This is page numbers 1859 – 1898 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 work.

Topics

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to invite the Minister over to the community of Nahanni Butte. I think we’re targeting a June date and I’d like to ask the Minister to come over and look at the school himself, and even come and speak to the students at that time as well. Thank you.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mahsi. I want to just highlight some of the work that has been earmarked as a scope of work is to look at the washroom fixtures, repairing and painting drywall and different work that has been highlighted. Yes, I’ve already indicated that I’ll be visiting the Member’s riding. There’s an invitation out, so in June, by all means, we’ll be visiting. Mahsi.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier I commented or at least made the attempt to acknowledge that Idle No More did happen and it continues. I just wanted to highlight the shining example of some of the doable things that this government can do and that’s the transboundary water agreement.

Part of the exercise of the Idle No More movement is that it drew upon the commonalities of bringing two people together: First Nations and the non-indigenous people of the North. The common interest is the environment. So my question is to the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources. In terms of the progress of the transboundary water agreement, where is it going and at what point should we expect the conclusion of those talks? Mahsi.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The discussions are focused and engaged mainly with Alberta. We had some preliminary meetings, as well, with BC and Saskatchewan, but the Alberta negotiations are the most critical. They are, we believe, within about two meetings away and the next meeting is scheduled for April. So sometime subsequent to that, before fall, we hope to have the negotiators prepared to initial an agreement that will lay out and meet the mandates that they were given from us and from the Alberta government.

Once that’s done, we have to turn our attention to concluding the agreements with BC, Saskatchewan, and we have to look at a rewrite of the Yukon agreement. Mr. Speaker, these are very important. The Alberta agreement will be a bit of a template, we believe, so that the ones with Saskatchewan and BC should not take as long as the Yukon. So that work has been progressing.

Our investment in water is going to be required on an ongoing basis. Then we have to look at monitoring, implementation and doing all this through the hard work of the transboundary negotiating team, as well as we have an Aboriginal Steering Committee that has been intimately involved in this process right from the development of the water strategy, all the way forward to the work that’s currently happening. Thank you.

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

My follow-up question is the Minister had indicated that more likely there will be a similar effort made in British Columbia. Can we expect a similar template agreement that could result from those discussions, because, of course, the rivers in BC flow into the Liard and into the Deh Cho or the Mackenzie. Is there a similar effort, perhaps in envisioning an end product that’s similar to the transboundary agreement with Alberta? Perhaps we could expect that for BC as well. Mahsi.

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

The Member is correct; the intent is to conclude Alberta, and then move to British Columbia and Saskatchewan, and then up with the Yukon to look at mainly the Peel watershed. So that would be our next step after this. We are doing it sequentially, mainly tied to

capacity and the way the agreed-to work plan that was laid out. It will involve a very similar process. We are going to continue to have full involvement of the Aboriginal Steering Committee and we are going to do all the necessary work, but a lot of the groundwork, the template will have been worked through with Alberta. Thank you.

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

I think this government has provided solid leadership in bringing to the forefront the water resources that flow from Alberta into the Northwest Territories. I think we have created a path, created leadership and a model, which is what can be done if governments and First Nations work together. Would there be a similar effort, at some point, in terms of offshore water and coming into a management model that could be considered that this government will entertain at some point in terms of the offshore water resources in the Beaufort Sea? Mahsi.

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

All the related offshore issues tied to devolution will be negotiated and there will be a process triggered once negotiation is signed and implemented. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Final, short supplementary, Mr. Nadli. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to follow up on my Member’s statement on the Mackenzie Valley Review Board employees, those six employees that were fired. Mr. Speaker, if I may, the review board is almost like an arm’s length, a bit of a reach on some of the work we do here, but they were unceremoniously fired last week. My question to the Premier is, and I’m going to link towards a devolution type of relationship because they are an agency we depend on. Would the Premier be willing to look at assisting those employees, those six Yellowknifers that were fired, by putting them on our priority staffing list to ensure they at least have a fair opportunity to help bring forward some of their important expertise to service here in the Government of the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Premier

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Right now the Northwest Territories is the only jurisdiction in Canada that has seen a decrease in population. So, of course, we’d be interested in trying to find ways to have these six people find gainful employment. The MVEIRB is a creature from the federal government and we do have a process for the orderly transfer of employees that will be devolved from the federal government to the

Government of the Northwest Territories. I’d be very interested in contacting these six individuals and trying to find employment for them within the Government of the Northwest Territories. As a matter of fact, I recently checked and I think we have about 100-some vacant positions in Yellowknife right now, so I definitely think we can do something about it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

A perfect answer, Mr. Speaker, a perfect answer.

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. My questions today are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Can the Minister explain how the department determines the level of funding of the education councils? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. On an annual basis, it’s all based on student enrolment, the formula funding we’ve had in place for quite some time now and we follow that process. The funding goes directly to the school boards and at their discretion, such as how many staff they want to hire, programming in the schools and so forth. So we work closely with the schools at that level. At the end of the day, we provide funding to them based on formula funding of the student enrolment. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Frederick Blake Jr.

Frederick Blake Jr. Mackenzie Delta

Can the Minister explain where we are going to be losing the seven positions in the Beaufort-Delta Education Council?

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Again, Mr. Speaker, the Beaufort-Delta, the decision is made at the regional level in the communities. We, as a department, work closely with them as well. As you know, we are going through some changes. We are engaging the communities, stakeholders, on educational renewal and part of that is discussing accountability and the overall school system. So part of the discussion we are going to be having is capturing that line of discussion. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Frederick Blake Jr.

Frederick Blake Jr. Mackenzie Delta

That was actually my next question. Will the department review its funding formula to recognize the unique needs of the small communities? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

A really good question. This is an area that we are undertaking right now. Part of the criteria, the six pillars that we are discussing are small community schools. That would capture that and also the accountability when

it comes to funding. Those are the discussions that we are engaging in. We’re hoping by this fall we’re going to have a product to release to this House and also the general public about what we heard and we want to move forward on. So I‘m glad the Member is raising the profile, because it is part of the discussions as we move forward. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Blake.

Frederick Blake Jr.

Frederick Blake Jr. Mackenzie Delta

The last question I was going to ask is what was the timeline in which you expect this report to be done. Can we expect these changes for the loss of those positions? Can we assure those teachers who have moved to the Northwest Territories that their positions won’t be lost in the fall? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.