Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to acknowledge one of my constituents from Deline who was recognized this past week as the recipient of the Northwest Territories Fire Service Merit. This officer is Constable Kirk Hughes. Constable Hughes, amongst his duties as an RCMP officer, also serves as a volunteer firefighter in Deline. Constable Hughes, along with the other recipients, is receiving the NWT Fire Service Merit and they must be recognized as people who give their time to a worthy cause to the people of their communities. Thank you to all of them for serving as firefighters.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister of Justice on the lack of RCMP officers in the 10 communities. There is a list I have of all the small communities in the Northwest Territories. I want to ask the Minister, in his discussions with the federal Minister on other issues, did this issue come up and how can we rectify or look at some of our small communities, such as Colville Lake, to see if there’s some type of law enforcement that can be put into Colville Lake to ensure the safety of the people is foremost and that we take this issue very seriously.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister responsible for Justice, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was in Ottawa meeting the Minister of Justice, not the Minister responsible for the RCMP. I didn’t have that discussion with the Minister of Justice. I was talking more about Bill C-10.
We recognize that community safety and enforcement is a priority, and the Member and I have had a number of conversations and I think we’re of like minds. We want to find some way to help the small communities.
There are 10 communities that do not have policing. Of those, two have money for policing but we don’t have any infrastructure in the communities so we’re not able to permanently locate RCMP in those communities. That is some work that we have to continue on.
With respect to communities like Colville, the RCMP is looking at some alternatives to help, such as creating additional detachments. We don’t know if that’s a possibility but it’s something that we’re always looking at. Increasing relief unit capacity. Increasing the number and length of patrols to the community so that we have people in the communities more often. Adding RCMP community officers who would act as a liaison between the RCMP and the community. These are things that we’re looking at, but most importantly – and following up on conversations I’ve had with my colleague – we need to get into some of these communities and talk to the people in the communities about what they think is going to work best for them and see if we can come up with some community solutions. I’m looking forward to doing that with the Member after Christmas sometime. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister inform the House and inform the people in Colville Lake when there’s an issue in our communities without an RCMP member? For example, if there’s an issue in Colville Lake, is there a protocol that the members in Colville Lake can take to establish that, yes, this issue will be taken very seriously and they will see a member in that community as soon as possible? Because it makes it very difficult for the people to know if the issue is taken seriously or not by the local detachment.
I assure the Member that all issues in all the communities are taken seriously. I don’t know of any specific protocol, but I’ll certainly talk to my department and if there is a specific protocol, I will be sharing that with the Member.
I would say that when issues occur in the communities, it’s critical that the people in the communities contact the detachments. If they don’t have one in their community, there’s usually one associated with them. For instance, in Colville Lake it’s Fort Good Hope. If issues do occur, we need to have people call that detachment so that we can begin the process of getting somebody into the communities in as short a period of time when there are emergencies or serious situations taking place. Thank you.
Would the Minister come to Colville Lake and work with the people of Colville Lake on a specific type or if there’s a protocol that we can use to help the people know that their issues, when the call gets into a detachment, that it’s taken seriously and some issues that can be resolved as quickly as possible so the members know that their community, their people will be safe?
As I indicated before, the Member and I have been having some conversations and I’ll be going to Colville Lake, hopefully in February, with the Member to talk to the residents of Colville and the residents of the Sahtu about their issues with respect to the Department of Justice, policing being obviously one of them. At that time hopefully we’ll have an opportunity to talk about how the community sees us helping them to solve some of these problems and we’ll be there with open ears. Thank you.
I look forward to the Minister and I going into Colville Lake to talk about specifically this issue here.
I want to ask the Minister, there are 10 communities without RCMP officers and that’s a crying shame in the Northwest Territories in this day and age. What can this government do to ensure that somewhere down the line there will be a police station or an office, officers in Colville Lake? These numbers are…(inaudible)... It’s crazy that we have 10 communities without RCMP officers. What can this government do to make sure that this issue here gets the attention and that it gets onto some list so that we know that these communities can have RCMP officers sometime in the future?
As I indicated earlier, community safety and enforcement is a priority. It’s something that we’re certainly interested in. I, as the Minister of Justice, will absolutely be working with my colleagues to see if we can come up with some alternative solutions to these problems so that the people in the communities can feel a sense of security and whatnot. I look forward, once again, to meeting with the Member in the Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Your final, short supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister has indicated that there is some initiative to look at what type of RCMP officers they could have without any communities that have RCMP members. I want to ask the Minister, in terms of the creativity that he brings or his colleagues bring, to ensure that the people in Colville Lake know when they go to sleep at night there is someone there that they can call and respond as quick as possible. I want to ask the Minister what other ideas he can bring to Colville Lake to ensure the safety there.
I’ve outlined previously some of the issues or some of the ideas that the RCMP are bringing forward, but for me what I’d really like to do is actually get into the community and listen to the community as to what kind of ideas they would like to see or what ideas they’d like to bring forward, what solutions they would like to see, and I’m open to anything at this point. It depends on whether it will work or not, but really I want to talk to the community and get a sense of what they think some of their own solutions would be. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to follow up on my statement and ask some questions of the Minister responsible for the Executive, also the Premier, with regard to the NGO Stabilization Fund. I mentioned in my statement that it is gratifying at this point that the funds have been awarded. The various organizations have received their funding, finally. Thank you very much. But I’d like to know if the Minister could advise me and the House why it took five months for the NGOs to receive a response and to receive notification of their awards. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There was an election that was held right in the middle of those five months, so it pretty well put the government out of commission for at least two months. I believe we had a protocol in place that said we weren’t going to take any actions or make any decisions unless we had it approved by all parties. That’s my understanding of the situation.
I should point out that as soon as the new government was put in place and Premier and Cabinet, I think the money rolled out within two or three weeks after we were put into office. Thank you.
I’m not sure if I should thank the Minister for that response or not. I have a really hard time believing that the government does not work while an election is in progress. Ministers are in place until the new Ministers are elected, so I really have a hard time believing that between June of 2011 and even the beginning of the election period, September of 2011, that some work could not have taken place for these applications.
The Minister also mentioned that these had to be approved by all parties. I would like to ask the Minister, before people were advised of the grants and the awards from the NGO Stabilization Fund – and I presume by all parties he means Regular Members and Cabinet Ministers – when were Regular Members given an opportunity to be advised and/or to have input into these grant applications and awards? Thank you.
I was referring to a protocol that was put in place where we had to respond to committees by the end of July of 2011 I believe it was. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Premier. Before we go on, colleagues, when we’re questioning, on the preamble, the first question will be fine with it being a little longer, but on your second questions, if you could shorten up the preamble just a bit, because it’s the second person and I’ve got 49 minutes left for oral questions. Shorten it up, please and thank you. Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will do what I can to shorten my comments. I understand the protocol that he’s referencing. This was hardly an emerging issue or an emerging program. This is something we’ve been doing for a while. I would like to ask the Minister, in retrospect, in knowing that it was five months to go from call for applications to awarding, what will the Minister do to make sure that the process is reviewed so we don’t have this happen again. Thank you.
I think this year was an anomaly. I’m confident and we’ll make sure that in forthcoming years the money will go out a lot faster and a review will be undertaken that involves all of the departments that have social responsibilities and will process it very quickly. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.
Thanks to the Minister. My last question has to do with this anomaly, which is going to happen every four years. I’d like to know from the Minister, is there any opportunity to start the process earlier. This call went out in June. Why can’t we have a call going out in early May or mid-May? The funds were approved the 1st of April. Can the Minister look at putting the call for applications out at least a month or two months earlier? Can we not get the awards done within a month or a two-month time period? Thank you.
We will make sure that we put out the call for applications as soon as we know what the budgets are this year. For example, we won’t have our business plans and funding approved for 2012-13 until the end of June or middle of June, so we would put the call out as quickly as possible.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is also for the Premier of the Northwest Territories in regard to my Member’s statement that I did earlier today on the gas shortage that is happening in Inuvik and the urgency on that matter.
My first question is: Can the Minister provide me with an update on what the government has done to date since knowing of this urgent matter, whether it was from the 16th Assembly or even ongoing talks? What has the government committed to and done since knowing of this urgent matter? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. The honourable Premier, Minister McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have been meeting and getting briefings as soon as we heard of this issue. We met last week with the mayor of Inuvik. He updated us on the issue. We had a Ministerial Energy Coordinating Committee meeting where we were briefed by the regional director and the Power Corporation so that we are aware of the magnitude of the problem.
We understand that we have to move fast. We have to make some decisions early in 2012, but we are still in an information gathering stage. We have to do due diligence to make sure and confirm what the problem really is. We also have some legal areas where we have contracts for the provision of natural gas for generation of power. We recognize that if we agree with the plan that is put forward, the life of the gas will extend by double, to about three and a half years. Also we are aware of some discussions with regard to Parsons Lake. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would like to ask the Premier, after all of his briefings and all of his information sessions, will the Premier commit to supporting the residents and the businesses of Inuvik by participating in a joint effort to create an action plan to find a solution for a long-term gas supply. After the briefings and the information sessions, will he commit to that development of an action plan?
Yes. As a government we are already engaged. We have put together a team of deputies to examine options, to look at what the possibilities are. We will be putting forward a decision paper for Cabinet probably very early in the new year.
Mr. Speaker, just one final question for the Premier. Once the discussion paper is finalized, will that information be available for all Members of the Legislative Assembly?
I expect that as for our normal course of doing business we would brief committees. As well, I should point out that as we speak the Northwest Territories Power Corporation is taking steps so that we can deal with any emergency situations if they occur between now and…the decisions that we make that are required on a longer term.
Thank you, Minister McLeod. The honourable Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question today is for the Minister of Transportation. He made a presentation on the Deh Cho Bridge. I am concerned with the extra costs of the toll to the public of the Northwest Territories. What is the purpose of the toll? Is it meant to be a maintenance fee? Is it meant to be a repayment fee? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. The Minister of Transportation, Minister Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The tolls were meant to pay for the bridge over the life of the bridge, being 35 years. It will be charged against trucks carrying freight north. There would be no toll on trucks going south but only coming north. That was the idea behind that toll. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, my other concern or same type of concern is those costs being multiplied as the products such as milk is brought up by truck then added to the fuel costs by flying that product farther north. Has the department looked at the spin-off and the multiplier factor of that toll to the cost of the public of the Northwest Territories?
The information that I have seen would indicate that on a B-Train it would be about $250. When you break that down to a four litre jug of milk, it would be a fraction of a cent. Cumulatively, it wouldn’t amount to much, but certainly when stores don’t have to bring in their refrigeration trucks and store lots of goods for the few weeks during the spring breakup, the cost to consumers really shouldn’t be much of a factor. Thank you.
My next question is concerning the completion of the bridge. Are there repercussions to the contractor if it is not completed by the fall of 2012?
We are fully intent on the project being complete in the fall of 2012. I wouldn’t speculate on it happening any other way. I think that is the intent. We are going to try to ensure that the project is complete and traffic is moving across that bridge in the fall of 2012. That is our game plan and we are going to try to stick to that. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to follow up on my colleague’s comments and questions on fracking yesterday with some questions for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. I would like to recognize the controversial aspects and potentially severe impacts of fracking. We need to take proactive steps to become informed ourselves and educate our citizens towards making the right decisions. First, of course, we need the facts. Will the Minister commit to getting departmental research underway on the issues involving fracking and supplying information to committees for their review? Mahsi.
