Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of ITI. The Minister has noted that the Government of Canada has invested into the life of the trappers, certainly with the daunting and challenging task of working with the trappers in light of the emerging demand for the Northwest Territories fur and also the demand for our energy in the Sahtu region.
I want to ask the Minister, is his department working with the Sahtu Renewable Resources Board to come out with a plan that says if you want to be a trapper, here are the support mechanisms you can have to become a trapper for life, or if you’d like to change or have some type of balance working in the industry? Is there going to be a report after these two years of funding projects?
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Northwest Territories today has the best trapping programs in the country. The reason why our programs are so successful is because we work out of our regional offices to help deliver the programs that we have, and in the area of trapping specifically we have a strong relationship with the local operations at the regional level through our department. As things change – I know the Member is talking about the potential economic development happening in the Sahtu – it’s even more important that we continue that close relationship with the hunters and trappers in that region. Thank you.
Can the Minister of ITI inform the House, with the funding that we got from the federal government it will be geared towards promoting opportunities for employment and skill development training in both the traditional and the industrial sectors of the Sahtu regional economy, from that is there going to be some type of report or some type of plan that says you can be a trapper in these seasons and then you could switch to the industrial sector of the economy and go back to life on the land? Is there some type of plan that would see our people in the Sahtu having these types of opportunities in front of them?
Thank you. It’s in all of our best interests to ensure that opportunities for employment are there on an annual basis and all throughout the year. I know some of the opportunity currently underway in the Sahtu is during the winter months. We need to ensure that there are opportunities for people year round, and if there is a way that we can put a bridge between the two to allow people to pursue their traditional economy and also be employed in the oil and gas sector in the Sahtu, that’s something that we should be looking at. As far as a report goes on the money, there would be some expectation that we would have some kind of an evaluation and know where the money has been spent and its effectiveness. Thank you.
I know that some of the people in the Sahtu, especially the trappers because that’s their life and that’s what they want to do, also I know there are some people who love to trap but also see the wage economy in the oil and gas sector. I want to ask the Minister, is he working closely with the Sahtu Renewable Resources Board to say this is a program we could have in the Sahtu that could pilot, say, a trapper who would like to trap to get these furs, but also the trapping season might be a little difficult so they would move into the industry? Is there a program that flow the trappers into an oil and gas industry type of employment to support them, because that would be crucial in terms of which way they want to go in the future.
I think each individual’s circumstances may, in fact, be different than the next person, but we could be potentially talking to Education, Culture and Employment about opportunities to bridge the two. Again, I think it’s very important that people have opportunities on a year-round basis. If there is that opportunity to work with ECE to talk about training opportunities and how we can get the trappers that are trapping that want to be employed in the oil and gas sector as things continue to move along in the Sahtu, again, that’s something that we’re very much interested in doing. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last year there were 106 trappers that sold close to 4,000 pelts and injected $725,000 into the local economy of the Northwest Territories. We know that the Asian countries and the European countries are well versed in the Northwest Territories fur.
Is there any type of report as to the number of trappers now in the Sahtu that his department is tracking to see if we are going to pass the numbers that we had from last year’s report?
I don’t have the exact number of trappers in the Sahtu that we are tracking, but that’s certainly a number I could get for the Member. What I do know, and I know the Member mentioned it himself, is the amount of dollars that are flowing directly back to trappers across the Northwest Territories, and this is money that gets right back into the local economy and, in most cases, into the smaller communities. Last year that was $2.8 million directly back to trappers across the Territories, so it’s a significant amount of money that gets back into the economy.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to follow up from my statement with questions for the Premier today, and they’re related to the three examples I mentioned earlier of decision-making power being moved from public boards to behind the closed doors of GNWT. I do believe that our Cabinet and their advisors are competent, so they must be aware of this power shift.
The question is: Is this a deliberate power grab, or is it an unintended consequence of the rush to implement devolution?
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess I’m not surprised the Member is already condemning devolution before it even occurs. It’s a month and a half away, and also, I would think he would support the fact that we’re reducing about 5,000 miles of red tape. It’s just mirror legislation, and I’m not sure what he’s referring to when he’s talking about a power grab.
I hope the Premier is satisfied that we have devolution, that we’re talking about implementing it here, so I won’t bother to respond to that.
Intentional or not, this power shift away from public boards is happening.
Where did the Premier and Cabinet get the mandate to set things in motion this way? Did this Assembly ask them to shift power away from public boards? Did our Aboriginal partners ask them to shift power to behind the closed doors of GNWT?
The Member should be pleased that the MVRMA will continue as a public board. We are not taking it. They will still be making those decisions and putting forward recommendations. The responsible Ministers will be putting them into effect.
Thanks to the Premier. Most of the legislation that we will be bringing forward to implement is not even available to the public yet.
Are these few examples just the tip of the iceberg? Are there any other power shifts from the public boards to behind the closed doors of GNWT that we have not discovered yet?
As I said, the MVRMA, the board will be dealing with applications for development and so there is no power shift other than the fact that the responsible Ministers will change, and that’s part and parcel of mirror legislation.
Thank you Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Of course, that’s not the way it was a few months ago. That was the recent change with the federal government and it seems like we’re choosing to emulate the federal government here. The Premier is on the record, probably hundreds of times, saying we want an efficient and effective regulatory system. I note that he rarely mentions a fair system or an objective system, but I will assume that he would agree that fairness and independence are key.
How does the Premier propose to reverse these power grabs and put land and water decision-making and resource management decision-making back in the realm of fair and independent public review boards?
I’m sure the Member will be pleased to hear that this is not a power grab. It’s moving decision-making to the North, and those most affected by activity will be making the decisions. That’s what this is all about and I’m pleased in my Minister’s statement I used those words exactly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I have questions in regard to our procurement contract processes that we have. The Minister of ITI tabled a document in the House in our last sitting session. I just want to talk a bit about some of the concerns that are brought up from residents, especially the small businesses that can’t really out bid some of our bigger companies. I wanted to bring forth some of the concerns that they do have.
I would like to ask the Minister about sole-source contracting, not the process behind it but at what point is this government going to start looking at doing a better job of getting some of these sole-source contracts out into the public process, and what is this Minister going to do about trying to get that back into a more public discussion so we get contractors who are able to do the jobs and also make it more fair for all contractors? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are transparent; of course, the Contracts Over $5,000 Report is tabled in the House. Members have a chance to go through that book, and if there are specific questions regarding any of those contracts in the report, Members can ask questions about those specific contracts. Sole-source contracts are just another tool that is available to government to allow us to do our jobs and carry out the work of the various departments.
I can’t, again, speak to specific contracts unless the Member asks a specific question to a specific contract. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, when this government goes into sole-source contracts or negotiated contracts with a big firm or company, are there any provisions put in these negotiated contracts where the main contractor has to have a certain percentage of local subcontractors, the smaller guys, the guys that have the small businesses? Is there a percentage in that negotiated contract when any of the Ministers or when the Minister goes forward and proceeds with a sole contract? Is there a percentage set out so that when the small businesses in the communities and across the Territories get a piece of the pie? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Again, it is in the government’s best interest to ensure that dollars spent here in the Northwest Territories by our government stay in the Northwest Territories, and that is certainly an objective. We have, I know the Member mentioned, negotiated contracts. That is another policy separate from our policy on sole-source contracts. Again, it is there so that we can build capacity here in the Northwest Territories, so departments can look at various contracts that are going to enable groups around the Northwest Territories to build up that capacity and employ local people and ensure that money stays in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, going back to the report that was tabled in the House, I’m glad that the Minister did mention trying to keep money in the Northwest Territories. In the report it states that there is about $51 million that is not in the NWT contracts that this government goes into that does contracts for, and I know there are some services that can’t be provided here in the Northwest Territories to do some of these contracts; that goes down to training.
How is the Minister going to try to bring those numbers down, that $51 million that we go out of jurisdiction with contracts and keep that money here in the Northwest Territories and look at supporting our businesses either through training or education, but making sure that our contractors in the Northwest Territories have some of that money, that that money actually stays here in the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, we need to continue the dialogue with all departments and ensure that when we are contracting, whether it is any of the various modes of contracting that this government does, an eye is to keep those dollars in the Northwest Territories. Not always are we going to be able to get the goods or services here in the Northwest Territories. There are going to be examples of when we have to go outside, but again, it’s our government’s goal to ensure that the procurement dollars that we do have end up staying here in the NWT for us. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We do have a Business Incentive Policy that the government goes by. However, there are some clauses in there and I think we need to discuss those. I brought it up in the House before about how we have businesses from the South that win the BIP process by having some companies, one, two and sometimes three, in their proposal. What is the Minister going to do to fix that? Sometimes small business doesn’t even get to do the work they were asked to do in the proposal, they are just used to get the BIP points.
What is the Minister going to do to effect the change so our small businesses do get the work and our contractors that do bid on the projects get the work as well? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The Business Incentive Policy is there so we can support businesses here in the Northwest Territories. Again, it is another tool that this government uses to ensure dollars stay in the Territories. I’ve been here just over 10 years and this issue about BIP comes up at least once a year. We’ve had a number of revisions and changes to it over the past decade, and if the Member and Regular Members feel it’s necessary to go through another process of taking a look at BIP, how we can improve it, areas we feel we should be looking at, that’s something I would be happy to sit down with the Regular Member and Cabinet and discuss ways that we can improve upon the Business Incentive Policy that we have today. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources. Recently in Canada we experienced the unfortunate tragedies with forest fires overtaking communities. Here in the NWT, we are seeing recent trends of drought conditions.
Of course, in anticipation of the forest fire season, I want to ask the Minister whether all communities at risk of forest fires have a community protection plan in place. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I agree with the Member; this is a serious concern. We have an initiative to work with communities through FireSmart, the communities across the North, all those in the boreal forest. Some are more advanced than others. The intent is to work with all communities to look at those types of plans. Thank you.
The community that I represent, Kakisa, I think the recent effort in 2012 was participating with ENR to develop at least a baseline to prepare for the eventuality that a fireguard will be established.
How often are community wildfire protection plans reviewed and updated? Mahsi.
We work at this on an ongoing basis, so most communities are at different levels of activity when it comes to those particular plans. Once they’re in, then the issue becomes maintenance, which tends to be problematic in some cases, especially given the rate of regrowth. In others, we are just struggling to find resources and use existing resources and fire crews, if they’re not busy, to work with communities. I don’t have the set schedule before me, but we do tend to get this done and maintain it. Thank you.
Is the Minister aware of any actions taken by the Ka’a’gee Tu First Nations in response to recommendations made in the Community Protection Plan? Mahsi.
No, Mr. Speaker. I’d have to ask the Member to refresh my memory. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I understand, in 2012 the community had identified a need for a fireguard around the community.
Will the department commit to work with Kakisa to update the Wildfire Protection Plan prior to 2014? Mahsi.
I am as happy to say yes to this fourth question as I would be happy to say yes to the first question. Yes.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
