This is page numbers 5713 - 5790 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 women. View the webstream of the day's session.

Topics

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. I appreciate the Members bringing their questions on the fires and what we can do to help mitigate the damages done by fire because we did have a fairly dry spring. Thankfully, the last couple of days have been fairly wet weather. That should help. We do increase our monitoring efforts on the Ingraham Trail as well as throughout the NWT due to conditions that were being experienced over the past several weeks. As I said earlier, the past several days, we have actually had a very major snowfall. Plus, we have had rain the last few days in the southern part of the Territories. It has decreased the fire danger. Recognizing the fact that it may be a dry summer, we will step up our efforts in monitoring. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Cory Vanthuyne

Cory Vanthuyne Yellowknife North

Thank you to the Minister for that reply and for that commitment. That will bring some assurance to the residents of Ingraham Trail. Given the severity of the recent fires just south of us in Alberta, I would like to ask the Minister: has the department reviewed the preparedness of our, call it, fire-fighting infrastructure? Are the fire teams in place? Are they trained up? Are they ready to go?

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

The department is prepared and had our wildfire personnel and resources ready by mid-May. The department, we have been able to offer Alberta, the Yukon, and Parks Canada a number of resources to help fight the fires in their jurisdictions.

Cory Vanthuyne

Cory Vanthuyne Yellowknife North

Thank you to the Minister for his reply. Earlier, I talked about the inability to put a fire ban on all public lands. Has the department given consideration to the need to ban fires even outside of territorial park boundaries? Can the Minister inform us of that?

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

The department is constantly monitoring the conditions throughout the NWT for the need for fire bans. While the department did not initiate a fire ban, the department did initiate fire restrictions within the South Slave and Deh Cho regions during extreme fire danger conditions. These restrictions included the cancellation of any ongoing permits to burn and did not allow any new permits to burn to be issued during this time.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions Member for Yellowknife North.

Cory Vanthuyne

Cory Vanthuyne Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister raised it earlier, that there might be some efforts to improve the Forest Act that could help with regard to fire bans, issuing fire bans in the future, so I would just like ask the Minister: does the Minister intend that the Forest Act, when it comes forward at the appropriate time, that it would or could give the Minister the authority to be able to put bans territory-wide on public lands?

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

ENR has jurisdiction to enforce the Forest Protection Act in all forest areas in the NWT, including parks and municipalities. Many of the larger NWT communities have established municipal permits to burn. In these situations, ENR respects municipal authority. Communities without established municipal permits to burn, ENR issues the permits within these communities. So I think the short answer to the Member's question is: according to the Fire Protection Act which we operate under now we do have the ability to enforce, and I am not sure about the banning part, but we have the ability to enforce. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Oral questions Member for Nahendeh.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As you are aware, the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs is now managing the Western Canada lotteries program and distribution for the physical activities sport and recreation fund. During the public consultation process, the sport and recreation partners and some of the MLAs voiced their concerns about including multisport games in the funding. We felt strongly that multisport games should be paid by the GNWT and that lottery dollars should stay protected for programming which has a direct impact in NWT communities and creates positive effects on youth, elders, and residential people. Since the department has taken over, I have heard that the Aboriginal Sport Circle may have to use their funding lottery dollars to help support multisport games. My questions are for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. First question, Mr. Speaker, is: the department has cut its contribution on multisport games, and multisport games have been moved from the eligible funding of the Western Canada Lottery Act. How does the department plan to pay for the multisport games moving forward? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The department is currently reviewing the intended allocations for the lottery fund, which would include disbursement to organizations as well as for multisport games. The departments and this government will continue to support the advancement of physical activity, sport, and recreation throughout the Northwest Territories. We also remain committed to funding Team Northwest Territories at various multisport games for 2019-2020 and beyond and will look to all appropriate funding mechanisms, including supplementary funding as directed during our main estimates review earlier this year.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

I have an understanding there is a multisport games committee. Can the Minister tell us what their role is? What is the role of this committee?

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Since the establishment of the multisport games committee, they do have a mandate of supporting and coordinating Team Northwest Territories activities with the organizations that manage these teams on our behalf. The committee is tasked with ensuring that important policies on safe sport and selection and appeals are being applied fairly and consistently to the benefit of NWT athletes, coaches, and officials. The committee also reviews and approves procurement, mission staff, and other activities as required to make sure our investment is being managed as efficiently as possible, and we will continue to work with all of our sports partners throughout the Northwest Territories.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Looking at the Arctic Winter Games and the North American Indigenous Games territorial selection process, the North American Indigenous Games are not getting the same treatment when it comes to funding from the department. Even when they asked for $200,000 for the upcoming process, the department has cut it back to $125,000. Compared to the amount that the Arctic Winter Games got of just over $364,000, why are we not treating them similarly, especially since NAIG process is one helping the small community athletes get a chance to participate at an international event?

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

I just want to give the Member and all Members that the department is currently reviewing the North American Indigenous games as well as the Arctic Winter Games budgets for 2020. No final decisions have been made, but I can reassure Members that at our Ministers of sports meeting with the federal-provincial-territorial Ministers throughout Canada that there was a dialogue. We did have a presentation from North American Indigenous Games council, and we are taking those into consideration, and that is something that we made an issue on, that all games need to be represented fairly with funds to make sure that athletes, coaches, and officials have the same opportunities. I will keep Members apprised of what comes out of that meeting that we had should the federal Minister give us a response.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank the Minister for his answers up to this point. I greatly appreciate, and I would like to get that information out there, so I think that's great, that he has been able to do it. Now, Mr. Speaker, I am hearing that the Aboriginal Sport Circle may have to allocate any surplus funding from other programs to support NAIG. This does not make any sense, especially since the organization has earmarked the money for other programs, and I have seen other NGOs be able to earmark surplus funds for programs that they are looking forward to in future years, so can the Minister explain why this idea has been approached to this organization?

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

I just want to say that all of our partners who work in providing programs, sport, recreation, volunteering throughout the Northwest Territories for our volunteers is very important, and we do not take that for granted. The department is exploring various options related to funding programs as well as multisport games, and no final decisions have been made. We are reaching out to our partners. We are having discussions, especially on the sport participation activity programs that we are working on, and we will continue to work with them to come up with a final resolution. As I mentioned, I will keep the Member and committee apprised, as well as our partners, who play a very integral part in terms of how we look at allocating funding and putting funding into the programs that we provide to our youth; and not only to our youth, but our adults, as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.

Question 767-18(3): Aklavik All-Season Road
Oral Questions

June 4th, 2019

Page 5742

Frederick Blake Jr.

Frederick Blake Jr. Mackenzie Delta

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a few questions for the Minister of Infrastructure from my Member's statement. I'd like to ask the Minister: will the Minister include an all-weather road to Aklavik and a feasibility study that we can present to the federal government? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister of Infrastructure.

Wally Schumann

Wally Schumann Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Member is well aware, in 2015, the Department of Transportation did a territorial-wide strategy on transportation. That strategy laid out a 25-year plan. We went out and consulted with the public of the Northwest Territories, Indigenous leaders, industry right across the territories, and in that plan, Mr. Speaker, the people of the Northwest Territories asked us to pursue six major projects, a number of them that have been successful in this 18th Assembly. The Mackenzie Valley Highway, the Slave Geological Province, the Tlicho all-season road, improved Highway No. 7 in the Member's riding of Deh Cho, dredging of the Hay River port, and a deep water port in Tuktoyaktuk.

Now, this has been a guiding strategy for us. It's led to our priorities of this government, and it's clearly a laid out 25-year plan for our transportation strategy across the Northwest Territories, and we've been successful on a number of these projects in this 18th Legislative Assembly to access funding. We can't even complete the ones that we have on the list. It's going to be very difficult for me to go forward and ask the federal government to support a road to Aklavik at this time.

Frederick Blake Jr.

Frederick Blake Jr. Mackenzie Delta

I have seen that plan. There is a lot of emphasis on the southern part of the territory. I think we should be looking more at the north here, Mr. Speaker, but that's just my feelings here. Will the Minister work with the community to identify the best possible route so that, if the opportunity ever arisen, we'll have that in place?