This is page numbers 2575 – 2598 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 going.

Topics

Daniel McNeely

Daniel McNeely Sahtu

Thanks for that response to the Minister. The attraction in the Sahtu this time of year is very ideal for fishing. As part of the consultation here, will the Minister commit to developing an action plan based on the survey so that a next step engagement is consulted with the forum if it is on a regional basis, and commit to that action plan being delivered as well?

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Now that the survey is completed, we are in the process of actually developing an action plan not for the dissimilation of the material, but also to make sure that we meet all the needs and that we address the policies and programs in a timely manner, defining which ones can be solved early, which ones will take more consultation and time to deliver. So we are developing an action plan on how to do that now? We are going to try to be as inclusive of communities as possible in the determination of the final policies, so once we roll out with the policies we will be looking for feedback. At this point, I cannot say what that feedback will look like because we are still developing that strategy.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.

Daniel McNeely

Daniel McNeely Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I look forward to engaging community consultations or a regional forum with the Minister, so would the Minister provide me some suggested dates here over the coming summer on the availability to discuss in some form to include community leaders of the Sahtu and also discuss some of the fruits of the labour of this document here for the rest of the term so the general public can have an idea what are the objectives for the term of this government? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As stated before, I am more than willing to visit the Sahtu region for a constituency tour to address all issues that community members in that region may have including the housing survey, and I am committing to try to be as inclusive as possible in the development of the policies and the new programs going forward. However, I cannot state yet what that would look like because we are still developing the plan on how to roll that out.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.

Cory Vanthuyne

Cory Vanthuyne Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier in the week, the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment issued a good statement about the NWT apprenticeship and trades strategy. The Minister's statement described efforts to connect industry and employers through partnerships in education and training. I am wondering: can the Minister give us more detail on industry partnerships the government has developed to support increased training and employment and how are we going to get these kids in front of potential employers? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First off, I just want to thank the Member for his support and encouragement for our students participating in the National Skills Canada Competition, and good luck to those students as well. We do have some really good students up here in the skills area. Along with the strategy that we did table earlier and made comments about, we do have a board that is made up of mostly industry. It is an industry-driven board. So they do a lot of the work and we work through that board to get a lot of this information out. They come up with a lot of the ideas on how we should move forward in terms of putting the strategy forward, and in the strategy we do have a lot of key actions that we are going to be working to complete and address, and it is mostly through this industry-driven board and working with our department that we are going to be focusing on getting those students into the job industry.

Cory Vanthuyne

Cory Vanthuyne Yellowknife North

Thank you to the Minister for his reply and his acknowledgement to my Member's statement. I appreciate that. Mr. Speaker, in the Minister's statement he also talked about how they will be implementing incentives for employers and in particular encouraging target groups like Indigenous residents and women to consider careers in the trades and that is good, but I would like to elaborate with the Minister and ask him: can he describe the ways in which the department will encourage the women and Indigenous people themselves to participate in trades and apprenticeship?

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

The resources that are going to be used to encourage this is through the schools. We will talk with students in the schools, as well as our career development officers, our employment transition officers that go out into the communities and actually get this information to those that might be on income assistance or looking at a career moving forward, and most recently we also made an announcement and an improvement into our small community employment support program that does on-the-job training, so we will work with our Aboriginal groups. As you heard earlier, one of my colleagues mentioned that we do have these bilateral meetings and this is something that we can continue to support and work together with our stakeholders and partners throughout the Northwest Territories to encourage more Indigenous people getting to the trades or into the workforce, as well as women into the trades and other workforces.

Cory Vanthuyne

Cory Vanthuyne Yellowknife North

Thank you to the Minister once again for a good answer on that. I think the small community support program will be an excellent way in which to accomplish that. Mr. Speaker, the Minister's statement says that approximately 4,700 apprentices have been certified under the government's apprenticeship program. That is, in my view, a success. Does the department have any figures to indicate how many of those people remain in the NWT currently? Have we been tracking northern employment retention in the trades?

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

That is one of the goals of our strategy, is to keep a northern workforce here in the North working, as well as looking at recruiting others to come up here and help industry for the in-demand jobs that we are seeing that is out there. I don't have the exact data in front of me of how many are still here and how many we are recruiting, but I can get that information for the Member and share it with him.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.

Cory Vanthuyne

Cory Vanthuyne Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and yes, I would agree that that is an important aspect. I mean, if we are the ones putting the effort and the investment into our youth and having them become successful trades journeypeople, well, then we would like to see them stay here in the North and be contributors here. Mr. Speaker, we obviously live in changing times. I would like to know: how does the department ensure that it stays on top of changing industry trends and technical innovations to make sure that our apprentices and tradespeople have the most up-to-date knowledge and skills possible? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and with our Apprenticeship, Trades and Occupational Certification Board, when we have meetings with them, get updates, we will ensure that. This is a concern of the Member, but I am sure they stay on top of it. It is industry-driven, so anything new and innovative that we are doing in industry, I am sure the board is on top of that. I have full trust and confidence that they are working in the best interests of industry, but also in the best interests of Northerners, and we will make sure that is part of the next discussions that we have with the board.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On our last sitting, I brought up the issue of airline passengers arriving at the Yellowknife Airport late at night; you know, if a flight is delayed, maybe at 1:00 in the morning or so, and then having to catch their connecting flight to Hay River early the next morning. The issue was that the airport would close for about a 90-minute window, and these people have to find somewhere to stay. Often there are no hotel rooms, and I know people who were lucky enough that a cab driver let them sleep on their couch for those couple hours. I asked the Minister about this before. He told me that, once Bill 7 passes, the revolving fund, which it did, they would start looking into this. Today he made a statement on the Yellowknife Airport Evolution, and I am wondering is a plan to keep the airport open 24 hours in the works so that his constituents do not have to sleep on strangers' couches. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister of Infrastructure.

Wally Schumann

Wally Schumann Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I stated in the House today, as we move forward on July 1st with the revolving fund for the airport, we believe it is going to be an economic driver for the City of Yellowknife and the citizens of the Northwest Territories. I believe that is something that we are going to have to have a look at through the business process. As I have said in the House, we have a number of consultative committees that look at this issue, and I will make sure that this is one of the ones that is on the table for them to have a look at moving forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Maybe someday, I guess. The Minister also mentioned the Department of Infrastructure is working with carriers on new or expanded routes. I know airfare and air travel into Hay River is a major issue. Can the Minister confirm whether or not the Department of Infrastructure is working on bringing new air carriers into the Yellowknife-Hay River route or perhaps working on a route from Yellowknife to Edmonton that stops in Hay River?

Wally Schumann

Wally Schumann Hay River South

Our job is not to lobby airline industries for which routes they take. Our job is to put the practices and opportunities in place that allow for businesses to develop in the Northwest Territories. I believe we have done that setting up the revolving fund. What came out of that, as soon as we brought this initiative forward, we had a number of air carriers get a hold of the department about possible routes coming particularly to the YZF airport around the revolving fund. I think that is an ongoing basis, and I think there are great opportunities particularly for the YZF airport.

I will speak to Hay River in short, as I know the Mayor of Hay River has raised this as a concern. I know he has reached out to a couple carriers in specific to try to get them to bring opportunities to Hay River and have a look at it. I believe as the economy in the South Slave picks up with a couple of initiatives that we are looking at moving forward down there, there will be an opportunity maybe for an air carrier to have a better look at it, and the economies of scales will work a little bit better for them. I personally have reached out to one carrier myself, too, to ask them to have a look at the situation in Hay River.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yesterday in Committee of the Whole, we rolled the money for the sobering centre into the current year's spending because the money had not been spent last year. So it seems like a good time to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services for an update on creating a sobering centre in Yellowknife. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.