Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is such a complex issue. We as a government say that we want sustainable, prosperous communities, yet we don’t talk about decentralization. We don’t talk about taking those public service jobs and moving them out of the capital. We don’t look at departments and activities that can take place in the smaller communities. We don’t look at that. That would change the numbers of our representative workforce quite dramatically if people didn’t have to move to Fort Smith or Yellowknife to get a government job. I’d like to ask the Minister if he sees us looking at that issue of decentralization as one of the means of achieving that more representative workforce, by taking the jobs to the communities as opposed to expecting the people to come to the larger centres.
Going back over a number of governments, there have been a number of attempts at decentralization and there have been successful initiatives to decentralize. I can think of the health care cards to Inuvik; I can think of the forestry division to Hay River, amongst others. I think that the last time a government took a serious look at decentralization it only got to a certain point, because you wind up with winners and losers. You have communities that lose jobs and other communities benefitting.
I think the best chance there is for decentralization is with devolution. We have to make sure that the jobs go where it is most feasible to operate. To decentralize comes with costs. We have to make sure that we have the people where they can do the most effective and efficient job.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today in my Member’s statement I spoke about the all-weather road from Tuk to Inuvik and how badly it’s needed to get employment into the riding of Inuvik, and Tuk, and Aklavik, and Sachs Harbour and Paulatuk. We need this project to go. Does the Minister have a plan on when he’ll be meeting with his federal counterpart in Ottawa?
Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Minister responsible for Transportation, Mr. Michael McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member is not wasting any time getting on top of the subject. The Minister was just announced, I think four hours ago.
We already, as I’ve indicated, have been working on a draft for some correspondence to go to the Minister. We are trying to encourage them to look to the North as a place for investment. There has been a lot of tension and there has been some good promises made during the last term of our government. We are inviting him to come to the Northwest Territories to meet with us. We’ve also asked for some time to sit down and talk to him about some of our priorities. We’re hoping that correspondence will go out ASAP.
Just to remind the federal government that they did promise this road in that first budget and they should stand by their word. What’s the status on the environmental review process on the Tuk-Inuvik highway?
The project, in terms of where it’s at with the environmental review process, we expect that the draft environmental impact statement will be delivered to the review board by the end of the month. We also have information on that statement that provides details on engineering and environmental impacts. It’s a fairly large document, I think about a thousand pages, and very comprehensive. The statement also lays out the next steps. That includes initiatives such as public hearings.
Is the department planning any additional work this coming summer?
The answer is yes, there is a lot of work that still has to be done. We are planning a comprehensive summer program. The work that needs to be done includes fisheries studies, wildlife surveys, things of that nature. This information will supplement the work that’s already been done. We still need to provide that type of information to get our authorities and permits, and the things that we will require to move forward.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Jacobson.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Once that process is done -- hopefully we could end that by the end of July or August -- then can we start working this winter?
There’s a lot of ifs in that question that we need to resolve. First of all we need to see what is in the new federal budget. Does it include dollars for this section of highway that the Member is referring to. We also would need to see the results from the review board. We’d also require all necessary authorities, authorizations, permits. There’s lots of work to do. If there’s any work that would be done on the section of highway, it would probably be the final portions that need to be completed on the Tuk gravel access road that we’ve been working on for several years.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.
Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement I spoke of the issues of tax arrears and lease arrears on the land in Tu Nedhe communities. Right now the elders are afraid that they’re going to lose their homes and so on. I’m getting calls from elders every month that get bills asking to pay right away.
This is for the Finance Minister. If the Finance Minister -- because the bills are coming from Finance -- could have officers go to visit the elder homeowners in Tu Nedhe to discuss their tax arrears with them. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Minister responsible for Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would be happy to talk to the Member outside the Chamber to look at this issue in more detail and some possible options or plan of action that would possibly help address this longstanding issue. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, it’s good I’d have a discussion with the Minister. For me, I can give him a lot of information, a lot of detail, but one of the big issues seems to be that there’s an accumulation of taxes, due to what I spoke of. There’s a common feeling in Tu Nedhe that they shouldn’t be paying taxes until the land resources and government negotiations are complete. Will the Minister direct his staff to write off the interest on the taxes and then deal with the principal at a later date? But at this point, write the interest off? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, this is a longstanding issue tied into Fort Resolution being in the Akaitcho Territory and unsettled claims and Treaty 8 and the whole issue of payment of taxes. There have been a number of attempts to try to resolve this issue. There have been former chiefs that have asked for forgiveness or wiping the slate clean on a go-forward basis. Anything of that nature would require a Cabinet decision.
As I indicated, the Member has had no opportunity to discuss this particular issue in any detail, so I would once again just restate my commitment to sit down with him to talk about the issue and see what possible paths there may be forward on this. Thank you.
Will the Minister work with the Minister of MACA to then, at this point, delay any further levying of taxes to the homeowners of Tu Nedhe? Thank you.
I will commit to have a discussion with the Minister of MACA on this particular issue.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Your final supplementary, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you. Will the Minister agree to stop sending out invoices and bills to the homeowners in Tu Nedhe until they’ve had a face-to-face meeting with that homeowner? Thank you.
I will commit to meet with the Member. In fact, I’ll even buy him dinner, and we can do it over dinner to talk about this issue, Mr. Speaker. Of course, other Members that are looking to have sustenance at the expense of a poor, underpaid Minister, of course I’d be happy to have them come along. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Reluctantly, I’d like to go for supper, but my question is for the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment. I’d like to note that Yellowknife Members recently met with representatives of the Smart Communities Society of the Northwest Territories and learned about the issues that they are facing and some of the risks involved with those issues. Could the Minister inform the House on what action this government has taken to strengthen the relationship between the GNWT and the Smart Communities Society of the Northwest Territories? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bob McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We met with the NWT Smart Communities Society and all the Yellowknife MLAs, including myself, and we recognize the good work that the Smart Society has been doing. We committed to working with the Smart Communities Society to deal with some of the programs that they have been working very hard on over the past three years.
I’d like to point out that over the past three years Smart Society spent about $11 million on their programs, and this year, in order to access $385,000 from the federal government, they were looking to expand their programs across the Northwest Territories.
I am pleased to report that the Government of the Northwest Territories will be working with them and will be investing $101,000 in Smart Society to continue to expand their programs across the Northwest Territories and to look at focusing on some of the last mile kind of initiatives. Thank you.
Thanks for the comments from the Minister. It sounds like that’s going to at least take care of the alligators that are latched onto their ankles right now and I appreciate that action. It seems from this that the government is, indeed, going to take full advantage of the programs and services available through the Smart Communities Society. But for the full benefit of all the people in all the communities in the Northwest Territories, considerable work remains to be done, and I’m assuming from this action that the government agrees with this, so I’m wondering what action is proposed, what next steps is the Minister thinking of, including whether his department will continue to take the lead or whether other departments may become involved to ensure the sustainability of these services. Mahsi.
In the short term we will be doing up a contribution agreement with the Smart Society, and the reason for that is, as everybody knows, there is an election coming up and we can’t commit a future government on future funding, so we will also endeavour to include that in the transition document.
I think it’s very important to note that in the future we’ll be looking at expanding to other initiatives, and long term, hopefully, it could become part of one of the TFC finance projects in the future. But that’s in the long term and we’ll have to wait and see what happens in the next government. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister responsible for the NWT Power Corporation, Premier Roland. Earlier today in my Member’s statement I highlighted the increased cost to replace the Bluefish dam. Can the Minister responsible for the NWT Power Corp please confirm this afternoon what the budget for this project is and how that budget has changed over the last several months? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Premier, Mr. Roland.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The confirmed budget with contingency is targeted now at $37.4 million.
I thank the Minister for that. I’m curious how this increase will affect the power rates in Yellowknife, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister tell me what the forecasted impact of this project is on power rates in Yellowknife? Thank you.
When this project was first proposed there was an estimate given to the PUB as this project had to be filed through them as well. The targeted impact was in the neighbourhood of up to between 1.5 to 2 cents per kilowatt hour. So that was budgeted prior to any changes in the budget. With this change we’re looking at 2.5 cents per kilowatt hour impact in this region. That does affect the rest of the communities because our Power Support Program, as we’ve changed it, is based on the Yellowknife rate. Thank you.
Thank you. I wonder, is there any specific cost mitigation measures that the Power Corp is using to try to lower the cost of this project. Are there numbers? We were talking about final numbers. Is the $33 million with the $4 million contingency, are they the final numbers or is there any possibility that the final cost of this project in the impact of power rates across the Northwest Territories and Yellowknife will be lower and how does the Power Corporation work towards trying to control these costs and keep them down, Mr. Speaker?
Thank you. The approach that the Power Corp has taken on this project on a number of areas was to minimize the costs. For example, after going out for our fee, the corporation chose a contractor to negotiate the price down, because the one portion, the construction portion was higher than anticipated, and they worked that number back down through an agreement in construction. There is also a portion of the contact that if there’s a savings on moving ahead on this project at lower than expected prices, that will reduce the overall impact, as well. So the corporation has taken a number of steps to try to minimize the project.
One of the areas we find as the reason for the increase was at the initial stages, it was deemed an emergency. The first program that was put together wasn’t as detailed as was needed, and through the environmental process there was a number of factors that adjusted the plan that was initially designed. So the design had changed, and requirements had changed and that impacted the numbers upward. We’re hoping, now that we have the numbers established and set, that there may be even some savings achieved as we go forward with construction. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. Your final, short supplementary, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This Assembly worked awfully hard to try to find ways to reduce the power rates in communities, and as a result, the rates stayed the same in Yellowknife, but overall we did a good job of trying to reduce the rates in the whole Territories. This rate obviously is a concern; this rate increase is obviously a concern. I’d like to ask the Minister, if power increases as a result of the Bluefish construction, if we can’t avoid increasing our territorial power rates as a result of this, are there any programs or is there anything that we can do as a Legislature and the Minister can do as the Minister responsible to residents to help with the impacts of this potential increase to our rates after we worked so hard to bring them down.
Thank you. The estimation of, for example, 2.5 cents per kilowatt hour will impact residents of about $17 a month. We know it is an increase. We’ve tried to minimize the overall construction costs. One of the things we’ve done with the contract is risk sharing, and that may be able to lower the actual amount that we’ve budgeted and reduce the contingency, for example. So right now the process as it would work out is the construction would have to be completed and the overall budget looked at and the impact then passed on. So it would be beyond the life of the 16th Assembly. Well, it will have to be after the final completion of the project that rates would be adjusted. So I can’t speak for the 17th Assembly on what they might do to try to mitigate something of this nature. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are directed to the Minister of the Housing Corporation in conjunction to a written question that I requested of the Minister to give me information on the negotiated contracts with Housing. Mr. Speaker, it’s important to realize that capital projects are the means of developing a lot of our community economies, especially building capacity and also bringing down the high cost of living. More importantly, it’s bringing down our social costs for the high unemployment numbers we have in our communities, and also developing the local economies and developing our local workforce to give them the opportunities so that they can build their skills in the areas of apprenticeships, and more importantly, give them the opportunity, in most cases, for their first job.
Mr. Speaker, I’d just to ask the Minister, in light of the information that I received, in five years with three negotiated contracts with an expense of $800,000 or $876,000, but in the same period the contracts for the same three communities were $9.67 million, Mr. Speaker, it shows you that the distribution of wealth in capital projects in the Northwest Territories is not really being expended in our communities but outside our communities. So I’d like to ask the Minister exactly what is his department doing to remedy this situation so that we can see the return of our capital investments in our communities and they stay in our communities.
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation, Mr. Robert McLeod.
