This is page numbers 2907 - 2950 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 assembly.

Topics

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, first and foremost is the working with the Arctic communities out there. If you look in the High Arctic, basically they're on fuel. They're on diesel, and they're having an impact there. How do we get off them, how do -- we able to deal with that?

So, again, it is working with the municipal governments and other -- I would call them regions and -- when we were at COP, we had the opportunity to talk about in the southern hemisphere where they have regions working together. And one of the things that I talked about after coming out of that meeting, we need a regional approach to it. When I say a regional approach to it, I'm talking about Nunavut, Northwest Territories, Yukon, Alaska, and Greenland. We've had the opportunity to talk to Greenland, and some of their ideas and some of the things they're able to achieve. So we are willing to work.

And as for right now, we have to understand if you look up in the Beau-Del, they're talking about the potential of turning -- of changing it to gas right now. They have this opportunity, they're working on it, so we cannot dictate to the communities or the regions on how the best way to do it but we can work with them, and I think that's the most important aspect of it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

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

Caitlin Cleveland

Caitlin Cleveland Kam Lake

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.

My first question is will the department commit to advocating on behalf of NWT fishers on the FFMC board to ensure any NWT fishers who wish to supply southern markets can obtain broad exemptions from the corporation within a timely manner? Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister responsible for ITI.

Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I certainly was listening earlier to the Member's statement to the concern that the process is unwieldy and difficult. It is not a GNWT process, Mr. Speaker. It is a process governed by the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation to which we're a member. But it is not unfortunately, a process that I can directly change. We have offered support in the past. And I've not had anything raised to me until now that there's been any delays. So we're going to keep an eye on that. I'll certainly make inquiries to see if, in fact, there's been other delays. And if so, we can certainly work with proponents in the industry to make sure they are navigating that system so long as we are still in it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Caitlin Cleveland

Caitlin Cleveland Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm wondering if the Minister can speak to how much more per pound of fish will the fishers receive at the plant after the new plant is constructed and renovations are done? Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister responsible for ITI.

Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish I could give an exact dollar figure that would -- I think it would actually be good news. The work that's being done right now has done initial look at what the markets are anticipated to be and certainly is well aware the potential of our industry. But as far as knowing exactly the state of the market in a year or two years from now, that is not something I can directly predict.

That said, again, in the work that has been done both in terms of understanding the markets, understanding the marketing potential and what's anticipated by the fishers themselves who have done some of that, looking as well, we certainly are expecting, without a doubt, increased prices. How much more, I don't know. That is -- it's a question that the closer we get, then the more we'll be in the moment of knowing what the markets are doing, the better I'll be able to give a direct answer. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Caitlin Cleveland

Caitlin Cleveland Kam Lake

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, and I appreciate that. I think that's important information. If we want a viable market, it needs to have value.

Mr. Speaker, my next question is does the department expect to remove the authority of the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation in the Northwest Territories; and, if so, what timeline is the department working toward?

Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, right now the reason that the Northwest Territories continues to be a part of FFMC, it provides a stable and consistent floor for fishers to receive a price for their fish. It provides them a stable paycheque. And that's not a small thing in what is a -- what can be a very challenging industry.

But that said, it's a floor. And it's not necessarily one that markets the product to the extent that we believe it can be and should be and certainly doesn't get that high value for some of these side products that we also recognize that there are markets for.

So having said all that, Mr. Speaker, there's a process underway. And, again, it's led by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans by the federal government. It's not our process. The FFMC is not our entity. But there's a process underway right now, and we're certainly involved and aware of what's going on, to map out a change at the FFMC to turn it into a cooperative of fishers which would certainly change the dynamic that operates there.

I would just also note, though, of course, that a CFIA plant, a certified plant, which is the vision we have, would give more options as well. So there's a couple different tracks that we're on. We're participating in the change that may be happening over at FFMC, and we're looking to get our plant operating so that we have some of those options.

But, again, in the meanwhile, for now, we're certainly allowing fishers to keep the threshold that they have. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

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

Caitlin Cleveland

Caitlin Cleveland Kam Lake

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think one of the unique things today as well as we go forward with the Great Slave Lake fishery is this plan to have supports in place for marketing and sales for northern fishers. And so I think that that's one of the really exciting parts, it gives the autonomy to northern fishers potentially to increase the value of the market, and to really market themselves in a really unique way to the north. The north has a huge reputation around the world for the fish that come out of our lakes, as it should. And to be able to sell that for the value that it so holds is a really exciting opportunity.

My next question, and last question, Mr. Speaker, is when will the department complete the Great Slave Lake commercial fishery marketing strategy, and will the strategy identify the operations to manage sales with higher value clients than the FFMC? Thank you.

Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the sales and marketing strategy is expected to be complete, right now the target is March 31st 2022, so a few months -- a few short months away, I would say. And, Mr. Speaker, the point is I think exactly what the Member is getting at, which is namely that we are looking to provide information to the industry here, but what channels, what clients are available to them, that is something more than -- something more that's higher end that's going to really bring the value that we see, that we believe exists for freshwater fish in the Northwest Territories, and to add the higher value products that right now, they're not accessing but relying solely on the FFMC or primarily on FFMC.

So a few months away, Mr. Speaker. I'm sure the Member's written that date down, and I can look forward to discussing it further. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Great Slave.

Katrina Nokleby

Katrina Nokleby Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm going to ask some questions about energy which could be directed to the Minister of Infrastructure; however, I had such a great time with Minister Thompson on our trip that I'm going to ask ENR about these questions.

So my questions for Minister Thompson are, is what new innovation discussed at COP26 does the Department of ENR feel can best help the North to make a transition to clean energy? Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Great Slave. Minister responsible for Environment and Natural Resources.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I have to say the Member from Great Slave did a great job representing SCEDE and the Northwest Territories at the conference. She was able to meet with a number of people that I didn't get to meet with, so kudos to her.

One of the interesting new innovations discussed at COP was green -- or green hydrogen. Green hydrogen came from a renewable -- or power resources. These power sources would include wind, solar, hydro, or geothermal. Green hydro products produce no carbon dioxide. Currently, around 5 percent of the world's hydrogen is produced in this way. This new technology is a significant part of Greenland's climate change plan which shows opportunity in the North. And I've had the opportunity to meet Minister Lund and have that conversation with him.

I understand that the Department of Infrastructure are hosting to participation -- or practitioners workshop in 2022 at the hydrogen -- on hydrogen and its feasibility in the North. We are looking forward to discussions, this further with Infrastructure and the climate change council moving on. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Katrina Nokleby

Katrina Nokleby Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to the Minister for his kind words. It was a great conference, and I was really excited to hear about the green hydrogen as well.

Can the Minister speak to whether he or any of his colleagues have plans for there to be -- to introduce incentives for industry in order to encourage them to reduce their carbon footprint by changing out their operations. For example, taxi companies moving towards electric cars. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, currently, the GNWT has a greenhouse gas grant fund for buildings, an industry that provides up to 25 percent grants to industry for greenhouse gas reduction projects. This fund is approximately 8 million until 2024. This could include support for retrofits of vehicles to make them less greenhouse grass initiatives.

Under the carbon tax system, industry not only pays an increased tax on fossil fuel use, but part of the carbon tax revenue goes into admittance special funds that can be used to support greenhouse gas reduction projects. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Katrina Nokleby

Katrina Nokleby Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the Minister for that answer and hope that there will be some newer innovations, sort of incentives, to come.

What is the Minister -- in the Minister's opinion and the department's opinion are the biggest barriers to the Taltson hydro expansion project from an ENR perspective? Thank you.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the GNWT is working with our partners to address barriers to the project itself. We, as ENR, are very confident that the environmental concerns related to this project will be addressed for the NWT's robust regulatory process. So right now, we're confident in the process that we're moving forward and we'll be able to complete this project besides the money that we need from the federal government. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Great Slave.

Katrina Nokleby

Katrina Nokleby Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That was a great segue to my next question which was in the Minister's opinion, was the GNWT successful in making headway to getting additional funding from the federal government towards transitioning the NWT off of fossil fuels? I know there was a lot of conversations happening, but could the Minister share whether or not he felt they were successful. Thank you.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I did have the opportunity to talk to Minister Guilbeault about the adaptation program that's going to be happening, and it's going to be done in 2022. So we had that opportunity to talk about there is money available that they're going to be talking about and how it's going to be impacting.

I also had the opportunity to meet with the Minister from Ontario, and we talked about this exact same issue. And, again, we stressed them to the fact is it can't be population based, it has to be needs based plus. And so we've had that conversation.

So the GNWT is currently eligible for 254 million until 2020 in federal funding under the Investment in Canada Infrastructure program to fund a total of 338 million in infrastructure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as well as keeping our system reliable and affordable.

The GNWT also received 31.2 million until 2024 under the federal low carbon economy fund to address greenhouse gas emissions mostly in buildings and industry.

I was able to meet, like I said, with the federal Minister, and I've also said previously Minister Archie has been able to meet with Minister Wilkinson as well and talk about future funding opportunities.

What we need is funding that is specifically tailored to meet the needs of the North with more flexibility and lower NWT contribution percentages. We continue to lobby the federal government in this regard. And I do have a meeting with the federal minister and my provincial colleagues and territorial colleagues in December to talk about this very topic. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

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