Debates of Feb. 24th, 2021

This is page numbers 2083 - 2120 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 health.

Topics

Oral Questions

Members Present

Prayer

Pink Shirt Day

Youth Mental Health Supports

Addictions

Alcohol Addiction

Mental Health

Mental Health and Addictions

Aftercare

Mental Health and Addictions

Managed Alcohol Program

Public Health Trends

Anti-Bullying Cooperation

Germaine Arnaktauyok, recipient of Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts

Eulogy for Claude Fontaine

Mental Health

Mental Health and Addictions Supports

Addictions Recovery

Alcohol Addiction

Addictions Treatment

Managed Alcohol Program

Community Wellness Plans

Public Health Trends

Stanton Territorial Hospital Medical Detox Service

Stable Housing after Addictions Treatment

Tabled Document 317-19(2): Northwest Territories Law Foundation 37th Annual Report, July 1, 2018-June 30, 2019

Tabled Document 318-19(2): Follow-up letter for Oral Question 491-19(2): Fire Services for Ingraham Trail Residents Tabled Document 319-19(2): Follow-up letter for Oral Question 511-19(2): Alternative Voting Methods for Communities

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Tabled Document 286-19(2): Main Estimates 2021-2022 - Lands - Corporate Management - Deletion of $303,000 from Grants, Contributions and Transfers

Tabled Document 286-19(2): Main Estimates 2021-2022 - Lands - Deferral of Department (page 307)

Report Of Committee Of The Whole

Orders Of The Day

Committee Motion 79-19(2): Tabled Document 286-19(2): Main Estimates 2021-2022 - Lands - Corporate Management - Deletion of $303,000 from Grants, Contributions and Transfers, Defeated
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair Rocky Simpson

Thank you, Minister. Deputy Minister.

Page 2095

Haener

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I believe it was around 30. Unfortunately, on the days when we started this, it was very cold. Obviously, we have to consider the safety of our enforcement staff, so how they approached the initial postings for the North Slave was perhaps more limited. They are continuing to work on their posting plan, and we expect more to be undertaken in the coming weeks and months. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

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The Chair Rocky Simpson

Thank you, Deputy Minister. Member.

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Rylund Johnson Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Can I get a sense of how many unauthorized occupants or potential ones we have identified, either territory-wide or North-Slave specific? Thank you.

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The Chair Rocky Simpson

Thank you, Member. Minister.

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Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Around 700 that we have identified from the territories; 550, I believe are in the North Slave area roughly, approximately, from what we understand. Those are the ones we have been able to identify presently. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

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The Chair Rocky Simpson

Thank you, Minister. Member.

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Rylund Johnson Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would like to narrow in here. I think a lot of those are old abandoned cabins. I have seen a few that are garbage, and it's probably great for Lands to go and clean those sites up. Quite a few of those are going to be rights holders, and I am confident that Lands will work with Indigenous governments for a process to that. Then there is a category of post-2015 and no chance of getting a lease; we will just knock them down eventually, and that will cost us time and money. What I have heard from constituents, the most concern, is the pre-2015 structures that would be eligible for a lease, and there is that concern of are we now rewarding squatters; they never got in the cabin lottery. I am wondering if we have a sense of how many of those structures actually fit, are in that category, even a ball park. Yes, I will start with that. How many do we believe would actually be eligible for a lease? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

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The Chair Rocky Simpson

Thank you, Member. Minister.

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Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you. I will start, and then I will actually ask our assistant deputy minister to come in and finish off the answer, with your permission. Thank you. Right now, we are looking at -- sorry, I am trying to get my wording here. We are looking at making sure we do it properly. We are going to be reaching out to people. I just want to answer the Member's comment there. If they are eligible for a lease, we need to follow a process. The process is exactly what we did post-devolution, so there is a process, which would include a Section 5 consultation. However, for the numbers and that, I will ask if Mr. Chapman could come in, and he could just switch.

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The Chair Rocky Simpson

Thank you. Sergeant-at-Arms, will you escort the witness out and the new witness in? Minister, would you introduce your witness, please?

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Shane Thompson Nahendeh

This is Assistant Deputy Minister of Operations Blair Chapman. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

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The Chair Rocky Simpson

Thank you, Minister. Mr. Chapman.

February 24th, 2021

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Chapman

Thank you, Mr. Chair. To the Member's question, the issue is multi-staged, as he probably would appreciate. One of the first steps that we have in the process obviously is going out to post to identify which cabins are out there so that we get information from the individuals. As the deputy minister has already identified, we have got two people already identified who are asserting their rights. For the remaining ones who are not perhaps without any assertion of rights, we will work through a process of identifying how many of those there are. What we will need to do at that point in time is to go out to consult with the local Indigenous governments to determine whether or not we are in a capacity to be able even to enter into a potential lease down the road. It again will be a stage where we need to reach out first to the IGOs, get their feedback, and engage in a dialogue with them. Then at that point in time, once we get that information, we can determine how to move forward.

A great number of these, we have already gone out and done some work on the ground to where we have identified the location, the number of structures that they have in place, how close in proximity to the ordinary high water mark. Whether they meet criteria to actually enter into a lease will be a significant issue, as well. The early numbers from the work that we have done show that it's certainly not going to be a majority of these that will actually be able to apply for a lease because they do not meet the criteria that we currently established. There are going to be some major challenges for some of the individuals out there. It's not going to be a significant number of these that we anticipate, but I guess that process will play itself out over the next couple of years. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

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The Chair Rocky Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Chapman. Member.

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Rylund Johnson Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, I am glad to hear that explanation because I think the initial reaction I got from a lot of constituents was that, "We are just going to let a bunch of squatters get cabins?" I think this is probably a multi-year process and rather complicated. Can I just get conformation of that, the path forward where you would become an authorized occupant? Would it be pre-2015, you built a structure; does it have to meet all of the 2015 cabin lottery lease requirements, which were 100-foot setbacks, number of structures -- they are actually quite elaborate rules, looking at all those leases. Is that the criteria we essentially would be using for granting people leases, was those 2015 cabin lottery leases? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

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The Chair Rocky Simpson

Thank you, Member. Minister.

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Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you. For that detail, I'll turn to the assistant deputy minister. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

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The Chair Rocky Simpson

Thank you. Mr. Chapman.

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Chapman

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes. All of our lessees are held to a certain high standard, and we anticipate that anyone else who would be considered to potentially enter into a lease must meet that same high standard, and so fundamentally, the answer is yes. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

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The Chair Rocky Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Chapman. Member.

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Rylund Johnson Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister speak to what the plan is to do with structures that don't meet those cabin requirements? I know of a couple of people who have built structures over the years that would probably be, if they were legal, a few hundred-thousand-dollar homes that may be not 100 feet back from the water. If we have a perfectly good home that doesn't meet the lease requirements, is the end of this process then demolishing that? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

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The Chair Rocky Simpson

Thank you, Member. Minister.

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Shane Thompson Nahendeh

I'll start, and with your permission, I'll turn to the deputy minister. We do have a process. We will be going through that process that would require us, if they are not authorized occupants there, we do have to go through a process. If they are not eligible for a lease because they are not following the variants, we have the court process that we can go with. I think we can also, if we are able to move the structure, that is an option to fall into the variance, but for clarity and further detail, I will ask the assistant deputy minister, with your permission. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

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The Chair Rocky Simpson

Thank you, Minister. Mr. Chapman.

Debates of Feb. 24th, 2021

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