Katrina Nokleby

Yes, we work with WSCC and Transport Canada, who is the regulator of fishing vessels, to promote safety for all of our fishers, and again, the revitalization strategy works to implement mandatory training and supports fishers to bring their equipment and their vessels up to standards, and we are going to continue to work going forward to ensure that the safety is improved for all fishers on the lake. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Safety is something that we take very seriously and is a focus of the Commercial Fisheries Revitalization Strategy. A key component of the strategy is addressing equipment and standards, which will promote safer fishing practices throughout the NWT. As with most things, we have many partners in this effort, including the marine training centre in Hay River, the NWT’s Fishermen’s Federation, NWSCC as well.

I do not have the authority to make that change on my own. It is a Cabinet decision to change regulations. I would need to bring that to my Cabinet colleagues. As the Member is aware, we have many things going on, but I will commit to the Member to do so in a timely manner. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As the Member stated, in the 18th Legislative Assembly, ITI committed to such a comprehensive review of the PRA and the OGOA. I am pleased to confirm that the review has begun, and it is ongoing. The results of that review will inform our next steps regarding this suite of regulations. In addition, we are working with the Office of the Regulator of Oil and Gas Operations on implementing the statutory measures that were passed by the 18th Assembly aimed at making the industry more transparent and responsive to the needs of our territory.

While I can’t say “yes” on this one, however, I would have to look to my colleagues to approve any supplementary asks that I may have going forward. If we determine that we do need more funding, we will be coming back to the Assembly to look for that funding, and I hope that the Member will say “yes” at that point. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yes, Mr. Speaker, we do have funds available through existing programs, which can be accessed for this kind of equipment. They would include the SEED program, or Support for Entrepreneurs and Economic Development policy, and the Commercial Fisheries Industry Support Program. I can also confirm we have provided funding for GPS equipment in the past, and we’re going to continue to make this part of our discussion as we go through the process of revitalization.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Meeting this target does not require the development of a building act, so the target will be met through grants and rebates that we are provided under the 2030 Energy Strategy. These will include the support for larger-scale building energy efficiency using the greenhouse gas grant program for building with industry, with almost $8 million in grants available over the four years. We are going to support community-building energy efficiency through the greenhouse gas grant program for governments, with over $7 million in grants available. We're going to support...

I cannot speak to why negotiations happened prior to myself being involved with them. I'm not sure why those services would not have been included in the contract and made to go to local businesses. However, I can assure the Member that the Tlicho government is a partner in this project, one of the P3s, and we negotiated our quotas and our requirements for the contract with them in mind and that we are meeting those targets.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The northern and local requirements in the project agreement are:

Local business construction requirement: pay at least 30 percent of total capital costs to Tlicho businesses and northern businesses, with at least 25 percent going to Tlicho businesses;

Tlicho construction labour requirement: pay at least 35 percent of total construction labour costs to Tlicho citizens and/or workers procured by a Tlicho business;

Local business operations requirement: pay at least 25 percent of annual OMR costs to Tlicho businesses and northern businesses, with at least 20 percent going to...

Even in my former life, I had heard some concerns around the MTS, the shipping industry in the Northwest Territories, so, yes, I commit to the Member that I will come to his region and see it firsthand. It was unfortunate that, while I was up in the Beaufort-Delta, my schedule didn't permit for me to go and visit the communities as much as I wanted to, so I commit to making it to the Member's home communities as soon as I possibly can.