This is page numbers 5413 - 5452 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. View the webstream of the day's session.

Topics

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I greatly appreciate the Minister for all of his answers to this point. I just have to share one compliment that I just received yesterday from a constituent who said, "We have got to be thankful that we have these world-class services available to us." Again, to the staff out there, thank you very much for the work that you are doing. With this website and that, is it available for the public, or is it just internally? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

I will make sure that I ask the department to take this section of the Hansard and share it with the staff in the territorial authority so that they understand and can hear the message from the MLA from his riding. The website is actually an internal website for staff only. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.

Kieron Testart

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There was a recent proposal brought to Yellowknife City Council for establishing a cannabis production facility here in Yellowknife. Part of that proposal is 10 to 12 full-time jobs, 15 to 25 part-time jobs, and the confidence that this would be a viable way to solve some of our supply issues in the Northwest Territories for legal cannabis and also to be competitive in pricing.

There is some concern that was raised at those meetings by councillors that this initiative might require support from the GNWT, support that might not be forthcoming. I was wondering if the Minister responsible for our cannabis regime, the Minister of Finance, can speak to these concerns and give certainty as to what steps that anyone interested in starting a production facility needs to follow if they want to open for business in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister of Finance.

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The establishment of grow-ops or production is licensed by the federal government. We are not involved in the regulating of an establishment or operation of this type of business. There are a number of things that they would have to meet, obviously, with some of the city bylaws, as well as the territorial government regulations, but as for the actual regulating of an establishment, that goes through the federal government. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Kieron Testart

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

Thank you to the Minister. I know that production is a federal power. It is very complicated. There is a whole lot of regulatory process. Can the government provide support to people who are interested in getting into the market with production? Can they give them support as a pathfinder, to walk their way through the system and understand exactly what they need to get started?

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

That is something that I will consider. If we have folks within our department who are able to navigate their way through and understand what type of permits, licensing, or approvals might be needed, if we have that kind of knowledge, I don't see why we wouldn't be able to provide that kind of assistance to those who are trying to navigate their way through to see what they actually have to do to meet all of the regulations.

Kieron Testart

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

Thank you to the Minister. That is encouraging. Can the Minister give direction to his department to provide at least an active offer or something public-facing on a website to let other people know, if they are interested or have a proposal, that they can go to the Department of Finance for assistance with Ottawa?

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

I will have a discussion with my officials and see if there is any type of information that we could put out there to help people. Again, it would be just assisting through navigating to see what kind of permits that they actually have to get. I am sure that we would have some knowledge of that. Again, I would have to work with the department and make sure that we have the knowledge before we even make that offer.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.

Kieron Testart

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Is the government in a position to be open to supply contracts or sole-sourcing northern businesses that enter into the cannabis market? Is that something that is a possibility if a viable business is brought forward to help address our supply needs? Thank you.

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

It would have to be a case-by-case basis. I can't make a commitment right now that we would specifically buy from a northern manufacturer. If there was one here and they gave us a price that was competitive, then we would seriously have to consider that. For me to say that we are going to strictly buy from a Northern supplier, I think, is premature. We need to work with them, make sure they have a price that is competitive and one that we can work with. 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 for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources. I will go a little easier on him today. It is not even about caribou. I know that he also has responsibilities to lead on Giant Mine remediation. The Giant Mine Oversight Board is concerned about the murky relationship between the working group and advisory body and socio-economic action plan. All of this is supposed to increase benefits from remediation work at Giant Mine. Can the Minister explain briefly the roles and relationships of the working group, advisory body, and the action plan? Mahsi, 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. Kind of ironic, we are having that conversation today. I had my grandchildren here this weekend. I took them actually out for a ride to the site, but there was a fence there. We couldn't get too far in. I was explaining to them some of the history of Giant Mine and a lot of the stuff that they were working on. I was hoping to actually get them as close as I possibly could. My grandson was asking me questions. I actually had to go back to the apartment. I had to look it up and see, get some answers to his questions. I managed to do that.

The socio-economic advisory body is a committee made up of senior management representatives from Indigenous, municipal, federal, and territorial governments. An advisory body meeting was held March 11, 2019. There was agreement that all signatories to the environmental agreement would be members to the advisory committee, including the YKDFN, Alternatives North, and the North Slave Metis Alliance. The advisory board provides strategic advice to the working group. The working group was established to coordinate all aspects of the socio-economic strategy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

I want to thank the Minister for that. I actually got to go on a caribou road show with him one time, too, while we were driving around, driving-around stories. I want to thank the Minister for that answer. The working group is supposed to develop an action plan to flow benefits to the Northwest Territories. Can the Minister tell us whether this action plan is finished, and can he share it with Regular MLAs so we can see what kind of benefits may be coming for NWT residents from the remediation of Giant Mine?

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

The action work plan to carry out the objectives for the implementation of the socio-economic strategy draft plan has been prepared. The project team already reports on socio-economic performances to the Giant Mine Oversight Board annual report and remains committed to continue to do so. Feedback from stakeholders have informed the key performance indicators. Targets will be presented to the working group in April for discussion. I think the Member's short question was: would we be able to share a copy of this draft plan? I will follow up on that. If there are opportunities there to share it with interested or the public, then I will make sure that is followed up on.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

I want to thank the Minister for that commitment. I neglected to say that it was a good move to have all the signatories to the environmental agreement as members of the advisory body. If the Minister checks, one of those signatures on the agreement is actually mine. I don't want to be there, but I helped to negotiate the agreement.

There are $430 million in contracts that have been let so far for remediation. The final price is going to probably be closer to $1 billion. Can the Minister describe whether there is the ability to directly negotiate any of the remaining contracts or other mechanisms to ensure Indigenous and Northern businesses benefit?

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

It gives me great comfort to know that one of the signatures on there does belong to the Member, knowing the Member's commitment to detail. It is a very detailed report. It gives me a lot of comfort. The federal government remains responsible for the procurement on the Giant Mine remediation project. Indigenous involvement is considered through the use of the Aboriginal Opportunities Considerations, or AOCs. AOCs are measured and aimed at maximizing opportunities for Indigenous companies, businesses, individuals local to the comprehensive land-claim agreement area. Parsons, the MCM contractor, will develop remediation work packages to target the local workforce based on their own labour capacity studies. This will result in work packages structured to maximize local socio-economic benefits. Indigenous involvement is encouraged through the Aboriginal Opportunities Considerations and contained in each work package. Out of the 10 contracts let in 2018-2019, seven of them are Northern or Indigenous business. Out of those seven, five of them are local Indigenous business.

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 want to thank the Minister for the detail in that response. I have frequently mentioned the economic potential for the development of a knowledge economy. Creation of a world-class centre on contaminated site remediation is a major opportunity from the Giant Mine project. Can the Minister describe what steps our government may be taking to ensure that we create such a centre and to help us take advantage of the remediation economy? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Question 695-18(3): Giant Mine Remediation Benefits
Oral Questions

March 13th, 2019

Page 5419

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

The Departments of Environment and Natural Resources and Education, Culture and Employment are preparing to undertake a feasibility study in 2019-2020 for a northern centre of excellence. The feasibility study has been reframed to focus on assessing institution models that best advance GNWT research priorities, grounded in those identified in the GNWT knowledge agenda, and building on the outcomes of the Aurora College Foundational Review process. The core team is finalizing an RFP for a feasibility study request for proposals, RFP. The RFP is anticipated to be completed and released at the end of March.

The Member makes a good point about the remediation economy. As we see in a lot places now, some of the demolition of a lot of houses are being held up because there needs to be hazmat remediation. I have encouraged a lot of local people to try to take advantage of the hazmat remediation training. We have a couple companies, I believe, in Inuvik that do that. There is an economy there. As regulations tighten up, I think there is going to be more of an economy for those that provide the hazmat remediation services, especially to a lot of the older buildings across the NWT. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.