Debates of Oct. 30th, 2014

This is page numbers 5073 – 5106 of the Hansard for the 17th Assembly, 5th 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 school.

Topics

Oral Questions

Prayer

Junior Kindergarten Implementation

Support For Trappers Heading Into The 2014-15 Harvesting Season

Update On Public Works And Services Energy Conservation Projects

South Slave Divisional Educational Council Leadership Awards

Junior Kindergarten Funding Model

Arctic Energy Alliance South Slave Regional Office

Investments In Social Priorities

Regional Economic Plans

Role Of Kevin O’reilly On Giant Mine Remediation Project

Incentives For School Attendance

Intergovernmental Council On Land And Resource Management

Celebrating Educational Successes In The Sahtu Region

Fort Liard School Counsellor

Deadline Extension For Indian Residential School Personal Credits

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

Junior Kindergarten Implementation

Junior Kindergarten Funding Model

Investments In Social Priorities

Regional Economic Plans

Incentives For School Attendance

Sahtu Educational Facilities

Fort Liard School Counsellor

Deadline Extension For Indian Residential School Personal Credits

Intergovernmental Council On Land And Resource Management

Junior Kindergarten Funding Model

Mould Inspections In Public Housing Units

Bill 12: Northern Employee Benefits Services Pension Act

Motion To Extend Review Period Of Bill 12, Northern Employee Benefits Services Pension Plan Act

Tabled Document 156-17(5): Annual Report On The Activities Of The Rental Office, April 1, 2013, To March 31, 2014

Tabled Document 157-17(5): Northwest Territories Heritage Fund Annual Report For 2012-2013 Tabled Document 158-17(5): Northwest Territories Heritage Fund Annual Report For 2013-2014

Tabled Document 159-17(5): Department Of Education, Culture And Employment Projected Funded Pupil- Teacher Ratio (Ptr) Based On September 2013 Enrolment Data

Tabled Document 160-17(5): Yellowknife Catholic Schools And Yellowknife Education District No. 1, Correction: October 24, 2014, Media Release Tabled Document 161-17(5): Yellowknife Catholic Schools And Yellowknife Education District No. 1, Corrected (Oct. 28, 2014) Joint Media Release, Yk School Cha

Tabled Document 162-17(5): Legislative Assembly Retiring Allowance Fund Financial Statement For The Year Ended March 31, 2014

Bill 35: Supplementary Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2014-2015 Bill 37: Financial Administration Act

Bill 36: Health And Social Services Professions Act

Bill 38: An Act To Amend The Jury Act

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Concurrence Of Tabled Document 154-17(5), Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 4, 2014-2015

Concurrence Of Tabled Document 115-17(5), Northwest Territories Capital Estimates 2015-2016

Report of Committee of the Whole

Orders of the Day

Committee Motion 94-17(5): Concurrence Of Tabled Document 154-17(5), Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 4, 2014-2015, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair Daryl Dolynny

Thank you, Minister Beaulieu. Does committee agree?

Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

The Chair Daryl Dolynny

Thank you, committee. Sergeant-at-Arms, if you could please escort the witnesses into the House.

Minister Beaulieu, if you’d be kind enough to introduce your witness to the House, please.

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. With me today is the deputy minister of the Department of Transportation, Mr. Russell Neudorf.

The Chair Daryl Dolynny

Thank you, Minister Beaulieu. Mr. Neudorf, again, welcome to the House this evening. Committee, as we have agreed upon with convention, we will forego any opening comments and we will go straight to general comments. Seeing that there are no general comments, does committee agree to go into detail?

Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

The Chair Daryl Dolynny

Committee, we’ll defer page 71 of the Capital Estimates and we’ll go directly to page 72, airports, infrastructure investments, $2.879 million. Does committee agree?

Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

The Chair Daryl Dolynny

Page 74, marine, infrastructure investments, $400,000.

Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

The Chair Daryl Dolynny

Page 76, highways, infrastructure investments, $107.6 million. Mr. Bouchard.

Robert Bouchard Hay River North

I had a question about, obviously, the Tuk to Inuvik highway, and this being the budget after we’re expecting an accelerated amount. What is the department’s consideration if the estimated or the projected volume of road we’re supposed to complete isn’t done? Would this money be deleted from the budget or would it just be a carryover to the following year? I’m just wondering about the scheduling. We’re talking about an accelerated schedule. If we don’t meet those accelerated dates, what does that do to this budget? That would be basically the third year, right?

The Chair Daryl Dolynny

Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. Minister Beaulieu.

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The money would be carried over to the next year.

The Chair Daryl Dolynny

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Mr. Bouchard.

Robert Bouchard Hay River North

That’s it, Mr. Chair. I think we’ve discussed most of the issues tied to the acceleration and our concerns there.

The Chair Daryl Dolynny

Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. I’ll treat that as a comment. Again, committee, page 76, highways. Mr. Bromley.

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Just a comment. I think we have covered this to a good degree. Obviously, I don’t think we’ve come up with a response, but I would just note that highways, this division is accounting for 44 percent of our infrastructure budget. That’s probably almost the definition of putting all our eggs in one basket and I don’t think it’s a wise use of our resources.

The Chair Daryl Dolynny

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Again, I’ll treat that as a comment. Mr. Bouchard.

Robert Bouchard Hay River North

Along with the comments my colleague just made, I guess, we had the opportunity to meet with NTCL today, and they were obviously concerned about this volume, as well, the fact that I think there are some deficiencies in the marine industry that the Department of Transportation will be looking at and investing money into as opposed to doing it all on highways. Obviously, that’s a concern for them as a company that’s committed to marine, and they see the government investing in highways and roads, basically, supporting the diminishing amount of their market, so I guess they definitely had some concerns there. I’m just wondering if the department is looking forward to some of those discussions with marine companies. We’ve obviously brought up the issue of dredging, but there are also issues of docking and dock maintenance in several of the communities in order to get the goods and services into the communities. If I can get some comments from the department on that.

The Chair Daryl Dolynny

Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. Minister Beaulieu.

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The responsibility for navigable waters and dredging and so on in any of the waters is the responsibility of the federal government. However, we have invited NTCL, the main carrier that goes from Hay River up the Mackenzie along the Arctic Coast to participate in our multi-modal Transportation Strategy.

As far as the docks go, we used to receive money for docks. We don’t receive that anymore. We do

put some money into docks through our Community Access Program and help some small communities with docks.

The Chair Daryl Dolynny

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Committee, page 76, highways, infrastructure investments, $107.6 million. Does committee agree?

Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

The Chair Daryl Dolynny

Page 78, road licensing and safety, infrastructure investments, $1.05 million. Does committee agree?

Debates of Oct. 30th, 2014

Topics

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