Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question today is for the Minister of ENR, the Minister of Environment. I’d like to follow up on questions I had the other day about fracking.
In the unedited Hansard of June 3rd, on page 24, Minister Miltenberger said we are of the opinion that if, in fact, ConocoPhillips complies with everything that they’ve promised plus the extensive list of mitigating factors put forward by GNWT, this project could proceed, other than meeting those commitments by ConocoPhillips and addressing the concerns raised that we have supplied to the Sahtu Land and Water Board.
Conoco did not, in fact, agree to address many of the options raised by the GNWT. In fact, in the areas of technology, options for burning waste, gases, air emissions, assessment and screening level modeling, groundwater and surface water protection are very key areas for environmental protection, and as I know, dear to the Minister’s heart. Accordingly, the Minister’s faith in Conoco was unwarranted. So will the Minister adjust his opinion based on the facts clearly on record?
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is a process underway. The Member has raised some concerns. He has a different point of view than we do as a government, so we’ll have to agree to disagree on that particular issue.
I’m not sure if the Minister is saying that this is, in fact, incorrect. I’m sure, in fact, that these are facts. They are contrary to what the Minister has said, and that’s my point.
The Minister also claimed that the Sahtu Land and Water Board would adopt these, and in fact, the Sahtu Land and Water Board also rejected the terms and conditions that the GNWT put forward in these areas, so this is further evidence that there is a need for an environmental review here.
Could I get clarity on what the Minister is saying here? Clearly, his statements were wrong, as per the record, as this is on record to be available at the touch of a button here. Is the Minister saying he’s not willing to adjust his opinion in the face of contrary facts?
We have submitted the position of the territorial government. We have reviewed the application from ConocoPhillips. Those are the two facts that I put on the record yesterday.
There were additional facts that the Minister put forward, and I’m quoting verbatim from the unedited Hansard here. The Minister also said that there was a big distinction between the MGM application and ConocoPhillips. The Minister said, “The ConocoPhillips application is very comprehensive. It covers a whole host of areas, which is one of the reasons there was a different decision made by the Sahtu Land and Water Board when they looked at the MGM proposal. It didn’t have the same depth and level of comprehensiveness as the ConocoPhillips one does.”
Well, in fact, there were others interested. The Sahtu Renewable Resources Board, for example, renewable resources councils, and they actually did a line-by-line comparison, and in fact, there were very few improvements to the Conoco application, but they are equally bad on a number of important points. Conoco certainly had a lot more effort in making friends inside and outside the region, and perhaps that’s good…(inaudible)…but unless by depth and level of comprehensiveness that Minister Miltenberger means the application had more nice pictures, it was longer and had a better explanation of Fracking 101, then the application does not provide any more.
Again, will the Minister look into these facts, which are contrary to what he said in the House, and consider adjusting his opinion to the protection of the public interest?
The information I provided to the House was accurate. The Member is quoting chapter and verse from some document, some feedback he’s providing this House that I don’t have before me, and of course, we always check when there are issues raised by the Members and they query the actions of government and they ask us to double check. Of course, we’ll do that.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m glad to finally get that commitment. These are the Minister’s words, and the record. The vast improvement in the application, as the Minister claimed, doesn’t hold up. The conditions that the Minister suggested would be adopted by ConocoPhillips and the Sahtu Land…(inaudible)…don’t hold up.
What action does the Minister see is needed here in light of these facts to protect the public interest, the clean air, water, and health of the wildlife and their habitat that this Minister is responsible for? I’m looking for accountability here.
What we have is a lot of assertions and opinions by the Member. He says they’re facts. He asked me to check. We’ll check.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. During my Member’s statement I raised many of the issues in Nahanni Butte that haven’t been completely restored or repaired in the community of Nahanni Butte as a result of the flood. I know that through MACA they have established a flood committee to address their concerns, but I would like to ask the Minister today what committee or process is in place to continue the community restoration one year after the flood.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member is right; there was a flood committee we had made. All the claims have come in and the recommended compensation. We have submitted a claim to Canada for reimbursement under their Disaster Assistance Program.
As far as the committee that’s together now to do the rest of the work, I don’t think there’s a committee per se. It’s probably the individual departments now working with the community.
I was very happy to be in Nahanni Butte for my spring visit there, and the community has advised me that the damages are still there. There is some work that hasn’t been done. The dump road. They’re going to have to look at increasing dust control and the cost for trying to get the radio station up and running. Those are the issues.
I’d like to ask the MACA Minister if he or his officials can meet with the community, because they’re looking at their own resources to repair these when, in fact, it should be under the purview of MACA and the Disaster Fund.
I will commit to the Member that we will have our officials meet with the leadership in Nahanni Butte to identify some of the work that still needs to happen. As well, the other departments. I know DOT is doing some work on their portion of it. I will make that commitment to the Member that we will get our officials in there to work with the leadership. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I am thankful for the Minister’s commitment. If he can also work with the Department of Transportation, because there is road access issues and, as well, it will probably be the same type of gravel that they need for the community, as well, if he can do that. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, we will work with the other department to see what assistance that we may be able to provide to the community, and I will commit to the Member that we will do that. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement today, I cited concerns with the Residential Tenancies Act, so I think we could probably dispose of my question very quickly if the Minister is agreeable to a review of the act.
Specifically, I highlighted concerns about fair rental protection measures for hardworking families, a rental officer office that has very little authority or teeth to be able to enforce. The Minister needs to call forward a discussion group between landlords and advocates, to ensure that processes work better when it comes to things like evictions or compromises.
The last issue I want to highlight, complaints that are brought forward to the rentals officer. Quite often the complainants have zero support and are left at an unfair advantage when they do take their courses of action against landlords.
Citing all four of those concerns plus many more I’m sure I can provide today, would the Minister of Justice be willing to open up the Residential Tenancies Act for review and call for some public discussion from groups that should be involved in the evolution and certainly in the creation of a better, stronger act? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister of Justice, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In response to the annual report of the rental officer and questions raised in the House, the department undertook a review of the act through a contractor here in Yellowknife, and information about the review and the issues that were brought up were shared with the Standing Committee on Social Programs in December 2012. The review is based on a series of interviews as well as examinations and other discussions with individuals who had concerns about the Residential Tenancies Act.
Initial consultation work is underway and is going to be completed soon. We expect that we’ll be coming forward with an LP to standing committee in the fall to make revisions to the Residential Tenancies Act. There are eight core issues that have been identified in the report that we’ll be dealing with: securing a tenure in public housing, application of the act to transitional housing, enforcement of orders, unofficial occupants, conversion to public housing, retention of the inspection report, and consistency with the Condominium Act and tenants’ liability and domestic violence. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, that is certainly good news. The issue I think I didn’t hear the Minister speak to is protection for renters. Is there a chance to look at opportunities to create some type of rent protection measure?
As we all know, the act allows landlords to raise the rent once a year, only on that anniversary, but the problem with that is they could raise it to any amount. If your rent is $2,000 and they say, well, let’s raise it to $5,000, which is something legally we can’t stop them from doing, we need to put a check and safety valve on this process. That is what I’m asking for.
Would the Minister be willing to look at that issue and consider it in the update? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, it is an interesting point. We certainly are willing to have discussion with committee as we bring the LP forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, maybe just one more on the issue of helping complainants bring forward their cause or concerns. When they go to the rental tenancy office, if they are fighting a landlord, quite often, not always, the landlord is well resourced and able to hire a lawyer to fight their perspective, but the little guy or gal who is fighting their cause, for various reasons is under-resourced, and we want a fair hearing.
Would the Minister be willing to look at that type of fairness and find some way to see how we can find our way through this problem? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, it is an interesting concept. We are certainly willing to have that discussion with the committee as we bring the LP forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following two documents, entitled “NWT Arts Strategy Progress Report as of March 31, 2013,” and “Right From the Start: A Framework for Early Childhood Development in the Northwest Territories.” Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document, entitled “Public Works and Services Energy Conservation Projects Annual Report, 2012-2013.” Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. [Microphone turned off] 32-1(2) of the Financial Administration Act, I wish to table the following document, entitled “List of Interactivity Transfers Exceeding $250,000 for the Period April 1, 2012, to March 31, 2013.” Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Tabling of documents. Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table three documents today, the first of which is a copy of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, the section where I’ve highlighted regarding the access to information as a Member of this House. Second item, I have a series of e-mails from my office of Range Lake to the office of Minister Abernethy, which deal with the requests and the ATIPP questions regarding the access to information of the Yellowknife downtown construction of the building. The third item is a copy of a bill for Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act in request of such information. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Item 15, notices of motion. Item 16, notices of motion for first reading of bills. We’ll take a 10-minute recess.
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WHEREAS the transfer of responsibility from Canada to the Government of the Northwest Territories for public lands and resources, including rights in respect of water, has been an objective of this Legislative Assembly;
AND WHEREAS negotiations among the Government of Canada, the Government of the Northwest Territories, the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, the Northwest Territory Metis Nation, the Sahtu Secretariat Inc., the Gwich’in Tribal Council and the Tlicho Government have resulted in a proposed Northwest Territories Lands and Resources Devolution Agreement;
AND WHEREAS residents of the Northwest Territories have been informed of and engaged on the subject of the proposed Northwest Territories Lands and Resources Devolution Agreement;
AND WHEREAS the devolution of public lands and resources, including the rights in respect of water, is an important step in the political evolution of the Northwest Territories, with significant implications for both the legislative and executive branches of the Government of the Northwest Territories;
NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River South, that this Legislative Assembly express its support for the approval of the Northwest Territories Lands and Resources Devolution Agreement.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The motion is in order. To the motion. Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am pleased to introduce this motion seeking the support of the Legislative Assembly for the approval of the Northwest Territories Lands and Resources Devolution Agreement. We are here today because we want to seek clear direction from the Legislative Assembly on this question and we will respect the wishes of this House. This is not simply a symbolic motion. We would not have brought forward this motion today if we did not want Members’ support.
When I joined the Prime Minister and the leaders of the Aboriginal governments in this Chamber in March to announce that we had successfully concluded devolution negotiations, I made a commitment to bring this agreement to the floor of this House for approval. We have not done this for other devolution from Canada before and we did not have to do that for this devolution, but we recognize that this is an important agreement, Mr. Speaker. This agreement has the potential to transform the economy of the Northwest Territories, create a future of opportunity and prosperity for all people, give us new tools to manage our environment and help us forge new partnerships with this territory’s Aboriginal governments.
An agreement this significant deserves some attention from the people of the Northwest Territories and from the Members of this Assembly that are elected to represent them and their interests.
We have done our public engagement, Mr. Speaker. We have consulted the territory’s Aboriginal governments. The agreement-in-principle has been publicly available for more than a year and a draft agreement has been available since negotiations have been concluded in March.
Devolution has been a goal of this and previous Legislative Assemblies for many years. When we first met as a Caucus in October 2011, we identified devolution as one of our priorities. We have debated it on the floor of this House many times. We have spent years in negotiations. Now it is time to reap the rewards of that hard work and effort. We have a deal, Mr. Speaker. It is a good deal that creates a solid foundation for a prosperous future.
I am proud of this agreement and I am proud to be able to bring it to Members today to seek the support of this House. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
