Debates of Feb. 28th, 2017

This is page numbers 1991 - 2054 of the Hansard for the 18th Assembly, 2nd 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 community.

Topics

Oral Questions

Prayer

Minister’s Statement 145-18(2): Progress In Negotiating Land, Resources And Self-Government Agreements

Western Canada Lottery And Sutcliffe Report

Department Of Justice Progress Report On Governance Access And Privacy

New Behchoko Sports And Recreation Complex

Fortieth Anniversary Of Northern United Place

Unified Vision And Strategy For The Northern Territories

Small Business Incentives

Hockey Tournaments In Nahendeh

Supports For Priority Hiring Candidates Under The Affirmative Action Policy

Benefits Of Sport And Traditional Games For Indigenous Athletes

Aklavik Road Repairs

Federal Review Of Laws And Policies Related To Indigenous Peoples

Strategy For Revitalization Of The Great Slave Lake Fishery

Committee Report 7-18(2): You Are Standing For Your People: Report On The Review Of The Members’ Conduct Guidelines

Motion To Receive Committee Report 7-18(2) And Move Into Committee Of The Whole

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

Federal Review Of Laws And Policies Related To Indigenous People

Unified Vision And Strategy For The Northern Territories

Critical Incident Investigation Recommendations

Process For Filling Unfunded Positions

Supports For Priority Hiring Candidates Under The Affirmative Action Policy

Arsenic Levels In Kam Lake

Earnscliffe Strategy Group Contract

Western Canada Lottery And The Sutcliffe Report

Aklavik Road Repairs

Housing Engagement Survey

Lobbyist Registry Proposal

Junior Kindergarten Funding And Implementation

Tabled Document 303-18(2): Government Of The Northwest Territories Response To Committee Report 3-18(2): Report On The Review Of The 2014-2015 Northwest Territories Human Rights Commission Annual Report

Tabled Document 304-18(2): Follow-Up Letter For Oral Question 477-18(2): Housing Engagement Strategy

Tabled Document 305-18(2): Federal Lobbyist Registration For Earnscliffe Strategy Group

Tabled Document 306-18(2): White Paper On The Independence And Accountability Of Election Administration In The Northwest Territories

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Tabled Document 261-18(2): Main Estimates 2017-2018, Department Of Justice, Deferral Of Further Consideration Of The Estimates For Justice

Tabled Document 261-18(2): Main Estimates 2017-2018, Department Of Municipal And Community Affairs, Deferral Of Regional Operations Activity

Tabled Document 261-18(2): Main Estimates 2017-2018, Department Of Municipal And Community Affairs, Deferral Of Sport, Recreation And Youth Activity

Tabled Document 261-18(2): Main Estimates 2017-2018, Department Of Municipal And Community Affairs, Deferral Of Further Consideration Of The Estimates For Municipal And Community Affairs

Report of Committee of the Whole

Orders of the Day

Committee Motion 67-18(2): Tabled Document 261-18(2): Main Estimates 2017-2018, Department Of Municipal And Community Affairs, Deferral Of Regional Operations Activity, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Minister. Mr. Testart.

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Not to belabour this, but I assume that there are strings attached to this money and how it is used, or has it been given to us with broad latitude to develop the programming as we see fit? Thank you.

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Testart. Minister.

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would like to be able to say that they just gave us the money and said, do what you want, but the reality is they do have pretty firm guidelines on it. We are working closely with the Aboriginal governments to develop an online training program relevant to Aboriginal governance specifically. So it's a partnership between the Aboriginal governments, the Government in the Northwest Territories, and the federal government. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Minister. Mr. Testart.

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So just vis-a-vis my suggestion that LGANT might be in a better position to deliver these services for less, how long will this funding last and when could this government start considering making changes to the delivery of these programs?

Are we locked in for four years or are we locked in for one? What is the length of this funding and how long is it limiting our ability to make changes to the school community government activity? Thank you

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Testart. Minister.

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Currently, the federal funding is on a yearly basis, but they have shown a commitment and voiced a commitment to actually work further in this area towards supporting Aboriginal self-governance. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Minister. Mr. Testart.

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

Thank you. Then perhaps in next year's business plan, we could evaluate whether or not LGANT -- could the Minister make a commitment to including that kind of evaluation in next year's business plan, then, after we've seen the course of this funding expire? Thank you.

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Testart. Minister.

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chair. At this point, I'm not willing to commit to that. It would take a lot of thought. At this point, we wouldn't be looking at LGANT to do, for example, city council training, those kinds of things. Also within our 18th Legislature, we have a mandate that talks about the online support services. So in order to meet our mandate we want to make sure that we do it appropriately and we want to make sure the community governments have the services they want and actually have a say if we were going to turn that programming over. At this point, the community governments have had nothing but positive comments in regard to the support that Municipal and Community Affairs is giving them, so I would not want to make a determination without asking them if they wanted to drop our support and take on another entity. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Minister. Mr. Testart.

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will leave this issue, but I will say I appreciate where the Minister is coming from. This government has made unilateral funding decisions, not necessarily in this department but in other departments, without necessarily talking to our partners. So I think, if we can provide the service for less and find greater efficiency, which is what my suggestion is we can do with LGANT, then it's beholden on us to look at that opportunity and see if it can be made a reality if it doesn't compromise service delivery.

So I'll just leave that with the Minister and hope that one day we might see a more enhanced and effective service delivery for this activity. Thank you.

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, for that comment, Mr. Testart. Seeing nothing further I will call this activity. Municipal and Community Affairs, School of Community Government, operations expenditure summary, activity total, $2,855,000. Does committee agree?

Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Moving on to our final activity: sports, recreation and youth on pages 338 to 342. Seeing no comments or questions. Mr. Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

In her opening remarks, the Minister talked about providing youth ambassadors across the territory once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for volunteers, and that. So can the Minister please advise us exactly how many opportunities our youth will be getting this year? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister.

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chair. That actually is very difficult to break down. We have a number of different programs that provide supports. Some of them are under $5,000, some of them are over $5,000, some of them are school-based supports, some are where people can even apply for support, so it's really hard to actually put a number down on how many supports we will actually be providing in the year when the pots are so varied and so many and people can apply for so many different amounts. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Minister. Mr. Thompson.

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think what I will do is a colleague once told me, if you didn't ask the question, ask it again properly. So the question is: the youth ambassadors program is being offered; this is in your opening remarks. So how many youth ambassador programs are being offered for this fiscal year coming up? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister.

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Specifically for the Youth Ambassador Program, recently we just had the 2016 NWT Association of Communities 50th Anniversary Conference in Yellowknife. We have also just done the 2016 Arctic Winter Games in Greenland. Upcoming events include the 2017 Canada Summer Games in Winnipeg in July and the 2018 Arctic Winter Games in the South Slave in March. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Minister. Mr. Thompson.

Debates of Feb. 28th, 2017

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