Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I indicated in my Member’s statement, I think there has been an incredible growth in our public service and I’m sorry to say that I believe that growth has been focused disproportionately in Yellowknife. Our government talks about decentralization, but we don’t really see it happening.
Mr. Speaker, in 1999-2000 budget year, the total budget for compensation and benefits for our public service was $139 million. Today it’s $294 million. Mr. Speaker, I believe, as I said, because the numbers are really hard to compare, I think I can say with some certainty that the majority of that growth has taken place here at headquarters. New positions should be the easiest to decentralize as they don’t involve existing employees that have to be uprooted and moved. The GNWT is expected to establish more new positions as a result of devolution. What is the process of this government for assessing whether new positions can be located outside of Yellowknife? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think at one time the Legislative Assembly had a rule of thumb that before any positions were established in Yellowknife, there would have to be a comparable position established elsewhere. I think in this Legislative Assembly we make the rules, so it would be up to us to decide. Personally, I think that you put the positions where it makes the most sense to have them located. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you. That doesn’t give me a lot of comfort that we put the positions where it makes the most sense to have them located, because once the expansion of the public service occurs and there’s more and more concentration of positions at headquarters, there’s an argument, I suppose, and a rationale that could be made for putting new positions close by the ones that are existing and that situation just continues to feed on itself.
What we need is political will on the part of our leaders to see a fairer distribution of government resources, including positions. So whether it be individual positions, new positions, units of positions, we need to hear about the creation of a policy that would allow all government positions to be examined department by department for the availability of positions to be transferred outside the capital. Thank you.
Thank you. I’m pleased to hear the Member offer that we should be looking at all positions, because that’s what in fact we will be doing. We will be looking at all the positions that we have with the Government of the Northwest Territories, and this government has committed to, and it is a priority of this government to see the decentralization, and committed to the Standing Committee on Priorities and Planning that we would work very closely with all of the Members as we go forward in implementing this priority. Thank you.
I thank the Premier for that. By the next time that we reassemble ourselves here together to do work for a period of time, it will be to work on the business plans for the following year. I’d like to ask the Premier, would it be possible on a department-by-department basis to have identified positions that could be considered for decentralization by the beginning of our business plan deliberations that will start this fall. Thank you.
Thank you. As we reviewed the business plans, we had made that commitment, that when we reconvene in the fall, we will have all the information available to allow us to make some decisions, establish some criteria and we will be doing inventories of all of the available housing, available office space throughout the Northwest Territories. We have asked our deputy ministers to identify opportunities for decentralization and, obviously, we have to take the employees into consideration and we will be looking at reviewing our Affected Employee Strategy to make sure that the best interests of protected employees are looked after as well.
Thank you. I think the Premier is reiterating some things that have been told to committee, but I do want it on the public record here in the House for the people of the Northwest Territories to hear, as well, and I think if left up to the public service, the initiative of decentralization will not happen. So I think that they need clear political direction from this government, from this Premier, from these Cabinet Ministers that this is a task to be undertaken with all seriousness. We would like to see some progress on this. So I would like to again ask the Premier if he will have, associated with department’s business plan by the fall, positions identified for potential decentralization. Thank you.
Thank you. We have committed to doing that and we’ll be doing exactly that when we convene in the fall. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen. Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Given the seriousness of the situation in Nahanni Butte and the residents, I’d like to ask the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, who is also in charge of emergency measures, I believe, given the seriousness of the situation, what is the government’s plan moving forward to get the community up and running again? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We do plan on assessing the damage that’s in Nahanni Butte. We would like to do an initial assessment and then do a more detailed assessment once the water recedes, and we’ll work with the Member and the community to see how we go on a go-forward basis. There’s obviously going to be a lot of damage there and we need to assess that and work with the community, find out where we can possibly access some money for the community to help them deal with the damages they face. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Given that as well that we were tied up here in Yellowknife doing our budgetary session, I’d like to invite the ministry over to Fort Simpson to meet with the residents and perhaps have a look at the community as well. Thank you.
Thank you. We have committed, or we will commit to going into the community. As a matter of fact, we will go into the community of Nahanni Butte on Monday and we’ll have some senior officials from the different departments that have infrastructure there. We’ll also be joined by our colleague. The honourable Deputy Premier has agreed to accompany them and we’d like to invite the Member and the chief of the community along also. This will give us an initial idea of some of the damage that’s done. As I said before, we’ll be able to go in afterwards and do a follow-up and do a more detailed assessment of the damages in Nahanni Butte. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Of course, the weather and time permitting, I’d like to extend that offer, as well, so that we can meet with the residents that were brave enough to remain in the community, meet with them to see what their needs are and see how we can be helpful. As well, I’m willing to prepare and organize a meeting for the residents that are in Fort Simpson. Perhaps we can meet with them to see their needs, because now it’s actually a long-term issue. So if they’re willing to meet with the residents at both places, I’d be happy. Thank you.
Thank you. We’d be pleased to meet, permitting we’re able to meet with the residents that are still in Nahanni Butte, and then once back in Simpson, I think they’ve committed to meeting with the residents from Nahanni Butte that are in Simpson. So we look forward to that opportunity to have some discussion with them as to some of the plans and how we’re going to move this forward and how we’re going to help them with some of the losses that they’ve suffered. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I know that the Emergency Coordinating Committee – I commend them all and everybody involved – that their task was evacuation and safety first. Would this be the same committee that’s looking at the long-term efforts of Nahanni Butte, or will there be a task force set up on how we best manage the relief of the community and restoring the community? Thank you.
Thank you. Again, I’m with the Member. I do commend the work that’s being done by the committee and Nahanni Butte and the residents of Fort Simpson. Obviously, this committee would need to sit down and have a discussion as to some of the ways we can mitigate any further disasters.
The one thing I can point out is the possibility of a new federal government program called the Disaster Mitigation Program. It’s for situations such as these, where communities are prone to flooding. We don’t know the exact details yet. We should have more information by the middle of summer. So once we get that information, we’ll be glad to share it with all Members of this House, and we’ll see how we’re able to access the money to prevent some of these disasters or be more ready for them if they were to happen again. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As mentioned in my statement, I’d like to ask the Minister of Transportation a couple of questions. What progress has been made on the Inuvik-Tuk highway over the last nine months? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We continue to pursue the completion of the environmental assessment and that is currently underway. We’ve also done a great deal of geotechnical analysis on the route and are working with both the community leadership in Tuktoyaktuk and Inuvik. Thank you.
Thank you. As many of the First Nations up there and also the Inuvialuit have land claims in place which are constitutionally protected, I’d like to ask the Minister, once a project is set to begin, will the Minister be willing to enter into negotiations for 50 percent of the work of this project.
Thank you. Those questions on procurement remain outstanding and we do have to look at that. As soon as we get a better indication of what the road is going to cost – and we’re going to get those figures when we’re done the environmental assessment, we’re done the geotechnical analysis – we will get a better determination of what the road will cost. We still have to have some further discussions with the federal government on funding and we intend on doing that soon. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today I made a statement in terms of summer students, students that spend the time and sacrifice going out to school and coming back for the summer and trying to work and save their money so that they can go back with a good savings account. My question is to the Minister of Human Resources. What kind of summer jobs are available for summer students for the communities that I represent? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The Minister of Human Resources, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m actually not aware of any specific jobs in the riding that the Member represents. I know that one summer student has been hired. The Premier has given the Ministers direction to hire as many students as can be afforded and as operational requirements allow. So we will be working to hire as many students as we can throughout the Northwest Territories.
Thank you. My question now is: Why is there only one student that was hired from my constituency? Mahsi.
Thank you. I don’t know. I will talk to my ministerial colleagues. We will talk about opportunities that are out there, and the Premier has directed us to look at not just Yellowknife, but all communities in the Northwest Territories where jobs exist and to hire as many students as we can. So I’ll certainly bring your message forward to the Cabinet table. Thank you.
Thank you. My final question is: Is there a target number that the government is aiming for in terms of hiring students? I know there was a target, but for this summer is there a target that this government is aiming for? Mahsi.
Thank you. I believe last year we got about 280, 281, 282, somewhere around there. So far this year we’ve hired 241. I’ll have an update of numbers for all Members tomorrow. It continues to move. We hope to hire as many as we can. We’d obviously like to see numbers similar to what we’ve had in the past, but as we’ve indicated, there are obviously some financial limitations and the department will be hiring as many students as they can both afford and that there’s work for.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question today is addressed to the Minister responsible for Homelessness. Approximately a year ago now, Nick Falvo produced a report entitled Homelessness in Yellowknife: An Emerging Social Challenge. They had done a study of homelessness in Yellowknife and had come up with a number of recommendations. In December, about six months ago, I asked the Premier some questions about whether or not the government was going to be reviewing the recommendations in the report, and the Premier advised that yes, they would. During business plans when we were discussing the Housing Corporation, I asked the Minister responsible for Homelessness if they would be reviewing the Falvo recommendations from the report and he advised they would. I would like to at this point ask the Minister whether or not the Housing Corporation, who is responsible for Homelessness, whether or not they have, at this point, been able to look at the five recommendations from the Falvo report of about a year ago.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Minister responsible for homelessness, Mr. Robert McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have looked at the report. We have looked at many of the recommendations that have been made, as we listen to all the recommendations that are made from people in and from the Northwest Territories. We’ve had an opportunity to look at it.
I thank the Minister for telling me that yes, they’ve had a chance to look at it. There were five recommendations in the report. Three of them were addressed to the Minister responsible for Homelessness. One talked about accountability and the creation of a homelessness secretariat; another one talked about keeping the Yellowknife Homelessness Coalition advised; the third one talked about establishing a working group to develop shelter standards. There was one addressed to the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation – I think the Minister for Homelessness knows that Minister – about creating more affordable housing. I would suggest that we probably have the creation of a homelessness secretariat, at least the start, with a dedicated person within the Housing Corporation. But in terms of establishing a working group to develop shelter standards, is that something that is on the plan or the radar or is that something that the Housing Corporation is going to be looking at?
While we have a group that looks at shelter standards called the NWT Housing Corporation, who is now responsible for the homelessness files, we use that opportunity and expertise that we have there. The Homelessness Coalition, the Member pointed out that we are going to have a dedicated person that will be coordinating the homelessness activities across the Northwest Territories. There’s progress made on that. As far as how we’re going to deal with homelessness, we think public housing is a good start. Obviously, there’s more work to do. One of the things we’re going to task our new coordinator to do, is try to gather all the information that’s out there to help us best determine how we’re going to further deal with the homelessness issue.
Thanks to the Minister. I appreciate that there needs to be some background work done. I also appreciate the Minister’s comment that the Housing Corporation is the one that should be developing shelter standards. I look forward to some work on that from the Housing Corporation, presumably in the next year or so. One of the recommendations talked about creating more affordable housing, including more independent living support units. The Minister mentioned that he thinks public housing is part of the solution to alleviating homelessness. Can I ask the Minister in terms of independent living units, whether or not, that is something which the Housing Corporation will consider to try and alleviate homelessness.
This is one that I can commit the Member will have a look at. I think there have been some programs like this tried in the past, with different degrees of success. I know there were a couple of them that were actually not turned back into public housing but were renovated and turned back into the group that built these units. There have been some attempts out there to try this; however, it’s something that we have to look at because we do have a wide need across the Northwest Territories as far as affordable housing goes. I will commit to the Member that as part of the overall picture and being new in this portfolio and just taking it on into the Housing Corporation, we’re going to need to do a little bit of work. I can commit by fall we’ll have a plan put together for sharing with the Members.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks to the Minister. He’s anticipated my next question, my usual question of when, so I appreciate that we’re going to get something in the fall. I guess I would like to know from the Minister, in gathering the information, who are they going to consult with to try and get as much information as possible?
