This is page numbers 6517 – 6558 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 need.

Topics

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

Mr. Speaker, we’ve

worked

with

communities

with

business

development

officers,

economic

development

officers, to identify opportunities for folks to get into business. We have our SEED program, a loan program, as well as we have the BDIC for folks who are

interested

in

getting

some

of

these

opportunities that a new biomass facility is going to bring to the Northwest Territories.

In the Member’s riding and in the South Slave, these jobs are desperately needed. We understand that. That’s why government fully supports the development of that wood pellet facility in the South Slave. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Nadli.

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I think we’ve

experienced a forest fire over the past two years. It’s really affected communities along the highways. So we have, in some places, fallen trees and burnt out areas. In some cases they are close to communities.

Would the Minister commit his department to work with communities that are interested in salvaging the burnt wood that is closely situated to their community or along the highway? Mahsi.

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

Forest fires aren’t always

bad. As we know, they produce morel mushrooms and we’ve seen some economic benefit from that. As well, Mr. Speaker, with the trees that have burnt,

there are opportunities to harvest those for biomass as well. We’ve had some discussions with folks who are interested in doing just that. I would encourage folks, if they are in the Member’s communities, if they want to approach the Department of ITI, we would be interested in talking to them about harvesting that resource. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.

Robert Bouchard

Robert Bouchard Hay River North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions will be following my statement about northern students and student financial assistance, questions for ECE. The first question I have is I know we are dealing with students who have lived in the Northwest Territories, grew up in the Northwest Territories, have left their jurisdiction for a period of time and now have to re-establish their residency.

We aren’t talking about some person

coming from the South who has nothing to do with the Northwest Territories; we are talking about Northerners coming back. I want the Minister to commit to changing that residency for those northern students to three months. Will he do that?

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. Mr. Lafferty.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. As I indicated earlier to Ms. Bisaro, these are areas we are currently exploring. Residency has been the topic of discussion recently as well. Even though we’ve made some changes, there is always room for improvement within our policy. So the residency requirement, 12 months residency versus three months, we need to explore those options. What will be the ripple effects? What would be the benefits, pros and cons? I have already committed that this is an area that we are going to be exploring.

Robert Bouchard

Robert Bouchard Hay River North

The Minister has indicated that it’s a policy. The point is you don’t need to evaluate it. We don’t need to monitor it. We need students to come back. We need Northerners to come back to the North.

Why do we need to monitor this? Why not give our staff the ability to change that? The Minister has the power to make that with the swipe of his pen.

Can he commit to changing this policy right here? Don’t monitor it. We are getting Northerners back to the Northwest Territories. It should be a no-brainer. Will he commit to that?

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

If it was that easy, I would have made that change yesterday. We are, as my department, working diligently on the particular policy that we have in place. It’s been in since 2000, so 15 years.

Obviously, we are supporting our Northerners coming back to the North. When a Northerner lives in the South, whether it be Alberta or a provincial jurisdiction, they are sponsored with 12 months’ residency. They have the same residency as we do across Canada. So once they live in southern Alberta, as such, they will qualify for financial compensation to go to school. So, we need to be very careful how we approach that. We are currently looking at that, Mr. Speaker. Mahsi.

Robert Bouchard

Robert Bouchard Hay River North

Again, Mr. Speaker, the comments are “monitor, we’ll look into it.” Let’s just commit to getting Northerners back here. This government has a mandate to get 2,000 more people into the Territories. We need to figure out how to do that.

Whether it’s the legislation or it has

to be brought to this House, let’s bring it to the House. Let’s get that changed. We know it’s an issue. We know students go out and see the world after they are done high school. They are gone for a year. Those are the type of people we are dealing with as well. The Minister is giving the example of one person. We need to be flexible. We need to be able to change the student financial situation for the individual.

Is this Minister prepared to look at individual’s needs for student financial assistance? Thank you.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

I want to make it clear that we are supporting our northern students to return to the Northwest Territories. That’s the very reason we have increased and enhanced our SFA program. We have increased the basic grant from $1,900 to $2,400; increased the basic grant on books from $400 to $550; increased current remission rates by 50 percent; a $2,000 northern bonus for our students, a bonus for our students to come back to the North and explore the North. Those are just some of the enhancements that we’ve initiated in 2015. We continue to make improvements as part of the SFA program, one of the best in the Northwest Territories and Canada. Mahsi.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Robert Bouchard

Robert Bouchard Hay River North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I agree with the Minister; I think we have a great SFA if you fit into the cookie cutter and this is the way you did it: You went to Grade 12, next year you go to school. But if you don’t fit into that cookie cutter system that we have, you’re in trouble. You are going to have to fight and scream for every dollar and you are going to have to fight with your own territorial government to get support. We are looking for flexibility, not a stringent box.

Will the Minister commit to making this SFA flexible for those people who don’t fit into that box?

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Again, yes, I will be looking into it. We have to be very mindful. Our

northern students go south and they get sponsorship and they come back north to go to school. We have to be careful

that we don’t double-

dip. They get compensation, say, from Alberta government. At the same time, we sponsor them within the three months residency as is suggested here. Those are areas we are exploring, pros and cons, the benefits to our students. Whatever we do, provincial and territorial jurisdictions are watching us. Any changes we make, obviously we will need to work with them. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mr. Dolynny.

Daryl Dolynny

Daryl Dolynny Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As we await for the Financial Administration Act, or the FAA, to come into force in April 2016, there still seems some questions around the foundation of documents

that

sets

up

requirements

the

government must meet in borrowing money in serving its debt. This is the updated Fiscal Responsibility Policy, which was also referenced earlier today in the fiscal update.

Mr. Speaker, this policy was brought in in 2008 and was only found as a pamphlet online. It was never properly enacted as a policy of government, which makes its very existence very difficult for Members, very difficult for the public to find and, to be truthful, to actually understand it.

Until this new FAA comes into force, changes to this policy may only be made unilaterally by the Minister of Finance without any consultation of his Cabinet colleagues or Members of this House. So my questions today are for the Minister of Finance.

There are six Canadian provinces that have passed the Fiscal Accountability Act, taking their rules and policies and placing them into law. So, aside from small modifications made to the new FAA, would the Minister at least agree that the GNWT’s Fiscal Accountability Policy needs to be updated and properly enacted in a more formal manner? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Minister of Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

Yes, Mr. Speaker.

Daryl Dolynny

Daryl Dolynny Range Lake

That went too fast. I could barely hear the answer of the Minister. The Minister, during some of the FAA discussions, agreed that within the new act to have a Fiscal Responsibility Policy vetted through the Legislative Assembly process. But it still begs to ask why this policy has not been enacted as a big P policy of government.

Can the Minister indicate why this policy has never been given the same level of attention, and what is the department planning in this regard?

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

We’re turning

our attention here as we conclude the capital plan, of course, to planning and being involved in the transition process to identify issues and challenges. As part of that, there will be a proposed legislative agenda, so we are prepared to look at policies that are outdated. We’ve agreed to renew, for example, legislation that we adopted as mirror legislation as part of devolution. This policy, and I agree with the Member, it’s time for it to be looked at and, as he has indicated, formalized in a much more big P way.

Daryl Dolynny

Daryl Dolynny Range Lake

I got that response loud and clear and I appreciate it. With the new work underway by the Department of Finance in preparation for the enactment of the Financial Administration Act, which is on April 1, 2016, the premise of my concern here today is that fiscal accountability is too important to leave to mere policy. Rather, it should be enshrined in law.

Has the Minister given any consideration to the merits of passing a fiscal responsibility act?

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

The type of elevation and evolution of the current policy is one where we’re open to discussion. The issue of a piece of legislation versus a formalized policy, there are distinct differences and probably merits to each approach and we’re prepared to have that discussion.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Daryl Dolynny

Daryl Dolynny Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The New Brunswick Fiscal Transparency and Accountability Act goes as far as to impose a $2,500 penalty on Cabinet Ministers who fail to meet their financial targets.

Given that our Ministers operate in a vacuum, can the Minister indicate what penalties, if any, are imposed on our Ministers who fail to meet their financial targets?