Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to follow up on the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources’ statement earlier today and my colleague Mrs. Groenewegen’s statement on the content of the Minister’s statement.
I guess first of all I’d like to know, the Minister stated greenhouse gas emissions had broad implications to our environment and potential impact to the social, cultural and economic well-being of NWT residents. Just to confirm, does the Minister mean impacts like the anticipated loss of hundreds of species of arctic wildlife and plants important to our diverse cultures? Like hundreds, likely billions of dollars of damage to the infrastructure we have in our communities. Like the huge implications to our people throughout the NWT for the health of our people, especially our seniors. If so, would the Minister consider putting those sorts of specifics in his statement so that they actually have some content? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Minister responsible for Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Member telling me what I need, it’s very helpful. This issue has been before this House since the inception of this Assembly. I think it’s clear; it speaks to the process, not the content of what we’re going to do. There’s going to be information going out, there’s going to be consultation undertaken. What I did in this House today was to give an update on a significant process that’s a shift from the government looking at itself to looking at the Territory, looking at our carbon footprint, consulting with communities, business, industry, aboriginal governments about this very complex critical issue, and the Member has listed off some of the impacts that we are dealing with and we’re going to continue to deal with. So this is a process update and there will be much more information to come. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to assure the Speaker that these are posed as questions. The recent reports released during this session, reports from across the globe, have all highlighted the accelerating and deepening consequences of climate change. Would the Minister agree that this sort of information is relevant and for inclusion in his statement such as he gave earlier today, especially when the relevance is directly applying to the Arctic and our jurisdiction?
The issue of biodiversity and loss of species is a big global issue. I will indicate that, yes, when I stand up to speak to the content of the process and the strategy and the questions that we’re asking and the points that we’d like to be considered, that type of detail will be there to set the stage and the context and try to map out how we move forward. We’ve taken a tack and a path as a government that’s allowed us to do a whole host of things. We’re now turning our attention to how do we do that not only for the government but as a Territory. There are many things in place. We’ve invested $60 million to start to shift to alternative energies. Significant commitment all across the board with alternative energies. So, yes, that kind of detail is going to be critical to set the stage, the content, as we move forward.
The Minister mentioned targets for greenhouse gas emissions and reductions. Our current target is clearly one that’s so modest it’s almost negligible, albeit it’s an important start. Will we be considering meaningful targets in line, for example, with scientific analysis and the urgency of the situation?
The point of the consultation and going across the land to talk about the Greenhouse Gas Strategy is to see what kind of consensus we can reach on the seriousness of the issue. The issue of targets will be there, clearly. We’ve set one, as the Member has indicated, as a government and if we’re going to set one for ourselves as a Territory, what will it be? Is it one target fits all or is it a target that looks at large emitters, small emitters, communities? It’s a complex issue, as I’ve indicated. It’s going to take a lot of creative hard work to come up with a consensus, but it is a journey we are committed to embarking on and completing.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you again to the Minister. Again just referencing the statement, I note the reference to broad implications that we’re taking. We have taken broad action and, in fact, we are contemplating broadening the application of our reduction measures. I’m wondering if we will commit to seriously going after effective new actions that demonstrate significant net reductions in NWT emissions, especially relative to 1990 levels, and putting this government back into a leadership position. Just looking around the Territory, I see municipalities, the NWTAC and so on providing much more effective leadership in actual reductions.
This Assembly, I think, can take great pride in the steps that we’ve taken to deal with greenhouse gas emissions as a government. The money that we’ve put into the system to work with communities, to work with individuals, through our community energy plans, our retrofits, our mini-hydro, our rebate programs, our retrofitting our own buildings to reduce our greenhouse gases and the Members have been fully apprised of that, and we look forward to working with all the stakeholders, aboriginal governments, communities, business and industry on this issue to see how we better apply ourselves in a more coordinated way. We’ve done it as a government for ourselves. Now, how do we do it as a territory? That will be our challenge.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In Tu Nedhe we have many housing issues but we also have income support issues. The constituents are trying to make ends meet on income support. Today I have questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Can the Minister tell me when the last time the Income Support Program was evaluated and reviewed in the sense of the effectiveness and delivery of the program?
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The last time we had an overall review of our income security framework was in 2007. This included new incidental benefits. Benefits were increased and also employment incentives were added. Those are just some of the key topics that were changed. As we go along, our program does change over time. It was back in 2007, three years ago.
I think the Minister will agree that there are less viable options for income in the small communities. Will the Minister review the Income Support Program and its delivery and look at the issues that are specific to the rural and remote communities?
I agree there are limited opportunities in the small and isolated communities. We do what we can to make programs more effective in the communities. The review the Member is referring to is ongoing. There are always changes happening, but it has to meet the vision and guiding principles that are fair, equitable, and needs of the communities. We have changed the programming and this was an area that we could certainly look at as well.
Low employment means less money in the communities. Less money in the communities means that more people are relying on things like income support and pensions and so on, which is spread out among more people. Does the department consider that factor when they’re reviewing the program?
Yes, that does play a role in our program deliverance. Also, when we review the programming, it does take it into consideration as well. The income security area, when we review the programming, we also take into consideration the high cost of living in the community. Food, clothing, and incidental benefits are adjusted by community and family size as well. Those are the discussions that we’ve been having over the years and we’ll continue to have that.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final supplementary, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was going to ask the Minister whether or not the department took high cost of living into account. I guess the Minister answered that question. I wonder if the Minister takes into account the remoteness or isolation of the community when they’re doing the review.
Yes, those are the information that we take into consideration. The Members share a lot of information with us and we do seriously take them into consideration. We have made some changes to the Senior Fuel Subsidy on the threshold based on the recommendations from the Members as well. The income security framework we made some changes in 2007 and that does reflect on the high cost of living, especially those remote communities that are limited with job opportunities. We do what we can with the program in the enhancement of the communities.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have questions for the Minister of ITI. I know my colleague Mr. Abernethy was speaking about barren-ground caribou outfitting in the Northwest Territories earlier. It’s good news that you look at the numbers of the Bluenose-East; numbers are coming back and the Bluenose-West in Cape Bathurst are getting somewhere near stable. I think that’s good news. The problem is, from where I see it, I believe the Department of ENR is intent on just letting the outfitting businesses that were there just wither away and go away. Then you’ve got the Minister of ITI that has done something to try to help the outfitters here in the Northwest Territories by providing some of this tourism diversification money, product diversification money. But somewhere along the line we’ve got to ensure that when the caribou numbers come back, those businesses are viable. I’d like to ask the Minister, outside of the current programs, is the government intent on developing any further programs that would see the current outfitting businesses for barren-ground caribou in the Northwest Territories be around when the numbers do come back?
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister responsible for Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bob McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member has already referenced the Tourism Diversification Marketing Program and I guess for some time we’ve realized that the trends with regard to tourism have been changing and the demand for consumptive tourism has been moving more into the areas of ecotourism and adventure tourism. We developed a marketing program that we spent about $5 million over the past four years so that existing operators can develop new products and look at other opportunities. We have met with the barren-ground outfitters and they said that basically they couldn’t really use that program, although some of them had applied for it. We found more funding and developed a program specifically for the Sport Outfitter Marketing Program so that we can deal with them and their declining populations.
The barren-ground caribou outfitters pumped millions and millions of dollars into the economy over the years here in the Northwest Territories. It would be an absolute shame to see that industry disappear with the caribou. The numbers are encouraging. The numbers are coming back. I hope and pray that those numbers do continue to trend upward. Those businesses need to be there when those numbers come back so that we can continue to inject the millions of dollars into our economy here in the Northwest Territories. I’d like to ask the Minister again if it is the intent of the government to provide any help and programming to the current outfitters that would see them bridge the gap between right now, where they don’t have tags, and sometime in the future when tags will become available once again.
This year we have $600,000 in the Sport Outfitter Marketing Program. We are using that money to assist not only the barren-ground outfitters but also the polar bear outfitters. We’ve allocated $300,000 for the barren-ground outfitters and there are seven barren-ground outfitters that are eligible to access the program. Four of the seven have accessed that program and are using the funds to put their lodges into care and maintenance so that they can make sure they can still operate them at some future point. It is our intention to seek additional funds in the upcoming business plan and we will continue to go forward on that basis.
The bottom line is I think the barren-ground caribou outfitters need a support. They need a champion on Cabinet. I would look to the Minister of ITI to be that champion and to bring forward a program that, like I said, is going to ensure that the businesses that we have here today, that pump millions of dollars, are going to be there. Hopefully the numbers trend the right way and we’ll get tags for them and continue to inject those dollars into our economy.
Again I would like to ask the Minister, I know he mentioned next year’s business plan, but it might be too late for some of the businesses that we have here. I think we need to get to work on this immediately. I’d like to ask the Minister if he’s willing to put some minds around the table and try to come up with a program that’s going to ensure that this happens.
We do have an existing program, the Sport Outfitter Marketing Program. We do also have other business programs. The majority of those programs are based on viability, so it would be something that probably wouldn’t occur unless they develop alternative tourism products that could be marketed. Depending on our government’s fiscal situation on a go-forward basis, we will continue to try to expand this program. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Your final, short supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate all the work that the Minister has done in this regard, but my belief is that it falls short of what is needed. Like I said, we need to find a program that’s going to bridge the businesses between right now and when they can get some tags. I don’t think the current program allows us to do that. I don’t think anybody at ENR is going to be standing up fighting for the outfitting industry here in the Northwest Territories. There needs to be a balance and, again, I think the Minister of ITI can provide that balance and get a program in here that is going to see the likelihood that this industry will continue to flourish here in the Northwest Territories at some point in time. Thank you.
As the department, we meet with the barren-ground outfitters on a regular basis to determine how the funds should be spent and we expect that other outfitters will be accessing this fund. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the past I’ve brought this issue forward to the House. It’s an issue of contracting where our Public Works and Government Services has allowed someone to help them develop a tender, but at the same time they subsequently allow them to bid on the tender, and on a few occasions they have won the tender. The first one I’m going to note is when the water treatment program up in the North here had issued five contracts for water treatment. I had felt at the time that that was an unfair process that wasn’t open and honest. I’m concerned that another issue has come before me on my desk regarding another tender where a business in Yellowknife is concerned that somebody the government has used to help develop the tender process then went on and bid on the tender, and they won it.
Mr. Speaker, what’s becoming clear here is there’s a sort of unfair advantage being proposed by allowing the person who helps develop the tender and then to certainly turn around and bid on the tender. That may be perfectly legal, but it certainly doesn’t pass the smell test of what is perceived as fair.
Mr. Speaker, my question for the Minister of Public Works is: What is he prepared to do to ensure that we have clear guidelines for anybody who helps prepare a tender to ensure that they’re shown and treated in the same way, in a fair manner, than somebody who wasn’t involved in the development of that tender so there’s no unfair advantage?
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister of Public Works and Services, Mr. Michael McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have to assume that the Member is referring only to the contracts that fall under Public Works and Services and not the other departments. Mr. Speaker, it’s common practice across the government to confer and hire different companies that specialize in different sectors, different areas, different industries, to provide advice to help with the scoping and drafting of the project. The information shared is restricted to that process, especially if it’s a specific type of need, and there are really pretty rigid rules around how we do that. I don’t think that’s something that has been a big issue up to now. It’s been going on for many years and we had no real intent to change that. However, if the Member has some concerns, I’d be glad to hear from him. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to hear from the Minister, because Public Works is simply seen as the safeguard for...(inaudible)...policy in the Government of the Northwest Territories. The Minister would be correct that individual departments do have their own individual policies, but Public Works is seen as the centre of excellence when it comes to the area of recruitment and the rules to be followed by.
Mr. Speaker, the issue comes down to unfair advantage. You can’t tell the right side of the brain don’t talk to the left side of the brain when you go bid on a tender even though you tried to develop it. It’s a crazy way of saying please forget everything we did over the last month. Mr. Speaker, what safeguards does the Minister have in place, whether it’s rules or complaint processes, that should be established or are established, such as the Agreement on Internal Trade? What safeguards does the Minister have to protect those consumers who are in this type of problem? Thank you.
Maybe the Member can’t tell his right side of the brain to talk to the left side of the brain, Mr. Speaker. There is a fairly sensitive process that we follow to ensure that the information that is shared with a company that is hired by us to help us draft the contract specifications is only relevant to what we need from them. We don’t ask them to provide dollar amounts. We don’t ask them for a lot of different things. There is an appeal mechanism. If there are concerns, I would like to hear from industry. The Member is raising a concern and I’d certainly like to hear more of what he’s hearing or what he’s concerned about. There is myself, our staff, who are more than willing to respond to any type of complaint. Thank you.
As politicians we know that the power of perception, when something is seen or heard or certainly told, Mr. Speaker. My point being is that the power of perception here does not meet the “perceived to be fair” when it comes to the contract and tendering process, because we have no clear guidelines and appeal mechanisms. The Minister says they could appeal to the system, but that’s back to the finance director or, of course, go to the comptroller general, which shows no independence of our process. That was even highlighted by our Auditor General in her recent report regarding contracting, Mr. Speaker. One of the requests that committee supported was the development of an appeal process recognizing the Agreement on Internal Trade.
Mr. Speaker, where is this in the development of the government through its process to ensure that these contracts are seen as fair and are fair? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, the Member has raised concerns by the Auditor General that have been responded to. That information is public. That can be drawn down by the Member if he so wishes. I’m not really sure what the Member is concerned about. If it’s optics, well, I don’t know what we would do to change that besides not allowing anybody that works for us, that helps us prepare a document or works for us a resource, to bid on these contracts. That’s really going to lock out a lot of good quality companies and that would be a concern. That would certainly increase our costs. I’d need to see more of the specifics that the Member is referring to. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Your final, short supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister didn’t answer the question, probably because he’s not aware of the answer. The fact is that I’ve had another business come to me and complain about government process and they’re concerned about if they raise it to the next level, that they’ll be treated in a biased way coming forward. I can give the Minister the example, but what process exists in today’s context that shows that there will be some independent evaluation that there is no nepotism when someone works to develop a tender and then subsequently wins it? We have nothing to show that we have clear demonstration of a process. Thank you.
I’m not going to respond to a document that he’s holding right in his hand and reading from and asks me to clarify what he’s reading. Mr. Speaker, the simple answer is we have not engaged in a process to review the system. If there are concerns, if there is a desire by a Member of this House for us to do that, we’ll certainly take that as recommendation. Up to now, it’s been an issue raised by the Member and we can continue that discussion if he so wishes. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to ask the questions to the Housing Minister. I know the Housing Minister made some statements about the program reviews and things that are going to see, hopefully, some changes for the good for people in the communities, especially with purchasing, renovating and housing and such. I want to ask the Minister in terms of speed of the process. However, I am still receiving a lot of inquiries and concerns about people purchasing houses in my region. As a matter of fact, there is one lady right now that wants to purchase her house; however, it is going to take longer than she anticipated. I am not too sure if there is any way that she could purchase this house without the support of the Housing Corporation in terms of financial dollars. Can the Minister help with this situation so it could be rectified as soon as possible?
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation, Mr. Robert McLeod.
