This is page numbers 4861 - 4892 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 know.

Topics

Question 1241-19(2): Crime
Oral Questions

Page 4875

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I could provide direction but no one would listen to me. The decision of whether or not to remand someone, to detain someone when they've been charged, lies with the courts, and so it's the prosecution, the defence, and the courts who make that decision and the courts are independent of course. Here we are in the Legislative Assembly which is one branch, the government is another branch, and the courts are the third branch. And I have no authority over that branch. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 1241-19(2): Crime
Oral Questions

Page 4875

Rocky Simpson

Rocky Simpson Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I said that we all had a part to play in curbing crimes and crime rate. You know, without involvement of everybody, we're never going to see change. You know, we have -- there's a relationship between crime and people's help. So if we're going to do something, we've got to do it together.

So, Mr. Speaker, can the Minister confirm what discussions, if any, are taking place with the federal government on solutions for the NWT to reduce crime rate and make our communities safer? Thank you.

Question 1241-19(2): Crime
Oral Questions

Page 4875

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And the Department of Justice attends a number of different federal, territorial, and provincial meetings at various levels. So I've recently attended a meeting with the ministers for public safety and ministers of justice across Canada, and these are the types of issues that we discussed, and I will say what the issues that are being raised here are also being raised across Canada. So this is not a territory issue alone.

There is work in different jurisdictions to look at policing and how police services could be improved. There's been recent talk about Alberta moving towards their own provincial police system because they think they can approach policing and crime prevention in a better way. British Columbia, there was recently a report from an all-party committee in the Legislative Assembly that suggested -- that recommended that they move toward a provincial policing system so that they could take an approach that is more tailored for them. So I participate in those types of federal- territorial-provincial meetings.

As well, there is a number of different working groups that staff from the department are on with the federal and provincial counterparts. So there's crime prevention working groups, drug impaired driving working groups, guns and gangs working groups, and a number of these. So there are a significant number of conversations happening, which is necessary given that the Criminal Code is a federal statute. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 1241-19(2): Crime
Oral Questions

Page 4876

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

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

Question 1242-19(2): Business Incentive Policy
Oral Questions

October 27th, 2022

Page 4876

Lesa Semmler

Lesa Semmler Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, how can a company who is not BIPed and one who is not BIPed because, according to the BIP policy, would not qualify them to be BIPed, still get awarded a contract with BIP adjustments? This doesn't make sense to me. You know, if the Minister can explain to me where this policy exists. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes. Minister responsible for Finance.

Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, a company that is not BIPed can still receive a BIP adjustment. That is pursuant to one of the interpretive bulletins that's associated. If you go to the BIP web page, there's a whole list of interpretive bulletins. What it matters is whether or not there's Northwest Territories content or local content and if, in fact, there's -- so in other words, the company that's bidding on a contract, if they themselves aren't BIPed but their direct subcontractors are, including -- or if they have local content, they are still eligible to use the BIP adjustment or the local content adjustments. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Lesa Semmler

Lesa Semmler Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I know I sent a lot of information and I know the Minister also received a letter from the contractor and the subcontractor, the local content subcontractors. So whose responsibility is it, when there's BIP adjustments, to hold this contractor to account that they ensure that these local content, local suppliers, are being utilized and if not, what happens? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, construction contracts are monitored throughout. There are expectations to have monthly BIP content updates provided. They're monitored certainly by the departments responsible but procurement shared services does also share in that role. And I can say, Mr. Speaker, one of the changes that came about early in the process of the procurement review was to introduce vendor performance management, and that is something that's still fairly new but it has now been added into contracting provisions such that the contractor now knows that they will be subject to those reviews. If they're not meeting the content, if they're not meeting the contents of what they're expected to do, what they've committed to do, that essentially does put them then, now that this has been into the contract, puts them in breach of contract which can bring with it a host of different remedies. One of those remedies may well be, Mr. Speaker, that they become ineligible as not being a responsible company, would be ineligible for future bids. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Lesa Semmler

Lesa Semmler Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So Mr. Speaker, will this Minister, you know, review with her clients, like if we have contractors that have ongoing bidding and they're not utilizing local content but they say they are, is there a way to do a review of local contractors that have been doing this and not following this process? I just -- you know, I can't go back to my community and tell these local contractors who live and pay taxes in the North that being BIPed is nothing, it doesn't mean anything, because that's what we're saying, Mr. Speaker.

Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I had a conversation earlier with the Member, and I did receive this letter. So I have details of the specific incident that's given rise to these questions but the questions are ones that should be posed in the context of the work we're doing on the procurement review. Certainly no Minister who is responsible for any project wants to have to hear that, in fact, bids are not being received as we expect them, that the processes and policies we have in place are not being followed. Even vendor performance management, we don't want to have to use vendor performance management to monitor the businesses in the North. We want the businesses in the North to be bidding on projects, using local content, using local procurement. That's what we've heard from the business community too. So when there is this disconnect, Mr. Speaker, most certainly I will go back to the department and make sure that, as we finish up the procurement review, that the processes that are there in place are clear, simple, well known, that they're not spread across the different departments with different versions and different objectives, that there is a central monitoring agency, and that everyone knows that if you're not following what's there that you will face some form of penalty so that we hopefully are not hearing of cases like this that are creating this kind of confusion within the business community. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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. And I hope that the Minister will do that. You know, I mean, when I think of local content, I think of somebody who I could walk down the road and go and say hi because I know where they live, and that's "local" in my community, not somebody who shows up for seasonal work and then leaves or whenever there's a job and then leaves. You know, that's not local content to me.

So can the Minister advise us if a one-stop procurement policy for all NWT, including Crown corporations, is being considered in this new procurement review and when can we expect this new procurement review policy to come into play? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was doing well on short answers but I think this last one's going to be a bit more challenging.

There's a lot happening in the realm of the procurement review right now. There's been a lot happening in the last year with respect to developing a procurement strategy with Indigenous governments and working with them in concert with them so that any Indigenous procurement is done with Indigenous businesses and Indigenous governments assisting us in driving and developing that. But in the meanwhile, Mr. Speaker, there's also the public procurement side of what happens within government. I can't say right now still if those two pieces will be, you know, two pieces or if it will all be worked in together but I'm expecting it will all be one unit at the end of the day.

I can also say, Mr. Speaker, that we have gotten to the point of sharing with Indigenous governments, and with my colleagues, a work plan that we're on, sharing principles that are the foundation to bring a unified focus to procurement rather than having different organizations and different objectives in different departments.

Mr. Speaker, a definition of a northern business and a definition of an Indigenous business are coming. They're coming in the life of this Assembly perhaps -- and not right at the end but sooner than that. And, Mr. Speaker, this will apply to the Housing Corporation. It will apply to the Liquor Commission. It will apply to all departments. Northwest Territories Power Corporation is the one Crown entity that I anticipate may be the source of some of the concern here. They are continuing, I believe, to still be under their own processes but I know my colleague at -- who is responsible for NTPC is certainly following along on what we are doing, and we could certainly have some further conversations on what they might be able to see and benefit from the process that we've undergone. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

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

Jane Weyallon Armstrong

Jane Weyallon Armstrong Monfwi

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we cannot express it enough or emphasize it enough that cell phone service is greatly needed on Highway 3. Can the Minister commit to providing cell service between Yellowknife and Behchoko? Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Monfwi. Minister responsible for Finance.

Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there is over 12,000 kilometres of highways in Canada that don't have cell service, most of the highways in the Northwest Territories that don't have cell service, and while I recognize that this is the most travelled portion of highway, it is certainly not by any stretch a unique challenge faced in Canada or this territory or other territories or provinces. The costs of putting in cell towers and maintaining them is prohibitive at this time. We are certainly hopeful that with the increase of satellite services that that might assist with -- through technology to solve this problem. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Jane Weyallon Armstrong

Jane Weyallon Armstrong Monfwi

I think she answered some of this already. And so what are the current actual financial commitments that GNWT has made to cover the annual operating costs of wireless and cell phone projects in the Tlicho?

Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

Mr. Speaker, I certainly can say that there are costs, if I understood correctly, that we do cover the cost of having -- we do cover the costs of internet service for obviously all government services in the Tlicho. The operating costs for cellular on the highway, Mr. Speaker, as of, I think earlier this year, they were estimated at being at least $500,000 per year. That does not include costs for inflation; it does not include necessarily any costs if fuel continues to go up. And, again, that right now would be a minimum if that is what was sought. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Colleagues, before we continue, I'd like to remind Members and everybody to please turn the volumes and phones on silent, please. Thank you very much. Oral questions. Member for Monfwi.

Jane Weyallon Armstrong

Jane Weyallon Armstrong Monfwi

Since Finance issued the expression of interest to address cell phone coverage along Highway No. 3 in February of 2021, what has been done to address this problem? Thank you.

Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So back in February, as the Member's mentioned, there was a request for an expression of interest issued. The point there being let's try to get a sense of what the costs would be. We knew they would likely to be high. But certainly it's good to have an update with some concrete numbers. There was only one respondent to the expression of interest, Northwestel. And then a letter was written to support them when they went out -- as part of the process they undertook, they went out under the Universal Broadband Fund to see what kind of funding opportunities there might be within that from the federal government. With that information in hand, they had some information around capital costs and capital coverage. But for them to be any further involved, they would be looking for a fairly significant public sector commitment. At a minimum, it would include some portion -- a small portion of the capital expenditure but, as I just mentioned in my last response, more notably a commitment over the course of at least ten years for a minimum of $500,000 a year, again in today's dollars, not accounting for inflation, just to maintain services on that one small stretch of highway, which in and of itself would make not a dent on any other highway anywhere else in the Northwest Territories. And so at that point, Mr. Speaker, this is where the project is deemed not to be one that falls within the current priorities but, again, looking forward to what might happen technologically to get us to a different place. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

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

Jane Weyallon Armstrong

Jane Weyallon Armstrong Monfwi

Thank you. Can the Minister advise of any proposals for improving cell service along Highway No. 3 that they have received? Have there been further expression of interest or responses to the issue of GNWT sent to businesses in February 2021? Thank you.