Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to also recognize Tony Whitford, if he’s still here. I don’t know if Mayor Mark Heyck is still here. I’d also like to recognize – again I can’t see them – Dick and Loretta Abernethy, both residents of Weledeh. Hi up there. Finally, Sophie Clark, a resident of Weledeh and one of our Pages today. Thanks very much for all the service the Pages are providing us. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise to acknowledge the passing of respected elder Michel Paper of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation.
Just two weeks away from his 100th birthday, Michel loved sharing stories about the incredible changes he had lived through. From pre-contact times to trading with the Hudson’s Bay Company, seeing an airplane for the first time, even colour TV in Detah, his experience spanned generations.
Michel was a man of faith and generous spirit. Every time we talked, he would say how he appreciated my work and that he was praying for me. This is just the kind of person he was.
I know all Members of this House join me in sending our thoughts and sympathies to Michel’s family and the community who knew him and celebrate him today. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My Member’s statement was a little all over the map today, I just had so much to talk about, I’m trying to get it all out there in the first day, but I’m going to try to cut back a little bit and just be a little more methodical about this now.
I’d like to ask the Premier – he’s talked about devolution, we’ve talked a lot about devolution. We’ve talked a lot about devolution in terms of jobs and the resource revenue proceeds from the resources that leave the Northwest Territories. The bigger picture has got to come to play in the fact that we will have more control, but people need to understand what more control means.
Let’s use the Taltson Hydro Dam expansion as an example. How will devolution, after it is implemented, help us move projects like that ahead that benefit regions of the Northwest Territories like the South Slave? We’ve talked about it for so long, but how will that be a real benefit for us when devolution is in place? Thank you.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are obviously very much looking forward to devolution, because as we’ve said many times, it will bring control and decision-making into our hands. Obviously, energy and our hydro development are first and foremost in our minds. We’ve been working very hard in putting together our Energy Plan, and also our NWT Power Corporation is working on a Hydro Development Strategy that we hope to be rolling out very soon.
When the Prime Minister was in Hay River I talked to him very specifically about hydro development and about the fact that even with devolution we still will be hampered or hamstrung by a borrowing limit imposed on our government. In order to be able to achieve our lofty visions of increasing our transmission lines, tying in all of our hydro energy together, we need to find a way so that the borrowing limit is not a hindrance. We’re so confident in our plans and our vision that we think we can do it using our own resources, as long as we’re not restricted.
Minister Miltenberger was in Hay River last week when he was doing a tour on how resource revenues would be spent, and he talked about it at that time. So we’re very bullish. We think hydro is a very good investment, especially developing the Taltson to its full potential. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, the Premier speaks of our borrowing limit and how that sometimes restrains us. In the past when we talked about projects like the Taltson Hydro expansion, we also talked about public funds combined with private investment, to see something like this go ahead. I was involved in those discussions. It seemed like a lot of that expansion kind of got all mixed in with transmission lines over the East Arm of Great Slave Lake and transmitting hydro to the diamond mines and so on. There was a real interest from the private sector in investing in the expansion of the Taltson Dam and I would like to know if that’s still on the radar. Thank you.
Thank you. I think our thinking is becoming very clear. We are going to focus on expansion of transmission lines. Also, we feel we need the benefit of some of the businesspeople in the Northwest Territories, some of the people that have been around, very experienced businesspeople that we can work with and that can give us some advice on innovative ways to be able to finance and develop the hydro potential.
Also, when we talked to the Prime Minister he didn’t say no, which we thought was a very good response, but he did indicate that we needed to have a very clear business case and also that we needed to have a very well-developed plan. We will be investing so that we can do both of those things. I think that as we go forward, we expect to have a very good plan and strategy that we’ll be rolling out in the next few months. Thank you.
Again, not so many years ago we did have a business in Alberta that is very informed with respect to the development of energy and hydro, and we could never seem to advance that discussion as far as we wanted to. We had an unsolicited proposal from ATCO, out of Alberta, to partner with us to expand the Taltson. They’ve got money; they’ve got experience. One of the concerns at the time was that we didn’t have the capacity on our side of the table to negotiate something that people thought would be fair for the Northwest Territories.
Do we have that capacity now and could we still be looking at some kind of a joint venture that would bring that kind of financial resource to a project like this so that we could get it off the ground? My comment at the time always was as the Northwest Territories we can own 100 percent of nothing or we can own 50 percent of something. Thank you.
Thank you. I think the Member hit it right on the head. In the past whenever we wanted to develop our hydro resources, the companies that we were talking to always wanted us to take all of the risk and then they would take most of the power. I think that with the plan that we’re developing, we need to find a way to transport the power first. We want to bring the power to where the development will be happening so that we can promote development.
There’s a potential for nine new mines in the Northwest Territories by 2020 and invariably every one of them wants cheaper power. We’re also talking with our colleagues south of us, Saskatchewan, Alberta, BC, who are very interested in power. For example, Saskatchewan, to tie into Taltson, it’s only 119 kilometres away. So we’d only need to build a transmission line of that magnitude.
So we think that by finding a way to get the power to the people, to the companies and projects that need it, also the ability to sell the power when we have surplus power so that we can make money while we’re doing that as well. So we’re working on a technical study and developing our business case, and we think that it’s a very significant opportunity for the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to thank the Premier for that answer. It’s a win-win for everybody. It has the potential to offset the high cost of living in the North. It has the potential to be the impetus for development in these mining operations that the Premier refers to. I hope that the Premier will really run with this and keep us apprised.
We need a development like the Taltson expansion in the South Slave. We need something. We need devolution to mean something for our people.
Will the Premier take up this particular project with his Cabinet colleagues and report back to us on significant progress in the near future? Thank you.
Thank you. Very pleased with the support, and we see this hydro development and the transmission line as probably the biggest project that we can start in the next two years, or in the remaining life of this 17th Assembly. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to follow up on my Member’s statement earlier today on addictions and the closing of the Nats’ejee K’eh. This is the first opportunity I think the public has had to hear some of the rationale behind the Minister and the department as to the closing of this addictions facility, and really what is the plan of action for addiction treatment to follow in the Northwest Territories. We all know the issues. I’m not going to go into a long preamble because I do have a long list of questions, which probably will require a couple of times of going up to the table here.
So the Minister’s press release on July 11, 2013, cites, “The department decided not to renew the” Nats’ejee K’eh “contract based on strong recommendations flowing from the Minister’s Forum on Addictions and Community Wellness...”
Can the Minister point out the page number or paragraph in this report that supports this press release statement? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister’s forum didn’t exactly advise us to close Nats’ejee K’eh. What it says was that we need to find alternatives for treatment such as on-the-land treatment, mobile treatment, treatment targeted for youth, so we’re moving in that direction. This also pertains to what was happening in Nats’ejee K’eh. The closure of Nats’ejee K’eh was largely to do with what was happening within Nats’ejee K’eh at the time of the closure, or the elimination of the contract. Thank you.
So we just heard from the Minister that it’s quite clear that there were no recommendations flowing from the Minister’s forum clearly indicating the closure of this facility. This was another approach that the Minister and Department of Health have come to on their own, in terms of what they were going to do with this facility. So, again, I think the public needs to hear that up right and centre.
I guess to lead into another question based on my Member’s statement, what is the plan now for medical detox? This is a clinical intervention that is required during the early stages of the pyramid of treatment. So what are the plans for medical detox in the Northwest Territories and when will it be offered and where? Thank you.
Thank you. There wasn’t medical detox occurring at Nats’ejee K’eh, number one. People were on a waiting list and they had to wait for six weeks in community counselling before they get to Nats’ejee K’eh. So there was no actual medical detox occurring in Nats’ejee K’eh.
Medical detox is available at the hospitals and individuals can be given hospital beds for medical detox based upon requests. At this time if individuals need medical detoxification outside of the hospital environment, then our option is to send that individual or individuals who are requiring medical detox to the southern treatment facilities. Thank you.
Thank you. I concur there was no medical detox occurring at Nats’ejee K’eh, but the question of medical detox has been asked many times in this House. We’ve been promised here that there will be beds put aside we’ve heard in Yellowknife, we’ve also heard in Inuvik. But you go to the hospital and you ask the question, can you take me to the medical detox bed, and they’ll say we don’t know what you’re talking about. There is no sign on the door that says “medical detox bed”. There are such beds put aside in the event of capacity issues, yet are never used.
So, leading to another question here: What is available to help people addicted to prescription drugs, to crack cocaine or solvents? What are we doing with those types of individuals who require that assistance? Thank you.
What’s available are the contracts that we obtained or signed with southern institutions in Alberta and British Columbia. So if individuals are suffering from addictions, whether it be crack cocaine, prescription drugs, alcohol, marijuana, or anything else that they may be addicted to, there are options for them to go to the four southern treatment facilities that we have contracts with now. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess the Minister has kind of led into my other question here where he talked about the southern four providers that are now currently under contract. Can we maybe get an indication as to how many residents have used these southern farmed-out services, and of those who started the program down there, how many of them have actually completed it?
I don’t have the number of individuals that have taken advantage of the four treatment centres that we have contracts with in the South; however, I do know that when individuals have approached Health and Social Services, whether it be through a wellness office in their community or through the department or through one of the authorities, that it’s been fairly quick. The process is very quick and the individual is able to go out for treatment in a very short time basis, and that is what we were trying to achieve. But the numbers of the people that went and the numbers that had completed the treatment facilities, I don’t have those numbers here with me today.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the House might be aware, over the course of the summer we had a situation in Hay River. My question is directed to the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.
Can the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs update this House on the status of trucked water delivery in Hay River, especially to those communities that do receive trucked water delivery in Kakisa, Hay River and Enterprise? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My understanding is that the communities have a contract with the water service deliveryman, and as far as I know, that contract is still in place. He, in turn, would get his water from the community of Hay River. As far as I know, the contract, unless things have changed, is still in place.
What measures does the department have in place in the worst-case scenario that the tap of water is actually shut off for the communities receiving trucked water for Kakisa, Enterprise and the Hay River Reserve?
We would work with the community to find other sources of water, be it bringing in water from another community, but again, my understanding is they do have a contract with the deliveryman who buys his water from the community of Hay River. But we would work closely with the community, and I think there have been some preliminary discussions as to one of the communities possibly looking at acquiring their own water treatment plant.
It’s quite clear in this budget that they really amass a lot of effort in ensuring that the public, especially the communities of the North, receive vital infrastructure projects, especially in the Deh Cho where a water source is very vital and, of course, an intrinsic value that is given to the public.
My question to the Minister is: Would the Minister commit to entertaining, at least his department, supporting and facilitating a dialogue among communities to look at some immediate alternatives in terms of striking the possibility of doing a business case analysis of building their own water treatment plants?
Since the gas tax and the community infrastructure money were introduced a few years ago, a lot of the communities have built their own water treatment plant. There have been a few communities that have teamed up and did a bundled water treatment plant where, with economies of scale, they would get it a little cheaper. But we have money that’s allocated for this particular type of initiative. It’s $28 million that we divide amongst the communities across the Northwest Territories, and then they determine that a water treatment plant is a priority, and they do have the tools in place to make it happen. A lot of the communities are doing that again.
We will work closely with the Member’s communities if they wish to have our staff come in and start the dialogue as to how they best can acquire a water treatment plant using the experience we’ve had with many of the other communities that have put their own water treatment plants in.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister has publicly stated that, indeed, it is up to the communities. The concern from the communities is getting caught with the… If they do build water treatment plants in their communities, their concern is in terms of the operations and maintenance.
The Minister, at this point, has indicated yes, he is quite willing to support the idea of having his staff go into the communities to ensure that there is some dialogue amongst the communities.
Can the Minister commit to ensure that happens, that indeed his department officials will perhaps go to Kakisa and Enterprise and see if responsibilities of developing a business analysis, in terms of a cost analysis of whether it’s viable to perhaps have a water treatment plant in either one of those communities? Would the Minister commit to that? Yes or no?
I will say yes with an explanation. I will commit to having our staff go into the communities, upon invitation from the community, to start discussing some of their options and start discussing how the O and M may be affected if they do get a water treatment plant. We will, again, upon invitation, go into these communities and start the discussion with them.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Mr. Speaker, it should be no secret by now that I’m concerned about the way the Giant Mine has been left and the fact that arsenic is being left in the ground and certainly frozen there for the end of time. Whenever that may be scheduled, I don’t think we should give up on trying to find a solution. No Northerner asked for this tragedy to be left here in the ground, and I don’t know a single Northerner that thinks that that’s the best solution.
My question for the Premier today is, of course, I’d like to hear the government’s position on AANDC, which is the department that is now responsible for the freezing of the arsenic. I’d like to know what the government’s position is with AANDC’s opinion and direction to freeze the arsenic in the ground and ignore it until we find a solution that we have no idea when or where it will come from.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don’t know if Churchill was thinking of Giant Mine when he made that famous quotation. Perhaps a Yogi Berra quote of “it ain’t over ‘til it’s over” would be more appropriate.
We’ve been part of the Giant Mine process for some time. We see this as the most immediate response and step to deal with the problem. I’m not sure what the Member is suggesting, whether he’s suggesting we should stop everything and wait until somebody comes up with an innovative idea before we do anything more. As a government, we see the best approach right now is to deal with the immediate problem.
I know the Premier was listening closely to my Member’s statement, as I know he always does, of course. He hangs on every word. I’m sure he would recognize that not at one time in my Member’s statement or in my press release the week before I talked about stopping what we’re doing today, because the engineering solution today is probably the only solution we have thus far.
But the same innovation that brought Banting to the solution for insulin, and the same spirit and drive of why people fight the good fight against cancer every single day is because they’re looking for that solution and they’re inspired.
In my Member’s statement and as well as in the recent press release, I talked about stimulating innovation. Would the Premier be willing to lead a discussion with the Minister of AANDC about opening up a possibility of creating a reward process that stimulates people from around the world to help to look for a solution to the arsenic problem at Giant Mine? Quite frankly, the temporary solution is not the right solution. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My understanding is there are quite a number of options that are out there. The option that is being pursued now is seen as the best, most immediate option. There are bacteria that eat arsenic that have been used in other processes to recover a mine. There are also some other approaches that are more expensive such as finding a way to get rid of the arsenic. One of the recommendations was to haul it away. So there are a number of options, but the option that is being pursued now that is being undertaken is the most immediate and will have the best way to control the problem. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
When I was at the open house a couple of weeks ago, one of the Yellowknife Dene councillors asked if there was a way to solve this problem, and asked us to make the arsenic inert in a way that it doesn’t cause any problem. The staff said there is no way of dealing with this. Quite frankly, it is because no one is looking at it. Out of 56 recommendations, there is not one that talks about innovation. It’s almost like we need a Donald Trump here in the Northwest Territories, or a Richard Branson, saying how important this is for humanity to talk about let’s find a breakthrough.
That said, there are only 56 recommendations on the table and, as I said, not one single one of them deals with innovation. That is why I ask the Premier to once again consider the concept of a knocking on the door and writing to the Minister of AANDC to say, why don’t we look at creating a reward process or a balloon payment to solve this. It would stimulate the type of thinking. Right now no one is working on that problem, and hence, if there is no one stimulated by opportunity, they may not be looking at this opportunity.
Hence, what the question really comes down to is: What can the Premier do about stimulating innovation to get people interested in our problem? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, obviously if we could wave a magic wand and fix the problem tomorrow, we would be very interested in doing that. I think in order to go and approach the AANDC Minister, I think you have to be very clear on what the Member is asking for. Are we talking about only new innovative methods that are not already out there? Are we talking about somebody bringing a truckload of arsenic-eating bacteria, would we give them $20 million? Is that what the Member is suggesting? I’m not very clear on what the Member is asking us to do. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
