Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister responsible for ITI and are a follow-up to my Member’s statement. As mentioned in my statement, it appears as though former GNWT employees have taken the lessons learned as part of the NWT secondary diamond industry and are applying them in other jurisdictions. These southern operations appear to be successful. If this knowledge works in other jurisdictions, why does the NWT secondary industry continue to struggle while others grow and what is the Minister’s department doing to revitalize the NWT cutting and polishing industry? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Minister of ITI, Mr. Bob McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think I heard two questions there. I think we have no problem with the Canadian diamond industry growing. We think it’s to the benefit of the Northwest Territories, and certainly with a strong diamond sector, we can change the definition of a Canadian diamond, which will be to our benefit. We don’t believe that we are falling behind, but there are some challenges.
Everybody knows that it’s much more difficult and more costly to operate up here in the Northwest Territories. Secondly, the provinces where these operations are being conducted, Ontario, Saskatchewan, they are provinces. We are a Territory. They collect royalties and they reinvest it in the diamond industry, whereas our royalties go to the federal government who have not seen fit at all to invest in the diamond industry.
Another factor is we have a diamond policy. A large part of our diamond policy, which is the provision of loan guarantees, has been eliminated. So we have undertaken a review of our diamond sector and we will be presenting our recommendations with regards to what we should be doing to revitalize and improve our diamond manufacturing.
I should point out, also, that we do have three manufacturing facilities that are still, compared to other jurisdictions, a leader in this area. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would like to thank the Minister for that response. I’m glad to hear things are happening and things are being done to revitalize this industry.
Earlier this week, I met with a constituent who happens to be a former diamond cutter in one of the plants in Yellowknife. When laid off, due to downsizing last year, he and his family decided to stay in Yellowknife in hopes that he would be able to return to his diamond cutting and polishing position once the market returned. Now he has been contacted by Embee to go to work for their factory in Saskatchewan. He tells me that 13 families are considering leaving the Northwest Territories to work for Mr. Botha in Prince Albert. Thirteen families are roughly 39 people at $22,000 per person. This means that at least $858,000 of federal transfers will leave with them. This affects Northerners, all Northerners. What is the Minister going to do to help expedite this revitalization that I hear you talking about of the local industry in the hopes that these 13 families don’t have to leave the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Certainly Canada is a free country and people can move to where they want to live. I think the diamond cutting family, if I could call it that, has fit in very well into Yellowknife and is a very important part of the community. So I would hate to see that happen. But I think on our part the best way to keep these people in Yellowknife is to have a strong secondary diamond manufacturing and polishing industry, and I think the best way is to ensure that 100 percent of our NWT diamond allocation is bought and cut and polished here in the Northwest Territories and that’s what we are working towards, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.
Thanks to the Minister for that. I agree with him. Anybody can move and live anywhere they want within this country and I agree that Yellowknife is a great place. My question was more specific. It’s what are we going to do -- and I understand a lot is being done -- but what are we going to do to expedite this revitalization? What is the Minister proposing now? Are there meetings taking place? What’s happening to revitalize this industry in the Northwest Territories today? Because people who want to stay -- and I stress want to be here in the Northwest Territories -- are leaving. What are we doing to revitalize? What are we doing to expedite the revitalization? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself, but I think the main thing we want to do right now is we want to make sure that all of the factories are operating. Diamonds have been produced in the Northwest Territories for 10 years now. We have learned a lot over the 10 years and we think that we can find ways in working with the manufacturers so that their operations can become more effective and efficient, and, hopefully, we expect that they will become more feasible. So we feel that there are things we can improve upon. We can become more effective so we can move faster. We can have a little more flexibility so that the cutters and polishers can have a more feasible operation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister mentioned that diamond cutting and polishing has been in the Northwest Territories for 10 years. That’s true. Unfortunately, I don’t believe our diamond policy has changed in 10 years. I understand that about four years ago we actually did some significant reductions within the Department of ITI in the diamond division. I am curious who in the government, who in the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment, is actually moving forward on this diamond policy and looking at reviewing it if our division was mostly gutted, for lack of a better word, and when can we expect to see some improvements or modifications or modernization of our diamond policy? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I wouldn’t call the diamond division as being gutted. We still have our marketing side of the Diamond Program and the responsibility for the diamonds was factored into our mineral section. So we have recently focussed more of the diamond file to an associate director position. We do have a proposed revised diamond policy, and our expectation is that we would brief standing committees very shortly, with a view to coming forward and having the policy approved once we have received the input of the committees. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. 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. I think he realizes that I have some questions with regard to the Local Authorities Elections Act. I mentioned that there were some consultations done. There was a discussion paper put forward. I think the end of consultation was in February or March of this year. I would like to know if the Minister can advise what the results of that consultation and that discussion paper are. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Robert McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member is correct. There was a discussion paper put out for some input into some of the proposed amendments to the Elections Act. We are assessing some of the results of the questions that were proposed out there, and we are just preparing a draft report and we are hoping to have that done fairly soon, so we can share that with the Members. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thanks to the Minister for that update. I expect that I will probably be asking what “soon” means later on, but I would like to ask the Minister first…The residency requirement wasn’t really addressed in the discussion paper. It was referenced, but somewhat obliquely. I want to know from the Minister whether or not there will be an opportunity once results of the consultation are out, whether there is an opportunity to go back and discuss particularly the residency requirement eligibility for voters section. Thank you.
One of the questions in the consultation/discussion paper was around the issue of residency requirements and a lot of the folks that did respond did say that there needed to be some adjustments made to the residency requirement issues. So this was taken into consideration and then we will be preparing a report to present to Members. Thank you.
I think the reference to the residency requirement had to do with allowing for temporary absences. I don’t believe the question addressed the length of residency that is required to allow somebody to vote in a municipal election. So I’d like to ask the Minister again whether or not that particular section of the act, the length of time that’s required for a resident to live in the community or make it, sorry, not the community but make it the Territory. Will that be addressed? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, the questions that the Member raises will be addressed. There will be an opportunity for more input into the process. We are, between now and the summer session, wanting to come back with an LP and that will give Members an opportunity to suggest some changes, with a possibility of introducing a bill in the May/June session. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Your final supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to now ask the question to the Minister -- he says we’ll get the report, the results of the consultation and the report soon -- what might “soon” mean? I have to ask this question very often of Ministers. Are we talking one month? Three months? Six months? Two years? Hopefully not two years, because he’s talking about an LP soon. So when might that be? And at that time when those results of the consultation come forward, will there be an opportunity for further input, not necessarily from Members but from the public? Thank you.
By soon…I have to remember to do that when I’m responding to the Members’ questions, because I always leave myself open for that. So in the future I will come up with a specific date; November 25th, 2009, type of thing. So I will follow up with the department and see where we’re at with this. Hopefully, if there’s an opportunity to get this out within the next month, then I would commit to doing that.
There’s always opportunity for input into some of the things we’re doing. We are proposing an LP come forward between now and the May/June session, so we can introduce the bill in May/June and have committee take that on the road. But there’s always opportunity for input into this process. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister of Transportation and it’s in regards to my Member’s statement. I received several calls at my office in Fort McPherson in regards to the closure of the Abraham Francis ferry on the Peel River this coming Saturday. People were raising the concern that there is no ice on the river, so why are we closing the ferry, there’s no visible threat to ferry operations. My assistant took some pictures, which I sent to the Minister’s office, showing him visually that you can actually see there is no…If anything, the river is wide open where the ferry is crossing. So I’d like to ask the Minister, is it possible to extend the season so that we can stick to a 72-hour notice or a 48-hour notice and move forward with the understanding that there’s no threat to operations? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Honourable Minister of Transportation, Mr. Michael McLeod.
Mr. Speaker, I’m just wondering if we’re looking at the same picture. The Member did send a picture to my office and there was some water, but there was lots of ice on both sides of the channel. So I guess that I have to ensure that we’re looking at the same image that he’s talking about.
Mr. Speaker, he’s correct; there was a date set for closure. Notice has been given for Saturday. But there has been some consideration, since the weather has warmed up, and we expect that we can squeeze a few more days out of the operations there and we will do our best to continue operations. Mr. Speaker, we have to ensure that there are a number of things that are considered. Of course, ice is one thing, but safety for all the people travelling on our ferries always has to be number one. Those decisions are based on the captain’s discretion, along with our marine manager and our regional superintendent. So we’re going to do the best we can to ensure that the ferry runs a few more days and see how things are at that time. It would have to run on a very short closure notice basis. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I believe the decision was made here in Yellowknife and not in the community operations. If anything, they agreed that they can still operate. I would like to ask the Minister if it is possible to extend the season as long as possible so people are still able to move goods and services and the people back and forth, people working on the highway, people out at 8 Mile, so they are able to get back and forth across the river. But, more importantly, with the mild weather that we are receiving here in Yellowknife that we are probably going to see a short winter season this year, because of the mild weather that is out there. I wonder if it is possible to extend it so we can take advantage of the crossing, more power to it. I would like to request the Minister if he can keep myself informed and maybe look at the possibility of a 72-hour notice and basically go forward. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, once again, we don’t tell our captains what to say when it comes to closure of the ferry services. It is the same as we can’t tell the captains of an airplane when they should fly. Mr. Speaker, that is against federal regulations. We will not interfere politically as to the operations. Weather permitting, ice conditions permitting and safety factors all considered, we will do our best.
Mr. Speaker, at the same time, this may be a very unusually warm winter with the climate change. That channel may stay open all winter. We don’t have the resources to operate all winter. We can confirm that we will do our best to operate, depending on all the factors that I mentioned, but I can’t confirm that we will do any more than that. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, again, if we put a bridge there, we wouldn’t have this problem. I think if the Minister put his emphasis on that, then we wouldn’t have to worry about the season, the rain. Again, this ferry operation is basically operated on the cable system. I believe the people that operate the ferry only have to have a Class 3 licence. You don’t need a Class 1. Again, it is a hydraulically operated ferry. There are no captains on this vessel. Again, it is a hydraulically operated system. I think that, if anything, we should do whatever we can to extend the season and make use of the operation. I know cost is a factor, but I think we are only talking a couple more weeks here. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, there is no doubt that a bridge would solve all these issues, but that is a $70 million question that hasn’t been resolved yet. Actually this ferry has been operating longer now than it has in the last 10 years. So it is certainly an indicator that we are feeling the effects of climate change, but that could change overnight. Cold weather could set in. Again, we will look at all the conditions around operating this ferry and do our best to operate as long as we can and keep the Member informed of what we plan to do in terms of our actions. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday in my Member’s statement I was speaking about the H1N1 virus that is happening right now across the globe. Listening today on CBC Radio, I was listening to one of my elders from Ulukhaktok, a well-respected elder, Robert Kuptana. I would like to ask the Minister today if she could clarify if there is a vaccine in the community of Ulukhaktok and what time they are going to start vaccinating the elders and the kids in the schools. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I could advise the Members that as soon as we got the shipments of vaccines, they were transported to Inuvik so that we are prepared to deal with all of the areas from Inuvik. From Inuvik, vaccines are being transported by hand by a nurse, because the vaccines are very temperature sensitive so they can’t be shipped on the plane. The temperatures have to be monitored. They are being distributed into health centres in many different ways, but they are handled by nurses. The action teams are going into communities. As well, visiting regularly scheduled nurses are going into health centres with the vaccines. Lastly, I could advise the Member that we have begun vaccinating in Ulukhaktok today. I cannot tell him what time or anything like that, but we are vaccinating in Ulukhaktok today. Vaccines are there today. Thank you.
That is good to hear. My elders in Ulukhaktok won’t have to worry so much about their grandchildren.
Mr. Speaker, in my Member’s statement yesterday, I spoke about the timelines for Tuk and Paulatuk and Sachs. I hope the Minister’s department is seeking to get the vaccine into the communities a lot sooner than within two weeks. That is what the dates in the community are saying. I would like to ask the Minister if she could make sure that the dates are moved up a lot quicker, hopefully by Monday. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, the latest information we have is that Tuktoyaktuk, Paulatuk and Sachs Harbour will start vaccinating next week, starting Monday. Mr. Speaker, also I have to say that our health staff and the Territorial Emergency Response Committee have done a spectacular job. As of yesterday, we have vaccinated 7,445 people. This in comparison to 10,000 that Ontario was able to vaccinate in three days; so given the size, geography and challenges we have, I have to say kudos to the people who are involved in this. They are really stepping up to the plate. We are moving fast. We are moving quickly. Our plan was to have everybody who wants to be, vaccinated by November 21st. We are on schedule and I think there is every possibility that we will be done even sooner than that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would like to thank the Minister and her department for working so fast in the southern part of the Territory. I see now it is moving ahead to the communities. I just would like to see and make sure that the H1N1 for the communities, people are really scared and that their staff get out there and let them know that they are working on it to get everybody inoculated and to go on from there. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. I didn’t hear a question there. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I had a few other questions for the Minister of Transportation as it pertains to the Government of the Northwest Territories future financial obligations to the Deh Cho Bridge project. The Minister had mentioned that our first payment, I believe, is due in January 2010. I just wanted to clarify with the Minister what that payment is going to be. Is it going to be $3.8 million? Mr. Speaker, that is the question that I have. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister of Transportation, Mr. Michael McLeod.
Mr. Speaker, I believe I said the payment was due in December for $2.5 million.
I thought I heard January, but it could have been December. That would, from my knowledge, include $1.8 million and that is the cost of the ice road crossing there, and the ferry operations, and the $2 million that we can thank the last government for as a top-up on that payment. That is $3.8 million that the government is going to have to pay whether it is in January or December of next year some time. I would like to ask the Minister where that money is going to come from and if that is the correct amount, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, the money I was referring to was the payment that was due to the lenders. We expect that we would probably be in the position to have to cover that portion of it and have a recovery plan through chargebacks of some sort. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister what the government’s yearly payment is going to be to the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation for the Deh Cho Bridge once the construction has concluded. Is it going to remain at $3.8 million or does the Minister foresee it going higher than that? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, the payment is going to be the subsidy that is going to be provided to the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation, $2 million and a portion of the operations that we currently operate right now through the ferry service and the ice bridge construction, minus the operation of the toll that we are going to be holding back. We expect that to be around $300,000. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.
