Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier I made the comment regarding the employment rates in Fort Providence. My question is to the Minister of ITI.
In the Deh Cho riding – of course we are located in the southwestern part of the NWT – we pride ourselves on being located to the gateway to the North, gateway to Denendeh. The big thing that we come across when we drive the highway, of course, is the iconic Deh Cho Bridge. This government has invested millions of dollars, and we need to ensure that we begin at some moment in time to enjoy the benefits of the investments that we’ve made and at least enjoy the major infrastructure costs of the bridge.
So my question to the Minister of ITI is: What are some of the plans that the department is working on to try to capitalize on the Deh Cho Bridge as a major tourist attraction? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The honourable Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We had started out working with the community on plans for a community celebration for the Deh Cho Bridge. We hope to be involved in that ceremony this summer. We had talked to NWT Tourism about promoting the bridge in their literature, and we want to continue to work with the community of Fort Providence in advancing tourism initiatives in the area.
We believe that there is a lot of potential there with the bridge, and I’ve mentioned previously as a Regular Member and as Minister, it would be a good idea for us to work toward some type of bison interpretative centre close to the community of Fort Providence to take advantage of the new traffic that’s going to be coming across the Deh Cho Bridge. Thank you.
Following up on that, there are three other communities, including Enterprise, Hay River Reserve, Kakisa, and my riding. I want to get an indication from the Minister, what are some other ways the department is working to ensure we develop a capacity for promoting tourism? Also at the same time, there are some opportunities that some entrepreneurs are beginning to raise interest in, and I wanted to know how the department is planning to support capacity. Mahsi.
We are working very hard on an Economic Opportunities Strategy. We have been working toward that. We have to establish an action plan by this fall. I hear the Member. We have to tackle the high unemployment rates in some of our smaller communities. The communities in the Member’s riding are of particular concern.
We have lots of opportunity here if you look at forestry, tourism, agriculture, and we’ve also got, as the Member mentioned, Canadian Zinc mine. We’ve got the recent significant discovery by Lone Pine near Fort Liard.
So there are opportunities there, and we have to work in partnership with the communities in the Deh Cho region to advance those types of opportunities. We also have to work with Education, Culture and Employment on training opportunities for residents there to take advantage of the jobs that are coming. There are going to be opportunities.
When we were out at Prairie Creek Mine last summer with the Premier and a couple of other Ministers, we saw firsthand some of the young people from the communities in the riding working at Prairie Creek getting that type of training, and it was really nice to see. We need to see much more of that around the Territories to address the high unemployment rates in our small communities. Thank you.
I wanted to ask a question in terms of partnership and working with communities. I think it’s essential to ensure that lays the basis of the relationship, especially with communities that are basically categorized as have-nots. One of the recent initiatives that have come about is the initiative to establish a wood pellet plant in my riding. What kind of support capacity is the department undertaking to ensure that it does come to a successful reality and is one day operational? Mahsi.
We certainly look forward to the day where we can have a biomass facility in the Member’s riding. We are supportive of that happening. We’ve worked with the proponent there for, I believe, close to two years. We’re hopeful that at some point in time we will see that plant go ahead so that we can harvest some biomass in the Member’s region and other regions around the Northwest Territories and produce biomass here in the NWT. So we continue to work toward that.
At the end of the day, investment decisions will have to be made by the proponent. There are a number of agreements that the proponent would have to come up with with the various community groups. It is all about partnerships and building solid relationships. I think they’ve worked hard at doing that, and we’ve worked alongside them on trying to see this proposal come to fruition. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is encouraging to hear from the Minister that one of the steps that he begins to perhaps contemplate is an immediate step of an action plan to ensure that the Economic Development Strategy moves forward. I want to see if there could be assurances from the Minister that he’ll commit to ensure that some initiatives that are badly needed in the have-not communities, like the communities that I represent in the riding, will happen.
Would the Minister commit to ensure that the partnership will continue, especially with the wood pellet industry initiative that’s ongoing? Mahsi.
I give the Member and other Members the assurance that the Economic Opportunities Strategy is built on solid relationships and establishing those relationships and ensuring that the Northwest Territories economy is going to be one that is diversified.
We will have big projects and opportunities like we do in the Sahtu and perhaps on the offshore, but we can’t lose sight of the smaller things, the things that are more important, and that is small business, tourism, agriculture, forestry, and fishing. Those I think will be key as we move the Economic Opportunities Strategy forward because those smaller things have much more opportunity to get people employed in the smaller communities.
At ITI we continue to support the traditional economy. We think there’s a future in trapping. We support programs like Take a Kid Trapping and the Harvesters Assistance Program, and we continue to do that. Fur continues to fetch high prices at market, and that’s money and jobs that get right back into the smaller communities here in the NWT. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to follow up on my Member’s statement with some questions on the Recreational Leasing Policy. First of all I want to clarify who knew what on the issue of the many so-called hunting and fishing leases granted by AANDC, particularly those on Walsh and Banting lakes.
Can the Minister confirm whether his department was informed by our federal land management partner of its intention to grant new leases in the exact areas and lakes where we are trying to introduce comprehensive land use management? And really, for that matter, can the Minister confirm whether any public process providing equal opportunity to applicants was carried out, or if these leases were a total surprise to everyone except the chosen few? In other words, what do we know about both the internal government-to-government business and the external reaching out to the public process?
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We were unaware that they were going to be putting these leases out. Of course, we were quite concerned with all the work that we were doing, as far as the density study goes, around those areas. As far as the public process, I mean, I can’t speak to how AANDC does their business, but I think we would have all known in this building today if there was a public process as to the leasing of their lots. I can’t speak to what they were doing. I can only speak to what we knew and what we didn’t know.
Obviously, that’s not good. A government-to-government relationship you’d expect a lot better than that, and I think we also have a responsibility to try and be aware of what our residents are being exposed to or not.
As the Minister’s December 2012 letter to AANDC Minister John Duncan said, with the signing of the Devolution AIP, it’s more important now than ever before that our two organizations work together, and I appreciate the Minister saying that.
The Minister’s letter briefed the federal Minister on the work underway to develop the recreational leasing policy framework. But what is the explanation from the federal government on why these leases were granted in the very area we are trying to bring order to?
In a letter received back from Minister Duncan at the time, he reinforced our need to work together. That’s why we were quite surprised at the number of leases that were letting out. I followed that up with a letter to the new minister, Minister Valcourt, explaining to him our disappointment and the fact that all these leases were let while we were doing all this work and how we thought that might undermine the work that we’re doing.
I have not received a response back from Minister Valcourt. The letter just went out recently. We have asked the Minister to cease any applications that are being taken for federal land until we can do our work. I am waiting for a response. Once I get that, I will share it with Members of the House.
Thanks to the Minister for that response. The information that I received from our Minister indicates that AANDC has a heap of applications on file, so the potential is large for a lot more of these to be happening in the area that we’re trying to manage responsibly.
I appreciate hearing that the Minister has been in touch with the federal government on this and let him know that we’d like no further leases. I understand there is no response yet, but does the Minister agree that the next recreational leases granted on lands should, in fact, be decided by this government and not the federal government, given the pending devolution situation?
We were doing all the work because we knew that devolution was coming and we would have to have responsibility for all Crown land that is transferred over to Commissioner’s land. We had updated our regulations. We had done a lot of good density study work, and our regulations would have applied to any new leases that may be coming.
I do tend to agree with the Member that with devolution coming we would have assumed that they would have put any new leases on hold until after devolution, and then those applications could then come to the Commissioner and be regulated under our Commissioner’s Land Act. Again, we’ve expressed our disappointment with the fact that they let all these leases, and are eagerly waiting for the response to see if they will discontinue any lease applications.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks again for that response. My constituents include the Yellowknives Dene First Nation and many of the Akaitcho people. Every new land alienation in the Chief Drygeese territory makes it more complex and difficult to finally conclude a just land settlement for the Yellowknives Dene First Nation. The federal government seems to interpret their fiduciary role here in a very strange way. I am surprised YKDFN hasn’t thrown up their hands and told the federal government they will see them in court.
If YKDFN does decide to go to legal action to halt this erosion of their land base, will this government voice its support for their assertion of rights? Mahsi.
It’s up to the YKDFN to use whatever avenues that are available to them. If that includes court action, then that would be a decision they would have to make.
We as a government and as a department will use the avenues that are available to us. We have tried to work very close with the YKDFN in identifying some of their traditional areas out there too. They have been very receptive to working with us. They were just made aware recently, I think, of the federal leases that were being let on Crown land in their territory.
It was a difficult question for me to answer. I’m not going to try. They use whatever avenues are available to them. We use the avenues that are available to us. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank Mr. Bromley for raising this issue. I certainly wanted to give a first shot at it. I think he did it very well. This problem out there on the Ingraham Trail is not just a problem here in Yellowknife, it is certainly a problem in other regions. The bigger issue here is that it is affecting this region quite hard. One of the issues raised here today was about the relationship with the YK Dene and certainly that this new issue has fallen on their lap.
I want to know what the MACA Minister is doing to help maybe build a relationship with the YK Dene on this particular issue. Like the old saying goes, there is strength in numbers. That may draw better attention to this issue to Minister Valcourt, if we are working with the YK Dene who may eventually be the final stewards of this land and the GNWT may be temporary stewards of this land until their land claim is done. It would be a great benefit if we work as a relationship, fight together, strength in numbers. Will the Minister reach out and lead this initiative? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister has reached out to take the lead in this. We, as I mentioned to Member Bromley, have had good discussions with the YKDFN. We met with them out in Detah. The Member makes a good point that there is strength in numbers, if we can all relay our concerns to the federal government as to the number of leases that were let out there. The majority of them, there are 122 and I think 35 of them are here in the capital. There are a few out in the other areas of the Northwest Territories, but the issue is not as problematic there as it is here because there is a lot of private land up there that people that want cabin leases go through. We have reached out to the YKDFN and we are looking forward to working with them as we move this forward. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, if I heard the Minister correctly, and from what I have heard on the ground, through the land advisory relationship process, the YK Dene were caught by surprise. Even the GNWT was caught by surprise. If it wasn’t for some of the screaming, well-tuned-in public, most of us probably would have been caught by surprise even worse than what has been happening now.
From the Minister’s perspective through process only, obviously, were there any gaps here? Why wasn’t there proper feedback from the feds on a relationship of the land advisory process? I believe the GNWT is party to this. I believe the YK Dene are somewhat party to this. Did the feds make a mistake? Did the process fall off the wheels? What can we do to get it back on track so these things, if we have disputes, we can get them on the record and slow them down where necessary? Thank you.
We had attempted to form a working group, and the YKDFN were going to join us on the working group. We extended an invitation for AANDC to be part of this working group as we were doing our density study.
Again, we were quite surprised when we started getting calls on the activity that was going out on Crown land. So we will continue to try and work with AANDC and the YKDFN, because this is an issue that I think we need to resolve quickly before devolution takes place because we are going to be inheriting all the leases on Crown land. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
If I understand the process correctly, the feds, in allowing these leases, at present it’s outside of our control and they are following the process until they wish to. They are steamrolling until theoretically April 1st when we take this over.
I am wondering if the MACA Minister sees this as a potential problem for enforcement. I’ve even heard rumours that people are building two-storey cabins or whatever the case may be. Who knows what they are building out there? So I guess there’s going to be an enforcement type of issue that is going to fall on the shoulders of the NWT government, as well as their long-term devolution partners, the Akaitcho region or the Yellowknives, in particular.
So, what is the MACA Minister going to propose to help strategize to get ahead of this problem that I can already foresee as going to be a major problem? Thank you.
I’m not quite sure what the conditions of the federal leases are. I believe it’s a 100-square metre building. It could be one or two storeys.
To the Member’s question, we are trying to update our regulations. We are going to have good regulations in place, good density studies in place. More importantly, we are going to have good enforcement in place.
I have directed the department, through the proper business planning process, to come forward with a request to possibly bring on more enforcement people, knowing that as of April 1st we are going to be inheriting the enforcement of all Commissioner’s land. These leases, the hunting and fishing leases, are good for five years. So at the end of five years, my understanding is those leases will then become Commissioner’s land leases, so they will have to abide by our regulations and we’ll have all the proper enforcement in place. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Hawkins, that was your final, short supplementary. I just forgot to tell you.
---Laughter
I checked with the Clerk. Thank you very much.
---Laughter
Mr. Speaker, my written questions are directed to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Would the Minister provide the Sahtu Regional Training Partnership five-year plan and the milestones that have been accomplished to date?
Would the Minister provide details on how the senior officials from the departments of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Environment and Natural Resources, Transportation, and Education, Culture and Employment plan to work together to meet the people’s training needs in the Sahtu region?
Would the Minister provide the final copy of the skilled workforce needs assessment in the Sahtu region?
Would the Minister provide a plan to show how the departments of Education, Culture and Employment and Industry, Tourism and Investment are working together to effectively meet the training needs of Sahtu residents and industry? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I have a return to written question asked by Ms. Bisaro on February 25, 2013 to the Honourable Tom Beaulieu, Minister of Health and Social Services regarding Housing Audits for Adults with Disabilities.
The numbers listed below provide the number of residents currently on a waitlist for supported or independent living, according to the most recent data from the Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority, the Beaufort-Delta Health and Social Services Authority and the Territorial Admissions Committee. Please note that the numbers could not be broken down further, to protect the privacy of the clients.
The number of clients currently on a waitlist for a supported living placement is as follows:
total of 19 clients on waitlist from the following communities:
Yellowknife
Behchoko
Fort Simpson
Fort Resolution
Nahanni Butte
Fort Providence
Fort Good Hope
Lutselk’e
total of six clients on waitlist from Inuvik region
total of six clients on waitlist from Hay River region.
The number of clients currently on a waitlist for an independent living placement is as follows:
total of eight clients on waitlist from the following communities:
Yellowknife
Behchoko
Fort Simpson
Fort Resolution
Nahanni Butte
Fort Providence
Fort Good Hope
Lutselk’e
total of three clients on waitlist from Inuvik region
no clients on waitlist from Hay River region.
Independent living is defined as:
seniors or persons with disabilities living in public housing or their own homes and that do not require supports.
In contrast, supported living is defined as:
seniors or persons with disabilities living in public housing, their own home, or seniors residences and that require some supports from home care.
Home care is provided to individuals in their homes who need assistance with daily activities including individuals requiring supported living. Assisted activities may include, but are not limited to:
foot care
personal care
mobilizing
management of medications, and/or
monitoring of chronic diseases.
Unlike independent living, supported living provides 24 hour support and supervision for vulnerable individuals who generally do not have medical needs or require nursing care.
