I appreciate the Minister’s response. However, I guess the question is: Can we really expect these testing results to occur? I’m not hearing a timeline so that the residents of the Northwest Territories feel assured that their water is at least being tested for chemicals.
As I said in my response before, communities are required to send annual testing samples to the federal lab. I’m assuming that most communities are doing this. There are probably a few where that needs to be picked up on a bit.
Like I said, we are working with the communities. It’s a lot of responsibility that the communities have now to ensure that there is safe drinking water. For the most part all communities are doing a pretty good job. I mean, we have to obviously monitor the situation, make sure the proper testing is done so residents feel that their water is of good quality. We’ll continue to follow up on that and work with communities. Thank you.
I thank the Minister for his response. Earlier today we heard from the Premier about his working towards a transboundary water management agreement for the Mackenzie River Basin, an initiative I know that everyone in this room would agree as something important. That said, without the proper chemical testing, what is the government using as a baseline for moving forward?
The communities do treat the water that comes through, for those with water treatment plants. They do treat the water. Travelling to all communities in the Northwest Territories and having drank the water in pretty well every community, I know the water quality is pretty good, because if it’s not good, then obviously we would have more pressing issues to deal with. So the testing is there, for the most part. There may have been some slippage in some parts, but we are working with the communities to try to rectify that. We have training programs for water plant operators that MACA runs through the School of Community Government and we’ve had good uptake in that. So we are working.
The quality of water in the Northwest Territories is obviously a concern, but as far as we’re concerned, the water quality in the communities is pretty good and is being monitored. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, thank you to the Minister. As I said earlier, there are four territorial departments involved with the quality of testing of our water: Health and Social Services, ENR, MACA and Public Works. So the question to the Minister is: Who out of these four will be reporting back to this House in terms of the quality of water testing that is missing in this report? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I will follow up with the other departments and see what we can come up with and see who’s responsible at the end of the day to report the findings to this House. I can assure the Member again that we are working with the communities to improve the quality of water and make sure all the water is treated regularly and sampled regularly. If it’s not sampled, we do try to work with the communities to ensure they get their samples out for testing for chemicals to the federal lab. Again, I will commit to the Member that I will follow up with my colleagues and we’ll find out who would be reporting results back to this House. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are addressed to the Minister of Finance. I mentioned in my statement that I truly believe that there is something that this government can do to assist the residents of my riding who happen to live in Northlands Mobile Home Park. I also mentioned in my statement that I feel that there’s a different mindset required by this government with regard to this particular situation; maybe not for this situation, but also for other issues which have come before us.
I would like to ask the Minister whether or not he will commit to working with his Cabinet colleagues to re-examine the Northlands issue to take a can-do attitude and to try to look for an out-of-the box solution to this particular problem.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The Minister of Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have a fairly good idea of what we can do and what we should do and I’ve laid that out to the Member, we’ve laid it out to Mayor Van Tighem and the City of Yellowknife.
Fundamentally, this is a municipal issue. The condo corporation has to get itself organized. It’s a private corporation. I know there are issues there. The mayor has indicated that they can borrow money as cheaply as us, and as I’ve indicated, as well, from the start, if there are things we’ve overlooked or totally missed, of course we will be prepared to consider those. But this file has been live for the last 17 years or so, and it’s been examined very thoroughly and the fundamental issues stay the same. The condo corporation cannot get itself organized enough to come to the table with the municipality of Yellowknife to sort this out. That’s a fundamental first step. Thank you.
The Minister well knows that because this issue has been ongoing for a long time doesn’t necessarily mean that we shouldn’t continue to be involved. It’s an extremely difficult situation. It has many variables and I believe that this – and I know the Minister doesn’t agree with me – government needs to take some moral responsibility for the Condominium Act and for assisting residents. We assist many residents in our territory and I don’t know why the residents in my riding should be any different than residents in any other riding.
The Minister says that they know what they can do but I don’t think he advised me what they think they will do. I’d like to ask the Minister, on behalf of my constituents, can you elaborate for me just what you and your Cabinet colleagues are willing to do to assist Northlands residents with their problem?
As we indicated in our discussions with the mayor last week – a very good discussion – this is fundamentally a municipal issue. There are things that have to be worked out with this condominium corporation. It’s not the position of the government to get involved in those type of circumstances. There are things that have to be done, there are funds that have to be raised, there are debenture votes that have to be taken, there are changes to the condo corporation that have to take place first before anything else can happen. The debate about what can and what should the residents of Northlands pay in terms of a debenture vote are the people in the city of Yellowknife. If this was put to a debenture, are they prepared to help take that burden? Those are where the decisions have to be made and that’s where the responsibility starts.
I find it just simply reinforces my belief that we have not a can-do but a can’t-do attitude across the floor from me. I feel that it’s important that this government indicate that there is some support for these residents. I totally agree that the residents have to get themselves together, the condo corp has to get themselves together and they need to take action. I consistently tell them that, and other Members and other people within the city tell them the same thing. However, we can’t wait for the first stone to fall before we actually take action. I think this has to happen together and I don’t see that from the other side of the floor.
The Minister has given a number of reasons why the answer to the city’s letter was no, and the borrowing limit was one that is a particularly difficult hurdle that this government has to deal with. I feel that it is the most valid of any of the reasons that the Minister gave. I’d like to know from the Minister that should the Government of Canada give us a decision that allows us a greater room in our borrowing limit, which is presumably to come somewhere around the end of March, would the Minister commit to revisit the city’s request for either a no-interest or a low-interest loan – it doesn’t have to be a no-interest – so that it will assist the residents in Northlands financially.
The City of Yellowknife has indicated to us that they don’t need to borrow money from us, that they can get money at as cheap a rate as we can. They acknowledge that fundamentally this is a responsibility that falls within the purview of the City of Yellowknife. Should we get an increase to our borrowing limit, as the Premier has indicated, we have to maintain our fiscal discipline for the next couple years to get ourselves clear so that by year three and four we can invest money in key strategic infrastructure initiatives. If the City of Yellowknife at some point takes some further steps in terms of the Northlands issue and they come back to us, of course we will look at whatever their request may be at that time.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to thank the Minister for at least telling me that if the city comes back with something, they’ll consider it. I’d like to know from the Minister, then, as well, that if there will be other suggestions that will come forward, perhaps from other Members, perhaps from myself, will the Minister be willing to consider those in the same vein.
We’re open to all suggestions that haven’t been considered in the last 17 years or so, and we will, of course, give them all the consideration they deserve.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The municipality of Norman Wells held a liquor restriction vote and it was passed some time ago. On February 1st the Town of Norman Wells, the liquor store there will be open to restriction, meaning no restriction, meaning that anybody that comes into the liquor store can purchase liquor.
The effects of liquor and alcohol in our communities is devastating, especially to a small community. I want to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services to help us deal with the impact of alcohol and drugs and other issues that are going to be a problem, potentially hurtful for our people. The Minister talked about on-the-land treatment programs and I want to ask the Minister if he could elaborate a little more for the people in my region as how can the community, the Sahtu region benefit from this statement for having drug and alcohol treatment programs on the land.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I toured Sahtu with the Member. He is very right; there are many, many people in the community who were unhappy with the decision to have changes to how much alcohol can be purchased at a liquor store in the communities that we attended. The communities said they were going to feel the repercussions and they wanted to know how they could get more money for on-the-land treatment programs. I indicated to them that at this point we have, through the Sahtu Health and Social Services Authority, $25,000 earmarked for each community to start an on-the-land treatment program. They indicated that wasn’t enough. I said I would review it upon my return to Yellowknife.
I want to say publicly I really appreciate the Minister taking time out of his busy schedule to visit the people in the Sahtu and hear face to face as to what needs to happen on certain issues. That’s really appreciated of this government to get the Ministers into our community.
Now, the Minister indicated to me that he will see when he gets back to Yellowknife how he can work with his colleagues to see what type of support he can get to enhance the on-the-land treatment program. It would be much appreciated. Can the Minister tell me any more than what he has already told the people in the Sahtu about this program?
Since our tour, other than having a discussion with the department on looking at the expansion of that on-the-land treatment program, I know that in the community of Tulita when I mentioned that immediately in the public meeting, there was an indication that that wasn’t enough, that they would just get started and then the program would be over. I had said – I threw out a number in the meeting – would doubling it be good, and someone said no, triple the budget and we can do something to help our people heal on the land.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Colleagues, I would like to go back to item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Mr. Bromley.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize my mother, Barbara Bromley, in the gallery, and also welcome my brother Peter Stuart Bromley. Thank you.
Welcome, Mrs. Bromley. Item 7, oral questions. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just recently attended a meeting on the super school in Inuvik last week and there were a lot of good concerns – good school – that were brought up. A lot of good concerns were brought up not only for this new super school but things that have been happening for the past few years. I just want to ask the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment if he’s looking at possibly creating a busing service for the students of Inuvik in the years to come.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. The honourable Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Our department does not purchase buses directly but we do provide contributions to the school boards. For this matter it would be the Beaufort-Delta Department of Education, for which we provide funding. Whether it be for transportation, it all depends on the community size and the enrolment. The decision strictly lies with the DEA and DEC on where they want to allocate funding, whether it be custodial or administration or the teachers or the busing. Some of the organizations, when they receive contributions from our department, set aside approximately 5 or 3 percent annually and eventually they will purchase a bus for their schooling. Those are just some examples that we’ve noticed in the communities.
With our department briefings earlier in this Assembly, there’s a strong correlation between attendance and success in our students. When they go to school they have a stronger rate of success and passing and graduating. This also works in the small communities. With an increase, you know, like, for instance in Inuvik we had a bad spell of cold weather the last couple weeks and the blizzards which are a safety factor for the youth and the parents going to schools. With what the Minister of ECE just presented to us, is the Minister willing to sit down with our district education authority as well as our Beaufort-Delta Education Council to come up with a plan to provide busing services to the students of Inuvik?
Again, we do contribute to the board of education. I don’t want to be in a position to dictate where the money should be going. It’s their decision, the local DEA/DEC. They need to decide where the best interest lies because they’re the experts and they need to allocate funding. It will be a last resort for our department to go into the community and say this is where the money should be spent: on busing. It’s at their discretion. We are more than willing to work with Beaufort-Delta on the funding allocation, the formal funding and so forth. I will be committing to meeting, because we are meeting with the board chairs and we can discuss this further at that level too.
One just short question here. Thanks to the Minister for his information that he’s presented us with. In Inuvik and the Beaufort-Delta region everybody knows the very unique ways and where our money goes. Sometimes you can only stretch a dollar so far in terms of education, something that’s very important to us. Is the Minister willing to look at allocation of funds but also possibly contributing a little bit more funding into our region so that our youth can succeed, our students can pass the grades and become successful adults in the years to come?
This could be an opportunity where we look at the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative. This has been an initiative that we have in all regions. We’ve heard so many possible solutions and opportunities in the Beaufort-Delta as well. We’re going to start implementing that, and this could increase in certain programming as well.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table three documents, entitled “Interim Appropriation 2012-2012; Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 3, 2011-2012; and Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 3, 2011-2012.”
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Thursday, February 9, 2012, I will move the following motion: Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha, that the Legislative Assembly send the following message to Her Majesty:
Her Majesty the Queen, Most Gracious Sovereign, Queen of Canada:
We, the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories of Canada, wish to extend our sincere congratulations to Your Majesty on this year of celebration marking the 60th anniversary of your accession.
The people of the Northwest Territories have been honoured to welcome Your Majesty and other members of the Royal Family to our land during your reign and have directly witnessed your inspiring example of devotion to duty and unselfish labour on behalf of the welfare of people in Canada and in the other nations of the Commonwealth.
We trust that your gracious and peaceful reign may continue for many years and that the Creator will preserve Your Majesty in health and happiness.
At the appropriate time I will be seeking unanimous consent to deal with this motion today.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on February 9, 2012, I will move that Bill 1, An Act to Amend the Borrowing Authorization Act, be read for the first time. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Item 14, motions. Mr. Yakeleya.
