Debates of March 14, 2007 (day 2)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can’t deny that the Finance Minister was correct on that information. However, I’m talking about a proactive approach that actually gets ahead of the problem before it gets away from us. I’m talking about getting ahead of the problem so we don’t have to work on trying to force and try to reach a compromise to have these big, deep, forensic-style audits. So, Mr. Speaker, the fact is the Auditor General will do this. All we have to do is put it in a line item now that we have the FAA open. Would the Minister reconsider that? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Roland.

Further Return To Question 25-15(6): Performance Audits Of Crown Corporations

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess, for the record, let’s make it clear that there are no problems to date. Potential problems, I guess the Member is referring to. The Member is correct; we are going through work on the Financial Administration Act and that is an opportunity, as we sit down with Members, that we could look at including something of this nature. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Final Supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Supplementary To Question 25-15(6): Performance Audits Of Crown Corporations

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If I can take the Minister up on his small, but -- I heard it -- olive branch on that as something they can look at, what will we be looking at and how soon will we get some information back from the Minister on the direction that I’ve been trying to draw out? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Roland.

Further Return To Question 25-15(6): Performance Audits Of Crown Corporations

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the work on the Financial Administration Act is a very large piece of work and I’m unable to give a timeline commitment on this particular piece. As we bring it forward to committee, members we’ll have to incorporate this. I’m not looking at pulling a piece of this out and doing it that way. We’re doing a full review of the Financial Administration Act, it has been ongoing for some time, and hopefully in the near future we’ll be able to bring something forward to Members of this Assembly. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to ask questions today to the Minister of ECE. It gets back to the facilities usage here in Yellowknife and the school issue. I think some people may be thinking this is a relatively new issue. This isn’t a new issue. It’s been at the top of our agenda since at least three years ago when we were elected and recent events with the fire at Ecole St. Joseph last summer. It’s surfaced again now because there is a desperate need to accommodate students from St. Joseph School. I’d like to ask the Minister of ECE what, maybe he can give us a little bit of a chronology of how and what he has done to address this issue over the past three years. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Dent.

Return To Question 26-15(6): Yellowknife School Facilities

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Member is aware, the issue about school space was first raised by school boards when we met with them right after the last election. So it has been something that all the Yellowknife Members have been involved in for almost four years now.

The issues of or the manner in which it’s been handled was, first of all, after the first couple of meetings there didn’t seem to be any easy way to move forward, so I put together a committee that involved all of the stakeholders in education in Yellowknife. That committee met and over the course of a number of months; delivered a final report about a year ago.

Subsequent to that, since it didn’t come to some resolution on space for schools in Yellowknife, I brought in a mediator and asked him to meet with the two boards. That didn’t come to any fruitful resolution.

Following that, I met myself with the two boards to try and move the process along. So there’s been ongoing consultation to try and bring this to some resolution over the past three years. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Supplementary To Question 26-15(6): Yellowknife School Facilities

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was wondering if the Minister can give the government’s assessment of what might be able to happen to try to get both school boards together to come up with a workable solution to the situation. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Dent.

Further Return To Question 26-15(6): Yellowknife School Facilities

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. At this point, I have, by way of letter to YK 1, indicated what I think should happen in this circumstance. As discussed between Ms. Lee and myself yesterday, perhaps the next step, if we’re unable to reach resolution there, would be to ensure that there is a better understanding among the public of what the recommendations are and what they mean. So we may have to look at some mechanism for a public meeting to allow stakeholders in Yellowknife to get all of the information.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Supplementary To Question 26-15(6): Yellowknife School Facilities

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think that the more information that gets out there into the public domain would be a step in the right direction for the Minister and the department to undertake that work, and I’d say move forward on that. I’d like to ask the Minister what would plan B be if the two school boards absolutely cannot work together and cannot find a solution amongst themselves? What is plan B, or is there is a plan B to this situation? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Dent.

Further Return To Question 26-15(6): Yellowknife School Facilities

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d say right now that plan B is to make sure the parents have all of the information and then I’m hoping that they would be prepared to put some pressure on the boards to ensure that they are acting in the most appropriate way. That, to me, is plan B. For us to go beyond dealing with the boards and actually deal with the public is a step beyond what would be in the normal course of business. So at this point, that’s plan B, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are addressed to the Minister of Municipal and Communities and it’s a follow-up to the statement I made in the House about some of the concerns that have been raised to me and to my colleague from Inuvik. As opposed to talking about the specifics of the concerns, the question is more in terms of process to the Minister. There’s been a new structure put in place and there has been a lot of work done, but clearly there seems to be some issues out there that need to be resolved. I’d just like to ask the Minister how he would anticipate being able to get the players together to keep working through these issues so that we don’t lose any volunteers that are in such short supply already in the communities? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Minister responsible for Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. McLeod.

Return To Question 27-15(6): Funding For Territorial Sports Organizations

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the whole concept of amalgamation and putting all the sports organizations under one roof, one umbrella structure, has been something that’s been proven to be working quite well. We’re quite satisfied that we’re making some really good progress with the lotteries; we’re making good progress in terms of amalgamating a lot of the administration; we’ve also made some great headway in terms of housing all the organizations in their own building under one roof. There have been a few concerns that have come forward, especially in light of some of the territorial sports organizations that have been penalized. That is an issue that we are talking to the Sport North organization about, how they can deal with these things. There have been appeals but, Mr. Speaker, for the most part, we’re quite satisfied that things are going ahead pretty good and we hope that they will continue to do so. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mr. Miltenberger.

Supplementary To Question 27-15(6): Funding For Territorial Sports Organizations

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I agree, as well, that there’s been a lot of positive changes, but clearly we’re hearing from some of the TSOs that the structures that are there -- and we focus a lot on the structure -- still comes down to the volunteers in the communities delivering the programs. The question to the Minister is what specific steps will be done to try to address or bring the TSOs to have a discussion with the rest of the organization to try to sort out some of these differences before we have an exodus of critical volunteers? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mr. McLeod.

Further Return To Question 27-15(6): Funding For Territorial Sports Organizations

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe the Member is referring to a concern that was brought forward this year as the result of Sport North levying some penalties. I guess it should be clear that Sport North is an independent body; they are registered a society; they have their own administration; these are their own rules; these are the members of their partnerships. There are two types of penalties that are being levied here. There are penalties for late filing of their accounting and their forms and the general accounting practices, and there’s also some penalties that are being levied as a result of performance. So there are two types of penalties that are being implemented here and, Mr. Speaker, these are the rules that the TSOs have agreed to have placed upon themselves; they agreed that they would work within the confines. There is a concern that some of the filing is starting to be a challenge for these volunteers. We’re working with that whole concept to try and improve it, and through our Pan Territorial Sport Strategy we’d like to see if we can place some resources within the ranks of the TSOs. So far we’ve had one position dedicated to hockey; we have another half-time position dedicated to skiing. We’d like to improve that. We’d like to up that to maybe five this year. Pending the positive response from the federal government, we’d like to update that to five so that three more TSOs can be brought on stream with staff that can help them out; or maybe even more than five, I’m not sure, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mr. Miltenberger.

Supplementary To Question 27-15(6): Funding For Territorial Sports Organizations

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we are in this Legislature as elected politicians and when constituents come to us outside of the processes that are there -- in this case, dealing with sports and recreation -- it’s indicative, clearly, that there some heartburn, some angst, some unhappiness and frustration. I’d like to ask the Minister, we want to keep everybody in the tent; we want to keep this new system evolving and improving. Could the Minister commit to encouraging Sport North and all the TSO folks to gather around the table? Clearly, they may have made some decisions that now, through application, have proved wanting; that obviously require a second look. Could the Minister commit to trying to make sure that these folks gather around the table to see if they can work this out, so that we’re not tying up their time and the time of this House if it can be sorted out? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mr. McLeod.

Further Return To Question 27-15(6): Funding For Territorial Sports Organizations

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe there have been filings of appeal from six of the organizations. I’m not sure if that has taken place. My information was that there would a gathering of the territorial sports organizations in April. We are having our discussions with Sport North to see if there’s a better system, a more user-friendly system in terms of reporting. We’d like that to happen and we will continue those discussions. However, we recognize that it’s a real challenge for some of the organizations out there to meet the accounting requirements. We have to have good accounting requirements, and that may mean that we’ll have to provide some form of support, and that may mean some staff positions within the ranks of the TSOs or other organizations. We’ll have those discussions with Sport North and some of the other organizations that are experiencing some growing pains or some pains in terms of providing programs. I think the Aboriginal Sports Circle has had some challenges that we’re working with them, also, to meet. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in follow-up to my Member’s statement about the Territorial Farmers' Association, I will direct my question to the Minister for Municipal and Community Affairs. Mr. Speaker, in 2005, I asked the Minister of MACA about reviewing the Property Assessment and Taxation Act and including the assessment of agricultural land in that review. The Minister replied that MACA received several requests from communities to do a comprehensive review of the data. MACA was going to look at the issue of exemption to land where land is granted through a land use permit and also look at some technical amendments., but MACA had been unable to commit to when they would do a comprehensive evaluation or review on the whole act itself. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister, two years later, for an update on changes to the PATA as they relate to the agricultural industry. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Minister responsible for Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. McLeod.

Return To Question 28-15(6): Agricultural Land Taxation Policies

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seem to recall that the Member raised it in 2004, 2005 and 2006. It seems that this issue, I agree, has been on the table…The Member has been very vocal about having the PATA reviewed. There have been other organizations and other Members of this House, including community governments, that have asked that we review the act. We have not been able to do so; we haven’t been able to dedicate the resources. So we don’t believe we’ll be able to review the act within the life of this government. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Supplementary To Question 28-15(6): Agricultural Land Taxation Policies

Mr. Speaker, at this point I’d be happy if it was in my lifetime, but anyway, Mr. Speaker, does the Minister have any other vehicle available to him by way of ministerial directive or any other interim measure that he could have the authority to an act that would look at pulling agricultural land out for a separate assessment process? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. McLeod.

Further Return To Question 28-15(6): Agricultural Land Taxation Policies

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we can certainly take a look to see if there’s any other method of doing what the Member’s asking. We have not received, I don’t believe we received, a request. We had made the offer to the Territorial Farmers' Association to do a presentation on the situation with lands. We must realize that this area -- this is being referenced by the Territorial Farmer’s Association -- is also further complicated because there are two outstanding land claims in that area. The Dehcho First Nations have a land claim in that area, and the NWT Metis Nation has also indicated that they are interested in that area. We have offered to the Farmers' Association to go in and do a presentation on land how the land is allocated and the process. We have not received a request from them to do so and we’ll follow it up to see if there’s any desire to do that at this annual meeting. I certainly will commit to talking to our staff to see if there’s another process that we can use to deal with the farmers and their ask, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Supplementary To Question 28-15(6): Agricultural Land Taxation Policies

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that was going to be my next question. That was one of the things I had asked about previously, that a commitment had been made to putting out a consultation paper and perhaps holding a workshop in Hay River for the Territorial Farmers' Association. I don’t think that’s been done and I didn’t realize that MACA was waiting for us to do something to initiate that, but I will certainly communicate that back to the Territorial Farmers' Association and we would look forward to such an opportunity. Absolutely, we respect and understand the land use processes that are underway and I would like to ask the Minister if there’s…I’m sorry I’ve lost my train of thought here. I want to ask the Minister if it would be a convenient time. The Farmers' Association is having a major gathering in Hay River on March 16th and if that would be too short a notice for his department to respond? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. McLeod.

Further Return To Question 28-15(6): Agricultural Land Taxation Policies

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will commit to the Member that we will have somebody attend and we will make the offer again right away to do the presentation. We were ready some time ago and we’ll go out and contact the Farmers' Association and offer to do a presentation and have a discussion on some of the issues that they have concerns about. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Supplementary To Question 28-15(6): Agricultural Land Taxation Policies

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There was also a specific recommendation with regard to the assistance for the agricultural sector by identifying arable land to ensure that it’s not used for other activities and establish an agricultural land reserve designation. I know that recently MACA has hired new land officers and I’d like to ask the Minister if there’s been any follow-up of this nature as per the TFA’s recommendation to have someone actually assist them in identifying arable lands in their region? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. McLeod.

Further Return To Question 28-15(6): Agricultural Land Taxation Policies

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can’t confirm whether we’ve done that yet. We’ll need to talk a little more with ITI, who has had some contact with the Farmers' Association. However, I certainly will commit to getting back to the Member on this issue. Thank you.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on January 26, 2007, the Public Utilities Board approved the Northwest Territories Power Corporation interim refundable rate rider effective February 1, 2007. I want to ask the Minister responsible for the Public Utilities Board, what is the interim refundable rate rider and how is it going to affect people that are on hydro as opposed to people on diesel? Can he explain that just for the public’s interest? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve. The honourable Minister responsible for the Public Utilities Board, Mr. Menicoche.

Return To Question 29-15(6): Interim Refundable Rate Rider