Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The Hon. Premier, Mr. Roland.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’d be prepared to try and see what we can do to get this information out to all the students in the Northwest Territories. We ourselves are undertaking a number of initiatives to get on top of the water situation, more so than we have in the past, through partnerships with provinces in western Canada as well as re-energizing the Mackenzie River Basin Board that was put into place a number of years ago. So we’d look at opportunities along with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment to see what we can do in this area.
That kind of sounded like a yes. That’s good. Just so you know, the film is $30 a copy, so it shouldn’t cost us too much to get enough copies for all of our schools. And since we’re talking about schools in the Northwest Territories, I think it might also be good to ensure that we get a copy of that film into every high school that falls within the Mackenzie River water basin. I think we’re going to need as much help as we can get, and we might as well get some of the youth of Alberta helping us fight the tar sands.
I’d like to see if the Premier would be willing to commit to getting enough copies so that we can get them into the high schools that fall within the Mackenzie River water basin outside the Northwest Territories as well.
Mr. Speaker, first things first. We need to get our house in order, and we’re doing that. Again, I’m glad to know that the price of the movie is $30. We can work with the appropriate departments to try and make sure that we get this information and the movie out to as many students in our schools as we can. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions will be to the Minister who’s responsible for the Strategic Initiative Committee on Refocusing Government, and that will be Minister Michael Miltenberger.
Mr. Speaker, referring back to my Member’s statement, of course, I’d like to know what this Minister has done to examine the costs of rolling up most of these boards into a regional services model. If he has an idea of what that costs, will he make it public?
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Member is aware, we’ve been doing extensive work on this particular subject since we were formed as a government. I intend to come forward in this session with a major statement on that issue, and I’ll be prepared to put that information before this House at that time.
Mr. Speaker, has the Minister done any work or examined the efficiency of what this roll-up will mean to most boards and regional service models as well?
Mr. Speaker, I ask the forbearance and patience of the Member. When I come forward with this statement before the House, I will lay all that information out, as well as other areas that the refocusing committee has been working on, like the program review.
What work has been done to examine the relationship of aboriginal governments and their regions so that when we take self-government models and overlap them with these regional boards’ jurisdictions…? What work is being done to examine that type of relationship and the problems that this will cause if we proceed with a regional based board model?
I appreciate the Member’s enthusiasm for getting ahead of the parade, but I’ll just once again ask him to have patience. I’ll be coming forward with a Minister’s statement that will speak to those issues. Then we can engage in any number of questions that the Member may have.
Final supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, when this Minister’s statement that seems to answer all questions comes forward, will it also talk about when public consultation will happen and how that will involve the public, as opposed to how these taxes have not involved Members as effectively as possible and have only involved certain members of the public, that kind of discussion? Will it have that detail?
Mr. Speaker, the statement I’ll bring forward will lay out the work done to date, what we see as the work yet to be done, a timeline for doing that type of work and rolling out the implementation with target dates set in there.
In regard to the taxes the Member was apprised of what was going on. There has been a significant mail-out across the Northwest Territories. We’ve consulted with a multitude of organizations. We’ve had a two day round table, and we’re still soliciting support until the middle of next week. We look forward to bringing forward a very comprehensive piece of work that lays out the results of all that effort. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are addressed to the Minister responsible for the NWT Power Corp. I spoke in my statement about the need for the Power Corp to exercise judgment and cost savings in everything that they do. I’d like to ask the Minister what cost saving measures are in place for this fiscal year to minimize the impact of corporation expenditures on electricity rates for poor little consumers like us. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Minister responsible for the NWT Power Corporation, Mr. Roland.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Through the Ministerial Energy Coordinating Committee, the Power Corporation, along with myself and a number of other Ministers, is looking at a number of initiatives that can help with individuals here in the Northwest Territories. We’re bringing that paper forward to Members for consideration. Within the Power Corporation itself we have to, as would be done any time we go before the PUB for a general rate application for rate riders, prove up the numbers, as they say. So there are a number of initiatives that are undertaken.
I’ll commit to get more details for the Member on just purely what the Power Corporation has been doing, and I’ll try to get that information as soon as I can.
I thank the Minister for the response. I have to take exception to his statement to prove up the numbers. I think that if you go to the right person, they can make numbers say whatever you want them to say, whether it’s for or against. That’s no slight on accountants, by the way.
I’d like to further ask the Minister what reporting or monitoring mechanisms exist for the Minister’s use or for the department’s use to ensure that the corporation is exhausting all possibilities for cost savings.
Mr. Speaker, my direct role with the Power Corporation is more with the board and the chairperson in discussing initiatives that come forward, concerns that are raised. For example, I had an opportunity to meet with the board in Norman Wells and inform them of the concerns that would be raised by Members and by people of the Northwest Territories when this winter arrives. After a general rate application is approved and the notice of rate riders is out there, as the Power Corporation and as Minister responsible, we send the message. We have to look at the way we do our operations. We can’t leave any stone unturned in trying to find ways of mitigating the impact on individuals in the Northwest Territories.
I appreciate that the Minister is working through the board, but that leads me to my next question. I appreciate that the Minister has advised the board how Members feel, how residents of the Territories feel, that we’re having a hard time with these increases in the cost of our electricity.
I’d like to know from the Minister, if he’s working through the board, what monitoring or what sorts of reporting mechanisms exist so that he feels secure in the knowledge that the board is exhausting all possibilities to save costs.
Mr. Speaker, because of the direct relationship with the Chair of the NWT Power Corporation board and the fact that we are the sole shareholder, any information that is being put forward when there are incidents of outages and so on include quite a number of things that I get updated on regularly as we progress forward.
The other initiative ongoing, long term, for example, is the hydro development that we’re looking at doing. As highlighted by Minister Bob McLeod earlier, there are a number of initiatives we’re jointly working on in trying to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels in the Northwest Territories. A long term picture would be expanding hydro development in the Northwest Territories. Again, we realize we’re going to have to look outside the box, I would say, of how we’ve operated in the past, try to find new ways of stabilizing costs and find partners out there that would help us in delivery of that power in the Northwest Territories.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. Final supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for his answer. I appreciate the long term vision and the steps that are being taken for the long term, but my concern is more on a day to day basis and the fact that the corporation is probably not operating as efficiently as I believe it should — well, I don’t believe it is.
My last question to the Minister is to ask him what steps he’s taking to revise or eliminate the bonus system for the NTPC management.
Mr. Speaker, in fact, I did raise the issue of bonuses with the chair of the NWT Power Corporation board and was informed that they did a review, had an external review of their system, and they were putting together a package. I haven’t seen anything beyond that.
Again I would express our concerns from the Legislative Assembly that the bonus system or the merit system that’s out there needs to withstand public scrutiny. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I have questions for the Minister of Education regarding the overcrowding of students and staff at Mangilaluk School.
Can the Minister commit to visiting my community of Tuktoyaktuk to see this firsthand after session? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I will commit in this House to visit the school in the Member’s riding and other schools as well. That’s one of the commitments that I’ve made. I need to visit all schools, if it’s at all possible during the life of this Assembly, just to see for ourselves what the students and the staff and the resource people and the parents are going through. That’s the commitment I’ve made. Sometime after session we can make arrangements and a time to meet.
Thank you, Mr. Minister. You almost answered my second question. I was going to invite you to a community meeting in the community of Tuk to meet with the residents and talk about the situation at Mangilaluk School.
Just to have it clear and on the record, you’re going to be coming to the community of Tuk first, and then we’ll go out to visit all the other communities.
Mr. Speaker, we make those arrangements every time we meet with the communities, whether it be the schools or other departments if they come along. We meet with certain resource people. We do initiate a public forum, as well, and community meetings, leadership meetings. So, certainly, those we’ll take into consideration when we visit the community. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Minister. Would the Minister be willing to work with me and my community to make this a priority?
Mr. Speaker, certainly, there are issues we need to deal with in all communities. This is one of the areas I would like revisit and meet with Mr. Jacobson on and identify areas of concern and issues, whether it be the school or the community, and have more discussion at the community level, as well, when we are meeting with parents or the leadership and vice versa. I need to listen to some solutions as well, so that is why we are here: to work with the Members. I certainly will commit to working with the Members on this matter. Mahsi.
Thank you, Minister Lafferty. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Premier today. I want to follow up in a larger context on some of the line of questioning of my colleague Ms. Bisaro.
I appreciate the Premier’s idea of needing to think outside the box as far as the NTPC. In the larger context of things — and context is everything, you know — we are facing a global water crisis, climate change; the rate of species loss is accelerating; the devastation of marine foods is well documented; and so on. Now we’re facing an economic crisis, increasing fuel costs, et cetera.
Does the Premier agree that today is a good day to reconsider how we do business and to make fundamental changes to improve and restructure our systems so they perform much better?
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The Hon. Premier, Mr. Roland.
Mr. Speaker, as the Member has put it so well, it is hard to disagree with a statement or a question that’s…. We want the system to work better. We agree as we look at the global environment and the economy that there is a need for change. We have to look at that ourselves, as the Government of Northwest Territories, in our approach. The issue will be: how can we start that shift happening? I think we’re starting to do some of that.
For example, in the upcoming business plans we are going to be looking from the energy side trying to expand the way we deliver energy in the Northwest Territories. I would say it would be hard to disagree with what the Member is saying. It’s a matter of how we turn that corner: the implementation side of changing the way we do business.
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the Premier’s rigour in looking for ways to disagree and not finding any there. Given our increasing reliance upon imported everything — i.e., our increasing subscription to the global economy and the increasing volatility of the global systems and so on — does the Premier agree that this major shift in the Northwest Territories to improve our ability to be self-sufficient and insulated from those things should really take the triple bottom line approach and strengthen our self-sufficiency using local resources to develop our local economies?
Mr. Speaker, I can see now where the Member is going. The fact is that we do have to look at our own economies at the community level. We have heard quite a number of times in this Assembly about the need for sustainable development in our smaller communities and looking at what type of business we can get into.
One of the things we do have to look at…. I think we can go right back to the history of the Northwest Territories. There used to be gardens in just about every one of our communities that provided food and the basic necessities for a lot of the families and some of our own…. Well, not our own at the time; the federal system that was in place. So things of that nature. The need and the necessity is something we are going to have to look at again across the Northwest Territories, especially with the high cost of living here in the North.
Thanks to the Premier for those comments. I appreciate his agreement that there are some real needs there, and this is one way to do that. I am interested in some specifics.
We’re losing our young entrepreneurs; we’re going more to the big box stores and so on. Somehow they seem to become portrayed as northern businesses. It’s really the fundamental, systemic things that need to change. We need to have honour systems and so on for our elders. We need to really start to realize that traditional knowledge has real and practical value as well as to use modern technology. I am interested in what specific things we can do. This government is trying to change the ways that we can change in really fundamental and meaningful ways rather than debating the minor things that don’t really get us anything.
Mr. Speaker, I think the fact that some of our debate in this House is about having the proper consultation, and the approach we use, and the change we need to see here in the Northwest Territories…. An example of some of that change is that earlier today Minister Bob McLeod announced the SEED policy, the program coming into effect helping small businesses in our communities.
It’s that type of approach that we see happening, yet we realize we still have some traditional economies out there that we need to continue to support, like the trapping program and trying to get back into, for example, the Take a Kid Trapping program that Minister McLeod’s department is part of. So, Mr. Speaker, we are taking some steps, and we do have some concrete examples.
More importantly, as we go towards the next business planning cycle, if Members have specific initiatives they would like to see incorporated into our business plans, it would be that approach where we can start to implement that. Again, that takes the will of the House. Some of them can be fairly different approaches, but I think it would be wise of us to start looking at those types of approaches.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. A final short supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you for those comments, Premier. I wonder if it might be a good time in our talk about devolution and so on…. You know, I can’t say that I have really been a great admirer of the federal success at managing our resources, because of all the context I provided earlier in this question. I am hoping that this government will do a much better job when we do get responsibility, and perhaps it’s timely to start a public process.
Would this Premier consider implementing a public process to start the territorial debate on the basis we are going to manage our resources, to do a much better job than our federal and global governments have done?
Mr. Speaker, I believe that on a number of fronts we are engaging the public in how we look at business in the North.
For example, even though we may not have the legal responsibility of water management or some of the land areas we are discussing with the federal government, we as the 16th Assembly have engaged with aboriginal leadership on coming up with a water strategy, and we want to work with that. The Minister of ITI has the economic discussion table that will remain open. We have the Minister of Finance having his tables open on the revenue side of the equation in the Northwest Territories. So there are a number of fronts we are having continuous public input on in those areas as we develop our own strategies made in the North.
I think the Member’s point should be taken as well: the fact that we in the Northwest Territories need to bring those authorities here so we can make a decision and have our own designs put in place for how we develop in the Northwest Territories.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.
