This is page numbers 4215 - 4241 of the Hansard for the 18th Assembly, 3rd 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

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Nunakput.

Marine Transportation Services
Members' Statements

Page 4223

Herbert Nakimayak

Herbert Nakimayak Nunakput

Thank you Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Marine Transportation Service provides the essential delivery of goods, fuel, and services that the Nunakput communities rely on annually. A barge was expected to reach Paulatuk around August 12th, but residents report that the barge and their goods did not arrive. Subsequently, the barge deliveries were cancelled due to the ice conditions in the Beaufort Sea.

MTS issues go well beyond the impacts of our changing climate. This year's failure to deliver goods by barge will have a very negative social and economic impact on Nunakput residents and businesses.

Mr. Speaker, purchased vehicles, fuel, and construction materials are stuck in Inuvik. We don't know when these goods will be delivered. We wonder whose houses won't get built this year. The phones are ringing day and night about the lost business and frustration of customers who ordered the freight. Mr. Speaker, I think that they deserve an honest answer.

For example, what will the Minister say to the people who will be out of work because of building materials that didn't make it in? One contractor had eight guys on the job and has had to scale back already because they are running out of material. This means that four families likely won't have a home this year.

Mr. Speaker, action needs to be taken to move as much freight to the coastal communities as possible, but I also want action taken so that barge deliveries are reliable in the future. They should never have to wait two years for their goods.

With the new Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway, MTS can utilize Tuktoyaktuk as a port and staging location for its northern service to coastal communities. With the window of the operating season so short in the Arctic, we need to seriously look at Tuktoyaktuk as a logistical site for supplying the North.

Mr. Speaker, the issue of the barge cancellation began in Alberta, where the petroleum products were purchased, where inspections failed in the Northwest Territories, halfway down the Mackenzie River.

Mr. Speaker, moving forward, the Minister should take a hard look at MTS operations and make a plan that will serve the people of the territory. That is what governments are meant to do. The human costs of this year's failure of service seem to be overlooked. The GNWT's mandate is to improve the quality of life for our residents. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Marine Transportation Services
Members' Statements

Page 4224

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

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

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it has been just over three years since the Members of this 18th Assembly were elected. With less than a year remaining in this term, I find myself reminiscing, and that has brought up a lot of mixed feelings.

I wanted to become an MLA to effect real change, and while I have been able to contribute and get a few things done here and there, I have to admit that I am disappointed with where we are now compared to where we were when we all took office.

There are issues that I bring up with Ministers in their offices, with the departments in committee meetings, and on the floor of this House, year after year after year, and unfortunately I have to bring them up again in this sitting because they haven't been adequately addressed, if they have been addressed at all.

I am disappointed that I constantly have to reassure my constituents that I am still working on the issues that they bring to me over and over again. Frankly, it is not that reassuring that I work on the same issues year after year without any discernable progress.

While I can't speak for the rest of the Members on this side of the House, I wager that nearly every one of them has the same opinion. Many of us share the frustration that we hear from the public every single day.

Like I said, assessing our situation has brought up mixed feelings, Mr. Speaker. While I am disappointed, I am also optimistic and excited because we still have a year left to get things done.

I can't let this job get me down, Mr. Speaker. The privilege of being an MLA comes with too much responsibility. I have learned a lot in the past three years, and I truly believe that, if we listen to each other and work together, we can make the most of our final year and tackle some of these ongoing problems.

Mr. Speaker, I am going to keep fighting for improved healthcare and mental health services in Hay River, for adequate funding for schools across the territory, for a more diversified economy and better support for small businesses, for the government to live up to its funding agreement with communities, and for solutions to all of the other ongoing problems, and I am going to do my best to light a fire under this Cabinet so that, when I reminisce a year from now, I will be proud of what this Assembly accomplished. It is going to be a challenge, but I am confident that we can do it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Members' statements. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Minister of Lands.

Returns To Oral Questions
Returns To Oral Questions

Page 4225

Louis Sebert

Louis Sebert Thebacha

Mr. Speaker, I have a Return to Oral Question asked by the Member for Frame Lake on February 15, 2018, regarding any potential federal indemnification of TerraX at the Ptarmigan Mine Site. The Government of Canada has confirmed to GNWT officials that no form of indemnity has been offered to TerraX related to the Ptarmigan Mine Site. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Returns To Oral Questions
Returns To Oral Questions

Page 4225

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Kam Lake.

Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery
Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

Page 4225

Kieron Testart

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

Merci, Monsieur le President. I would like to recognize a long-time friend of mine, Mr. Michael Beauchamp, who joins us today as a visitor in the gallery. Thank you.

Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery
Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

Page 4225

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Item 6, acknowledgements. Item 7, oral questions. Member for Nunakput.

Question 356-18(3): Marine Transportation Services
Oral Questions

October 11th, 2018

Page 4225

Herbert Nakimayak

Herbert Nakimayak Nunakput

Quyanainni, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier I spoke about MTS and barge deliveries to the northern part of the territory, and my questions are for the Minister of Infrastructure.

Mr. Speaker, my first question to the Minister is: what commitments are in place to ensure that cost of living for coastal communities in Nunakput doesn't rise from this error? 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. First of all, this isn't an error; this is a situation that happened because of unfortunate ice that came down. I have been on TV. I have been interviewed a number of times around this issue. I have reassured the public through the media that the Government of the Northwest Territories is committed to arranging and covering the costs of the air-lifted goods to the communities.

In particular, we want to get in the fuel. We have an RFP that is closing today on air-lift of fuel into the communities; that's our number one priority, even though there's no immediate danger of a fuel shortage within the communities. Once that is completed, we are also at the same time looking at all the commodities on a commodity-by-commodity basis and a community-by-community basis, but the community of Paulatuk will be the first to be addressed through that, and we were going to be looking at it on a customer-by-customer basis. As of today, our staff and our ADM has flown in to meet with the community of Paulatuk. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Herbert Nakimayak

Herbert Nakimayak Nunakput

I don't think there was any ice on August 12th for the first delivery, but I appreciate the department's effort to go and explain to the community what's going on. I think that's very essential and important for something like this.

Mr. Speaker, the cancellation happened last week. We'd like to think that the department would move faster on an issue like this for larger centres. This means the department will consider some store items as non-essential that are delivered to Paulatuk, Mr. Speaker, on this air lift. Store shelves and business shelves may likely remain empty throughout the year. Mr. Speaker, why is the request for proposals for shipping goods only closing today?

Wally Schumann

Wally Schumann Hay River South

As I've said, the RFP is closing today for the air-lift. One of the things that we wanted to make sure is we wanted to make sure the airline companies had enough time to make sure this was a feasible, fair process for them to bid on it. We don't want it to be a rush thing and cause us more problems down the road. So that RFP is closing today. I suspect the fuel delivery will start and commence as early as next week.

You know, there are a number of things that have to be put into place when we do this, around the logistics things. We have to transfer freight off the barges to our storage facility in Inuvik, we have to re-pack containers so they're suitable for air transportation, we have to organize loading and unloading of aircraft in the communities, we have to prepare staging areas. So there are a number of things that we have to do for this air resupply program, and hopefully it's going to commence, as I've said, as early as next week.

Herbert Nakimayak

Herbert Nakimayak Nunakput

I appreciate the response from the Minister that they're starting to move on this issue. Mr. Speaker, the Minister is also a businessman. I would like him to put himself in the place of businesses that will lose out on a whole year in a place where there are no roads, paying off goods that they cannot receive. Mr. Speaker, can the customers who lost out on the business and harvesting opportunities from this cancellation get compensated by the Government of the Northwest Territories?

Wally Schumann

Wally Schumann Hay River South

Yes, in my previous life, I was a businessman, and if I lived in the High Arctic I'd realize there are some substantial risks to getting my freight in, just because of the conditions that these people live in and the challenges of getting up there. Cargo is offered and shipped with no guarantee of delivery; people know that when they sign their bill of lading. The turbulent conditions clearly lay that out. There is also insurance payable to third-party customers to ensure they carry insurance on their cargo in case it is damaged, but we went out of our way as a government, and that's one of the reasons we purchased this MTS, to bring stability to this, because I've said publicly and I'll say it in this House: if this was a private company that owned this, they would phone you and say, "Do you have cargo on your freight?" Yes? Let's deal with that. If you don't, "Where do you want your stuff parked until next year?"

We're trying to make the best we can of this situation and look after the residents.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.

Herbert Nakimayak

Herbert Nakimayak Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. You know, for someone who's struggling up north with these issues right now that they've faced, Mr. Speaker, I know MTS is owned by government, but they need to run it like a business, not like government. Mr. Speaker, complaints all around across the territory, likely even MTS employees, say that, you know, the responses are slow and very rare, if any at all.

Mr. Speaker, earlier, I spoke about using Tuktoyaktuk as a site and how important it is to separate the southern part of the territory and the northern part of the territory. Mr. Speaker, there is a hub in Hay River, but there's also a hub in Tuktoyaktuk which serves the Arctic Ocean. Mr. Speaker, will the department commit to utilizing Tuktoyaktuk as a logistical point for MTS deliveries to Nunakput communities in 2019 and to the future for better productive service? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Wally Schumann

Wally Schumann Hay River South

The short answer is, no, we're not going to be looking at Tuktoyaktuk in the short term because Hay River is the most intermodal northern connection to the whole continental supply chain; that's where the majority of the fuel comes; that's the majority of our freight; and at this point in time right now, we're still going to use Hay River. Tuktoyaktuk could be an advantage at some point. I've said that we would continue to review our ongoing operations as we go forward. I'm not just blaming the ice for this whole thing. There could be some lessons learned from the department and scheduling of barges and such going forward.

The other point I want to make quite clear is that a lot of people have phoned me thinking we have one barge servicing these communities. We have five barges, tugs, going simultaneously supplying all these communities up and down the river system and on the Arctic coast. We had a challenging ice season and some Members think it's maybe kind of funny that we should run it as a business. It didn't work out so well when the business ran it; they went bankrupt. That's why the government of the Northwest Territories stepped in to protect the residents of the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Merci, Monsieur le President. I have some questions for the Minister of Education, Culture, and Employment following up on my constituency newsletter drop earlier this year. The federal government is improving parental benefits under its employment insurance program. Parents can share the 40 total weeks in various combinations, with a minimum of five weeks available for each parent, effective June 1, 2019. What is our government doing to coordinate NWT parental benefits available to our residents with this new federal initiative? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister of Education, Culture, and Employment.

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are aware of the changes to the Canada Labour Code, and we are working diligently. Our employment standards acts usually mirror the Canadian Act as well, so we're actually working at this moment to develop a plan to engage stakeholders around the changes that need to be made. We're looking at a couple of changes. Some of them are in the federal legislation, but some of them are our own, too. We're looking at leave provisions for parents, family, caregivers, and victims of domestic violence, but we're also looking for inclusion of domestic workers, for example, nannies and things. We're seeing an influx of that coming into the Northwest Territories. So we are expanding what we're doing, actually, into developing a more comprehensive workers' Employment Standards Act that meets the needs of the residents of the territories currently. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

I want to thank the Minister for that response. I did give her a heads-up about these questions, and I appreciate that she's doing some work on the Employment Standards Act. That's one of the things that does need to change, to make sure that we're ready for this June 1, 2019 deadline. Can the Minister tell us whether it's the intention of our government to actually get those changes to the Employment Standards Act done in time to meet the federal employment insurance benefits changes that are to come into effect on June 1, 2019?

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

We are working diligently to be as timely as possible. Like I said, we're doing a stakeholder engagement. That should be done by the end of this fiscal year. Then we're suspecting that we'll have a legislative proposal ready to be delivered to the standing committee early in 2019. So we are trying to get it done as soon as possible.