Madam Speaker, I enjoy receiving more detail if the time permitted on that, but quick versus slow, easy versus thorough… In his statement the Premier said that devolution is about having more accessible, accountable and responsive government making important decisions around land and resource management will bring those decisions closer to the people most affected by those decisions. Would the first one, a delegated authority imposing the existing legislation that we have complained about vociferously for the last several decades, be consistent with his stated goal of bringing decisions and responsiveness to our people? Thank you.
Madam Speaker, I guess we normally look at what is done previously on devolution, so a lot of times we look at what happened in the Yukon. In the Yukon they had delegated authority. The delegated authority certainly appears to be working in the Yukon when you look at how they are operating there.
With regard to mirror legislation, that will take a little more time. Also, the MVRMA is something that has been legislated through land claims and so on. It would be something that devolution could not change. Thank you.
Madam Speaker, I think certainly I am all for taking the time necessary to do a good job, and easy is easy. You usually don’t get what you really want. I would encourage the Premier to give a lot of weight to that consideration within the restrictions of the MVRMA, which I am not suggesting we change.
The Premier said yesterday that this government shares the Government of Canada’s objective, as he put it, of improving the regulatory system, and Ottawa is being receptive to receiving our suggestions on changing that regime. But meanwhile, Ottawa is gutting the Fisheries Act. They are imposing straightjacket restrictions on time requirements and so on. Minister Miltenberger said last week that the federal proposal to collapse the regional water board differs from our position. I question the Premier how do federal actions square with our priorities for responsible resource management and full public inclusions in environmental review processes. Thank you.
Madam Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories shares Canada’s objective of improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the Northwest Territories regulatory system and one only needs to look at how long it took for the Mackenzie pipeline to obtain regulatory approval. We know how important it is to have a regulatory system that protects the environment while supporting economic development but providing certainty to industry.
As far as the Government of Canada being receptive to what we are proposing, we are looking at making appointments and also protecting the administrative centres that are already here in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Premier McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. I have to know that the environmental review of the MGP did not follow the process that we laid down on the MVRMA. It was cooked up completely separate from the processes that we established. Had we followed those processes, I think things would have happened a lot more effectively.
Let’s consider some concrete examples of the environmental protection we will consider essential once we take on resource management. Yesterday over 150 citizens turned out to express their revulsion at the regressive agenda of the federal government on the social environmental front. I had mentioned the Fisheries Act. I would like a response from the Minister. Does the gutting of the Fisheries Act fit with his view of this government’s approach to environmental protection? Does straightjacketing the MGP, the largest infrastructure project in Canada, into a two-year process if it requires more, and I would say it would have fit with the sort of approach that this government is pushing forth? Thank you.
Madam Speaker, I appreciate the Member’s opinion on the federal government actions. Adversely the federal government is saying that they are making the process more effective and efficient. They’ll be providing for protection of the environment, improving the protection of the environment and also providing for Aboriginal participation. So I guess we’ll have to look into the details more and square the differences between the Member’s opinions and the federal government information. Thank you.
Thank you, Premier McLeod. The Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of the Housing Corporation. The NWT Bureau of Stats estimates that there are 187 seniors aged 60 and over in the Sahtu region. This group makes up 8.9 percent of the region’s estimated population of 2,105. By comparison, seniors aged 60 and up represent 9.9 percent of the population of the Northwest Territories.
According to the Housing Corporation, there are 74 public housing units occupied by seniors in the Sahtu. Of these, 50 units are occupied by seniors only. I want to ask the Minister, have these 50 units that are occupied by seniors only, or the 75 public housing units occupied by seniors, does the Minister have a record of visiting these seniors to let them know that by July 1st that they’re going to be charged rent for living in those units.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. We’re now in the process of communicating all of this to public housing tenants. I know across the Territories they are starting to let the tenants know what their rent could potentially be. As far as visiting these exact 70 or 50, I’m not sure if they’ve made it there yet, but the plan is to try and notify all public housing tenants across the Northwest Territories what their potential rent change could be. Thank you.
I’ve seen some notices up in the communities where they have a big poster saying that they’re going to implement the new rent scale. I want to ask the Minister, prior to making changes or looking at the changes or implementing some of the changes of the people in the Sahtu, the seniors who are living in these public housing units, prior to this, maybe six, seven, eight, nine months ago, has the Housing Corporation talked to these seniors who are in these units, saying that in the future we’re thinking about or we’re going to charge you rent? Does the Minister have a record of this in the five communities I represent of this rent that’s going to be implemented for the seniors?
We have no records of having talked to people eight or nine months ago. Obviously, I can tell you right now what the answer is going to be. If somebody came up to you and said you’re going to go from zero to paying rent, the answer is going to be no. If you go to those 675 people whose rent is going to drop by $100 or more, if you say are you in favour of your rent dropping by $100 or more, obviously the answer is going to be yes. So the fact that we did not go and talk to these 70 particular individuals, we all know what the answer is going to be. Thank you.
That’s my point. When I go back to the Sahtu, that’s what the elders are saying. They’re saying no one told us. No one said anything and that is certainly showing a lack of respect for the elders and for the seniors. We have asked the Minister to look at incentive programs for young people to go back to work. That was great, but we didn’t ask for him to look and charge the seniors rent. So that’s what the elders are saying. They talk to us and that’s what the territorial Seniors’ Society is saying, give us full consultation on this, slow down, let’s look at this together, but it’s something that’s unilaterally being written by this department, this government, to say from thereon thou shall pay the rent on July 1st. The elders are saying that was not the case and they want to have consultation. Let’s give them respect. Will the Minister look at how can we do this, rather than saying the train has left? This is what we want you to be paying now to get on the train here. If you don’t, too bad, you’re left out in the cold.
Thank you. It’s an unfair comment to say that this corporation has no respect for our seniors, when you look at all the programs we’ve offered over the years to work with our seniors, help with our seniors. It’s an unfair comment to say the Minister has no respect for seniors because he did not go and consult with all the seniors across the Northwest Territories.
I’ve said before the answer is going to be no if you ask them. We rolled this out publicly a few months ago. So they’ve had opportunities to know that this was coming and it’s a question of fairness and trying to treat all tenants, residents across the NWT fair and I think we’ve done a good job of that.
For an example, if you look at some of the changes we’re making, you look at a single mother of two that’s making $3,600 a month, under the old system she’d be paying $985 or 27 percent of her income. Under the new system she’s going to be paying $325 or about 7 percent of her income. That’s a savings of $660. So those kind of changes have been made, and in our efforts to treat everyone fairly and equally we did come up with charging seniors rent with a $1,000 exemption to their income which would put them in the lower bracket. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. I heard from the seniors that this might be a good thing for them. I’m representing seniors who have come and talked to me and said we needed to be consulted. The cost of living in the Sahtu is high. Everything is high and our dollars don’t stretch as far as down south. We need to be consulted. That is basic respect for our elders and our seniors, they might have an idea that it might have to work out, but they feel that they haven’t been consulted and properly talked to about this issue. That’s the issue. Other ones, that’s good, but I’m speaking specifically for the seniors about this issue. This is what I wanted to ask the Minister. Will he consider and look at – I probably know the answer already – that the seniors need to look at this issue and see if they would do some more work on it before implementing this by July 1st?
Thank you. I think extensive work has been done on this particular initiative. We do recognize the cost of living across the Northwest Territories. That’s why we’ve broken it down into three different zones. So depending on the zone you live in, it reflects in your rent. We do recognize that seniors are more challenged in some cases than regular public housing clients. So we came up with the $1,000 emption as far as their income goes, because had we not done that, then they would be paying basically the same as other public housing tenants with the same income. So we have taken a lot of other factors into consideration and we feel that we’ve done extensive work on this.
Again, if we were to go out and ask somebody if you want to pay more rent, the answer is going to be no. So we feel that we’ve done our homework. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister McLeod. The Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Today I’d like to raise the issue of the Aboriginal Employment Strategy. That framework was worked on and certainly developed in the last government about three years ago. Like the analogy of fireworks, it came out with a big bang, there was a bit of a fizzle and some oohs and ahs and it sort of disappeared. The question really is: What has happened to the Aboriginal Employment Strategy that was once heralded as a new opportunity to tap into a human resource such as the Aboriginal people that has not been promoted often enough? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The Minister of Human Resources, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. The strategy still exists, the committee that’s been put together to provide recommendations to the Minister and the department on Aboriginal employment in the Northwest Territories did go through a bit of a hiccup. We did lose a couple of members after the election as a result of changes in professions. We got that back up and running about two months ago and they’ve been starting to meet again and they’re back providing us some direction and information. I’m looking forward to their input.
Thank you. That was a good segue into my next question, which is I’m under the understanding that the advisory committee hasn’t met for almost a year. So if it’s finally back on track or the wheels of this machinery are moving along, what have they actually produced in the last, I’ll call it the term or the inception of the Aboriginal strategy and how much money has been invested to develop what we’re about to hear from the Minister?
I don’t know how much money was spent in the last government, I don’t have that data, but I will certainly get that for the Member. The Member is absolutely right. Since the election of this Assembly, they haven’t had an opportunity to get to meet because they actually fell apart because a number of the members changed their professions. We’ve got that committee back together and they will be meeting soon. They will be pulling together some recommendations and I will be sharing those with my colleagues once I have them.
The next question of course is: What have they produced to date? I appreciate the Minister has just pointed out that they have not met, but this Aboriginal strategy must have produced something since its inception.
My focus to date has actually been to try and get them back up and running. With respect to the specific output or the specific recommendations that they’ve provided to the last Assembly, I will certainly gather that information to share with my colleagues.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. I’d like to follow up with my earlier questions but broaden the category to a discussion of the issues that this government has or should have with Ottawa. The first one I’d like to discuss is the Canada-European Union Free Trade Agreement. Noting that Europe is now demanding extension of brand use names of drug patents and along with extension of the time that the brand name companies can keep the recipes for those drugs secret so that generic drugs cannot be produced, this would drive up the cost of drugs. Premiers across the country have been reacting and, according to Premier Clark in BC, writing Ottawa objecting to this. Ottawa so far is silent on the issue. Has the Premier written Ottawa to object to that demand from Europe in these free trade discussions of which we’re a part?
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Minister responsible for Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. I have not written to the Prime Minister on this.
Here when we are at the table on such a high-profile agreement that can obviously influence us and our costs, as Mr. Ramsay mentioned yesterday in the House, this is a real privilege and opportunity and, I would say, a real responsibility. So will the Premier get busy and write Ottawa, object to this, let the Prime Minister know, and our negotiators, that we would object to this because it will raise the price of drugs for our people?
As the Member indicated, we are participating in these negotiations and we do have representation. I will discuss with the Minister responsible and I’m prepared to write to the Prime Minister.
The second one I have here is the Fisheries Act which was mentioned before. Professional fisheries biologists and administrators across the country are on record regarding the proposed gutting of the Fisheries Act – not my words. The Premier’s earlier response indicated he did not appear to be on top of that issue. I wonder if he would commit to doing an analysis, having his government do an analysis, and see if it is indeed in line with the sort of thinking that we are proposing for post-devolution or even today.
It appears the Member opposite has a tendency for hyperbole. We are very knowledgeable of what’s going on with the Fisheries Act. Our Minister of ENR has written to the federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans to get more detail on the proposed changes and to see what implications it has for the Northwest Territories.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. That’s excellent news. I appreciate that the Premier is way ahead of me on this one. I’m glad to hear that he’s on that. I would appreciate it if he would inform the House about what he finds out there and his assessment of the response.
My last question is, obviously this is just one example, it happens to be an extremely important one for the people of the Northwest Territories, but people all over Canada, and most recently expressed by the people of the Northwest Territories yesterday in downtown Yellowknife, are concerned and carrying on protests in reaction to the escalating Government of Canada’s actions which seem to be governing on a very narrow gauge as opposed to responding to all the needs of Canadians. Is the Premier aware of this and the sentiments that are being expressed by our public on these issuesÉ
Okay, it seems like we’ve changed topics, but I guess it’s somewhat related. Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. I’ll be very pleased to share the information that we receive, like we always do, with the other side. We are also paying very close attention to Canada’s Economic Action Plan 2012 related to responsible economic development. I am led to understand that there are some people that have some concerns with what the federal government is proposing.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. I have a couple of questions for the Minister of ITI. I’d like to ask the Minister, I see we’ve had some great prices in the fur industry, are there plans this year to take hunters and youth on a tour of the Genuine Mackenzie Valley Auction House. I know it was done in the past.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. The honourable Minister responsible for Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. David Ramsay.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. That is something that we would give some consideration to if we were to receive such a proposal.
I’d also like to ask the Minister if there are plans – it’s along the same lines – I know a lot of trappers have noticed that there are a lot of otters which is somewhat of a new species in the Mackenzie Delta. A lot of people would like to see more trapping workshops that show trappers how to handle the species of the otter.
With over $1.3 million of harvested fur, and that money going back into communities around the Northwest Territories, it is important if there are opportunities for other species and the need arises for workshops, for otter, in this case, that’s something that the department would certainly look at providing to communities.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.
