in fact, have an ongoing supply. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Your final supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The issue of the interim measures agreement and the unsettled claims and access to inventories, what does the government see as their role in persuading or creating agreements with First Nations that would make it financially viable for them and for the users of this product that could be developed here in the Northwest Territories? What does he see is the government’s role in that process?

We see this is a significant economic opportunity in the Northwest Territories. We’re spending millions of dollars building the market with our own buildings and facilities, as well as encouraging private individuals to convert. We support the whole issue of partnerships with the private sector and aboriginal governments as a way forward. The other issue, of course, is the size of the plant and the current volume that’s necessary or that’s available to justify the expense. Indications are that a plant that size is bigger considerably than we would need in the foreseeable future. But there are opportunities, we believe, with aboriginal governments and businesses to partner up with the private sector to see what may be possible. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Mr. Speaker, I have made mention in my Member’s statement about the gouging that is happening in Fort Good Hope, especially with the co-op store and the situation that elders and people have to be put under in terms of cashing a basic government cheque. I want to ask the Premier what steps this government can do to help the people in Fort Good Hope and situations like that, unforeseen circumstances that happened to them and that they are put in this situation. What steps can this government do to protect the people in Fort Good Hope are living under these types of conditions? I believe that they are being held ransom.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Premier, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On the area of the cost of living in our communities, there are a number of initiatives that we are undertaking. Some of it has been highlighted today in Members’ statements; the electricity review, for example. The effects on the commercial rates would then be passed down to the customers in many of our communities. That is one of the biggest things we are looking at doing.

The other area, as the Member has highlighted in his Member’s statement, would be a little more difficult to deal with in a sense that how a business operates when someone wants to go in and cash their cheque, for example, that would be a little more difficult. I would have to talk with my colleagues here to see if there are any initiatives that could be about that. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the Premier is correct; there are some initiatives that I could list off, actually provide in terms of how we are working with our small communities to subsidize or to lower the cost of living in our communities. The point, Mr. Speaker, I wanted to ask the Premier, is would he exercise some of his muscle or his authority in terms of how do we help communities like Fort Good Hope that are dealing with situations that I pointed out now? They are living as right today as we speak in terms of what can he and his Cabinet come together and present something on the floor that would protect future incidents like this in the Northwest Territories?

Mr. Speaker, some of these incidents may have increased since the burning of the Northern Store in that community, therefore creating one outlet there in the community, the Co-operative’s initiative. That becomes part of the challenge. A number of our communities that have only one place to shop is a challenge as everyone has to go through that store. It is a challenge. I would again have to commit to getting back with my colleagues to see if there are any initiatives under consumer protection, for example, to see what may be taken under that area. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I look forward to the Premier getting back to me on this initiative. I want to ask the Premier in terms of the types of protection that could give people in Fort Good Hope from the co-op, for example, that they feel that they are getting gouged at the co-op store in terms of how can this government here... When will the Premier report back to me in terms of this is what they could do in terms of helping the people of Fort Good Hope to at least reduce their cost at the co-op store in terms of lowering their cost of foods?

Mr. Speaker, one of the other initiatives that has been undertaken not necessarily by our government but the federal government on the Food Mail Program, we are expecting to hear some news on that. I know Minister Strahl has been working under that initiative, so we are waiting to see what the final outcome of those discussions would be and what that might do for the constituents of the Northwest Territories that use that program.

The other area, again, is within our own initiatives. The cost of energy in our communities is something that we are undergoing and could have a direct impact as early as this upcoming fall and winter season.

As by responding to the question here in the House, I will be speaking with the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs which I believe is the consumer protection area within that department. We will have a discussion and see how soon we can get back. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Final supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do applaud Minister Bob McLeod in terms of his announcement of lowering the cost of living in our small communities. I want to ask the Premier what tools would he be using in terms of monitoring the reduced cost of living in our small communities. What tools would he be using and how soon can he get back to me in terms of saying this is what we can do in Fort Good Hope in terms of protection from the high cost of foods in the co-op store?

Mr. Speaker, the questions that the Member is asking will require us to look at it as to what we have available within our authority. Some of it falls outside of our authority and goes back to the private sector and how they carry on their business. We may have to… It depends if Members of this Assembly feel that we need to initiate some action on the legislative side to be looked at, but at this point all I can commit to the Member is sitting down with my colleagues to go through what we have available outside of the initiatives we are undertaking, like I responded earlier, to the electricity rate review, the Food Mail Program as we will hear from the federal government on, those types of initiatives and get back to the Member on a number of those. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Premier and they are related to a Member’s statement I made last week about a process convention that was agreed to by Caucus in Fort Smith and reconfirmed later at Blachford Lake, I think.

I don’t think it would be any surprise to any of the Members on Cabinet or on this side, we have had some communication problems in this building. As a result of those communication problems, we ended up being faced with a motion of non-confidence against all the Ministers. As a result of that, we got together as a Caucus and we talked about some of the communication challenges that we had. We came up with some process conventions that allow us or place procedures on how we are going to work together. I believe these process conventions are valuable.

I am curious if the Premier could tell me, is Cabinet still committed to these process conventions that we agreed to, specifically the process convention on the Standing Committee review of proposed policy initiatives and implementation plans. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Premier, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have, in fact, held by our conventions that we have put in place, the conventions when this policy was first put into the system in the 15th Assembly. Since the 16th Assembly and our initiatives -- and I must say I thank the Member for being kind, because when I came up to that vote, there was a little more to it than just communications and we all know that. The other area of the work and the policy since coming together as Members and renewing our relationship and working together, we hold to that. We continue to work with that. In fact, the supplementary health policy has been to committee now from the earliest days of this Assembly, was taken back and reviewed, come back to committee and another set of reviews were done and coming forward now for implementation in the fall. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the Premier for his response. I’m glad that he brought up supplemental health. That is obviously what I was concerned about. Yes, supplemental health has come to committee and we have been informed time and time again on what the department intends to do. I don’t believe that it is consistent with the intent of the process convention. I believe the process convention is about working together to find reasonable solutions and listening. Coming to us and telling us what you are going to do is a radically different thing. I am wondering if the Premier can help me understand exactly how this process that they are moving forward with complies with the process convention that talks about specifically under clause 8 that the standing committee and the Cabinet must be briefed and have all the significant implementation tools such as things as ministerial policies, eligibility criteria, program guidelines presented and discussed with us when in fact there are no program guidelines at this point, yet they plan to put a program in place in June and implement in September, which pretty much kills all opportunity for public discussion and debate. How does that comply with the process convention that we have today? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The process convention provides standing committees with the opportunities to influence the policy development and implementation, but ultimately that decision still remains with the Cabinet. After seeking the input and redesigning or altering what was initially put forward, and I’d say in this case that has happened, in fact ongoing discussions are going on to look at what that final piece may be as we get through this stage.

So we continue to work with that convention around all the policies that the Government of the Northwest Territories is looking at and developing. In fact, again, this particular policy has been discussed through this session and has been into committee quite some time ago. It was pulled back, it was launched again earlier in the year, and pulled back again to go around again and have more input on that, and that’s been done. We are now at the stage, feel that we have the best of what we have to put forward. Now there’s a number of things that do need to be looked at before implementation, and we’ll be going to committee with that as we progress. Thank you.

Thank you. In I believe it was the Yellowknifer on May 12th, the Minister of Health indicated that the changes are going ahead this year regardless. So I’m curious how we can apply these process conventions fairly and consistently if it’s clear that the Minister is going to be proceeding this year regardless. I agree there are some things that need to be looked at. I’ll agree that there are some changes that are required, but I’m curious, once again to the Premier, how can we apply this process convention when the Minister is so clearly moving ahead regardless. Thank you.

Thank you. We all know that the newspapers are like gospel, I guess, to certain corners of our Territory, but at the same time we’ve also learned that the quotes that are taken at times can be stretched a little, and I can speak from my own experience as well.

This area has had much debate. In fact, when it was first brought to the 16th Legislative Assembly, it was publicly put out there as well and there was even support granted at that time. Since people have had a look at that more, there were issues raised, concerns raised, we pulled it back based on discussions with Members, had another go-around in redeveloping that and brought it back to committee, had more input. Now the policy convention that we have in place is being used. In fact, it has affected how that policy has been developed or redeveloped as we go forward. There was a recent meeting and some of the substantial issues were raised again and we’re looking to deal with a couple of those substantial issues in a time frame that would still allow us to implement the policy as has been decided.

So, yes, a decision has been made to move forward, but implementation in those areas need to be clarified and changed to fit what we feel can be acceptable for the majority of people in the Northwest Territories and the majority of Members. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Your final supplementary, Mr. Abernethy.

I’d like to, once again, thank the Premier for that answer. I’m not 100 percent sure that we’re getting the answer to the question I’m asking. What I’m talking about is the process convention itself, it talks about the implementation tools and all those types of things. I hear the Premier saying that they have to consider some different aspects of it before they move forward, which seems to suggest to me that there’s no way they’re going to have a plan done in June. If they don’t have a plan done in June, how can they still implement in September? We need to have an opportunity to review, once again, anything that comes forward and have a public debate in this House on anything that comes forward in the future. So how can we do that if they don’t have a plan? If they’re going to make some changes, can they really get them done by June and can we really implement by September? I think the timeline is a little excessive and I think it will hurt the people of the Northwest Territories, not help the people of the Northwest Territories as the Premier wishes to do. Thank you.

Thank you. We believe that June, coming forward with the minor changes as a result of discussions with Members, that we’ll be able to come forward in June for implementation in September. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of our Power Corporation and the first one is very short. What has been the cost of our electricity rate review and NTPC review? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Minister responsible for the NWT Power Corporation, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The work on the Power Corp review was undertaken by the Executive. It wasn’t a direct initiative out of the Power Corporation. I’ll have to look in my notes, but I’ll get that information to him before the end of our session. Thank you.

Thank you. I appreciate the Premier’s commitment on that. Obviously the recommendations that our current report provides does very little to reduce the actual costs of power, which is what is ultimately required. You know, if we just keep putting the costs behind the scenes, what that does is remove the options we have for doing other things, providing services and other things of value to our people. So we can’t keep doing that. When will we actually see real reductions in the actual costs of electricity so that real savings can be provided? Thank you.

Thank you. Just further to the first question the Member had, the Power Corp review was in the neighbourhood of $200,000 to get that done. The initiatives we’ve undertaken under the electricity rate review does do substantial changes to the way we deliver power.

As the Member pointed out earlier, yes, the Member feels it’s a shuffling of the deck, but it is real change because if we did not do any changes, in fact, the Power Corporation would be coming forward today, in fact would have already been working at a general rate application that could go towards just what was raised by Member Bisaro as well when you talk about adjusting the prices and price shock.

This is not going to come as a result of the changes that we’re proposing. It is something that we’re faced with on a day-to-day basis within the existing system. That is why the government has decided, with support of our Members, to put $60 million into alternative energy development like run-of-the-river hydro, wind and biomass initiatives, and, yes, we’re disappointed as well that a number of these projects haven’t moved as fast as they have, and we’re putting the feet to the fire, in a sense, to move these along as much as we can with the time we have left. Thank you.

Thanks to the Minister for those remarks. I think we have some common ground there. I appreciate the $200K estimate for the Power Corporation review and I assume I’ll still be hearing about the electricity rate review costs.

As the Minister said, and I said in my question, we have not had real cost reductions yet and we all hope that there will be some eventually. What I want to know is, will we see any during the life of this Assembly, the four-year life of this Assembly. Thank you.

Thank you. That is our goal. In fact, every business plan since we identified that money for the Legislative Assembly, we push the departments to show progress, and not just internal progress but to get projects on the ground and put in place. So the wind turbine technology that’s been looked at has been delayed for a year. We were expecting it this year but it will go ahead in the next year, I believe. The area of biomass, we’re looking at, as we have already done, some exchanges for heat in a number of our facilities that will need replacement of boilers. As well, we’re still working with the Power Corporation for biomass for electricity generation. As well, as I’ve just been informed, the electricity rate review was in the neighbourhood of $550,000 to complete that work and that shows the cost of having to do that type of business in the Northwest Territories on large-scale consultation. Thank you.

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

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just totalling these things up, that’s almost another million dollars. So we’re pretty close to an additional $10 million of subsidies this year and this is in addition to our apparently now routine at 10 to 12 million dollars per year and this is what I mean about we’re not really reducing costs and we’re removing options for services for our people. So I’d like to ask the Premier, during the life of this Assembly what community will actually have an electricity system with reduced costs. What community? Even one community.

I can name probably in the neighbourhood, let me see, how many thermal communities will go into that zone? About 22 communities. Now, I know the Member feels that’s just a shuffling of the deck, but that is real lower costs in our communities that will be spread out to the commercial base and to the customer base and the overall cost of living in our communities. Structurally as the Power Corporation and as the Government of the Northwest Territories, we know we need to increase our rate base in the sense of more people and more businesses in the Northwest Territories and to invest in these other alternatives requires cash that we have to, as the GNWT, invest in that system, because the Power Corporation, under the existing structure, is within a defined set of parameters that it can operate by. So we as the Government of the Northwest Territories have chosen to invest in alternative energies and we’re going to be doing that and putting some of these initiatives on the ground by the time this Assembly has concluded its business.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are addressed to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Over the last, probably, year, I think, the department has been doing or has been starting and has been engaged in a facilities needs study for the city of Yellowknife. I know we referenced it, Members referenced it in our October 2009 discussions of the capital plan and we also talked about it in February when we discussed business plans for 2010-2011. There are renovations that are needed by several Yellowknife YK 1 schools and there also needs to be a permanent home for Aurora College; it’s badly needed.

In the deliberations, in October and February the Minister stated, I believe, that the report would be expected at the end of this fiscal year, which to me means the 31st of March 2010. We’re some six weeks beyond that. I’d like to ask the Minister if the study has been completed and when we can see the results.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The study has been completed. We are in consultation with the YK 1 school board and the college. We just need to consult with them on possibly proposed changes. We need to keep in mind that the college campus, the expiry date of 2012 at Northern United Place is a pressing issue that we need to deal with. Overall, the Yellowknife education facilities have been reviewed and there have been some proposed options that we have presented to the board and also to Yellowknife MLAs for their consideration. We’re still waiting for feedback by one of the school boards and then we can certainly share that information with the general public.

I would like to thank the Minister for his comments. The Minister mentions that there are a number of options. I do appreciate that there are options. He also mentions that they are in consultation with YK 1 and the college, then he stated they are waiting for one of the school boards. My understanding is that YK 1 has indicated their approval of one of the options, and if he is waiting for the Catholic system, then I guess I would ask them to hurry up.

I understand, as the Minister said, he’s confirmed to me my understanding is that the Aurora College lease expires in 2012. I’d like to ask the Minister if the option that is, or one of the options that is currently out there is not acceptable to somebody and these options are not approved, what plans does the Minister have for a permanent home for the YK Aurora College campus in the near future?

That is one of the options that we are discussing with YK 1 as well. Alternatives on the options. The decision that needs to come down and the recommendation to me as well, then make a final decision before the capital planning process begins. That’s why we’ve initiated this consultation and we are now on the verge of a final decision by the board to give us a green light to say we’re fine with the option that they are favouring. We’re just waiting for that response from the board.

I guess I’d like to thank the Minister again for his comments. Part of the facilities plan and the options that were presented, the work that was being done by the consultant to look into things was renovations, to complete the renovations, I should say, at Mildred Hall School and to do a very large and significant renovation of J.H. Sissons School. So I’d like to ask the Minister, are there plans being considered for those two renovation projects?

Throughout the consultation and also the Yellowknife educational facilities review, there has been undertaking of renovations. The renovations that have been highlighted has already been undertaken by our department and identified as a capital planning project on a long-term basis. Those facilities that need upgrade and major retrofit have been highlighted through our consultation with the school boards. Yes, the majority of the schools that require upgrade will definitely be part of the capital planning process.

Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. Final supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks to the Minister again. I guess I’d just like to confirm or have the Minister confirm for me, he talks about these renovations being part of the capital plan process. I would like to ask the Minister, does he mean that Aurora College renovations, Sissons renovations and Mildred Hall School renovations will be part of the 2011-2012 Capital Plan?

The minor renovations and major renovations that have been highlighted by our department on the capital planning process will continue as we move along. The Member is referring to certain facilities such as the Aurora College campus. The decision has to be made on options first, before we can proceed with the capital planning process. That is in the works and they are at the final stages.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Earlier I spoke about the water tanks that need replacing in Wrigley. I believe it’s reaching a critical stage. About six weeks ago the community health representative tested about six houses and their water tanks and deemed two of them not potable, meaning that they cannot use it for household use. It’s really impacting the families there. I’m not too sure who to ask this question to. We’ve got several departments responsible for water in the community. Perhaps I can start with or ask the Minister of Health and Social Services.

What I’m looking for is that the NWT Housing Corporation had said no to replacing these water tanks, but these tanks need replacing. If they cannot access programming, then our government’s going to have to find a solution around addressing this very, very important health need. I’d like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services if we have existing programs to help a situation like this.