Debates of October 15, 2004 (day 21)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Member is correct. We have looked at the situation with the community of Nahanni Butte. Unfortunately, capital projects of that nature have to compete with other infrastructure needs in the communities. At this point, there is no intention of trying to move that facility up. We are working with the community. We have provided some funding for a youth facility through our Community Initiatives Program. But, at this point, we haven’t been able to commit to requesting that facility be moved up. It has to compete with other infrastructure and makes it very difficult. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.

Supplementary To Question 228-15(3): Gymnasium For Nahanni Butte

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Will the Minister promise to the youth in Nahanni Butte that they will be provided with the same recreational opportunities that all other youth of the Northwest Territories enjoy before all the students currently attending school in the Nahanni Butte have graduated? Mr. Speaker, we have a whole generation that will graduate before even getting a gymnasium. They can’t even play volleyball and indoor soccer. I would like the Minister to look at getting us a gymnasium. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Mr. McLeod.

Further Return To Question 228-15(3): Gymnasium For Nahanni Butte

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, during our tour this summer with the communities in Nahendeh, we had discussed this issue. We had committed that we would work with them to see what is available. The issue of a gymnasium and a standard across the board, I am not sure how many other communities don’t have gymnasiums. In some communities, it is attached to the school. In this case, there is no intention for a facility to be attached to the school. There are only 25 students in the school. We would like to sit down and talk to the community about a multi-purpose hall as soon as we get a chance and look at what we can do. But, at this time, we have no plans to put in a school gymnasium. It is in the capital needs. However, as the Member has indicated, it is quite a ways down the road. It would be very difficult to move forward. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.

Supplementary To Question 228-15(3): Gymnasium For Nahanni Butte

Mr. Speaker, I find it quite outrageous that the Minister would reference how many students are in that school when communities of even smaller sizes do have school gymnasiums. I would like to ask the Minister if he is willing to undertake a feasibility or engineering study to at least cost out this project. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Mr. McLeod.

Further Return To Question 228-15(3): Gymnasium For Nahanni Butte

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we would certainly commit to looking at the options and meet with the community to talk about what we can do there, if it is feasible or viable to look at a multi-purpose hall or continue working with the youth centre or to even discuss what it would entail to put in a school gym. We certainly could commit to doing that. We will have our regional staff discuss this with the community. Thank you.

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

Supplementary To Question 228-15(3): Gymnasium For Nahanni Butte

Yes, Mr. Speaker, I do believe that I stand firm that it certainly is one of the communities or probably the only community that still doesn’t have this facility. I would like to ask the Minister, will he provide the same recreational opportunities to the students of Nahanni Butte that others have in the Northwest Territories, and will the Minister commit to undertake a feasibility or engineering study to cost out this project in this fiscal year?

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Mr. McLeod.

Further Return To Question 228-15(3): Gymnasium For Nahanni Butte

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I certainly want to indicate to the Member that the department recognizes a need for recreation infrastructure, and we encourage recreation programs. We invest a lot of money into recreation programs across the North. Not every community has a gymnasium. The process for recreation facilities has to go through the capital planning process. It has to compete with water, sewer, solid waste, and all these other infrastructure needs across the Territories. The demand is high. We have had to cut and look at ways we spend money and reallocate. So it is very difficult for me to say yes, we can commit to putting a school gymnasium in the community of Nahanni Butte. We would like to have a good discussion. We would like to look at all the options that are available. We may not be able to do a gym, but we may be able to identify something else that the community would like to do. I have indicated that I would commit to looking at the options that are available to us, including the scoping out of what it would cost for a gymnasium and present that to the community. I think I have already made that commitment. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I listened quite intently to the sessional statement the Premier gave a couple of days ago. There was something that wasn’t in that. I just wanted to question the Premier today about a glaring omission from that sessional statement, and that was the fact that it didn’t mention tourism.

My question isn’t related to the sessional statement itself, but I have a question for the Premier. I believe that is an affront to the tourism industry in the Northwest Territories. For a government that purports to support tourism, leaving that out was definitely a mistake. I wanted to know what value Mr. Handley’s government puts on tourism. Where does it fit in the grand scheme of things with this government? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Premier, Mr. Handley.

Return To Question 229-15(3): Addressing Tourism In The NWT

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to assure the House and the public that even though we may not have mentioned some areas in the sessional statement, that does not mean it is no longer a priority. As I have said many times, most of our economy right now is based on non-renewable resource development. We have to use this opportunity to develop our renewable industries, and that includes tourism.

Mr. Speaker, I have been personally a strong advocate of the tourism industry, I remain that way and I can assure you that from our government’s perspective tourism is very much a part of our economy. I wish to assure the Member and the public that that remains a high priority. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Supplementary To Question 229-15(3): Addressing Tourism In The NWT

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Here’s where I can’t get into what transpires in business plans and committee meetings and things of that nature, but I just want to ask, perhaps transferring from the Premier to the Minister of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development, what his department is going to do in the coming year to address the marketing needs and the promotion of this territory to the rest of the world. What are we going to do here in the next little while? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Premier, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, that question is getting very near to our business plan but, Mr. Speaker, I’ll refer the question to the Minister responsible for tourism. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley, the honourable Minister of RWED, Mr. Bell.

Further Return To Question 229-15(3): Addressing Tourism In The NWT

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Premier said, tourism is very important to the government and coming from our strategic plan, our 10-year plan, linked to that are a number of initiatives. We’ve had a good discussion around this area, both with committee and also with Caucus, and developed a number of theme areas. One of them is the diversification of the economy, and we see tourism as something that has great potential for all regions of the Northwest Territories and we can provide business opportunities for northerners from coast to coast to coast and I think that there are a number of key priorities going forward. We are currently undertaking several initiatives. One of them is some revision to our Travel and Tourism Act, and this is to streamline that act and clear up some duplication. We’re also doing a product inventory with our partners at Aboriginal Business Canada and at DIAND to make sure that we have the product available and on the ground when we get people here. It doesn’t make sense, I think we’ve realized, to drive people and to focus solely on marketing and destination marketing if, in fact, you don’t have a tourism product available for people when they get here. So it’s important to have both those areas covered when you are talking about tourism. The last thing that we are doing currently is working with the NWT Arctic Tourism Association to look into issues concerning the mandate of our department and that organization to make sure that there isn’t duplication and to make sure that we’re properly coordinated to focus on tourism most effectively with the money that we do have. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Supplementary To Question 229-15(3): Addressing Tourism In The NWT

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, Mr. Premier and Mr. Bell, for your responses. The next question I have is when will the government actually put its money where its mouth is and actually take a look at the funding it supplies to the tourism industry and increase that funding? It hasn’t happened for a number of years and if we are going to say we support the tourism industry here in the Northwest Territories, it’s time to put our money where our mouth is and look at some increased funding. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I’m wondering when that might happen. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Bell.

Further Return To Question 229-15(3): Addressing Tourism In The NWT

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think that we want to be able to focus more keenly on tourism, and that, I hope, will involve more money going forward, but I need to be able to go back to the Financial Management Board with a compelling case given the strain on resources and the competing needs for resources. That case, I think, will be built around this product inventory. I need to be able to explain to my colleagues that we do need to focus as much resource as possible on helping people in communities develop product. This is one of the reasons we talked around the BDIC and the flexibility that that new mechanism will allow, because really small business opportunities, many of them, we believe and hope, we’ll be able to focus on the tourism area. So we think there’s a lot of potential there; but as I sit down to make this case, I need to be able to explain that we’ve dealt with overlap issues in relation to the NWTAT and the department and make sure that our delivery mechanism makes sense. My colleagues are going to want to hear that as I make the case for new resources that we’ve thought this through and we know how to most effectively spend the money that we’re hoping to get. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Your final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Supplementary To Question 229-15(3): Addressing Tourism In The NWT

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thanks, Mr. Minister, for the response. That’s all fine and good, but this report that’s going to be done on the duplication may be between NWT Arctic Tourism and the department that’s going to happen and that’s going to roll out, but when? When is the government going to put more resources and more money into tourism? That’s the question I have for the Minister. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Bell.

Further Return To Question 229-15(3): Addressing Tourism In The NWT

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can’t get into the business plan discussion for this year and the specifics of that, but I can say that I’m expecting the results of this review, this tourism programs and services review, before Christmas. That will allow me to get this into the machinery for the business planning cycle for next year. It will be in with a number of competing needs, but I’ll strongly advocate for and make the case that we need to focus on this in the upcoming business planning session. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Premier of the Northwest Territories, does the government have any concerns about the views of the Deh Cho First Nations regarding pipeline development? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Premier, Mr. Handley.

Return To Question 230-15(3): GNWT Position On Disputes Respecting The Mackenzie Valley Pipeline

Mr. Speaker, the government is certainly a strong supporter of the pipeline and we certainly do have concerns anytime any of the parties that may be impacted by the development have concerns or issues that need to be resolved. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Supplementary To Question 230-15(3): GNWT Position On Disputes Respecting The Mackenzie Valley Pipeline

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I’d like to ask the Premier what steps is this government taking to resolve concerns of all the interested parties with regard to pipeline development?

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Premier, Mr. Handley.

Further Return To Question 230-15(3): GNWT Position On Disputes Respecting The Mackenzie Valley Pipeline

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On a regular basis we are meeting with all of the parties that are requesting meetings, or where we feel it is appropriate to have a meeting. Yesterday we met with Imperial. I have talked with representatives of the aboriginal governments up and down the valley within the last two weeks. Mr. Speaker, we’re doing everything we can to try to resolve any differences or any issues that may be arising. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I would just like to follow up on the honourable Member for Great Slave Member’s statement with regard to income support. Part of the current public debate over health care in this country is the provision of homecare services to the sick and elderly. There is widespread agreement that homecare services are a necessary part of a health care plan. It is my understanding that plans are being made that are considered to increase the amount of money available for homecare services. In light of that, I wonder why we in the Northwest Territories are not following suit. In fact, Mr. Speaker, it appears that we are penalizing certain citizens who are trying to take care of their elders at their home. People who can afford to pay for homecare services can deduct those expenses from their taxes, but people on income support who attempt to secure the same services for themselves through family members are being penalized by this government by having their social assistance cut off. Will the Minister rectify this situation and allow families to help their elders without being penalized?

Hear! Hear!

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Dent.

Return To Question 231-15(3): Income Support For Elders

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I believe that our system does allow families to support seniors to a much greater extent than what you would find in other jurisdictions, but I would be happy to review the situation with the Member and take a look at his specific recommendations and consider them. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.

Supplementary To Question 231-15(3): Income Support For Elders

Mr. Speaker, thank you very much. I would like to take the Minister up on that invitation as I am unaware of that guideline. Speaking of guidelines, does the Minister have any plans to review the current guidelines with respect to this issue?

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Mr. Dent.

Further Return To Question 231-15(3): Income Support For Elders

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I said in response to Mr. Braden earlier, the issue of reviewing guidelines for the program is one that is open at all times. If a Member comes to me and says here is what I see as a problem, I will take a look at it, I will discuss it with personnel in the department and we will get back to the Member as to whether or not we will consider revising the guidelines. I will also discuss them with the standing committee. It’s this House that has to ultimately agree to any changes in guidelines, because when I change the guidelines, or when we change the guidelines, that changes the cost of the program. That means I then have to get a change in the budget. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.

Supplementary To Question 231-15(3): Income Support For Elders

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In light of that, will the Minister also look at helping people on a fixed income at increasing their requests for fuel subsidy for this winter as the cost of living promises to be even harsher in this particular year?