Debates of May 30, 2013 (day 27)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to ask the Minister, will we see this board in place during our term here?

I hope to have the Beaufort-Delta board in place, whether it be an advisory board or a management board, before the end of this government.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think all Members of this House will agree that teachers are intrinsic to the successful future of our young residents and, indeed, to the future of this territory, and so we need to make sure we take proper care of them. That means providing adequate housing where it is needed.

We are all aware of the multitude of needs in our small communities, and Members constantly press the government to make meaningful investments to help our constituents. An investment in teachers who guide and prepare students to fulfill a productive life is no less meaningful and long overdue. This has also been pointed out repeatedly by the Northwest Territories Teachers’ Association.

My first question I would like to ask the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment is: What is he doing to work with the NWTTA to ensure our teachers have access to proper accommodation so that we can do a good job for our students?

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The Minister of Education, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Our government, obviously, supports the teachers that are out there, the value they bring to our schools and also our communities. We’ve also met with the Northwest Territories Teachers’ Association, between myself, Minister R.C. McLeod and also Minister Abernethy, to discuss what’s out there, their assessment, their survey that’s been conducted, and I would just like to say thank you to the NWTTA for releasing that information to our government. At least it’s a tool that we need to work with. I believe that as a partnership we can move forward. We are doing that in collaboration with our partners, the NWTTA, between the three departments, and we want to find a solution. It’s all coming together, so that’s what we’re working on.

Mr. Speaker, I am quite glad the Minister is taking this issue very seriously in his department. I think it’s important for the public to understand exactly how widespread this issue is so that they can support our teachers across the North and to find proper accommodation where need be.

I am wondering if the Minister can provide this House with a bit of a breakdown of the number of teachers sharing accommodation in the territory who would rather be in individual housing. Would the Minister have this type of information here handy today? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, this is an area that the NWTTA, again we are working closely with them. The NWT Housing Corporation, Robert C. McLeod is also partnering this. Of course, the NWTTA conducted a survey with its members just recently. Of course, I will be seeking their permission to provide the results of the survey to the Members. At this point in time, we do not collect information on the teachers sharing accommodation. That is information that will be shared between the NWTTA and our community departments. We all know the small communities; there is a shortage of housing. We need to deal with that. How we will deal with that is in partnership and talking about the opportunities. Those are areas that we will continue to discuss among the parties that are here, the three Ministers and the NWTTA, and with the communities as well. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, it appears that the issue is probably more widespread than we are probably led to believe. As a long-time businessman and someone who is an academic, I know that you can’t do decisions unless you have good information, and to make some good decisions, you need the truth and you need the facts. We need to drill down information, as I just asked earlier here. We need those types of specific information. We need to do that type of research.

I will be asking the Minister here today if he thinks that we should be funding NWTTA a little bit more so they can drill down and provide us more specific research so that we can actually do the type of decision-making that we need to do in the future. Can he provide that degree of funding in the future? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the Northwest Territories Teachers’ Association, we value their survey that was conducted. They shared that information with us. It is to some degree evidence-based that the Member is referring to and has been referred to in the past. We need to use evidence-based when we come up with various investments into the communities dealing with the housing and other infrastructure as well. Information that was released in a recent survey, again, we are working closely with the NWTTA. We will continue to press that matter. The Housing Minister is also involved in this because we are talking about housing for the Northwest Territories, whether we are professionals, teachers, the social workers and others. We will continue to press that with the communities as well. Committee also needs to work with us because they have the assets and also infrastructure in communities, as well, to work with. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Dolynny.

Mr. Speaker, what I am hearing today is good news. I’m glad the Minister is taking this seriously.

Finally, I would like to link the work on housing to what we heard in this House before about the education renewal project that the Minister has been undertaking over the last few months. I understand that many people have been involved in the discussions of this project. I am hoping that the NWTTA is one of those partners. In my mind, reviewing the education system in light of the needs of the NWT’s teachers is very worthwhile work. I fully support this initiative. Again, all this is for naught if we can’t ensure our teachers those proper accommodations that they are requesting.

I would like to ask the Minister if he can assure me and the Members of this House that teachers’ housing will be fully addressed in this education renewal initiative and that we will find concrete solutions in the very near future. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, that is part of our overall plan to find a concrete solution. That is why we are involved in partners such as NWTTA and also into the departmental discussions that we are currently having to find the solution at the community level. We know that teachers’ housing is very, very critical, especially in the small, isolated communities, and adequate housing to stay in the community longer. So that is part of the vision that we’re currently discussing, and to develop a better relationship with their students as well. The longer the teachers are staying in the community, the more beneficial it is for the communities as well.

I will absolutely commit to making an availability of adequate teachers’ housing an important part of this education renewal process. One of the pillars is to deal with the small community schools and the professions at a community level. So, yes, that will be part of the process.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today I made a Member’s statement on one of my favourite topics: Highway No. 7. I’d like to ask the Minister of Transportation about some of the maintenance plans for this summer. I indicated there was a failure at culvert 221, but that’s, I believe once again, because of the age of the highway. I would like to say that the DOT and the contractors – I think it was Rowe’s Construction – have to be commended for acting quickly in the repair of that bridge, but it did reduce the road restrictions.

However, more importantly, my question is about dust control this year. There are 250 trucks being planned for the community of Fort Liard because of the Lone Pine discovery across from Fort Liard. That section from the BC border to Fort Liard is very dusty and I would like to ask the Minister about the dust control program that will have to happen there. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Minister of Transportation, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On the entire length of Highway No. 7 it’s 254 kilometres long. There are going to be nine sections, about 53 kilometres in total that will have the application of calcium chloride and the dust control applied to it. We believe that will greatly enhance safety.

We’re working with industry on a plan for the access road to Liard, and I know the Member mentioned 250 trucks. There’s a possibility of two wells being drilled near the community and it could, in fact, be upward of 700 truckloads going into the community or near the community of Fort Liard. So we’re working on a solution with industry on the access road and the application of calcium chloride there for the community of Fort Liard.

I’m really pleased about the dust control program for the sections and I encourage him to complete them, but there is that 32 kilometres from the BC border right to Fort Liard. I really believe that if the influx of trucking is up to that many as the Minister indicated, 700, we really should consider, and hopefully our winter road program industry is able to assist, I believe that 32 kilometres should have calcium applied to it to manage the dust for the safe travelling, because the residents of Fort Liard utilize that section going to Fort Nelson quite often and almost on a daily basis.

As far as the section from the border to Liard goes, I know there are nine sections that calcium will be applied. I can get that information for the Member from the distance from the border, the 32 kilometres to Liard.

But the application of calcium chloride will be done near bridge crossings and other areas where it’s possible to pass. So, from a safety perspective, that’s where the application will be applied.

If there is more truck traffic coming out of BC to Fort Liard, this again is something we’re going to have to take a look at, and if more calcium is needed to be applied to that section, that’s something we’ll have to take a look at. Again, I think working with industry, maybe there’s a solution there as well.

I believe that’s the thing, is that there will be a lot of dust. I don’t know if the approaches, like bridges, et cetera, there’s an increased likelihood of accidents there, but I’d surely like to see if perhaps the Minister can meet with industry with the most up-to-date plans and look at possibly some dust control on the entire length of it. I know that that dust is really fine and hangs in the air, and it hangs over that highway system and it really must be addressed. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We are up to approximately 20 percent of the entire length of Highway No. 7 that we will have some calcification of calcium chloride. Again, we will sit down with industry, and I know the folks we have on the ground in the region are always talking to industry and community leaders down there about working together and trying to come up with solutions. We will continue to do that and hopefully we can have more of Highway No. 7 have that application of calcium chloride for the safety of the travelling public. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Just quickly, can the Minister’s office forward to my office the dust control program for Highway No. 7? Thank you.

We will get that information for the Member today. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister for Environment and Natural Resources. Work is beginning, under the authority of a federal water licence, for the deconstruction of the roaster complex at the Giant Mine site, but I’ve heard that AANDC no longer has water resource officers in Yellowknife. Their water licence inspector positions are all vacant except for one in Inuvik.

Given the significant potential for environmental and human health impact from the Giant Mine roaster complex deconstruction – as we all know it’s full of arsenic trioxide and so on, 16 tonnes, I think – this raises serious issues around inspection and enforcement of terms and conditions. So will the Minister commit to urgently confirming that its project partner, which is also the regulator, will have a full complement of qualified water inspectors on staff here in Yellowknife to monitor safety and compliance throughout the term of this work? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have folks monitoring the work of the Assembly, the questions being asked, and yes, we will follow up forthwith on this urgent issue. Thank you.

This government shares responsibility for the health and safety precautions for air quality monitoring for the deconstruction project. Air sampling stations are located in town at Sir John Franklin, Niven Lake and on Latham and they will be monitored, but it’s been pointed out that fence line monitoring would be much more effective for providing an early warning system and a better indicator of site conditions and management responses. So rather than waiting to say, hey, containment have arrived, yikes, will the Minister commit to have ENR meet with AANDC project partners to amend the plan for sample collection to include air sampling stations at the fence line between the roaster complex and town, and continue sampling 24 hours a day, not just during operations, with no shutdown during winter hiatus and active operations and that the results be made publicly available on the Internet? Mahsi.

We have an air quality program coordinator that is involved in this whole project. So I will be talking to the deputy. We will be looking at the concerns the Member has raised and the suggestion he’s made about the different location and we’ll give it its due and full consideration, recognizing the urgency of the concern. Thank you.

I will look forward to what the Minister concludes on that one.

On the issue of emergency response, the worst situation would likely be a fire during the deconstruction, which would cause immediate downwind threats to human health. AANDC says there’s an emergency plan in place and warnings would be issued, but even if I heard a siren, I wouldn’t know what to do. Go inside? Listen to the radio? This information should be easy to communicate through ads and flyers delivered to homes.

Will the Minister again commit to contacting his partners and urging them to advertise and distribute detailed information on how residents will be informed in case of an emergency and what they should do in the event of a toxic cloud moving towards town or some other such event? Mahsi.

As with the other concerns that have been raised, I will be reviewing the concerns with the deputy and the officials involved in monitoring this project and involved to ensure that the safety considerations are addressed. We will go over the concerns raised by the Member, and if it requires getting in touch with our partners and revising whatever communication and emergency response plan is there, then yes, we will take the necessary steps should they be required.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final, short, short supplementary.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, thanks to the Minister. I look forward to that information. Thanks for those amendments.

There are also concerns with the dust management plan for deconstruction sets action levels for toxic dust conditions so high that site activities will not trigger any management response whatsoever.

Will the Minister commit to provide information to this House on how action levels for dust conditions were set and an explanation of why those action levels prompting dust control are set so high?

Yes.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The time for oral questions has expired, but I will allow Mr. Hawkins to get his questions in today.

I look forward to all four questions today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will try to make them very short with maybe a quick explanation and some quick bullets after that. While travelling into the Deh Cho, I’ve heard Aboriginal people say they’d like set aside lands protected and trespassing raised as an issue. Recently I was in the Sahtu and Aboriginal people told me there that they want trespass protection on their lands. I’ve been in Yellowknife and other areas, and whether it’s private business or even public lands, trespassing has turned out to be an issue. My Member’s statement said enough. I’ll just ask the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs what is he prepared to do regarding trespass legislation that can help people all around the North to deal with this type of problem.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is an issue across the Northwest Territories. I agree with the Member; there are other mechanisms in place to deal with this particular issue. I take the Member’s point, though, on the need for trespass legislation. I have reviewed trespassing legislation across the country and in many of the other jurisdictions it is administered by the Department of Justice. Seeing that, I’ve had a discussion with our Justice Minister and he has committed to me that he will have his department have a look at the opportunity of trespass legislation, or we’d have to weigh that, again, against all our other priorities as far as legislation goes.

Is that a commitment to investigate this problem about seeing what’s possible, working with his partners at the Department of Justice?

The commitment was to look at it and see if there was anything we can do.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document, entitled Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 2, 2013-2014.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mr. Abernethy.