Glen Abernethy Minister of Health and Social Services

I think we actually need to see the audit to report first and see what it says and what the recommendations are. I will certainly work with committee to find out or put in place regional responses to those so we can actually improve and continue to provide high quality services to our residents in the area of child and family services. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources. I would like to start by noting yesterday we saw the GNWT sign the MOU on industry development with representatives from Fort Resolution. This appears to be a very positive development.

Could the Minister outline what he sees as the next steps in creating sustainable forestry in the Northwest Territories? Thank you.

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Member’s question. I do

appreciate him sending me a note and giving me a chance to open up my binder to double check my briefing notes.

I agree with him that the signing yesterday is a good news story. That signing yesterday was a political agreement. By the end of this month, we will work out with Fort Resolution the time to sign the actual formal detailed forest management agreement that lays out the 25-year agreement, the details pertaining to the areas and the harvesting and all the species to be harvested and such.

With that document and hopefully one to come from Fort Providence in the very near future, then we will have the basis for both the business interests as represented by Aurora Wood Pellets and then the three or four Aboriginal governments, the Metis, the Deninu K’ue Band in Fort Resolution and the First Nations Dehcho and Metis in Fort Providence to be able to start putting their business plans together, their harvest plans. With assistance from ourselves, the federal government and other supports, we are going to work with the communities to help them set up their business.

Aurora Wood Pellets anticipates trying to break down by June. The intent is to hopefully be harvesting trees by next winter. Thank you.

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thanks to the Minister. That sounds like a very interesting project. I’d love to hear another announcement before the end of this session as we had yesterday with the Fort Providence people.

Some people are wondering how a pellet mill will compete with pellet mills in BC and Alberta that seem to have cheaper power, cheaper labour and practically free access to sawdust from onsite lumber mills. So, basically if we’re going to export wood pellets – and that’s basically what I’ve been hearing – what is our competitive advantage here? Mahsi.

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

In fact, down south, from my understanding, at one point the use of wood waste was considered to be a benefit to the wood pellet producers. It was seen to help the lumber mills manage all their excess and waste, but now the recognition has come that this biomass has value and so the issue of free sawdust and free slabs and waste for pellet mills is now a thing of the past. In fact, there is a fairly high rate of attrition.

We will look at stumpage fees. Aurora Wood Pellets will negotiate their arrangement with their respective Aboriginal governments or business interests representing Aboriginal governments in terms of the wood product. The owner of Aurora Wood Pellets is convinced – and he’s doing his own business case – that he is going to be investing many, many millions of his own dollars that he can provide a product in the Northwest Territories with Northwest Territories trees at a 20 to 30 percent

lower rate than we’re currently paying for products being shipped in from the South. Thank you.

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you for the details, Mr. Minister, that sounds really positive. Stumpage fees might have been the key there. I appreciate that competitive advantage is working out on paper and hopefully it does in practice.

A wood pellet plant on the South Slave grid would take advantage of our local green hydro power and presumably use local biomass energy for drying the wood before it is pelletized to the extent that it needs to be done.

Has the Minister considered that this would make NWT produced pellets even greener than the pellets we currently import from Alberta and BC?

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

Yes, I’ve had numerous discussions with the owner of the wood pellet project as well as the Ministerial Energy Coordinating Committee, ENR and NTPC looking at, as the Member has indicated, using some of their own product and the waste heat to both possibly generate power as well as capture the heat so they can dry all the pellets and put that heat to use.

As well, with our net metering policy that is now being put into place, we would now have the capacity to potentially put back power into the line. If it’s located in Enterprise, then it will become a hub close to the railhead right on the main highway. We also see a very significant future potential with biodiesels and biofuels where wood is converted not just to wood pellets but to different fuels. That would be a whole additional market for this plant. Thank you.

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bromley.

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks again to the Minister. It sounds more and more positive. We know that our forestry officials are highly qualified, so I assume we will be applying best practices as we develop our forest management plans.

The logical next question is Forest Stewardship Council certification is now the best known standard for sustainable forest products.

Will our wood pellets be able to take advantage of the FSC certification as we market them both here in the NWT and abroad? Mahsi.

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

The proponent is a very astute businessman. He has, throughout, immersed himself in this industry. He’s had his contacts with export markets as well as in the North. As well, we will be looking to support him and encouraging him as a government, as we have, in terms of building his product and making sure that all the required classifications are there that

would make this an absolutely premium product. Thank you.

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are to the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. I want to ask Mr. Ramsay about the goal of attracting workers to at least 2,000 over the next five years, according to the budget address by the Minister of Finance. As Minister of ITI, what plans does he have in place, with regard to working with other department officials, to attract workers into the Northwest Territories?

Yesterday we watched a short video of the people up in Yellowknife, Norman Wells. Shotagotine people and life on the land. We also saw a clip in 1957 where there was oil being worked on in Norman Wells. Any kind of economic development attracted workers to come to the Northwest Territories. Do they come for the economic reasons, the cultural reasons or the social reasons? What types of plans are in place to attract workers to stay in the Northwest Territories?