Thank you, Madam Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.
Please provide the exact number of GNWT contracts that have been awarded to southern contractors that were not registered under the Business Incentive Policy for the 2011-2012 and current fiscal years.
Of these contracts awarded to southern contractors, can the Minister provide me with the number of change orders that were done to adjust the contracts?
Can the Minister provide me with the exact total costs of these change orders?
Of these same contracts won, can the Minister provide me with how many of these contractors came back to the GNWT asking for a supplementary appropriation to complete the project?
Can the Minister provide me with the total cost of these supplementary appropriations?
Thank you, Mr. Moses. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Transportation.
Please provide a spreadsheet that identifies all deficiencies and any outstanding work required on the Deh Cho Bridge, specifically noting the following:
what are all the deficiencies;
when was each deficiency identified;
what is the estimated cost of each deficiency;
who is responsible for each deficiency;
when will each of the deficiencies be addressed;
who will be correcting each deficiency; and
for each of the deficiencies noted, if they were part of the original scope and, if not, when they were added to the project.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services.
Please provide the total number of emergency hospital visits for the fiscal year 2011-2012 and the current fiscal year.
Please provide the total number of visits to health centres for fiscal year 2011-2012 and the current fiscal year.
Of the total number of emergency hospital and health centre visits during fiscal year 2011-2012 and the current fiscal year, how many were alcohol and/or drug related?
Of the total number of alcohol and/or drug related emergency hospital and health centre visits, how many were classified as mental health disorders with self-harming or suicidal indications?
Of the total number of alcohol and/or drug-related emergency hospital and health centre visits, how many individuals were released from care and how many were sent to institutions specifically for alcohol and/or drug treatment?
Thank you, Madam Speaker. I’d just like to commend Cabinet, through this budget for 2013-2014, for taking the recommendations that came from committees. Whether it was Social Programs or EDI, Cabinet has taken a lot of advice from the committees during their business planning process. Also, Cabinet has taken recommendations from committees like the rural and remote communities. I’m hopeful we can implement more in our next budget and create more opportunities for communities.
In the communities, especially the smaller communities, there are a lot of challenges in services. I think that, working together, we can overcome those challenges and I look forward to this year coming.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. I want to also thank the government for their –
---Applause
Well, you know, when there were things that we talked about in September, the government certainly has listened. I have witnessed this over a period of time that some of the responses to the Sahtu region, because of the oil and gas activity, that we need help in the region. The government has responded in the budget. I have listened to some of our committee meetings and there are some things you win and some things you don’t win. That’s part of the process here.
For the people who elected us in this consensus style of government, this is the only opportunity that we, as Regular Members, have a peek at the proposed budget. We compete against the department assets, against the department’s plans, from the communities’ plans, from what things that we see when we go back to our ridings as what we need in the community. There’s a big wheel there that we try to get in there to change it. I want to say that, still, the government needs some constructive criticism in this budget and I want to do that when I go back to our communities in the Sahtu.
Still in Colville Lake there is no RCMP station. One of our goals is to provide safety and protection for our people. There is no physical nurse in Colville Lake. We don’t have that yet. There are a number of communities in the Northwest Territories that do not have the safety, health, or protection of these two enforcement departments – Justice and Health. Some of our schools need to be upgraded or replaced. Members here talk about that. We have Members all around here that know that.
In the budget I know the government is doing its best with what we are receiving. We get about 35, if we look at $100 of the budget, we get about $0.75 from the federal government. We’re still under that rule, yet until we come to a place where we will be in more control of the budget.
The government with its bureaucrats at the head looking at how we protect our assets and what things we need in the Northwest Territories, we go through that process. The government, with the Cabinet on this side, has listened to us. Sometimes we don’t think they are, but they are listening to us. It’s a real juggle as to what we do. The Minister of Finance has always said, our needs far outdo the money that we’re getting from the federal government or the money that we can produce in the Northwest Territories.
I’ve been in the House for close to nine years and I will continue, still, to fight for the value of protection, health for the people of Colville Lake. I will still fight for the things that we need in the Sahtu, the basic requirements that other communities have in the Northwest Territories. Just last year the government finally put proper toilets in our schools and health centres. It’s a good thing.
With this budget I do want to say thank you to the Ministers for responding to some of the needs in the Sahtu. We are competing against other needs in the Northwest Territories at different levels. Our region is developing. It’s developing into a region. We have the have-nots and haves in the Northwest Territories. We have proper running schools. In some of the communities we do not have some of the courses, or even some of the facilities in our schools. Mr. Menicoche talked about them. Yet we juggle our needs. Some communities have hospitals, regional hospitals, that now can have their babies being delivered there at the same community. Some communities have to fly in the young mothers and stay in Yellowknife and live there for a month and have their babies delivered in those hospitals. That’s just the situation we’re in.
I hope that we come to a place where there is some sort of equalization amongst our communities so that all the communities, for the Minister of Justice, that we could get money so that he can put RCMP in Tsiigehtchic, in Colville Lake, I’m not too sure of the other communities, Gameti maybe, Wekweetì, all around, that our communities then know that the government is true to their word in terms of protection and justice. That they can sleep just like us. We sleep and we know that there’s an RCMP station in our community. We want to give them that serenity, that feeling of being looked after. Why do my people go to a health centre not knowing that there’s a nurse that’s trained to look after their needs? We should have that kind of money to have nurses in our community.
This budget talks about the haves and have-nots. That’s our job as MLAs, as Ministers, and as MLAs on this side to hold them accountable to where the really essential needs are being taken care of. I want to say that during our discussion here, those are the questions that we ask the Ministers to be accountable for and look at some of these things. Some of our communities are just at the brink of becoming a developing community or a developing region. Some of them are still undeveloped. We need to look at that.
I applaud my Members on this side here for speaking up and asking for the needs of their own constituency, their own ridings, and the Ministers for listening. You’ve come back with a good budget for me. It tells me that you Ministers are doing your job and you’re helping my region, and other regions also, for their wishes. It’s always the same. If you had enough money, we would do a lot. I know that. I see that. The struggles as to how we put some of our needs in our region.
I want to publicly say that to this government here and this budget here that we’re working hard. It takes a lot to make commitments and this budget address, hopefully, then will begin to look at some of the things that are very basic yet.
I said I’ve been here for eight years, close to nine years. God willing, I will finish my term and we will at least see some of these basic needs being looked at, being considered in the budget under the capital or O and M, that we can have some of these basic needs met in places like Colville Lake, Wrigley and Tsiigehtchic. Our people know that the value of protection and health care is paramount in the government’s eyes to say that we can put a position there. That requires all of us to look at where we want to put our dollars. That’s a real challenge for us. We Northerners, MLAs would like a good challenge. We’d like a good challenge to know that, outside of this building here, some of our basic needs in our smaller communities are being met, not only in some of the larger centres where they get their services.
It’s a region, I want to let the Minister’s know, that I appreciate you responding very positively to what’s happening with the oil and gas. Thank you very much for continuing to work on the budgets. We win some, we lose some, but I think our wins are getting more and more because the Ministers, for me anyway, are listening to some of our needs in the Sahtu and in some of the smaller communities. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Just a few brief comments here. I want to start off by highlighting the statement by our Finance Minister that no non-renewable resource revenues will go towards government programs and services. Again, great concerns on this point and it flies absolutely in the face of what our Premier has said to the nation, very publicly on TV just days before this budget address, where he explicitly said that non-renewable resource revenues will, in fact, be used for programs and services, and I agree with that. So I assume there will be some correction made on that in line with the Premier’s comments.
That sort of approach actually reflects our ever-increasing tendency to make things a luxury for industry and austerity for our people. What we need is real balance between those. We need both of those categories to be supported but in a serious balance. Right now I think Members will agree we have some major deficits in the programs and services that we offer. To that end, in fact, we have made lots of suggestions, in fact, some very explicit suggestions particularly in the area of health and renewable energy, prevention and justice. Unfortunately, I saw none of those requests responded to in this budget and we will have an interesting discussion over the next few days.
I might add that the interests of Members are so modest that we are talking about less than one-half of 1 percent of this budget. That’s sort of hard work that has been done by committee to carve down our ask into a very reasonable amount, recognizing that we do need to live within our means. At the same time, we do need to serve our people and our people are speaking to us.
I think we’re all excited about the new mines that are lining up for development in the Northwest Territories, but how many people are already being brought in from outside the Northwest Territories to work in our diamond mines? We’re failing on that front. Look at our small communities; look at the unemployment there. We have some serious challenges here and we have some amazing opportunities to do things differently to help, for example, build local capacity and build our local economies. This Member and my colleagues, I know, stand ready to work with Cabinet to really access these opportunities and make sure we do a good job there.
Although we have a long way to go, we are hopefully getting on the road and we’re here to help. I am looking forward to discussions with the remainder of this budget. I appreciate this opportunity to respond to the budget address. Mahsi.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. I wish to table the following document, entitled Public Accounts 2011-2012, Section I and Section II. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Minister Lafferty.
Madam Speaker, I wish to table the following document, entitled Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission, Corporate Plan, 2013. Mahsi, Madam Speaker.
Item 16, notices of motion. Item 17, notices of motion for first reading of bills. Item 18, motions. Item 19, first reading of bills. Item 20, second reading of bills. Item 21, consideration in Committee of the Whole of bills and other matters. Before the committee today is Tabled Document 9-17(4), NWT Main Estimates, 2013-2014; and Bill 1, Tlicho Statutes Amendment Act, with Mr. Dolynny in the chair.
Good afternoon, colleagues. I would like to call Committee of the Whole to order. What is the wish of the committee? Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The committee wishes to consider Tabled Document 9-17(4), NWT Main Estimates, 2013-2014. We will deliberate Environment and Natural Resources as well as Industry, Tourism and Investment.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
We will commence after a short break.
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Welcome back, committee. I’d like to turn our attention to Minister Miltenberger. Mr. Miltenberger, do you have witnesses you’d like to bring in the Chamber?
Yes, Mr. Chairman.
Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. Sergeant-at-Arms, can you please escort the witnesses in, please.
Minister Miltenberger, if you care to introduce your witnesses to the House, please.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have with me Ernie Campbell, deputy minister of Environment and Natural Resources; and Nancy Magrum, the director of shared services for ITI and ENR. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister Miltenberger. Mr. Campbell, Ms. Magrum, welcome back to the House. Committee, we are on page 13-21, Environment and Natural Resources, activity summary, forest management, operations expenditures, $32.067. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you very much. Moving on to 13-22, Environment and Natural Resources, activity summary, forest management, grants and contributions, grants, total grants, $100,000.
Agreed.
Contributions, total contributions, $100,000, total grants and contributions, $200,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. Page 13-23, Environment and Natural Resources, information item, forest management, active positions. Any questions?
Agreed.
Seeing none, 13-24 and 13-25, Environment and Natural Resources, activity summary, wildlife, operations expenditure summary, $15.286 million. Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have some questions here with regard to caribou management and caribou quotas and so on. I heard the Minister say when he responded to opening comments where he talked about the resident harvest and that there’s a possibility the resident harvest might be opened up in the fall of this year, of 2013. I didn’t hear him say anything about an opportunity for outfitters to have tags in the fall of 2013 or fall and winter 2013-14.
I am really concerned that our caribou hunt outfitters are in great distress. I know that they have had some assistance through the Sport Hunt Outfitters Marketing Program, but to have facilities sit and basically deteriorate over time through lack of use, that’s what most of them are doing.
It would seem to me that we should be able to provide some tags this fall for outfitters. My understanding, in speaking with the outfitters, is that they don’t want tags for the Bathurst herd. Not all of them, but the majority of them, from what I understand, don’t hunt the Bathurst caribou anyway. They hunt the Bluenose-East and the Ahiak herd. So it would seem to me that if we’re going to open up the Bluenose-East herd to resident hunters, we would also be able to open it up to outfitters and sport hunt outfitters.
So I’d like to know from the Minister, first of all, if there has been any consideration given to providing tags for the caribou outfitters, and I’m coming again from the perspective of a number of these businesses are within the city of Yellowknife. They may not necessarily be my constituents, but they are constituents certainly of other Yellowknife Members and, like I say, they are really struggling. Their businesses are quite likely to fold if we don’t get them some tags sometime soon. So, again, my question with regard to the possibility of providing some caribou tags to outfitters in the fall winter of 13-14. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. For that we’ll go to Minister Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My understanding – and I’ll ask Mr. Campbell to speak further to this – is that the majority of outfitters that the Member is talking about harvest the Bathurst herd for the most part. We have commenced discussions with the various boards, with the Bluenose-East as well. We’re having discussions with Nunavut as well as the Beverly Qamanirjuaq Board and we’ll be talking to the appropriate Aboriginal governments, as well, about the Ahiak-Beverly herd and the numbers that have come in. At this point the restrictions in the Bathurst ban area are going to continue until the next census and the population count is done.
So chances are there will be no change to those conditions in the banned area, and we are working, as I indicated, with the various appropriate parties and governments and boards to review the resident hunter harvest as a first step towards getting back so that Northerners can all harvest, keeping in mind that before we can actually move to the full unrestricted harvest for everybody, we also have to be prepared to say the herds can sustain unrestricted Aboriginal harvest as well. So we have some careful steps that we do have to follow. Mr. Chairman, with your indulgence, I’d ask Mr. Campbell to speak a little more specifically about the location of the various outfitters. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister Miltenberger. Mr. Campbell.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The information that we have with the collared animals shows that a majority of the outfitter locations over the years have been primarily the Bathurst herd. That is, on occasion, where the Bluenose-East do come into the northern end of that outfitting corridor around the Point Lake area, and the last couple of years I think the Bluenose-East has… Well, I know the Bluenose-East has come into that area, but as far as the Bluenose-East coming down further into some of those other established areas for that particular time of the year, they still would not be getting Bluenose caribou.
Thank you, Mr. Campbell. Ms. Bisaro.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. Thanks to the Minister and the deputy minister. I want to emphasize that I am not asking on behalf of the outfitters for tags for the Bathurst caribou. That’s not what they’re asking. They’re asking for tags for the Bluenose-East, and I was pleased to hear the deputy minister mention Point Lake because that is one area, one outfitter who specifically believes that the Bluenose-East are near their camp and would like some tags for the Bluenose-East herd.
So it seems to me that we’ve got perhaps not a lack of communication per se, but a lack of full understanding of where each party stands, perhaps.
I guess my next question to the Minister would be whether or not he and the department would initiate a discussion with the outfitters, certainly the outfitters towards the northern end of the range, I guess. My real concern is that if we don’t get tags to the outfitters within this next 12 months, so to speak, that they’re going to fold. They cannot keep operating with no business and they have tried to diversify, but even the diversification has been a real struggle and they’re basically losing money every year.
The outfitting business was bringing millions and millions of dollars into Yellowknife and the NWT and we have lost that revenue. I think there’s still an opportunity to get it back. I think there’s still some interest in caribou hunts from the people that take advantage of it. Apparently they’re still getting requests from clients. Are there caribou tags? We want to come and do hunts. That interest is only going to last for a short period of time. Odds are pretty good that if there are no tags next winter and the winter after that, the inquiries are going to stop coming and then these guys are truly out of luck.
Will the department look at meeting with the outfitters that some of us Members have been talking to and seriously considering their request for a limited number of tags for the Bluenose-East herd in fall-winter 2013-2014?
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The issue with the caribou is a wildlife management conservation issue first and foremost. As our system is set up, the Aboriginal subsistence harvest has priority, followed by the resident harvest and followed by outfitters, commercial harvesters. When there are any restrictions, when we have a voluntary harvest quota on the Bluenose-East, we have to be prepared to say that before we can open up outfitters’ harvest to the Bluenose-East, for example, we have to be prepared to say that the herd can sustain unrestricted Aboriginal harvest as well as the resident harvest, which used to be, at one time, five tags and has been reduced to one and then to none.
On the Ahiak-Beverly side, the east side, the same criteria apply, but that’s well outside the zone of any outfitters. That continues to be the reality before us here today.
