This is page numbers 4705 - 4730 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

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the mandate and all of the commitments are something that all 18 of us came up with, and I am sure that, if we had our lives to live over again, we may not have chosen as many as we did, but the fact is that this is what we set out to do in this Assembly and we have a big chunk of work that remains undone that we need to address.

One possibility is that there are too many commitments, but another is that our agenda has really been hijacked by the money offered by Ottawa, meaning that, although the investment is welcome, we have ended up funding Ottawa's priorities rather than our own. Can the Premier say whether he agrees with that statement? Mahsi.

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

I don't agree with that statement. I believe that, at the time, if we had said no, we aren't going to do climate change, or we are not going to implement cannabis and we will just live with the backstop, the federal government was going to do it anyway. I didn't hear people saying, "Yes, let's just live with the backstop and just focus on our commitments," so I don't agree with that statement. 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 am very mindful of the words that you offered at the beginning of this sitting about being careful how we are choosing our questions, and I do believe in collective bargaining, but there has been an event this afternoon that I need to ask some questions of the other side about. There was a news release put out earlier this afternoon about a strike notice being issued by the Union of Northern Workers, and I would like to ask which bargaining units have provided strike notice to our government. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Sorry, Mr. Speaker. I meant to ask that question of the Minister, and I just want, for information purposes, whether our government has actually received strike notice from which units from Union of Northern Workers. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. To the Minister of Finance.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Minister of Finance.

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we received a strike notice from the UNW, which represents government employees. Thank you.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

I would like to then ask the Minister of Finance whether we have received strike notice from UNW on behalf of the Northwest Territories Power Corporation workers and the workers with the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority.

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

We have not received anything from NTPC, the workers at NTPC, and my understanding is that the Hay River Health and Social Services were having their vote. They may have had it yesterday, and we are just waiting for the results of that vote.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

I would like to thank the Minister for that. Can the Minister tell us whether there are essential services agreements in place for the three bargaining units that I mentioned earlier?

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

Yes.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Merci, Monsieur le President. I would like to know from the Minister of Finance what the next steps are in terms of negotiations with the unions representing our employees and what sort of assurance he can give us that we are going to reach an agreement. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Question 506-18(3): UNW Strike Notice
Oral Questions

February 5th, 2019

Page 4715

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

As I said earlier, I think, responding to questions earlier, we have mediation coming up with the UNW on Friday. We are hoping to reach an agreement with them, and we will see what happens after that. As far as the other tables go, again, we are waiting to hear from Hay River Health and Social Services, and we are also looking to continue our talks with NTPC.

A strike is not something that anybody wants, and it is not something that the people of the Northwest Territories want, especially the employees. We feel that we have been very fair in our discussions with UNW. Again, that remains to be seen. We will have a better idea after the mediation this weekend to see what type of position that we are in. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Item 9, written questions. Member for Frame Lake.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Premier.

Cabinet and GNWT staff travelled to Vancouver during the week of January 28 to 31, 2019, to attend the Association for Mineral Exploration Roundup. Can the Premier provide a list of all NWT Ministers and staff who travelled to Vancouver for the meetings, and:

  1. Total cost of travel, including transportation (showing air travel by executive versus economy class), accommodations, expenses, and associated allowances;
  2. Any related contract costs for the trip, particularly costs of conference registration, exhibitor staffing, any fees for consulting services outside those provided by public servants, and any funding by the GNWT Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment of the costs of other NWT representatives attending;
  3. A description of hospitality events, including catering, speaker, and other costs, and numbers of persons attending; and
  4. What analysis, if any, has taken place of the value for money of the GNWT participation at this event.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Written questions. Item 10, returns to written questions. Mr. Clerk.

Clerk Of The House Mr. Tim Mercer

Mr. Speaker, I have a return to written question asked by the Member for Kam Lake on October 24, 2018, to the Minister of Finance regarding the performance of the Northwest Territories Liquor and Cannabis Commission.

The Department of Finance has gathered the requested information, and later today, at the appropriate time, I will table the spreadsheets that detail the information that the Member requested.

The spreadsheets that I will be tabling in the House identify:

  1. The total amount of sales for cannabis by vendor and product provided by the NWT Liquor and Cannabis Commission for the period of October 17, 2018, to December 31, 2018.
  2. The total sales of each individual cannabis product by vendor for the period of October 17, 2018, to December 31, 2018.
  3. The total sales of cannabis products purchased through the NWT Liquor and Cannabis Commission online store for the period of October 17, 2018, to December 31, 2018.

The Member also requested the quantity and type of cannabis products distributed to each cannabis vendor by the NWT Liquor and Cannabis Commission, but at the time of this report, the inventory on hand for all cannabis product is minimal. This is a direct result of cannabis product shortage across Canada.

Clerk Of The House Mr. Tim Mercer

Mr. Speaker, I have a return to written question asked by the Member for Frame Lake on October 31, 2018, to the Minister of Finance regarding non-renewable resource production and royalties.

Later today, at the appropriate time, I will table a document containing the following information:

  1. Annual values of production for all those non-renewable resource commodities upon which royalties are levied in the Northwest Territories for the years 1999 through 2017;
  2. Annual production volumes for all those non-renewable resource commodities upon which royalties are levied in the Northwest Territories for the years 1999 through 2017;
  3. Value of mineral production and royalties paid since Devolution 2014-2017; and
  4. An explanation for how quarry royalties are collected and values received since devolution.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Returns to written questions. Item 11, replies to the Commissioner's opening address. Item 12, petitions. 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

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following four documents entitled "Follow-up Letter for Oral Question 365-18(3): Low Carbon Economy Leadership Fund"; "Follow-up Letter for Oral Question 428-18(3): Infrastructure Funding Priorities"; "Follow-up Letter for Oral Question 464-18(3): Assistant Commissioner of Canadian Coast Guard Arctic Region Position"; and "Follow-up Letter for Oral Question 495-18(3): Flexibility for Large Tenders/Northern Bids for Contracts." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Tabling of documents. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following six documents entitled "Follow-up Letter for Oral Question 371-18(3): Dialysis Services"; "Follow-up Letter for Oral Question 395-18(3): Hay River Regional Health Centre"; "Follow-up Letter for Oral Question 399-18(3): Specified Condition Funding Eligibility for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis"; "Follow-up Letter for Oral Question 436-18(3): Family Violence Crisis Funding"; "Follow-up Letter for Oral Question 450-18(3): Child and Family Services"; and "Follow-up Letter for Oral Question 455-18(3): Child and Family Services." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Louis Sebert

Louis Sebert Thebacha

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following three documents entitled "Follow-up Letter for Oral Questions 384-18(3), 387-18(3), 389-18(3) and 432-18(3): Lands Rights for Traditional Cabins"; "Follow-up Letter for Oral Question 427-18(3): Land Availability for Community Development"; and "Follow-up Letter for Oral Question 454-18(3): Status of Vacant Land Specialist Positions." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.