My department can definitely meet with the Coalition Against Family Violence, the group, and report back on what’s happening, how they can be involved. We have various partners involved as well. It’s not only the Coalition Against Family Violence, the groups are out there. There are other NGOs that we need to work with, like, again, the 33 communities that we need to reach out to those victims and also the communities.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources. With the vote coming on Monday with respect to Yellowknife’s Con geothermal project, if the vote is yes there is going to be significant opportunity for the City of Yellowknife to provide stable, affordable and reliable heat to businesses throughout the community, especially in the downtown core. If these businesses want to gain maximum benefit, many of them are going to have to consider doing some energy retrofits on their buildings windows and whatnot. Through the Minister’s department, the Arctic Energy Alliance provides some really fantastic rebates to residents, non-business residences, to help them do some energy retrofits and purchase equipment in their homes that use less power. But I’m not sure, and I haven’t been able to find any information whether or not these types of rebates are available to businesses who want to do some energy retrofits themselves to maximize things like the Giant-Con geothermal project.
My question for the Minister is: what is available to business throughout the Northwest Territories to help them create more energy-efficient buildings? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Minister responsible for Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As far as I’m aware, there are two programs. The Energy Efficiency Incentive Program and the Energy Conservation Program are both open for applications from business, residents and communities. Thank you.
Thank you to the Minister for that. I appreciate that response. In talking to businesses that are interested in this geothermal project, many of them talk about the buildings being a little bit run down. Some of the apartment buildings we’re talking about are fairly old and they’re going to need windows and doors and things like that. I’m not suggesting the government pay for those, but would these rebate programs assist with things like that? Would it provide some incentive for these businesses to replace some windows and create some better heat containment within their properties? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I believe the opportunity would be there to do a range of things including the audit to determine what types of things are needed, if it’s energy efficiency, if it’s retrofit, the doors or windows, or the type of doors and windows, the insulation. Assistance maybe to, in fact, lead to other potential pots of money possibly from the federal government. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.
Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement I talked about the need to clean up contaminated sites. I have questions for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources. Mr. Speaker, I want to ask the Minister what the plan is for cleaning up contaminated sites in Tu Nedhe. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Minister responsible for Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member has raised the issue of example, Stark Lake, in this House. We know that there are issues still related to Pine Point that are still being dealt with. We are responsible and we are taking the appropriate steps. There are many cases, in fact the majority of them, where the federal government is still responsible, like Stark Lake. The plan is to continue to work with the federal government in terms of remediating those sites, and as we look to devolution and the AIP and the negotiations that are going to take place, there will be negotiations as well starting to make sure that as we transition we cover off the proper remediation for those various sites, both ones that the federal government is responsible for now as well as what the territorial government is currently responsible for. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, can the Minister tell me if there’s any sort of schedule in place to clean up those sites? Thank you.
There’s information that we have that I can make sure the Member has that lays out the sites and the work that’s being done in the different areas and some of the scheduling. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I mentioned in my Member’s statement that I thought the Interim Resource Management Agreement would be a good avenue. I’m just wondering if the Minister could give me a status and what the funding is surrounding the Interim Resource Management Agreement. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, there are several hundreds of thousands of dollars that’s cost shared between ourselves and the federal government and that money is in the budget again this year. As well, we are looking at other opportunities, partnering up as it relates to water in the Delta around Chip and the Chip-Athabasca, the Peace-Athabasca Delta and down into the Slave lowlands with Parks Canada, with the Alberta government, with the territorial government, as well as the Aboriginal governments. So there are other opportunities as well. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Your final, short supplementary, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the partnering up with those various groups, I’m wondering if the Minister could ensure that once the work is started on cleaning up these sites, that local labour is used for the areas that are being cleaned up. Thank you.
The answer would be affirmative, that we see a tremendous value, especially on issues where traditional knowledge will be very valuable and local knowledge and intimate knowledge of the land and the water. So, yes, we will, as we proceed, make that commitment. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement today I talked about the concerns of the water and sewer infrastructure in Northland Trailer Park. It’s reached about as bad as it can get, Mr. Speaker. To put the problem into perspective, in the sense of comparative value, Mr. Speaker, Northland would be representative of a medium-sized community here in the Northwest Territories. If you want to lay it out in another way, 259 families probably captures in a similar comparison as maybe the community of Aklavik. Again, just as a comparative size of a medium-sized community. Mr. Speaker, we wouldn’t let a small community, a medium community go with infrastructure that doesn’t work anymore such as water and sewer. I mean, two weeks without it is certainly a shame.
Mr. Speaker, I’d like to ask the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs as to what is he willing to do as Minister, and the department as well, what are they willing to do to bring financial resources to the table to help deal with this collective problem that is affecting 259 families? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister responsible for Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Robert McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First of all, Northland has the population of a medium-sized community but they are not a community. They’re a privately held corporation. As I’ve said a couple times prior, we’ve written a letter of support for the City’s application to try to access some federal money for some of the needed repairs at Northland. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, as I said in my Member’s statement today, water and sewer is certainly a vital service needed by a lot of people and, quite frankly, I can’t imagine how they’re coping, to be fair and realistic. I mean, two weeks without this is beyond ridiculous. That’s not fair and I can only imagine what they’re struggling with.
Mr. Speaker, the time for talking on this particular issue is done and I think the time for writing letters is done. What financial contribution can MACA bring to the table to help support the City of Yellowknife in solving this particular problem? Because we have 259 families at significant risk the longer we wait. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, MACA doesn’t have the funding or the mandate to assist privately held lands to deal with infrastructure deficiencies. That would be a discussion that they would have to take up with the City. All I can tell the Member, as I’ve told a couple other Members that have asked previous to this, is that we are trying to assist their case, their application to try and access some federal money. Thank you.
Maybe it’s the weather that’s stopping the Minister from breaking the hard exterior of the answer, no, we’re not helping in the sense of funding, we’ll write a letter and that’s the best we can do. Maybe the 259 families aren’t touching a note. What about the approximate 600 children that live in that riding, in that small, medium-sized community that’s representative, as I probably said in a comparative value only, of the size of Aklavik? Mr. Speaker, is there no extraordinary funding that MACA couldn’t find for this particular issue to make sure that these 600 children, the 259 families are not continually put at risk? Thank you.
Northland is part of the city of Yellowknife. Any extraordinary funding would go to community governments to assist in dealing with some unforeseen events that take place in their communities. As much as we feel for the situation out at Northland, I point out again that it is a privately held corporation, privately held condominium and they usually put some money aside for events such as this. The only difference between this particular case and, say, an apartment building where they are selling condominiums, it is just on a bigger scale and laid out. It is unfortunate that some of the issues they are having to face out there. Again, we don’t have a mandate or the funding to assist those privately held landowners. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Quite clearly, water is undoubtedly an essential service. I can only imagine how these families have been in this inhumane sort of circumstance for two weeks being without those services. Mr. Speaker, the Minister said just a moment ago that many of these groups set money aside. Actually, the condo corp was established under the old Condo Act which actually did not require that condominium to set money aside to deal with these types of maintenance and infrastructure problems. Since that time, fortunately, I will give compliments to the updated act, which goes to the credit of the government. They ensured that those types of loopholes and gaps have been filled to ensure that condominiums must account for infrastructure money in that particular case.
Again, recognizing that this is an extraordinary circumstance and we have a lot of families at risk, would the Minister be willing to commit some financial resources in an extraordinary type of way in a one-time process to the City of Yellowknife so they can leverage further money and help with this particular problem that affects 259 families, at least 600 children, and it is quite a significant population that needs help and safety issues protected?
Mr. Speaker, there was a time when they had to put money aside to deal with unforeseen circumstances. You go to a private homeowner and right where the property ends, he is responsible from there into his house. If the sewer line goes or the water line goes, it is his responsibility. This is the same principle, just on a bigger scale. We do give money to all the municipal governments to deal, we give infrastructure money to deal with infrastructure issues within their community and I am sure Northland is being told that they are a privately held corporation, Mr. Speaker. We don’t have the funding or the mandate to provide funding to privately held landowners. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There was a letter that was addressed to MLA David Ramsay on the 17th of February from Minister Lafferty in terms of programming for the offenders correctional institutions. In the News/North, a judge noted the need to address the root causes of the criminal activities and also noted in the letter here that the Minister has said that 90 percent of inmates have issues related to the use of alcohol, for the abuse of alcohol and drugs. Is the Minister’s department looking at some kind of a treatment program at our correctional institutes to address the 90 percent of inmates who are there with this issue?
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister of Justice, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. We are fully aware of the statement that was made by Judge Vertes. It is the root cause of issues that we are dealing with. It is very challenging on a day-to-day basis. As Vertes indicated, it has to come from the grassroots people, the politicians and also the public. It is not just us sitting here making decisions; it has to be the general public as well that we need to work together.
We have to come up with solutions. We have already developed plans on our initiative through the Justice department. We deliver various aspects of program delivery at the corrections. We continue to enhance those programming. Mahsi.
Mr. Speaker, 90 percent of the inmates are in our institution because of the use of alcohol and drugs. It does not make sense for us leaders around here, 90 percent of the funding that the program should say that we need an alcohol and drug program at the North Slave or one of the other institutions to look at this issue here, the root cause. Does it not make logical reasoning to put this? Again, would the Minister look at, consider it, having a drug and alcohol treatment program? You have a captive audience already there. Let them look at these issues that brought them into the institution. Would the Minister look at that?
Mr. Speaker, we do have a treatment centre in Hay River. I think we need to continue what we have within our corrections. We, as the Member indicated, have 90 percent population whether it be Aboriginal from the communities. Those are the individuals that we can work with. Rehabilitation back to the community, reintegration back into the community, that we have somewhat control over within the establishment to deliver those specific programs that can help those inmates so they can go back to their community and start a life all over again. Those are the main focus and our priority as the Department of Justice. We continue to deliver even more programs or enhance the programming at those institutions. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, my point is that you have a captured audience already. They are sitting there. A lot of them are saying that they are not doing too much. They are twiddling their thumbs. They can’t get into programs. Programs are once a year. You have a program down in Nats'ejee K'eh in Hay River that is for other use. Can the Minister look at a pilot project, say one here in Hay River or here in Yellowknife, to look at doing a drug and alcohol-specific six-week program for the inmates? It will help them so they won’t come back into the centres. Can the Minister look at that to see if this is something good for us?
Mr. Speaker, this is an area that I think we need to focus on those individuals starting in the centre right now. What the Member is alluding to is outside the centre. Outside the centre, of course, there is an establishment in Hay River that those individuals can utilize once they leave the facility. Once they leave the facility, Mr. Speaker, actually before they leave the facility, we want them to be integrated back into the community. The program that we deliver consists of on-the-land program, as well, which we do in the Sahtu region. It has been very successful. We will continue delivery of those programs, Mr. Speaker. The Aboriginal perspective or way of life programming within the corrections, that is being delivered as well. We have counsellors on hand. We will do what we can to service those individuals and continue delivering programs. It is not just one of those once a year that they miss out on a program. We have a variety of programs that those individuals have options to take. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Time for question period has expired; however, I will allow the Member a final, short supplementary. Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, you have a captive audience at these centres here. Ninety percent of them being in there are because of alcohol and drug abuse. It is very simple and very plain. Can this Minister look at a drug and alcohol treatment program at the centre while they are there? There is one in Nats'ejee K'eh. I know that. But while you have them there, go through a program, for God’s sake. It is so simple, yet you wonder why people are coming back. They are not dealing with those drug and alcohol issues outside. You have them there. Let them deal with it. Certainly it will help them. That is what I am asking. That is the question. When will this government realize it?
Mr. Speaker, we do deliver programs where we have contractors coming into corrections. We have elders dealing with those inmates working closely with the counsellors as well. We are trying to reach the people, the inmates within our correction facility to try to reach their root cause of why they are there and deal with those issues at hand. Once they leave the facility, they have the option of attending addiction treatment centre as well, Mr. Speaker, but we do within the corrections, we deliver, again, a vast area of treatment training program workshops that will continue to deliver and enhance those programs as well. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document entitled Creating Our Future Together: In Search of a Common Vision for the Northwest Territories, Results Report and Appendix. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Minister responsible for Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Section 32.1(2) of the Financial Administration Act, I wish to table the following document entitled List of Interactivity Transfers Over $250,000 for the Period April 1, 2010, to January 31, 2011. Thank you.
