As I said, this is early days on this. We are going to draft some stuff and have a look at other jurisdictions, how things are conducted around minerals in other jurisdictions in Canada. We will be seeking input, as I have said, from a number of people and stakeholders in the Northwest Territories, and we are open to any suggestions and stuff as we move forward.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Thanks, again to the Minister for repeating the openness of the process that we are about to embark on, but I am looking for some direction. What is this government actually going to do? I am not hearing it. I will keep pushing because I have some ideas. Like the honourable Member from Hay River North, I have some ideas I would like to share, and I want to see the Minister respond to these sorts of ideas.

With the devolution, our government now has the authority over royalties paid by mining companies. I am sure the Minister, along with his Cabinet colleagues, wants to make sure that we retain as many benefits as possible from mining, including royalties. Earlier in the House, I noted that we collect three times as much money from taxes on tobacco and liquor as we get to keep in resource revenues under devolution. What is the Minister going to do to ensure there is a fair and comprehensive review of mining royalties and taxation? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The department hasn't taken a determination on this point yet. We are looking out for ideas and stuff. We are currently looking at other jurisdictions, as I have said, across Canada before we roll this out. We will probably be conducting a review and undertaking an analysis on a royalty regime across Canada.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in Committee of the Whole, when we were reviewing the Department of Justice's budget, I asked questions about a fence surrounding the North Slave Correctional Centre. At the time, the Minister of Justice, and I will quote from Hansard, said, "It is turning out this is a more complex and expensive matter than we had anticipated." On further questioning, Mr. Martin Goldney, the deputy minister of the Department of Justice, provided a few more details, noting that specialized and specific engineering studies were completed and that they anticipate things happening as soon as the summer. I would like to just get the Minister, again, on the record to let me know if this work is moving ahead and we can expect to see something moving forward in the summer. Thank you.

Masi. Minister of Justice.

Yes, Mr. Speaker. I am glad to advise that work is proceeding ahead. There was, of course, an escape from the facility last summer. A consultant was hired to provide the department with a cost estimate. Pending funding approvals, work may begin this summer. I want to assure the public, however, that until the recommended work has been completed, activities and access to the affected area is fully restricted, so there is no danger of another incident of the type that took place last August. Thank you.

I am sure my constituents and I are comforted to hear that a similar escape can't happen, but I think these improvements really need to happen. I am just wondering when we will see funding asked from the Minister's department, so we can get this work under way. I didn't see any in the supplementary appropriations. Are we going to see a funding ask any time soon?

I would expect that a funding request would be forthcoming in the summer. I can advise, however, that there have been other improvements that will be proceeding. There were two capital projects approved in the 2017-18 capital estimates for the complex, which included a security infrastructure renewal: electronic capacity to a CCTV camera on current fencing; and an improvement of the perimeter fence along the west property line to the main Kam Lake driveway entrance. It is expected that tendered documents on those two projects are currently being prepared for a spring tender and summer construction. Improvements to the facility are already being made dealing specifically with the issue of the escape that took place last August. We will be seeking funding likely in the next few months, in the summer likely.

That is a lot clearer, and I appreciate the Minister providing that information. My honourable friend the Member from Yellowknife raised communication issues around public safety concerns related to another department. I am wondering what protocols the department has in place for escapes such as the one that is required by these infrastructure improvements? Is there a protocol in place to let the residents who live next to the facility know as soon as something happens?

I want to make it clear that the department is opposed to escapes. If, of course, one does take place, as took place last summer, the public will be advised.

It's good to know that the department is opposed to it. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. One of our colleagues is fond of saying that the best form of income assistance is a job, but there are a substantial number of people, 1,700 people in Yellowknife who are working full-time but not earning enough to get themselves out of poverty. My question to the Minister is whether he is aware of the living wage movement and whether it is something he supports. Thank you.

Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I am aware of the living wage movement. We were part of the oversight committee in the last government, when the report was brought forth to this House that resulted in looking at the minimum wage throughout the Northwest Territories. I am very glad to say that, in June of 2015, we increased the minimum wage from $10 to $12.50, and we also made a commitment that we will review that minimum wage every two years. So, Mr. Speaker, I understand where the Member is coming from. We do have the second-highest minimum wage in the country, only aside to Nunavut, but I do understand where the Member is going with this. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you to the Minister for that. I just want to be clear that I am not talking about the minimum wage. I am talking about a different wage altogether. It's called a living wage, and it is calculated on a community-by-community basis according to the expenses that a family would have in that community, the level of taxation, the kinds of benefits and so on and so forth. So it's different in every place. It's not a minimum wage.

There are several ways that the government could support the living wage, such as providing funds to calculate the living wage in communities outside of Yellowknife. What is the living wage in Colville Lake? It would very interesting to know. Their food costs are much higher, but their accommodation costs are lower, so it would useful to have some funds to calculate the living wage in communities outside of Yellowknife and also to promote paying the living wage among employers because, after all, this is a systemic fix to poverty. Can the Minister commit to this action?

I understand that the group that brought forward the reports and the study that was done in 2015 did receive funding from the Anti-Poverty Fund to conduct that research. It is up to the employers, though, if they want to put forth paying their employees on a living wage or the minimum wage. Some of the employers that do decide to pay a living wage do it for many reasons. One of them is possibly to keep employees for long periods of time rather than spending more money on training and recruitment, so it is up to the employers on what they want to do. They do have to pay a minimum wage, which is $12.50, which we are currently going through a review.

Any families, whether they are families or individuals, that feel that they are not making enough money to meet their requirements for a living wage, we do also have a lot of programs within Housing, within Health and Social Services, within my department, the ECC, to help offset some of the costs.

The Minister is right. The initial amount of money to get this project going did come from the Anti-Poverty Fund. I want to stress again that this is a systemic solution to poverty that is fronted by businesses, not by government. Of course, government provides a lot of supports to people in poverty, but, if businesses could be persuaded of the benefits of paying a living wage, then people wouldn't need those social supports that are provided by the Minister's department. I am wondering if the Minister can see the relevance of investing in the living wage in order to help people get out of poverty for good?

We do understand that the high costs of living here in the Northwest Territories is very problematic, especially in some of our rural and remote communities. We did do a review of the minimum wage. I understand that the Member is referring to a report that talks about the living wage that was done in 2015. We are committed to reviewing the minimum wage. We also made an investment during this budget to work with industry and businesses to help work on our small community employment support program to help create jobs as well as to help subsidize wages for some of our residents that are looking for work. We are committed to looking at the minimum wage again. As I mentioned, we do have a lot of good social programs here within government to help offset some of those costs that the Member is referring to.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am drowning in the rising tide of the minimum wage, so let me finally ask the Minister: when will the minimum wage be reviewed again? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have a Minimum Wage Committee. I believe they met towards the end of 2016. They have met twice already in 2017. They have a couple of more meetings coming up. They are going to be looking at the data and the impact of what we did, increasing that minimum wage in June of 2015, and doing a review. Then they will be bringing recommendations to me, as Minister, and we will look at those recommendations. We will share it with committee and move on from there. So, right now, it's being conducted.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.