This most recent disruption lasted for six days, with many people waiting day to day. How does the department communicate service disruptions or provide advance warning of possible service disruptions to Northerners and visitors?
The Department of Infrastructure uses a few significant ways. We have Facebook. We use Twitter. We do press releases. We have our superintendents in the region who convey those types of messages. That is mostly how we get it out to the public. A lot of these things happen on very short notice, and we try to do our best to get the information out there.
I thank the Minister for his reply, but I think the department does need to do a better job. Will the Minister ensure that, in the future, when this ferry is closed, they will work with the community? They have CBQM, which is well known throughout the territory. They give constant updates, you know, as people go on the radio. During the weekends, nobody is updating the ferry situation. Will the Minister and the department ensure they work with the communities in the future?
Duly noted from the Member's suggestions. We can look into those sorts of things. I think one of the other things that maybe we can start looking into is similar to what we did in Hay River with the crosswalk situation. We had the digital signs posted on the highway, and we tried to relay as much information that way as well before people leave the communities.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, how often is a refresher or professional development training made available to the marine division, who makes the call to operate or to shut down the operations of our ferries? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do not have that type of detailed information. I can get it for the Member, but I am pretty sure that the ferry captains have to be certified every year to make sure that their ticket is up to snuff, but I will get that information to the Member.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned in my statement, the Minister fired the Aurora College board just a few days after we finished sitting last time, saying that the move was necessary for "continuity and sustainability." Mr. Speaker, "continuity" means the state of being continuous. "Sustainability" means the ability to be sustained, supported, upheld, or confirmed. Can the Minister explain how removing the board provides continuity and sustainability? Thank you.
Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and with the removal of the board, it brought a focus on the review itself. We are going to be looking at the operations of the Aurora College, as well as the governance of Aurora College, and that is where we are focusing with this foundational review. When we get the results at the end of the review, we will be in a position where we can make the decisions moving forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I see that the Minister is not going to repeat his bafflegab, so I take that as a win. The terms of reference for the foundational review ask the contractor to assess whether the board, as part of the governance structure, is operating effectively. Has that question not been answered by the Minister's decision to dismiss them?
A lot has happened from 2013 to 2017, where we are today. We have more information that we did not have before, NWT-specific information that we can work with our partners with, our non-government organizations, about how we proceed on the operations of Aurora College. At the end of the day, it is all about student success and having the right programs in place to ensure that our students succeed and become part of the workforce, and those areas can be addressed: legislation, administration, governance, as well as operation.
Deflection is not an answer either. The Cleveland report on Aurora College made a number of specific recommendations to strengthen the relationship between the board, the Minister, and the department. For example, in very simple terms he recommended that the Minister meet with the board four times a year and facilitate meetings between the college and the Regular MLAs. Did that ever happen?
Yes, previous to the decisions that I made we did meet with the board on a regular basis, and with the discussions in the May/June sitting we thought it was best to go in the direction in which we are removing it now with the foundational review that is going to look at everything. Prior to that, we did have those meetings with the board on a regular basis.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, could the Minister tell us when the last time was that he met with the full board? Thank you.
I do not have the exact date, but I could get that date and share it with the Member. Thank you.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today my questions are for the Minister of Finance, also responsible for the NWT Liquor Act. Mr. Speaker, recently there have been various media reports that say the Minister has started a review of the Liquor Act. I am wondering: can the Minister share with us maybe some parameters with regard to this review, and when will Members see a little bit more detail with regard to the undertaking of this review? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The review will look at the legislation and regulation as well as the policies for the Liquor Licensing Board, and I look forward to the earliest opportunity to sit down with the Regular Members, the Regular Member committee, and have a discussion with them and receive some feedback. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you to the Minister for his reply. It is good to know that both legislation and regulation are going to be looked at, and thank you for his commitment to debriefing our Regular Members.
Mr. Speaker, the board says that it has an actual policy for not explaining its decisions publicly, and to some degree that kind of makes sense, but I have also been told that sometimes it is problematic for the people in businesses that have been directly impacted by some of these decisions to get replies and responses from the board. In some instances, they are having to go out and do what is called "lawyering up" and retaining lawyers to get the board to respond to them. My question to the Minister is: how can the Minister ensure that the Liquor Board operations are going to be consistent with our principles of open and transparent government, and will there be an appeal process identified in the new Liquor Act?
One of the three points we are looking at is to increase the transparency and accountability of the Liquor Licensing Board. Much like with everything we do here in the 18th Assembly, we need to improve our transparency and make it a very transparent process, so that is one of the things that we are looking at, as far as another appeal. I mean, we have to look at that. I don't think it would be wise to set up another level of appeal process that licensees have to go through. We will be looking at those, but we do not anticipate setting up another level of appeal. We will just work within the existing guidelines or the improved guidelines as we move forward.
Thank you to the Minister for his reply. It is a little bit troubling, I suppose, to hear that there may not be an appeal process. Most regulatory bodies do have some degree of an appeal process. Having to get lawyers can be costly and often drags out what could be a more expeditious process, but we will see what comes.
Mr. Speaker, the Liquor Act offers the board the ability to use discretion in its decisions, and we are aware that, in the more recent case with regard to the board's decision, this went against, in my view, what the Assembly's mandate and goals are. Mr. Speaker, legislation and policy are only as good as those who administer it. Will the review be looking at the structure, the mandate, and even the terms of reference of the board, itself?
That is something that we are contemplating looking at, the board itself, the structure of the board, but I think the most important thing here is to give the board the proper tools to make decisions and make decisions that are transparent and maybe even published. The board just operates under the guidelines, policies, legislation as it is laid out now, and, if we can improve the tools that the board operates under, then I think that would give them a better opportunity to make decisions that are consistent with the improved policies that we provide to them.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am probably going to go out on a limb here to make this next question even a suggestive-type question. That is, the City of Yellowknife as well as some of the regional centres do a lot of their own permitting and licensing already throughout various departments in their municipalities, and so I am just wondering if the Minister thinks that the act could be redesigned, let's say, to allow regional centres, and in particular the capital, to maybe administer their own permits and licensing as it relates to the Liquor Act. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I want this review that we do on the Liquor Licensing Board or the guidelines to be as open as possible and to touch on many things. We have not had any discussions with the communities about that, but there is an opportunity again, as I said earlier, for stakeholder input, and we will be looking to hear from communities across the Northwest Territories to see if that is viable or if that is something that they would consider. We do want to make it a thorough examination of all the guidelines and policies and equip the boards so that they are making decisions based on an improved set. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Today, my question is for the Minister for Infrastructure. Going from a new buyer to a provider for riverboat transportation, I know there are going to be some unforeseen delays as you first start up. My first question is, the whole intent was to deliver and guarantee POL product services to eight communities, and the question is: has that been accomplished to eight GNWT stations? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister for Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The sailing season is still ongoing. We still have, I believe, another boat to leave Hay River here in the next week or so, but I believe, for the most part, all the communities that were vulnerable to us not buying this asset have been serviced and their freight has been delivered, for the most part. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
That leads me to my next question. I know we are entering into the last closure of our sailing season, which is very important to many of the communities. Then afterward the next phase for the community is isolation until the next access season.
I am wondering if the Minister would check into the Sahtu communities, three in particular, if dry goods and products are destined. Particularly Norman Wells, the vehicle support needed for winter road operations for the Department of Transportation or DOI, and Health and Social Services' new facility is waiting for furniture. If the Minister could check to see if those items would be delivered this month?
I don't have that type of detail here with me, but I can certainly get hold of the department and get back to him. As I said, I think we have one more boat that is sailing this year, and I suspect that anything that was delayed for those two communities will be on there, but I will follow up with that.
We have an old saying in the Sahtu, and we have come to adjust it and accommodate it when an unforeseen challenge is encountered: we do not want to miss the boat. On another note, with the acquisition of the marine services, now called Marine Transportation Services, has the department met or exceeded the employment and training expectations as sought out at the beginning of the season?
I don't know if we have met or had an expectation of how many people we were going to hire. We hired the people who we needed to run this operation, but I can tell the Members of this House that, at peak employment of July 31st, we had 141 employees at marine transportation. Sixty were from the Northwest Territories, and 81 were from outside the Northwest Territories, and most of those 81 were to crew the boats.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My last question is that, since the September 7th operational report, I would suspect and if the Minister could confirm that we will receive the year-end or season-end operational report identifying the achievements and the learning expectations for next summer included in that report? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I believe I have been quoted in this House saying that we would go back in front of committee after our sailing season to update committee and all Members of this House of all the challenges and successes that we have had in the sailing season. I believe, for the most part, we have had a great season to be able to accomplish what we have done to service the communities and keep down the cost of living and get the commodities and products to these communities to give them more certainty moving forward. I look forward to updating the committee on the operations going forward and the lessons learned from this sailing season. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Question 826-18(2):
Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister of Lands in his capacity for coordinating GNWT input into environmental assessments such as the Grays Bay Port and Road Project in Nunavut. What is the GNWT understanding of the status of the Bathurst caribou herd, and how does that influence our input into environmental assessments? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Lands.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Of course, the government is responsible for the management, habitat conservation, and sustainable use of barren ground caribou and collaborates with Aboriginal governments and organizations, co-management boards, and communities. The GNWT carefully reviews the details of each project proposal with respect to its caribou responsibilities and provides evidence and recommendations for the consideration of all parties and the assessing body.
The GNWT is continuing to work collaboratively with Nunavut stakeholders and other affected parties on the Bathurst caribou range plan and will continue to engage with Nunavut partners on options to maintain the integrity of the Bathurst calving area. We do realize this is an important issue and it does guide our response to environmental projects that are coming forward.
Thanks to the Minister for that response, and I might have to follow up with a different Minister about the status of the Bathurst herd. Later today I'm going to be tabling the comment letter submitted by Department of Lands to the Nunavut Impact Review Board on the Grays Bay Port and Road Project. Several other letters were submitted by the NWT Indigenous governments and they have expressed very serious concerns/reservations about this Grays Bay Port and Road Project because it will cut through the remaining calving grounds of the Bathurst caribou herd. What is the position of our government on the Grays Bay Port and Road Project? Does our government support the project or not, and why?
The government supports the Government of Nunavut and the Kitikmeot Inuit Association's recommendation that further environmental review of the project would be valuable, and recommends that the federal government provide participant funding for any such review.
The Government of Nunavut and the Kitikmeot Inuit Association are, of course, the proponents. The GNWT recognizes the potential transboundary economic benefits associated with infrastructure corridors such as the Grays Bay road and port and supports strategic infrastructure developments such as this project.
We heard earlier today that resources make up 40 per cent of our economy, and it's important we support these types of projects. It will be of great benefit not only to ourselves but Nunavut also and the country at large.
