Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I had become quite concerned when I learned about a 900 megawatt dam being proposed on the Peace River in British Columbia. It’s obvious that we’ve now learned there are massive impacts of previous dams to the Peace-Athabasca and the Slave River Delta and, of course, on down to the Mackenzie Basin. Apparently, according to the paper, we’re only getting notified of these sorts of things. Based on the record of the impacts of these sorts of things I’d like to know if the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources thinks that’s a sufficient position to be taking at this point in time. Thank you.
The honourable Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’re aware of the proposed Site C project. The work has been underway for, actually, a number of years and they’re moving through their environmental process. We have been registered on their list of concerned parties. I agree with the Member that there are things we have to pay close attention to. We have a call scheduled with the Minister from B.C., the Environment Minister, to discuss some of the concerns. For example, there are a lot of downstream issues.
For us, as a jurisdiction, we have yet to conclude our bilateral agreement with B.C. under the Mackenzie River Basin Transboundary Agreement, which is a critical agreement that we want to place a lot of weight on. Next week we are going to be tabling in the House our Water Strategy that is a result of direction and strong support out of the 15th Assembly and this Assembly as a priority, that which will give us our policy base to move forward on dealing more effectively with our transboundary issues. So it is an issue of concern. Thank you.
I’m happy to hear we’re doing more than what the newspaper reported and officials of the department reported as a wait-and-see approach. Obviously we already know from B.C. officials that the flow of the river is being shaped through this new project, or will be shaped, to service peak need periods such as winter. So this takes us away from the natural flow, which we now understand has major impacts on river systems and basins which have evolved to require those seasonal peaks and lows to maintain diversity and so on. So I’m wondering, will the Minister commit to a more active intervention, given that this information has already been put on the table, to try and let the British Columbia government know while we’re doing these other negotiations. I don’t want to see us waiting for everything while these sorts of things are going ahead. Thank you.
If I can use a military term: we are going to be all hands on deck for when the Water Strategy is tabled in this House. We’ve got things underway to make sure that we are at the tables. The bilateral negotiations, I think, are very critical and will give us the vehicle and the opportunity to make the concern about the impact. I would suggest, in fact, that the natural flow of the Peace ceased to really exist when the Bennett Dam went in and the Peace-Athabasca Delta, for the most part, was dramatically impacted and it’s never really recovered. We want to deal with integrated watershed management and cumulative impact in the Mackenzie River Basin.
Site C is one of the issues, along with the proposed dam on the Slave, a lot of the activity around Fort McMurray. We also have concerns in the Peel Watershed that we have to address. So we have many issues before us and we are going to be, like I said, all hands on deck, and we’re going to be moving on these initiatives across the board. Thank you.
Thanks for the comments from the Minister. That provides some assurance that we are focusing here. I’d like to know how the NWT Water Strategy will, in fact, guide us in responding to these sorts of things. We put a lot of money, time, resources and so on into that and I’ve been happy to participate in that. I think it’s a good project. I look forward to seeing the final document, but how will that guide us in responding to projects such as this? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, the Water Strategy looks at the whole hydrological cycle, our water concerns in the Northwest Territories, our water concerns within the Mackenzie River Basin Watershed. It’s been achieved through extensive consultation and involvement with the aboriginal governments. It lays out all the elements that we want to make sure we have addressed when we talk about water issues, be it development in the Northwest Territories or dealing with transboundary issues. It’s going to be an absolutely critical piece of work, which is why we have invested so much time and money, to give us that policy base so that our thinking is clear when our negotiators go to the table, we know what they’re working from, and we know what they’re working to protect. Thank you.
Your final question, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, I appreciate those comments. I’d like to know: will we be providing support for efforts to ensure that treaty rights to water are supported and are assured in this process and what is the schedule looking like for our negotiations with the B.C. government on the transboundary agreement there? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, we, within the Northwest Territories, recognize fully and have had full involvement of the aboriginal governments and respect the land claims, treaties and self-government agreements that are there. Part of the challenge is going to be to make sure that those issues come to the table when we look at transboundary issues. Many of the aboriginal governments in other jurisdictions, in fact, are very concerned about that.
As we speak, there has been planning underway, as we reach the end point of the actual development of the Water Strategy, that we have people at work, I’ve been briefed, we are looking at getting organized to have a table for transboundary issues not only with Site C but with the proposed dam on the Slave is another big issue. I have a call in with Minister Penner from the British Columbia government and we’re going to lay out the concerns that we see and our need to have this process, and that our support is going to be predicated on some assurances that we’re going to get these bilaterals negotiated so that we are not going to be negotiating bilaterals after all the projects on the river system are complete but before. Thank you.
The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the Minister’s ministerial statement today he talked about the impressive number of graduates. I want to ask the Minister, in terms of the graduates in the communities that I represent or even the Northwest Territories, I want to talk about the quality of the diplomas that these students are going to be receiving.
In a report, I understand that there are 30 percent of students operating below the expected grade level. What is the Minister doing to bring that number down and to give our students good, quality education in the Northwest Territories?
The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when we talk about graduates, over the years there has been a substantial improvement in our graduates, whether it be aboriginal or non-aboriginal students, for the Northwest Territories. It’s been increasing every year. The Member is asking if those graduates are true graduates and the status of the diploma. These graduates do write the departmental exams through the Alberta education system. We use their curriculum as well. There are certain standards that have to be met, criteria that has to be met and based on that, if they pass the final examination, then they can walk the stage as true graduates.
Mr. Speaker, we have heard concerns from the communities. We are working on a strategic plan on aboriginal student success area, student achievement success initiative that will deal with enrolment, deal with the status of the education curriculum that we deliver and the standards. Mr. Speaker, we continue to improve in those areas. Those are the strategic initiatives that we will continue to make improvements in those areas. Mahsi.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister has indicated that these certain points within the education system are measured against a certain function level. The assessments of the Alberta achievement tests that we take indicate that 30 percent of students are operating below expected levels of education. certainly that raises alarms, it raises a lot of concerns for people in my region. I want to ask the Minister in terms of his initiative, the Sahtu did indicate that they would like a symposium to really talk about education and the seriousness, as I mentioned in my Member’s statement, in terms of the livelihood of our nation of people and anybody to make a contribution to that, but also to know that they are getting a good quality education that would get them into a career of their choosing. I want to ask the Minister in terms of what he talked about, some educational forms in terms of what he is expecting in terms of accomplishing by having these forms that he is proposing to the House.
Mr. Speaker, our goal and mandate is to provide the true quality education here in the Northwest Territories along with the partnership with the various southern institutions so they do accredit our programs as well. We deliver high school programs, not only that but post-secondary as well. We have been successful in that degree.
I did a Member’s statement, 102 graduates out of the post-secondary. We are pushing the students through the venue through post-secondary level and through the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative. That is an area that will be the prime focus on the education quality, the enrolment, how the students are progressing through our education system and working with the parents, working with the school boards and across the Northwest Territories. We have representatives on there that deals and also provides input. We made some recommendations already and we will be receiving our report I believe at the end of June. We are going to the communities in the regions starting in September, fall time. We are going to be visiting all regions and highlighting what we have found and inputs from the region. I would like to get their inputs, as well, at the same time.
Mr. Speaker, we are moving forward on this. This fall will be a busy schedule for us, along with the MLAs. Mahsi.
Mr. Speaker, I look forward to the Minister’s initiative in terms of improving the true quality of education in the Northwest Territories, because the last several years of my experience, we have not been receiving that in my region. I do have people leaving this institution in Grade 12 that cannot get into a post-secondary education or a university even, let alone a job, Mr. Speaker. I would ask the Minister in terms of this mandate here, if he is willing to work truly with the leadership in the Sahtu communities to look at major changes into the Education Act, the system that can deliver true quality education in our communities, which may require additional dollars that we can get to have a proper standard of education, teachers, classrooms in the Sahtu.
Mr. Speaker, that is what we are doing this fall. We are consulting with various aboriginal groups, leaders, the school board members, the MLAs of the particular ridings, highlighting what we have found, what we have heard from the communities, what we have heard from the committee members, what we have heard from their representatives.
Mr. Speaker, those will be laid out in the communities and I think to honour that, it will certainly be a greater improvement into our programming. Basically what I am looking at is building on our strength. We do have an education system that is very successful to date. Yes, there is always room for improvement; I am willing to accept that. I think this package will give us direction as well. It is coming from the people of the North so, Mr. Speaker, I am looking forward to that. Mahsi.
Final supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The question I have for the Minister, in terms of one small initiative that the Minister and I have talked about, is including the elders into our educational system. It has been three years since I have been bringing this up here, and yet we have not seen the light of day in terms of having the educational system open up our doors to the elders. We have been offering them solutions on this side. When is the Minister going to say as a step in the right direction for providing quality education in the classroom, on the land, that the elders would be included into our education system? There will be room for them. There will be elders in our educational system.
Mr. Speaker, I do agree that elders are valuable and the importance of their presence in the schools I fully support. Along with this strategic initiative, that will be part of the discussion as we move forward. We need to get around a system of how we pay them. That has been a very controversial issue lately because of their pension claw-back from the federal government. We certainly don’t want to have any impact on their pension, so we are trying to work around a system how it is feasible to do. We are currently discussing that. I did have feedback from the Sahtu MLA on how we can manoeuvre around the system, around the challenges. Mr. Speaker, those are the areas that we continue to focus on. This fall we will deliver key messaging. We want to expedite the process to having the elders in the school. That is one of the commitments that I am making. Mahsi.
The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just want to ask the honourable Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment questions on his announcement on the electricity Power Corporation review. It certainly is good news. Members on this side of the House applaud his statement here this morning. I just want to get some more details as we move along. It looks like some great reductions across our Territory. When would such an implementation take place? Thank you.
The honourable Minister of ITI, Mr. Bob McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We will be working with the Public Utilities Board. Right now, our timelines are that we will be introducing these changes for implementation in October of 2010. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to have that as a date to move forward. I know that recently in the newspaper the president of the NWT Power Corporation had indicated that the minimum rates would remain the same, but the Minister made an even better announcement that there will be some reductions across the board in many communities. Can he explain if there is a communication strategy as a result of this announcement today that will go out to the communities and throughout the NWT? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, this morning we had a technical briefing with the media. We will have a press conference this afternoon at two o’clock. We also will be attending the NWTAC meeting in Hay River where we will be doing further briefing of the communities. We will also be sending out information to all of the interveners and it includes all of the communities that participated in this process. Certainly, as we go forward, we will provide detailed information to our clientele. I think it’s also important to note that we will be working a lot closer with the utilities and they will also be providing information. As we go to implement the rates we will be using our PUB process, that’s the Public Utilities Board process. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much. It is incredibly good news. I’m glad to see that work finally rolling out. Just in terms of my riding alone, Mr. Speaker, how would that communication strategy roll out to many of the small communities? Especially like Nahanni Butte, which the Minister had mentioned had one of the highest rates around. Will they be sending a package, as well, to all the smaller communities or just to all the communities? Thank you.
Thank you. We see that as part of our public education process. As well, utilizing the PUB process we’ll make sure that every community or municipality will have the basic information that will explain how these rate changes will be undertaken and, certainly, they’ll have an opportunity for input at that level as well. Thank you.
Final supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. These changes are huge. Maybe the Minister can tell me how many rate zones we’ll be reducing. I don’t know if he mentioned it in here at all. Then, of course, Mr. Speaker, one of my election... When I first got elected I always aimed to move towards a one-rate zone, but I see that at least we’re consolidating some zones. Maybe the Minister can explain that. Thank you.
Thank you. As the Member knows, up until this point we’ve been operating with 33 different rates for the Northwest Territories. What we are doing is we are moving to seven rate zones and on that basis we have simplified the system significantly. We’re also moving to territorial-wide rate riders so that in the interest of fairness, we have a more balanced approach with regard to costs. So on that basis we have simplified the system. We have also committed to working with those communities that have power provided by NUL so that we can work out similar arrangements there as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I spoke about the new redesigned licence plate in my statement and I have a few questions for the Minister of Transportation this morning. In answer to Mr. Menicoche the other day, he spoke about the intent of this program, this implementation program for the new plates, and I understand the intent that they want to get people using the new plate, but I’m having difficulty with the fact that we are being forced to buy the new plate. So I’d like to ask the Minister why the Department of Transportation is forcing residents to buy this new plate. Why can’t we keep the old one until it falls apart and then get a new one? Thank you.
The honourable Minister of Transportation, Mr. Michael McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don’t believe we’re forcing anybody to buy a new plate. If you need a plate, you’re going to have to pay for it. That’s the cost recovery that’s required for this program, and we can’t keep the old plate because the old plate does not meet industry standards or national standards. The size is not what it’s required to be and there’s also visibility issues with the old plate. There was also the issue of safety. So we are now moving forward as one of the last jurisdictions to do so and we’re meeting the national standards that all other jurisdictions in North America are required to. Thank you.
Thanks to the Minister and I must have missed something in that translation. I didn’t realize that we weren’t meeting industry standards. I thought it was a matter of reflection and so on. I have a hard time when the Minister says that the people aren’t being forced to, if you need a new plate. I don’t need a new one, I need a sticker, I don’t need the plate, but we’ll leave it at that.
I’d like to ask the Minister what is the cost to the government. What was the cost? What is the cost going to be for us to find a new manufacturer and to produce these new plates? Thank you.
Thank you. The cost for the new plate and the manufacture and associated paperwork is $10, Mr. Speaker.
Gee, $10 for 30,000 plates. That is pretty cheap. What I was looking for was the cost to the government. I know the Minister, yesterday I think, said that this is going to be cost neutral, but I was looking for a total cost. I mentioned as well in my statement that we pay a vehicle registration fee, some $82.60 if you’re registering a vehicle. So I estimate that amount for 30,000 plates or vehicles to be about $2.5 million or more annually. I’d like to ask the Minister what that money is used for. Thank you.
Thank you. I’m assuming the Member is asking about the plate costs, $10, which is required to recover the cost of what it costs to produce it, associated paperwork. There is going to be 30,000 plates that will be replaced and a further 10,000 a year annually. It’s a fee that we are not marking up to recover any, or to make any money on it. Other jurisdictions charge more. For example, B.C. charges $18, Ontario charges $20, and New Brunswick charges $25. So we feel we’re below the national rates or at least on par with other jurisdictions. Thank you.
Final supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I didn’t hear an answer to my question. I heard an answer to the second question, not the third one. But I’d like to ask the Minister now, Mrs. Groenewegen had a wonderful suggestion of which would actually generate revenue for us, so I would like to ask the Minister if that would be a consideration that when people come to register their vehicle in this next 18-month period, will they be allowed to, (a), keep their plate and pay $10, or will they be allowed to hand their plate in for zero dollars? Thank you.
We are right now advising the public that they can turn their plate in and we’ll dispose of it for them, or they can keep it. We have no other options available to the public. We are not planning to try to put them on the market. There is a concern from the environment as these older plates were dipped in some toxic chemicals that were required to prevent corrosion that we are concerned about. Thank you.
The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to follow up with my colleague Ms. Bisaro’s questions to the Minister of Transportation on the new licence plate. First off I must say the licence plate itself is very nice, but it’s the process that I think people are taking issue with. As the chair of the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Infrastructure, the Minister came to Members and told us that the department was in the process of developing a new licence plate. At no time were we given any opportunity to provide input on what that design would look like. Not only does the public not get an opportunity to provide any input, Members of the House didn’t have an opportunity to provide input into the design of the new plate that was given to us. I’d like to ask the Minister about the process that allowed us just to come up with this one design. Thank you.
The honourable Minister of Transportation, Mr. Michael McLeod.
