Moving along to page 6-14. Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just wondering what the plan is for the additional expenditures in contribution funding for NWT Association of Communities, Local Government Administrators and the Arctic Energy Alliance.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Minister McLeod.
I’ll have Mr. Aumond speak to that.
Thank you, Minister McLeod. Mr. Aumond.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The difference in the funding is, I guess, the allocation of core funding to the Local Government Administrators of the Northwest Territories, and that’s the $80,000. That’s the difference showing there on the numbers between this year and last year. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Aumond. Mr. Bromley.
Thank you for that information. So this is not a special allocation or anything like that. This is core funding that’s part of the regular core funding. That’s fine. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. No question. I’ll go to the next person on my list. Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much. On this page here, Mr. Chair, it talks about Extraordinary Funding Policy. Can the Minister provide me with examples with some of his emergency funding that he provided in 2010-11?
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Minister McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. We haven’t rolled out any funding in 2010-11, but overall we use this for such things as utilidor repairs or we’ve used it in the past for water reservoir refill, some repairs on community centres and land slide repairs. As far as this year, we haven’t rolled out any funding yet. Thank you.
I see that the amount stays the same for 2011-12, which is good to see. Just in terms of the Extraordinary Funding Policy, what are some of the guidelines that surround that policy?
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Mr. Aumond.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Generally speaking, the criteria for the policy is an event that you couldn’t anticipate or plan for, or something happening to a piece of infrastructure in the community that the community can demonstrate that it doesn’t have the funds to pay for, and if it doesn’t get addressed, could cause some harm or some concern to the public safety or the well-being of the community. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Aumond. Mr. Menicoche. Page 6-14, Municipal and Community Affairs, summary, directorate, grants and contributions, grants, $168,000; contributions, $470,000; total grants and contributions, $638,000.
Agreed.
Going on to page 6-15, Municipal and Community Affairs, information item, directorate, active positions. Agreed?
Agreed.
Moving along to page 6-17, Municipal and Community Affairs, activity summary, public safety, operations expenditure summary. We are going to take a short break and when we come back we are going to go to Mr. Bromley.
---SHORT RECESS
I would like to call Committee of the Whole back to order. Today we are discussing the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs. We are on page 6-17. Mr. Krutko.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In regards to public safety, one of the issues in regards to fire safety regulations -- and again I mentioned earlier in my opening comments – and giving the communities and volunteer firefighters in our communities the tools that they need to ensure that they not only have the training and they have the equipment, but more importantly, that we are able to not only enforce the regulations that we put in force but also that we ensure that we have the capacity in our communities to ensure that we are there in regards to protecting the public when it talks about fire prevention, but more importantly, fire retention in regards to as our community is not only vulnerable to fires from within but also fires that come from outside the community regardless, forest fires. In the forest fire season during the summer months, and as we have seen in the situation that we have run into, we are aware that there is the major possibility of major fire season happening in the next while, because we haven’t really had any major fires in the last number of years and realizing that we have to not only have the capacity but have the ability to have trained firefighters in our communities and also elsewhere. I would just like to know from the Minister exactly what are we doing to enhancing the area of training and the equipment that people deserve.
I know that Mr. Jacobson mentioned in the House that the costs for Scott Air Packs and other equipment that they need in regards to fire response but also equipping the firefighters in our communities. They are not only protecting the community but also protecting themselves when they are responding to a fire. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Minister McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We have identified $300,000 that we would use to work with the communities to enhance their training and work with the communities to identify the type of equipment they would need, and the community would have the responsibility of purchasing equipment. We have identified $300,000 that we would use to ensure that all community firefighters are trained and do assessments on each firefighting department. Thank you.
I would like to ask the Minister exactly, can we see any additional resources in regards to equipment and equipment replacement for firefighters in our communities to ensure that they not only have the training but also have the equipment to carry out their jobs. Are there any funds available in regards to fire suppressant and making sure that they are equipped to respond to fires? Thank you.
As a department we don’t have any extra monies that we would be able to put towards this. Some of the communities have identified firefighting equipment in their capital plan and their operations and maintenance. So as far as the department goes, we use the money that we have, that we are hoping gets approved here, to enhance our training and our assessments of each particular communities’ firefighting department. Thank you.
Looking at the budget, there is an increase of about $100,000 in regards to emergency management. Could you elaborate on that?
Thank you. Ms. Gareau.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes, there is an increase in the area of emergency management and $113,000 of that is part of the $300,000 that the Minister has mentioned and the remainder is due to Collective Agreement increases. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Gareau. Mr. Krutko.
Just another major increase. I noticed that there is some $400,000 increase in the other expenses. Could you break down the other expenses and the $400,000? What is that for?
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Ms. Gareau.
Mr. Chairman, yes, the full $300,000 devoted to emergency management that the Minister has mentioned is in other expenses. The remainder, there is about $90,000 attributable to another forced growth area, which is support, contract support to the Assessment Appeals Tribunal and the board of revision. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Chairman, again, I noticed that under contract services, a lot of these dollars seem to be expended outwards and not really to deal with the public safety side in regards to fire retention and making sure we... I would just like to know under contracting services, what is that $355,000 for.
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Ms. Gareau, am I pronouncing your name correctly? Okay, Ms. Gareau.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes, the MLA is correct; there is an increase in contract services and, again, it is attributable to the increased funding the department has received for the emergency management area. We anticipate that due to some of the specialized training and supports that community governments may require, we will have to work with external contractors to provide that service. Since we don’t have that, we may not have that expertise on staff. Thank you.
Mr. Chairman, could they elaborate on exactly what type of special services they are going to provide by way of those funds?
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Minister McLeod.
Mr. Chairman, we are not quite sure exactly what we are going to need yet until we do the assessments to determine the types of specialized trades or the types of specialized training we will have to offer. If we are able to provide that with the folks that we have on staff, we will do that. If we are unable to, then we will have to go to an external contractor. Thank you.
Mr. Chairman, again, it would be good to get that information, and more importantly, illustrating exactly how those expenditures are going to be spent what we can do to enhance and support our volunteer firefighters in our communities. Thank you.
Mr. Chairman, it is going to be on a community-by-community basis. Once the assessments are done, we will be in a better position to determine the specialized training that we will need and when we are able to do that, identify that, then I will let the Member know how it affects the communities he represents. Thank you.
Mr. Chairman, I think it is important to realize that, from these fire responses we had, especially in my riding, again, there have been some challenges that we have run into. I think it is important that we ensure that we focus on those areas that are having the most challenges, but more importantly, making sure that we are working with them to ensure that they are not only doing their job safely but also saving lives and avoiding putting themselves in harm’s way. I would just like to ask that you consider those communities that have shown that they are having some challenges. Thank you.
Mr. Chairman, we think it’s very important too. That is why we have come forward with a request for fire emergency training, and a lot of it we would obviously target a lot of those communities that have some challenges and need some training. We would obviously have to target those communities first to make sure that they are in a better position to respond to any emergency that is in their community. I can assure the Member that we will take his advice and we will target a lot of the communities where it is found that they are in most need. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Krutko, do you have any more questions? Alright. Next on my list is Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Actually, Mr. Krutko asked most of the questions I was going to ask. I was particularly concerned about the 315 additional contract services, especially given that we do have staff that are supposedly specialized in this area. I think one of the things we are finding quite strongly on this side of the House is that we are continually contracting out more and more of our work when we hire top of the line professionals and put them to managing instead of delivering. I think that is a frustration certainly to many people in the Northwest Territories, possibly even to our employees.
I did hear the Minister say contracting, if our staff can’t do the work. I guess I would encourage the Minister to follow up with that and do make best use of the staff and expertise we have. We obviously have several staff in this area. I believe we maybe decreased this position and I disagree with not having the right people on staff and ending up contracting out at a greater cost later. That is mostly by way of a comment, Mr. Chairman. I welcome any response from the Minister, though. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Mr. Aumond.
Mr. Chairman, as the Minister stated, depending on what we find in each of the community assessments, if our six staff in the division that we have which includes the regional AFMs can handle it, then we will contract out. Some of the training, though, will be quite specialized and, as the Member knows, we do have staff in the regions. They are assistant fire marshals. But on the emergency management side, we are running desktop exercises and so on and some specialized training. We will likely have to bring in some help from outside to deal with stuff on a one-time basis because we don’t have the staff on hand. In addition, the fire marshal’s office and the assistant fire marshals do have their legislated mandated duties that they have to do and that the training requirement, although part of their job, depending on their caseload at the time, we may have to bring in that outside help as required. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Aumond. Next on my list is Mr. Jacobson.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am just picking up from my colleague Mr. Krutko’s questioning in regards to the equipment and the comments from the Minister regarding the bunker year and the Scott Air Packs and the funding that could reallocate the funding from the training into getting gear. Is that possible? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. Minister McLeod.
