This is page numbers 3303 – 3322 of the Hansard for the 17th 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 going.

Topics

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Power Corporation puts in general rate applications based on thermal zone and hydro zone. They generate and distribute. Northland Utilities operates and distributes, they don’t generate, and they look at their business on a community-by-community basis. Thank you.

Jane Groenewegen

Jane Groenewegen Hay River South

On this community-by-community basis, the rates are set and the Public Utilities Board examines the cost of delivering that service and approves those rates. Thank you.

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

Yes, Mr. Speaker.

Jane Groenewegen

Jane Groenewegen Hay River South

Mr. Speaker, another issue that seems to have been brought into this is the issue of the franchise fee. I just happen to have my Yellowknife power bill here. It clearly states in here what the franchise fee is about. Franchise fee is a flow-through fee that is approved by the Public Utilities Board that allows, in tax-based municipalities, the service provider to avoid paying a tax on the land or the infrastructure where transmission is located and then this cost is paid directly to the community by the service provider.

I will quote Mr. Miltenberger again, he said, “I will indicate clearly right now one of the big costs that Yellowknife has, that Hay River has and Fort Smith doesn’t have, is the franchise arrangements and the costs that flow from that arrangement that communities make on their own call, because of their franchise fee...”

Again, these franchise fees, I’d like the Minister to confirm, are agreed to between the service provider and the community and approved by the Public Utilities Board. Thank you.

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

The NTPC rate zone cost for residential for all communities is 18.73 cents. The wholesale rate to NUL in Hay River is 9.66 cents. The Northland Utilities power rate in Hay River is 31.26 cents. But, yes, those are all agreed to by the communities. The communities make their decision and it’s all approved through the regulatory process. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final, short supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Jane Groenewegen

Jane Groenewegen Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess the point I’m trying to make here today – and I guess I’ll just ask the Minister this one last question – is that it’s not really fair to imply that there is something untoward or unregulated about the rates that Northland Utilities… It’s like yesterday in the House there was, to me, an unfair comparison made between communities serviced by NTPC versus NUL.

I would just like the Minister to confirm, for the record, that these rates are fairly set, based on the cost of service, and regulated by the Public Utilities Board which this government oversees. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

Mr. Speaker, we’re going to provide the information to the Members. It lays out some of the information I quoted here and the different rates by community. But, yes, there is a process by which they’re arrived at. Yes, some communities have chosen to deal with Northland Utilities versus NTPC. They negotiate their arrangement with the franchise fee. All that is done through due process. There’s nothing untoward about it. But we will lay out the information and the rates so that we can respond to the request from the Member and Mr. Hawkins, and we will provide that to the House and to the committee. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment regarding his Directions for Change document that was tabled in the House yesterday. In the opening message in the document, the Minister talks about the coming action plan will breathe life into this framework. I’m just wondering what the time frame is for this government and people of the Northwest Territories, specifically the educators.

What is the timeline for that action plan? When are we going to be able to see that action plan in a document that we can go by and our educators and families know what’s going to actually be in that action plan? Can I get a timeline on that? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Moses. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. We just produced a document and tabled it in the House yesterday, Directions for Change, the Education Renewal and Innovation Framework.

Part of that will be developing an action plan in the coming months. We’re hoping by next session, February or March, we want to table a document, an action plan that will deal with the nine commitments that have been identified as part of the framework. So the next session is our objective. Mahsi.

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Mr. Speaker, the standing committee had a short timeline to give their feedback and input into this document moving forward. It is a 10-year action plan, so it’s very important that we do it right the first time and that all the recommendations and input are addressed with moving forward with this.

I just want to ask the Minister, was proper consultation with the district education authorities, the Aboriginal student achievement committees, the NWT Teachers’ Association, did they have a bigger time frame, because obviously these guys are the ones that are going to be working on this education action plan moving forward. Did they have sufficient time to give proper and quality feedback into this document and the action plan, and will their input be reflected in the action plan that we are going to see in February/March?

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

This whole engagement has been happening since just before 2007, before I became the Education Minister, and I’ve been engaging the general public, the DEAs and DECs, the schools boards, the parents, the educators, the elders and the students. They’ve been engaged since day one and we will continue to engage them.

Yesterday’s event with the media presentation, we had two of the partners, TCSA and also NWTTA, that have been actively engaged along with other DECs and DEAs who were in the audience. They are our true partners in the communities, and we will continue to work with them on developing this action plan, and we will be keeping the Members informed as we move forward because we need their input as well.

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

I understand that the Minister’s department had been engaging residents of the Northwest Territories since 2007. I was asking specifically to the Directions for Change document that committee saw and only had about a month to reply on that. However, I’ll move on to my third question here.

With a lot of the monumental changes that are going to be happening within this education action plan, I would ask the Minister, will there be new dollars going into this action plan and is the action plan going to be implemented within the schools across the Northwest Territories in the 2014-15 school year.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

With any new initiatives, we need to be innovative and creative how we can move forward. Developing the action plan, we need to identify through the school boards, through our partners, the cost factor. Some of it will be with internal reallocation potentially, as we’ve done in the past, but obviously, we may have to look out for new funding, as well, new partners such as we’ve done, again, in other jurisdictions.

When it comes to education and teaching, those are some of the areas that we need to improve. We’ve been told over and over from the communities, the engagement we’ve had, even from the Assembly Members, that we need to change our thinking patterns.

We do not have the set cost today, but we will be developing that over time, and in the February/March session we want to produce that document that will highlight the detail of the action plan.

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

The reallocation of these internal funds also brings to light a concern. Which programs are they going to be taking the dollars from and which programs may be hindered by taking on these new initiatives? However, with the Aboriginal Student Achievement, before I got in this position, I did do some work with some of the committees in Inuvik in the elementary and in the high school in my previous position. I want to ask the Minister what is the role of these Aboriginal student achievement committees moving forward in this Directions for Change. Also, he mentions in his document that there was an Aboriginal Student Achievement Action Plan in 2011. Myself, I didn’t see that action plan and I wonder if that was an action plan that was tabled in the House or that was sent to committee.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

The Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative that we’ve engaged the general public, this particular piece of work, the Education Renewal and Innovation Framework, is building on that. It’s building on the success of our engagement. Through that there will be engagement with the committee that the Member is referring to, Aboriginal Student Achievement. There are committees being established at the regional level, at the community level. We must engage them, as well, because what it comes down to is we have to involve everyone and not just our department going to the community and saying this is good for you. It’s coming from the people, the general public, the educators, the parents, the grandparents. It’s their voice. We have to keep moving forward on that and developing an action plan. They will be engaged and they will be participating in that too.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Colleagues, before we go to the next oral question, I’d like to welcome Mr. Ernie Bernhardt, a Member of the Legislative Assembly pre-division. Welcome back to the House, Ernie. And I welcome your wife too. Beatrice, welcome to the House.

Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The World Health Organization has classified tanning beds as carcinogenic. The Skin Cancer Foundation qualifies it as ultraviolet tanning sessions increase a user’s chances of developing melanoma by 20 percent. Lastly, those who begin tanning before the age of 35 increase their chances of getting melanoma by almost 75 percent.

I keep raising the issue of tanning beds and the concerns on our youth. My question for the Minister of Health and Social Services is – this is not a new issue – what is he now going to do about this problem.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The Minister of Health, Mr. Abernethy.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ll certainly have some discussions with the department to find out where we are with this, and I’ll work with committee as we move forward, if we move forward.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Study after study keeps pointing out its significant risk on youth. We have an obligation. We restrict cigarettes for youth. We restrict access to alcohol to youth. Why aren’t we doing the right thing and restricting access to tanning beds to youth? There’s an immediate opportunity here today. The Minister could issue an order for promotion activities to bring forward this concern, and we could also agree to work on a policy to restrict access for youth. Will he do that?

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Like I said, I will work with the department to get briefed up on this particular situation, and I’ll work with committee as we move forward, if we choose to move forward.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

This is not a new issue. I hear the Minister say he’s going to work on this. It’s well within his purview. He’s heard this concern many times. I can even hear on the microphone he’s being whispered to by somebody over there. Maybe somebody over there can help guide him with this immediate concern. I’d like immediate action.

Would the Minister be able to, at the very least, start a public campaign stressing the concern noted by the World Health Organization as well as the Skin Cancer Foundation, by stressing the risk that youth can have by doing tanning sessions?