Masi. Members' statements. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, colleagues. Mr. Speaker, this government will need to implement a prevention and public awareness strategy aimed at assuring that we keep marijuana out of the hands of children. This government will also need to consider whether or not it implements an age restriction higher than the restriction currently in place for alcohol. The OHM has recommended the minimum age be set at 25, to not inhibit brain development, and though I'm hesitant to entirely concur at this time, I look forward to the debate on how we provide least harm with the greatest opportunity at creating a growth industry for the Northwest Territories.

Minister, like our federal counterparts, I believe it's time we grow up and admit there are better policies at our disposal in regard to cannabis than prohibition. It's time we take this market out of the hands of criminals and maximize the benefits to both business and government coffers. It's time to regulate, not restrict; to prevent, not punish; and to stimulate growth, not hinder it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Sahtu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, my statement is in regard to the Sahtu Regional Health Centre, a long-term care facility in Norman Wells, a building very much needed and welcomed by the local community and surrounding communities. Mr. Speaker, we had the opportunity to tour this facility back in March 2016, and I thank the Minister and the Minister's staff at the regional and territorial level for arranging this tour. The facility is approximately 4,000 square footage, with 18 beds.

Mr. Speaker, the new facility will have approximately 45 positions to deliver services. Once the facility is in operation, the Town of Norman Wells and the surrounding communities will expand, and demands such as housing will be anticipated. Mr. Speaker, I will have questions for the Minister at the appropriate time on staffing, recruitment, and start-up. Mahsi.

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Frame Lake.

Merci, monsieur le President. The Con headframe has been in the news lately as part of the closure and reclamation plan of that site. I've expressed concerns about the closure plan for the Con Mine for many years as a private citizen living nearby. This was a productive gold mine that made significant contributions to Yellowknife since 1938, but I’m seriously worried about the environmental legacy it will leave behind. Water treatment alone will likely be required for hundreds of years, as will inspections and maintenance of the tailings pond covers and other structures, and a hazardous waste site will be left at the mine.

This is a complex site that will eventually be surrounded by our expanding city. We need to get it right. GNWT has surface leases covering a large part of the mine site that require the area to be returned in a condition that is satisfactory, without spelling out precisely what that means. Will our government accept the land back if there are perpetual care requirements, including monitoring and maintenance? Who will pay these costs that may not happen for decades or hundreds of years into the future? How will we be judged by future generations if we do not take care of our land and water?

There are also some contaminated lands in the area that are not covered by the current surface leases at the Con Mine. The Negus Mine operated from 1939 to 1952 and was then purchased by the adjacent Con Mine. There is an extensive tailings pond that was associated with the Negus Mine that remains largely uncovered. Half of it is under the closure plan for the Con Mine and the remainder is owned by Imperial Oil Limited. Tailings continue to blow around the area and have elevated levels of arsenic. During the review of the Con Mine closure plan in 2014 and earlier, I raised the issue of who owns this land, what if any remediation requirements there may be, and when it would be remediated? The GNWT Department of Lands undertook to respond but never did. The Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board also wrote the Department of Lands on March 30, 2015, on this same issue, but there is no evidence of any response.

All of this speaks to our lack of policy, standards, regulations, and laws to properly ensure that mine sites are closed and remediated in a satisfactory way, and I have raised this issue many times in this House. Saskatchewan has had an Institutional Control Program since 2005. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. As I was saying, Saskatchewan has had an Institutional Control Program since 2005, where properly remediated sites are accepted back by the government with payments into two funds to cover monitoring and maintenance, and then unforeseen events. More than two and half years after devolution, we still do not have a proper closure and reclamation regime in place to prevent public liabilities for future generations. I will have questions for the Minister of Lands later today. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the report from the Office of the Auditor General delivered a message about the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs that's both loud and clear: the department is not delivering enough support to communities that provide essential services to their residents. MACA can't simply transfer money to communities for drinking water, waste management, fire protection, and emergency preparedness and hope for the best, especially when the health and well-being of residents is at stake.

But that's more or less what's been happening. The most shocking finding for me is in the lack of support for community fire protection. I'm quoting from the report here: "The department did not know which communities had fire departments and if existing fire departments met the requirements of the Safety Act or could be considered responsive, including which had a sufficient number of trained firefighters." The department has known about this problem since its last assessment in 2010-2011, but has only started to respond to this crisis since this audit began.

Mr. Speaker, MACA has a responsibility set out in law and policy to actively monitor the delivery of all of these services. Yet time and again, the Auditor General found that MACA had received or was working with incomplete information from communities. The department requires accountability from communities but doesn't follow up if reports aren't provided, or to verify information given and then used for departmental planning. In some cases, the department knew about the gaps but hasn't been diligent in closing them. The consequences are that residents' safety is threatened in NWT communities, with out-dated emergency preparedness plans and stockpiles of hazardous waste.

Mr. Speaker, the department agreed with the 13 recommendations of the Auditor General, but that's obviously not enough. When the issues raised by the Auditor General are combined with those that result from the glacially slow efforts to revise and create legislation, I see a systemic problem. It shouldn't take years to follow up fire protection issues or having to wait until the next Assembly to revise the Cities, Towns and Villages Act. The department either has too few resources or too large a mandate to meet its legally mandated responsibilities. If ever a department was in need of a zero-based budget review, it's MACA. I'll have questions for the Minister.

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Hay River North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate the Northern Farm Training Institute, or NFTI as it is known, on successfully completing its first full year of operation, which included planting, growing and selling crops, raising livestock, and training 42 students from across the Northwest Territories.

NFTI began in 2013. Back then, the institute would hold short courses on other people's farms. It quickly became clear that there was an appetite for more in-depth training. Three short years later, NFTI is providing that training in spectacular fashion. NFTI’s campus is now the largest farm in the territory and includes a barn, greenhouse, classroom, student accommodations, as well as goats, sheep, cows, pigs, and more.

In total, NFTI has trained 127 people from 28 communities and outside the territory as well. Training now includes short one- or two-day courses, as well as longer internships. In addition, the Institute is used for research by southern academics and hosts conferences which draws attendees from outside the Territory and the country.

However, Mr. Speaker, the most exciting thing about NFTI is the potential it has to transform our territory. Students don’t just learn how to plant seeds and harvest crops, they learn everything they need to know to start farms in the North and turn those farms into sustainable businesses. We’re not just talking about community gardens; we’re talking about food and economic independence for Northerners. Not only will food security be enhanced in our small communities, where it’s desperately needed, but it will create wealth and that wealth will stay in those communities. Where conditions are right for larger-scale farming, like in the South Slave, NFTI will no doubt be one of the leaders in growing the industry and helping diversify our Territorial economy.

Mr. Speaker, I just want to say congratulations to NFTI. The territory and the South Slave is lucky to have them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Members' statements. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Mackenzie Delta.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to recognize my constituency assistant, Liz Wright. Also, the chair of the Porcupine Caribou Management Board, Joe Tetlichi, and the secretary/treasurer of the Porcupine Caribou Management Board, Deana Lemke. As you know, the Porcupine Caribou Management Board is the only wildlife management board that has a management plan for caribou, and I'd just like to thank them for all they do for the Porcupine Caribou on behalf of my constituents. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to recognize Yellowknife North resident and executive director of the NWT Seniors' Society, Barb Hood. I'd also like to take this opportunity to recognize the Yellowknife Seniors' Society's executive director, Kim Doyle. Thank you, and welcome to the House.

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Deh Cho.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to take a moment to recognize Nick Sibbeston, senator, lawyer, MLA and former Premier of the GNWT Legislative Assembly, and also a former member of the Sacred Heart Residential School, a survivor from Fort Providence. I would like to welcome him to the House. Mahsi.

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Nahendeh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize Nick Sibbeston, who is a constituent of mine, and his wife, Karen. Welcome to the Assembly. As well, I'd like to recognize Kim Doyle, who is a friend of mine. Welcome to the Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Those that we may have missed in the gallery, welcome to the Assembly. It's always great to have an audience as part of our proceedings. Masi. Item 6, acknowledgements. Item 7, oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, looking at some documents given to various partners regarding the Western Canada Lottery Program Funding Framework. I notice the department is looking at a five-year average and not a three-year average on giving their supplement, or their funding. This doesn't seem fair, as the lotteries during the 2012 to 2014 fiscal years were not as successful as the past three years. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister direct her department to go back and do the recalculations based on the past three years' deal that they had with the Sport and Recreation Council? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Actually, at this point we won't consider to go back and look at lowering the average of the years, and that is based on knowledge that we have. The Sport and Recreation Council used to control the funding, and their contributions for 2014 to 2017, so that was the three years, were based on ticket sale projections that were not achieved. This resulted in reduced contributions for 2015-2016 and 2016-2017. So using the five-year base for the funding is actually more appropriate; people can more count on what they're getting. So we have promised to every organization that they will actually get the same amount of funding they got last year regardless, and we are projecting that there will be more funding for the organizations based on the tax savings that we will be taking in. So at this point, no. We will look at it after a year or two, but right now we will not do that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.