This is page numbers 4621 - 4676 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 communities.

Topics

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. I apologize, I did not give him much of a heads-up. Today I catalogued a number of concerns with the quality of the tourism products being offered and this government's ability to regulate the industry for the protection of tourists and our product reputation. Could the Minister briefly explain how the tourism licensing system operates and what consequences there are for persons operating without licensing? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. The Honourable Premier.

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. You cannot manage what you cannot count. Our licensing system allows us to know how many people are delivering tourism services, what they are, and what time of year their products are being delivered. It can help us measure growth, identify gaps, and guide our planning and investment. We also have legislation that determines which areas of tourism require licences.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Recent years have seen an explosion of tourism, and I believe the Minister talked about that in his statement earlier today, and a lot of this a related to aurora viewing. Can the Minister give us some idea in the growth in the number of Yellowknife operators and licences in recent years?

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

This year, we have 151 tourism licence holders in the Northwest Territories. Last year, we had 147 tourism licence holders. Five years ago, we had 109 tourism licence holders.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

I would like to thank the Premier for those numbers. So, a very significant growth, almost 50 percent it looks like. According to all indicators, the volume of visitors and the tourism operators will continue to grow. This raises some issues for me and other residents of the NWT around the adequacy and suitability of the measures that we use to regulate, inspect, and enforce our tourism licensing. In light of the issues that I raised earlier today and that are out in the media, what evaluation and possible legislative changes are needed to ensure we have the right tools in place to meet these challenges?

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

I have been involved with the Department of ITI. In fact, I was the Minister, I think, for the first year of this government. We do not see this as a systemic problem, and I am not convinced that it is today. We are more interested in growing our industry and its capacity than we are in pursuing discipline, especially if there is apparently opportunity to turn it into growth. If we want to change this approach, it would require changes to the Tourism Act, and I would expect that it would have to be done in the next Assembly.

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 think I differ with the Premier's assessment of the state of the industry and our capacity to regulate it. My statement also mentioned the inadequacy of consumer protection laws. Here, tourism officers of course cannot sit around and read to see what kind of advertising and services are out there. It's important that we have a vigorous system to receive and investigate complaints and provide restitution where appropriate, and that includes, of course, the ability for tourists to hear back about complaints, even while they are here, in town. So can the Minister explain how our tourism-complaint system works and whether it's adequate as currently operates?

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

As the Member knows, the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs deals with consumer protection, so we work closely with MACA but primarily in areas of licensing accommodations in communities. In the area of enforcement, we work much more closely with the Department of Infrastructure and the City of Yellowknife and even the RCMP. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.

Herbert Nakimayak

Herbert Nakimayak Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier, I spoke of mould in new construction and mould in the Northwest Territories, and my questions are for the Minister of Housing. Mr. Speaker, to date, what kind of public information initiatives has the Housing Corporation delivered to educate residents on mould prevention and remediation? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think education, client education, in terms of public housing is key in preventing such things as mould, also with our repair programs. Specifically speaking about the mould issue, we have incorporated mould-prevention information with our STEP home maintenance and repair course as well as provided information on our website, and I encourage anyone who might be experiencing any kind of mould issues just to take a look on our NWT Housing Corporation website. They have got a lot of information on there to help assist in terms of prevention as well as cleaning and how to present it from happening. Any of our public-housing tenants who are experiencing mould in the small communities, I also encourage them to contact their local housing organizations. We are also working with homeowners to address some of the issues that they have. So NWT Housing Corporation have been very strong educators in terms of how to address the issue around mould, and we will continue to work with our tenants as well as even our homeowners in our communities.

Herbert Nakimayak

Herbert Nakimayak Nunakput

I appreciate the response. It's good that the LHOs also do outreach in the communities where people do not have access to the Internet. Mr. Speaker, when the Housing Corporation builds new units, how are these units built with moisture management and mould prevention in mind?

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Mr. Speaker, the NWT Housing Corporation installs moisture-resistant drywall in bathrooms to reduce the chances of mould. Proper use and maintenance of ventilation systems by tenants and homeowners also helps to prevent mould formation. We evaluate new products for potential use in new construction when we are building new units in the communities, and keeping in mind you need northern considerations, such as transportation costs and installation. We also work with our partners. As the Member knows, the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation has been a big partner in terms of building new units up in the Beaufort Delta region. They have installed heating, ventilation, and air conditioning, so HVAC, equipment in the units, and they are helping address some of these issues. They are more modern. They are more energy efficient, and hopefully will be easier to maintain as we move forward.

Herbert Nakimayak

Herbert Nakimayak Nunakput

I appreciate the response. Mr. Speaker, it's good, and I would like to encourage the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation on better construction methods and also more culturally appropriate housing for people who live on subsistence harvesting. Mr. Speaker, if residents are living in a Housing Corporation unit with mould problems, what steps can they take to see the issue diagnosed and addressed?

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned, first and foremost, I would encourage any tenants who might feel that they are experiencing mould to contact their LHOs. The LHOs also do annual inspections for things such as mould and try to address it before it gets out of hand, I guess you can say, or gets too large to manage. The NWT Housing Corporation can also perform air-quality testing to see if there are mould spores in the air, and we also conduct preventative maintenance on units, like I mentioned, on an annual basis. So we are doing things in the communities. We are doing things in our public housing units to prevent this. As I mentioned, anybody that needs any information on that, needs to become educated, we have a lot of information on our website. If you don't have connection to the website, I encourage you to go in and see your local housing officer in your communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Item 8, written questions. Member for Frame Lake.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Merci, Monsieur le President. Non-renewable resource production and royalties. My questions are for the Minister of Finance, who has responsibility for the collection and reporting of revenues.

Data on commodity production values and amounts of royalties collected for non-renewable resource commodities do not fully disclose details of sources. On a calendar year basis for the years 1999 to 2017, can the Minister provide:

  1. The annual values of production of individual commodities for all those non-renewable commodities upon which royalties are levied; and
  2. The amount of royalties collected for each individual commodity?

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Written questions. Colleagues, I would like to draw your attention to the visitors in the gallery. With us, Jim Antoine. He is a former Member, former Minister, former Premier. Welcome to our Assembly. Masi.

Item 9, returns to written questions. Item 10, replies to Commissioner's opening address. Item 11, petitions. Item 12, reports of standing and special committees. Item 13, reports of committees on the review of bills. Item 14, tabling of documents. Minister of Infrastructure.

Wally Schumann

Wally Schumann Hay River South

Thank you. Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following two documents entitled "Community Access Program 2017-2018 Results Report," and "Follow-up Letter for Oral Question 370-18(3): Mackenzie Valley Highway Environmental Assessment." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Tabling of documents. Minister responsible for Northwest Territories Power Corporation.

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the follow document entitled "Northwest Territories Hydro Corporation and Northwest Territories Power Corporation Annual Report 2017-2018." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Tabling of documents. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.