Mr. Speaker, well, obviously, there are 10 of them that have completed all four. There are four components to the community sustainability plan and all of the 10 completed have obviously done all of them. I don’t have the exact numbers with me. I’ll get the numbers and I’ll provide them to the Member. But if the 13 that are going to council for approval in February, then we would assume that they have their energy plans done. Then there are 10 that are going to their councils for approval in March. As for exact numbers as to how many have been completed to date, I will get that information and I’ll pass it on to the Member. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Your final supplementary, Mr. Krutko.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I believe this is the perfect opportunity for this government to really put some capital infrastructure in the communities, especially for the smaller communities where they have higher energy costs and higher operating costs. I believe there’s $40 million for basically looking at the green funds that we have in place. So I’d just like to ask the Minister exactly is this government going to also be looking at alternative means of energy in communities, more importantly, in regard to the capital dollars we have elsewhere to assist these communities where we realize that they have high energy costs and that basically the communities are unsustainable under the existing systems that they are using.
Mr. Speaker, we’ll continue to work with the communities in identifying their energy needs and where they can make improvements so when the community decides what infrastructure that they’re going to build, then they’ll be able to incorporate a lot of the ideas. That’s why the Arctic Energy Alliance is playing a part in working with some of the communities in coming up with their community energy plans. So this would go a long way, and I’ve spoken to one community in particular that had some concerns about some of the energy costs and how they were doing some new work and they were going to incorporate some of the recommendations made in the energy plans. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member’s statement today I talked about payday loans and the fact that I believe the territorial consumer is being left at risk. I think that’s time for this government to take an active interest in this file and rather than wait for an accident to happen, we should take control of it through sound, reasonable regulations.
Mr. Speaker, seven out of 10 of the provinces in this Dominion of Canada have ensured that low rates exist for people who have to go to Payday Loans, and they’ve ensured that the protection of the citizens is certainly a priority.
Mr. Speaker, the last point I want to make is the federal government says, through the Criminal Code, that you cannot charge more than 60 percent on these types of loans, but the fact is even though they hide it with a cheap introduction loan, the maximum of 60 percent does not take into account the fees that are often charged with this. So I’m going to ask the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, who’s also the Minister responsible for consumer affairs, is he willing to take a look at prescribing regulations here in the Northwest Territories that protect consumers and don’t put them at risk because of these high interest fees that are charged with the payday loans? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister responsible for Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Robert McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, MACA is working with our federal/provincial/territorial counterparts to look at issues regarding the consumer credit card market, and we’re looking at ways that we can improve our efforts to protect consumers. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, in information that’s been sent to me it says basically it’s at the discretion of the lending agency. So I’m really curious what MACA is doing as they watch this evolve. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, we haven’t had any concerns brought to our attention yet by the consumers, but we do have a consumer affairs person that monitors a lot of the goings-on out there. If this continues to be a practice or something that consumers need information on or just need reassurance that they are protected, then it’s something that, as a government, we have to do. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I believe there is a firm role here for government to backstop the public to make sure that regulations and oversight exist before something goes off the rails. Mr. Speaker, it’s clear that these types of loans are given to people with low income or, certainly, to middle income Canadians and puts them in financial risk. Why is the Minister waiting for complaints in order to act rather than doing something? Mr. Speaker, the opportunity exists here. Would the Minister act and look into regulations and develop them in a fair way as seven other provinces have in this country?
Yes, we’ll look into it. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Your final supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the answer from the Minister. Mr. Speaker, could the Minister elaborate a little further, such as does he anticipate that he’ll look into this right away or is it one of those little things that will hang there and say someday we’ll take a look at it; we’re not against it, but maybe we’ll be for it? So could the Minister, sort of, elaborate a little further on his answer? Because my expectations are reasonable but certainly are there now. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, we’ll look into it right away. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I just want to follow up on my Member’s statement with regard to the Interpreter/Translator Program. I’d like to ask the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment what is the existing programming that we do have available for residents out there currently. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we do have a program in place through the Yamozha Kue Society through the Dene Cultural Institute. We deliver a module pilot training program. There have been different training programs in Yellowknife, Lutselk'e and other communities as well. It’s based on the modules. So, Mr. Speaker, once those six training modules are delivered… And a certificate of achievement is also awarded to those individuals. Once the six modules are completed, it’s going to be delivered in all language communities. Mahsi.
I’m glad to hear that there will be an expansion of that program throughout the North. Is that something that’s planned for the upcoming fiscal year 2010-2011? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, this is an ongoing initiative that’s been in the works for several years now and we will continue to work on improving in this area so that we can deliver a wide range of interpretation and also translation training programs into the regions. We’re reaching out to the communities. But, Mr. Speaker, with the upcoming language symposium that’s scheduled for the end of March, this will be one of the topics of discussion at that forum. We want to get input from the language experts to give us direction on this particular piece of work. Mahsi.
Will this program be expanded after March 31st to other communities? I know that the language symposium will give us lots of direction and lots of good ideas as we’ll have the experts from throughout Canada, but I’d like to know if our Interpreter/Translator Program will be expanded to invite other members of the public to join it. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, the modules that I’m talking about is we gave further funding in August 2009 to provide the Yamozha Kue Society to complete the development and product of the training modules for the community-based interpreter and the translator training modules that will be delivered as a pilot project.
Mr. Speaker, we need to reach out to the five regions that we have and it will take gradual steps, but this is an ongoing pilot project that we’re continuing to promote. Again, at the language symposium the experts around the table will give us more feedback on this particular program. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Your final supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Will this Interpreter/Translator Program get to the level where the people attending it can be certified trainers in the regions and communities? Even I’m looking towards having something with Aurora College as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, that will be part of the long-term goal that we have where we did have a successful college Interpreter Training Program in the past and also that is the area that we are also looking at as well. In the meantime, we are delivering the training modules in the region. We will continue to work in that area and also improving in what we have on hand. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, Mr. Speaker, my Member’s statement was on ECE and the community of Tuktoyaktuk. Mr. Speaker, I try to go home every weekend when we are down here sitting. Every time I go home, I get phone calls from different people in the community saying their first call is always ECE. I’ve been having this problem for the last 18 months. I’m really getting discouraged here.
Mr. Speaker, case workers are sometimes on duty travel and the replacements are often flying in and flying out on a daily basis to fill the regional budget. Are the regional budgets large enough to handle this travel? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. We feel that we need to meet the needs of all clientele in the Northwest Territories. We do provide budgets and funding to each department and also to the respective regions. There has been an increase in the travel budget as it has been highlighted in previous budgets and also this year as well. We continue to go out to isolated communities. It does cost us extra. Mr. Speaker, yes, we do have a budget for that. Mahsi.
Mr. Speaker, the department for those who most need the program do not really know what their options are. Mr. Speaker, how would the department inform the community clients of their options? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, we have client service officers that get together every now and then to highlight the key changes or program that is on hand. If there are any new initiatives that the community should be aware of through any client service officer and, Mr. Speaker, we will certainly take this into consideration with respect to the Member’s riding. If there is not enough information being shared, then we need to do that and other communities as well. Mr. Speaker, we will do what we can to provide more choices and the program delivery into the communities. Mahsi.
Mr. Speaker, there is enough work in the community of Tuktoyaktuk for at least two case workers. Every month there is a line-up of people trying to get to see the ECE worker to get help to provide food for their kids, and not only that, to pay some of their bills. Mr. Speaker, when can the department respond to at least having two case workers in the community of Tuktoyaktuk? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, we do what we can with what we have in resources in the regions, whether it be the Tuktoyaktuk client service officers and we do have regional representatives as well that go to the communities. Some communities may feel that the caseload is also increasing. Those are areas that we are looking at as ECE department where we can add resources if we need to based on the clientele, the caseload. Those are areas that we are looking at, Mr. Speaker. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final supplementary, Mr. Jacobson.
Mr. Speaker, I urge the Minister to get a hold of client services in regards to not only Nunakput but all over, the workers that are working in the communities to start helping the people that are asking for help in regards to productive choices. We have 65-year-old people having to go out and shovel. That is not right. Mr. Speaker, this government, is there a different list of productive choices between a place like Yellowknife than Tuktoyaktuk? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, productive choices is throughout the Northwest Territories. It is the same for clientele. The Member has alluded to an elder shovelling. There is an exemption for aged individuals that it is not required to do these kinds of chores unless they participate to do so. Mr. Speaker, I can certainly provide the list of exemptions and also the productive choices that have been highlighted is the list that we follow within the choices that have been offered. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement, I addressed the response to the JRP recommendations that was filed by the GNWT to the NEB. My questions today are addressed to the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, who is responsible for the NEB portion of this. It was Minister McLeod who advised the chair of the Economic Development and Infrastructure committee that the response was filed. Since the Minister was the recipient of a letter from the Social Programs committee, the same kind of a letter that went to the Minister of EDI. I would like to know from Minister McLeod why the chair of the Social Programs committee was not advised of the filing of the response in the same manner that he advised the chair of EDI. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bob McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess for a couple of reasons. One is we normally work with the Standing Committee of Economic Development. Secondly, we weren’t aware that the Standing Committee on Operations wanted input into the response to NEB. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I am a little nonplussed, I guess, by the Minister’s response that he would choose to ignore the request of a standing committee. I want to quote from the letter that was sent to the Hon. Robert R. McLeod sometime in January. The date is not evident here, but from the chair of the Standing Committee on Social Programs, and the chair said, “committee members are very interested in the recommendations made in the JRP report on the Mackenzie Gas Project and want both the opportunity to provide input in the development of a response and an opportunity to review the response before it is final.”
I guess from that I would like to reiterate to the Minister and ask the Minister why, in the light of that letter, would he ignore that request and not advise the chair of the Standing Committee on Social Programs. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I have the letter right here. It is from the chair of the Standing Committee on Social Programs. There is no reference to the NEB in that letter. I assume that the Standing Committee on Social Programs is only interested in the Joint Review Panel recommendations. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I guess I have to then ask the Minister of ITI how he can say that that response that was filed with the NEB did not reference the recommendations from the Joint Review Panel. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I am just going by the letter that I received from the Standing Committee on Social Programs. As my colleague the Minister of ENR indicated, we are quite prepared to do a joint briefing with the different committees. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.
