This is page numbers 659 - 708 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 community.

Topics

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Final supplementary, Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Minister for that. One of the intriguing ideas about the Yukon example is that it is a collaboration between the Council of Yukon First Nations, Legal Aid, and the territorial government. I encourage the Minister to have some research done into that program to see how it may be beneficial there. Is she able to make that commitment? Thank you.

Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

I had the opportunity to meet with my colleagues from the Yukon at the First Ministers' Meeting that was held not long ago, and we had a very good conversation about a lot of initiatives that are happening in the Yukon right now. Indeed, some of our alternative courts were modelled after systems back in the Yukon. I can certainly assure the Member that those exact conversations with that jurisdiction will continue and that we will both continue to share best practices. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.

Lesa Semmler

Lesa Semmler Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister for Housing Corporation. Can the Minister tell me whether or not they have a way to triage their housing waiting list, knowing that, in my community, there are 80 single people on that list? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes. Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.

Paulie Chinna

Paulie Chinna Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I hear the Member's concern about the waiting list, and it is an ongoing problem throughout the Northwest Territories. Going forward, I will be working with my staff and trying to establish a way of how are we going to work with the people on the list and look at the differences between if the people are on Income Support or if they are on the public housing list. It's very complicated, and I need to pay a lot closer attention to understand why our waiting lists are so high. I will be working with the Member going forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Lesa Semmler

Lesa Semmler Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you for that response. The commitment that I'm looking for is to take a look at that list in my community, where there are people who have been on there, like I said, six-plus years that I've actually dealt with. I know, after speaking to the Minister of ECE, that policies have changed, and maybe they've been sitting on that list all this time, not knowing that policies have changed in Income Support. Will the Minister commit to reviewing that list, going through that list, and possibly working with the Minister of ECE to ensure that clients who are on that list who could be supported by Income Support get some help?

Paulie Chinna

Paulie Chinna Sahtu

Thank you to the Member for her question. Like I said, the housing list is a huge concern for me as the Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation. Going forward, I want to look at an assessment of the list that is currently throughout the Northwest Territories. I want to assess that list and I want to work with my colleague, the Minister for Education, Culture and Employment, and try to look at solutions going forward and look at our policies and see where we need to amend our policies in order to be more effective in the Northwest Territories.

Lesa Semmler

Lesa Semmler Inuvik Twin Lakes

If you could provide the checklist or triage list, because I always hear they get points, and the more points they have, then the faster they will get a unit. If you could provide that kind of a document that the LHOs are using to score clients, that would be great. It would help us to be able to work with clients who are coming to us.

Paulie Chinna

Paulie Chinna Sahtu

Yes, I will look at that list, and I will provide that to the Member. I want to do an assessment to look at this issue that we do have with the Housing Corporation. It is, honestly, very concerning. I do see that we have some people who have been on the waiting list for years, and I need to change that. I need to start working with the Northwest Territories and with my employees at the LHO level and start to find and identify solutions on how we are going to deliver a strong program and strongly work with our clients in the smaller communities.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.

Lesa Semmler

Lesa Semmler Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The reason I bring this up, as well, is that we do have the homeless shelter, and the Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation is the Minister who is responsible for homelessness. The people who have been living in our homeless shelter have been there for years, you know, and there is no movement in there where people transition into private accommodations, or anything, so maybe that's another area where she has staff in that department who can look at the people who are living there transitioning into, if they can transition into, support by Income Support, to make room for more people in there. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Paulie Chinna

Paulie Chinna Sahtu

Yes. As the Housing Corporation, we need to find stronger solutions. We need to find stronger initiatives to work with the people who are in our communities who are experiencing the homelessness, and we need to find stronger ideas on how we are going to be working with them going forward and exercising the programs and services the Government of the Northwest Territories currently has. Going forward, I will be working very closely with the Member and looking at solutions that will honestly probably affect the rest of the Northwest Territories and finding solutions on how we're going to work throughout the territory, as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

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

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister of Lands. In my statement earlier today, I outlined a number of issues or problems with the Surface Rights Board Act. These problems included the board's inability to refuse access, application of the legislation within municipal boundaries, air-only access, use of financial security to ensure compliance, compensation of the board, and allowing the board to hear from others than the parties to the dispute. These are in addition to the fact that the board hasn't actually been asked to resolve any disputes in seven years. Can the Minister tell us whether any of these issues, or others, have been raised with the department? 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. The Surface Rights Board is a land claim obligation in the Gwich'in final agreement and is referenced in the Sahtu and the Tlicho agreements. The department has not heard from any IGOs or other governments or organizations about issues with this board presently. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

I want to thank the Minister for that. During the review of the department's 2020-2021 Main Estimates, the Minister committed to look into the need to continue the Surface Rights Board; I've got that in Hansard here. This is a very helpful commitment because the legislation itself contains no provision for any kind of review. Can the Minister tell us how he intends to carry out this review, in consultation with Indigenous governments and the NWT?

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

In the main estimates, I did make a commitment that we should look at this board, and we did. One of the things we did was examine the land claim agreements, and I can confirm the Surface Rights Board is a land claim obligation in the Gwich'in and is also stated in the Sahtu and Tlicho agreements. This board is actually fully funded by the Government of Canada, so we have an obligation to have this board in place.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

The Minister is right. There are provisions in the agreements for the board, and there is one year of funding, apparently, one year of funding. Many of these issues that I have raised about application within municipal boundaries, use of financial security to ensure compliance, these are not inconsistent with what is found in the agreements. I actually participated in the review of the original federal legislation. There was very little support for it at the public hearing in Yellowknife, except from the mining industry. Will the Minister commit to engaging Indigenous and the public, including the mining industry, during the review of the Surface Rights Board Act?

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

As the request, right now, we haven't heard anything from Indigenous governments. We haven't heard from the mining industry. Right now, we haven't heard, besides our Member here, and I appreciate his work leading up to this. Right now, we haven't heard anything from them. I can reach out to the three land claim agreements to see if they have concerns with it, but right now, we're not going to review this because it's an obligation in the agreements.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Frame Lake.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. There are provisions in the agreements for interim arrangements, as well, in the absence of legislation. This legislation was forced on us by the federal government, and I think it's time that we looked at it. Look, this board has been in place for seven years; not one dispute. That's, I don't know, over $2 million spent on this work, and no disputes to resolve. Can the Minister give us a schedule for the review that he has committed to undertake on the Surface Rights Board Act? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

As I said, we have not heard anything from Indigenous governments on this concern. We are under the process that we will review this if there is a new land claim settled, and we would actually start the process then. I am willing to work with the Member to see how we and the committee can start this process. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.