Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to follow up on the Minister’s statement earlier today on the update on the Protected Areas Strategy from the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources and see if I can seek some more clarity. He did state we will continue to support the completion of working group reports and the extension of interim land withdrawals for candidate areas, which I really appreciate. He also says we will continue to advance the establishment of core representative areas within each eco-region, which makes sense.
My question is: Are any of the five areas currently scheduled for consideration as national wildlife areas included in these representative areas, and as national wildlife areas being contemplated, will they be put on hold for some unscheduled amount of time until the northern tools materialize or what’s the plan for those? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The ones that are most advanced, of course, are the Edehzhie and there are the other candidate areas mainly in the Deh Cho. The work is being done, as I outlined in my statement to the House, and we intend to keep moving. We do have northern tools that exist and we’re prepared to be more proactive in actually looking at using them and not just talking about using them. We will continue to have discussions with the federal government about the federal designation as well. As I indicated in the House yesterday, I have to have discussions with Minister Kent to that effect. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I also would like to know exactly what are these new and existing northern tools that we hear referred to explicitly. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, as I’ve indicated, I believe yesterday, as well, we have the ability in the North to set up parks conservation areas, critical habitat, wildlife habitat. As we move to devolution and we take over with all the enhanced responsibilities, there may be other types of tools that will come up and make a certain amount of sense as we lay out work that’s going to be within the Land Use and Sustainability Framework and regional land use plans.
Thanks to the Minister. Some time ago committee commented on the NWT Land Use and Sustainability Framework but it seems to have disappeared into the quagmire. Will the Minister be bringing this forward for consideration by committee before it’s finalized? Mahsi.
This is a critical piece of work. It has a history that dates back to the previous Assembly. We have been working on it diligently. As the Member’s indicated, they see some of the work. Yes, as we move forward to the next stages we will be, as per protocols, working closely with committee in the proper sequence to make sure that they have their input at the front end of this process. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My last question is: What will our role be in land use planning, actual land use planning on the ground under the new auspices of devolution? Mahsi.
We will look to have a key role at the table. The federal role won’t be as visible. We need to have our thinking clear, which is why we’re working hard on the Land Use and Sustainability Framework as well as all the other subsidiary and interrelated strategies that we’re working on. We’re going to be at the table and we’re going to be much more proactive because we’re going to have the authority, plus, with our thinking much clearer coming from the Land Use and Sustainability Framework, we’ll be able to hopefully move these processes with more alacrity. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have some questions today for the Minister of Health and Social Services. I was reading in the news, there was a press release put out yesterday by the Government of Saskatchewan – actually, the Health department, Government of Saskatchewan – where they’ve created this incentive program to lure doctors into rural communities. I want to know if the Minister of Health and Social Services was aware of this news release, and if the department has any plan of action in terms of recruitment of physicians, which we know is already a challenge throughout Canada.
What is the Minister of Health doing, in terms of this news release that has come out of the Government of Saskatchewan? How is he going to address this or are there any incentives from the NWT that will keep us in the running for some of these physicians? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Beaulieu.
Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Recently we had transferred the territorial physician recruitment, developed a Territorial Physician Recruitment Strategy that’s developed to improve recruitment to the Territories. We hadn’t contemplated luring doctors with cash, but rather improving the system and how we attract them back to the Territories. We have a fairly healthy compensation package for doctors that wish to work in the Territories and we are seeing some success. Recently, since we’ve developed this recruitment strategy, we have some doctors in Inuvik, Fort Smith and now the first one in Hay River. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I do understand in terms of discussions that standing committee has had with the Minister of Health and Social Services and his department on these compensation packages, but what the Government of Saskatchewan is doing is very unique in terms of the cash amount that they are giving to physicians that recently graduated, and they’re actually going even retroactive for ones that qualify and it is a pretty substantial amount.
Is the Minister contacting, perhaps, some of his federal counterparts in terms of how to address this kind of situation? One jurisdiction is often some type of mechanism to get doctors into the rural communities when they would be taken out from other jurisdictions. Is he speaking with his federal counterparts to address this issue? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I haven’t specifically talked to other Ministers. We all have the different types of issues in recruiting doctors. There are doctor shortages everywhere. It’s just that our percentage of our population that don’t have immediate access to doctors is probably higher than most, maybe not as high as Nunavut but higher than most places. We develop various strategies. We have a website. We have bursaries. We have 22 medical students from NWT now out in school that we are tracking. Like I indicated, we offer a good compensation package. We also offer residency to any doctors that wish to come here to gain some experience and practice. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, seeing as this press release just came out yesterday from the Government of Saskatchewan, I ask Members, especially the Standing Committee on Social Program members to take a look at it because it is going to possibly have an effect on the positions in our recruiting strategies for the Northwest Territories where we have a shortage of physicians.
Should we start to see that has an impact on the Northwest Territories, what is the Minister of Health willing to do to address this issue, working with possibly the Government of Saskatchewan or the Government of Canada? Can he make a commitment to trade some discussion or some type of strategy? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, in Saskatchewan they’re trying to attract doctors to communities with less than 10,000 people. All of our communities, with the exception of Yellowknife, have less than 10,000 people. Again, our game is a little bit different but, of course, as we meet at the federal/provincial/territorial meetings, I would talk to the executive deputy minister and see if there would be some value in us having a discussion with a jurisdiction such as Saskatchewan, Manitoba, which also have remote communities, and Alberta to see if there is maybe something that can be gained from having the discussion. I will certainly do that. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We always talk about the communication between governments and committees and even between committees here. Was the Minister of Health made aware of this press release that the Government of Saskatchewan put out that’s possibly going to affect the Northwest Territories creating this awareness in getting some recruitment for physicians? Did he have any discussions with his counterpart in Saskatchewan, or was he made aware of this press release when it first came out? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I had not had previous discussions with the Minister of Health from Saskatchewan on the press release. However, when there is anything that’s pertaining to health right across the country, we have individuals in our communications that would track it, pull out some information and eventually, as we sit down and go through various agenda items with the deputy minister as part of regular routine, we discuss what’s happening in other parts of the country in as far as health goes. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today I raised the issue about the broken CKLB radio transmitted in Nahanni Butte. I’d like to ask the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs if this was taken in account during the flood damage and ultimately, as well, how does Municipal and Community Affairs assist communities with local radio stations. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My understanding is that I think there were issues with that particular radio station before with the towers or the infrastructure before the flood and I’m not sure if there was a claim made, but the Member’s second part of his question he asked how we can assist. They are able to use some of their O and M funding for infrastructure. However, if the costs are quite high, then they can use some of their infrastructure money to assist with the infrastructure for radio delivery. As well, my understanding is that there is some monies available through ECE to assist with the O and M of the radio station too. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Also, is there any way that this government can help a community like Nahanni Butte with the capital costs? I’ve got an estimate. We met with CKLB officials and they said Nahanni Butte replacement infrastructure would be about, I think it was almost $6,500, including the technician to travel in there. So I wonder if there’s any capital dollars within MACA or within our government that we can look at addressing this need. Thank you.
Thank you. As far as capital dollars go, MACA has absolutely no capital funding dollars. We give all the capital funding dollars to the community and they can make a determination. If they want to spend the $6,500 on this particular piece of infrastructure, then they have the ability to do that. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Is the Minister aware, when working with his colleagues, of any other places where the community can access some infrastructure dollars to address this specific need, and in fact, while the Minister is in charge of, as well, emergency situations, and having a local station will greatly enhance our emergency services in all the small and remote communities? Thank you.
Thank you. I would have to have discussions with my colleagues on any potential pots of money that might be available. Again, I reiterate the fact that we do provide a lot of infrastructure money to the communities and the Member raises the point about the emergency side of it.
Again, there was an old federal program where we were able to access some kind of money for that. That’s gone now. We’ll wait and see what the rules are on the new pot of money that the feds are coming out and exactly what our share may be. So there may be opportunities there for that too.
I think, at the end of the day, in a situation like this where it is an emergency, the community has well within their means to pay for the infrastructure and then the O and M, there are some monies available for that too. But I will commit to the Member that I will work with my colleagues to identify any kind of pots of money that might be available to the community. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you. The Member is correct; we do have an interdepartmental working team, and one of their duties is to identify all types of services that might be available in the communities as far as emergency goes. A radio station would fit under that, but they are looking at all the different types of emergencies and how we can assist communities. Once we come up with our initial findings, we’ll be sharing them with standing committee and then we’ll get some input from them, and we’ll go from there on a go forward basis. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to ask the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment a couple of questions regarding the joint agreement and the development of the diamond industry here. The joint agreement was between Deepak International Limited.
Recently there’s been an announcement about the resurgence of the diamond cutting industry in the Northwest Territories, and I’d like to know what the delays have been from opening these two diamond plants that he’s made a deal with to start cutting diamonds in the Northwest Territories. As I understand it, there have been significant delays. So, what are the delays? Will you lay it out here before the House? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Those would be equipment coming from overseas. Also, the negotiation of purchasing agreements with the NWT producers. Thank you.
Thank you. More specifically, what are the delays in the purchasing of the buildings? Thank you.
Thank you. That doesn’t fall under my responsibility and that question should be directed to the Minister of Public Works and Services. Thank you.
Thank you. In the department’s due diligence to get this industry back on its feet, what is the department doing to ensure that this diamond cutting initiative gets done in a timely manner? This project, as I understand it, has been in the works almost a year and they’ve only started signing agreements now. So what is the Department of ITI doing to insist the closure of these deals to ensure we get plants up and working? Thank you.
Thank you. This is an investment of between $30 million and $40 million, a private investment. There are a number of details that have to be worked out. As the Member knows, caution should be taken when getting into a business like this. There are a number of things that have to be accomplished. Like I said, the equipment is one concern and, also, the purchase agreements from the NWT producers is another issue, as well, and the proponent continues to work toward the goal line and that is to open both of those factories here in Yellowknife. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Your final, short supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Maybe if the Minister could elaborate what this goal line specifically is and when it’s targeted. The Minister has said there seems to be equipment problems and purchase agreement problems. Can he elaborate what those specific problems are and how his department is working to solve these problems so we can get people in the industry back up and working, cutting diamonds and selling them? Thank you.
Thank you. From the government’s perspective, we’ve approved a northern manufacturing status for Deepak International. We’re working closely with the m, but this is a private business deal at the end of the day. As I mentioned, there are a number of items that have to be carefully thought out and planned. You simply just don’t flick a switch and open a factory. Certainly, there are a lot of employees that have to be found as well. We are encouraged by what we’ve heard thus far and certainly want to support Mr. Kumar and Deepak International as they endeavour to open both of those factories. It will be a great day when both of those factories are open and we do have the 45 to 50 employees working at those factories, and we will continue to support this company’s efforts in opening those factories.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to ask a question to the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources on his update on the Protected Areas Strategy. As people might be aware, the Deh Cho has been in discussions a long time, particularly with communities that have put their faith in the Protected Areas Strategy when it began in 1999. It’s been a long, drawn-out process. Communities have been involved and elders have been involved. A lot of the elders that were initially involved have passed on, so a lot of the leaders have taken up at least the torch of trying to move forward on some key areas within the Deh Cho. At this point, I think First Nations communities, especially, have put their faith in the negotiations process. They put their faith in this negotiations process that it will work. The other option is through the courts. In the end it’s really a deliberate, well-reasoned choice of trying to put their faith in the negotiations process.
My question to the Minister is: In terms of the discussions on protected areas, can the Minister explain the mandate of his department in the negotiation of protected areas?
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The honourable Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.
