Robert C. McLeod

As part of my new role as the Minister for MACA I have been making commitments to meet with as many parties as possible to get myself up to speed and learn more about the communities and their concerns. I will again make another commitment to the Member that I would be more than willing to meet with all the parties involved. To me, it’s just part of the whole process of learning a new department.

I wasn’t going to try to use the word “commitment.” I think I used up my quota yesterday. I have assured the Member that we will look into it immediately to see if there’s anything we could possibly do within the next month or so.

I totally agree with the Member that we do try and encourage the use of wood stoves, so we should have mechanisms in place for people who want to install wood stoves. I know for a fact that existing wood stoves have to almost be opened up to be inspected. With new wood stoves, new construction, it’s a little easier.

But the Member’s asked if I would look into a possible strategy, and I assure the Member that I will ask the department to have a look at a strategy and see what options we can come up with that would be of benefit. Because we do encourage people to burn wood, I guess we should...

Certainly, I will commit to meeting with the Member and each of the communities to discuss it. In my initial briefing and meeting with the folks from MACA last night I did give them the direction that when we look at allocating infrastructure funding, I’d like to try to find the balance where all communities receive their fair share of funding.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would have to provide the detailed evaluation at a later date, as soon as I can get that from the department.

I can tell the Member that MACA is working with the community of Fort Resolution in particular. They are initially looking at changing their status from a settlement to a hamlet, which will enable them to own assets. They will be able to get a lot of money from the New Deal. They’re also planning on going into Lutselk’e later on this month to meet with the community there to see what options they can put together for them.

Well, I will be here as much as possible. I will try and get a meeting lined up at the earliest convenience, because it really is just a short trip out to Dettah — 30 minutes, I think, one way. I’ll try. I’ll do what I can to make sure these meetings happen immediately. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the Member makes a good case for looking at these options. I would say to the Member that, yes, I am willing to pursue this option and see what’s out there that we can do to try to bring this forward.

Yes, there are a few qualified wood stove inspectors, I believe, and it does, as I think the Member pointed out earlier, cost approximately $1,400. I’ll assure the Member that I’ll talk to ENR and the Arctic Energy Alliance to see if there’s some financial assistance that could be provided to bring an inspector into the community and maybe hit more than one unit at a time.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m not sure about Yellowknife, but I don’t think there’s a wood stove inspector in Inuvik. The insurance company — I know from experience — requires that very stringent inspection process. We have the gas inspectors and the boiler inspectors in many of the regions. I did some checking, and I know that the Office of the Fire Marshal is not qualified to inspect wood stoves. So this may be something we would have to have a look at and see if it’s something that’s feasible to bring into regional offices.

MACA is working with the communities to identify negative impacts of lack of maintenance. They are working with the communities to develop capital plans so that the funding will be allocated to take care of those impacts as required.