This is page numbers 229 - 294 of the Hansard for the 19th Assembly, 2nd 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 going.

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Rocky Simpson

Rocky Simpson Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have to give credit to the last Assembly when they purchased the assets of NTCL. It was a good move on their part. However, when it comes to the operation, we have a problem. We were to have a made-in-the-North solution. Instead, we have had a southern company running the operation for the last three years. First of all, I would like to ask the Minister of Infrastructure: what process did this government use for retaining the services of ORSI? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Minister of Infrastructure.

Katrina Nokleby

Katrina Nokleby Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The current contract was awarded through the public procurement process. My understanding is the request for proposal was released on October 10, 2017 and it closed on December 5th of the same year. We received four proposals for the work, and the contract was awarded to the highest responsible proponent, which was the Offshore Recruiting Services Inc., or ORSI as you called them. The term of the contract was for one season plus an option to extend for three additional years. The current contract will expire on December 31, 2020.

Rocky Simpson

Rocky Simpson Hay River South

I will ask the Minister: will MTS be evaluating and looking at developing in-house capabilities for recruiting terminal staff?

Katrina Nokleby

Katrina Nokleby Great Slave

MTS has contracted ORSI due to their unique expertise in the recruitment and day-to-day management of offshore labour, so we do not have a current plan for the government to assume this function. We do have the marine training centre in Hay River, which is funded by Transport Canada, and that was providing marine-related industry training to Northwest Territories residents. We wanted to introduce them to the marine industry in hopes that they will pursue careers in the field and we can increase our numbers there. We did employ a number of the students last year from that institute, as did the Canadian Coast Guard. Where we can, MTS will continue to commit to employing those students in the future. We employed a total of 194 employees in 2019 to support the operations in the peak season, 92 of whom were Northwest Territories residents and 39 were local-hire Indigenous residents. Thank you.

Rocky Simpson

Rocky Simpson Hay River South

It's interesting that the Minister says that ORSI has unique expertise. I guess I have lived in Hay River for close to a hundred years, and I have worked for NTCL before, and, when I was a kid, I used to hang around there. It always seemed at that point that there was pretty well all, even riverboat captains and that, it was Northerners who worked there. There were very few Southerners. All of a sudden, as time goes on, we shift. We make that shift, and we always think everything is better in the South. I guess I am just making a point there. The question is: what oversight is in place to ensure this government is receiving cost-effective service from ORSI?

Katrina Nokleby

Katrina Nokleby Great Slave

I do acknowledge the Member's frustration with this process, so I commit to continuing to work with him to move forward. The contract for the services includes terms and conditions which the contractor must abide by. GNWT MTS management staff are responsible for ensuring the contractor performs, and they are in regular, frequent contact with the contractor management. Costs are managed on a biweekly basis by the MTS finance staff, and they are ensuring the invoice costs are in line with those terms and conditions of the contract. Like I said, the current contract does expire in 2020, at the end of this year, so we will be reviewing the performance of the contractor prior to extending for the last option that we have, so I commit to working with the Member going forward to hear his concerns about that and addressing them.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Hay River South.

Rocky Simpson

Rocky Simpson Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The past government had indicated that a long-term business model for MTS was to be developed, and I am just wondering if this government or your department has looked at that, or if there is anything in place and when we can expect something.

Katrina Nokleby

Katrina Nokleby Great Slave

My understanding for the business model plans, that was in 2017. Infrastructure produced a comprehensive, multi-year business plan for MTS, and then they produced an update of that plan last year. They are presently working on the long-term business model that will support the business plan, and exploring different types of governance models. The business model study is expected to be completed by this summer, and then we would be presenting it to committee with the hopes of finalizing it in the fall of 2020. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.

Question 95-19(2): Homelessness
Oral Questions

February 26th, 2020

Page 236

Caitlin Cleveland

Caitlin Cleveland Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think, to start us off today, I just want to clarify one of the questions from my colleague, the Member from Yellowknife North. He requested that the Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation would commit to inviting the relevant partners to the meeting with the Yellowknife Women's Society, and I just want to clarify that that will include both public servants from housing and education, as well as the mayor of Yellowknife and also potentially the federal MP, Michael McLeod. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.

Paulie Chinna

Paulie Chinna Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Right now, I have the request going out to the executive director for the Yellowknife Women's Society, and we will together collaborate and create an invite list as to who she would like to attend the meeting. For myself, there would be myself and two of my staff.

Caitlin Cleveland

Caitlin Cleveland Kam Lake

I definitely appreciate that. Given the timeline on this project, I hope that we can get everybody in the room in a timely fashion. My second question is: in the 2018 National Housing Strategy, CMHC committed to a 50-percent reduction in chronic homelessness by 2028. In 2015, Winnipeg became the first Canadian city to eliminate homelessness. I am wondering if this government is actually committed to ending homelessness in the Northwest Territories.

Paulie Chinna

Paulie Chinna Sahtu

Working with homelessness throughout the Northwest Territories, it becomes such a huge issue that we are dealing with a population throughout the territory. Eliminating the homelessness, it's a strategy going forward. I would like to just be mindful to the Member that we do with isolated communities, as well, in the northern part of the region and looking at climate change and just making those points that for us to get material and to build and construct in the northern part of the region can be quite challenging. However, going forward, we are working with a strategy to work with the homelessness issue in the Northwest Territories.

Caitlin Cleveland

Caitlin Cleveland Kam Lake

In September 2018, I noticed an ad that was a call-out for proposals to create a homelessness strategy. We are now 18 months down the road, and the strategy is not complete. I am wondering what timeline the Housing Corporation is working towards completing this strategy and also when we can expect the action plan.

Paulie Chinna

Paulie Chinna Sahtu

Right now, the Housing Corporation is in a working relationship with the 33 communities in wanting to complete housing plans that are developed at the community level. These are going to be requests that are made from the people. Going forward, I directed my staff that I would like these housing plans to be complete and submitted by August. I know we are not going to be able to get every single community, but then, with that information, I would like to start working towards the strategic plan on how we are going to go forward for the next three years.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.

Caitlin Cleveland

Caitlin Cleveland Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. One of our priorities is related to affordable housing, and one of our other priorities is the ability for people to age in place. A few of us discussed earlier today how people who are homeless in Yellowknife are often moving here from their home communities for a variety of reasons. Definitely, these are people who want to be able to age in their own communities and be with their family. Will the homelessness strategy include the communities as far as an action plan? Will there be a strategy involved to give people the opportunity to stay in their own home community, to age in their home community, and to be housed in their home community? Thank you.

Paulie Chinna

Paulie Chinna Sahtu

The purpose of the project is exactly what the Member has expressed. We need to have those numbers from the community so we know what we are working with and directing the communication between the communities and the Housing Corporation. We have created programs to deliver within the smaller communities and also throughout the territory that would meet the needs of the senior population. Going forward, I will keep the Member informed of the next steps that the Housing Corporation will be taking in regard to our community plans and our strategies and working towards our housing issue in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Merci, Monsieur le President. I have some further questions for the Minister of Lands on the Cameron Hills environmental liabilities, how we got there. It is my understanding that we have something called "reclaim." It is a model for calculating liabilities. It is based on per-unit experience of remediating, reclaiming sites. Could that model actually be applied right now to the Cameron Hills site to give us even an initial estimate of what the liabilities are? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Minister of Lands.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Unfortunately, right now, it is in receivership. The receiver is actually doing this work. We have made a commitment. Once that is done, Lands and ENR inspectors are going to go in, and we may be looking at this. Right now, no. Thank you.