Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Jacobson.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m really happy to hear that. The Minister says the Housing Corporation has a heart. I’m asking the Housing Corporation to stop all the evictions as of today. To try to rework and get re-agreements put back through the person that’s in that predicament and put it into workable agreements where they’re able to pay something. Is the Minister willing to do that?
Evictions are the last resort. Evictions are something that have taken maybe a year or two to get to. We’ve given folks the opportunity to honour their repayment plans that they’ve agreed to enter into and we don’t want to evict anybody.
All we’re asking people to do is honour the agreements that they’ve made. We’ve seen an improvement across the Northwest Territories in the collection rate. Some are up at 127 percent. The majority of them are 99 percent. Since we’ve taken it over, back from ECE, and the assessments are being done by the LHOs, we’ve seen the collection rate go from 82 percent to 93 percent. So that’s quite an improvement. If we could do this for the community, then we’re telling the rest of the Territories you don’t have to pay your rent and we’re not going to evict you. That’s the whole principle in this.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are directed to the Minister responsible for PPD, petroleum products division. It’s in regard to the price of products, especially in the community I represent of Tsiigehtchic where the price of gas is $1.71 a litre, yet it’s a government-run operation.
I understand there’s a $5 million Petroleum Revolving Fund that’s there to subsidize these isolated communities to allow them to have a price that’s close to being competitive with the regional markets. I’d like to ask the Minister why it is that we are not using the Petroleum Revolving Fund to offset the high cost of petroleum products in those communities that we have an operation.
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for Public Works and Services, Mr. Michael McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We do have a Petroleum Products Revolving Fund that we use to soften the blow of any price increases and we have been using it. We use it in a lot of our communities. However, the petroleum products program is based on full-cost recovery. The costs are based on what it takes to purchase the fuel, deliver the fuel, and have somebody, an agent in the community be responsible for the community delivery.
I believe the program must have been working at one time, because you were able to get the cheapest gas in the region from the community of Tsiigehtchic where this petroleum products division operates. Now they are the highest in the region. Other suppliers of those products are cheaper from other outlying communities, whether it’s Aklavik, Inuvik, or Fort McPherson, which are adjacent to this community. I’d like to ask the Minister, can you look into if the subsidy was applied in the community of Tsiigehtchic and why is it their rates are the highest in the region?
We certainly can check. I believe any time there’s a price increase in the community, the community is notified along with the MLA. So that notification would have been made. We also notify and get permission from Cabinet to use the fund that is in the Petroleum Products Revolving Fund. The prices include product costs, transportation costs, sales commissions, any O and M costs for the tank farm, and our fuel is purchased on a different format than the private industry does. In many cases, such as Tsiigehtchic, there are, and have been, occasions where our fuel was the lowest in the region. It all depends. It depends on what the purchase prices are at the time that we buy it and what it costs to land it on the ground. We will certainly follow up and see if a subsidy was provided in the case of Tsiigehtchic.
I had an opportunity to speak to the operator in Tsiigehtchic and the regional director of petroleum products division in Inuvik, and he says that their understanding was that the subsidy was not applied, for one reason or another. So I would like to ask the Minister if you could check if the subsidy was applied to the operation in Tsiigehtchic, and if so, could you give me a response back? Also, can you give me something in writing so that I can provide it to the community?
The fuel subsidy is not always automatically applied. We try to utilize the fuel subsidy to lessen the impact when there is a fairly huge or large discrepancy in what was being charged for fuel from one year to the next. That’s the situation that we look at. It’s not an automatic issuance of the subsidy. We don’t provide subsidies to every community. In some cases, in some years we don’t provide any.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Krutko.
Can the Minister tell me, out of the $5 million revolving fund how much money is left in the fund, and how has it been allocated and distributed?
There’s no $5 million fund. It’s, I think, $700,000 and there’s... Sorry. There’s $420,000 left in the fund.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to pick up on my Member’s statement from earlier today where I was talking about the root causes of crime in our community. It also has a direct impact on the level of homelessness that we see, especially here in Yellowknife.
I’ve been a Member of the Legislature now for eight years. The topic of a dedicated, stand-alone drug and alcohol treatment centre located in the city of Yellowknife has been a topic of discussion for that eight years, and even before that. I’d like to ask the Minister where exactly is a drug and alcohol treatment facility on the government’s radar going forward.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are no new treatment facilities in the capital plan in the foreseeable future for Health and Social Services. There are many other projects, but there are no new plans for imminent treatment centres.
We’re hearing it from residents, business owners, and constituents about the level of crime in our community, the fact that addictions seem to be getting much worse, affecting young people in our community, and as a government I’m just wondering what we are doing about it. I’d like to ask the Minister how exactly does the Government of the Northwest Territories measure and evaluate the success and/or failure of the programs and services related to addictions in our territory.
There are a number of ways to do that. Some of the most obvious ones, of course, are to see if there are clients and if they return or if they don’t. If they don’t return, is it because they have successfully dealt with their addictions issues?
The fundamental issue goes way back. The Member talked about root causes and it’s something we all struggle with. The first, most fundamental issue is getting individuals born healthy. That’s probably the biggest challenge. As the Member has indicated, in Yellowknife there are concerns. It’s the ultimate, biggest magnet in the community we have. There are a lot of services here that attract people. It is a challenge to deal with all the folks as they come through town.
What the government is currently offering and currently doing is not working. I’d like to get some type of commitment from the Minister that the government in its transition document going forward into the next government will identify the area of addictions and how we deal with addictions as a government as a key priority for the next government. I’d like to get a commitment from the Minister that that will be there and that they will examine all the programs and services related to addictions here in the territory.
That is a significant issue. This issue is on the agenda of every government that I’ve been involved in, and every Assembly, and will continue to be. The decision about priorities with the resources we have available and the best way to do the programming to deal with the issue of addictions and the other areas that the Member has talked about are going to be critical challenges for the incoming 17th Assembly. That issue will be there for them to consider.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to, in my last question to the Minister, ask how it is that the government can in a meaningful way evaluate what we are offering today in the area of addictions. How can we evaluate that in a meaningful way so that we can ensure that the money that we are spending in the area of addictions is being spent the right way and actually making a difference?
We could track, and we do track, the statistics in jails where the majority of the crimes are alcohol related, and the occupancies of our family violence shelters, of our group homes, of the number of children in care that indicate that most of those issues which have alcohol related somewhere in that process. In terms of those that actually go through the door of a treatment centre or make use of community services, there is some tracking done, but that’s more on an individual basis. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. We’ll keep him really busy today. I’d like to follow up on the process underway to develop a recreational land use framework in the Yellowknife block transfer area and to control squatting on all lands surrounding Yellowknife.
In July the Minister informed all the Yellowknife Members that the recreational lease planning study is underway to gather information for development of the framework, and I applaud this action. The Minister also said that stakeholder and public consultations are the next step. Can the Minister tell us what the current plan and schedule is for that work?
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Minister responsible for Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Robert McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The department will begin public consultation on the draft framework in October of 2011. We will be providing a briefing to various stakeholders including the City of Yellowknife and the Town of Inuvik because of the affected area up there. The Yellowknives Dene First Nation, the Gwich’in Tribal Council, and the Cassidy Point/Prosperous Lake, we’d be providing them with a briefing prior to the public release of the draft framework. Thank you.
That’s quite a bit of slippage, obviously, from what was previously the plan. I believe this work is intended to be completed by the end of December of this year, so that is clearly in jeopardy. I would ask the Minister to please keep us informed on that and perhaps explain that delay.
In the February session, Mr. Speaker, I also congratulated the Minister on the work underway to prosecute current block land transfer squatters and stop new squatting. I pointed out that squatting on Commissioner’s land is only part of the problem and that the federal government does nothing to help. I asked the Minister then to put pressure on the federal government to meet its responsibilities and he said, “I can assure the Member and all Members that it is our intent to constantly work and put pressure on the federal government, and I can assure the Members that I will continue to push that issue quite strongly.”
My question now is: could the Minister tell me what action he has taken since February to get the federal government moving on enforcement, and take action on the scores of illegal squatters on their lands? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, obviously, that is a problem, and I did commit to the Members that I would have some discussion. I have had the opportunity. We had a FPT for Ministers of municipal government. I had the opportunity to discuss the situation with some of the members down there. Unfortunately, we didn’t get as much time with the federal Minister as we would have liked. We were very pressed for time. As I assured the Members, it is an issue that we have to continue to raise, and raise with the federal government to make them aware of their responsibility and the fact that there are a lot of people that are squatting on Crown land. Thank you.
Thanks to the Minister. I appreciate that action. I would ask the Minister, in recognition that he’s attempted to have conversations, will the Minister commit to me now that before the end of this government he will write to the federal Minister both to inform him of our diligent actions and to formally request that the DIAND regional office begin a program of prosecution and enforcement to clear and prevent squatting on federal Crown lands, lands that we may soon be responsible for? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I will commit to the Member and all Members that I will communicate very quickly here by way of written form to the federal Minister advising him of our concerns. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Your final, short supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I very much appreciate that commitment from the Minister. I’d like to ask if the Minister has ensured, or this government has ensured that the cleanup costs of this situation are provided for in the agreement-in-principle on devolution that this government has signed, given that we know what the costs… Now, we have some experience at trying to clear the land of squatters. We know what the costs are, and there are many, many more on the federal lands that we may soon be responsible for. Are the costs of that accounted for in the agreement-in-principle and will the Minister be pushing for that to be accounted for in the negotiations towards a final agreement? Mahsi.
I’m not quite sure of what’s in the contents of the agreement-in-principle as far as that is, but I can assure the Member that when we communicate and when we start making progress with devolution, that we’ll do what we can to ensure that all costs to clean Crown land are included. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ve been sitting here trying to figure out a way to work my agricultural policy Member’s statement into a question to someone on the other side of the House. I think I’m going to direct it to the Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.
Mr. Speaker, I have listened to my colleague again today and many, many times in the past, Mr. Yakeleya, talk about the cost of living regarding food in the communities. I, first of all, have to thank the government for the initiatives they have taken. There is an employee in Hay River who works for ITI. His name is Gene Hachey. He is overseeing an NWT Community Gardening Program and this can be expanded. This is one little aspect of agriculture in the Northwest Territories.
But, Mr. Speaker, I have come across a letter that has been provided to me and I would like to just read a little excerpt from it. This is from a very well-known Northerner, Ruby Jumbo, and she’s saying that Somba Ke is developing a wellness plan, and during the first phase community members want to develop a three-year wellness program. As nutrition was identified as a priority, we are seeking help to investigate the possibilities of developing agriculture in our community. So I found that the Minister’s questions today in response to Mr. Yakeleya were very interesting, because we sit here on our high horse and say everybody should be making healthy choices, they should be buying nutritious food, they should stay away from junk food. But the reality of it is that in a lot of the communities that are off road and in remote regions, the cost of those nutritious foods can be prohibitive, and we have communities that are now reaching to this government and saying nutrition is a priority, we think we could grow some of our own food.
I’d like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services if there’s any correlation between the activities of his department to increase and encourage healthy eating and nutrition with the activities of ITI, for example, with regard to market gardening and growing food in the North for Northerners. Thank you.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. They are, of course, related. The North has a very long history of agriculture throughout most of the Northwest Territories, up the valley where there is, as was indicated, rich land, and there is a resurgence of interest in many communities to take advantage of that opportunity to grow many, many crops. I was in Norman Wells and saw the very impressive greenhouses that were up there and the variety of crops that were being grown, as well as flowers. There is a correlation between healthy living and being able to eat your produce out of a garden as a summer pastime, and root crops that you can put away that would take you far into the winter. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I would suggest that there is not a community in the Northwest Territories that could not benefit from community gardens and greenhouses, and some assistance and an overarching policy of this government to encourage communities to make an effort to grow some of their own food, some of their own nutritious food. I would suggest that we do not do enough about that initiative. We don’t do enough to encourage that. I’d like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services, although we are in the last days of this government, again, to look at those renewable resources that could go a long way towards assisting with the health and well-being of northern residents. Thank you.
The good news is, is that while this Legislature may be dissolved in the next few weeks, a lot of the good, all the good programs and all the good work that has been done by government and by this Assembly will continue on until the Assembly is elected, and that Assembly will decide if they are going to continue those initiatives or change them or supplement them.
I agree with the Member. We can always do more. Mr. Bromley has made many, many statements about the need for self-sufficiency. We all agree with that. That’s why we have invested so much money in alternate energy. We are looking at biomass strategies. We have community gardening programs in ITI. We are working with Education to make the right choices with active living, and with Transportation and MACA. So, yes, these will continue and, yes, we could do more. Thank you.
It always escapes me that we, as a government, can figure out how to levelize the cost of liquor so you can buy liquor in Inuvik for the same price as you can buy it in Yellowknife, but we can’t be proactive when it comes to assisting, encouraging, and aiding people in undertaking activities that would see them more ready and affordable access to healthy and nutritious food. But that’s another whole topic, Mr. Speaker.
I’d like to, I guess, just confirm again that going forward we will leave on the public record that as a government we can and will be more proactive about encouraging communities to be more self-reliant and to pursue the lifestyle of healthy choices and healthy food at affordable rates to address the cost of living in the North, that this will be, if not accomplished by this government, a legacy of this government going forward. Thank you.
The Member and I have served now in four Assemblies together. This issue has been a dominate theme in every one of those and I would suggest will continue to be a dominant theme in the 17th Assembly going forward. So we take the Member’s point and assure her that this issue will be there.
There are positive things we can do, many that don’t cost enormous amounts and aren’t requiring new technology, just simple decisions by people to make those choices and put in those gardens and such. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
