This is page numbers 3089 – 3112 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 work.

Topics

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I had called for a national discussion because it was our understanding that the Prime Minister was getting most of his advice from southern Canada and he was seeking to get most of the votes from southern Canada. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Question 55-18(3): Moose Hunting
Oral Questions

February 6th, 2018

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as you heard in my Member's statement today, I had the pleasure of having the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources and of Finance and the deputy minister, Dr. Dragon, Superintendent Lafferty, and Officer Sabourin do a Nahendeh riding tour. It was really good, and the people really enjoyed it, so my questions to the Minister of ENR are about this trip. During the trip, we heard concerns regarding the rules and regulations as it pertains to hunting on the road corridor. There seemed to be some confusion about what was allowed and not allowed. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister confirm that the department will be looking into these concerns and addressing them in the near future? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First of all, I want to thank the constituents of Nahendeh for their great hospitality during our travels there, and I am glad that we had an opportunity to drive through Nahendeh. I am assuming after that drive I am not going to hear much about Highway No. 7 from the Member for Nahendeh. That is beautiful road.

To the Member's question, though, we had heard that concern and, under section 70 of the Wildlife Act, there are no specific rules currently in place for harvesting alongside the road. For public safety reasons, you cannot fire any weapon, firearm, bow and arrow, or crossbow alongside the highway, and in addition, too, the Wildlife Act says that you cannot harvest wildlife without due regard for safety and property of other persons.

Mr. Speaker, we did hear about that, and it is unfortunate that this is happening along the highways. I do not know if we have to legislate common sense, because sometimes it is all it does take. I do not believe we will be looking into it any further, and if anyone knows people out there who are hunting along the highway, shooting alongside the highway, they should report it to their local offices, and then we will deal with the matter.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

I thank the Minister for that great answer. However, he drove on the road in the wintertime, and as he talked to the former MLA, he said, "Come drive it in the summertime," so we will get the Minister of Infrastructure to come with you and we will see how it is. However, it is good, and I have to say the workers are doing a great job maintaining it. Previously in the House I spoke about the possibility of the department working with Aboriginal leadership to come up with a plan to stop the hunting of cow moose for at least the next five years to help improve the moose population. Mr. Speaker, I understand the department is doing the second part of the moose survey, but during the trip we heard that this is something that we need to be looking at. Can the Minister confirm if this idea is on the department's radar, and if so, when will he be starting the consultation process?

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

Mr. Speaker, the Member is correct. We did hear about it on the trip, and we have done a couple of surveys. I think we did one in October, and as I said on our trip there, we are going to do another one in February. Once that work is done, we will analyze the information that we received, and then I think I made a commitment during that trip to share that information with some of the governments that we met there. I believe they are having an assembly or a meeting of some of the governments around the Deh Cho. I think they are having some kind of wildlife meeting, and I had made a commitment to share that information with them at that time, so once the information is gathered and analyzed we will be more than happy to share it with the Aboriginal governments in the Nahendeh.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

I thank the Minister for that answer. It is actually refreshing to hear that, and I would like to thank the Minister and the department for making that commitment. Another issue we heard about was the growing wolf population. It seems that one of the factors in seeing the reduction of the moose population is because of the wolves. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister confirm if the department has done any studies on the wolves within the last five years and if they are concerned with the population growth of the wolves?

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources has been documenting observation of wolves during its wildlife survey and field work in a number of different species in the Deh Cho region over the years, and we conducted a targeted wolf survey near Fort Liard in January of 2016. During these surveys, the wolf population densities that were observed were relatively low, particularly compared to wolf surveys in other areas. We also monitor the number of wolf pelts that are brought in through the Genuine Mackenzie Valley Fur Program, and regionally ENR staff are always available to discuss any concerns and observations that Members may have.

The meeting I spoke of before was the 8th Biannual Deh Cho Regional Wildlife Workshop. That meeting is going to be held in October of this year, I believe, and we have made a commitment to have our people there and share a lot of the information that we have gathered with the participants.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I would like to thank the department's regional staff. They do a great job of communicating and working with the communities. Like most trips, Mr. Speaker, you have things that happen to you personally, and you get to learn from these experiences. This trip was no different. I would like to share learning opportunities, but I would like to ask the Minister: what did he learn from this travelling in the Deh Cho during it and gassing up his own vehicle? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

I think the first lesson I learned on this trip was not to rely on others to tell you that you are full of gas and to check your gas levels yourself, and thanks to the excellent condition of those roads in Nahendeh, we were able to make it into Jean Marie on an empty tank. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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. Those who pay attention to our proceedings know that I start every sitting with a discussion of commercial fishing. I spoke at length about this issue, so I am going to forego a big introduction and get right down to business. I have questions for the Minister of ITI about the implementation of the strategy for revitalizing the Great Slave Lake fishery.

I apologize in advance, because I am going to be bringing this up a lot during this sitting. A quarter-century ago, my dad did work on the revitalization strategies for the commercial fishery in the Great Slave Lake, and there is probably a stack five feet high of these types of strategies that have been produced over the past few decades. We have been going on now years with this current strategy, and it is time to start moving.

My first question is: does the Minister know how the amendments to the Federal Fisheries Act that were introduced in the House of Commons yesterday will affect the plan to revitalize the Great Slave Lake commercial fishing industry? If you would be willing to elaborate further, I would like to know what the GNWT will do to ensure that our interests will be represented when the new regulations under the act are being developed. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.

Wally Schumann

Wally Schumann Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First of all, the Fisheries Act just came out yesterday, but I can update this House that ITI staff has attended a technical briefing on the amendments to the Fisheries Act. Based on the most current information that I have, Mr. Speaker, that has been shared with us in briefings, we do not expect any of these amendments to affect the building of the processing plant in Hay River for the fishing revitalization strategy, and we expect these changes to have minimal impacts on the commercial fishing industry. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

It's good to hear that they are paying attention to these changes. Next, I would like an update on this fish processing plant that has been talked about for a few years now in Hay River, and I am looking for any information we can find. Are there blueprints? Is there an estimated cost? Do we know when they will break ground? The last I heard, it was supposed to be this spring.

Wally Schumann

Wally Schumann Hay River South

The fish plant itself is on schedule according to our strategy. We said we wanted to be able to build this thing in the first two or three years of the strategy. That is still the expectation of myself, for sure, and the department. We are finalizing the design project right now. Moving forward, in the coming weeks we should be able to share that with Members, and particularly the Member for Hay River North. The cost of the plant will still depend on the equipment that is going to be optioned for this building. There are various cost estimates and options based on the level of funding that we receive, so that will have to be taken in consideration of the funding that we receive from the federal government. If we do secure all of the funding from the various different federal departments that the department has reached out to, we expect the top end of the price to be $12 million for the fish plant.

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

That is an expensive piece of infrastructure. I would like to ask about the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation. Last year, the feds commissioned a report on possibilities for the future of the corporation, and I was wondering: can the Minister give us an update on what that report said and how the conclusions of that report may affect the industry in the Northwest Territories?

Wally Schumann

Wally Schumann Hay River South

As we know, DFO did a stakeholder engagement last year, and we know DFO is considering a fisherman-led cooperative to replace the Freshwater Marketing Corporation. Those decisions have not been made yet. DFO has assured us that they will continue to engage NWT fishers on the outcome and the future state of the Freshwater Marketing Corporation. This thing is still in flux. Every time I have talked to the federal Minister, we haven't got where they are at on this whole thing, but the DFO has assured us the interests of northern fishers will be taken into consideration before it moves on, and I can continue to update the House on that.

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. I think the Minister said the DFO is looking at a fisherman cooperative to possibly take over Freshwater. If that happens, will that have any effect on the plans to build a plant? There is a Freshwater plant in Hay River; it's just sort of the shell of one right now. If a cooperative takes it over, they might own that infrastructure. Will that affect the plant in Hay River that the GNWT plans to build? Thank you.

Wally Schumann

Wally Schumann Hay River South

In my discussions with the federal DFO Minister, no, those plans of going to a cooperative are still in the early stages and will not affect our strategy moving forward and our plans to build a brand new fish plant in Hay River. 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 about conditions in housing in Nunakput, and my questions are for the Minister of Housing. Mr. Speaker, my first question is: can the Minister provide an overview of the NWT Housing Corporation's rules and procedures for evictions, specifically during the winter months? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.