Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Within the week we expect to be in a position to announce definitely, in relation to the Beverly and Ahiak herd off to the east. The Bluenose-East herd, the numbers are just being collated and there’s work being done with the department and with the co-management board looking at the numbers and looking at how the numbers break out in terms of cow-calf recruitment and calf survival and the overall numbers. That work will be finalized, hopefully, within the week, but if not, shortly thereafter. As soon as those are concluded, I will be in a position to make a public announcement, but the intent still is, the numbers are there to warrant it, and we are looking to move if those numbers warrant on a tag per resident, I will be able to announce that this winter.
I’m looking forward to seeing that information. If the Minister can give us maybe another brief update on what’s happening with the commercial outfitter tag allocation for the upcoming season.
There is no commercial outfitter tag allocation. There is none currently, and given the herd numbers, there is no plan at this point to reinstitute those commercial tags for some time. The commitment on the Bathurst herd is going to be the next full count will be done in 2015-16, so it will be at least until 2016 before we’re in any position to look at the clear numbers of the state of the Bathurst herd to see what type of harvest may be possible.
It sounds, to my ears, that we’re going to be waiting another year or two here before we can do something for our commercial outfitters. They’ve been hanging on a wire for way too long here and I think we’ve got to help them out, but of course, I understand species management is paramount.
As I said 232 days ago, and I’m just going to repeat the same question: What is the formal format to allow resident hunters and commercial hunters to have a meaningful input in all upcoming management board discussions in caribou management or in our limit in harvest in the future? Thank you.
Thank you. We have a commitment to an ongoing role here in the Wildlife Act that will engage what is now currently called the Stakeholders Wildlife Act Advisory Group to make sure that we have that ongoing potential opportunity for input. As well, we will work on an ongoing basis with ENR to get feedback from outfitters. In the North Slave there are no settled claims. We’re trying to work out a process on a going-forward basis with the Wek’eezhii, which has a settled claim, but there’s none in the North Slave with the Akaitcho. The Northwest Territories Metis, as well, have some claims up here in terms of land and access.
So we’re in the process of once again working out an interim arrangement with all of the parties to ensure we can manage the Bathurst herd most appropriately. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Minister for clarifying that. We’ve been aware for some time now that the Bluenose-East has been at record levels for at least four years now.
So with that information, can the Minister indicate how many times he’s met with the commercial harvesters and talked with them about the potential harvest? Earlier it sounded like we’re not going to be doing this for a number of years, but has the Minister sat down with these organizations and clearly mapped out the plan of action for their survival? Thank you.
Thank you. That flexibility and opportunity has been significantly impaired since we are currently involved in litigation and I’m being sued by the outfitters. So there’s a lawsuit underway which limits ability for that type of interaction. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I heard my colleague from Yellowknife Centre talking about the cost of power in Yellowknife, feeling that Yellowknife residents are being singled out in some way and not getting the same kind of subsidy as other communities in the Northwest Territories.
Without the benefit of unedited Hansard, I’d like to ask the Minister responsible for the Power Corporation, did the Minister say that the high cost of power in Hay River and Yellowknife had something to do with the franchises operated by Northland Utilities? Thank you.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When we provide the information to the Member, I’ll be happy to share the cost breakdowns by community, what they sell the power for, what residents pay for in the hydro communities. I can lay out, as well, for thermal communities, but the residential rate is pegged to the Yellowknife rate. There is a cost difference based on who the distributor, who the provider of power is.
I’d like to ask the Minister if he’s aware of an institution called the Public Utilities Board and that in fact the provision of all power, electricity in the Northwest Territories is a highly regulated utility where, whether it’s Northland Utilities or the Power Corporation, they make application to the PUB under a general rate application process and the rates that they charge are regulated. It’s based on rate of return, the cost of doing business and this is an organization that’s appointed and overseen by this government.
So I’d like to ask the Minister that while he is comparing the price in the hydro communities where NUL holds the franchise, would he also like to look at some of the smaller diesel communities where NUL delivers the utility, as well, compare those communities of the same size where the service is delivered by NTPC? Could he provide that to the House? Thank you.
Thank you. Yes, we will provide the complete package for the Members. Thank you.
Thank you. I’d like to ask Minister Miltenberger if he is challenging the decision-making process provided by the Public Utilities Board of the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Not at all, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final, short supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With the disadvantage of not having unedited Hansard before me, I will review Hansard and if in fact Mr. Miltenberger did make a statement in the House today which is incorrect, I will be asking him to withdraw tomorrow. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today we heard the Minister of Education talk about an Education Renewal Framework. He mentions that we need to improve the relationship between communities and schools, as well as that students in small communities need to have access to quality education as much as those in our larger centres.
My question today is regarding how we can do that through innovation. So I’d like to ask the Minister with the great e-learning program that’s happening in Inuvik right now with the communities of Tuktoyaktuk and Fort McPherson, is there any other communities slated on the list or on the budget for maybe this school year or next school year? Thank you.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Again, I’m just congratulating the Beaufort-Delta for their e-learning. It’s been very successful to date even though it’s a short timeframe that they’ve initiated the project. Now, we must congratulate them as well. This particular e-learning is new to us even though we’ve used it in other jurisdictions and with best practices from other countries as well.
In the process of the business planning cycle, we work closely with the school boards and they identify their budget for the whole year. As part of that could be the e-learning that the Beaufort-Delta can establish as part of their goals and objectives. So we as a department will be working closely with the Beaufort-Delta because we want to use that model in other jurisdictions and in other communities because it’s been successful. We want our students to stay in the communities. So I believe this is one area we are embarking on and it’s going to be a very exciting time for us. Mahsi.
Thank you. The Beaufort-Delta Inuvik region is very unique in a sense that we have a high cost of living and travelling to any of the communities, the budget that the district education authority has gets spent really fast, because if they go to Sachs Harbour or Paulatuk, they’re using up a lot of their budget. So when we’ve got great programs like e-learning, but the cost of travel going to the communities is very high, we want to ask the Minister if he’d be willing to increase a budget or look at the way they divvy up the dollars for education authorities and look at giving an increase to the education authorities so that they can run a successful program like this, but also do their visits to the communities. Thank you.
Mahsi. Through various school boards, they deliver their own projects outside of their business planning budget that they usually receive. Again, thanking them for being innovative and creative. We are working closely with that. There are different projects on the go. E-learning is just one example. There are other school boards that are doing quite well in other projects, as well, that we are closely monitoring. Again, this will be a part of their business planning cycle. If there’s going to be an increase in funding, then that will be considered through the process itself. So at the end of the day, we will be going through this with our department and all of the school boards with all these different initiatives such as e-learning, a prime example. Mahsi.
Thank you. This program itself is very unique and the Inuvik Education Authority has taken this on themselves, have run with it and they’ve shown success. They’ve given us presentations on high success rates within the school system, an increase in their school averages, academic averages. If the Inuvik Education Authority is spending their money on this successful program when they could be using it other ways that other educational authorities are using their dollars, would the department be looking to fund this as a different project rather than having the Inuvik Education Authority use their dollars on this unique program that’s making waves in the small communities? Would the department look at funding it as a project on its own out of Inuvik? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, these are just some of the projects that we are seriously looking at. We have done pilot projects in the past. We continue to do so. This could be part of the project that has been delivered through the Beaufort-Delta and along with other communities, so we could deliver that in the mains. Again, we need to sit down and work with the Beaufort-Delta and other school boards, if we can deliver a similar model, and as part of the business planning cycle as well. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is a very unique project. The staff have said to me, speaking with some of the staff and people who have known the program, they do need more dollars to run this program successfully, even in the two communities they’re working with now.
Would the Minister also, doing this model, look at southern institutions that might be able to offer programs from the South through Inuvik to the communities? It’s very unique. It’s a great opportunity. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I agree with the Member that we are unique. We are very much different than other jurisdictions. I did receive a letter from the chair of the Beaufort-Delta. We are seriously looking at this particular project. If it’s going to be funded from the department with the school board, those are just some of the recommendations brought to my attention, so I need to work with that. It wasn’t too long ago that we received the letter, but I will keep the Member posted as we move forward on these particular projects. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the new Minister of Health and Social Services, with my congratulations, and it follows up on my Member’s statement on the need for a treatment centre or not within the Northwest Territories.
Does the Minister agree that the need for a drug and alcohol treatment centre in the NWT, which means the allocation of substantial funding and efforts, versus focusing on other programs and accessing southern institutions, remains unclear and needs attention and focus to be resolved? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Abernethy.
Mr. Speaker, there is no question that dealing with mental health and addictions in the Northwest Territories is a priority of this government as well as Members. There are many ways to provide services. It may be a treatment centre; it may be on-the-land programming. This is a discussion that we need to continue to have with committee and I’m willing to continue to have with committee. We do have a Shared Path Towards Wellness, the 2012-2015 report on mental health and addictions. This is an action plan and we all need to work together. I hear the Member’s point, but I’m not sure the government committee need new bricks and mortar as the direction to go. There are lots of buildings around which we may be able to utilize for treatment centres but there is also on-the-land programming, so there are multiple approaches we need to consider. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, thanks to the Minister. That is exactly my point. We have not resolved this question for decades. We halfway supported our institutions. We have allowed them to fail because we haven’t had the commitment to either make them work or focus somewhere else. Currently, it’s totally buried in the fine print of the strategy.
Will he bring the focus needed to resolve this question? Bring it to the House and let us know the timeline and how he is going to go about this. I would like to hear him commit to that during this session. The day has come. Mahsi.
Mr. Speaker, I listened intently yesterday during the mental health and addictions theme day and I heard the Member talking. I also heard all of the Members talking. What I will commit to right now is that I will sit down with committee. We will talk about these issues. The reviews and the research have been done; it’s time for action. I agree, and I will work with committee to move forward on this issue. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thanks for that commitment. Thanks to the Minister. Unfortunately, and I agree with most of what he said, but towards the end, we have not done the research. That is what I’m saying. Let’s do the research. Let’s commit ourselves fully. Do the research. What are the programs? What are the success rates of the different models? What is our situation? How would it work, jibe with on-the-land programs and so on? Let’s put the effort and the commitment to resolve this once and for all. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, yesterday I heard the Member say that we need a thorough and informed debate to examine the pros and cons leading to a clear evidence-based decision and a commitment to act. I also heard Members say we are plagued with study after study after study. I’ve heard other Members say we have talked about the reports that have been shelved. I heard another Member say study after study after study keeps telling us the same thing. I also heard that we have to think outside the box and that we have to work together.
I and my colleagues are here to work with Members on that side of the House to find real solutions and we’re willing to think outside the box. We don’t need more studies. The research is done. Let’s get something done. We need to work with the Members and we will work with the Members to solve these solutions.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think the Minister has captured it here. There is a lot of confusion, which is what I said. There is a lot of opposing information. That’s exactly what I’m looking for, is a timeline. Right now, as I said, this is buried in the fine print of the so-called action plan. I’m looking for a commitment to get this done within all the details that the Minister has mentioned, various programs that are out there, the conflicting information. We need leadership to penetrate this haze and come up with a clear, informed decision. That is what I’m asking for. Mahsi.
Mr. Speaker, I’m pretty sure that’s what I just said as well. As far as a timeline, I’m not going to stand here on my first day and give you a timeline. I’m going to work with the Members. We are going to work on a timeline. We are going to come forward with action in the life of this Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to table a letter that was distributed to all Members of the Legislative Assembly on October 30, 2013. It’s a letter from the Inuvialuit regarding their concerns with respect to Bill 3 amendments. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Further to the committee report I gave earlier today, I wish to table the Pembina Report, titled Responsible Extraction: An Analysis of the Northwest Territories Mineral Development Strategy Panel Report. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Lafferty.
