This is page numbers 2143 – 2196 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 services.

Topics

Jane Groenewegen

Jane Groenewegen Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. We have an amazing group of people in Hay River who are highly interested in agriculture. I know the Minister has received a briefing from a very enthusiastic young lady, who has a market garden in Hay River, by the name of Jackie Milne who is now the president of the NWT Farmers Association. Ms. Milne has come up with an outline for training so that she can share her knowledge with others and encourage more interest in the idea of growing our own food, which we know is very, very possible here in the North.

The Northern Farm Training Institute is about to get underway. The Minister has heard the presentations. I’d like to ask the Minister what support ITI is offering for this new initiative to share this information with the surrounding communities and Hay River.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. David Ramsay.

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m going to have to be very nice on my answers to the Member here today, considering she’s going to be grading us tomorrow. We have met with Ms.

Milne when she was here in Yellowknife and my understanding is she is coming back to Yellowknife, I believe, on March 5th . Our department, and

hopefully myself, will be able to meet with her again. We are anxious to see her progress with her initiative and help out in any way that we can.

As I have mentioned a number of times in the House, we are moving forward with negotiating the Growing Forward 2 Agreement with the federal government, which will provide us $6 million over five years, and we’re hoping to access some of that funding to help with this initiative. Those discussions are underway.

Jane Groenewegen

Jane Groenewegen Hay River South

I do thank the Minister for his interest in this topic. Everything can’t be about the non-renewable resource sector. We have to put some of our attention to renewable resources and small-scale operations.

I’d like to ask the Minister, within his department, what kind of human resources and resources are dedicated to this issue of agriculture.

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

Over the past four or five years, we’ve had many more staff working on agricultural initiatives. They’re balancing their workload with other things as well. I would be guessing, but I would say five staff in the area that would deal with this type of work on a day-to-day basis.

Jane Groenewegen

Jane Groenewegen Hay River South

I think that it’s safe to say that agriculture is catching on across the Northwest Territories. We’ve always had the greenhouse in Inuvik. We hear wonderful stories coming out of Norman Wells. I think the real impetus and the real push for agriculture in the Northwest Territories, I have to give credit to the folks from Hay River who have kept this little struggling organization of the TFA alive, and have actually put their actions where their words are and have started market gardens and all kinds of different endeavours in that area.

I’d like to ask the Minister, does he not think that it would make sense to put the positions that are dedicated to agriculture in a place like Hay River.

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

As I mentioned, we have staff. They are multi-tasking on a number of economic initiatives here in the Northwest Territories. Certainly as things progress, and if we do have dedicated staff that are working in the area of agriculture on a day-to-day basis, it would certainly make sense for them to be located in Hay River.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Final supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Jane Groenewegen

Jane Groenewegen Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m not intimately familiar with people in ITI and what they do, but I believe there is one long-term public servant in Yellowknife with ITI that has been

focused on agriculture. Certainly, we also have another long-term staff position in Hay River, which we do appreciate.

When you’re talking about decentralization around the table with respect to agriculture, has there been any consideration to supporting agriculture in Hay River by looking at decentralizing that one full-time position that we know about in Yellowknife?

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

We haven’t done that analysis on those positions, but it’s certainly, as I mentioned earlier, as we move forward we get the deal done with the federal government on Growing Forward 2 and we put more of an emphasis on agriculture, and we’re getting closer to the devolution deal being done, once that’s complete and we take over responsibility of land management here in the Northwest Territories, positions like that may certainly make a lot of sense for us to have. As to a location, I think I said it earlier that Hay River would certainly make a good case for those positions.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Wendy Bisaro

Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are addressed to the Minister responsible for the Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission. Some time ago, in September 2010, actually, the WSCC Safety Advisory Committee started a revision of the Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission’s Occupational Health and Safety Regulations. That’s a big mouthful. These regulations were definitely in need of updating.

There was considerable backlash when the first draft of the regulations was put forward for consultation. There was a great deal of input from many businesses, so the board heard the criticism and the safety committee went back and they revised the regulations.

They produced a report in January 2012 which recommends acceptance of the second revision of the regulations. That report on the regulations would have been forwarded to the two Ministers for WSCC prior to them coming into force. It’s my understanding that these regulations are still not in force. They have not yet been approved by the Ministers. This is a huge amount of work on the part of the WSCC Board and the WSCC Safety Committee and the stakeholders. I want to know from the Minister what the status of the revision and implementation of the regulations are.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Minister responsible for the Workers'

Safety and Compensation Commission, Mr. Jackson Lafferty.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First, I would like to commend those individuals who have been involved with providing input into this. It’s a very comprehensive and complex regulation system that is before us. There has been some input and amendments to the regulations themselves. Right now, as it stands, I have forwarded that to WSCC Board of Governors. They are meeting in early March in Iqaluit. They are going to be reviewing that and they will provide recommendations back to me. From there I need to work with the Nunavut Minister responsible for WSCC, my colleague. From there we need to move forward on the regulations.

Wendy Bisaro

Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake

To the Minister, I couldn’t agree more that we need to move forward on this. This has been two and a half years from start to the point where we are now and we still don’t have these regulations in force. The report went to the two Ministers one year ago, over one year ago, and I don’t understand what the holdup has been. I’d like to know from the Minister if he can explain to me why a report that is dated January 2012 has not yet been acted on.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

As indicated, this is a very complex document. The Board of Governors will be reviewing it next week in Iqaluit and they will be reporting back to me, and I will be meeting with the chair and the counsel. My colleague from Nunavut as well. That’s where it’s at at the present stage.

Wendy Bisaro

Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake

I understand where things are at. I thank the Minister for his response. I guess I’m struggling with why they are where they are at.

The Minister stated that he is reviewing something and he’s going to send it back to the board. The report that came from the Safety Advisory Committee recommended acceptance of the regulations. What is the Minister currently reviewing and why does it have to go back to the board?

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

I have to work with various groups, whether it be the Safety Committee, the WSCC, the Governance Council, and also my colleague in Nunavut. It’s just a process that we’re going through. I realize that it is taking some time. Again, it is a complex issue but once it’s in my deliverance, then I need to consult with my colleague in Nunavut and possibly tabling the document, then we can move forward on the complex document that’s before us.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Wendy Bisaro

Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just have one question for the Minister and a nice, short question for the Minister at this point. When does the Minister expect that these regulations will come

into force, considering all the approvals that apparently have yet to be received?

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

They are meeting next week, the WSCC board council. Then once we get the report back, I need to hear them out as well. This came from the safety council, so from there we are hoping by this calendar year to deliver that package to part of the Assembly here. I will keep the Members up to speed on the process itself.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today I made a statement on devolution. I wanted to ask the Premier a question in terms of the status of groups that haven’t signed on to the AIP, including the Dehcho, the Akaitcho, and also the Tlicho regions that haven’t signed on. I wanted to know what the status is of the engagement process for those regions.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’re days away from having a devolution deal. I’ve written to all three of the Aboriginal governments. In order, I’ve written to the Dehcho First Nation a couple of weeks ago. Actually, I met with the grand chief at lunchtime today. We’ve agreed to a bilateral process to try to resolve outstanding land issues with the Dehcho First Nations, with the objective of getting the agreement for the Dehcho First Nations to sign on to devolution. We’ve had a number of meetings with the Tlicho and a similar offer has been made, inviting the Tlicho to sign on to devolution as well. They have responded with an offer. We are trying to set up a meeting for this week to try to finalize the arrangements. We also have written to the Akaitcho First Nations, and we have been trying to organize a leadership meeting to identify the issues that we need to discuss with the Akaitcho.