This is page numbers 3165 - 3220 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 indigenous.

Topics

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Member mentioned, this is not new ground. Over the years, there's been a number of -- much work done on the types of programs and research into the needs of young children and how we can better support them and how we can better support parents with their child care needs. And so this work has been done by the Department of Health, by E, C and E, and the officials at the department have looked at all of this work spanning many years, and as well, they have gone out to have discussions with child care providers, Indigenous governments, and so on. And all of that is informing both the negotiations that we are currently in with the federal government as well as the 2030 Early Learning and Childhood Strategy. That strategy will be a very high-level document without specific actions. That's generally what strategies are; they're guiding documents. But as with many federal funding agreements, there's already a requirement for an action plan. So the -- I expect there will be a detailed action plan under the Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement that will spell out exactly how we are going to spend this money and make these improvements to the child care sector. So I can assure the Member we will have a plan. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today my Member's statement was on shipping and timing in regards to my riding. It's really essential because three communities that I represent are on the ocean. And this year, we're worried in regards of having our shipment so late into the season, in September, due to ice conditions and in the rough seas because our boats are only limited to do so much.

Mr. Speaker, is there any way-- like, we have six and a half months of planning, is the Minister able to direct her staff with MTS in regards to servicing the community first before servicing contracts? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Nunakput. Minister responsible for Infrastructure.

Diane Archie

Diane Archie Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the marine delivery needs of the ISR communities, of any Northwest Territories communities, do not take a backseat to North Warning System contract or any other commercial contracts. MTS serves the ISR communities with dedicated tugboats and barges. I think the Member's going to be happy to hear that, that we dedicate our tugs and barges to the-- to the smaller communities. So a different tugboat and barge is used to serve the-- for example, the North Warning System. These marine operations run concurrently, but they don't interfere with each other. In the past summer, though operations were temporarily delayed by ice, the ISR communities did receive their freight. And a different tugboat than Nunakput did North Warning System deliveries and was completed on time this season. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for that. I'm really happy to hear that we have Nunakput serving Nunakput, and look forward to that this year. But we have six and a half months of planning to do to make that happen.

For the timeline, June 15th was when the ocean opened up on our side and boats are already coming in from June to September. Why did it take so long? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Diane Archie

Diane Archie Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the tugs leave from Hay River. So I mean, there are a number of factors that we need to consider, including the ice to melt in the lake and getting it up the river. So those are some of the reasons why. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So in regards to the shipping, you know, we came in in September. We can't have that, what happened in 2018 with that service and costing former government millions of dollars to service our communities. So, Mr. Speaker, how does it work and where do they buy the fuel in regards to servicing the communities if they're coming up and they're doing tows out to the community, where are they buying the fuel and can we get it cheaper so we could pass on those cheap rates to the people of Nunakput? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Diane Archie

Diane Archie Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, if that's okay, I'm going to get back to the Member in terms of where exactly we purchase, and I think that was the Member's question last week as well. So, you know, we can look into, you know, where we get our fuel and if there's cost savings. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Nunakput.

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just want to again thank MTS for the service that they do. It's just a matter of getting a schedule that is doable because this year, like I said in my Member's statement, that people had boats, four-wheelers on there, that were wanting to hunt and go whaling in the community of Paulatuk firstly and they weren't able to get them until September, and they got to use it once. Mr. Speaker, more of a comment, but thank MTS for their service this year but we'll work on the scheduling. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you. Taken as comment, but I'll let the Minister respond, short.

Diane Archie

Diane Archie Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'll make this really short. Over the past two -- and I think this is really important because, you know, there are some of the delays and, you know, climate change has a big impact on it as well, but I do want to just quickly say that over the past few years, in Canada's Arctic waters, water and ice condition have been less predictable than in previous years. It is unfortunate, but ice and bad weather can sometimes interfere with our marine deliveries. Ice and weather can be dangerous. MTS operations must be safe operations. Our captains will not put their crews, vessels at risk. MTS had an excellent safety record over the past five seasons, and we're very proud of that record and I do want to note to the MTS staff that, you know, this is much appreciated. So the tugboats for the ISR communities was delayed by ice this year. All of our deliveries to the communities were done. Boats and crews made it home safely. And I think that's very important. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.

Oral Question 836-19(2): Office of the Fire Marshall Service
Oral Questions

November 30th, 2021

Page 3188

Rylund Johnson

Rylund Johnson Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A quick Google search will tell you that the Fort Good Hope seniors home officially opened in February of this year. And then it didn't open. And then the GNWT said it would open at the end of summer. And then it didn't open.

So my question for the Minister responsible of Municipal and Community Affairs is when is the Fort Good Hope seniors home going to open?

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Minister responsible for MACA.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you. I know he probably read in the paper at some point in time I was the Minister of but I'm not the Minister responsible for Housing. That's Minister Chinna.

What I know right now, the Fort Good Hope Housing 9-plex is not opened right now. We did open it during the COVID Secretariat. We had 24-hour supervision, temporary occupation lined up through the -- again, with the COVID breakout, to assist the community and isolate the people there.

As for a date, I think the Member will -- should ask the Minister of Housing for that question. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Rylund Johnson

Rylund Johnson Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, I'll put the Minister on Housing that I -- on notice that I will ask her when she expects the GNWT to let the GNWT open their building.

My question here is that I regularly see -- receive complaints that our Office of the Fire Marshal is not operating with the same service that both of our neighboring territories are, that emails go unresponded to, that plan review function takes months, that getting occupancy permits can take months and months with different dates provided. Is the Minister willing to create some sort of a standards for the Office of the Fire Marshal? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As part of the process, we're reviewing the projects to make sure they're looked at and then they're prioritized based on when they were received. So the fire marshall's office has developed a process to advise clients as we're doing that. But most importantly -- and, man, I can't believe I'm doing this to the Member from Yellowknife North, I'm giving him kind of another 'yes'.

The creation of the service standards for the Office of the Fire Marshall will be considered in review of the fire marshall, and we will be doing that -- that will be part of it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Now, that's three yeses for the Member.

Rylund Johnson

Rylund Johnson Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. You know, I never thought I'd be so excited for the Fire Prevention Act, but I'm really looking forward to that piece of legislation.

Mr. Speaker, my understanding is that Nunavut, after creating a Building Standards Act essentially hired a contracting firm to review the plan review function. My understanding is here we have one person who reviews the plans, and if they go on vacation, simply just no plans get reviewed.

I believe a good way to solve that problem would give the fire marshall a budget to have a contractor on hire as a backup for plan review. Is that something the Minister is willing to look into? Thank you.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Just so everybody here realizes it in the House and out there, my understanding of the fire office -- of the Office of the Fire Marshall has not had any delays or backup -- backlog in projects under review. However, giving him the fourth 'yes' today, I'm getting -- I can't believe this is four yeses -- I think Christmas is done for the Yellowknife North Member. Contracting services, when warranted, is an option for Municipal and Community Affairs to prioritize priorities and workload. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Yellowknife North.

Rylund Johnson

Rylund Johnson Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. You know, I believe me and the Minister, we're going to get through this. We've had a number of conversations, and I previously asked whether the department was willing to change the guidelines that the Office of the Fire Marshal operates under to review draft documents first. And I want to clarify what I'm asking for here.

I'm not asking for a final occupancy permit or a final signoff on draft documents. That would be very inappropriate. But during building a building, the architects, the engineers, and the contractors all get together, they move around the plans, and there's lots of conversations. Other jurisdictions, the Office of the Fire Marshal has consulting meetings. They also we review the plans. This is something our Office of the Fire Marshal refuses to do, and they will only look at finalized drawings. Then when one of our engineers gets in a fight with the fire marshal, we end up in court.

So what I'm asking is will the Minister change the guidelines to allow the Office of the Fire Marshall to be involved a little earlier and have a consultation session with the draft documents and not just look at finalized documents? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Mr. Speaker, planning review guidelines are available on the MACA website and provides a number of options to resolve potential issues before final drawings are submitted, including pre-submission meetings and partial review for specific circumstances. The Office of the Fire Marshal is willing to work with any client with concerns related to specific projects to find a solution with the regulatory framework.

I really hate to do this, but this is his third 'yes' today; the fifth one in two days.

We will look at this idea during the review of the Fire Prevention Act. So I'm looking forward to it. We will look at these things. We're trying to improve things moving forward. And I have to say the fire marshall is doing a good job despite what the Member has said in his speech today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Monfwi.