This is page numbers 1163 - 1212 of the Hansard for the 17th Assembly, 3rd 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 report.

Topics

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

This is one that I can commit the Member will have a look at. I think there have been some programs like this tried in the past, with different degrees of success. I know there were a couple of them that were actually not turned back into public housing but were renovated and turned back into the group that built these units. There have been some attempts out there to try this; however, it’s something that we have to look at because we do have a wide need across the Northwest Territories as far as affordable housing

goes. I will commit to the Member that as part of the overall picture and being new in this portfolio and just taking it on into the Housing Corporation, we’re going to need to do a little bit of work. I can commit by fall we’ll have a plan put together for sharing with the Members.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.

Wendy Bisaro

Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks to the Minister. He’s anticipated my next question, my usual question of when, so I appreciate that we’re going to get something in the fall. I guess I would like to know from the Minister, in gathering the information, who are they going to consult with to try and get as much information as possible?

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

We’ll do the work that’s needed. Obviously, there are some groups in the Northwest Territories that do some fairly good work as far as dealing with the homelessness. It would be wise of us to have some discussions with them, get their input, and get the input from folks all across the Northwest Territories, because if anybody knows the conditions of homelessness in the Territories it would be the folks across the Northwest Territories, especially those in the larger centres that are seeing a migration of people coming into the communities. We’ll have discussions all across the Northwest Territories, and when we update Members in the fall, we will provide a list of all those groups that we have talked with.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.

Daryl Dolynny

Daryl Dolynny Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today will be for the Minister of Transportation. We heard lately about the extra – if anyone hasn’t been paying attention – $10 million that will be required by this government to complete the bridge for its, I can’t remember how many times completion, but to allegedly complete the bridge on a date in the future. Can the Minister indicate to us when we would expect to see these so-called extra crews on site to do all this extra work? They were talking about working around the clock, two shifts, 24 hours per day. Can the Minister indicate when this will happen?

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The honourable Minister responsible for Transportation, Mr. David Ramsay.

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Minister of Transportation

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That has been the case on the project for the past two weeks. We’ve been two crews working 20 hours a day and when concrete begins to be poured here shortly, that will increase, undoubtedly, to 24 hours a day construction on that project.

Daryl Dolynny

Daryl Dolynny Range Lake

That’s good to hear that we’re moving on that project as we were promised. Anyone who works with paving clearly understands that paving requires a certain temperature for pavers to go and actually do the road and it has to be warm enough to do that road. Can the Minister indicate to the House here when is the last possible date, not predicting weather, but there’s a window of time when paving has to be done and it has to be done in temperature. Can we get some sense of when paving should be completed by to visualize this project going forward?

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Minister of Transportation

There are various options that could come into play. It could be paved in sections as it’s complete. If it doesn’t happen that way, it will happen in September, weather permitting. There’s always cold surfacing that could happen. There’s technology out there now that would allow it to be done in colder weather. Optimum conditions and our expectation is that would be done by mid-September.

Daryl Dolynny

Daryl Dolynny Range Lake

That’s good. I’m glad to hear we have some plans happening and plan B. The next question has to do with our plan B process. If by chance – and I’m trying not to be hypothetical in the question, I’m trying to be forthright here – the date of the opening of this bridge is not completed, does the government have a plan B in place for this?

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Minister of Transportation

That very much is a hypothetical question. Our expectation is the bridge will be open this coming November. I thank the Member for his question but it is a hypothetical question.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Dolynny.

Daryl Dolynny

Daryl Dolynny Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don’t believe it was hypothetical. Anyone in construction or building has plans Bs and Cs just to make sure we have contingency plans. That said, I will be asking that question, I’m sure, later on in the Assembly.

Can the Minister be a bit more clairvoyant as to which date the government is proposing that this bridge be built and open for public? Hansards have a couple dates in there. We’ve seen the 24th . I’ve

heard the 26th . Can the Minister be a bit more clear

as to the AIP, this new agreement, which date is circled on the calendar for people to be excited about?

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Minister of Transportation

Our expectation is that could happen sometime in November. To be on the safe side, I would say the last week of November.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today in my Member’s statement I talked about a perceived or real process problem of potential conflict. Perceived or real are about the same in this type of business. It’s about the integrity of our particular system. The folks I’m talking about in my examples, I know are all good and honourable people and they certainly work to do the best job that they can. My questions will be directed to the Minister responsible for WSCC.

Knowing that the Governance Council is well within its authority to make rules and procedures regarding conflict of interest, and with respect to that, it would only seem reasonable, therefore, for the Minister to request the WSCC to ensure the board directs those type of policies to be drafted. Would the Minister be willing to investigate this particular situation, ensure that conflict of interest policies apply to all of their adjudicating officers under the act under WSCC?

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister responsible for the Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission, Mr. Jackson Lafferty.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. With this particular case, the Member brought it to my attention and I did forward it to WSCC Governance Council immediately to find out if there is a perceived conflict of interest. At this point it is a perceived conflict of interest and they came back saying they don’t see any perceived conflict of interest. There wasn’t any correlation between the clientele and the worker at that time. There is no connection there. The word that came back is that they don’t foresee any conflict of interest on this particular case. I will be dealing with this case with the Governance Council as we move forward on other potential perceived conflicts of interest.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

I appreciate the answer from the Minister but the Governance Council, as I pointed out earlier, had already felt the decision of the Appeals Tribunal was not improper and unreasonable as to how it applies to the policies. Due to a fair bit of research we have been doing, we have not been able to find a conflict policy for it to apply to. In other words, they didn’t breach the policy because there is no policy. Ultimately, that is the question. It’s not about the specific example of names when I say this case; it’s about the bigger picture of how we deal with them in the future. Therefore, I restate the question in a different way.

Would the Minister be willing to investigate the need for the conflict of interest policy, and to ensure that one is established under the authority given to

the Governance Council, to apply to all its adjudicated officers under the WSCC Act?

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

I’ll definitely be meeting with the WSCC Governance Council – I’m planning to meet with them anyway – and I will definitely be addressing this particular topic.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mr. Hawkins.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

I’ll decline. The Minister answered the question satisfactorily.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.

Frederick Blake Jr.

Frederick Blake Jr. Mackenzie Delta

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Not too long ago I believe we learned a lot from the province of Alberta when they were faced with forest fires. I’d like to ask the Premier, will the Premier and Cabinet set up a disaster fund for communities that are directly affected by natural disasters such as floods, forest fires and landslides.