Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I just wanted to follow up on Highway No. 7 questions with the Minister of Transportation. I did take note that yesterday the Finance Minister indicated some priorities in his ministerial statement and I was actually taken aback that Highway No. 7 wasn’t mentioned at all.
It is part of our national highway system. It is key and critical to the development of our Northwest Territories having access to B.C. and all the tours and industry that comes out of there. Especially if we are going to look at increasing the development in our region, a good highway system is critical to the North.
I’d like to ask the Minister of Transportation if he worked with the Finance Minister in looking at his statement, because Highway No. 7 and the reconstruction and the upgrades were not mentioned at all and I believe that it should be a priority of our government.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Minister responsible for Transportation, Mr. David Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Member for the question. Obviously, Highway No. 7 is a concern. Going forward we are going to need to identify more funding to address the issues with Highway No. 7. Going forward it’s going to take a sizable contribution of about $3 million a year for 10 years in order to address the work that needs to be done there. A complete reconstruction of Highway No. 7 is estimated to cost about $250 million. Again, I think that’s something you’ll hear, is we really need to come up with more funding, and when we do get some more funding, certainly Highway No. 7 would have to be given the development down in the Deh Cho region something that would factor into any decisions there.
I’d like to highlight it as a priority of this government. I think far before we invest in the fibre optic line, we should invest in Highway No. 7. I don’t believe that the Finance Minister, I don’t know if they made a mistake, but he should be mentioning Highway No. 7 as a priority. Should we run into some additional funding or we relieve our debt limit, I believe that Highway No. 7 should be critical enough that it should make this initial list of investment, should we have the opportunity. I’d like to ask the Minister of Transportation if he can work with his Cabinet colleagues, work with the Premier and make this a priority going forward.
Certainly as we move forward, I’m looking forward to working with the Member and the EDI committee to make this a priority and to come up with a plan so we can address the situation on Highway No. 7. Again, it’s going to take funding and a substantial amount of funding to make that happen. But I do believe if we can work together and put everything on the table, I think we can certainly see this as a priority as we move forward when we do get some additional funding.
I believe that the Finance Minister, who’s got the strings for the financial purse, is not going to be mentioning Highway No. 7 in any of his statements. That’s my point. I’d like to ask the Minister of Transportation if he would get his colleagues to make it a priority and start mentioning it in this House.
I certainly would have that conversation with the Finance Minister and my Cabinet colleagues as we move forward and identify further sources of funding for Highway No. 7. That discussion will take place.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What’s critical here is that if the Finance Minister is going to mention four or five projects and then not mention Highway No. 7, is that when and if we do get some debt relief that it’s not going to make this list. I’d like to ask the Minister of Transportation once again, will he push and will he get his Cabinet colleagues to ensure that Highway No. 7 funding infrastructure will be done, should we have the opportunity. Mahsi cho.
In this consensus system of government, when we do identify further sources of funding, you can rest assured that I will work with the Member, I will work with committee on identifying those priorities, and Highway No. 7 should rank near the top of those priorities. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today my question is dealing with the moratorium that the Minister of Housing released earlier this week. It is a good program and I think it’s a great opportunity to educate the people in the communities on how to get back and educated into the housing programs, as well as getting them back on track with a payment plan. In the four months that we have from now until the end of the fiscal year, I wanted to ask the Minister of Housing what is the plan to work with these people in the communities to get back on a payment plan. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. The honourable Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation, Mr. Robert McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We would encourage all tenants out there to go in to their local LHOs and work out a repayment plan with them. The LHOs are usually very receptive to folks coming in and trying to enter into repayment plans. Then once they do that, then we would encourage them to honour their repayment plan. That way, come April 1st, they’re not in any danger of being evicted. Thank you.
That sounds like a good plan in the broad scope of things. However, we do know that some tenants will not go and speak to their LHOs. Is there a plan in place for the LHOs? I know they do a lot of work and we don’t want to overburden them, but is there a plan in place to go and speak to the tenants in their home, especially the ones that might be mobile enough or also with some language barriers? Is there a plan in place to do an outreach program to go and speak with the tenants? Thank you.
Obviously, we’d like to see the tenants take the initiative, those that are able to, to come in and speak to their local LHOs and work out a repayment plan. The tenant relations officers in all our LHOs do a very good job in keeping in contact with tenants. For those that have mobility issues or those that maybe have a language barrier, as I said yesterday, most of our folks in the LHOs are from the community, a lot of them can speak the language; however, we wouldn’t want that to be a burden to those that can’t understand English as well as they should. We would do what we can to ensure that they understand the process as it’s been laid out. Thank you.
My next question is: Come April 1st, the end of the fiscal year, any tenants across the Northwest Territories who have not taken that initiative to get on a payment plan, what is the course of action that the Housing Corporation is going to take for those who have not honoured this agreement that the Minister has put forth? Thank you.
Come April 1st, for those that haven’t entered into repayment plans, obviously, as much as we don’t like doing it, we will have to evict them. I’d like people to see this as another opportunity to enter into repayment plans; not only that, but honour it. We’re quite confident that we’ll have some folks out there that will come forward. Unfortunately, there will be some, as the Member said, who will just not come into the local housing authority. If they don’t come in, then, obviously, come April 1st they face the danger of being evicted. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Moses.
Thank you for that information, Minister of Housing. My final question is: We do have some tenants that have really high arrears. Is there an action plan to assist those that feel they don’t have a chance to get out of those arrears? Is there a program or some kind of policy in place that will help those that are beyond what they can pay? Thank you.
We do have some tenants out there that have very high public housing arrears. We try and work with them to ensure that they are entering into a repayment plan. We’re not asking them to try and clear off their arrears in a matter of a year, for those with really high arrears. We have some cases where folks have been paying on their arrears what they can afford over a number of years and we’ve had some success stories where they’ve been able to pay those arrears off. We wouldn’t want our tenants feeling that because their arrears are very high, there’s no end in sight. All we’re asking them to do is come into the local housing authority, enter into a repayment plan and honour the agreement that they made with the local housing authority, then their chances of remaining public housing clients is very high. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was listening to the honourable Member for Nahendeh talk about Highway No. 7 and I was just envious of him because he’s talking about a highway that I hope someday the Sahtu people can have that opportunity to join among their fellow colleagues when they talk about highways. We want a highway.
My question to the Minister of Transportation is: Once the project description reports are completed… We’re waiting for two more and then they will go into one package to the federal regulators or the regulators who are responsible for the issuing out these permits and the other things that they are responsible for. I want to ask the Minister when is he expected to bring these PDRs to the next phase and will the communities then receive some financial help to help them move through the regulatory system. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister of Transportation, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Member for his question. It was certainly an honour to be in Norman Wells last week to receive the project description report from the Tulita district. It’s very good to see groups getting together to agree that an all-weather Mackenzie Valley Highway is important. The work was very well done and well received.
We are currently waiting for two project description reports that will complement the other three. There are five in total that will be put together and submitted to the regulator. We’re hoping to have the other two project description reports by the end of this year. Once those are done, it will move into that regulatory phase.
Again, I think, moving forward, the important thing is that we’re going to have to identify further sources of funding to continue the momentum on moving the work forward.
Again, I look forward to working with the Member and groups up and down the Mackenzie Valley to ensure that that happens. Thank you.
I know the people in the Tulita district were very happy to see Mr. Ramsay in Norman Wells to receive the project description report that they completed and they’re looking forward to the couple of other ones that need to be completed.
I want to ask Mr. Ramsay what we need to do to start now getting the attention of the federal government. They’ve given the Government of the Northwest Territories $150 million to start to work on the northern portion of the highway, Inuvik to Tuk. What do we need to do now to start banging on the doors, to tell Mr. Harper, the Prime Minister, that we need to start putting some money aside?
They are a majority government. They can do it. What do we need to do to get it done? Do we need to bring Mrs. McCauley down with us to start pounding the drums at Mr. Harper’s door?
Mr. Speaker, we need to move forward, and I spoke earlier of continuing the momentum. I think lobbying the federal government, talking about the Mackenzie Valley Highway at any opportunity that we have publicly, in this forum, at constituency meetings, any chance we get with the federal government or provincial counterparts. Keeping it on the radar, I think, is one of the most important things as we move this forward.
Again, it’s continuing that momentum, I think, that is the most important thing and trying to identify funding that is going to continue to push this project forward. Thank you.
Can the Minister examine a strategy as to the type of lobbying tactics we can do with the Aboriginal governments, with partnerships, to begin looking at how the department then can take every opportunity with the partnerships to go down to Ottawa or have the opportunity to speak to the federal Ministers or their counterparts?
The Tuktoyaktuk committee did a fantastic job. They got $150 million. We need that type of strategy also within the Sahtu or any other portion of the Gwich’in and a little part of the Nahendeh. We need to follow into the Inuvik Beaufort-Delta area. It may take years. We need to put a strategy together and start pounding on the doors to let the government know that this part of the highway needs attention and we need money now.
Certainly we definitely need to continue the effort. Again, working together, working collaboratively, as was shown by the folks in the Sahtu, we can continue to move this project forward.
Again, it’s going to come back to the funding. Yes, we have a $150 million commitment on the Inuvik-Tuk portion of that highway. We need to seek some further commitment from the federal government on other sections of the Mackenzie Valley Highway. We need to continue to push, continue to move the project forward. It’s by talking about it; it’s by working together that we will continue to advance this project. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Part of the infrastructure is the Bear River Bridge. Is the Minister hoping to look at other options on how to fund the crucial infrastructure on the highway?
As I said, there is close to $600 million that is going to be spent in the Sahtu on oil and gas exploration. Can the Minister entertain suggestions/proposals as to how we get this crucial piece of infrastructure built in the Sahtu that would serve the people in the Sahtu and the oil companies, but also it will help the federal government? They are taking out millions, hundreds of millions from the Norman Wells oilfield. They should be able to contribute to a simple infrastructure, and shame on the government for not putting any funds up to look at this infrastructure. Can the Minister help out there?
Certainly, in the grand scheme of things, the Bear River Bridge is an integral piece of the Mackenzie Valley Highway and it will be. Certainly when funding is the way it is, we need to look at other sources of funding, we need to look at partnerships. We need to be very creative when it comes to supplying the transportation infrastructure needs around the territory. Certainly, if there are proposals out there, if there are ideas out there, we are interested in hearing them. We are interested in listening and sitting down with folks to work together to try to accomplish what we can with what we have. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I have a question for the Minister of Health as to home care. Will the Minister, as an interim solution until we re-establish the long-term care facility in the Mackenzie Delta district, increase the amount of home care workers in the communities of Aklavik, Fort McPherson and Tsiigehtchic? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Recently, Health and Social Services closed the Joe Greenland building down and then retained over $400,000 of the funding that’s used to operate the facility there in home care. The intention now is to hire two more additional home care workers for Aklavik and we are now also looking at Fort McPherson, 132 people over the age of 60 in Fort McPherson and some of which need home care and there’s only one home care worker in Fort McPherson. So the Beaufort-Delta Health and Social Services Authority is looking at that situation right now to determine the need, the exact needs of what home care need there is for home care workers.
In Tsiigehtchic we have 20 people right now over the age of 60-some, a few of which require minor home care, but we have one home care worker and the plan in Tsiigehtchic is to stay with the one home care worker at this time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
It was very unclear what the plans were for Fort McPherson and I would just like a little more follow-up on that. Are there plans to increase the amount of workers there? Thank you.
As I indicated, in McPherson we have a lot of people over the age of 60, many of which do require home care. There are 132 people in the community that require home care, so Beaufort-Delta Health and Social Services Authority are looking at ways now how to enhance that service, recognizing they only have one home care worker who can’t possibly service all those people. So we have asked them to look at it and they are looking at it.
In Tsiigehtchic at this time – and we can take another look at it, I’m not saying we won’t look at it – we have 20 people over the age of 60, and there is some need for some minor home care and they have one home care worker. But if the Member feels there is a need for more than one home care worker in Tsiigehtchic, despite the low numbers, I’m prepared to discuss that with the Member. Thank you.
At this time I have no further questions. Thank you, Mr. Minister.
Thank you. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Transportation, a follow-up on my Member’s statement about transportation projects planned for the Weledeh riding.
In my statement I mentioned the great partnerships that developed, the training and the development of an Aboriginal business and so on. I think we’ve got great progress there. I want to know, first of all, if the Minister concurs with that and is happy with the accomplishments that have been achieved about the investment of this government about the reconstruction of the Detah road.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Minister of Transportation, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, and, unfortunately, last week I was supposed to meet with Deton’Cho but I got weathered in in Norman Wells. I look forward to that meeting that will happen soon. I look forward to partnerships like that down the road. Thank you.
I appreciate that response. Many people are getting weathered in these days as the climate changes.
Quite a number of people missed the Commissioner’s supper last night because of three days not being able to get out of BHP. I will look forward to that meeting, Minister, with my constituency.
Many benefits have accrued, obviously, but we’re also talking about the Giant Mine bypass road this year. I am wondering if that is, indeed, planned to go ahead in the coming fiscal year.
Work continues on the realignment of Highway No. 4. With any luck that work will go ahead this year. Thank you.
My colleague from the Sahtu noted that had there been an all-weather road available, the Minister may have made it back earlier as well.
