Debates of November 29, 2007 (day 5)

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Mr. McLeod.

Further Return To Question 64-16(1): Operational Grant For The Host Society Of The Arctic Winter Games

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’ve had that discussion with the host society. We have indicated to them that we will respond early in December and we’re having those discussions ongoing right now as we speak, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mr. Abernethy.

Supplementary To Question 64-16(1): Operational Grant For The Host Society Of The Arctic Winter Games

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If it is approved, when do you think the money might be able to flow, or when does the Minister think the money might be able to flow to the host society? Because, as I said, they need the money; they need to get going and we want this to be the best games possible, so cutting the money would be a real disappointment. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. I don’t know if the Minister wants to give his thoughts on that. Mr. McLeod.

Further Return To Question 64-16(1): Operational Grant For The Host Society Of The Arctic Winter Games

Mr. Speaker, that is a hypothetical situation and question, and a loaded one at that. Mr. Speaker, we’ve indicated to the host society that we’re dealing with the issue right now. Hopefully we’ll have an answer as soon as possible; early in December. They’ve conveyed that they need an answer and we hope that the results of our discussions is not going to result in them cutting back programs. But at this point I can’t confirm that we will be providing the money; we’re having those discussions. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in a lot of the statements I give, or some of the statements I give, I speak to the fact that, you know, we may have lost someone. I do that, Mr. Speaker, to put a human face on to some of the decisions, or lack of decisions, that we make, and the consequences. Sometimes, unfortunately, the consequences are not as we would like them to be. I use that just to point out the fact that we do have some problems with some of the programs that we deliver and there is a human cost to it. The reason I bring that up, Mr. Speaker, that being said, I’d like to ask the Minister of Transportation, earlier this summer there was a culvert collapse at Caribou Creek and luckily with that one there was no human cost to it; there may have been, there could have been, but there was none and that’s fortunate. I’d like to ask the Minister, has he received a report as to why this culvert collapsed? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister responsible for Transportation, Mr. Yakeleya.

Return To Question 65-16(1): Culvert Collapse At Caribou Creek

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the collapse in the Caribou Creek -- it’s on the Dempster Highway -- is a culvert that has been put in some years and throughout the existence of our culverts and bridges, there’s a continuing lifecycle and inspections and this is one infrastructure that came…Time ran out, I guess, on the integrity of the structure and it's lucky that nobody was injured when we had the collapse of the culvert.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Supplementary, Mr. McLeod.

Supplementary To Question 65-16(1): Culvert Collapse At Caribou Creek

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to ask the Minister if regular inspections are done on the condition and the age of these culverts. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Yakeleya.

Further Return To Question 65-16(1): Culvert Collapse At Caribou Creek

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I had indicated earlier in my questions to other Members, that safety is a priority for the department and through the department’s maintenance and operation lifecycles that inspections are made on all our facilities in the Northwest Territories throughout; well-checked, well-operated…(inaudible)…in terms of all of our facilities and existing infrastructures. Yes, these inspections were carried out in accordance with our department’s safety policy.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Supplementary, Mr. McLeod.

Supplementary To Question 65-16(1): Culvert Collapse At Caribou Creek

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. The priority is to have these infrastructures inspected. Our priority is the safety of the people and I’d like to ask the Minister if he knows when the last time this culvert was inspected and what were the results of that inspection? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Yakeleya.

Further Return To Question 65-16(1): Culvert Collapse At Caribou Creek

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The bridge was inspected…Sorry; the culvert was inspected in 2007. As with any infrastructure, it’s kind of hard to crystal ball if something is going happen within a certain time frame. I believe that our department did look at all our culverts and bridges and sometimes, for unknown circumstances, events are beyond our control and things do happen. This time it happened to be the Caribou Creek culvert.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Supplementary, Mr. McLeod.

Supplementary To Question 65-16(1): Culvert Collapse At Caribou Creek

Mr. Speaker, the condition of culverts and the inspection should not be beyond our control. It’s something that we should be able to control. I would like to ask the Minister, obviously the culvert was inspected and was deemed to be safe; but it collapsed. I’d like to ask the Minister, at the end of the day someone was responsible for inspecting and passing this culvert as being safe. Has his department looked at who is responsible for this and if any actions were taken? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Yakeleya.

Further Return To Question 65-16(1): Culvert Collapse At Caribou Creek

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to assure the members of the public that the department does due diligence in terms of inspecting all of our facilities, all our highways. For example, yesterday, because of the low water in the Mackenzie River at Fort Providence, we were unable to operate our ferry because there are things that are beyond the department’s control. Ultimately, I am responsible, as the Minister of Transportation, and I certainly treat our operations as very professional and in that we have read good reports. This culvert was inspected. We’re looking at future plans in terms of how we’re going to do our work on other inspections and, Mr. Speaker, I believe that everything was followed according to plan in terms of our safety of our operations for the travelling public of the North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member’s statement, I spoke of a black mould problem affecting the public housing in Paulatuk. I’m concerned with the health and well-being of my constituents. I’m not interested in assigning blame; I’m interested in addressing the problem. Can the Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation tell me what the corporation has done to date on the black mould issue in Paulatuk? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation, Mr. Miltenberger.

Return To Question 66-16(1): Black Mould Problems In Paulatuk Housing Units

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the issue of the need to inspect and remediate the black mould in Paulatuk was dealt with through a call for tenders. Arctic Builders out of Inuvik, who are certified specialists in this area, got the tender. They’ve been in to Paulatuk; the houses have been inspected and work is underway to remediate the houses that have been identified with black mould. It is anticipated that the project will be complete, I understand, by the end of December.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Supplementary, Mr. Jacobson.

Supplementary To Question 66-16(1): Black Mould Problems In Paulatuk Housing Units

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister tell the Assembly whether the corporation has given any consideration to developing a territorial-wide action plan to deal with this issue of black mould in the NWT Housing Corporation housing stocks? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. Mr. Miltenberger.

Further Return To Question 66-16(1): Black Mould Problems In Paulatuk Housing Units

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I’d be happy to share with the Member the reports and the findings of the Arctic Builders as they did their house inspections and the work that was required. The Member will note in the report that the majority of the black mould was due to non-structural reasons, but it is an issue in many other communities, as well, and, yes, we are trying to come up with a way to identify and deal with this issue before it becomes severely problematic. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Supplementary, Mr. Jacobson.

Supplementary To Question 66-16(1): Black Mould Problems In Paulatuk Housing Units

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Would the Minister commit to coming to Paulatuk and discussing this with my local housing authority? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. Mr. Miltenberger.

Further Return To Question 66-16(1): Black Mould Problems In Paulatuk Housing Units

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I discussed with the Member that we would like to, in the new year, schedule time to tour Nunakput and all the communities in his constituency, including Paulatuk where I’m sure we’ll have an opportunity to discuss that particular issue with the Member and with the community members. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I just would like to follow up to questions on my Member’s statement to the Minister of Transportation, just with respect to, and also support, the Member from Mackenzie Delta’s idea of pursuing a territorial highway strategy which includes chipsealing of all our highways. I just would like to ask the Minister what exists in our current strategy. Does it include a movement towards chipsealing of all our territorial highways? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Minister responsible for Transportation, Mr. Yakeleya.

Return To Question 67-16(1): Territorial Strategy For Highway Surfaces

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in our long term, eventually in the long term of highways in the Northwest Territories, we certainly want to look at communities that do not have highways. I mean, right now we’re talking about highways on existing facilities and existing roads. So in the long term, certainly we do have the funds, we have the support from other sources of funding who would look at highways that do require good roads and good drainage and reconstruction of chipsealing. We also have to look at communities and regions that do not have a highway. So we certainly have to start balancing our investment across the North. Mr. Speaker, certainly that’s something that the department is open to and the amount of resources we have, we just have now looking at our own existing dollars that do have paved highways right here.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.

Supplementary To Question 67-16(1): Territorial Strategy For Highway Surfaces

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Well, we could probably debate if we could have 2,000 kilometres of bad road or 600 kilometres of good road where we allocate our expenses. But we are freeing up some money by not spending money on Highway No. 4 and I’d like to ask the Minister, what is our strategy, and if chipsealing all our territorial highways can and will be part of it? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Mr. Yakeleya.

Further Return To Question 67-16(1): Territorial Strategy For Highway Surfaces

Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I also say, you know, we can have bad roads and existing roads, but some regions have no roads. So I’d like to look at that also in terms of how we do our investments of highway strategies in the Northwest Territories. Certainly, we’ll continue to improve what we have in the Northwest Territories in terms of a highway. There will be some areas that we need to do some reconstruction. We need to do some dust control. We need to do some further maintenance on some of the paved roads. Certainly, providing that we get the support from the House here and working with committee, we’ll certainly look at other areas that if it requires chipsealing in some of the areas. However, we’re going through the process and hopefully we’re going to have that discussion with committee.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.

Supplementary To Question 67-16(1): Territorial Strategy For Highway Surfaces

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I was asking the Minister that we do have existing roads that do need improvement and I’d like to ask the Minister, are we developing a territorial strategy? I just want to point out as well there, Mr. Speaker, if you allow me, that the Minister is talking about new highways and building new roads, but that’s the mandate of the federal government. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Mr. Yakeleya.

Further Return To Question 67-16(1): Territorial Strategy For Highway Surfaces

Thank you. I really thank the Member, because I certainly like to be reminded that the federal government has a part here. Similar to the parts that now the regions that do have highways, that certainly was the federal government’s responsibility, but I’m certainly looking forward to committee work, looking forward to my department in terms of long-term strategy in terms of chipsealing existing roads in the Northwest Territories. Again, I need to work with my department. I certainly like to welcome working with committee in terms of investing in our existing roads in terms of how we see that in the future.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Final supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.

Supplementary To Question 67-16(1): Territorial Strategy For Highway Surfaces

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I’d just like to point out to the Minister that if he moves towards a territorial strategy of chipsealing all our roads, I don’t think he’ll have very much objection if he moves this in the House and I’d like him to consider that and what stages can he do that, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Mr. Yakeleya.

Further Return To Question 67-16(1): Territorial Strategy For Highway Surfaces

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I certainly would rely on the Member’s support when we started looking at these types of a strategy. However, Mr. Speaker, I need to remind the Members, and remind the people in the Northwest Territories, that we need to continue investing down the Mackenzie Valley in terms of all our infrastructure and sometime we need to go back to the very basics of looking at the regions that do not have any type of all-weather road into the communities. However, I will keep that in mind when we come to that discussion when we have our regular meetings with committee in terms of putting together our plans and our strategies for the North.