This is page numbers 3767 – 3794 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 community.

Topics

Frederick Blake Jr.

Frederick Blake Jr. Mackenzie Delta

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, once again I will have to do the communications for the department. I seem to be having to do this for a lot of the departments, whether it's Infrastructure or other departments that are having these community meetings. I know it's a shame that we don't use whether it's Facebook or, you know, everybody's on Facebook. I know you do it. Some of the departments use Twitter, but not everybody is on Twitter. You know, especially road conditions and other things like this. You know, people really appreciate that. Will the Minister make sure that they use social media to actually get out and let people know when they are coming to the communities? Not only for Tsiigehtchic but Fort McPherson, Aklavik, and other communities throughout the Mackenzie Delta. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

I don't know how many times I'm going to say today that the Member is right. Communications is an issue. Communications is something we need to work on. We recognize that within the Housing Corporation.

We have a lot of changes to the programs, and the public still isn't aware. We have sent out letters to the municipalities and to the Aboriginal governments. I went into the community of Fort Simpson the other day, and I looked on the bulletin board at the band office, I believe, and it wasn't there. I did give direction as soon as I got back. I said, "Send out more notices," like let people know that. We are looking at a total communications strategy, whether that uses newspapers. I don't use Twitter, either, although I hear I have a Twitter account; Facebook; I'm not so sure everyone accesses the NWT Housing Association's website, but we're working on improving it anyway.

We are looking at a total communications plan to let people know. It's no sense having programs that people don't understand what's out there and the changes. So, yes, I will make sure in the meantime that the March 27 date is posted on my personal Facebook and I will ask the MLA if he would consider posting it on his personal Facebook, as well. I promise I will get him the messaging. 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. My questions are also on spending money on housing, but they are not for my friend the Minister of Finance or for the Minister of Housing Corporation. They're for the Minister of Infrastructure, because he helped announce $570 million in federal infrastructure funding earlier this week.

In our Committee of the Whole review of the NWT Housing Corporation, I asked questions of the Housing Corporation on what proportion of the new funds will be applied to the $67 million cost of taking our housing out of core need. I looked at the funding announcements. Some of those pots of money could certainly be used for housing. I am asking the Minister of Infrastructure whether he can confirm what proportion of the federal Infrastructure funds he announced earlier this week will be applied to addressing housing core needs, and if no funds, why not? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister of Infrastructure.

Wally Schumann

Wally Schumann Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member is correct. There is no funding for housing under the bilateral that we signed earlier this week with the federal Minister, but the federal government is going to be announcing other streams under the Investing in Canada plan that will provide funding for housing for the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Thanks to the Minister for that. I look forward to these other announcements. I sort of anticipated that he would say that the $36 million over 10 years under the National Housing Strategy would cover off our housing needs, but, of course, that small amount really can't help us with our core housing needs, which have been calculated at $67 million. Where are the funds going to come from, and why can't we use some of the federal infrastructure funding that the Minister announced earlier this week?

Can the Minister explain whether there are any legal or funding guideline requirements that prevent us from applying for and using these new federal infrastructure funds for housing, or is this a political decision, one that Cabinet has already made?

Wally Schumann

Wally Schumann Hay River South

The $180 billion in infrastructure funding provided by the Investing in Canada plan is being delivered under a series of different funds, but there are a bunch of different criteria and eligibility requirements around this for federal outcomes for project eligibility, and the agreement that we signed, unfortunately, does not provide any opportunity for investment in housing.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

I would like to thank the Minister for that. If there is some way that he could share the funding guidelines or more information about that with me, I would appreciate that very much. Can the Minister tell us whether any of the newly announced federal infrastructure funding will be allocated to or delivered through the Arctic Energy Alliance, and if so, how much and over what period of time?

Wally Schumann

Wally Schumann Hay River South

In total, with the $760 million that we are going to be leveraging with our portion and the federal portion, a significant amount of this is eligible for energy projects through the Northwest Territories, and we will be going through those specific details once we start getting into more detail of our applications around this money. There are also going to be other pots of money available for these sorts of things under the Pan-Canadian Framework for Clean Growth, and there will be an opportunity for energy projects in there.

As I stated, I think, earlier this week in the House, around the Low Carbon Economy Leadership Fund and our application that we have put in, there is going to be additional support for Arctic Energy Alliance, and hopefully we are going to hear back on that in the coming weeks.

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'd like to thank the Minister for that response. Again, my questions are really focused on the funding announcement that he made in the Great Hall here earlier this week. I know there are other funding pots out there, but I want to know about the $570 million that was announced earlier this week. Can the Minister tell us whether there is a full plan to spend this money and if that plan can be made public? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Wally Schumann

Wally Schumann Hay River South

The projects that we have lined up for 2018-2019, the Department of Infrastructure expects to prepare and submit to Infrastructure Canada early in this fiscal year.

The other thing I guess other Members maybe didn't realize is that, when we signed the agreement here on Wednesday, we were the very first ones in Canada to sign our bilateral agreement, so we are the first out of the gate. With that going forward, the projects that we want to do early in this coming fiscal year, we are going to have to come back for supplementary funding in the House in the May sitting for the projects that are moving forward. We are going to be going through the regular capital plan process going forward for the next projects in the coming years coming out, but I plan to keep MLAs informed on where we are in this process going forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am appointing myself the honorary Member for the Sahtu, and I have the following questions on the fire department in Norman Wells for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. First of all, could she please update this House on the status of the fire department in Norman Wells? Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I must state that the Member looks very good today. The fire department in Norman Wells is something that I will have to look into. I will get back to her with that answer. It is a municipal issue; it is not a territorial issue. We provide support to the community governments. They are responsible for actually developing and maintaining their fire departments. We provide training and support for fire departments, but we don't actually look after the day-to-day operations of them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

I am aware that the municipality of Norman Wells runs its own fire department, but clearly there is a problem there that has resulted in a "pause" in the operation of the fire department. My question is really: what kind of assistance can the Minister offer the municipality of Norman Wells to ensure that residents are protected from fire if one were to occur?

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

We try to support the community governments as best as possible. Some communities do have the funding, actually, tax income, market income, the money that we give to communities, that they can actually put it in their capital plans and have fire departments full-fledged with full-time fire chiefs. Some communities only have part-time fire chiefs. Some communities don't have any; they have volunteer fire departments.

Therefore, we provide a range of training for them. We specialize in our first responder training, actually, so we work with communities that don't have any fire departments to actually give them the skills. There is quite a bit of training that we provide regarding fire training, recognizing that there is a difference within each community on the needs for training and the abilities of the communities.

The other thing that we do is we work within their capital planning on an annual basis. We work closely with them to determine what they see their needs are in the future, again recognizing that it is not our delegation. We work with the communities for them to determine what their needs are. If they decide that they want a fire department and they don't have the resources, we will work within their capital planning on an annual basis to see how much money they would need and how many years that they would need to be able to save for that, and then we will use that to actually apply for federal funding for capital assets.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

I am failing to engage the Minister in any sense of urgency on this issue. My understanding is that this community is currently without fire protection. People are obviously worried about what would happen if there was a fire. They are also worried that their insurance may be invalid because there is no operating fire department. Can the Minister assure me that, when she leaves this Chamber, she will go and call the village of Norman Wells and find out how she can assist them to get their fire department back on track?

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

The questions that were asked of me did not say that I wasn't working. I don't believe that I am failing at addressing the issue. I do know that the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs is actually working diligently on this issue at this time. We are supporting the community. We are assessing their needs and their situations. That I do know. Our job is to support the communities. When we hear there is an issue, we are in there to see what we can do for support.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the Minister has now provided a more clear and forceful response on this question, but my question still remains: what would happen if there was a fire in Norman Wells? God forbid, but if there was a fire in Norman Wells, how would the community respond if they put their fire department on hold? I know that the Minister is working at arm's length on this, but I would like to hear that there is a plan for response and that it's going to take effect immediately. Thank you.

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

As stated in my first answer, I don't know the status today. If I had gotten notice, I would have actually looked that up to see what we are doing and where the situation is of today.

I do want to emphasize, though, that community members care about their communities. If I see my neighbour's house burning, I am not going to stand around and sit there and watch and clap. I'm going to do what I can to be able to provide that service. In communities, we have community members who care as well. They will not allow that to happen. They will do whatever the best they can. We have various services. Some communities have trained firefighters who live in communities. We have airports in some communities that will actually respond to that. We will make sure we have an emergency response plan. We will provide the best services that we can to ensure that communities don't burn down. I am not going to let communities go without any fire support services, even if they don't have a fire department.

As stated earlier, many of our communities do not have fire departments and yet those communities have community members of various abilities who come together in times and need and help their community. That's where they live. Those are their parents, their families, their elders. I have trust in our community members and the services that are provided through other resources that we will take care. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.