This is page numbers 6353 - 6412 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 assembly.

Topics

Members Present

Hon. Glen Abernethy, Mr. Beaulieu, Mr. Blake, Hon. Caroline Cochrane, Ms. Green, Hon. Jackson Lafferty, Hon. Bob McLeod, Hon. Robert McLeod, Mr. McNeely, Hon. Alfred Moses, Mr. Nadli, Mr. Nakimayak, Mr. O'Reilly, Hon. Wally Schumann, Hon. Louis Sebert, Mr. Simpson, Mr. Testart, Mr. Thompson, Mr. Vanthuyne

The House met at 1:32 p.m.

---Prayer

Prayer
Prayer

Page 6353

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Good afternoon, Members. Item 2, Ministers' statements. The Honourable Premier.

Minister's Statement 241-18(3): Successful Relationships with Indigenous Governments
Ministers' Statements

Page 6353

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

Mr. Speaker, the 18th Legislative Assembly has made it a priority to strengthen relationships with Northwest Territories Indigenous governments. We have focused on fostering government-to-government relationships and advancing, finalizing, and implementing land, resource, and self-government agreements. Together we have charted a vision for the economic future of the Northwest Territories, and we have come together to make the case for greater investment and decision-making in our territory.

Our government understands that strong relationships are built on the principles of respect, recognition, and shared responsibility. With this foundation, the Government of the Northwest Territories and NWT Indigenous governments can advance our shared goal of a strong and sustainable future. This includes concluding agreements in order to bring increased certainty to land and resource management in the Northwest Territories and economic opportunities for communities and regions.

In support of this strong and prosperous vision of the Northwest Territories, I am pleased to report that the Government of the Northwest Territories currently has nine signed intergovernmental memorandums of understanding with Indigenous governments, with the most recent signed on June 7th with the Deline Got'ine Government. This collaboration also takes place at the intergovernmental council, where we are working together to promote the harmonization of legislation, policy, and program areas of common interest related to lands and resource management.

Significant collaboration has occurred during the life of this Legislative Assembly, made possible through the Devolution Agreement and the willingness of the Government of the Northwest Territories and Indigenous governments to work together on a government-to-government basis.

Mr. Speaker, this type of collaboration and coordination on lands, resources, and water management is becoming standard operating process amongst our governments and identifying more "made-in-the-North" solutions. We have also made good progress in the finalization of land, resources, and self-government agreements. The Sahtu Dene and Metis of Norman Wells have reached a self-government agreement-in-principle. Significant progress has been made towards the conclusion of a consultation draft of the Inuvialuit Self-Government Final Agreement. We are also optimistic about the prospect of being able to conclude negotiations on a draft of a land, resource, and self-government agreement-in-principle with the Akaitcho Dene First Nations in the near future.

Meeting treaty obligations and honouring the spirit and intent of settled agreements is not only a legal obligation, but also an important part of our overall relationship with Indigenous governments. This work requires a shared commitment by all involved, and implementation committees are an important part of how we advance this work together.

Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories participates in five implementation committees that oversee the implementation of both land claims and self-government agreements.

Capturing the progress on implementation efforts helps advance future work and is the reason that Implementation Committees publish annual or comprehensive reports on their efforts. Later today, at the appropriate time, I will be tabling reports from the territory's five Implementation Committees. I am pleased to note that, for the first time ever, several of these reports have been translated and published in Indigenous languages. Language is an important part of the cultural identity, and I am hopeful to see this trend continue.

Implementing agreements in an evolving landscape of reconciliation and indigenous governance requires the Government of the Northwest Territories to be adaptable and open to change. This is the reason that the Government of the Northwest Territories is also working with its treaty partners on new and reasonable approaches to better support the implementation of the spirit and intent of previously signed agreements.

Experience has shown that we are stronger and more successful when we work together as partners, and this government remains committed to working with Canada and Indigenous governments throughout the negotiation and implementation of agreements.

Partnership and mutual respect has been the key to success for our territory and has resulted in positive outcomes. The foundation for working together has been nurtured and strengthened by the 18th Legislative Assembly, and this work will continue to advance shared territorial social, environmental, and economic priorities for years to come. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Minister's Statement 241-18(3): Successful Relationships with Indigenous Governments
Ministers' Statements

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Ministers' statements. Minister responsible for the Status of Women.

Minister's Statement 242-18(3): Government of the Northwest Territories Initial Response to the Final Report of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls National Inquiry
Ministers' Statements

Page 6354

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Mr. Speaker, on June 4th, I tabled the final report of the National Inquiry on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in this House. The report, entitled "Reclaiming Power and Place," outlines the systemic causes of the violence experienced by Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people in this country. The inquiry's report also presents 231 recommendations as Calls for Justice.

The Calls for Justice cover many areas of public and private activity, including, among others, the justice system and police services, health and wellness programs, human security, and extractive industries. The Government of the Northwest Territories has now completed a high-level review of the report and prepared an initial response to the thematic areas presented in the Calls for Justice. I will be tabling this response later today, at the appropriate time.

In undertaking our review, we were mindful of the upcoming territorial election and conscious that a new government will be carrying this work forward. Once the new government is in place, a more in-depth analysis will be completed, with a view to better understanding the steps necessary to make the response meaningful and effect real change.

As the inquiry began, we recognized that this would be an ongoing project. When the inquiry concluded and the final report was released, we understood that it was not the end of the work, but just the beginning. This initial Government of the Northwest Territories response, called "Doing Our Part," is a signal of our jurisdiction's commitment to keep working, to continue the dialogue, and to keep paying attention to the stories of the families and survivors and to the Calls for Justice.

Mr. Speaker, this is a national issue and some of the solutions have to be national as well. We are encouraged by the Prime Minister of Canada's public announcement that they will be working on developing the National Action Plan called for in the Calls for Justice. We have communicated our jurisdiction's commitment to participate in this national discussion.

Working together on the implementation of the Calls for Justice not only creates the potential for sharing of resources but also builds upon the successes we have had to date. Working together also means bringing many perspectives to the table. To ensure a fair and equitable approach in how we work together with other jurisdictions, we also need to have a northern discussion on what a northern response will look like.

This discussion must include the Native Women's Association of the Northwest Territories, who have been strong partners during the inquiry. When they presented their final submission to the national inquiry, they chose to highlight four key areas that speak to acknowledgement, trust, the need for a person-centered approach, and accountability. The Government of the Northwest Territories supports their recommendations, and we are committed to working with them on these four areas.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage the Members of this House, and all residents, to review the final report, especially the Calls for Justice. It is one fundamental way to honour the courage of survivors and family members of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people. To truly understand the impact of this trauma, we need to read the stories that were shared.

Because these stories can be painful to read, I encourage anyone who is triggered to call on the support services available. The number for the toll free national help line is 1-844-413-6649. You can also call Native Women's Association or community victim services coordinators.

I would like to end by saying, again, that violence is not okay. The Government of the Northwest Territories is committed to addressing the systemic causes of violence so that Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people are able to feel safe and empowered in our country and in our territory. Thank you. Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker.

Minister's Statement 242-18(3): Government of the Northwest Territories Initial Response to the Final Report of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls National Inquiry
Ministers' Statements

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Ministers' statements. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.

Minister's Statement 243-18(3): Update on Taltson Hydro and Other Energy Initiatives
Ministers' Statements

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Wally Schumann

Wally Schumann Hay River South

Mr. Speaker, at the beginning of the 18th Legislative Assembly, our government committed to explore options for renewable and alternative energy sources and to improve our energy conservation efforts. The 2030 Energy Strategy was released in 2018 to provide a long-term vision for energy use and supply in the Northwest Territories. We began implementing the six strategic objectives outlined in the energy strategy last year through initiatives detailed in a three-year Energy Action Plan.

Today, Mr. Speaker, I will provide an update on our government's progress to advance the six objectives of the energy strategy, which will help build an energy system that contributes to the territory's economic, social, and environmental well-being while doing our part in the transition to a lower economy.

The first objective of the strategy is working together to find energy solutions through community engagement, participation, and empowerment. Our government, along with the Northwest Territories Power Corporation, has engaged with many communities on a range of energy projects.

One example is the partnership between the Tulita Land Corporation and Northwest Territories Power Corporation to support a 40-kilowatt solar panel project that will allow the own and operation by the community to reduce the use of diesel in the community. This project shows how communities can lead the way in creating local energy solutions.

Mr. Speaker, the Energy Strategy's second objective involves reducing greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation in diesel communities. After securing up to $30 million from the federal government, the Government of the Northwest Territories is in the final stages of the regulatory process for the Inuvik wind project, which will significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the NWT's largest diesel community.

We also secured $15 million in federal funding for a new and more effective generator in Sachs Harbour that will use less diesel and allow for the incorporation of wind power. This generator will be almost 20 percent more efficient than the old one and save about 50,000 liters per year of diesel. The Government of the Northwest Territories has also erected a wind-monitoring tower in Norman Wells and continues to collect wind data in Sachs Harbour and Snare Rapids. Yet another example is the Government of the Northwest Territories monitoring a water-gauge station at Gameti to assess the potential for a mini-hydro project in the community.

The energy strategy's third objective is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation. This is a particular challenge in our northern environment. Our government is currently conducting energy-efficiency retrofits on a Marine Transportation Services tug through funding provided by the federal Low Carbon Economy Leadership Fund, or LCELF. This retrofit will reduce yearly greenhouse gas emission by over 800 tonnes or about 286,000 litres per year of diesel.

Mr. Speaker, the fourth and fifth objectives of the Energy Strategy involve increasing renewable energy used for community heating and increasing commercial building energy efficiency. The Government of the Northwest Territories secured over $7 million from the Low Carbon Economy Leadership Fund and contributed an additional $2 million over the next four years to provide the Arctic Energy Alliance with new funding to expand rebates, programs, and services. Combined, this additional investment will result in an ongoing reduction of greenhouse gas emissions of 2,000 tonnes per year.

Through LCELF funding, our government launched the buildings and industry stream of the greenhouse gas grant program this past spring, providing over $2.5 million a year for industry, businesses, and building owners to make energy-efficiency upgrades such as LED lighting and biomass heating.

The Energy Strategy's sixth and final objective is to have a long-term vision for the Northwest Territories' energy systems when developing our energy potential, addressing industry emissions, and doing our part to meet our national and international climate change objectives. Last year, we secured over $10 million from the federal government to upgrade the Snare Forks hydroelectric facility, which will reduce pressure on electricity rates. We also secured $2 million in federal funding to expand the Taltson Hydroelectric System, with a commitment in the 2019 federal budget for an additional $18 million over the next three years.

Connecting the North and South Slave electrical systems would allow the resource sector to access clean, affordable energy and significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It would also help to stabilize the cost of living and of doing business in the Northwest Territories. Our government is currently examining the feasibility of transmission options crossing Great Slave Lake, and is working with our Indigenous partners to define the project structure, business case, and future field work.

Later today, Mr. Speaker, I will table the Government of the Northwest Territories' Energy Action Plan Update, which summarizes what we accomplished in 2018-2019 and describes in more detail energy initiatives planned for the next three years. I will also table the Energy Initiatives Report, which presents a high-level review of the Northwest Territories' current energy landscape, provides the Government of the Northwest Territories' energy expenditures and greenhouse gas reductions, and showcases many of last year's energy initiatives. Together, these documents demonstrate our innovative approach to developing energy systems that will grow and diversify our economy while reducing our reliance on imported fossil fuels.

Mr. Speaker, these successes demonstrate the Government of the Northwest Territories' ongoing efforts to maintain strong partnerships with the Government of Canada as we continue to work toward enabling the Northwest Territories to transition to a strong, healthy economy that is less dependent on fossil fuels. These investments set the stage to achieve the strategic objectives I outlined today and, in turn, meet our goals to transition the Northwest Territories to a lower carbon economy, and build an energy system that will provide a secure, affordable, and sustainable energy for the people of the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker

Minister's Statement 243-18(3): Update on Taltson Hydro and Other Energy Initiatives
Ministers' Statements

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Ministers' statements. Item 3, Members' statements. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Establishment of Thaidene Nene National Park Reserve
Members' Statements

Page 6356

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh

Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Today, I would like to talk about the newest park that we have in the Northwest Territories, or the country, I guess. Thaidene Nene means the land of our ancestors. On August 20th, we flew from here to Yellowknife with a group of people from Parks Canada, from the federal government, and from the Government of the Northwest Territories to sign an agreement. I wasn't a signatory, but for the signature to be signed by the NWT Metis Government and NWT Metis Nation in Fort Resolution. It was a very beautiful event.

The people from the Metis Nation arrived in Fort Resolution from both Fort Smith and Hay River to show their support. The presidents were there. The president of the NWT Metis Nation was also there. It was quite an event. They had thanked the people in Lutselk'e who had been working on this file for many years, 50 years, actually. Apparently, the first indication that the government and the people of Lutselk'e wanted to see that area of our country protected was back in 1969. It was a nice event.

The following day, on August 21, 2019, we again flew from here with a group of people. We flew into Lutselk'e. People from the Deninu Ku'e First Nation, the chief, and some of his membership and some of his counsellors were also there to sign with the Lutselk'e First Nation, the Government of the Northwest Territories' represented by the honourable Member from Inuvik Twin Lakes, R.C. McLeod. Also, the federal government had Catherine McKenna there signing. She is the Minister of Environment, Minister responsible for Parks.

Again, it was a beautiful event. After we were coming back to Yellowknife, Minister McLeod and I were having a short discussion. He indicated to me, and I felt the same way. We had no idea of the huge significance of the Thaidene Nene and how hard they have worked it, how long they have worked for it until you are actually there to see all of the people and how happy people were, the cheering. We had a full house. Just about everyone in the community was there to wish the people well who were now going to be responsible for protecting that area. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Establishment of Thaidene Nene National Park Reserve
Members' Statements

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Yellowknife North.

Development of a Polytechnic University
Members' Statements

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Cory Vanthuyne

Cory Vanthuyne Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. One of the most exciting opportunities for the future in the NWT is the development of a polytechnic university. I am proud that we are taking steps towards making this a reality.

Earlier this week, the Minister released the Strategic Framework for Post-Secondary Education in the NWT. In that framework, I was happy to see the next steps include a strategic plan for Aurora College and an implementation plan for its transformation plan into a polytechnic university. It recognizes that an effective, sustainable institution will remain the central pillar of our post-secondary system.

Mr. Speaker, the world is changing in many ways, and a polytechnic institution is what we need to keep up. It will provide many opportunities for northerners in the growth of a knowledge economy and the development of a capable and versatile northern labour force.

It will support partnerships with other northern institutions, and create a hub for the creation and exchange of ideas among governments, industry, NGOs, and academia. It will reflect our traditional knowledge to create culturally relevant, academic, and applied learning. This will support our growth in culture and language, Indigenous governance, and land-based learning. It will help the NWT take its place at the forefront of academic, circumpolar research, and innovation. It will provide opportunities for our youth in a variety of streams geared to the needs of the growing northern economy. It will foster a culture of creativity, create new approaches to societal challenges, and create a vibrant conversation across the territory.

A polytechnic university will have many benefits for communities throughout the NWT. As a Yellowknife MLA, I believe that Yellowknife has many of the unique conditions that would allow it to support a polytechnic institution. Yellowknife can support the critical mass of a faculty, research, investment in students that will make a polytechnic institution thrive. It has human and civil infrastructure. It is the centre of all levels of government, and much of our business and industry.

Mr. Speaker, the attention of the world is increasingly on its circumpolar regions. A polytechnic university will help move the NWT into a leadership position, providing the tools we need to meet many of the demands facing us as we move into the future. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Development of a Polytechnic University
Members' Statements

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Sahtu.

Reflection on the 18th Legislative Assembly and Government of the Northwest Territories Progress
Members' Statements

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Daniel McNeely

Daniel McNeely Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Having a sound and stable fiscal strategy empowers our government to address new challenges while maintaining and improving programs and services delivery in a manner that produces positive outcomes.

Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories does an excellent job in promoting our diverse cultures, traditions, and natural resources. Strengthening working relationships with our northern stakeholders and federal counterparts is fundamental to better prepare a fiscal position in capturing and enhancing the opportunities that presents itself.

At the beginning of our term, we were faced with many challenges of realigning our fiscal position through making reductions and implementing revenue initiatives in order to be in a position to make investments as an Assembly. Upon our alignment of reductions and the red alert announcement, there was increased attention to the Arctic and, in particular, the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, as we all know, the Minister of Finance announced he will not be seeking re-election. Under his watch, designing and implementing a fiscal-balanced approach during this Assembly leaves me confident it was the right thing to do. Fiscal deliberations continued, mandate expenditures such as establishing an Ombud's office, and labour concessions. This continued fiscal strategy forged on concerns Northerners shared facing challenges, decisions that our fiscal strategic plan have worked as we have been able to make significant investments in programs and infrastructure during this Assembly.

Mr. Speaker, in conclusion, part of the results of these actions have been the development of this coming year's proposed capital plan that will invest $410 million in a variety of capacity-building initiatives and projects. This plan, and all the investments we have made during this Assembly, is something we all should be proud of. Mahsi Mr. Speaker.

Reflection on the 18th Legislative Assembly and Government of the Northwest Territories Progress
Members' Statements

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Evolution of Aurora College
Members' Statements

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Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. One of the most remarkable transformations to take place in the life of this Assembly is the approach to post-secondary education, in general, and Aurora College, in particular. Our mandate directed us to expand opportunities for post-secondary education, not to dismiss the Aurora College board, order a foundational review, and make plans to establish a polytechnic university, but that's what has happened and we are better off for it.

The government's decision to cut the college's budget started this transformation. It took weeks of questioning to understand that this was a government decision following a college recommendation. The evidence supporting the cuts shifted several times from the cost of delivery, to the small number of graduates, to the quality of the programs themselves. It's worth remembering the college decided to evaluate the social work program after the decision had been made to chop it. I look forward to the day when it will be reinstated to help meet the objectives of the Child and Family Services Plan introduced this week.

Mr. Speaker, the foundational review was a good idea poorly executed. The consultation was wholly inadequate and, as a result, some of the conclusions were questionable; but it did plant a seed that a polytechnic university is the publicly funded post-secondary institution we both need and want. I want to say that it's unfortunate that the foundational review has caused so much distress in Fort Smith in spite of the Minister's efforts to reassure the community about its continuing importance to post-secondary education.

Since the report came out, many people have taken a turn watering the polytechnic seed, including the City of Yellowknife with its own study of the economic benefits of having a college here in the capital. Meanwhile the department has been busy with the strategic framework tabled this week, setting up an advisory council and preparing for a strategic plan.

Mr. Speaker, this week we passed the Post-Secondary Education Act. This is a solid achievement for everyone who wants to live and learn in the Northwest Territories. It sets us up to establish quality institutions offering transferable credits, and provide for the educated workforce we need now and into the future. It is the foundation of the knowledge economy that we want to continue to develop. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement. Thank you.

---Unanimous consent granted

Evolution of Aurora College
Members' Statements

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Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues. If anyone had told me all this good would come from all the disruptive and apparently arbitrary decisions made two-and-a-half years ago, I would have had trouble believing it. My hope is that the 19th Assembly will continue on the course now set for a promising future. Mahsi.

Evolution of Aurora College
Members' Statements

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Frame Lake.

Establishment of Thaidene Nene National Park Reserve
Members' Statements

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Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Merci, Monsieur le President. Yesterday was a great day for the people of Lutselk'e, safeguarding our natural legacy for all NWT citizens, and development of the conservation economy. Leaders of the Governments of Canada, the Northwest Territories, and the Lutselk'e Dene First Nation officially signed the establishment agreements for the 26,000-square-kilometre protected area now formally known as Thaidene Nene. Mahsi cho for this important work.

This success came at the end of a long road that began in 1970, when land was set aside, and it was reignited in 2000, with the opening of negotiations towards the creation of a federal national park reserve. In 2004, the Lutselk'e Dene formally approved the boundary, vision, and name for Thaidene Nene, which means "Land of the Ancestors." Post-devolution, negotiations began to include the GNWT, leading to the agreements yesterday.

Continuing operation and management of Thaidene Nene will be through a consensus board shared by the Lutselk'e Dene and public government representatives. Industrial development is not permitted in the area. Infrastructure corridors may be allowed in the 9,000-square-kilometre territorial protected area, but they will require a rigorous process, including public comment and written reasons. A visitor, operations, and heritage centre will be built in Lutselk'e, creating initial direct employment estimated at 18 positions, including eight full-time jobs.

A regional management body including all Akaitcho communities, the Metis Nation, and federal and NWT governments must be set up, providing high-level collaboration on strategic and cooperative issues. In order to achieve the actual protection, the GNWT must now move swiftly to create the required regulations under the Protected Areas Act.

Then there is the money, Mr. Speaker. Canada will invest $40 million towards infrastructure national park reserve operations in the first 12 years, and $3.4 million annually for operations thereafter. Canada has even committed to invest $7.9 million towards the establishment and operation of the GNWT portion of Thaidene Nene. I haven't seen any firm commitments on investment from our government, not even a news release or a Minister's statement announcing this major event. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

Establishment of Thaidene Nene National Park Reserve
Members' Statements

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Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Merci, Monsieur le President. It's not clear whether there is a territorial vision for protected areas and the conservation economy. Are protected areas going to be paper exercises, or is this government ready to embrace the opportunity to diversify our economy with commensurate investments? I'll have questions for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources later today. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Establishment of Thaidene Nene National Park Reserve
Members' Statements

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Nahendeh.

Seniors Aging In Place
Members' Statements

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Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. For seniors and elders, aging in place means having the health, social support, and services needed to live safely and independently in one's home or community for as long as one wishes and is able. There are many benefits for seniors and elders who are able to remain in their home and community as they grow older that helps them maintain as much independence as possible. They can continue to enjoy familiar settings and routines. As well, they can benefit from the friendships and relationships built over the years they have lived in their communities.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday both the Minister of Health and Social Services and the Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation talked about the work their departments are doing to help seniors age in place. This work is vital to the health and well-being of our seniors. As the Minister of Health pointed out, our seniors and elders will make up over 20 percent of our territorial population by 2035. We need to put the right supports in place now so we're ready to support our aging population.

I am pleased to see the "What We Heard Report on Continuing Care Facility Legislation" tabled yesterday by the Minister of Health. I support the idea of the legislation 100 percent, and I look forward to having the opportunity to review this report in detail. Many of our elders and seniors, especially those who are very aged or infirm, are among our most vulnerable citizens. We have legislation in place to protect the interests of our children, and I have long believed that we need have the same kind of protection for seniors. The sad fact is that some of the most elderly members of the population suffer financial, physical, and emotional abuse at the hands of family members and relatives. We need to ensure that they are able to access care and support to ensure that they are able to enjoy their senior years comfortably and free from worry.

I believe that members of our elderly population are entitled to a level of care that is set out in legislation, which is designed to have their best interests at heart. As I mentioned in my reply to the Commissioner's opening address, I feel strongly that this legislation should mandate seniors and elders advocate positions in each regional centre. They would be people who seniors could go to for help accessing programs. They would be the eyes and ears for the elders, making sure that they know what supports are available to them and helping them access these programs, especially their family.

I am hopeful that people in Nahendeh will return me to the 19th Assembly, and I will continue to look forward to having input into the continuing care legislation to ensure that the NWT's seniors are served by a seniors and elders advocate. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Seniors Aging In Place
Members' Statements

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Mackenzie Delta.

Government of the Northwest Territories Government Service Officers and Service Canada
Members' Statements

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Frederick Blake Jr.

Frederick Blake Jr. Mackenzie Delta

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The GNWT has government services officers, or GSOs, working in 22 single-window service centres across the Northwest Territories. These GSOs help people in the smaller communities by helping them to access government programs and services and by putting them in touch with the right people to answer their questions or help them with their problems. I fully support this program, Mr. Speaker, which helps make the GNWT more accessible for my constituents and other communities in the NWT.

In March of 2017 the Premier announced a joint 12-month service delivery pilot project in Fort Providence, Fort Liard, and Tuktoyaktuk. Government service officers in these communities were trained to provide in-person services on behalf of Service Canada, the federal government's single-window service centre, in addition to their duties for the Government of the Northwest Territories. The government service officers were trained to help residents with applications for six federal programs; Apprenticeship Grants, Canada Pension Plan, Employment Insurance, Guaranteed Income Supplements, Old Age Security, and the Wage Earner Protection Program. Fifteen single-window service centres have now expanded their services to help deliver these federal programs and services.

Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, I am hearing about the frustration that GSOs are experiencing with respect to providing access to the federal programs and services. They are having difficulty with the federal government's computer system. I am hearing that the system shuts down a lot, freezes, and that, even when it is up and running, it is slow to access. Considering that these are GNWT employees, I am wondering if it might not be better to have them stick to helping the people with GNWT programs and services. A lot of time and effort has gone into providing training to our GSOs, and would hate to see anyone leave their jobs because they are frustrated with the federal government's outdated software. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement. Thank you.

---Unanimous consent granted

Government of the Northwest Territories Government Service Officers and Service Canada
Members' Statements

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Frederick Blake Jr.

Frederick Blake Jr. Mackenzie Delta

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Our GSOs have been providing all these programs, federal programs, prior to having to just log into the software, and that's where the issue is. I'll have questions for the Premier later today. Thank you.

Government of the Northwest Territories Government Service Officers and Service Canada
Members' Statements

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Deh Cho.

Perspectives on Leadership and Governance
Members' Statements

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Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

[Translation] I want to talk in Slavey, my language. It's pretty hard for me to speak it, but it's my language. I want to know that it's good to speak my language if I have to. Many times, I have been in meetings, and we will talk about our government, talk about our leaders, and an elder said that: whoever is the boss of this land, who you call the boss of the land, is he looking after all the land? How come you guys, we don't see them very often? If we speak in Slavey, in our language, we say that we're looking at the land, the boss of the land. All the time, we look at the government that way. When we say something is the boss, he's looking after something. Many times, if you're looking after the House, it's looking at people who are giving you money. In our language, that's how it is. We as Dene people, we should look at saying our own boss, us, we being our own boss; but in the community, the moms, the dads, the elders, all those are the bosses of the community. If you look in the past, whoever is the oldest, the elder, that's the one you talk to.

In the community, the band council, the Metis, the government, you look at this self-government. The council, you look at that, too. Many times they work together. We call them regions. Look at the Deh Cho region, for example. There are about seven communities working together. Over here in the Northwest Territories, we look at this. If we look at who's the boss, they all talk the same language, and when you're the boss for the Dene people, it's you who is the boss. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. [Translation ends.]

Perspectives on Leadership and Governance
Members' Statements

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Kam Lake.

Tax Incentives to Support Economic Development
Members' Statements

Page 6360

Kieron Testart

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I rise to speak on the subject of tax incentives. Tax incentives are an effective way to stimulate and encourage certain types of economic behaviour for both the private sector and households alike. In the NWT, we have, on average, a 97-percent tax filing rate for residents, which means that any changes to the tax code will directly affect almost all Northerners, and if we do it right, tax breaks will put more money into the pockets of Northerners.

We, as a territory, need to address the deficiency of investment capital flowing into the jurisdiction, among other issues, if we are to reverse the down ward economic growth that still grips our territory. Appropriately targeted tax credits, if implemented by the next Assembly, can lay the foundation for a prosperous upturn in our economy.

Incentivizing research and development would encourage research institutions to invest and spend here in the NWT, giving the territory useful and long-lasting relationships with educational institutions from all around the world, in turn stimulating made-in-the-North innovations.

Increasing our competitiveness would bring in countless secondary and tertiary effects into our economy, allowing the NWT to stand its own against larger southern jurisdictions. It is expensive to live in the North, and employers will tell you that it can be frighteningly expensive to retain skilled employees.

Properly targeted tax incentives can help alleviate this burden, which, in turn, will pump more money into the local economy, in a way of reinvesting tax dollars into our communities.

Appropriately targeted tax credits can work to benefit investment, family finances, innovation, economic growth, and societal behavioural shifts. We are at a precipice. We, and the next Assembly, must take swift and concrete action to address our shrinking economy; otherwise, we risk seeing further cuts to services, a shrinking population, and an ever-growing higher cost of living, all of which needs to be urgently addressed by the future government.

Mr. Speaker, these issues I raise today in our penultimate session because I have been raising them for a long time, and it doesn't seem like the approach of the GNWT has been to pursue tax credits as a way to incentivize behaviour and to move things along in our economy. It needs to be done. We need to take a different approach, because what we are doing just isn't working. Thank you.

Tax Incentives to Support Economic Development
Members' Statements

Page 6360

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Nunakput.

Arctic Policy Framework
Members' Statements

Page 6361

Herbert Nakimayak

Herbert Nakimayak Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to talk about the long-awaited Arctic Policy Framework that the federal government has been working on for the last two-and-a-half years and should be unveiling any time now.

Mr. Speaker, it has been 10 years since the federal government released its first Arctic Policy Framework, so Canada is long overdue for an updated set of policy directives regarding our Arctic region. I think it is worth noting that among the many differences between our pending framework and last decade's framework is the fact that, this time around, our federal government seems to be much more hands-on in terms of engaging and consulting with Northerners. This time around, Mr. Speaker, I see the feds have reached out not only to territorial governments, but to Indigenous governments, civil society, industry leaders, and the average citizens, as well.

As we wait for the official announcement of this policy framework, I would like to share some of the key points of interest that I personally hope to see in the federal plan. Most of these ideas have already been talked about throughout various draft documents that the Government of the Northwest Territories has published from engagement sessions with stakeholders.

I hope to see a section of the framework address some of the many social issues that Northerners regularly experience, such as food insecurity, housing inadequacy and homelessness, high rates of suicide, and large gaps in education and general health outcomes.

In terms of infrastructure, I hope to see more details on how and when the feds intend to provide high-speed Internet to all Arctic communities, along with ideas on how communities can improve access to affordable and sustainable energy options. I also hope that the framework will provide support options for helping northern businesses grow and retain their wealth within the Arctic while simultaneously helping to foster stronger economic ties with southern Canada.

I encourage our Premier to advocate up to the very last minute of this Assembly on the Arctic Policy Framework. I could go on, as there are many common issues that exist all throughout the Arctic communities and in Canada. I don't know exactly what will be included in the final policy framework, but, Mr. Speaker, looking forward, I hope that all levels of government work together to improve the quality of life in the Northwest Territories and our neighbours around the Arctic. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Arctic Policy Framework
Members' Statements

Page 6361

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Members' statements. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery.

Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery
Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

Page 6361

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Colleagues, [Translation] I would like to welcome Nora Doig to the hall, and also the chief of Detah, Chief Eddie Sangris. I would like to welcome them. [Translation ends] Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Yellowknife North.

Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery
Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

Page 6361

Cory Vanthuyne

Cory Vanthuyne Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to take this opportunity to recognize and welcome Rylund Johnson. Rylund is a Yellowknife North constituent and will be a fellow candidate in the upcoming election. Welcome. I also want to take this opportunity, Mr. Speaker, like you, to welcome friend and chief of Yellowknives Dene and re-elected, I believe, for a fourth term, Chief Ed Sangris. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery
Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

Page 6361

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Range Lake.

Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery
Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

Page 6361

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to take a moment to recognize some visitors in the gallery, Ms. Yvonne Hopkins and Amanda Baton, with the Northwest Territories Native Women's Association; also, Yolanda Chapman, who is with Intergovernmental Affairs; and my one and only power woman, the Minister's advisor for women issues, Ms. Elizabeth, commonly known as Sabet, Biscaye. She rocks. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery
Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

Page 6361

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery
Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

Page 6361

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize Chief Edward Sangris of the YK Dene First Nations, and I would like to also recognize Pascal Erasmus, who has been my constituency assistant for the last year. Thank you.

Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery
Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

Page 6361

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Yellowknife South.

Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery
Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

Page 6361

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am pleased to recognize a constituent of Yellowknife South, Yolanda Chapman. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery
Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

Page 6361

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Nunakput.

Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery
Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

Page 6362

Herbert Nakimayak

Herbert Nakimayak Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to recognize Mr. Pascal Erasmus. He works with myself and Tom, and it is good to see young people like that working for MLAs who live in different regions of the territory. It really helps grow our capacity within an individual. I would like to thank Pascal for his help over the last couple of weeks, especially during the final bit of session, and also to Mr. Rylund Johnson, as well. I see that he is running in the next territorial election. I wish him luck. We have had a lot of aspiring politicians sit over the last couple of weeks, and it is good to see him in on the action.

As well, Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize Ms. Nora Doig from Behchoko. She is with the Community Foundations of Canada, and also Melanie Blanchette, from Community Foundations of Canada. I see that they may be starting up a foundation in Inuvik, and possibly Iqaluit, so any retiring politicians might want to go and talk to her.

Also, Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize my wife, Yvonne. It has been a ride, Mr. Speaker. We get to go hunt in my region and her region, and also representing our country on international meetings around this world, so I really appreciate her support. Honestly I don't know how I could put up with some people without her support, so I really do appreciate that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery
Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

Page 6362

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Kam Lake.

Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery
Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

Page 6362

Kieron Testart

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to recognize Chief Ed Sangris. I haven't had the chance to congratulate him in person, so I am doing it now. You are getting a lot of love today, Chief, and it is well-deserved. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery
Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

Page 6362

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Sahtu.

Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery
Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

Page 6362

Daniel McNeely

Daniel McNeely Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to recognize Yvonne Nakimayak, beneficiary of the Sahtu land claim, and recognize Chief Ed Sangris on his recent election victory and a mentor to my son, Arnold. Mahsi.

Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery
Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

Page 6362

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. If we missed anyone in the gallery, thanks for being here with us. It is always great to have an audience as part of our proceedings. Mahsi. Item 6, acknowledgements. Item 7, oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.

Question 845-18(3): Polytechnic University
Oral Questions

Page 6362

Cory Vanthuyne

Cory Vanthuyne Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my statement today I spoke about one of the most exciting things in the NWT's future. Of course, that is the transformation of Aurora College into a polytechnic university. My questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. I would like to ask the Minister: the post-secondary strategic framework refers to a strategic plan for Aurora College to be followed by an implementation plan for its transformation into a polytechnic university. Can the Minister tell us what the timeline is for these next important steps? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 845-18(3): Polytechnic University
Oral Questions

Page 6362

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister Education, Culture and Employment.

Question 845-18(3): Polytechnic University
Oral Questions

Page 6362

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Initially, when we did the review and we talked about becoming a polytechnic university, I am always trying to be optimistic. I have learned, being a Cabinet Minister. "Under-commit and over-perform" is my motto. I had five, six years probably. We are moving. We are getting this gung-ho. We are going forward.

We do have a tentative timeline for the strategic framework for the Aurora College. That will be beginning in the fall. Then, when it will be done will be a little bit difficult to say. I am assuming that, in the fall, there will be a new Cabinet. At that point, a new Minister will be overseeing it. I can say that the work has been started, and the process will begin this fall. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 845-18(3): Polytechnic University
Oral Questions

Page 6362

Cory Vanthuyne

Cory Vanthuyne Yellowknife North

Thank you to the Minister for her response. I appreciate that the Minister is feeling more positive about this and that we are beginning soon. I appreciate that. In news reports about the government's post-secondary strategic framework, the Minister referred to the idea of having a bricks-and-mortar campus as being, let's call it, old. Some people are concerned that that means she is backing away from the idea of a polytechnic institution. Can the Minister clarify or shed some light on what she intended?

Question 845-18(3): Polytechnic University
Oral Questions

Page 6362

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Yes. I would love to actually clarify because sometimes my mouth goes a little bit faster than my brain, or vice versa. Sometimes, things don't get out there the way they should. I will start by saying that, when I said that the idea of bricks-and-mortar is old, I did clarify and say that, as an old woman, sometimes our old perceptions are that post-secondary education has to be bricks and mortar.

The question came up in regards to where is the headquarters going to be, the age-old question that has come up. I said maybe it is time to stop thinking about where the headquarters will be. In fact, the whole idea of bricks-and-mortar and that is kind of an old concept, maybe from old people like me. We are in an age of technology. We are in an age of the future. Technology, where it has come in the last 20, 30 years, where it is going to be in the next five, 10 years is incredible, the strides we are making.

If we don't include technology as a reality and we don't also consider the feedback from students when I went to the communities who said, "I want to stay in my own community." I am talking about students who are young, students who might be single parents, students who financial resources might be an issue, social isolation, they are not used to big cities, all those factors.

When I said that "We need to look at bricks and mortars. Is that the right way?" it wasn't meant to say we are throwing it out. There will always be a need for campuses. We have programs such as one of our most successful, the nursing program, that will always need labs. Some programs will always need tools within a bricks-and-mortar setting. We also need to look at programs that we can access students via technology, utilizing, for example, our 21 community learning centres in the communities. Can we access them? When we give up programs because there is not enough attendance and we could have accessed students via the internet, then we need to look at that.

Again, my statement of old was an analogy about my age, as well. The intention was that we will not have any campuses. It means we need to be inclusive and flexible and look at all modes of providing education for our students.

Question 845-18(3): Polytechnic University
Oral Questions

Page 6363

Cory Vanthuyne

Cory Vanthuyne Yellowknife North

Thank you to the Minister for that lengthy reply and for providing that clarification. I mean, we all know that sometimes, when we are paraphrased in articles, it can be seen in a different light. I appreciate the clarification. With that said, I would like to learn a little bit more from the Minister. If there is this intention, not intention but let's say this less emphasis on a physical location and more, call it Internet access and communication, online access, how would a polytechnic attract business investment, let's say, and scientific research and partnerships with other institutions if we don't have the physical asset?

Question 845-18(3): Polytechnic University
Oral Questions

Page 6363

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Again, in clarifying, we will always need bricks and mortar. Maybe not. Maybe I am again thinking narrowly. Maybe another 50 or 100 years, we won't. At this point in society, we still need those bricks-and-mortar. We are making money at our college/university institute in Inuvik. I mean, it is renting out spaces to and being utilized by scientists internationally. Why would we give that up? It is necessary. There is potential. Like I said, we need programs that will have access to tools and labs that you need in a brick-and-mortar setting. Those will bring investments.

The whole point is that we need to reach our students. Every student in the Northwest Territories needs to have an option, an opportunity to actually become educated. For Indigenous people, that is even more important. Education took our culture away, and education is the key to bringing it back. We need to look at how we can get our education system into every single community in the Northwest Territories.

Question 845-18(3): Polytechnic University
Oral Questions

Page 6363

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.

Question 845-18(3): Polytechnic University
Oral Questions

Page 6363

Cory Vanthuyne

Cory Vanthuyne Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Minister for her reply. I appreciate that. Many of the benefits of a post-secondary institution exist beyond the academic content of courses but, instead, come through networking and social connections among students and faculty from different backgrounds. That is some of the importance of coming together at a place, at a centre. Would the Minister agree that these are important qualities supported by a physical campus? If there is to be a physical polytechnic campus, does it make sense that such a campus would be located in the capital, in Yellowknife? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 845-18(3): Polytechnic University
Oral Questions

Page 6363

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Absolutely. It makes sense that we have supports for students. One of the best things about remembering when I was back in university, again, I am old so it was quite a long time ago. When I was back in university, some of the best supports I had were from my peers. I am assuming that that is still relevant. I have been to the campus in Yellowknife. They are meeting in the stairwell. It is not even a space. I wouldn't even call that a student area. It is not the campus's fault. It is not Yellowknife's fault. It is the fault that we have outgrown it. Yellowknife is bulging at the seams.

Would I say that we need to consider that? Absolutely. What I would say is that we made a commitment that we would have three strong campuses in three strong communities and 21 strong community learning centres. That means that Inuvik, Fort Smith, and Yellowknife all need to be looked at. Currently, though, the one that needs the campus right away is the Yellowknife one.

I am not going to say, "Does it make sense for it to be in Yellowknife?" What I will say is that Yellowknife needs a campus. All three communities need to be sustainable, promoted, and not only the three communities, the 21 community learning centres. Again, the goals within our foundational framework said student-focused, increased access, local, regional needs, amongst others. Our commitment is to maintaining that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 845-18(3): Polytechnic University
Oral Questions

Page 6364

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

I would like to remind the House that it has been almost 10 minutes, and we have only had one question. Both sides' preamble, answering questions, if it can be shortened, because this can lead to written statements, written questions. I have to remind Members it has been 10 minutes, only one question period. Just a reminder to Members. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Question 846-18(3): Continuing Care Facilities Legislation
Oral Questions

Page 6364

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today I spoke about seniors and elders. Today my questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. My first question: what are the next steps for the department with respect to the continuing care facility legislative initiative? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 846-18(3): Continuing Care Facilities Legislation
Oral Questions

Page 6364

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Question 846-18(3): Continuing Care Facilities Legislation
Oral Questions

Page 6364

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is currently a legislative gap for residential community care services in the Northwest Territories. That includes long-term care facilities that are run by not-for-profit organizations, supported living facilities, as well as group homes. It is more than just long-term care facilities that we are talking about now. The "What We Heard" document is what we heard from a wide range of stakeholders throughout the Northwest Territories.

The next step is to develop an LP. These are the dying days of this Legislative Assembly, so I have asked the department to put together materials that could be shared with the new Minister, so that he or she can work with committees to finalize and put forward an LP that will meet the needs of the people of the Northwest Territories.

It is not going to be super straightforward, Mr. Speaker, as you can see in the "what we heard" document. There are a lot of varied opinions on how we need to move forward on this, and those will be discussions and debates that will need to be had in the next Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 846-18(3): Continuing Care Facilities Legislation
Oral Questions

Page 6364

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Can the Minister advise us if there is a timeline in mind for when this legislation might be coming forward?

Question 846-18(3): Continuing Care Facilities Legislation
Oral Questions

Page 6364

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

No. At the end of the day, it's going to be the next Assembly that makes the decisions as to whether they even want to move forward with an LP on this initiative. I personally believe that it needs to be done. I think that it is necessary and incredibly important, because we do have a legislative gap. As I have said, I have asked the department to put together the materials so that the new Minister, regardless of who he or she is, can make some informed decisions and work with committee, who can also receive this information during their technical briefings in the life of the new Assembly, so that they can make informed decisions, and hopefully, they will see this as a priority.

Question 846-18(3): Continuing Care Facilities Legislation
Oral Questions

Page 6364

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

I agree with the Minister. I think that it should be a priority for the 19th, but we will have to wait and see who is here in the 19th Assembly. Looking at the "what we heard" report, I didn't see any specific proposal to create advocate positions, but I have heard this idea talked before, even before I was an MLA. It is good to have the legislation, but we need to be forward-thinking about putting these positions out there. Is this part of the discussion moving forward?

Question 846-18(3): Continuing Care Facilities Legislation
Oral Questions

Page 6364

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Prior to the last election, the Seniors' Society did put out some information on the creation offer a seniors' advocate. The continuing care action plan or the "what we heard" document is more than just seniors, as I have indicated. It's special care homes; it's all these situations where somebody might have to live within an institution. There is no reference to an advocate in there, but once again, that is something that the next Assembly will have to discuss as they are reviewing the LP and trying to figure out how to move this initiative forward.

Question 846-18(3): Continuing Care Facilities Legislation
Oral Questions

Page 6364

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Question 846-18(3): Continuing Care Facilities Legislation
Oral Questions

Page 6364

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I appreciate the Minister for his answers. I have heard this from the Minister; he's already going to put something together for the new Minister coming forward. Would he try to encourage the department to reach out to the new Members of the 19th Assembly to get their input on this initiative before finalizing an LP, just to see what also might be out there? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 846-18(3): Continuing Care Facilities Legislation
Oral Questions

Page 6364

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

I have gone one step further than that. I have actually asked them to include it in transition materials coming from this department to the committees and to all new elected Members so that they can make an informed decision. As far as the LP, we have a process and protocols on how LPs work. It will come from a Minister, and it will go to committee, who have an opportunity to suggest amendments, changes, or reject or accept. There will be definite interaction moving this LP forward, as any. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 846-18(3): Continuing Care Facilities Legislation
Oral Questions

Page 6364

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Question 847-18(3): Seniors' Home Care
Oral Questions

Page 6365

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. As the population of seniors grows, so does the demand for homecare so that they can age in place. Of course, the Minister is well aware of this. I know that he has contracted a review of home and community care. Can the Minister begin by reminding us of the purpose of this study? Thank you.

Question 847-18(3): Seniors' Home Care
Oral Questions

Page 6365

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Question 847-18(3): Seniors' Home Care
Oral Questions

Page 6365

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The intent of this study is to determine whether or not we have adequate resources in this area, including homecare workers, home support workers, homecare nurses, and other things to help support, not just seniors and people who are looking to age in place, but all people of the Northwest Territories who receive homecare services. It's not always seniors; there are many people that can receive those services. That is the intent: to give us an indication of where we are and whether we are adequately resourced to meet the needs of our residents.

Question 847-18(3): Seniors' Home Care
Oral Questions

Page 6365

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

I appreciate the reminder from the Minister that homecare is actually for all us. I benefited greatly from their attention during an accident that I had at the beginning of this Assembly. My question for the Minister is: what is the status of the homecare study now, and does he know when it will be made public?

Question 847-18(3): Seniors' Home Care
Oral Questions

Page 6365

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

We received an early draft in the middle of July, and it did raise a number of questions about some of the findings based on the data. Clearly it indicated that there were some difficulties getting some of the data. We had to confirm some of the data. We sent back some comments and some updates on the data to make sure that the contractor had accurate information in their assessments and in their provision of recommendations.

I have been told by the department earlier today that we will get that report at the end of August. We will make it available. It likely will not come to the existing MLAs in time for the election, but we will make it public, hopefully during the election period, so that everybody who is interested in coming into this building can have the data that they need to make informed decisions in the future.

Question 847-18(3): Seniors' Home Care
Oral Questions

Page 6365

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

I wonder what the plan is to secure the money to implement the report's recommendations. I realize that there is an election coming, but will there be any work done on an FMB submission so that there will be money for additional resources, should they be required?

Question 847-18(3): Seniors' Home Care
Oral Questions

Page 6365

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

That is going to have to be a decision of the future Assembly and the future government. What I do know is that, through the transition document, there have been some suggestions on how we roll forward or, rather, the future government rolls forward with their budgeting process. I anticipate that this will be an area of discussion. We are hoping to have the information necessary so that there can be an informed discussion in run-up to that budget process.

Question 847-18(3): Seniors' Home Care
Oral Questions

Page 6365

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Question 847-18(3): Seniors' Home Care
Oral Questions

Page 6365

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I receive a lot of calls from seniors who are concerned about homecare services. Ultimately, what I would like to leave them with is when they will see the benefit of the recommendations of this report. Thank you.

Question 847-18(3): Seniors' Home Care
Oral Questions

Page 6365

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

It won't be in the life of this government, and I would hate to presuppose what the priorities of the next Assembly are going to be. Unfortunately, as much as I would love to give the Member an answer saying, "This will happen on X date," I just can't do it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 847-18(3): Seniors' Home Care
Oral Questions

Page 6365

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.

Question 848-18(3): Thaidene Nene National Park Reserve
Oral Questions

Page 6365

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources. My understanding is that regulations must be in place to enable final protections for Thaidene Nene. Is this the case, and when will regulations be completed? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Question 848-18(3): Thaidene Nene National Park Reserve
Oral Questions

Page 6365

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.

Question 848-18(3): Thaidene Nene National Park Reserve
Oral Questions

Page 6365

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh said before, it was a great event that we went to yesterday, and a lot of that came as a result of our passing the Protected Areas Act, so anyone who had anything to do with that should be very proud of how it turned out for the folks in Lutselk'e.

To the Member's question, the signed establishment agreement legally binds the GNWT to establish Thaidene Nene. However, protected areas are formally established under the Protected Areas Act by regulation. Site-specific to Thaidene Nene, skeleton regulations have been drafted to establish Thaidene Nene territorial protected area and will be signed by the Commissioner shortly. The full comprehensive set of regulations will be developed within 18 months of establishment. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 848-18(3): Thaidene Nene National Park Reserve
Oral Questions

Page 6366

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

I want to thank the Minister for that. At yesterday's announcement, there were financial commitments made by the Government of Canada, but I'm not aware of any from this government. Can the Minister tell us: what specific capital and operations funding has this government committed towards Thaidene Nene?

Question 848-18(3): Thaidene Nene National Park Reserve
Oral Questions

Page 6366

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

The GNWT has committed $290,000 annually to the ongoing management of Thaidene Nene. Additionally, as the Member pointed out, they are getting some funding from Canada. These funds will allow the GNT Lutselk'e Dene First Nation, Deninu K'ue First Nation, Yellowknives Dene First Nation, and the Northwest Territories Metis Nation to effectively manage Thaidene Nene for the next four years.

Question 848-18(3): Thaidene Nene National Park Reserve
Oral Questions

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Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

I'm not sure that $290,000 from our government is going to do it, but I guess that will be up to the 19th Assembly. I was on the ENR website this morning, and there is now a rudimentary public registry for protected areas. Can the Minister tell us what the plans are to complete a public registry, and when will it be fully functional?

Question 848-18(3): Thaidene Nene National Park Reserve
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Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

Before I respond to the Member's question, the first question on the funding, there is significant funding coming from Canada as part of their agreements with the local Aboriginal governments on the federal portion of the park, and the $290,000 is on our portion of the park. They will be significantly funded, and it is going to help with the work going on in the park in the future.

ENR is working towards establishing a new website registry early in the life of the next Legislative Assembly.

Question 848-18(3): Thaidene Nene National Park Reserve
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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.

Question 848-18(3): Thaidene Nene National Park Reserve
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Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Merci, Monsieur le President. Thanks to the Minister for that. As I said in my statement, it's one thing to create a protected area on paper, and it's another to have a vision and a role for protected areas in the NWT economy. Can the Minister explain this government's vision and commitments towards the conservation economy?

Question 848-18(3): Thaidene Nene National Park Reserve
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Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

A lot of the governments across the Northwest Territories have a vision, and we heard from the vision from the folks in Lutselk'e yesterday on 50 years. It was a 50-year vision, a story, and I'll share it today that I noted yesterday was one where it said, a former chief had gone down to Ottawa. They said: "Sign this. We're going to establish a park." The chief says: "I'll go talk to my people first, and we'll think about it." They thought about it for 30 years. That's the vision that they had. They wanted to make sure that they have consulted with their people, and made sure they come up with a product that was good for the people that they represent.

The conservation economy, they support the preservation of biodiversity through the creation of protected areas, and I think we did a lot of work in this government on that. We are protecting wildlife. Needless to say, we are protecting a way of life for Northerners. We are also trying to strengthen local economies in respecting culture and values, and we are committed to work with the Indigenous governments to realize a shared vision, a shared vision toward a strengthening conservation economy. Opportunities and products that support Indigenous economies, eco-tourism developed within protected areas would be a focus. This would benefit local Indigenous government communities and the NWT economy overall by providing local, meaningful employment, new infrastructure, and new local business.

Mr. Speaker, the GNWT along with all our partners have a vision for the future of the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

Question 848-18(3): Thaidene Nene National Park Reserve
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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.

Question 849-18(3): Government of the Northwest Territories Government Service Officers and Service Canada
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Frederick Blake Jr.

Frederick Blake Jr. Mackenzie Delta

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As a follow-up to my Member's statement, I have a few questions for the Honourable Premier. As I mentioned, there are a few issues with the network that our GSOs are using, computers freezing. It seems like there's a problem when they're entering the data. That's a whole issue here. It's not filling out the forms. They've been doing it prior to this. I'd like to ask the Premier: is the Department of Executive aware of problems that some GSOs are having navigating the federal system? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 849-18(3): Government of the Northwest Territories Government Service Officers and Service Canada
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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. The Honourable Premier.

Question 849-18(3): Government of the Northwest Territories Government Service Officers and Service Canada
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Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Our GSOs are there to provide services to community members who need it, in whatever capacity, if they are having problems connecting with federal programs. Generally, our GSOs are aware of it, and they try to take steps so that we can improve the connectivity. As well, we all know how difficult it is to access federal programs. If you want to talk to somebody at the CRA, you've got to phone, wait on the line for 10, 15 minutes, 30 minutes, and then it will cut you off automatically because that's the way their programs are designed. It is very difficult to get through. You've got to spend a lot of time, and then we complain about it. I guess the best example is where everybody was getting audited on an annual basis for filing and claiming VTA travel, and we complain about it, and they check it out, and it was true. We were being audited a lot more than the rest of Canada. CRA took steps to set up headquarters in each of the three northern territories. We work with them. We don't have all the detailed information, but we are aware of most of the concerns.

Question 849-18(3): Government of the Northwest Territories Government Service Officers and Service Canada
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Frederick Blake Jr.

Frederick Blake Jr. Mackenzie Delta

I'd like to ask the Premier: what does the department do to obtain feedback from GSOs on how things are going, and is there a formal process for them to give feedback?

Question 849-18(3): Government of the Northwest Territories Government Service Officers and Service Canada
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Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

Through our government setup, all the GSOs are in regular contact with regional directors. Also, we bring them to Yellowknife at least twice a year for a regular gathering to discuss all of the issues, and it's also an opportunity for us to brief them and bring them up to date on programming. We also invite the federal government to do the same with their programming that reaches out into the communities.

Question 849-18(3): Government of the Northwest Territories Government Service Officers and Service Canada
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Frederick Blake Jr.

Frederick Blake Jr. Mackenzie Delta

As I mentioned, there are concerns from a couple of GSOs talking about how the program is being offered. They know it's a great program. You know they're happy doing what they do, but their challenge is dealing with the federal government's outdated network. That's the whole issue here. Like they say, they're always listening, so I'm sure they will tackle it pretty quickly here. What is being done or can be done to address the concerns raised by the GSOs?

Question 849-18(3): Government of the Northwest Territories Government Service Officers and Service Canada
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Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

We bring these concerns to the attention of the various federal department contacts. Also, where we've been working with different federal departments, we try to work with them so that we can get them to address some of the specific complaints. For example, the CRA, they have an NWT office here in Yellowknife, so it makes it a lot easier for us to contact them and tell them what the specific problems are. Certainly, we get much faster service now where we can just go down the street to talk to them instead of trying to contact somebody in Winnipeg by telephone.

Question 849-18(3): Government of the Northwest Territories Government Service Officers and Service Canada
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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.

Question 849-18(3): Government of the Northwest Territories Government Service Officers and Service Canada
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Frederick Blake Jr.

Frederick Blake Jr. Mackenzie Delta

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This pilot project started in Tsiigehtchic, actually, and I have been in full support of this program right from the start. I would like to ask the Premier: has the original pilot project now been turned into a permanent arrangement with Service Canada, and do you have plans to expand the federal part of the program to the remaining single-window service centres? Hopefully, that will be full-time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 849-18(3): Government of the Northwest Territories Government Service Officers and Service Canada
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Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

We are not out there looking for business; it's generally the federal government found out about our GSO program. They approached us to see if we can help them provide better service to the communities. Certainly their objectives are the same as ours where we want to make sure that seniors in the communities get full access to whatever benefits they are entitled to. That is the premise of the program. The pilot projects showed that there is not a lot of demand for federal services. I don't know what areas we would expand to, but certainly, I think that the federal government felt that it was sufficient for them to want to expand the program. We are quite prepared to continue working on that basis. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 849-18(3): Government of the Northwest Territories Government Service Officers and Service Canada
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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Item 8, written questions. Item 9, returns to written questions. Item 10, replies to the Commissioner's opening address. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Mr. Beaulieu's Reply
Replies To The Commissioner's Opening Address

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Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have served 12 years in the Legislative Assembly. For people who don't realize how long that is, I will tell you a little story.

Many years ago, I was fortunate enough to work with a well-known MLA named Tom Butters, and Mr. Butters said to me, "I want you to go to Kugluktuk, and go talk to the MLA up there about housing." One thing led to another, and Mr. Peterson and I had a discussion about many things, one of which was the length of time that MLAs spend in the Legislative Assembly.

This, I would say, was in about the mid-1990s at that time, maybe a little bit earlier, but Mr. Peterson said to me, "Did you know that the average time that an MLA spends in the Legislative Assembly is four years?" He said, "Not much longer than four years." I didn't know that. At that time, I thought it must be longer than that; there are guys who have served forever. He said, "I'm not saying that it is four years because that's generally the term, but some people serve less than that, and overall, the average is not much longer than four years."

You look around the room. I mean, there are people in here who served four years, but there are people in here who have served a long time. I am one of those people. I had the opportunity to serve the people of Tu Nedhe for 12 years, and I had the opportunity to serve the people of Wiilideh for four years. At that time, I thought that that would be an easy job to do, working in the Legislative Assembly for four years, 10 years, 12 years, whatever it takes. It is a great job, but it is also the most difficult job I think that anybody could have.

People who serve in the Legislative Assembly know what it is like to be able to advocate for your people and do work for your people. At the end of the day, you still have to go back four years later. No matter what a good job you have done, you are still going to have opposition; you are still going to have people who are not happy with you; you are still going to have people who don't want you in the Legislative Assembly, whether you address every issue or not. I'm not trying to be ungrateful, Mr. Speaker, but to say that the reason that this job is so difficult is because it is so thankless.

We do what we can to help people, and then, at the end of the day, there are a lot of good things that we do with each other. We meet a lot of friends in the Assembly, but at the end of the day, it is something that I find quite difficult. I am not going to stand up here and be negative, but I would like to touch on some of the issues that I have encountered during my 12 years in the Legislative Assembly.

I would like to talk a little bit about the issues that I encountered 12 years ago. Twelve years ago, when I got here, I thought, "What are the main issues?" I had a background in housing, and I worked for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources as well, before I came here. I realized that working in social housing was a difficult job. That was the most difficult thing to do, because I had been there so long, and I had been working on it. I thought about the whole idea and the plan, and what the idea of housing was, was that the Housing Corporation was put in place in 1974 to be able to house the people of the Northwest Territories who could not afford to house themselves. At some point, Mr. Speaker, the Housing Corporation was to divest the housing that they were renting out through the public housing program.

I thought, "Well, this doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me," until I started working in it, and started to realize, yes, it is designed that way for a good reason. The good reason is that, if a Housing Corporation continues to retain its public housing inventory and does not divest the public housing once the CMHC mortgage is paid off, then they will have to come back to the GNWT for more money. I don't think that that was the intent. I think that the intent of divesting public housing was so that the communities could have a market.

At some point, whether we call it a quasi-market, no market, a strong market, or a weak market, it would have a market. What you have in a market, Mr. Speaker, is you have investment, personal investment. When you own a house, as many of us do in this Assembly, you take care of your house so that you don't have huge bills. You make sure that the house is something that you can pass on. You make sure that the house remains in the family, and when there is something that needs to be done, you go down to the hardware store or anywhere else, or order materials if you are in a small community, in order to make sure that the house is maintained, and that you are continuing to build a market. I thought that the Housing Corporation should go in that direction.

Many years ago, as I said, when I was in the Housing Corporation, I thought, you know, the Housing Corporation would have huge economic spinoffs if we were able to divest ourselves of the public housing that we no longer need as public housing. It wasn't like we were reducing the amount of housing that we had for the people. Mr. Speaker, we were going to maintain the same amount of houses, but instead of the people of the Northwest Territories paying for 2,400 public housing units, they would be maybe paying for, at the end of the day, 1,400 public housing units, because there are people in public housing that could afford to operate their own houses.

Also, I thought, "Well, if the people in public housing were to own their own houses, what would be needed?" That is something that I stood up in this House and talked about a lot, and that is employment. I thought, well, how do we as the Government of the Northwest Territories create employment? Well, there's a lot of employment in fixing up houses, for example. By giving people in the Northwest Territories the programs and the contribution agreements and fixing up the houses, that would create a bit of an economy, and dividing the difference between what the core need of housing is and what the affordable housing is. So many people have the two mixed up completely.

I asked the Minister, the previous Minister, in this Assembly if the Department of Infrastructure could solve housing issues, if they could eliminate core needs, and she said no, it's the responsibility of the NWT Housing Corporation. However, if we have housing that you can't afford, and yet it's got all the adequacy and it's suitable for your family, and then you got a better job, and I was just thinking of one particular example, and that was to talk about a job as an equipment operator on a highway. That solves the core need issue, because the guy can now afford his house. So that just kind of proves that was never a core need issue; it's an affordable housing issue.

Other issues that I have encountered were health issues. When I talk about health issues, I'm not just specifically talking about the physical health of an individual. I'm talking about everything that the Department of Health is to the people of the Northwest Territories. The Department of Health is probably, I would say, the most difficult department that we have in the Northwest Territories. There's no question in my mind. If you look at the fact that Health is involved with individuals from before they are born until they pass away, there's no break. That's the way it is. The Department of Health has a prenatal program; they have programs that assist young women when they are carrying; then right up until they're born, and they continue on, to continue to support the individual as they age, and they go right up until the individual is sick, gets into the hospital, and passes away. That department has to take care of all of that.

I thought about that a lot, and I thought, "That's a very, very expensive department." Yellowknife, I stood up in the House here and said, "We spend over $1 million a day on the Department of Health." Well, it's well over that. The government knows; they're spending maybe $1.3, maybe $1.4 million a day on healthcare. I thought about something that a former Member had often spoken about in the House, and that was prevention. Why is it that we are so caught up in trying to help people get healthy that we're not preventing them from getting sick? I know there's work on prevention. It's not like nothing happens, but it's to think about something. To think about stop treating people who are sick and prevent them from getting sick.

One of the main sicknesses, I found as I came into the Assembly, was alcoholism. To be able to take alcohol out of our communities and prevent people from becoming alcoholics would be some very, very important and very strategic work.

At one time in my 12 years, for a short time period, I served as the Minister of Health and Social Services. I travelled to the communities. I wanted to go to the communities and talk to the staff. So I went to the first community I arrived in, in a small community. I talked to a nurse, and I asked the nurse what she thought. What she thought was the greatest cost driver in the system, and it's in all of the system. I know that aging people are a great cost driver, and the Minister knows that, and everything, but something that can be prevented. She said it was alcohol. She said, in her community, there is a tremendous amount of money paid out in overtime to the staff, and a lot of money just paid out shipping individuals, medevacing people, sending people on medical travel, and so on, because of alcohol.

I thought, well, maybe we need to start working on alcohol and start to prevent people from it, and talking about alcohol, and discussing it and being open about it, and not being afraid to confront it. Not being afraid to say, "Your main issue in your community is alcohol." That's what we have to do, Mr. Speaker. We need to be upfront and say, "This is your issue, and people have to do something about that." That's hard work, and that's going to be something, I'm sure, that our government is working towards, and has made strides, Mr. Speaker.

Some of the contracts that our Minister was able to negotiate in other jurisdictions are good. The treatment facilities that we have contracts with are very good. I think there are more treatment facilities that we could sign up with; well, we can't sign up with every one, so once we've picked them, are good, but to try to prevent people from going there, I think, is very important.

I always felt that early childhood development was the greatest investment that anyone could make anywhere. One time, I went to Saskatoon, and we were at a Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder conference. I was talking to some of the people there, I guess the practitioners that were in there, and it was universally accepted knowledge, across our country, anyway, that spending on early childhood development had returns of 7:1 and as high as 10:1, depending on what happens. I know that's long-term. It's difficult for a government that is in place for four years to begin the process to put lots of emphasis on early childhood development so that kid who is entering kindergarten ends up graduating, increasing the opportunities and the chance for that individual to graduate. For the individual who graduates compared to one who doesn't graduate, the opportunities for employment go up by 25 percent; and that's only grade 12. You can't get higher education if you don't have grade 12.

So that becomes, basically, the most important job, the most important function, was to get the individuals into early childhood development; make sure you start at junior kindergarten; make sure you start prior to junior kindergarten; going back to prenatal spending, and so on, to be able to, at the end of the day, 12 years later, as long as I've been in the House, when I entered the House, the kids who were going into grade one have just graduated last June. So, had we had that type of thing in place and a heavier emphasis on spending the money on them when they were first entering school, spending the money on them before they enter school, before they hit junior kindergarten, we would see the results today, huge results, but our graduation rates have not gone up significantly, and that is something that we need to start working on.

If I have a message for the next Assembly at all, it would be that we need to start working on early childhood development so that the money we spent on those individuals who graduate, who go on to higher education, the return on that is 10:1.

For me, I say that could be one of the most important work that we have. There are huge economic spin-offs, just to the spending of early childhood dollars. When we go to spend money on early childhood, then we have, again, some economic spin-offs like we would if we were spending money on the NWT Housing or on housing, period.

I would like to talk a bit about employment, like I said. I talked about employment a lot in the House. Over my 12 years, that may be one of the topics I spoke most of, was employment, because it is so important. We put it in our mandate this time around to say we are going to put an emphasis on an area which needs employment the most. That is small communities.

I have often said that all boats shall rise. I have used that term in the House. All boats shall rise. When you start putting money in small communities, you see the impacts in the regional centres. Then you see the impacts in Yellowknife. I have seen that. I have seen the community of Lutselk'e. Many times, I have been in Lutselk'e. I have gone there by snowmobile many times. When you see what is going on in the community, when the area around Lutselk'e is packed with skidoo tracks, the spin-off is felt here in Yellowknife. People here in Yellowknife are selling snowmobiles to those people. People here in Yellowknife are selling boats and kickers to the people of Lutselk'e when there are jobs there. When there is employment in Lutselk'e, the whole NWT benefits fiscally. Our government benefits fiscally, as well.

Employment in all areas, housing, we have a small community employment support program that we have put together, I think, over the last six years. Maybe there is a bit of money there. Then this government has put more money into it, and more money is needed in that area.

I would like to talk a bit about the Home Care Program. When the federal government was elected, one of the things the Liberal government did was they paid particular attention to homecare. It was interesting that people who looked at this and thought, "Well, what is that? We are putting money into homecare?" People don't realize the huge spin-off benefits of homecare along with the Housing Corporation introducing aging in place, which there is not enough money in there to keep people in their homes. At some point, there are programs that can do that.

I had always said that, as soon as the federal government started talking about the Home Care Program, I thought, "Yes. These guys are going in the right direction." I think we should put, as a government, our government, more money into homecare to prevent people from going into long-term care. I know that the government has looked at long-term care and has factored in homecare, but not enough. There is not enough of a factor going into homecare.

For every individual, even if it is a couple, who goes into long-term care, it costs the government, it costs the long-term care facility $140,000. I use the number $140,000. It could be up from that by now. I just use the $140,000 all the time just to emphasize that, if a couple went from their home and they are forced into long-term care because they don't have homecare services and the home is not equipped for them, they haven't made it barrier-free so individuals had to go in there, then, over 10 years, our government will spend $2.8 million in housing those two individuals. It will cost a small fraction of that to keep them in their homes.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to just touch a bit on another economy that is going to go hand-in-hand with something that is going on this week. That is the opening of the national park, Thaidene Nene. In the Thaidene Nene National Park, it is not just the Parks Canada, it is also the GNWT. The GNWT took its tools and attached sections of land on to Thaidene Nene, and the GNWT passed a Protected Areas Act. Working with the Protected Areas Act, Parks Canada, and everything, I think there is a huge opportunity for conservation economy. A conservation economy is a good, clean economy that the people of a small community can do, the people of small communities love.

We have Canadian rangers in almost all of our communities. We have some Guardians in Deh Cho. I believe we have some Guardians in Sahtu. I am not 100 percent sure about that, Mr. Speaker. I do know we have Guardians in Thaidene Nene, called Nihat'Ni People. When you apply a socio-economic model to the spending that goes to employing the Nihat'Ni Dene, the socio-economic model set the return to 2.5:1 right now on the social spending. For every dollar that you spend on Nihat'Ni Dene people, you are returning $2.50 in social spending. To me, it doesn't make any sense not to support that.

It doesn't make any sense for us not to go the Government of Canada and talk about the money they put into a conservation economy. They put $1.3 billion into a budget on a conservation economy. The very first time this was announced, there was, I think, $500 million put in the first year. Of that, $25 million was carved out, given to the Guardians in the National Guardian Network of Indigenous Network. That money was put there to develop a plan for Guardians all over the country. Those Guardians are very important to people. They are very important to the land, very important to industry. It has tremendous economic spin-off factors.

It also has an opportunity to allow industry to work with the Guardians and work with the communities in order for them to continue to provide some economic benefits to the Northwest Territories as is the settlement to the claim or the lands and resources agreement with Dehcho and Akaitcho. We have had people tell us here from the Chamber that to settle the Akaitcho claim would be worth $100 million to the economy right now, just in this area. I know the government has worked hard to try to get the claim settled. I am not saying that it is an easy job. I am say that is an important job, and it is an essential job. Not an easy job but an essential job to be able to work on signing that agreement and getting the resources agreement signed with Akaitcho, with Dehcho, and move on to allow the people of Deh Cho and Akaitcho to work with industry, to be able to have the NWT benefit from it.

Our biggest economy right now appears to be the diamond mines. They have a life. They have a finite life. There is talk about maybe 15 years, maybe 10 years, 20 years. At some point, they will stop producing. At some point, that economy will go down to virtually no economy at all in the diamond industry. Unless there are tremendous fines and so on, that is probably going to disappear. However, there are other opportunities in there, and one of the big ones is the conservation economy. There are a couple of other mines that would likely open up.

Some of us don't support the huge infrastructure, like highways and so on. I support highways. I have talked about that. I don't talk about it in the House, and I don't talk about it, because I need to discuss that with the leadership. It is something that is in the future.

For me, even the management of caribou, when we build an all-season road through the Slave Geological, we have often talked about that. What will happen? How will we manage the caribou? Well, the people up in the Beaufort Delta know that it is a lot easier to manage the migrating caribou herds on the all-season road. There's no question. You could close down the road, because there are no pressures to have one vehicle hauling to the diamond mines every 10 minutes in the wintertime during the short window, and if that is the time when the caribou are crossing, too bad. They have to go. If they don't go, they are not able to get their supplies and their fuel in there.

If you had an all-season road, which already would have shown some economic spinoffs, it's not as great as putting money into housing, but it also has some huge economic spinoffs, and it is also is very good for the caribou. Once the road is built, if the caribou are crossing, the people that built the road, our government, could close the road. We can close the road when the caribou are moving to their calving grounds, and we can close the road when the caribou are coming back. That would be less disruptive than having a vehicle on the winter road every 10 minutes for as long as the mines exist, and there may be more mines.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to just talk a bit about some of the work that I have done, and I would like to maybe send a message to somebody that may be the next MLA from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh, because it's not going to be me, Mr. Speaker. Capital projects are very important to our people in small communities, infrastructure going into our small communities. In Fort Resolution 12 years ago, when I started, I was going down the highway, and I brought my two children with me. They weren't children, but they were young. They were teenagers at that time, 12 years ago. My kids are both adults now, but they were teenagers then. I asked them a question: "What do you think is needed?" My daughter, who had been in school in the south, said, "You know, Dad, I found something really interesting, and it was the youth centres." She said, "Youth centres and programs at youth centres seem to be really well-utilized by individuals." One of the first things that I started working on was to construct a youth centre in Lutselk'e, and we have one now, and we have a highway.

In my very first Member's statement, standing up in this House, I talked about the highway that goes into Fort Resolution. At that time, I think I may have referred to that highway as a "goat trail." I was probably overly critical. However, it was a highway that was built by the army. The army hasn't been around for a while, and they pushed the trees down and put some dirt and gravel on it and started driving on top of it. As the trees rotted, that highway was full of holes, but now, Highway No. 6 is paved or chipsealed, right from the beginning to the very end, into the community.

It was interesting, because one day, I went to see this guy. He doesn't like too many visitors. He's a busy guy. He works. He's an elder. He can do all kinds of things. He's an amazing man. I went to see him, and as I walked in the door, he was busy making something on metal. He stopped, and he said, "If you're here to campaign, you don't have to campaign in this house." He said, "All you have to do is make sure that this community has a highway, a good highway, so that we don't have to buy new vehicles every couple of years, bouncing over that road."

Mr. Speaker, I know that your riding has a rough highway. A lot of people damage their vehicles going between here and Behchoko. It's just the nature of the beast. In Fort Resolution, we were able to resolve that issue. That rough road is now a beautiful highway. I spoke to an old friend of my mine from Fort Smith. I met him in Fort Providence, and he said to me, "You should be proud of what happened going into Fort Resolution." He said, "That highway is like a superhighway." If you've driven it, especially when it was first done, it was beautiful. Now some of the growth has come back, but it's a beautiful highway into the community.

We came that close to having our highway chipsealed all the way before Fort Smith. I find that funny because Fort Smith was the first capital of the Northwest Territories. Maybe Fort Resolution was the first capital of the Northwest Territories if you go back far enough, Mr. Speaker, but in any event, Fort Smith is a big community. It's a regional centre, and if the parks didn't get their paving done right at the time that they did do their paving, we were half a season away from having a chipsealed road into Fort Resolution before Fort Smith. To me, that is quite an accomplishment. Fort Resolution is a small community. It's out of the way, and the highway ends there. Now we have an all-paved highway.

Mr. Speaker, in Lutselk'e, we had built a new community learning centre, but the biggest project in that community, the most important project in that community, was the school. The GNWT had the health centre as a priority, and the community had asked if we could switch the projects. Now they don't have a new health centre, but it's in the books, and it is something that is coming. I think that the government recognizes that that will be the next health centre that is replaced, but the school, it was amazing, Mr. Speaker. That school is absolutely beautiful. It went from a school that was a log school, old school, issues in the school, to something that was a beautiful school. There is a beautiful adult learning centre, brand new, in Lutselk'e.

That's one thing that I worked on all the way through, and that was because I spoke to an elder who I eulogized here this week, the late Edward Catholique, and he said to me, "Tom, we slashed that road. We slashed that road to Austin Lake many years ago." It was only 50 years ago, you know. I guess, at the same time, they started talking about Thaidene Nene. They were going to build roads into Thaidene Nene, as well, and they slashed that road all the way in. He was a young man. He was working on that, he indicated to me. He said, "That is very important." I talk about Austin Lake Road all the time in the House, because I felt it was very important to the people.

Yesterday, while we were in Lutselk'e, a guy walked up to me and said, "Tom, I'm working on Austin Lake Road. I have equipment on the Austin Lake Road, and that's where I am working right now, and we are going to continue to work on Austin Lake Road until we have an all-season road in there."

Getting back to Elder Edward, he told me, "Build that road, because that road connects the lakes to the east. It's fantastic for us to be able to go over there, pull our boats or our snowmobiles over there and start there to hunt caribou. It also connects us to the west where there's lots of moose."

It's become very important for our traditional, the hunting and so on. Even people who are still trapping, they use that road. That road's continuing. I thank the government for that. Each year, this government has put a couple of hundred thousand dollars into that road. I made a request, and they supported it. It's going to continue, and I'm very pleased, and the people are very pleased. I say, thank you. Thank you from the people of Lutselk'e.

Mr. Speaker, I'd like to thank some people. Like I said, you're here for a while, work with a lot of people. I start off by thanking the people who I worked with here, in all three terms. Every term, we have people leaving. The first time I came, I came with six new people. The second time, there were five new people elected. This time, there are 11. I spoke to a lot of different people, Mr. Speaker, in the House as MLAs and as Ministers, and I'd like to thank them.

Certainly, there have been a lot of occasions when I've just gone in to see one of the Ministers or one of the MLAs to sit down and speak because sometimes, if you don't do that, it's a pretty hard burden to carry by yourself. I have a lot of people to thank. I can't mention them all here, but those are the first people I'd like to thank, Mr. Speaker.

I'd also like to thank people who I work with at the community level, and I'm going to name them, Mr. Speaker, because I have the time to do it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to thank from Lutselk'e. In Lutselk'e, there's one designated government, the Dene band. When I started, the chief was Adeline Jonasson. I worked very well with her. Followed by Steve Nitah, an excellent working relationship with Steven Nitah.

The late Antoine Michel was the chief after that. Antoine was an amazing guy. He loved the land. I never quite understood why Antoine was always talking about land, land, land. "Our land," he always used to say to me. That means our land is very important to us. Until I went to Fort Reliance by boat, and I went along McLeod Bay, Mr. Speaker, it's so beautiful that you cannot watch where you're going. It's not important, anyway. It's a boat. You're in the middle of nowhere, but you can never take your eyes off the shorelines. It is so beautiful. That's Thaidene Nene. That's what Antoine always talked about.

The day before we went to Thaidene Nene celebrations in Lutselk'e, we went to Fort Resolution. They're having a service for the late chief Dora Enzo. Dora was a true leader in that community. She was young, smart, and was well-respected in that community. Now, I think maybe she was sick. That's why she did one term, and she didn't repeat. I don't know. All I know is that unfortunately, she passed away.

That was followed by Felix Lockhart, Chief Felix Flockhart. A well-respected man. I eulogized his late wife Sandra Lockhart in the House. Felix was very supportive of me, very good.

Now, they have a young chief, Darryl Marlowe. I'd like to thank all of those guys. Darryl Marlowe. Darryl was young, wasn't sure. When he got in there, it didn't take him long. It didn't take him long for him to show what a leader he is, and I know Minister McLeod talked to me about him even on our way back that he's a true leader for a young man. I'm proud of Darryl. He's a relative of mine. He's actually got many relatives in Fort Resolution. He comes from King Beaulieu clan. I don't know if it's his great, great, great, grandfather, or his great, great, great grandfather, was Joseph King Beaulieu the First.

In Fort Resolution, for my entire term as MLA, they've had one chief, and that was Louis Balsillie. Louis Balsillie has been very supportive of me. Louis Balsillie has been somebody I worked very well with. I'm very impressed with what Louis Balsillie was able to do in his community. He's one of the main, if not the main, reasons that the employment rates in Fort Resolution have gone from the mid-30s to the mid-40s in his time there. He does anything to try to find money to employ people. He's got projects all over. We've got a sidewalk from Fort Resolution to Mission Island because he thought it would be something that would be good. It takes 45 minutes to walk to Mission Island on the sidewalk. It's beautiful. As you're walking, you're along the bay of Fort Resolution, and he's got cabins, and he's got the whole of Mission Island built up to a beautiful place where you can go and you can stay there if you want. You go see the band, and you could rent one of those cabins. When he's having events, cultural events, he's got those cabins available.

The past presidents of the Fort Resolution Metis Council, I'd like to thank, starting with Garry Bailey who is now the president of the NWT Metis Government. When I first started, he was the president of the local council. Gary is quite a guy. He, often, will call. I found out when we were in Fort Resolution a couple of years ago that he doesn't call just me to make sure that we continue to do what we're supposed to do, for me to do what I'm supposed to do as an MLA to represent his community. He called an MP, even called some federal ministers. Doing his job.

After that, there's Kara King. Kara King served as the president, very good president. Had good relationships with the band, followed by Arthur Beck who now, there's Lloyd Cardinal who is the current president.

In Detah, Ndilo, I worked with those guys for only four years and, of course, there's just the one chief in Detah and the one chief in Ndilo. I'd like to thank both Chief Edward Sangris and Chief Ernest Betsina for their support.

Over the years, I've had many constituency assistants. The first constituency assistant was Joe Bailey. Joe had come here and worked, sometimes with Ministers around the Legislative Assembly, and spent some time in here working as a CA, and maybe even as an executive assistant. He came, and he taught me a lot about some of the work that goes on at that level in the Assembly, so I thank him. Followed by Edith Mack, Beverley Catholique, and Lisa Colas after this term. When I started this term, Lisa Cola was someone who was recommended to me, and she was incredible. She's very good. I knew it would be difficult for her to remain here because of her skills, and she ended up I think she's the manager of Giant Mine remediation, or something like that. Pascal Erasmus, I'd like to thank.

During the years, because I'm serving here, I always felt I could use a CA in other communities, so I have CAs in Fort Resolution and Lutselk'e, Velma Delorme and James Marlowe. In order to do all that, you have to get elected. The people who, I guess the one person who has helped me get elected two times, I was acclaimed once, but two times, was Warren Delorme. Warren Delorme had helped me tremendously. It made my life easy when I was campaigning. I had to worry about many, many things. He took care of them. I know Warren had approached me again when I was in Fort Resolution to run again. If there was one person who I would listen to, it would be him, but unfortunately, I think that it is time for other people to fill this seat.

James Marlowe, who served as my CA, helped me as a campaign person. When I got here, a couple of the guys here, Rodney Norm and Rhonda Erasmus, able to help me.

I would like to thank my family. My brothers and sister and my mother have been a tremendous support me. My mom thinks we're arguing in the House here. She asked me one time, "How come Alfred always argues with you?" I said, "He's not arguing with me, Mom. He's asking me questions." That was last government. Yes, and Alfred answered me and asked a lot of questions. She said, "Why is he arguing?" So I said, "Mom, not arguing with me," but she has been a real support for me.

I have an interesting story about her. I guess I could sit here and talk about anything that I want. I found it very interesting. This weekend, actually, my mother woke up very sick, and she was medevaced. She was actually put on a plane and medical travel, and she came here on her own. They gave her papers, and she came here. I met her at the airport and brought her to the hospital.

The work that was done by the doctors in Hay River was tremendous. The doctor here in emergency said, "We have everything we need right here." They asked the questions, sent her for a CAT scan, gave her a clean bill of health, and she stayed with me for the weekend overnight. We started talking, and I realized that what we do for our people is quite tremendous. What we do for our elders is quite tremendous.

She said something to me. I know she is not going to be happy with me, but she said, "You know, Tom, I sign my name, and I get free fuel for a whole year. That's what I do. I have to sign my name. So I sign my name, and somebody from the Housing Corporation comes over here and makes sure that my furnace is operational, my windows are good, my doors are good, and that's what happened," she said. She's signing her name more. She said that when she gets sick like that, she said, "That's what happens. Medical travel." She said, "They bring me here, I sign my name, they bring me here, and they take care of me."

She said to me, "One time, my furnace broke down. I didn't know what to do," she said. "I knew it was going to be in the thousands of dollars, so I went to the furnace people." The young man sat down with her, filled out the forms with her, and told her what was needed, when they could do it and everything, and so my mom said, "Well, I'm going to pay you half now and half when you get the job done," and the guy said, "Oh, you don't have to do that. We're going to go see the Housing Corporation, and the Housing Corporation will put a new furnace in your house. All you have to do is apply for another program." She said she signed her name, and she got a new furnace.

I thought that was pretty interesting. My mother is pretty happy with the way that the government treats her in Hay River. She is 85 years old, and she has never been treated like that by strangers before. It was always that she'd rely on our own family to help each other.

After all of this, and after all of this time, it is important, I think, to be able to not just be critical, but it's to say thank you. You know? Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Mr. Beaulieu's Reply
Replies To The Commissioner's Opening Address

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi, Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Thank you for your service, as well. Twelve years. You have done a lot, and you have had an impact on the whole Northwest Territories, as well. Masi for your service over the years. Replies to the Commissioner's opening address. Item 11, petitions. Item 12, reports of standing and special committees. Member for Yellowknife North.

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Page 6374

Cory Vanthuyne

Cory Vanthuyne Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Your Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment is pleased to provide its Report on Transition Matters and commends it to the House. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Sahtu, that Committee Report 36-18(3) be deemed read and printed in Hansard in its entirety. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. The motion is in order. The motion is non-debatable. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried.

---Carried

Committee Report 36-18(3), Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment Report on Transition Matters, is now deemed read and printed in Hansard in its entirety.

Committee Report 36-18(3): Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment Report on Transition Matters
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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Introduction

The Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment is one of the standing committee of the 18th Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories charged with the consideration of matters with respect to the Departments of Environment and Natural Resources; Industry, Tourism and Investment; Lands; and Infrastructure.

The purpose of this report is twofold:

  1. To briefly highlight the work completed by the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment during the 18th Assembly; and
  2. To identify outstanding issues SCEDE's successor committee in the 19th Legislative Assembly may wish to consider.

Mandate of the Standing Committee

The mandates of the Legislative Assembly's standing committees are set out in Appendix 3 to the Rules of the Legislative Assembly. The Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment is responsible for:

  • review departmental performance, including that of boards and agencies;
  • consider matters related to infrastructure;
  • consider matter related to climate change; and
  • consider any other matters referred by the House.

Work of the Standing Committee

Standing Committee by the Numbers

13 - Bills reviewed

54 - Public hearings held on bills

33 - Communities outside Yellowknife visited by Committee

108 - Motions passed at the Committee stage to amend bills

48 - Recommendations made

10 - Committee reports issued

166 - Committee meetings held

Highlights

During the 18th Legislative Assembly, the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment undertook work ranging from reviewing strategic policy documents, providing comments and recommendations to departments, to reviewing proposed legislation and developing amendments for improvement, and conducting a survey to identify issues and solutions regarding public procurement.

Committee wishes to highlight the work undertaken in the following four areas:

Agriculture Strategy

Committee provided substantial recommendations and proposed actions for improvement to the drafts of the foundational document to encourage the development of an agricultural industry in the NWT, the "The Business of Food: A Food Production Plan 2017-2022," tabled in the Legislative Assembly on March 3, 2017. During 2018, the committee continued to encourage the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment to improve performance measurement planning to arrive at meaningful information on the strategy's implementation.

Fisheries

Committee made recommendations on the development of strategic policy direction to guide the revitalization of the commercial fishery on Great Slave Lake. The committee highlighted the importance of implementing a strategy that has the support of the Northwest Territories Fisherman's Federation (NWTFF) and the Tu Cho Fishers Cooperative to the fullest extent possible. The Strategy for Revitalizing the Great Slave Lake Commercial Fishery and its 25 recommended actions contributed to the existing support programs for small and large commercial fish harvesters, and the revival of the Great Slave fishery.

Procurement

The Standing Committee of Economic Development and Environment contributed to strengthening the Government of the Northwest Territories' (GNWT) professional public procurement system by identifying areas that would benefit from improvement. Based on the concerns heard from Northwest Territories business owners and operators, Committee undertook a confidential survey asking businesses for their opinion on various types of procurement and their experience as vendors to the GNWT.

Considerable work needs to be done to diversify the NWT economy. The committee recognizes that, since the GNWT started procurement in the 1980s, the principal driving operation was achieving the lowest possible cost. Existing procurement policies do not fully achieve their intent and do not allow procurement practices to contribute to economic diversification or growth. We recommend that our successor committee monitor the contribution of public procurement to the NWT economy.

Based on business feedback, committee identified that several current procurement practices do not align with the intent of the GNWT's Business Incentive Policy; and that large capital projects and public-private partnership agreements are not subject to any checks or controls to ensure that the Business Incentive Policy is applied throughout project contracts.

Committee's report includes two recommendations to the GNWT: to establish an advisory panel advising on improving government's procurement processes; and to undertake a public review of all procurement policies to ensure that NWT businesses can benefit from government tenders.

Review and Improvement of Legislation

During the 18th Legislative Assembly, committee reviewed 15 legislative proposals, 13 bills, successfully moved 108 amending motions to proposed legislation, and made 31 recommendations for further improvements.

The most important aspect of legislation during this Assembly was a group of bills that was created as a result of the devolution of authorities over land, water, and resources from the Government of Canada. The GNWT introduced seven bills in the winter sitting of 2019 pertaining to land and resource management. Some of the bills updated federal legislation that was inherited by the GNWT, and passed with virtually no changes (also referred to as "mirrored") during the implementation of the 2014 Devolution Agreement, while others updated older statutes that had not been examined in many years.

The following bills were referred to the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment for review:

  • Bill 7: An Act to Amend the Revolving Funds Act (Yellowknife Airport Revolving Fund),
  • Bill 21: An Act to Amend the NWT BDIC Act,
  • Bill 25: An Act to Amend the Workers' Compensation Act,
  • Bill 26: An Act to Amend the Revolving Funds Act No.2 (MTS Revolving Fund),
  • Bill 27: An Act to Amend the Environmental Protection Act,
  • Bill 34: Mineral Rights Act,
  • Bill 35: Supply Chain Management Professional Designation Act,
  • Bill 36: Petroleum Resources Act,
  • Bill 37: Oil and Gas Operations Act,
  • Bill 38: Protected Areas Act,
  • Bill 39: Environmental Rights Act,
  • Bill 44: Forest Act (with drawn), and
  • Bill 46: Public Land Act.

Committee prepared a separate report on this devolution-related legislation, with recommendations for future legislative reviews on the sequencing of reviews, timing of processes and consideration of co-development of legislation in the Northwest Territories.

Transition Matters

Committee takes this opportunity to highlight ongoing and outstanding Committee business matters for consideration by our successor committee in the 19th Assembly. We provide the following suggestions in the hopes that our successor committee finds them informative.

Department of Environment and Natural Resources

Climate Change

During the 18th Assembly, the GNWT grappled with developing policy directives on climate change and how to implement recommendations from the 2017 Report of the Auditor General of Canada on Climate Change in the Northwest Territories. In 2018, the Standing Committee on Government Operations responded to the Auditor's report, making further recommendations for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to consider.

Department of Environment and Natural Resources is the government lead on climate change and developed a Climate Change Strategic Framework and a Climate Change Strategic Framework Action Plan. Committee was challenged in its review of the climate change documents and made best efforts to improve clarity and bring focus to the need of strategic oversight in the policies.

Committee critiqued both documents as being too ambitious, not addressing the Auditor General recommendations sufficiently, and not providing structure and clear leadership to other departments and within the NWT. The policy directive and action plan documents both lack identification of the relationship between climate change and energy and, therefore, Committee suggests that its successor committee give attention to this particular area and its implementation.

The policy framework and the action plan are intended to guide the GNWT through the coming five to 10 years. We recommend to our successor committee to monitor the implementation of the action plan, with particular consideration of whether the recommendations made in the Office of the Auditor General's report are being implemented successfully.

Caribou

Committee reviewed several strategic documents related to the protection and recovery of both Barren-ground and Boreal caribou. Caribou are threatened in the NWT and the GNWT has a legal obligation work collaboratively with Indigenous governments and co-management bodies to develop actions to recover the species. The Bathurst herd in particular is in a desperate state with only 8,200 animals left, a decline of 98 percent since the 1980s. Committee acknowledges the work undertaken by the department to continue monitoring caribou populations and working with others to develop plans and strategies. However, most of the efforts to date have focused on harvest restrictions, further research and, more recently, predator control. Habitat protection and a trans-boundary agreement with Nunavut for Barren-ground caribou are essential to address the caribou crisis and should be monitored carefully by our successor committee.

Knowledge Economy

In 2019, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources presented a GNWT Knowledge Action Plan (2019-2023) that proposes to implement goals established in the GNWT Knowledge Agenda: Northern Research for Northern Priorities (released in May 2017). The overall approach is to increase the government's ability to lead, conduct, influence and promote research in the territories. The GNWT Knowledge Agenda is meant to greatly contribute to, and influence, building a knowledge economy in the Northwest Territories.

We encourage our successor committee to monitor how the linkages between the Knowledge Action Plan, the knowledge economy, and increased economic opportunity are achieved.

Committee encourages the Members of its successor committee to stay apprised of the Department of Education, Culture and Employment's work on implementing the Polytechnic University and opportunities becoming available through the new Post-Secondary Education Act.

Contaminated Sites Management

The GNWT was mandated under commitment 1.3.1, to "develop an integrated comprehensive approach to the management of contaminated sites, including prioritizing, sharing of responsibility in collaboration with other governments, monitoring, and a sound financial security system to prevent public liabilities."

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources committed to establish a consistent, uniform, and cost-effective approach for the GNWT to manage contaminated sites for which the GNWT is responsible. Cross-jurisdictional reviews and other research are underway to position supporting policies.

A Waste Sites Management Committee is an intergovernmental committee created under the NWT Lands and Resources Devolution Agreement to review, discuss and consider, and provide advice and recommendations to Canada on the management of federal waste sites. The Contaminated Sites Council is an advisory body to the GNWT that provides input on traditional knowledge and improving management of contaminated sites in the NWT.

The Standing Committee on Government Operations has made recommendations to the GNWT on its management of contaminated sites, which are reported on in the public accounts. Committee recommends to its successor committee to monitor management of contaminated sites inherited from the Canadian government and observe how the GNWT will develop capacity to prevent, manage, remediate and pay for contaminated sites.

Northwest Territories Power Corporation

In the past, the Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation (NTPC) committed to providing committee with the corporation's capital plans upon finalization. Committee includes the NTPC in this report, because of the impact its operations can have on the mandate areas of this committee such as infrastructure, energy and climate change. The NTPC has begun preparing a 20 year strategic plan to align the GNWT's energy and climate change policy frameworks and create a large-scale capital program increasing capital spending. In light of the NTPC's operating in a continued deficit and having to replace aging infrastructure throughout the NWT, committee recommends that its successor committee in the 19th Assembly, offer review of NTPC capital plans and strategic documents.

Our successor committee may consider ways in which to discuss climate change in the context of NTPC and its mandate. A structural, organizational and operational review of the NTPC was identified as needed by committee. We therefore recommend to our successor committee to encourage this government corporation to undertake a comprehensive organizational renewal with the goal to enable application of technology innovations, consideration of potential partnerships and strategies to avoid rate increases for the end-users, and build energy self-sufficiency.

Committee noted that the Minister's decision to replace the corporation's independent board of directors with deputy ministers impacts the independence of the board and potentially impairs the public oversight of the corporation.

Department of Lands

Land Use Sustainability

Using the Land Use Sustainability Framework (LUSF) to be clear and transparent was one of the Department's mandate points (1.3.1) for the 18th Assembly. The commitment was not completed. The Committee encourages our successor committee to review and monitor progress on implementation of the LUSF.

Contaminated Sites Management

The committee encourages our successors to monitor further improvement of the Public Land Act, and to ensure that mandatory financial security is consistently applied. We recommend to review how securities are determined and formulas are applied; and to determine collaborative efforts with other departments in establishing a financial security system within the GNWT.

The GNWT is member of the Waste Sites Management Committee and receives advice from the Contaminated Sites Council; both operate in collaboration with the Departments of Lands; Industry, Tourism and Investment; and Environment and Natural Resources. Committee encourages its successor committee to monitor the efficiency of the activities in the management of inherited contaminated sites and in preventing public liabilities.

Department of Infrastructure

Oversight on Infrastructure Projects

The GNWT has identified four large infrastructure projects that incoming members may wish to observe. In particular, the committee encourages its successor committee to monitor the level of oversight and public reporting that is applied to large infrastructure projects.

Carry-overs

Committee has identified as a challenge that large amounts of funding for departmental infrastructure projects have been left unspent repeatedly, and as a consequence required transfer into the next year. While this type of budget procedure is common in public government, the continued use of this type of capital carry-over results in the accumulation of large amounts being moved from one fiscal year to the next, creating potential challenges in the allocation and efficiency of expenditure. Committee recommends to its successor committee to monitor capital carry-overs for potential consequences such as lack of capacity to execute a large number of projects, and potential loss of policy control.

Marine Transportation Services

Past experiences of unreliable service delivery have caused budget overruns and delays in delivery to remote communities depending on essential goods to be shipped. The GNWT purchased NTCL's assets after bankruptcy for $7.5 million in December 2016. This purchase stemmed from the recognition of the essential services provided to remote communities, and the fact that NTCL's biggest customer was the Petroleum Products Division (Department of Infrastructure). The GNWT created the Marine Transportation Services Division to operate the services.

Committee encourages our successor committee to monitor financial performance and projections of the Marine Transportation Service, and consider reviewing governance and operational structure with the goal to avoid financial inefficiencies, improve reliability of operations, and minimize disruption of private market operators.

Procurement Policies and Process

Committee's report based on feedback by NWT businesses revealed inconsistencies and contradictions in the public procurement system. We recommend to our successor committee to consider the report recommendations for creation of an independent review panel to advise the GNWT on how to improve procurement processes, remove contradictions between policy direction and administration of contracts and ensure that all tender types, including Public-Private Partnership agreements and contracts, comply with the GNWT's policy directives.

The Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment

Oversight on Policy Implementation

The 18th Assembly required preparation of several high-level policy directives. Committee encourages our successor committee to investigate and monitor how the Department maintains oversight in the implementation of the Northwest Territories Manufacturing Strategy and the Commercial Fisheries Revitalizing Strategy. Both policy directives are critical to growing and maintaining a healthy NWT economy and their successful implementation will require monitoring and continuous feedback with the respective industry and businesses.

The Northwest Territories Arts Strategy 2020-2030 is a most recent strategy led by the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, and implemented in collaboration with the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment. The strategy is ambitious, overarching and will require coordination and support from both Departments. We encourage our successor committee to monitor and encourage the continuing collaboration between the departments in the implementation of the strategy.

Mining Fiscal Regime Review

The Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment, in partnership with the Department of Finance, is coordinating the valuation of minerals mined in the NWT and the receipt of payments and reporting on royalties. The department has indicated that while a royalty review was not part of the legislative initiative of proposing the Mineral Resources Act, the new legislation will set the stage for a detailed fiscal review. Reviewing mining royalties would include review of a multitude of taxes, including the new Carbon Tax. Committee has maintained that such a comprehensive review be undertaken by independent third party expertise, rather than by departments of the GNWT.

Committee encourages our successor committee to monitor the completion of a mining fiscal regime review, amendments to the Mining Regulations and ensure public engagement in the process.

Northwest Territories Business Development and Investment Corporation (BDIC)

The BDIC's funding flows through the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment and not directly to the corporation. Concerns about the effectiveness of the organization remain and we recommend to our successor committee to consider a foundational review of the BDIC's strategic mandate and governance.

Despite past reviews such as a 2015 report, and a more recent 2019 review of the past five years of BDIC operation, this committee has not been left with the confidence that the department nor the corporation have undertaken serious efforts to understand if the organization meets its goals and purposes.

Statutory Reviews

Several pieces of Northwest Territories legislation require a review at certain points in time after the act has come into force. The following three acts contain requirements for review to be undertaken during the 19th Assembly, and may find consideration of our successor committee.

The Wildlife Act requires review as per section 171, within five years after coming into force and no later than seven years after the previous review. This provision requires the review to be carried out before November 2019.

The Species at Risk Act requires review according to section 147, 10 years after coming into force. This places the review to be completed by February 2020.

The Northwest Territories Heritage Fund Act, according to section 10, requires review of the provisions and operation of the act at the first session following the expiry of ten years after the coming into force of the act. This would require review in the first session after August 1, 2022.

Conclusion

This concludes the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment Report on Transition Matters. Members respectfully suggest that the members of our successor committee consider requesting updates on the above matters from committee staff and from the appropriate Ministers in the 19th Assembly, and wish them the utmost success in their service to the people of the Northwest Territories.

Committee Report 36-18(3): Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment Report on Transition Matters
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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Reports of standing and special committees. Member for Yellowknife North.

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Cory Vanthuyne

Cory Vanthuyne Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Sahtu, that Committee Report 36-18(3), Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment Report on Transition Matters, be received and adopted by the Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. The motion is order. The motion is non-debatable. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried.

---Carried

Committee Report 36-18(3), Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment Report on Transition Matters, is received and adopted by this Assembly. Reports of standing and special committees. Member for Kam Lake.

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Kieron Testart

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

Mr. Speaker, your Standing Committee on Government Operations is pleased to provide its record on transition matters and commends it to the House. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River North, that Committee Report 37-18(3) be deemed read and printed in Hansard in its entirety. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. The motion is in order. The motion is non-debatable. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried.

---Carried

Committee Report 37-18(3), Standing Committee on Government Operations Report on Transition Matters, is now deemed read and printed in Hansard in its entirety.

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Introduction

The Standing Committee on Government Operations (SCOGO) is one of the standing committees of the 18th Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories charged with the responsibility of providing oversight over the ongoing business operations of the Government of the Northwest Territories.

The purpose of this report is twofold:

  1. To briefly highlight the work completed by the Standing Committee on Government Operations during the 18th Assembly; and
  2. To identify outstanding issues that will require consideration by SCOGO's successor committee in the 19th Legislative Assembly.

Mandate of the Standing Committee

The mandates of the Legislative Assembly's standing committees are set out in Appendix 3 to the Rules of the Legislative Assembly. The Standing Committee on Government Operations is responsible for:

  • Reviewing the departmental performance, budgets, and multi-year business plans of the departments of Executive and Indigenous Affairs, Finance, and Municipal and Community Affairs, and their boards and agencies;
  • Considering legislative proposals and bills sponsored by these departments;
  • Undertaking a statutory review of the Official Languages Act once every five years, as required under section 35 of the act;
  • Reviewing the annual and special reports of the statutory officers of the Legislative Assembly, including the Languages Commissioner, the Information and Privacy Commissioner, the Equal Pay Commissioner, and the Human Rights Commission;
  • Examining the annual public accounts of the Government of the Northwest Territories and the annual reports of the Auditor General submitted to the Legislative Assembly; and
  • Considering any other matter referred by the House.

Work of the Standing Committee

SCOGO by the Numbers

186 - Number of meetings held

29 - Number of bills or reports reviewed

56 - Number of public hearings held

19 - Number of communities outside Yellowknife visited by committee

82 - Number of motions passed at the committee stage to amend bills

73 - Number of recommendations made

19 - Number of committee reports issued

Highlights

During the 18th Legislative Assembly, the Standing Committee on Government Operations undertook work ranging from the review of the Auditor General's annual reports to the Legislative Assembly and the annual review of the GNWT's Public Accounts, to the review of a number of significant pieces of legislation.

Committee wishes to highlight the work completed in the following four areas:

Renewed Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Legislation

According to the mandates of the Standing Committees, as agreed to by the 18th Legislative Assembly, the Standing Committee on Government Operations, which reviews the annual reports of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (IPC), has a working relationship with the Information and Privacy Commissioner. This provides Committee with the opportunity to become familiar with the workings of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy (ATIPP) Act and aware of the issues that surround the administration of the legislation. For this reason, although the Standing Committee on Social Development has oversight for the Department of Justice and normally reviews bills sponsored by the Minister of Justice, Bill 29: An Act to Amend the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, was referred to SCOGO for review.

Committee put a great deal of work into the review of Bill 29, including undertaking a jurisdictional review of the operation of access and privacy legislation in other provinces and territories, to better understand their legislation and how it compares with the Northwest Territories'. Committee also received a comprehensive submission from the Information and Privacy Commissioner for the Northwest Territories, Ms. Elaine Keenan Bengts. Committee again thanks the Commissioner for her input, which was vital in assisting the committee to determine how it wished to amend Bill 29.

Committee's report on the review of Bill 29 was delivered in the Legislative Assembly on May 28, 2019 and is available on the Assembly's website. Committee moved 25 motions to amend Bill 29, all of which were concurred with by the Honourable Louis Sebert, Minister of Justice. Committee encourages all interested members of the public and the incoming Members of its successor committee in the 19th Assembly to review the Committee's findings and recommendations.

One of the most notable changes to Bill 29 made at the committee stage was to significantly strengthen the powers of the Information and Privacy Commissioner. For the 20-plus years that ATIPP legislation has been in force in the Northwest Territories, the IPC has operated in a manner akin to an Ombud, with powers to investigate complaints and to make non-binding recommendations to government. As the act was originally conceived, a person who is unhappy with a government decision related to an access request may appeal to the IPC. Once the IPC has ruled on the matter and made a recommendation to government, should the applicant be unhappy with the GNWT's response, the only remaining recourse would be for the applicant to file an appeal with the NWT Supreme Court. This is an expensive and daunting last resort for most people.

Once the new act comes into force, the IPC will have order-making power, as do the Information and Privacy Commissioners in Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia. This power will make the IPC's recommendations mandatory for GNWT departments, boards, and agencies and will give the public body in question 40 days to comply. The revised act also includes a new section, similar to that found in the Northwest Territories' Health Information Act, making it mandatory for a public body to notify affected parties whenever there is a breach of privacy respecting personal information held by the public body. The act also provides for municipalities to become subject to the requirements of the ATIPP Act once they are prescribed in regulations.

Cannabis Legislation

In April 2017, the federal government introduced Bill C-45 and Bill C-46 to legalize cannabis in Canada. This required the Government of the Northwest Territories, like other provinces and territories across Canada, to introduce legislation to govern the control, administration, sale and consumption of cannabis within its borders. Bill 6 -the Cannabis Legalization and Regulation Implementation Act proposed two new laws in the Northwest Territories for cannabis control: the Cannabis Products Act, administered by the Department of Finance, sets out authorities for the transportation, distribution, possession, importation and sale of cannabis; and the Cannabis Smoking Control Act, administered by the Department of Health and Social Services provides the authority for the Cannabis Smoking Control Regulations, which set out where cannabis may be legally consumed. These regulations also provide for signage by vendors advising of risks related to cannabis use, and allow for the inspection of cannabis stores or other places where cannabis may be being sold or consumed. To address drug-impaired driving, Bill 6 also proposed amendments to current provisions of the territorial Motor Vehicles Act.

Because Bill 6 was an omnibus bill, creating two new acts and proposing to amend an existing one, it was sponsored by the Minister of Justice. In this instance, the Standing Committee on Government Operations and the Standing Committee on Social Development agreed to establish a joint committee for the purpose of reviewing Bill 6. This collaborative approach worked well in this instance, as it allowed a larger pool of Members to participate in consultations on the bill, which in turn enabled the joint committee to travel to more communities than would have been the case had the bill been reviewed solely by the Standing Committee on Social Development. Collectively, the joint committee visited and held public hearings in 16 communities and visited six secondary schools.

The joint committee moved 22 motions to amend Bill 6 and made eight recommendations to government related to cannabis legalization. The committees' work was responsible for ensuring that cannabis legislation in the Northwest Territories provides for the sale of cannabis by private vendors, not just through the Northwest Territories Liquor and Cannabis Commission. The committees' work also ensured that Bill 6 was amended to ensure a one-time review of territorial cannabis legislation, to take place within one year after the start of the 19th Legislative Assembly.

Renewed Human Rights Legislation

Just as SCOGO has a relationship with the Information and Privacy Commissioner, committee also has a relationship with the Human Rights Commission, which is also a statutory office of the Legislative Assembly.

In 2014, to recognize the 10th year of human rights legislation in the Northwest Territories, the Human Rights Commission contracted an independent review of the Human Rights Act, conducted by a panel of three experts in the field of human rights. One of the key recommendations coming from this review was that the Human Rights Commission move from an adversarial approach to one that is restorative in nature. The review informed subsequent discussions between the Department of Justice and the Human Right Commission, which culminated in the introduction of Bill 30: An Act to Amend the Human Rights Act, which was sponsored by the Minister of Justice.

In its report on the review of Bill 30, Committee recommended that the Human Rights Commission develop an evaluation framework for assessing the efficacy of moving to a restorative process, which includes in its methodology a gender-based analysis and an assessment of the impacts on Indigenous people. Committee further recommended that the findings of this review be tabled in the Legislative Assembly in the first sitting following April 1, 2021, at which time the amendments to the Human Rights Act made by Bill 30 will be fully implemented.

During the clause-by-clause review of Bill 30, on March 7, 2019, committee moved eight motions to amend the bill, of which Minister Sebert concurred with seven. The motion the Minister declined to concur with was a motion to add genetic characteristics to the list prohibited grounds of discrimination under the act.

Committee supported the inclusion of genetic characteristics as a prohibited ground of discrimination, noting that it was a recommendation made by the NWT Human Rights Commission to the Department of Justice when it was developing the bill. Committee learned through its own research that discrimination on the basis of genetic characteristics is prohibited under the federal Human Rights Act, and that Canada was the last G7 country to add genetic characteristics to its list of prohibited grounds when federal Bill S-201 received assent on May 4, 2017.

Committee understands that the Minister's reluctance to concur with this proposal was based, in large part, on a letter the Department of Justice solicited from the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association. This led to what could arguably be characterized as one of the most important and least reported debates to take place in the Legislative Assembly in recent memory. In Committee of the Whole, the chair of the committee again moved the motion to include genetic characteristics as a prohibited ground of discrimination in the NWT Human Rights Act. This motion was defeated by a vote of nine to seven. The Chair also tabled documents, supporting Committee's position, which interested members of the public and Members of SCOGO's successor committee are encouraged to read.

When Committee toured on Bill 30, it heard unanimous support from members of the public for the inclusion of genetic characteristics as a prohibited ground of discrimination in the Human Rights Act. Committee was disappointed not to have the Minister's concurrence with this proposed amendment, but does not believe that it signifies the end of this debate. Committee encourages incoming Members of the 19th Legislative Assembly to continue to keep apprised of legal developments related to genetic non-discrimination.

Establishment of the Office of the Ombud for the Northwest Territories

At the start of the 18th Assembly, committee members were aware that SCOGO's predecessor committee had tabled a report in the 17th Assembly supporting the appointment of an Ombud as an independent officer of the Legislative Assembly, with a mandate to investigate complaints about the administrative fairness of the Government of the Northwest Territories' operations and practices.

Committee believes that ensuring the public has access to an independent office, to provide assistance to citizens who feel they have not been treated fairly by government, is an important element of an open, transparent and accountable territorial government. Committee, therefore, acknowledges the Government of the Northwest Territories for including this initiative in its mandate and for meeting its commitment to bring forward legislation governing the Ombud's work.

Committee is pleased to have played a part in the establishment of the first Office of the Ombud for the Northwest Territories by reviewing this draft legislation, Bill 20, which was introduced by the Minister Responsible for Public Engagement and Transparency. Committee held public hearings on Bill 20 in Inuvik, Norman Wells, Fort Resolution, Hay River, Behchoko, Ndilo, and Yellowknife, and subsequently moved 19 motions to amend Bill 20. Sixteen of these motions were passed with the concurrence of the Minister.

Committee congratulates Ms. Colette Langlois on her appointment by the Legislative Assembly as the first NWT Ombud and wishes her well as she takes on her new role.

Transition Matters

SCOGO Public Hearings on Reports of the Auditor General

At present, the Office of the Auditor General of Canada undertakes one compliance audit per year of the Government of the Northwest Territories, which assesses the performance of the audited department with respect to the administration of the existing legislative and policy framework for which it is responsible. It has been the mandate of SCOGO to review the Auditor General's report and to hold a public hearing with the deputy minister of the affected department, as her or she is the most senior official responsible for departmental administration. It has been the mandate of the standing committee which has oversight responsibility for the affected department to carry out any subsequent, follow-up reviews.

Any department that is called to appear before SCOGO as a result of a compliance audit by the OAG, should be prepared to provide the standing committee with a draft of its action plan in response to the audit, so that the standing committee may have input into this plan before it is finalized.

The Legislative Assembly has in place a process convention for communication between Cabinet Ministers, standing committees, and Regular Members, requiring that all presentation decks and briefing materials be provided to the appropriate standing committee at least three days prior to the scheduled date of delivery. Despite this, for the last three reviews SCOGO has not received the department's action plan in response to the audit within the time allowed by the process convention, which has limited the committee's ability to have meaningful input into the plan.

For future hearings, committee recommends that its successor committee reach out to the audited department at the earliest possible opportunity to set out its expectations with respect to the public hearing.

It should be further noted that the Special Committee on Transition Matters has considered the establishment of a public accounts committee in the 19th Legislative Assembly. Committee endorses this proposal, which will result in significant change to this committee's mandate, as the review of all reports of the Auditor General would become the purview of the Public Accounts Committee, along with the annual review of the GNWT's public accounts.

ATIPP Implementation

As previously noted, the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act was amended in the 18th Legislative Assembly to allow for municipalities noted in the regulations, to be subject to the requirements of the act. The committee supported the inclusion of municipalities under ATIPP, which the IPC has long called for, but recognizes that there is considerable trepidation on the part of municipal governments about what this entails. Committee supported designating affected municipalities in the regulations, because this mechanism allows for municipalities to be phased in after a period of time to allow for preparation.

Considerable work needs to be done with respect to the implementation of ATIPP for municipal governments. The committee made the following recommendations to help guide this implementation:

  • That the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, working with the Department of Justice, develop a detailed and costed plan to guide the implementation of ATIPP for municipalities.
  • That the plan identify: i) time lines for the inclusion of different categories of municipalities in the ATIPP Regulations; ii) the resources needed by each municipal government to comply with ATIPP, to ensure adequate funding for initial implementation and ongoing operational requirements; along with iii) any other significant considerations as determined through consultation on development of the plan; and
  • That, before being finalized, the plan be provided in draft so that input may be obtained from: the appropriate standing committee; the NWT Association of Communities; and the local government administrators of the Northwest Territories.

Committee encourages its successor committee to watch for this draft plan and to follow up with the Departments of Justice and Municipal and Community Affairs on its progress.

Statutory Review of the Official Languages Act

Section 35(1) of the Official Languages Act requires that "the Legislative Assembly or a committee of the Legislative Assembly designated or established by it shall review the provisions and operation of the Official Languages Act at the next session following December 31, 2007, and subsequently at the next session following each successive fifth anniversary of that date."

The 17th Assembly Standing Committee on Government Operations completed a review of the Official Languages Act in 2014. The next review should commence during the first full session of the 19th Legislative Assembly. The standing committee has a great deal of latitude as to how such a review is structured. Committee encourages the Members of its successor committee to look at the past recommendations of the Languages Commissioner and to engage her early in the process to seek her advice on setting out a process for the review.

911 Emergency Service Implementation

When Committee reviewed Bill 31, Northwest Territories 911 Act, committee was concerned that, through no fault of its own, the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs could not, at the time, access all of the information necessary to fully assess the potential monthly costs to residents for this service. This is because certain proprietary information would not be developed by NorthwesTel until the company had the certainty of 911 legislation. It was also because CRTC hearings had yet to take place to determine charges that NorthwesTel could levy for the use of its equipment in the delivery of 911.

To address this concern, committee amended the bill to include a limit setting the monthly cost recovery fee at no more than $1.70 per month per phone, for the first three years after the bill comes into force.

Committee encourages the Members of its successor committee to stay apprised of the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs' work on the implementation of 911 emergency service in the Northwest Territories, particularly as it pertains to the amount of the CRTC approved levy and the cost-recovery fee set by the GNWT, as based on actual operational data.

Heritage Fund Act

In its mandate, the GNWT committed to "review and develop amendments to the Northwest Territories Heritage Fund Act in light of devolution to ensure a defined revenue stream and stronger public governance." This is a mandate commitment is one that the GNWT failed to complete in the 18th Legislative Assembly.

The purpose of this commitment, which regular Members requested be included in the mandate, was to ensure the act is amended to incorporate a legal commitment with respect to the amount of revenue that the GNWT is required to set aside annually from resource revenues. With respect to putting aside resource revenues for future generations, the only commitment in place right now is one that was made by the Finance Minister in the 17th Assembly that 25 percent of the net fiscal benefit from resource revenues would be deposited in the Heritage Fund. Regular Members wanted to see this commitment entrenched in the act that governs the fund.

Members also wanted to see the act amended to address the governance of the fund which, at present time, is administered by the Department of Finance.

Small Business Tax Relief

This is another mandate commitment that the GNWT failed to meet, which has been a source of frustration for Committee members. After promising the committee a copy of a paper on small business tax filers for more than a year, committee learned through the business planning process that this paper had been completed and the Department of Finance had come to the conclusion that there would be no tax relief measures for small businesses. When Finance engaged with committee on the carbon tax, committee again asked for special measures for small business, to no avail. The deputy chair of the committee even introduced a private Member's bill, Bill 49, Small Business Tax Relief Act, in the hopes of introducing measures to make things easier for small business owners in the Northwest Territories. When the Member moved that the bill be given first reading, the committee chair seconded the motion, which was subsequently defeated.

Conclusion

This concludes the Standing Committee on Government Operations Report on Transition Matters. Members respectfully suggest that the Members of our successor committee consider requesting updates on the above matters from committee staff and from the appropriate Ministers in the 19th Assembly, and wish them the utmost success in fulfilling their mandate.

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Reports of standing and special committees. Member for Kam Lake.

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Kieron Testart

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River North, that Committee Report 37-18(3), Standing Committee on Government Operations Report on Transition Matters, be received and adopted by the Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. The motion is in order. The motion is non-debatable. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried.

---Carried

Committee Report 37-18(3), Standing Committee on Government Operations Report on Transition Matters, is now received and adopted by this Assembly. Reports of standing and special committees. Member for Nahendeh.

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Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Your Standing Committee on Social Development is pleased to provide its Report on Transition Matters and commends it to the House. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, that Committee Report 38-18(3) be deemed read and printed in Hansard in its entirety. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. The motion is in order. The motion is non-debatable. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried.

---Carried

Committee Report 38-18(3), Standing Committee on Social Development Report on Transition Matters, is now deemed read and printed in Hansard in its entirety.

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Introduction

The Standing Committee on Social Development (SCOSD) is one of the standing committees of the 18th Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories charged with the responsibility of providing oversight for the ongoing business operations of the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT).

The purpose of this report is twofold:

  1. To briefly highlight the work completed by SCOSD during the 18th Assembly; and
  2. To identify outstanding issues that may require consideration by SCOSD's successor committee in the 19th Legislative Assembly.

Mandate of the Standing Committee

The mandates of the Legislative Assembly's standing committees are set out in Appendix 3 to the Rules of the Legislative Assembly. SCOSD is responsible for the following matters with respect to the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, the Department of Health and Social Services, the Department of Justice and the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation:

  • reviewing multi-year business plans and budgets, bills, boards and agencies, including the Status of Women Council and programs for seniors, youth and persons with disabilities;
  • reviewing departmental performance, including that of boards and agencies;
  • considering issues related to homelessness; and
  • considering any other matter referred by the House.

Work of the Standing Committee

SCOSD by the Numbers

23 - Number of bills or reports reviewed

55 - Number of public hearings held

22 - Number of communities outside Yellowknife visited by Committee

78 - Number of motions passed at the Committee stage to amend bills

6 - Number of Committee reports issued

197 - Number of Committee meetings

Highlights

During the 18th Assembly, SCOSD undertook work ranging from the review of departments' budgets and performance and the holding of public hearings on issues of interest to residents of the Northwest Territories (NWT) to the review of legislation.

SCOSD wishes to highlight the work it has undertaken in the following three areas during the 18th Assembly:

Legislation

In the course of the 18th Assembly, SCOSD reviewed 23 bills and moved a significant number of motions and recommendations to improve these pieces of legislation. The highly collaborative effort between our committee, ministers, and our respective officials in the review and amendment of Bill 40, Bill 41, Bill 45 and Bill 48 is particularly worth highlighting. These coordinated efforts, combined with the submissions and testimony provided in the course of our reviews, resulted in statutes that received overwhelming support in the House and that better serve the residents of the NWT.

Children and Youth

The GNWT committed in the Mandate of the Government of the Northwest Territories 2016-2019 (Revised) (Mandate) to work towards transforming child and family services, including by conducting audits to ensure compliance with the Child and Family Services Act and developing caseload and workload measures for child protection in order to monitor and track the resources required to ensure compliance with the act. The undertaking and completion of annual compliance audits of Child and Family Services conducted by the Department of Health and Social Services were of particular interest to SCOSD, as was our oversight of any subsequent responsive actions from the department and the health authorities.

A priority of this Assembly was to make childcare available and affordable. In the Mandate, the GNWT committed to implement Right from the Start: A Framework for Early Childhood Development in the Northwest Territories, by working with stakeholders and communities to ensure the NWT has free play-based care for four-year-olds. A controversial component of the Early Childhood Development Action Plan tabled in June 2017 was the implementation of the Junior Kindergarten Program (JK). The rollout was to be accomplished by adjusting the pupil-teacher ratio just within the legislated threshold rather than infusing new money into the school system. Implementation was to take place over three years, beginning in small communities in 2014-2015, and following in the regional centers in 2015-2016 and Yellowknife in 2016-2017.

Bill 16, An Act to Amend the Education Act proposed to enshrine JK and to regulate entitlement of access for JK students, who could be as young as three years and eight months. In addition, Bill 16 also proposed to reduce the mandatory minimum for school instructional hours.

In the course of our review of Bill 16, SCOSD heard significant frustration about the proposed rollout of these significant policy changes and the bill's progress from parents and guardians, educators, school boards and education authorities, as well as childcare and early childhood education providers. Committee provided substantial recommendations to improve the approach being taken by the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, including that the department review and adjust its school funding formulae to account for new JK students, report annually on implementation of the Strengthening Teacher Instructional Practices pilot project and JK, and account for after-school care in its ongoing analysis of daycare in the NWT.

After Care

The 18th Assembly prioritized the delivery of locally and culturally appropriate methods to address mental health and addictions. In the Mandate, the GNWT committed to develop a comprehensive mental health and addictions framework enhancing access to culturally appropriate programs and services to, for example, address gaps in integrated community-based services, evaluate addictions healing programs, and enhance treatment options including aftercare. The GNWT also committed to explore innovative ways to prevent and reduce crime that take into account mental health and addictions, such as culturally appropriate correctional programs.

In December 2017, Committee visited the adult residential addictions treatment facilities in British Columbia (BC) and Alberta where NWT residents attend for residential treatment as well as a unique program for offenders with addictions within BC's corrections system to better understand the options available to Northerners. The tour showed us that the current use of southern residential placements is effective, but the Department of Health and Social Services and its partners must strengthen complementary services at home if the NWT is to be adequately served. Based on our tour and study, we developed several recommendations intended to enhance territorial addictions treatment and form a critical part of the department's action plan on addictions recovery, including in relation to the need for enhancements to community-based aftercare services and for a pilot program to connect those discharged from treatment with housing opportunities.

Committee also worked in collaboration with the Minister of Justice and the Department of Justice to make several important amendments to Bill 45, Corrections Act to ensure that case management initiatives and programming needs are tailored to the unique needs of our inmate population, to assist with their successful rehabilitation and community reintegration and reduce recidivism.

Transition Matters

SCOSD wishes to bring the following matters to the attention of incoming committee members:

NWT Housing Corporation

Housing

Another priority for the 18th Assembly was increasing the availability of safe, affordable housing and creating solutions for addressing homelessness. The territory's high cost of living is experienced most intensely by those residents who are homeless or unemployed. The GNWT has a long way to go to address the need for adequate and affordable housing, including commitments it made in the Mandate.

In particular, SCOSD was troubled by the significant wait lists for public housing and the challenges associated with core housing need that persist across the NWT. Market housing remains out of reach for many. Without new public housing, the housing need in our communities cannot be reduced meaningfully. There is a need for prompt and adequate investment in a community-based approach to housing in the NWT, and the need for flexibility in determining local priorities and housing initiatives. Local governments are best positioned to understand and deliver solutions for local housing needs. The development and implementation of a territorial housing strategy, including for increasing the public housing stock and addressing homelessness across the NWT may be an avenue worth pursuing by our successor committee.

The federal government's continued prioritization of on-reserve housing in its approach to Indigenous housing interests may be an ongoing concern. SCOSD has urged the NWT Housing Corporation to work cooperatively and swiftly with the Indigenous leaders of the NWT to advocate as partners for federal funding that is equitable and fair for all Indigenous communities in Canada. Federal funding for Indigenous housing should reflect the large size of the NWT's Indigenous population, our high costs of housing infrastructure and our complex and evolving governance landscape.

Committee also wishes to point out that residents may be better served if the NWT Housing Corporation were to invest less time and energy on developing new plans and policies and more time on execution of those plans and policies. Only through concrete actions will the NWT achieve real progress towards ensuring all residents have access to adequate, affordable and suitable housing.

Department of Justice / Department of Health and Social Services

Intimate Partner and Family Violence

Given the alarming rates of intimate partner and family violence in the NWT, committee recommends this issue be a high priority for the next Committee. In particular, we encourage the next committee to ensure the GNWT is working to elevate the status of all women across the NWT, and to observe the performance of the A New Day Men's Healing Program and correctional programs aimed at rehabilitating perpetrators of violence and healing their victims and communities. We also encourage the committee to advocate for improvements to victim services, particularly in light of the recommendation we made in our report on Bill 45, Corrections Act that victim services be adequately resourced to raise awareness of the program and victims issues and to ensure victims are served appropriately.

Department of Health and Social Services

Child and Family Services

SCOSD recommends the incoming committee ensure that staffing in Child and Family Services reflects the core issues identified by the Office of the Auditor General of Canada in their 2018 report, and monitor the development and implementation of caseload and workload standards to ensure compliance with the Child and Family Services Act. We recommend the incoming committee urge the department to go beyond a "holistic approach" and pursue a comprehensive approach through a pilot project aimed at achieving integrated case management within Child and Family Services.

Seniors

The GNWT committed in the Mandate to support seniors and elders to live in their own homes for as long as possible and ensure adequate supports are available for those who can no longer do so. Seniors and elders are a major growing demographic in the territory, and the GNWT must engage in thorough long-term planning to meet their needs and address the impacts that an aging population is having on our systems. New care beds will be required, and demands for homecare services will only continue to rise.

A new framework for long-term care is overdue, as is the construction of a sufficient number of seniors' supported independent living units across the territory. We also wish to highlight our concerns about the timeliness and lack of availability of renovations programs for improving safety and accessibility for seniors and elders. The next committee may wish to encourage the NWT Housing Corporation to increase its efforts to raise awareness and help elders and seniors access the Seniors Aging-in-Place Retrofits Program, including by making its website more navigable. Implementation of plans such as the Continuing Care Action Plan and the development of continuing care facilities legislation should be monitored with an eye to supporting seniors and elders to age in place and optimize their health, wellness and quality of life.

Anti-Poverty

The GNWT committed in the Mandate to work collaboratively to reduce poverty. The next Committee is encouraged to track the progress of implementation of a renewed Anti-Poverty Action Plan, expected in August 2019. In particular, the committee may want to work to ensure that collaboration is realized, that efforts are streamlined to focus on core poverty issues such as food security and childcare, that direct support is offered to people in poverty, and that small communities receive the support they need to meaningfully participate in anti-poverty initiatives and access anti-poverty funding.

Mental Health and Addictions

Committee believes another focus for the incoming Committee should be on monitoring implementation of the Mental Wellness and Addictions Recovery Action Plan released in June 2019, including interdepartmental collaboration on delivering a range of government services across the continuum of care.

Department of Education, Culture and Employment

Childcare

The GNWT committed in the Mandate to improve the accessibility, affordability and inclusivity of childcare. We encourage the next committee to monitor implementation of actions to make childcare more accessible and affordable.

Children and Youth

We urge the next committee to monitor the implementation of JK as well as the impacts of the reduction in school instructional hours and of efforts to train early childhood workers and educators. Members may also wish to continue the push for affordable and accessible, if not universal, daycare for all caregivers, and for investments in daycare infrastructure.

Service Delivery

Limited access to programs and services in small communities is a long-standing concern. The lack of presence of frontline service workers on the ground weakens the effectiveness of government programs.

Another long-standing concern is the continued operation of government departments in silos, which creates fragmented experiences for people trying to access services. We urge the government to provide services in a more integrated manner and to revise policies that operate at cross-purposes. Committee is pleased to see the success achieved through the integrated case management program operated by the Department of Justice in Yellowknife. This way of doing business has had proven success in other jurisdictions and has far-reaching potential to help our most vulnerable residents. Our successor committee is urged to promote the adoption of an integrated approach in other settings, including child and family services.

Statutory Reviews

Several pieces of legislation contain requirements for review after they have come into force. During the 19th Legislative Assembly, the successor committee may expect to review the following statutes, among others:

  • Subsection 126(5) of the Education Act requires a review by the Minister, in consultation with the Legislative Assembly or a committee designated or established by the Assembly, of the hours of instruction within six months of the conclusion of the 2019-2020 academic year;
  • Section 88.1 of the Child and Family Services Act requires the Legislative Assembly or a committee designated or established by the Assembly to conduct a comprehensive review of the Act and any other related subjects before April 1, 2021; and
  • Section 105 of the Mental Health Act requires the Legislative Assembly or a committee designated or established by the Assembly to conduct a comprehensive review of the Act and other related subjects before September 1, 2023.

Conclusion

This concludes the Standing Committee on Social Development Report on Transition Matters. Members respectfully suggest that the Members of our successor committee consider requesting updates on the above matters from committee staff and from the appropriate Ministers in the 19th Assembly, and wish them the utmost success in fulfilling their mandate.

Committee Report 38-18(3): Standing Committee on Social Development Report on Transition Matters
Reports Of Standing And Special Committees

Page 6388

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Reports of standing and special committees. Member for Nahendeh.

Committee Report 38-18(3): Standing Committee on Social Development Report on Transition Matters
Reports Of Standing And Special Committees

Page 6388

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, that Committee Report 38-18(3): Standing Committee on Social Development Report on Transition Matters be received and adopted by this Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Committee Report 38-18(3): Standing Committee on Social Development Report on Transition Matters
Reports Of Standing And Special Committees

Page 6388

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. The motion is in order. The motion is non-debatable. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried.

---Carried

Committee Report 38-18(3) is now received and adopted by this Assembly. Reports of standing and special committees. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Committee Report 38-18(3): Standing Committee on Social Development Report on Transition Matters
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Page 6388

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh

Mr. Speaker, your Standing Committee on Priorities and Planning is pleased to provide its report on transition matters and commends it to the house. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Kam Lake, that Committee Report 39-18(3) be deemed read and printed in Hansard in its entirety. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Committee Report 38-18(3): Standing Committee on Social Development Report on Transition Matters
Reports Of Standing And Special Committees

Page 6388

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. The motion is in order. The motion is non-debatable. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried.

---Carried

Committee Report 39-18(3) is now deemed read and printed in Hansard in its entirety.

Committee Report 39-18(3): Standing Committee on Priorities and Planning Report on Transition Matters
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Page 6388

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Introduction

The Standing Committee on Priorities and Planning (SCOPP) is one of the standing committees of the 18th Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories charged with the responsibility of providing oversight over the ongoing business operations of the Government of the Northwest Territories.

The purpose of this report is twofold:

  1. To briefly highlight the work completed by the Standing Committee on Priorities and Planning during the 18th Assembly; and
  2. To identify outstanding issues that SCOPP's successor Committee in the 19th Legislative Assembly may wish to consider.

Mandate of the Standing Committee

The mandates of the Legislative Assembly's standing committees are set out in Appendix 3 to the Rules of the Legislative Assembly. The Standing Committee on Priorities and Planning is responsible for:

  • review issues which have government-wide implications, including the overview of the budget and fiscal framework;
  • review Government of the Northwest Territories reports on financial and performance results and program and policy evaluations to ensure anticipated outcomes are being achieved and accountability is maximized;
  • coordinate sessional business scheduling and planning in cooperation with appropriate ministerial representatives;
  • coordinate committee public consultation efforts with respect to budget and fiscal matters;
  • coordinate committee strategic planning efforts;
  • monitor and evaluate Ministerial performance issues;
  • consider the budgets and financial management of any boards and agencies that are outside the responsibility of any standing committee; and
  • Consider any other matter referred by the House.

Work of the Standing Committee

Highlights

During the 18th Legislative Assembly, the Standing Committee on Priorities and Planning undertook work ranging from strategic planning, review of government budgets, a comprehensive review of the mandate midway through our term, and public hearings on issues of interest to residents of the Northwest Territories.

Committee wishes to highlight the work undertaken in the following three areas:

Amendments to the Mandate

The Mandate of the 18th Legislative Assembly was the most ambitious of any Assembly, with over 200 specified actions. The Mandate was debated at length first in February 2016, then again in October of 2017. There were 26 motions to amend the mandate moved by committee members in 2016, with a further five motions in 2017. Of particular note, the committee amended the mandate to include the development of legislation establishing the Office of the Ombud, and was pleased to review the legislation and see it passed in the House. We wish the new Ombud well in her role.

Adjustments to the budget

There were particular divisions over the direction of the Northwest Territories early in the life of the 18th Assembly, which came to the fore during the debates over the budgets. Several programs that were initially not deemed as priorities ended up receiving increased funding due to the advocacy of committee members, notably junior kindergarten and 911 services.

Accessibility of Committee Meetings

Openness and transparency are often cited as key hallmarks of democratic governance. The standing committee was pleased to amend the operating procedures of the Committees to ensure that they are now open by default, as well as finding new ways to broadcast committee proceedings via Facebook Live, Twitter, and the Legislative Assembly website. This ensures that as many people as possible can access committee proceedings, an essential requirement in a territory as vast as ours.

Transition Matters

We provide the following suggestions based on our experience as a committee, in the hopes that our successor committee finds them informative.

House Planning

Early in the 18th Assembly, the chair and deputy chair of the committee began a House planning exercise during each morning meeting during session. The deputy chair attended the daily meetings with the Speaker and Government House Leader, where government business was shared with Members, and Members statements and questions were shared with government. The committee found that this resulted in a better flow of information, and encourages its successor committee in the 19th Assembly to consider a similar protocol.

Public Consultation by SCOPP

The 18th Assembly has made strides in improving transparency and accountability to the public. Committee meetings are now open by default, with set reasons to go in-camera. We would encourage our successor committee to consider how to continue to make meetings more public, and adopt a protocol early in the life of the 19th Assembly to open the work of government to public scrutiny.

Ongoing Training on Procedure and Rules

Our Committee has seen a lot of turnover in staff, with four clerks and two advisors over the course of the last four years. This has affected the corporate memory of the committee, and impacted our ability to advance priorities. We recommend to our successor committee to consider ongoing training to committee chairs and deputy chairs on procedure and rules of the Assembly. We further recommend that all Members receive a more comprehensive education on the powers and privileges of committees, so that they may be used more effectively, with a particular focus on the investigative powers of committees.

Political Advice to Regular Members

While Members appreciate the services provided to the committee by the clerk and advisor, their advice is limited and apolitical, as befits their positions as employees of the Legislative Assembly. The committee notes that each Minister is assigned a ministerial special advisor who can provide political advice, independent of the apolitical advice provided by departments. Cabinet as a whole is served by the Principle Secretary, a deputy-level position responsible for advancing the political priorities of Cabinet. Regular Members do not have access to the same level of political advice, which has hampered our ability to advance our priorities. Our successor committee may wish to establish a role independent of the Legislative Assembly to provide political advice to committee and to individual Members.

Committee Cohesion

There will always be differences of opinion when 11 independent politicians are working together. However, our committee found that public reporting on our differences often overshadowed the highly collaborative work that was under way. For example, almost all Members worked on the cannabis legislation, under tight timeframes and punishing travel to consult with as many communities as was possible. We would also note that the vast majority of bills, including budgets, passed with overwhelming support in the House. We would encourage our successor committee to fully embrace the Code of Conduct that was adopted at the end of the 18th Assembly and to use its provisions to ensure all Members are fulfilling their duties.

Regulations

Most proposed bills undergo public review by a standing committee, with the possibility of extensive hearings where public interest warrants. However, many important matters of concern to the public are addressed in regulations, which typically are approved by a Minister or the Cabinet without the involvement of Regular Members. The Mineral Resources Act and the Corrections Act are examples of bills that originally proposed leaving substantial matters to regulations. Members worked hard to incorporate more in the body of the act; however, much is still to be determined in regulation. The 19th Assembly may wish to consider instituting processes for standing committee review of such regulations.

Conclusion

This concludes the Standing Committee on Priorities and Planning Report on Transition Matters. Members respectfully suggest that the members of our successor committee consider requesting updates on the above matters from committee staff and from the appropriate Ministers in the 19th Assembly, and wish them the utmost success in their service to the people of the Northwest Territories.

Committee Report 39-18(3): Standing Committee on Priorities and Planning Report on Transition Matters
Reports Of Standing And Special Committees

Page 6390

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Reports of standing and special committees. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Committee Report 39-18(3): Standing Committee on Priorities and Planning Report on Transition Matters
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Page 6390

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Kam Lake, that Committee Report 39-18(3): Standing Committee on Priorities and Planning Report on Transition Matters be received and adopted by the Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Committee Report 39-18(3): Standing Committee on Priorities and Planning Report on Transition Matters
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Page 6390

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. The motion is in order. The motion is non-debatable. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried.

---Carried

Committee Report 39-18(3) is now received and adopted by the Assembly. Reports of standing and special committees. Item 13, reports of committees on the review of bills. Item 14, tabling of documents. The Honourable Premier.

Tabled Document 518-18(3): Final Report on Implementation of the Mandate of the Government of the Northwest Territories 2016-2019 Tabled Document 519-18(3): Consolidated Report of the Implementation Committee - Tlicho Agreement 2015/16 to 2018/19 Tabled Document 520-18(3): Consolidated Report of the Implementation Committee - Gwich'in Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement April 1, 2015 to March 31, 2018 Tabled Document 521-18(3): Consolidated Report of the Implementation Committee - Gwich'in Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement 2009/10 to 2014/15 Tabled Document 522-18(3): Report of the Implementation Coordinating Committee - Inuvialuit Final Agreement 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 Tabled Document 523-18(3): Annual Report of the Implementation Committee - Sahtu Dene and Metis Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement April 1, 2016 - March 31, 2017 Tabled Document 524-18(3): Annual Report of the Implementation Committee - Sahtu Dene and Metis Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement April 1, 2017 - March 31...
Tabling Of Documents

Page 6391

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following nine documents entitled "Final Report on Implementation of the Mandate of the Government of the Northwest Territories 2016-2019"; "Consolidated Report of the Implementation Committee - Tlicho Agreement 2015/16 to 2018/19"; "Consolidated Report of the Implementation Committee - Gwich'in Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement April 1, 2015 to March 31, 2018"; "Consolidated Report of the Implementation Committee - Gwich'in Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement 2009/10 to 2014/15"; "Report of the Implementation Coordinating Committee - Inuvialuit Final Agreement 2016-2017 and 2017-2018"; "Annual Report of the Implementation Committee - Sahtu Dene and Metis Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement April 1, 2016 - March 31, 2017"; "Annual Report of the Implementation Committee - Sahtu Dene and Metis Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement April 1, 2017 - March 31, 2018"; "Annual Report of the Implementation Committee - Deline Final Self-Government Agreement, April 1, 2016 - March 31, 2018"; and "Annual Report of the Implementation Committee - Deline Final Self-Government Agreement April 1, 2017 - March 31, 2018." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Tabled Document 518-18(3): Final Report on Implementation of the Mandate of the Government of the Northwest Territories 2016-2019 Tabled Document 519-18(3): Consolidated Report of the Implementation Committee - Tlicho Agreement 2015/16 to 2018/19 Tabled Document 520-18(3): Consolidated Report of the Implementation Committee - Gwich'in Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement April 1, 2015 to March 31, 2018 Tabled Document 521-18(3): Consolidated Report of the Implementation Committee - Gwich'in Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement 2009/10 to 2014/15 Tabled Document 522-18(3): Report of the Implementation Coordinating Committee - Inuvialuit Final Agreement 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 Tabled Document 523-18(3): Annual Report of the Implementation Committee - Sahtu Dene and Metis Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement April 1, 2016 - March 31, 2017 Tabled Document 524-18(3): Annual Report of the Implementation Committee - Sahtu Dene and Metis Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement April 1, 2017 - March 31...
Tabling Of Documents

Page 6391

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Tabling of documents. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Tabled Document 527-18(3): Government of the Northwest Territories Response to Committee Report 24-18(3): Report on the Review of Bill 48: Post-Secondary Education Act Tabled Document 528-18(3): Doing Our Part: Initial Response to 'Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls', August 2019 Tabled Document 529-18(3): 2018-2019 Annual Report - Status of Women Council of the N.W.T. Tabled Document 530-18(3): Annual Report: 2017-2018 Canada-NWT Early Learning and Child Care (ELCC) Bilateral Agreement and Action Plan
Tabling Of Documents

Page 6391

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following four documents entitled "Government of the Northwest Territories Response to Committee Report 24-18(3): Report on the Review of Bill 48: Post-Secondary Education Act"; "Doing Our Part: Initial Response to 'Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls', August 2019"; "2018-2019 Annual Report - Status of Women Council of the N.W.T."; and "Annual Report: 2017-2018 Canada-NWT Early Learning and Child Care (ELCC) Bilateral Agreement and Action Plan." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Tabled Document 527-18(3): Government of the Northwest Territories Response to Committee Report 24-18(3): Report on the Review of Bill 48: Post-Secondary Education Act Tabled Document 528-18(3): Doing Our Part: Initial Response to 'Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls', August 2019 Tabled Document 529-18(3): 2018-2019 Annual Report - Status of Women Council of the N.W.T. Tabled Document 530-18(3): Annual Report: 2017-2018 Canada-NWT Early Learning and Child Care (ELCC) Bilateral Agreement and Action Plan
Tabling Of Documents

Page 6391

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Tabling of documents. Minister of Finance.

Tabled Document 531-18(3): Northwest Territories Liquor Licensing Board 65th Annual Report 2018-2019 Tabled Document 532-18(3): Northwest Territories Liquor and Cannabis Commission 65th Annual Report Tabled Document 533-18(3): Annual Report 2018-19 of the Northwest Territories Hydro Corporation & Northwest Territories Power Corporation Tabled Document 534-18(3): Inter-Activity Transfers Exceeding $250,000 (April 1 to June 30, 2019) Pursuant to Section 74 of the Financial Administration Act
Tabling Of Documents

Page 6392

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following four documents entitled "Northwest Territories Liquor Licensing Board 65th Annual Report 2018-2019"; "Northwest Territories Liquor and Cannabis Commission 65th Annual Report"; "Annual Report 2018-19 of the Northwest Territories Hydro Corporation & Northwest Territories Power Corporation," and "Inter-Activity Transfers Exceeding $250,000 (April 1 to June 30, 2019) Pursuant to Section 74 of the Financial Administration Act." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Tabled Document 531-18(3): Northwest Territories Liquor Licensing Board 65th Annual Report 2018-2019 Tabled Document 532-18(3): Northwest Territories Liquor and Cannabis Commission 65th Annual Report Tabled Document 533-18(3): Annual Report 2018-19 of the Northwest Territories Hydro Corporation & Northwest Territories Power Corporation Tabled Document 534-18(3): Inter-Activity Transfers Exceeding $250,000 (April 1 to June 30, 2019) Pursuant to Section 74 of the Financial Administration Act
Tabling Of Documents

Page 6392

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Tabling of documents. Minister of Infrastructure.

Tabled Document 535-18(3): Energy Initiatives Report 2018-19 Tabled Document 536-18(3): 2030 Energy Strategy / Energy Action Plan Report, August 2019
Tabling Of Documents

Page 6392

Wally Schumann

Wally Schumann Hay River South

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following two documents entitled "Energy Initiatives Report 2018-19"; and "2030 Energy Strategy / Energy Action Plan Report, August 2019." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Tabled Document 535-18(3): Energy Initiatives Report 2018-19 Tabled Document 536-18(3): 2030 Energy Strategy / Energy Action Plan Report, August 2019
Tabling Of Documents

Page 6392

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Tabling of documents. Member for Frame Lake.

Tabled Document 537-18(3): Wha Ti Community Energy Plan - Options for Energy Supply and Management for Wha Ti, Northwest Territories Tabled Document 538-18(3): Northwest Territories Energy Report, May 2011
Tabling Of Documents

Page 6392

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Merci, Monsieur le President. Two document to table: excerpts from "Wha Ti Community Energy Plan - Options for Energy Supply and Management for Wha Ti, Northwest Territories"; and excerpts from "Northwest Territories Energy Report, May 2011." Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Tabled Document 537-18(3): Wha Ti Community Energy Plan - Options for Energy Supply and Management for Wha Ti, Northwest Territories Tabled Document 538-18(3): Northwest Territories Energy Report, May 2011
Tabling Of Documents

Page 6392

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Tabling of documents. Member for Nahendeh.

Tabled Document 539-18(3): The Gordon Foundation - Policy Memo: Ways forward in addiction programming in Fort Simpson, NT. Dene Gogondie, Voices of the People Tabled Document 540-18(3): The Gordon Foundation: Creating Ethical Spaces for On-the-Land Learning Tabled Document 541-18(3): The Gordon Foundation: Negotiating the Dehcho: Protecting Dene Ahthit'e through Modern Treaty-Making
Tabling Of Documents

Page 6392

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to table three documents: "The Gordon Foundation - Policy Memo: Ways forward in addiction programming in Fort Simpson, NT. Dene Gogondie, Voices of the People" by Kristen Tanche, Jane Glassco Northern Fellowship; "The Gordon Foundation: Creating Ethical Spaces for On-the-Land Learning" by Chloe Dragon Smith of the Jane Glassco Northern Fellowship; and the last one "The Gordon Foundation: Negotiating the Dehcho: Protecting Dene Ahthit'e through Modern Treaty-Making" by Don Couturier, Jane Glassco Northern Fellowship. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Tabled Document 539-18(3): The Gordon Foundation - Policy Memo: Ways forward in addiction programming in Fort Simpson, NT. Dene Gogondie, Voices of the People Tabled Document 540-18(3): The Gordon Foundation: Creating Ethical Spaces for On-the-Land Learning Tabled Document 541-18(3): The Gordon Foundation: Negotiating the Dehcho: Protecting Dene Ahthit'e through Modern Treaty-Making
Tabling Of Documents

Page 6392

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Tabling of documents. Item 15, notices of motion. Item 16, notices of motion for first reading of bills. Item 17, motions. Item 18, first reading of bills. Item 19, second reading of bills. Item 20, consideration in Committee of the Whole of bills and other matters: Minister's Statement 151-18(3): New Federal Infrastructure Agreement; Minister's Statement 158-18(3): Developments in Early Childhood Programs and Services; Minister's Statement 211-18(3): Addressing the Caribou Crisis; Tabled Document 442-18(3): 2030 NWT Climate Change Strategic Framework 2019-2023 Action Plan; Tabled Document 511-18(3): Capital Estimates 2020-2021. By the authority given to me as Speaker by Motion 7-18(3), I hereby authorize the House to sit beyond the daily hour of adjournment to consider the business before the House, with the Member for Sahtu in the chair.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 6392

The Chair

The Chair Daniel McNeely

I call committee to order. What is the wishes of committee? Mr. Testart.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Kieron Testart

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Committee would like to consider Tabled Document 511-18(3): Capital Estimates 2020-2021. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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The Chair

The Chair Daniel McNeely

Thank you, Mr. Testart. We will resume after a short break. Thank you, Committee.

---SHORT RECESS

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Page 6393

The Chair

The Chair Daniel McNeely

I call committee back to order. Committee, we have agreed to consider Tabled Document 511-18(3): Capital Estimates 2020-2021. Does the Minister of Finance have any opening remarks?

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm here to present the GNWT's 2020-2021 Capital Estimates. These capital estimates total $398.6 million, and continue to support the infrastructure priorities of this Assembly, as well as continued infrastructure investment in our communities. Major highlights of the plan include:

  • $134 million for highways, winter roads, bridges, and culverts. This includes funding of $84 million towards the Tlicho All-season Road project and $10 million for the Mackenzie Valley All-season Road;
  • $52 million for health facility replacements, renovations, and equipment, including $20 million for long-term care facilities and $2 million for a vulnerable persons shelter;
  • $45 million for various energy projects under the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Plan;
  • $33.4 million for new education facilities and renovations to existing schools;
  • $29 million in continued funding to support community governments with their infrastructure needs;
  • $15.5 million for one airport replacement and improvements to other airports;
  • $8.8 million for deferred maintenance and energy upgrades to existing GNWT assets; and
  • $6.5 million for new and enhanced information technology upgrades.

As in previous years, the 2020-2021 Capital Estimates do not include appropriations for housing infrastructure proposed by the NWT Housing Corporation. The corporation's 2020-2021 capital plan is proposed to be $11.7 million and is included in these capital estimates as an information item.

Including this amount, total infrastructure spending in the NWT for 2020-2021 is estimated to be approximately $410 million. That concludes my opening remarks. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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The Chair

The Chair Daniel McNeely

Thank you, Minister. We have agreed to begin with general comments. Does the Minister of Finance wish to bring witnesses into the House?

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

Yes.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Page 6393

The Chair

The Chair Daniel McNeely

Thank you. Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the witnesses into the Chamber. Would the Minister please introduce his witnesses.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Page 6393

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Chair. To my right, I have Mr. David Stewart, who is the deputy minister of Finance. To my left, I have Mr. Terence Courtoreille, who is director of MBS, the Management Board Secretariat. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Page 6393

The Chair

The Chair Daniel McNeely

Thank you, Minister. Before we commence or start with general comments, I wish to remind Members that we have reserved another event coming later. I will now open the floor to general comments. Mr. Beaulieu.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Page 6393

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My first question is to ask the Minister if the Minister could give us the number or the amount of the carry-overs from fiscal year 2018-2019. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Page 6393

The Chair

The Chair Daniel McNeely

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Minister McLeod.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The quick answer to the Member's question is there is $120 million in carry-overs. Thank you.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Page 6393

The Chair

The Chair Daniel McNeely

Thank you, Minister McLeod. Mr. Beaulieu.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Page 6393

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm hoping that the rate changes a bit. That's about 50 percent. We have actuals of $126 million. I'm wondering if the Minister of Finance could advise us if that is something that he has discussed with the various departments responsible for delivering our infrastructure and our capital. I'm wondering if there's a plan to ensure that we're not carrying over $200 million worth of capital at the end of this fiscal year 2020-2021. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Page 6393

The Chair

The Chair Daniel McNeely

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Minister McLeod.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have had a conversation with the department about the amount of carry-overs we have within the government's capital estimates, and I think I said when I was before committee that we try to work with all of our Aboriginal partners to try to come up with some of the work made available to them using some of the processes we have, and that might slow our progress down in trying to get some of these projects out the door as quickly as we would like. I think that's the reason we have carry-overs sometimes, is for different reasons, different ways of doing business in the Northwest Territories.

I think I had said that, if we had just taken our capital budget out and put everything out for public tender, I think we'd have people in place right away, but we also hear concern from Members of the Legislative Assembly about keeping the work available to NWT residents, and that's what we try to do. Sometimes, it may cause us to have some carry-overs, but if that's the price we have to pay to keep a lot of the work with the people of the Northwest Territories, then I think we should be willing to pay that price. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

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The Chair

The Chair Daniel McNeely

Thank you, Minister. Mr. Beaulieu.

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Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to just switch for the next question to the contributions. I'm wondering if the Minister has had any discussions with the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs to get a feel for the amount of maybe carry-over that municipalities have. Right now, the municipalities are getting a fairly steady amount of money, just at this point $29 million, and I recognize that it's gone up very slowly, but I'm wondering if the reason is that the communities are having a carry-over. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Page 6394

The Chair

The Chair Daniel McNeely

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Minister McLeod.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Chair. One of the things that we've heard from communities, and the Member is right, the infrastructure contribution to the communities has gone up. I think we were at $27,002,000 for most of my time as a Minister in this government, and we've brought it up to $29 million, and I think that's what we're asking this Assembly to approve.

One of the challenges that we hear from the communities, and there may be surpluses, they may have capital surpluses, because there are a number of different pots; they have the CPI funding, they have the Gas Tax funding, they have a number of programs they can access. I think that's why you see some communities, and we've heard it from some of the smaller communities that are challenged with the O and M portion of it, and that's another debate for the upcoming 19th, their first O and M budget session, I think they will need to have those conversations, but I think MACA has given them authorization, I believe, to use up to 10 percent of their capital budget to go towards O and M, because that's where their biggest challenge is.

I don't think it's a lack of infrastructure funds. I'm not sure what the carry-overs would be, or what their surpluses would be. I suppose, if we had to, I could work with the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs to get that information and provide it to committee, if we're able to. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

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The Chair

The Chair Daniel McNeely

Thank you, Minister McLeod. Mr. Beaulieu.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I apologize for calling the infrastructure contributions a "carry-over." The Minister was referring to it correctly as a surplus. So, considering that they are not carry-overs and they're surplus, then am I correct to understand that they could accumulate surplus for years and years and, at some point in the future, use the capital? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Daniel McNeely

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Minister McLeod.