Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do concur with the Minister that it’s something that we have to learn, but the behaviour has to be changed and we have to enforce that. It is our job as a government. I am pleased to see that the Minister has indicated that he will be bringing this forward for a review.
Could the Minister also offer this House his plan to address the low number of these convictions under this distracted driving legislation and provide a meaningful strategy to reduce improper road user behaviour?
If the committee asks the government to look at that, we certainly would take a look at it. Also, if I could just mention this: The RCMP isn't the only agency that enforces. By-law can also enforce the legislation. If there’s a crackdown, there’s a real effort to try and increase the number of tickets that are issued, that’s something, working with the Minister of Justice and the enforcement agencies in the territory. If that’s something that we’re interested in doing, then perhaps that’s something we could look at as well.
But certainly, it’s the Regular Members who have the prerogative. If the committee feels it necessary to have a look at the Motor Vehicles Act and wants to suggest an amendment that would look at the confiscation of cell phones if you’re caught using a cell phone while driving, we look forward to that letter.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I mentioned in my Member’s statement, I’d like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services: Will the Minister increase the funds provided to the community of Tsiigehtchic for the wellness worker position? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. The Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The wellness worker position in Tsiigehtchic is a position that’s negotiated between the Beaufort-Delta Health and Social Services Authority and the local government. What I will do is make sure that I’m touching base with the local government in Tsiigehtchic to ensure that that’s what the issue is. When we had a discussion with them, they did indicate that was an issue. Then I talked to the health authority and the health authority thought that it was not an issue. I will go back and deal with that when I have an opportunity to do so.
The amount of funding provided is clearly the problem. Will the Minister provide the wellness worker position under the Department of Health and Social Services as it was done last year?
I think the Department of Health and Social Services would be prepared to look at that.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the Minister of Tourism for his Minister’s statement today. I had a couple of questions regarding his particular statement.
In his statement, he talked about 23,000 camping nights that were recorded over the territorial parks this particular year and he had also highlighted it was a slight decrease from the year before at 23,500. I guess my question really comes down to trying to get a sense of utilization of our particular parks.
Does the Minister provide a breakout as to where some of these people are coming from? I’m trying to get a context of our locals using our parks more than tourists from out of the territory. What type of percentage and analysis does the department provide?
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Member for the question. The predominant visitation would be in the North Slave region, of course, with Yellowknife. We do have a breakdown of where the numbers come from and I would be more than happy to provide the Member and his committee with those visitor statistics related to campground usage across the territory.
I want to thank the Minister for that particular answer. Just continuing along that same theme specific to, obviously, parks: What type of capacity does the department see in our particular parks? He did say that those numbers were predominantly reflective of the North Slave, but does the Minister’s office or the department, that is, track the actual usage and capacity of those particular parks? In other words: How many nights were 100 percent full? How many nights were 20 percent full? How many nights did we have to turn other people away to say go find another park? I know that there’s Reid Lake Park, those types of solutions. Do they do that type of breakdown? Because I want to get a sense, as we go forward, are we using our parks to the fullest capacity or do we need to expand them?
I can certainly get that level of detail for the Member. It exists. We can certainly track that and look forward to providing that information to the Member. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, what type of budget do we provide our tourism folks that specifically target the rubber tire traffic and tourism market? As we try to invest in particular parks around our surrounding communities across the territory, we must have a particular budget that we say, come to Inuvik and use that park, come to Hay River and use that park. What type of budget do we spend, and that is reflected to the return on investment with the numbers and links to my very first question, where are people coming from? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, we do have that information. Again, that is very detailed information. We have the Northwest Territories Tourism that provides the marketing for the Northwest Territories. We also have staff here in Yellowknife and in the regions to get to the dollars that are spent specifically on promoting rubber tire traffic to the campgrounds to the Northwest Territories. Again, that is a number that I will get to the Member and break it down by region for the Member as well. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for those several commitments that are through those questions.
The last particular question is quite a simple one. What type of planning is the Department of ITI doing in the sense of expanding the Fred Henne Park area? I say that in conjunction with the Department on Transportation. As we all know, it is putting a road through the realignment of Highway No. 4, there becomes a great opportunity to expand the usage of Fred Henne. Does the Minister have any future commitments that are going to build on the growth of Fred Henne by way of a capital investment? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the Member for that. It is a good question. We do need to find more capital dollars for campgrounds or park systems across the Northwest Territories. The number we have in this year’s capital plan is very meager. We certainly need to find more.
There has been a great deal of talk – they are going back a number of years, even since I was with the department a number of years ago – about an RV park here in Yellowknife. That is something we have to continue to pursue. Also, there are opportunities at Fred Henne to expand campgrounds there and sites there at that park. There have been master plans developed in the past. I think it is maybe an opportune time to revisit some of these old plans that were in place that would see the expansion of that campground, and that is something under my watch as Minister of ITI that I would certainly like to see happen. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are addressed to the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, who is also the Minister of sport. I want to follow up on my statement and ask the Minister some questions with regard to the Arctic Winter Games and the Arctic Winter Games International Committee.
I mentioned in my statement that as a government, as the NWT government we have financial obligations for Arctic Winter Games. We certainly fund all of the athletes we send there. It is a fairly healthy amount of money every two years. I would like to know from the Minister if he can explain to me and to the House what relationship does the GNWT have with the Arctic Winter Games International Committee. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Arctic Winter Games International Committee is the government body for the Arctic Winter Games. There are six permanent partners of which the GNWT is one. All six permanent partners have two members on the board. The political leaders usually are responsible for providing policy direction during our meetings with the Arctic Winter Games International Committee during the games or any other special meetings that may be called. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thanks to the Minister for the explanation. It is leading me right into my next question in terms of policy. When the announcement was made by the International Committee for listing the sports for the 2016 games, media reports suggested that it was the government, our government in conjunction with several other northern governments, that made that decision, that they had agreed to smaller games to fit smaller communities, of which Nuuk is one. I would like to know from the Minister whether or not our government was partially responsible for the decision to drastically reduce the sports in the 2016 games. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, the decision was made a number of years ago that all six permanent partners would have an equal opportunity to host the Arctic Winter Games on a rotational basis. That was a decision that was made. The decision to exclude some of the sports – and the Member mentioned it before in her statement – that, for obvious reasons, there are some sports that will be eliminated during particular games. We can’t have downhill skiing where there are no hills to ski on. But six sports affecting over 400 athletes and coaches to the circumpolar world is quite a drastic cut. That decision was made by the Arctic Winter Games International Committee. Thank you.
Thanks to the Minister for that clarification. Part of the reason for the International Committee’s decision, as I understand it and as the Minister has mentioned, is that there are a lack of facilities. In 2016, Nuuk does not have ice surfaces, for instance. So this apparently is part of the reason. Also part of the reason is that the games are too big. I have long felt that, yes, they are too big. I have stated that a number of times over the years. I don’t agree with the decision. I don’t believe the Minister does as well. From his perspective as a Minister, from our perspective as a government, what power or what leverage do we have as a government to influence the Arctic Winter Games International Committee’s decision? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, we don’t agree with the decision that was made. We had a meeting with the Arctic Winter Games International Committee. We spoke about the fact that we don’t want to be seen as politically interfering, but at the same time, you have to respond to the concerns of the sporting community throughout all the regions that were affected. This was the message that we relayed to them, is that we are concerned with the decision that they made.
As far as what power or influence, we would have to have discussions with our representatives and try to get them to relay some of our concerns to the Arctic Winter Games International Committee. At the end of the day, we would like to leave the decisions up to them. However, if the decisions are ones that we don’t think benefit our athletes, then we have to relay our concerns to them.
We do plan on meeting again and seeing if we can come up with any viable options. At that point, I think we can determine what next steps we can take. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks to the Minister as well. I am intrigued. We talk about not wanting to get politics into games, but there are times when a bad decision has been made and we have to do that. I appreciate the Minister’s view on this issue.
I was going to ask him for an update of the meeting. We have a bit of an update from his last response, so I would like to ask him if he can elaborate on what he has already said. What were the results or can he tell us the results of the meeting that was held with the International Committee and other sports Ministers last week? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, first of all, my counterparts in the Yukon and Nunavut felt very strongly about the sports that were excluded. They wanted to make sure that their voices were heard. We thought the best option would be a face to face. The Lieutenant Governor of Alaska was also at the meeting. We relayed our concerns to the Arctic Winter Games International Committee about a whole cycle of athletes that may be lost because of the decision they made.
We don’t want to take that Arctic Winter Games experience away from a lot of these athletes because – Members said before, and I totally agree with them – to them this is their Olympics. We don’t want to take that opportunity away from them.
They are going to do a bit of a review. We will do a bit of a review. When we get together in the spring – we want to do it sooner rather than later – we will look at the options that they may have come up with. We gave them some of our options. We will see what decision is made after that.
I will commit to Members of the House that we will keep them all informed as to the discussions we have, because we are going to start hearing from our sporting community. I also plan on meeting with the sporting communities that have been affected, excluded from the 2016 games, and I want to get an idea from them what they think are best options or the best way to move forward on this. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was pleased to hear the Minister of ITI’s comments today about tourism and parks and I think our staff has done a great job. The residents of the Northwest Territories, however, have been asking for longer access to these parks as the seasons seem to be getting longer, or maybe we’ve had an exceptionally good year. I’m wondering if the department is looking at being a little bit more flexible in getting these parks opened longer and starting a little bit earlier when the weather allows.
Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. The Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ve had the discussion with the Member on a previous request to the department on hours and operation of the parks in the South Slave near the community of Hay River. I’ve also had that discussion with a number of residents here in the North Slave. I’ve also had the discussion recently with the MLA for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses. It certainly is an issue and I think it’s something I’ve committed to looking at, going back to the department and seeing where it’s possible to amend contracts and to allow, weather permitting, parks to be open and operated for longer periods of time. Thank you.
I understand the financial commitments with contracts myself, but I’m wondering if the department is willing to at least leave these parks open to access. Often the gates are locked, making it difficult for people who park on the highway, especially in the South Slave area. Kakisa, I know, is one other area. Is the department willing to at least leave the gates open during those times?
Again, I thank the Member. That is something we’re also looking at. It will be a comprehensive look at the operation times, hours, opening season of the parks, and how they’re operated and how that works. I look forward to working with the Members later on when we do this look into the operation of parks around the territory. Thank you.
Another area of concern that I have with the operation of the park is this year on September 15th, the close of the park was on a Saturday, which people were asked to leave the parks during that weekend. I’m wondering if the Minister would commit to looking at those dates and what those dates fall on as far as weekends, and allowing the access through the closest weekend and then shutting your parks down, not having people removed during the middle of the weekend. Thank you.
I spent eight years working in parks as a park officer. It’s been an issue for a long time and I’ve made a commitment today to the Member that it’s something that, as Minister, he has my commitment that we are going to take a look at this. Are there ways that this could be done better? Are there ways that, for example, when a park closes on a Saturday, that we can look at keeping it open at least until Monday. That makes sense.
It’s a short enough summer here in the Northwest Territories, and we have to take advantage of any opportunity we have to get the public and to get visitors out at our campgrounds around the Northwest Territories, and it’s something I feel strongly about. So it’s something we’re going to take a good run at and I thank the Member for bringing it up. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bouchard.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The other area of concern that I’ve heard about in the parks area is the on-line booking of the campsites, and my colleague was questioning this earlier. One of the areas of concern that I’ve heard is the fact that some of these stalls are being booked for guests that are coming and they never show up, and some people have been turned away because the booking has been done on-line already. Is there an allotment of certain ones that are being done for on-line and certain ones that are not being done on-line, and are they reviewing that on-line policy after completing one year?
Thank you. I believe the on-line reservation system has been in place for a number of years now. To get to the detail of the Member’s question, I’d certainly have to take a look at that and we’ll get back to the Member with a response. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are going to refer to early childhood development programming and infrastructure, keeping on the theme with all the good work that the Children First Society is doing up in Inuvik. I want to ensure that these programs are also provided to our small communities and our other regional centres, as well as here in Yellowknife.
I’m going to refer to the status report of the Auditor General of Canada, and specifically measuring the impact of early childhood education, there were a few things that were mentioned that needed to be taken into account. The department did follow up by creating an early childhood environmental rating scale. However, from that rating scale, the department has not been in a position to revise its early childhood development programming because it has not yet collected sufficient data, according to what this has said. So I’d like to ask the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment what the department has done to date to improve this specific program in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. The Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Since the report came out, the recommendations, my department committed to follow through with each and every one of them, and one of the areas that we did highlight through our discussion within the department is implementing the early childhood development instrument where we need to identify the early years of those students, the child, the learning, the first year that data has been collected using the EDI tool, and that tool will definitely guide us in decision-making for better healthy childhood development throughout the communities of the Northwest Territories.
Also, there are areas that we’ve improved on, as well, throughout my department. There’s expanding early health and family programming. We’re working closely with the Department of Health and Social Services, restructuring child and youth development funding for early childhood promotion programming, developing the community wellness plans. Those are just some of the areas that we will continue to improve, and also inspecting the child care, the daycares as well. There are scheduled plans in place with target dates and so forth. So we are very serious about the recommendations that were brought forward and we will follow through with each and every one of them. Mahsi.
