This is page numbers 3603 - 3664 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

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

March 1st

Page 3623

The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you. Member for Frame Lake.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

March 1st

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Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Yeah, thanks, Madam Chair. Look, the airfield fire truck, that's all great, but I -- and important for safety, but I'm thinking of the convenience of travellers. Now that we're going to reopen for out-of-territory visitors, tourism's going to get going again. There's traditionally been problems with the lineups at the airport. The waiting areas aren't big enough. Is any of that sort of passenger-convenience stuff going to get addressed in the near future through the revolving fund? Thanks, Madam Chair.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

March 1st

Page 3623

The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you. Minister of Infrastructure.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

March 1st

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Diane Archie

Diane Archie Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I'm going to ask if we can get back to the Member in terms of where we're at with some of the projects going forward as we look to, you know, some of the stuff that's happening at the YZF airport. Thank you.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

March 1st

Page 3623

The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you. Member for Frame Lake.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

March 1st

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Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Yeah, I look forward to that, and I think there's a lot of people that use the airport that are anxious to know what's going to happen as well.

But earlier today, the Minister made a statement in the House about restarting the economic advisory committee. I'd understood there was a couple of different committees that were supposed to be set up to provide a little bit more input from the public and airport users and so on. And I don't think they ever were -- if they were established, they never really got going, and they never really did anything, and there was no reporting back to the public about what was happening.

Is there new terms of reference for these -- for the advisory committee, and was there a public call, expression of interest, for people to put their names forward? Who's going to be sitting on this economic advisory committee? The last thing -- the last time this was done, it was like an old boys club, and I want to avoid that. So what assurance can the Minister give me that this is not going to be an old boys club again? Thanks, Madam Chair.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

March 1st

Page 3623

The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Minister -- or Member. Minister.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

March 1st

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Diane Archie

Diane Archie Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, we did an expression for interest in the fall, and we had a great turnout. We had a number of people with all different skill set that are interested in being a part of the advisory committee. We are going to bring it up. I went through, and I approved the -- the committee. And we've reached out to them. I've reached out to them yesterday to advise them they're part of the committee. And, you know, I brought this to Cabinet as well to be able to ensure that we don't -- we have good representation on the committee - a combination of Indigenous, non-Indigenous, women, male, female, you know, some of the capacity in terms of airport knowledge. So I mean, I do want to reassure the Member that as I'm looking through the applications, there were a lot of good application intake. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

March 1st

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you. Member for Frame Lake.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

March 1st

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Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Yeah, okay, thanks. Can the Minister share that if there's a revised terms of reference and the people that she just signed off on with us as lowly Regular MLAs? Thanks, Madam Chair.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

March 1st

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you. Minister of Infrastructure.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

March 1st

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Diane Archie

Diane Archie Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yeah, absolutely. And I believe I've gone to committee at the beginning to advise committee that we were putting out for an economic advisory committee to be able to direct -- to direct some of the master plan for the Yellowknife Airport. Thank you.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

March 1st

Page 3624

The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Minister. Member for Frame Lake.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

March 1st

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Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Thanks for that. Yeah, when this was being discussed in the last Assembly, it was very interesting because all of the Yellowknife -- all the Regular Yellowknife MLAs voted against establishing a Yellowknife Airport Revolving Fund because we could never get any commitment for accountability, representation on these committees. There was no accountability. Nothing. And then, you know, to have -- now it's being reestablished, that's great. But a little bit of more input from this side of the House would be appreciated. The last bunch were appointed by the deputy minister rather than the Minister. So that's -- it sounds like this is going to be a little better, but. So I anxiously await for this information.

Some of us actually pushed for a model much more like the waste reduction and recovery advisory committee where there was a committee actually established in legislation, and the representation is set out there and so on, to provide some greater accountability and so on. So I think that's a model that we still have to look at at some point in the future. But I'll accept the Minister's word. I look forward to getting more information about this as soon as possible because I think we have to get this on the right track, especially as tourism is going to start again. Thanks. That's all I've got to say. Thanks, Madam Chair.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

March 1st

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Member. I didn't hear any question. So if there are any -- how many Members still want to speak to the information items? I'm just looking at the time that we've been sitting for the interpreters. So I don't want to -- if there's only one more person that I have on my list, we can finish that one up and then we can move on to Education after we get a break. If there's more, then I'll break now. Just -- okay. So we'll just continue. Get this one done. Member for Hay River South.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

March 1st

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Rocky Simpson

Rocky Simpson Hay River South

Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to talk about the Petroleum Products Revolving Fund. And I understand that, you know, we buy some of our fuel; it comes down from -- through Alberta and down the Valley, and then we -- I think we pick some up on the Pacific Rim.

I'm just wondering I guess, you know, what's -- what is -- I guess what justifies bringing fuel over -- over from the Pacific Rim. I suspect that of course we're saving money. That's probably the bottom line. But is there anything else that pertains to it? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

March 1st

Page 3624

The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you. Minister of Infrastructure.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

March 1st

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Diane Archie

Diane Archie Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Madam Chair. You know, it's funny, one of the other Members asked this on the floor as well and I remember looking at the answer, and I don't have it in front of me right now. But if I can ask Mr. Brennan to speak a little more about it while I find further information. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

March 1st

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you. Mr. Brennan.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

March 1st

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Brennan

Yeah, thank you, Madam Chair. So I think there's a couple factors going in to the decision to purchase fuel from -- not from Alberta and bring it "over to the top" as it's called. I think right now we purchase our -- our fuel through a Glencore in Washington, and it comes up across Alaska North Slope.

One of the issues that we have of bringing fuel up is obviously we're 100 percent reliable on rail or road transportation. It's a long way to bring fuel in tankers. So what we've done to try and reduce some of the risk is to bring fuel from a tanker right to the port of Tuk where it's loaded off into our barges and barged into the various communities in the Inuvik settlement region. So I think there's a risk analysis that is undertaken to decide just to go that way. So last year was our first year, kind of a trial run. We do have a two-year contract. And then we'll have some options to whether or not we extend the contract or not.

So it's not just about prices, although we're constantly trying to reduce the cost of living, especially in the coastal communities. It is also a risk analysis that's done there as well. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

March 1st

Page 3624

The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Member -- or Mr. Brennan. Member for Hay River South.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

March 1st

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Rocky Simpson

Rocky Simpson Hay River South

Thank you, Madam Chair. So if we put risk aside, is the cost pretty well similar I guess bringing it both ways, or is there a difference there? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

March 1st

Page 3624

The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you. Minister of Infrastructure.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

March 1st

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Diane Archie

Diane Archie Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Madam Chair. There is no difference in the cost. Thank you.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

March 1st

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you. Member for Hay River South.