Debates of May 14, 2007 (day 6)

Mr. Speaker, it’s difficult to know exactly. We think that in future years we ball-parked the need at somewhere near 100 sites. We hope that that’s not too optimistic. I guess we would start with the 30 or so sites and see where we are. That’s the number of sites that this site would accommodate, but in future we hope we can get to the point where the demand is about 100. Obviously the refinishing of this road coming north we think will improve the prospects for rubber-tire tourism, but we’ll have to see. These are just projections and they are our best forecasts and guesses at this point. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Supplementary To Question 67-15(6): Recreational Vehicle Site Development In Yellowknife

Mr. Speaker, does the department anticipate that this would be a territorially run RV site, as many others are in the NWT, or is the objective to find a private owner or private operator, Mr. Speaker?

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Bell.

Further Return To Question 67-15(6): Recreational Vehicle Site Development In Yellowknife

Mr. Speaker, I don’t think any options have been ruled out. We’d be willing to sit down and talk to prospective stakeholders, prospective partners, about a model that would best solve this problem. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Final supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Supplementary To Question 67-15(6): Recreational Vehicle Site Development In Yellowknife

Yes, Mr. Speaker, thank you. My question is would the department continue with its strategy to fund the development, the capital cost, and then seek a suitable operator or owner? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Bell.

Further Return To Question 67-15(6): Recreational Vehicle Site Development In Yellowknife

Mr. Speaker, that was the thought. Of course, we have a supplementary appropriation coming up soon. I can’t pre-empt that, but presumably there will be some questions and some discussion around this budget item which has changed from the initial proposal and we can talk about that at that point. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member’s statement I talked about the expansion of the waste recovery program. We’ve seen the Beverage Container Program take off and it’s doing very well. I’d like to ask the Minister of ENR what is the policy right now in the Northwest Territories with respect to tires? Is there a tax that’s charged on tires at their point of purchase? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Minister responsible for Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. MacLeod.

Return To Question 68-15(6): Tire Recycling

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don’t believe there is a tax, but I’d have to confirm that, Mr. Speaker. However, in the review of our Waste Reduction Recovery Program, tires and automobiles and e-garbage and things of that nature are being undertaken as part of a review that we’ve started now and will be reporting on by this fall, Mr. Speaker.

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

Supplementary To Question 68-15(6): Tire Recycling

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Would that review include considering or contemplating a tax on tires purchased in the Northwest Territories and a rebate for tires when they are returned for recycling? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Mr. McLeod.

Further Return To Question 68-15(6): Tire Recycling

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, tires have been raised as one of the considerations that we have to look at. We are also working with communities to look at mobile equipment. We recently had a number of workshops and had some companies from Alberta come and talk about being able to recycle some of the scrap metals. As part of those discussions, several communities got together and are exploring the different ways they can deal with the bulkier products in their landfill, such as tires and mobile tire shredding is something we are considering. We are also going to be working with communities to look to see if we can package it up so we can access some of the federal green funding. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Supplementary To Question 68-15(6): Tire Recycling

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that all sounds really good, but it sounds really vague and it sounds really far away and something that is not going to happen very soon. It is going to take in a whole wide range of products in recovery. It is really good to talk about it, but I want to talk about tires. It must be fairly simple. They are filling up our landfill as the days go ahead here. What do we need to do as a government to put legislation in place? What kind of framework needs to be in place to charge a levy on the tires when they are sold and to have a rebate to get them back to a central location for recycling? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. McLeod.

Further Return To Question 68-15(6): Tire Recycling

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know there is some sense of urgency, but I wouldn’t think of going ahead without consulting with the Members of this House and the communities.

---Laughter

There is a lot of interest. There are a lot of different issues that we have to deal with including what products we focus on next. There are plastic bags. There are tires. There are vehicles and all types of things that we recognize have to be dealt with. We are not going to be able to deal with all of them. We need the input from the communities and the general public. So we have to take the time. We have contracted Lutra Associates to do the research on the recovery and recycling. We are working with the communities to try to access some money up front to start looking at mobile equipment so we can reduce some of the pressures that are facing the communities and their landfills. However, moving it any faster I think would be moving ahead faster than the communities would like. So we have to take the time to do it right, Mr. Speaker.

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

Supplementary To Question 68-15(6): Tire Recycling

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess that is somewhat encouraging. They have hired Lutra Associates. They are going to do a study. Again, I think they are casting the net too wide. With so many priorities, there really is no priority. I would like to see a priority put on rubber tires. Even if you can’t get it figured out right away what you are going to do with them after you collect them, at least get the tax and the rebate system put in place so we can at least start getting them to one place where we can do something useful with them. There are a lot of really good uses for shredded tires, tire chips. They can even be exported and sold to other places. So I would like to see some priority on the tire recycling. Could the Minister agree to that? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. McLeod.

Further Return To Question 68-15(6): Tire Recycling

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Of course, we will agree particularly with the Member’s comments. I will forward them on to the committee for consideration. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as the Minister of ITI is aware, I have been working hard with other Members, especially with the community of Deline in the Sahtu, in terms of having Deline being recognized as the birthplace of ice hockey in Canada. I wanted to ask the Minister of ITI what type of exposure is he working on in terms of getting this recognition as a significant historical event in Canada, especially for ice hockey? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bell.

Return To Question 69-15(6): Recognition Of Deline As Birthplace Of Ice Hockey In Canada

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I would like to commend the Member for his hard work on this initiative.

---Applause

He has been encouraging this government to do some work to officially recognize Deline as the birthplace of hockey. I am happy to say that an event has come up in London for Canada Day it will be participating in. The GNWT, through my department, is supporting NWT Tourism in bringing over a ball hockey team from Deline. We will put on a bit of a show and an exhibition of their incredible hockey ability. I understand the Member himself will be suited up and put a number of balls in the net, presumably, and make us look good.

Mr. Speaker, we think that this is an excellent opportunity for us to lever some publicity. There will be a lot of people in attendance. It is a great way to recognize Deline. I understand that there is going to be some hand games demonstration, some other cultural promotion. After all, Mr. Speaker, we are really hoping to use this opportunity to create some awareness around Deline, the Northwest Territories, and see if we can’t get some tourists to come back here and visit us. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Supplementary To Question 69-15(6): Recognition Of Deline As Birthplace Of Ice Hockey In Canada

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I thank the Minister in his confidence in hoping that I will put a bunch of balls in the net there in London, England. How important is this event here? I know the importance of Sir John Franklin, because he came from England, in terms of his name and his contributions to some of the historical events that happened in this world here. What role in terms of our team going over there from Deline, especially in the role of tourism, how important is the role of tourism for the people in London to come over here and come and visit Canada and especially visit the birthplace of ice hockey started by one of their own people from England?

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Bell.

Further Return To Question 69-15(6): Recognition Of Deline As Birthplace Of Ice Hockey In Canada

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is very important for us. When we look at our tourism numbers overall, we break them down by country of origin. Number one, in terms of the most frequent visitors, are Americans, but close behind that, Mr. Speaker, are those from the United Kingdom. So we think there is a great potential for growth. We would like to get more people from England, from the United Kingdom, to come over. This is an excellent opportunity for us to do this. This is a real unique event that we are putting on. All the provinces and territories, Mr. Speaker, will be present at those events in London at Trafalgar Square. We think we have a unique hook here. We are going to try to take full advantage of that. I know the Member, as well as myself, have been working to try to make sure we can get some GNWT presence, potentially in the person of the Premier. We will see if his schedule will allow for it, but we would like to raise this up, ratchet it up to profile. I think that would be a way for us to do that. We are trying to make this a big event and are contributing monies to NWT Tourism to make it successful. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Supplementary To Question 69-15(6): Recognition Of Deline As Birthplace Of Ice Hockey In Canada

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there is no doubt that the Deline team will win the Franklin Cup in London, England. Does the Minister think that Ottawa will win the Stanley Cup?

---Laughter

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs some questions regarding the 911 service. As I mentioned in my Member’s statement, six years ago, in 2001, the chief coroner of the Northwest Territories recommended that MACA work with the RCMP and the City of Yellowknife to establish a 911 service. The first year was to be in Yellowknife and then that service was to be expanded out to other communities in the Northwest Territories. Why is it six years later? What has happened? Why aren’t we at a stage where we can start moving 911 outside of Yellowknife? Instead, we are standing here today questioning why there isn’t even a 911 service in Yellowknife. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. McLeod.

Return To Question 70-15(6): 911 Emergency Telephone Response Service

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories, through MACA and Public Works and Services, along with the RCMP and the city have looked at the issue. The biggest barrier for going forward right now is the lack of communication infrastructure in our communities. I guess following that, the big barrier is the cost of implementing such a service. We are looking at roughly $26 million or more to have it within the Northwest Territories and to have the service in all the communities. That is something that we are facing, are the resources required to implement such a service.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Supplementary To Question 70-15(6): 911 Emergency Telephone Response Service

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, $26 million to look at a 911 service territory-wide is a tremendous amount of money, but given the fact that 911 is the North American standard for emergency numbers and it is something that children who live in the Northwest Territories are much more likely to remember when faced with an emergency, why aren’t we looking at establishing this service in Yellowknife, Hay River and Fort Smith to start with and what would that cost? Has the Minister got that information? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. McLeod.

Further Return To Question 70-15(6): 911 Emergency Telephone Response Service

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don’t have the detail and the cost for breaking it out per community. We could, I guess, look at that. There’s a number of things that would come forward as one-time costs from the RCMP and also NorthwesTel or the provider and others. So we’d have to sit down and break all those numbers out. We haven’t looked at specifically providing it for one community. There’s still a cost factor. In fact, Yellowknife has made application to CRTC for some money and were turned down as this didn’t meet the program criteria. If there’s an interest, we certainly can sit down and review what the options are. But at this point, we don’t have the resources to implement such a service across the Territories.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Supplementary To Question 70-15(6): 911 Emergency Telephone Response Service

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I feel quite strongly that the Government of the Northwest Territories has an obligation to the people it represents to implement such a service and to work with the stakeholders to ensure that there’s a 911 service. If that starts out in Yellowknife and expands to Hay River and Fort Smith, so be it. Then we can expand it later on. I’d like to ask the Minister, and I wasn’t overly impressed with the last answer, but what are the next steps to move this forward, and where does the responsibility lie to move this issue forward to the next level so that we can get this service up and running? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. McLeod.

Further Return To Question 70-15(6): 911 Emergency Telephone Response Service

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don’t know what I have to do to impress the Member.

---Laughter

Mr. Speaker, if the Member’s referring to the city of Yellowknife moving forward, that’s something that’s their decision. We certainly can work with them to implement such a service and try to locate some resources to help them along. However, at the cost factor or the estimates that are provided to us, it’s not something we can resource at this point. Communications is something we’d like to have more discussion on with other departments, Public Works and Services, regarding which step do you take first. Do we start putting the facilities in the communities so that we can have adequate facilities so that we can start considering this, or do we focus on Yellowknife first and then worry about the other communities later? I think that’s something we’re going to have to decide, Mr. Speaker, and we’ll have to have further debate and discussion on that with the other partners in this committee. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Supplementary To Question 70-15(6): 911 Emergency Telephone Response Service

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I’m always impressed with the Minister’s responses, especially when we’re talking about something as important as this. I think it’s important that it starts somewhere. I hear the Minister and I hear the Minister say communities and establishing it throughout the Northwest Territories. Mr. Speaker, $26 million, that’s not going to happen right away. What needs to happen right away is this service needs to get started in Yellowknife, Hay River and Fort Smith just for starters. I’d like the Minister to make a commitment today to get his officials at MACA to work with the stakeholders to get this key initiative off the ground. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. McLeod.

Further Return To Question 70-15(6): 911 Emergency Telephone Response Service