Is the Minister aware of any federal funding which is specifically available in relation to these kinds of issues in navigable waters? I have observed from the air, flying into Hay River, the buildup of silt that’s creating its own delta beyond the delta. Vale Island is a delta in the mouth of the Hay River and I’ve observed it, flying over this summer. It is going to have a huge impact if something is not done about it. I will not recite all that again. Is the Minister aware of any federal funding that we as a government could access to address this?
We certainly agree with the Member’s description of what’s happening on the harbour. The silt buildup is of concern, of course, but the low waters are compounding the problem. We’ve had several users identify some programs that could potentially be resourced. I believe the municipality was provided with that information and followed up. My understanding is that it wasn’t successful.
We have talked to our federal counterparts. We have been talking to the Coast Guard and we’re hoping that they’ll be able to identify some dollars to at least provide some relief to the situation that’s growing in the town of Hay River.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ve heard that it’s not the GNWT’s responsibility. The town is looking to this government for some assistance. It does impact our people. It does impact our industry, even if it is not technically our responsibility. Does this government have any money to help address this situation? I observed, with interest, the anticipation of the flooding of the Red River in Manitoba again, and I think technology has changed a bit since those old federal DPW dredges were out there.
There’s equipment, there’s people, there are contractors who are in this business. Like I said, I read it because it’s in the news with respect to the Red River and the anticipated flooding there again this year. If we could at least identify the scope of the problem and what needs to be done, then we might have a better idea of what it could cost. But does this government have any money to help Hay River in this regard? Thank you.
I was going to say right up front that we didn’t have any money or resources to allocate to this situation, but it is a serious issue. It’s been raised by a number of sectors of people that live in Hay River and also the Hay River Reserve. We want to follow up on our discussions with the federal government. We are hoping our discussions with the Coast Guard are going to be successful; I can’t say that it is right now. We haven’t had anything confirmed in that area.
We need to bring in the federal government, especially the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans. This is their area of responsibility. For us to step in and start assuming that without any resources, we’d have to take the money from another project or another area and that’s going to be difficult as resources are tight. I want to assure the Member that we’ll follow up. I am meeting with the Minister of Transportation in the next couple of weeks and I will certainly try to raise this as an issue that needs attention. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are with respect to respite services in the Northwest Territories. The Department of Health and Social Services is currently developing a territorial-wide respite program. I’m wondering if the Minister could please provide me with a bit of an outline on the timeline how they’re going to move forward and when they expect to actually see a territorial respite program ready to go for review by the Standing Committee on Social Programs, and also when we think a territorial respite program might be rolled out for all residents of the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Member laid out in his statement, there are various components that are being conducted right now, including the community workshops. So we expect that the work will be done by April/May in time for next year’s business cycle. Thank you.
As the Minister pointed out, there are regional respite focus groups taking place starting in February and going through February. That information, I understand, will then go to the advisory group who will provide some recommendations to the department on how to design or what might be the best model to use in the Northwest Territories. Could the Minister please tell me what is the makeup of that advisory committee? Does it include non-government organizations like the NWT Disabilities Council as well as the Yellowknife Association for Community Living? Is there representation from small communities and towns throughout the Northwest Territories, and who else might be on that particular advisory group? Thank you.
There are employees of the department on the committee as well as NGO groups and regional organizations. Thank you.
That is not particularly helpful. If she could please give us some examples of the NGOs that are on that, that would give us a better sense as to who’s represented on this committee.
A second point that I’d like to ask about is: there are a lot of people here, 29 families who currently access services from the Yellowknife Association for Community Living. Clearly, this program is not going to be in place. It doesn’t sound like there will be even something to go forward to committee until the next business planning cycle. Is the Minister working with the Yellowknife Association for Community Living to provide services in the interim until a territorial respite program is designed? Specifically, will YACL be supported by the GNWT to provide respite services for those 29 families and any other new families that come to the table for services in Yellowknife? Thank you.
The Member is aware and we’ve had discussions with the committee about a way to go forward. I would like to just reiterate that we are committed to providing support to the families who are under the YACL program. Yellowknife Health and Social Services is currently negotiating a contribution agreement with YACL so that we continue to provide the programs to those families who are currently getting the services from YACL as we work toward a respite care program. I have communicated that to the Members and I’m happy to confirm that again in the House today. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Your final supplementary, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to thank the Minister for that. I think hearing that in the House is very important today for those 29 families and important for us to hear as MLAs.
I’d like to just go back to my previous question. If she could give me a bit of an understanding of what groups are represented on that advisory group. Are some of the groups in the Territory that are providing these types of services going to be represented on that advisory group? Specifically, the NWT Disabilities Council and Yellowknife Association for Community Living; are they part of the advisory group? Simple question. Thank you.
The advisory group is not formed yet and so I will get back to the Member on that.
I just want to caution that we will, if that’s what the Member is wanting to know, definitely consult with the Council for Persons with Disabilities and YACL and other groups that are involved in this work. We need to make sure that eventually, at the end of the day, those are the groups who will be vying to provide the program and we don’t want to interfere with their ability to be able to deliver the programs. I need to make it clear that we will definitely consult with them to advise us. We will work with them throughout the process, but we don’t want to do anything that would jeopardize their ability to be a service provider when all the work is completed. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ve got a few questions today for the Minister of Transportation. It gets back to his statement earlier and my statement earlier about the Deh Cho Bridge Project.
I want to start off by thanking the Minister. Concerns were raised in this House a year ago in regard to some deficiencies with the project and the quality assurance on the project. I’d like to thank the Minister for directing the department to conduct the Levelton Report, as it’s called, and come up with the 14 recommendations contained in that report. I know that work is proceeding to address those concerns and, again, I want to thank the Minister for that.
The question that I want to ask the Minister is we had no bond in place with ATCON. We had a $13 million guarantee with the Bank of Nova Scotia. That’s been made good by the Province of New Brunswick. I just want to ask the Minister what analysis is the Minister and his department basing their estimates on, on getting the deficiencies addressed that would fit within that $13 million range. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister of Transportation, Mr. Michael McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the Member for thanking me. I think this is the first time he’s ever thanked me for anything I’ve done on this project.
Mr. Speaker, we’ve had a guarantee on this project all along on the work that was to be done. I think we have better than what would be in the bond at this point. We have cash in the bank. We have done an analysis. We have had our contractors look at what needs to be rectified. In most cases, Mr. Speaker, it’s a matter of going in and doing the actual testing, as we haven’t had all the documentation that we require. But to go in and do the testing on something that’s under water and is covered with rock at this point is just about as expensive as fixing the situation.
Mr. Speaker, we have some very good estimates. Of course, at this point, they’re still estimates. We feel that the cost of doing the work that was outlined in the Levelton Report will be anywhere from $4 million to $7 million, Mr. Speaker. That’s not even half of the money that we have as holdback for this project as we go forward. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, last year, as well, given what happened with ATCON, I had asked some questions about Ruskin and the Minister had confirmed that Ruskin had a 50 percent performance bond in place for the remainder of the work. I’d like to ask the Minister who holds that 50 percent performance bond that Ruskin has. Thank you.
I’m not sure as to who actually holds it. I would have to go and find that out. I will commit to finding that out and providing the information to the Member. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, in the Minister’s statement earlier today, he had advised the House that Ruskin was going to come up with a revised construction schedule sometime by the end of February and, as I mentioned in my statement, time is money. If this project gets delayed, it will undoubtedly cost more. I am just wondering why it is that Regular Members have not seen the contract between Ruskin and the Government of the Northwest Territories for the remainder of the work on the Deh Cho Bridge Project so that we can better understand what our liabilities are and what would be eligible cost overruns, should the project be delayed much further. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I don’t believe the Member has seen any contract from any projects we have across the government. It is not a practice that we provide the information to Regular Members on. We would need the consent of the contractors and, in most situations, the contractors would not agree to it, so that is why we haven’t provided it. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am handing out thank yous here, but I will thank the Minister for providing the Concession Agreement to committee some time ago. It was an embargoed copy, that Concession Agreement, that we could have a look at in the committee room. We couldn’t make copies of it and hand it out, but we at least got a copy of it. If the department would let us have a look at the contract so that we can have a lawyer have a look at it and make our own judgments on what eligible cost overruns and delays in this project will mean to the overall cost of this project. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, more thank yous. Since assuming responsibility for this project, I made every effort to provide information to all Members and to the public. We have tried to make all documents available. We have provided regular updates to the MLAs. We have set up media briefings. We have had technical briefings. We have set up a website that has a camera that shows progress of the construction. We have now formed mail-out newsletters to the general public. We provided access to the Levelton Report, something that normally would not be done for any project, under any circumstance. We have had a review by the Auditor General, Mr. Speaker. It is our job as a department to ensure that due diligence is done on any contract we sign. At this point, we are not prepared to release the contract. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier in my Member’s statement I spoke about mould-free home constructions and mould-free techniques for building homes. I would like to ask the Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation what policies and guidelines are currently in place for our Housing Corporation to do this initiative. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation, Mr. Robert McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The standards that we use today are basically mould-free construction. There is moisture-resistant gyproc that is used in the washrooms, and all the proper ventilation that is needed. When they move into a brand new house, they can be assured that it is a mould-free unit and if they continue to maintain the unit as it is supposed to be, it will always be mould-free. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I am glad that the Minister is aware of some of the techniques that we are using, but as I have learned yesterday, there are other new materials out there. Does he know what BluWood is? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to see Mike Holmes building a house in Sachs Harbour at 40 below. Then he will see blue wood.
---Laughter
Actually, I don’t know what BluWood is. I will find out and I will get back to the Member and will share that information with him and all other Members. I can assure the Member that...(inaudible)... construction practices, if we’re able to incorporate them into our designs. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I had used that question only to show the Minister that there are new techniques and materials out there. BluWood is the new standard in construction that actually resists mould in homes. Can the Minister direct his department to start looking at mould-free construction in homes, the new materials that are out there? I think that would go a long way for our clients and constituents, if we start constructing our homes using the mould-free method. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, as I said, we are always looking at new technology that is out there and see how we can incorporate that into some of the design of the houses that we have. I still believe that you can have a house using regular wood frame and material, that as long as you maintain the unit properly and build using moisture-resistant standards, you can still have a fairly mould-free unit. We have to also understand that, in the climate that we operate in, it is awfully expensive and it is not as easily accessible as a place like Toronto where there are millions of people and thousands of places to choose materials from. We don’t have that luxury. We work with what we have. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would just like to ask the Minister to direct his department to change some policies and guidelines that we do have mould-free construction techniques and materials and investigate it thoroughly, because that BluWood is almost the same cost as regular wood that we are using. I don’t think it would add to the construction of new homes, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask the Minister to start directing his department and looking at policies and guidelines. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I will ask the department to have a look at the different types of construction and some of his concerns that the Member had raised.
I just want to point out again that the construction that we use nowadays are construction standards that are acceptable if the units are maintained properly. There are lots of different reasons you can have mould. We can get into that discussion today or I can share them with the Member, but part of the responsibility is on the builder, obviously, and some of the responsibility, again, is back on the tenant. I will ask the department to have a look at the different technologies out there and see if we are able to incorporate them into our designs. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Like Member Menicoche, we certainly heard and learned a lot of interesting information from Mike Holmes when he discussed it. I was really glad that Mike Holmes shares my concerns about the lack of consumer protection for residents. The funny thing is, when we told my son the other day he was coming to town, he asked, “Is he coming to fix my house?” Mike Holmes brought to light a lot of important issues.
Again, to hearken back to my Member’s statement, the consumer protection issue is a very significant one. He highlighted in Ontario it is important for new home warranties, as well as the fact, when you get a house, we can talk about protection for disclosure agreements. Mr. Speaker, I have raised this issue with the Minister of MACA before, which the answer that basically came back was a polite, “go away.” “Until it is an issue that is raised outside with screaming constituents, it is not an issue on the radar of MACA.” Mr. Speaker, would the Minister of MACA be willing to relook at this particular issue to create consumer protection for our territorial residents, which could be mirrored somewhat similar as Alberta and Ontario? It is a very simple process. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Robert McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can’t wait for the next episode of Holmes on Homes when he credits Mr. Hawkins with some of the information that he shared with him.
Mr. Speaker, real estate sales are regulated under the Real Estate Licensing Act and there really is no provision in there right now for mandating a warranty on homes. With so little time left in this Assembly, I am not sure we would be able to do it within the life of this Assembly. But if it is something that the Member feels strongly enough about, we could put it in a transition document for the 17th Legislative Assembly to consider. I have stated before that this is not one that we have a lot of concerns with, but if it is one that Members feel strongly about, I would propose we put it in a transition document in the 17th Assembly. They can then decide if it is a priority for them. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of MACA is correct about the probable placement of this regulation, but I believe that this could be a regulation that we can start working on today and we wouldn’t have to wait and hope that the 17th Assembly would make this particular decision.
As we all know, government likes to take its time and I often phrase, we move at the speed of government, which means it probably won’t happen. My fear is the momentum would be lost and the reality is we will allow people to continue to be put at risk. Mr. Speaker, what would stop the Minister today to review and see if a regulation could be put into our existing policies to ensure that we come up with some new homeowner protection for people out there? Again, it is the most expensive purchase most people will ever make in their life. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I can explore that, but being the most expensive purchase someone will ever make in their life, they would take the necessary precautions to make sure they have somebody go and inspect the unit before they buy it, and most reputable and good builders will have a warranty on their product because they are quite comfortable. You look at a lot of the builders we have here in the Northwest Territories. They all live here amongst us. It is to their benefit to have a good product that they warranty, because you may run into them and you would have them come and fix the unit or anything that needs to be worked on. The days of the fly-by-night operators that came and built units and disappeared into the night are long gone. I think we see that today.
I will tell the Member that I will have a discussion with the department and see if this is something that we can maybe move on a little sooner and the amount of work and resources that we may be required to do. I will commit to that. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Time for question period has expired; however, I will allow the Member a supplementary question. Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the Minister for taking the issues as serious as I do and being willing to address it by looking at it and see if there is something we can do.
Mr. Speaker, a lot of homes fail even after a good inspection. That is ultimately the concern. Mr. Speaker, if the NWT had a policy to ensure that that would be the case, does the Minister see a need for this to become a government policy for government housing? What type of inspection do we have from a MACA point of view on this type of industry that would any of our new houses built through Housing Program, we don’t provide any inspection? I know his housing experience and housing maintainer would probably be very clear on saying that they have spent a lot of time repairing brand new houses. That is the type of issue that I am referring to. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
