Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document, entitled GNWT Response to Committee Report 6-17(3), Report on Hydraulic Fracturing Study Tour: Toward a Policy Framework for Hydraulic Fracturing in the Northwest Territories.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Friday, March 8, 2013, I will move the following motion: Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Monfwi, that Ms. Colette Langlois be appointed Acting Clerk of the Legislative Assembly for the period of August 15, 2013, to August 14, 2014, by the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories as recommended by the Board of Management of the Legislative Assembly.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. Item 16, notices of motion for first reading of bills. Item 17, motions. Item 18, first reading of bills. Item 19, second reading of bills. Item 20, consideration in Committee of the Whole of bills and other matters: Tabled Document 9-17(4), NWT Main Estimates, 2013-2014; and Bill 1, Tlicho Statutes Amendment Act; Municipal and Community Affairs, Justice, and Executive, with Mrs. Groenewegen in the chair.
I’d like to call Committee of the Whole to order. What is the wish of the committee today? Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Committee wants to continue our deliberations here on Municipal and Community Affairs and, time permitting, we would like to talk with Justice and Executive.
Is committee agreed?
Agreed.
We will take a brief break and continue with that.
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I’d like to call Committee of the Whole back to order. When we departed yesterday from this Chamber, we were considering Municipal and Community Affairs, activity summary, public safety, operations expenditure summary, and page 6-17. I’ll ask the Minister if he would like to bring witnesses into the Chamber.
I would, Madam Chair. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister McLeod. Does the committee agree?
Agreed.
Agreed. Thank you. I’d ask the Sergeant-at-Arms to please escort the witnesses to the table.
For the record, Minister McLeod, could you please introduce your witnesses?
Thank you, Madam Chair. With me I have, to my left, Mr. Tom Williams, deputy minister, Municipal and Community Affairs. To my immediate right I have Mr. Gary Schauerte, director of corporate services, Municipal and Community Affairs, and Ms. Eleanor Young, who is the assistant deputy minister, Municipal and Community Affairs. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister McLeod. Municipal and Community Affairs, activity summary, public safety, operations expenditure summary, $1.629 million. Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I think I just have one question. I think we’ve cleared up everything, as far as I’m concerned, and I just want to say I think I just have one question. It speaks more to the philosophy. I think the Minister’s heard enough from me about my concerns on consumer affairs and whatnot. I’d kind of like to bottle it up and maybe I’ll call it one, hopefully, clear ask, which is: What can the Minister do about the somewhat public anonymity that hides behind consumer affairs?
I’m not suggesting they’re not trying to reach out there, but I think there’s a general perception from the public that they don’t exist. I guess if I could qualify that it may not be feasible to create a storefront objective, and I want to be clear, that’s not what I’m asking, but they don’t seem to have a prominent public face, so when we do have problems with the Bell cell phones, for example, prices, or we have gas price issues, or other types of issues, the public feels there’s nowhere to go, nowhere to complain, and they end up on our desks, as MLAs, to ask what do we do, and they feel this relentless sense of exhaustion and it just seems to poke away.
If I can get some insight from the Minister as to what he can do under his stewardship of this department to help bring up the profile of consumer affairs, and what they can do and how they’re seen and perceived in the public, that would be very helpful. I think that’s really the only area of concern I have as far as MACA is concerned.
Thank you. Minister McLeod.
Thank you, Madam Chair. What I can commit to the Members of this Assembly is that we’ll try and work a communications plan and let the public know that there is a consumer affairs division. We’ll actually let all Members of the Assembly know the consumer affairs division we have. We’ll give them a name and number that they can possibly pass on to any constituents that might be calling them. I think that will go a long ways into getting our consumer affairs department more in the forefront. I understand, with things going the way they are going now and many of the issues that are being raised by consumers out there, I think it is to their benefit if we publicize the office a bit more. I will commit that we will do that. Thank you, Madam Chair.
The only thing I want to reaffirm is I’m not suggesting in any way they’re doing anything bad. I just think that they are a little-known office. They fall through the cracks of public view and they tend to get forgotten. Again, I just want to make sure it is absolutely clear. It’s nothing that they’re not doing. It is a question of just how they blend into the folds of government and the public loses sight of that and certainly what role they play. That’s all I have. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. I will take that as a comment. Next on the list I have Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Madam Chair. As I indicated in my general comments, I’ve been asking the Minister and his department, numerous times in the last 16 or 17 months of being a Member of this Assembly, on areas of hazard and fire assessments, emergency action plans and how we are moving along in trying to make our communities much more safe and probably more integrated into a real-time database.
First of all, the information we have right now with respect to emergency action plans, is this available in real time? Is this something available that if phone numbers change, it is systematically updated, there’s a network of updates that happen across the board? Is this a real-time management program in action? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Minister McLeod.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Normally the community action plans and contact numbers are validated and updated with community governments. Thank you.
Madam Chair, maybe I’ll rephrase my question because the question was real time. What I mean by real time are numbers, contact, policy charts, flow charts, contact of emergency services, basically an org chart of disaster management available in a database that is continuously updated or the department or community governments have access to, so that it doesn’t matter which community at any given time, this information can be pulled up off either computer, off Internet, security database. Is the department at this level of having this type of access to information? Thank you.
Madam Chair, we don’t have that right now, but again, I will commit to the Members that we will work with our community governments and we will try to get all of this information updated. If there’s a database that we can put this into where it constantly changes once there are changes at the community level, then I will commit to having our department do that. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Madam Chair, is there any type of study or working group on this so-called preparedness of a real-time database?
No, there is not, Madam Chair.
Madam Chair, I don’t want it to sound like a hypothetical question, but it’s almost impossible for me to ask this question without being hypothetical. In the event of a disaster or emergency services intervention, how do our federal counterparts, our federal partners for emergency management, how are they notified? By what means are they notified if not available through electronic real-time management? Thank you, Madam Chair.
Mr. Williams.
Thank you, Madam Chair. We work closely with Public Safety Canada, one of our allies that’s right across the street from us in the Greenstone Building. So we do have real-time access to Public Safety Canada. An example, the Nahanni Butte flood, we were working very closely and alerted them that there was a flood in progress. They worked with us, assisted us in putting in the funding application that goes to the federal government for reimbursement. So we do have a good contact and a good liaison with Public Safety Canada. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Williams. Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I’m still not getting enough level of comfort knowing that we do not have a formalized system of communication with our federal counterpart. Running across the street isn’t, in my mind, the most effective way of dealing with a natural disaster should it occur in our communities.
Given this information, is there any opportunity that the department sees this as being an opportunity to enhance the current so-called lack of model that we have and will this become a priority for this department in this fiscal year? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Minister McLeod.
Thank you, Madam Chair. As far as formalized communication plans go, I mean, I committed to the Member before that we’ll undertake the work in trying to provide a database and putting one together. We will update the Members regularly on the work that we’re doing, that way they have some comfort and we’ll even provide them with a lot of information that we get from the communities as far as contact numbers go. But I have to say that our communities, especially those that have had to deal with emergencies before, do a fantastic job reacting to emergencies, and they know who they’ve got to contact and they know who they have to work with. If this is information that the Member feels needs to get out territorial-wide, then I have committed to trying to provide all that information, compiling that information and possibly putting it into a database. Thank you.
Thank you. I won’t disagree with the Minister. I believe those communities that have put the effort and have had the potential financial background to put such emergency plans in place are probably well prepared for such emergencies. But in the Minister’s own words, not every community is at the same level and that’s my concern, is that we have a disparity of situations out there, we’ve got communities at risk, and if we’ve got communities at risk, we’ve got a territory at risk. If you’ve got a territory at risk, you’ve got a nation at risk. It’s a cascade effect in which I think it’s critically important that we put the proper plans and the proper standardization models in place so that the communication amongst communities, the communication with government is paramount and I don’t believe we’re quite there yet and I’m hoping that the department is listening loud and clear.
This is a priority, I believe, and I think that it’s a priority that’s not being given its full attention. I’ll leave it at that. The Minister has already commented on it. I won’t seek another comment and rebuttal, but my question related to this area has to do with the communication in the event of an emergency event or a disaster. Do we have proper communication protocols in all 33 communities? Thank you.
Yes, we do.
Thank you. Now, these communication protocols, I would assume, would involve contacting a cascade, a number or an algorithm of community support networks from territorial to federal and potentially government leaders. How is this communication protocol accessed? Is this something that is published? Thank you.
As far as being published publicly, no, it’s not, but I mean, I have committed to the Member and he talks about the importance of emergency plans, and we recognize the importance of emergency plans. MACA has been having to deal with these for so many years. We’re working with the 15 communities that need to update their plans. We’re working with them to try and get their emergency plans updated. I have committed to trying to compile as much information as possible, finding somewhere we can put it so that everyone has access it, and I will honour that commitment. If the Member is looking for more and more detail, then we’d be pleased to put together a briefing and provide it to the Member so he knows exactly the work that we will be undertaking.
I will take the Minister up on his offer. I think I’m speaking not only as a Member of Yellowknife, I think there are community members here who would have very similar concerns. I would take the Minister up on his offer.
Last is, because we’re dealing with public safety, there is the Joint Emergency Preparedness Program. This was a federally initiated program, which I believe closed this year. I don’t believe it’s part of our budget this year. I think it was a zero. This was a cost-sharing program for capital enhancement at community level for safety.
Can the Minister indicate, for the years that we had access to this preparedness program, what was the level of uptake by this government in the various years?
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Ms. Young.
With the Joint Emergency Preparedness Program there were two components to it. There was a component where the territorial government was able to access funding to deliver programs, develop templates for the emergency plans, aspects like that. Earlier in the program we were actually able to use it for salary dollars, as well, for staffing within the department. Then there was the other component which allowed for communities to apply on funding for capital enhancements like the Member mentions. I believe there were applications every year on that program at varying levels over the years.
Thank you, Ms. Young. Mr. Dolynny, your time has expired. I can put you on the list again if you like, but I’m going to go next to Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I want to ask a few questions about public safety with respect to the safety of our buildings. I’d like to start by just asking, with regard to the Fire Prevention Act, a review of plans and inspections that are done, those are strictly, as I understand it, related to Fire Safety Regulations. Am I correct in that assertion?
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Madam Chair. The Member is correct.
