That’s what I’m afraid of in terms of the Mactung. If they go ahead, if they get the go-ahead to mine their deposit on the Yukon side, they are going to use the Northwest Territories side as a transportation corridor. I’d like to ask the Minister what type of alternative plans does he have in regard to having protection. We know this is a proposed park that was negotiated with the Sahtu Dene and Metis in 1993 and that we want this to happen. We don’t want to see any damage to this piece of property here. So we ask the Minister what is he prepared to do to work with the Sahtu to make sure this land is protected before establishment of the park.
We are looking at ways to try to improve some of the existing infrastructure that’s there so that the Mactung can use or perhaps see fit to use the road and airport that is there now. I think in order to do that, we need to find a way to upgrade what’s being used as an airport. Right now it’s just the CANOL Road that was built 40 years ago and they’re using that to land on and the road that’s being used was built in 1945. So we’re very prepared to work with the Sahtu people, because we think there are some economic opportunities there and we think if we improve the airport and the road even a little bit, that it will help develop Mactung as well. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Your final and short supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Mr. Speaker, that’s why I asked the Minister earlier is he prepared to work in partnership with the Sahtu in terms of monitoring the access of this road and the airport. There’s going to be lots of development. Is the Minister again willing to come to the Sahtu, sit down with the Sahtu leaders in terms of how do we limit some restrictions of vehicle usage in that area to protect our land?
We’re quite prepared to come into the Sahtu region. What the Member is starting to talk about is petty trespass and we don’t have a petty trespass act in the Northwest Territories. So the lands that have been selected by the Sahtu and the federal lands that are out there are something that we’re quite prepared to talk to the Sahtu people about, but this is an area where we don’t have any legislation as of yet. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Listening to questions by Mr. Yakeleya to the Minister of ITI, I find it pretty amazing this government hasn’t done more to protect the interests of the Sahtu people or, more importantly, that that CANOL Park, which was established under their land claim agreement, but, more importantly, protection of the Sahtu interests in the Northwest Territories, which basically we talk about IBAs, we talk about social impact agreements, we talk about benefits to the people in the Northwest Territories. These resources are going to be transferred from the Northwest Territories into the Yukon to be mined or processed in the Yukon. I’d just like to ask the Minister of ITI why is it that there are no agreements with the First Nations people in the Northwest Territories, especially the Sahtu people, in regard to this development on the impact on Sahtu lands in the Northwest Territories, yet the company is talking about transporting that ore from the Northwest Territories and processing it in the Yukon so they can avoid the environmental responsibility they have under the environmental assessment in the Northwest Territories?
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bob McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The reason there is no IBA agreements is the project hasn’t advanced to that stage yet. It’s still under development and both Mactung and Selwyn are being very careful to make sure that they stay on the Yukon side. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The main ore body that they’re talking about processing or developing is in the Northwest Territories. Basically, facilities are being developed in the Yukon so they can avoid the environmental process that they have to go through under the Mackenzie Valley Resources Management Act. So, again, it looks to me like the developer is trying to avoid regulatory responsibility in the Northwest Territories. So I’d like to ask the Minister again, have you checked to see why it is that this developer out of Vancouver is avoiding the regulatory responsibility it has in the Northwest Territories under federal legislation? Why is it we are allowing that to happen?
Perhaps that question is better directed to the federal government, but we, as I said, Mr. Yakeleya and myself visited the Mactung property. The development is all taken on the Yukon side. They are accessing the mine development site by using a public road that is available to anybody in the general public and, as such, until such time as they have done the feasibility work and until such time as they make application to make it into a fully functioning mine, they are working within the Yukon jurisdiction. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Again, another one of our major resources is being taken up by a company which is now finding ways, not only shipping diamonds to Antwerp and other places in the world and we end up with nothing. Now we are finding the mine companies that deal with iron ore and heavy metals are finding ways around the Government of the Northwest Territories by simply moving the ore body out of the Northwest Territories, processing it somewhere else so we won’t get the economic and social benefit of that process. So I would like to ask the Minister responsible for Energy Mines and Resources to ensure that any mining process, regardless of how small it is, we receive the maximum benefit as Northerners for a resource that is going to leave the Northwest Territories, regardless of whether if it’s across a border 20 kilometres down the road or basically using a way to get around that responsibility of ensuring that our resources and our wealth are spent in the Northwest Territories. Again, I would like to ask the Minister, can you ensure that any developments that happen in the Northwest Territories, that we are the sole benefactors of any of those developments that take place here in the Northwest Territories regardless of whom?
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When those developments happen in the Northwest Territories, we will certainly make sure that the benefits to the people of the Northwest Territories are maximized. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Krutko.
Mr. Speaker, someone who has been involved in the Sahtu claim process knows that the ore body we are talking about has subsurface lands which are owned by the people of the Sahtu. They have ownership at the site that we are talking about around the existing ore body. So I mean it seems like this government is either snuffing us off or not taking us seriously. This is a major deposit with regard to one of the largest deposits in North America and yet we don’t seem to be interested. So I’d like to ask the Minister, can he report back to this House exactly what your department is doing to ensure that development takes place and we, as Northerners, benefit from that? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mining resources are owned by the federal government or else if they are negotiated through a land claim and they have subsidiary rights, as you indicated, then they’re owned by the Sahtu government. So as I said, we are prepared to make sure that Northerners benefit from development when they happen in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have listened to the exchange between the MLA for Mackenzie Delta and the Minister of ITI. I wanted to ask the Minister of Transportation in terms of public roads in the north end of the CANOL here, is that under GNWT’s jurisdiction in terms of public road maintenance and operations?
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister of Transportation, Mr. Michael McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there is a stretch of road from the Yukon border, roughly 14 kilometres that is referred to as the Canol Road. In theory, I guess, the Public Highways Act and Motor Vehicles Act applies to this portion of road. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, that is, in theory, 14 kilometres of road that we have up there. I would encourage the Minister to take a trip up there and look at the conditions of this 14 kilometres of road to see where our priorities are in terms of fixing up our road. I know the Yukon has put thousands of dollars in the Yukon, so that would encourage visitors and encourage some mine companies to come into the Northwest Territories. I would ask the Minister, are there any plans of grading these 14 kilometres of road?
Mr. Speaker, this section of road is in a very remote portion of the NWT. The use of this stretch of road is very limited. In fact, we don’t have any enforcement of this portion of highway. As of yet, we have not had the opportunity to talk about any improvements. Our indications earlier on were that the people of the Sahtu were not completely in support of upgrading this road as they felt it was going to increase traffic as a result. So we need to have that discussion. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, last month we had six land rovers come up from B.C. Now, no matter what, people are going to start coming in. With notice of Mactung opening up, there is going to be more industry coming up and taking more interest. I would ask the Minister if he would look at types of enforcement or having this jurisdiction of road be improved. I would ask the Minister if he would be willing to look at some type of legislation or policy in terms of having some restrictions on people going to be using this road more in the future. Would the Minister look at types of regulations or legislation in terms of how do we start paying a little more close attention to this piece of road?
Mr. Speaker, there is currently public highway regulations along this stretch of highway. As I stated earlier, we do not have high volume traffic on this area. We don’t currently have any enforcement on this stretch of road. The Member has invited me to take a look at it. I would be pleased to look at this portion of highway at my earliest convenience. However, having said that, land rovers, other vehicles or ATVs would not be prohibited from travelling on a section of road. It is a public piece of highway. If there are vehicles that are going off the highway and especially ATVs travelling off of our public highways, we don’t have any regulation that would stop that. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Your final supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Mr. Speaker, I guess when I say in the Sahtu we don’t have any roads, actually we do have roads. They were built in 1943 and 1944 from Norman Wells into the Yukon. Now we have only 14 kilometres of that road. I guess I would ask the Minister, if I was to invite him, if he would come and walk with me on these 14 kilometres of road here. Mr. Speaker, I want to ask if the Minister would consider looking at some type of restriction on the use of vehicles. Vehicles are going to be coming more and more into this part of the road. Again, I would ask him if he would commit to looking at some type of restrictive use of vehicles such as land rovers or ATVs. He is well aware of the issues I brought up in the past in regards to the damage that it does to the proposed park.
Mr. Speaker, I had indicated earlier that I would be pleased to talk to the people of the Sahtu as to their desire to see if there is any way to upgrading this road or provide provisions that would allow us to look at what we can do or at least look at the options. This is a 14-kilometre road. I am not sure if I have as much free time as the Member to walk a whole 14 kilometres. I have committed that I would look at the situation. I would be pleased to look at the portion of road that he is referring to and try to do a visit and maybe at the time when he is walking, we can coordinate our travel.
However, once again, it is a very difficult area to provide enforcement to. It is very remote. There is not a whole lot of traffic that travels this road. We don’t have resources that we can dedicate. However, I am assuming there would be opportunity where we can provide spot-checks if that is what is required.
Again, I don’t know if we can put in regulations that would stop vehicles such as land rovers to come on this trail. It is a public highway, but we can look at options. I would be pleased to sit down and have that discussion with the Member and people from the Sahtu. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment:
What were the total expenditures for the YK1 School Board during the 2008-09 fiscal year? Specifically, what were the total costs per school and the total costs for board operations?
What were the total expenditures for the Yellowknife Catholic School Board during the 2008-09 fiscal year? Specifically, what were the total costs per school and the total costs for board operations?
What were the total expenditures for the Commission Scolaire francophone school board during the 2008-09 fiscal year? Specifically, what were the total costs for Ecole Allain St-Cyr and the total cost for board operations?
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
How much money has the GNWT spent on the court action as it relates to Ecole Allain St-Cyr and the expansion of that school?
Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document entitled Supplementary Appropriation No. 2 (Operations Expenditures), 2009-2010. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Minister of Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.
TABLED DOCUMENT 19-16(4):
SUPPLEMENTARY APPROPRIATION NO. 3 (INFRASTRUCTURE EXPENDITURES),
Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document entitled, Supplementary Appropriation No. 3 (Infrastructure Expenditures), 2009-2010. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.
TABLED DOCUMENT 20-16(4):
Mr. Speaker, I would like to table a product information leaflet, Arepanrix, H1N1, ASO3-Adjuvanted H1N1 pandemic influenza vaccine located on the Health Canada site which was revised October 21, 2009. Thank you.
thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Tabling of documents. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have two sets of documents I would like to table today. The first set is specific to N.J. Macpherson, which is the front page of the website I printed off. It is about voting for playground projects with its website address at nj.yk.nt.ca as well as the funding agency I printed off the cover of their website which is ABF community fund.
The second set of documents, Mr. Speaker, I would like to quickly table is the first one is a Transport Canada study done. It is Observed Driver Phone Use Rates in Canada. It highlights the NWT in there. The second document I would like to table under that topic is the British Columbians Support a Cell Phone Ban for Drivers. The third document I would like to table is Survey shows strong support for laws restricting mobile use while driving. The fourth document I wish to table is Cell phone ban in effect for Ontario drivers. The last thing I would like to table is the story in the Globe and Mail, Ontario cell phone ban begins. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Pursuant to section 99 of the Legislative Assembly Executive Council Act, I hereby table the Annual Report for the Calendar Year 2008 of the Conflict of Interest Commissioner of the Northwest Territories.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
WHEREAS section 91(1) of the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act provides that the Commissioner, on the recommendation of the Legislative Assembly, shall appoint a Conflict of Interest Commissioner to exercise the powers and perform the duties set out in the act;
AND WHEREAS the appointment of the current Conflict of Interest Commissioner, Mr. Gerald Gerrand, expires November 30, 2009;
AND WHEREAS the Legislative Assembly considers the appointment of a Conflict of Interest Commissioner essential to exercise the powers and perform the duties under the act;
AND WHEREAS Members of the Legislative Assembly have expressed an interest in reappointing Mr. Gerrand for a second term as Conflict of Interest Commissioner;
NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Monfwi, that pursuant to section 91 of the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act, the Legislative Assembly recommends to the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories the appointment of Mr. Gerald Gerrand as Conflict of Interest Commissioner, for a four-year term to be effective December 1, 2009.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. There is a motion on the floor. The motion is in order. To the motion.
