I’ve been here 19 years. I guess I can wait one day to hear what the Minister has to say. I think there are some very good ideas out there, definitely from this side of the House, probably from some people in the public who could participate with us in an exercise to look at how we can address the situation.
The Minister mentioned the vacancy in our public service. Just in our employ, or within our purview there are approximately 800 vacant positions that are not filled, so there are many, many fronts on which we can work.
I’d like to ask the Minister, how far will he cast his net of acquiring assistance in helping to come up with initiatives that will address this situation?
We see this as a territory-wide issue, and once again, tomorrow as I present the budget, in the budget we articulate what our thinking is and our intent to involve Northerners across the board, and of course, in this House we’ll commit to full engagement of the committees and the Members opposite as we look at ways to address this issue in a constructive way.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final, short supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have quite a few ideas of my own on this. I look forward to hearing the Minister’s budget address tomorrow, and I look forward to working with him on this.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Mr. Speaker, I want to ask the Minister of Finance, the money man, on the question with the residents of Norman Wells. They are going to be shutting off their natural gas by Imperial Oil and converting their utilities, and there are quite a few families in Norman Wells that just are doing their best; they don’t have the extra 15 or 12 thousand dollars to make a full conversion for their residence.
Is the Minister of Finance working with his colleagues or the Town of Norman Wells to look at the number of families that are going to require the additional 10, 12, 15 thousand dollars to make that conversion? Right now it’s causing a lot of stress for the families and I want to ask the Minister, is there a plan within this government to help the residents in Norman Wells with the conversion for this important thing they have to do with their house?
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Minister of Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have been involved, as a government, with Norman Wells now for a number of years as we have worked towards this reality that is coming with natural gas. We have built into the budgets of Arctic Energy Alliance and Environment and Natural Resources a number of fairly significant rebate programs, assistance programs for conversions and those types of things that are there to assist in these circumstances. I will also go back to the Department of ENR, based on the Member’s concern, and ask and check to see what type of concerns and discussions we’ve had specifically of late with any residents of Norman Wells about the particular issue that the Member has raised, to see what the circumstances are. Thank you.
I would ask the Minister also if this could be done as quickly as possible, because there are families, people in Norman Wells who are looking at the conversion. Right now they are saying, who is helping us? Which government is there? Imperial Oil is giving a little bit of a hand, but yet they are left with the bulk of the cost of the conversion.
Can the Minister come up with some solutions as soon as possible? For example, maybe setting up some loans through the Housing Corporation office. We have to come up with some solutions, so I want to ask the Minister, can this be done within this session? Then we can give the people in Norman Wells some hope and some support. They need our help.
Given the wonders of our communications system, as we speak in this House the Member can rest assured that staff are making notes, tracking the discussion here, and I’ll commit to the Member to report back to him before the end of this month, definitely before the end of session, so that we can have a discussion about what are the particulars and what is currently in place and what gaps there may be. Thank you.
I certainly look forward to the speed of light communication that we have with today’s modern technology.
I want to ask the Minister, once we have looked and identified the gaps, we look at the residents and the people of Norman Wells. They say they are short $10,000 or $12,000. Will we have the means? Can the Minister put together a funding project, a budget somewhere saying that will help them so that they will not be hurt so much financially? That’s what I’m looking for, is somewhat of a commitment so the residents of Norman Wells can know that the government here is looking to help them on the conversion issue.
Mr. Speaker, as a government we have invested a significant amount of resources to start addressing this issue and we will continue to provide that support. I’ve made a commitment to the Member and I will honour that commitment. We will share that information and we will have a further more informed discussion. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I certainly appreciate the commitment the Minister is making in this House for the residents of Norman Wells. I also ask the Minister if he would be willing, when some sort of a plan is in place, that he come to the town of Norman Wells and present this plan on how we are going to help the residents of Norman Wells with the conversion as to what requirements they need and what programs are available to them, or what type of loans we will give them as a government. Also, I will ask the Minister if he can inform his federal counterpart. Where is the federal government on this issue, in terms of helping the people of Norman Wells?
Of course, we will commit as a government, as a department to ensure that the people of Norman Wells are fully informed and conversant as to what is happening. In fact, they are key players that need to be involved and consulted, as well, on an ongoing basis as they have been to date. We want to continue that relationship.
In regards to the federal government, I will double check with the department once again, but my recollection is, if I look around the landscape, I see Norman Wells, I see the territorial government and I don’t see a lot of presence from the federal government on this particular issue. Thank you.
Thank you Mr. Miltenberger. Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions, of course, will be directed to the Minister of Education.
Noting the fact that letters and e-mails are vetted through the Aurora College president’s office, which should be a concern just in itself, with also noting that the student rep on the Board of Governors is still waiting Cabinet approval, from my understanding, and furthermore that the student rep’s appointment only lasts a single year and by the time that the Cabinet gets to this perennial appointment it’s half over anyway, this makes it challenging for them to participate in the Board of Governors.
My question to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment is: How do these Cabinet appointed Board of Governors demonstrate that they are accessible and accountable to the students of Aurora College and certainly to the public of the Northwest Territories?
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank the Member for meeting with the students and also Members as well. We are here as elected MLAs, elected officials. We represent the students as well. We have a Board of Governors, one from each region, that are responsible for their committee, for their regions and they represent the students. So it is not only the students that represents at the Board of Governors level, but all the board members.
This is an area that we are closely monitoring, and having the student representatives has been grateful for the Board of Governors. We will continue to push that forward for those students and I will continue to drive that forward. Mahsi.
Clearly, the question was missed, so I will reword it.
I did not hear one element that demonstrates how these Board of Governors are representing the students in an accessible and certainly in a transparent, accountable way.
In the same vein, will the Minister use his authority under Section 7 of the Aurora College Act, and instruct the college to get these Board of Governors’ e-mail addresses so the students can contact them, and furthermore, would he instruct the Board of Governors to meet with these students as a board to hear their concerns?
I heard three questions in there, so I will answer one of them. My department is listening carefully and taking notes as well.
We have a Board of Governors representing the students. We have a student representative on there as well. Most of the organizations do not provide personal e-mails, but I will be addressing that with the president and Board of Governor chair. If we can allow board members to have their e-mail address and phone number on the website, then we can make that accessible for the general public of the Northwest Territories. I am making a commitment to address that with the board chair. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
There is no student rep on this Board of Governors. I’ve gone to other websites of other universities and other colleges, and they all have an accessible porthole on how to get a hold of the Board of Governors. It may not be a direct e-mail but it’s one that goes to them. Why in this day and age, don’t we have this?
I will ask this question: How does the Minister define accountability and accessibility to their students, because I have yet to hear it today.
We have a Board of Governors that have their meetings in our colleges, in our communities. They are accessible to the students, to the general public. We have an open forum, we have an open dialogue when there is a Board of Governors meeting. There is one coming up in Inuvik in June. It is opened up to Inuvik to residents and students at Inuvik campus. There are meetings in Fort Smith; there are meetings in Yellowknife. Those are accessible to students and the general public. We will continue to open doors to those students.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
Mr. Speaker, defining accessibility by bumping into your Board of Governors representative at the Northern in Inuvik is not accountability. Going to the Co-op in Yellowknife and bumping into your Board of Governors rep is not accountability, and certainly going to the hardware store in Fort Smith is not defined as accountability.
Will the Minister, under Section 7 of the Aurora College Act, use his authority and direct the college to meet with these students at least once a term so people can hear directly their issues and they can understand them, because right now I’ve heard zero today about accountability and certainly accessibility. So, Mr. Speaker, that’s what the Minister could do and he could show he’s in charge. Thank you.
I laid out plenty of accountability that we deal with as the Board of Governors and with my Department of Education, Culture and Employment. We continue to strengthen that into the communities and into the regions. Under accountability of the Board of Governors, again, we have representatives from each region that represents these students, that represents the general public, the regions, the communities. As a department, I work closely with the board chair to make them accountable to the general public and to the students. I have laid out what I have committed already. I will be addressing with the board chair how we can resolve some of the areas of communication with the students. We have had student representatives there for the last several years and we will continue to do that. I will be committing to meet with the board chairs. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Recently it was reported, much to the delight of Cabinet, that the community of Akaitcho, the Deninu Ku’e, is going to be signing on to the Devolution Agreement. My question is in regard to the progress of those bilateral discussions that this Cabinet has undertaken, more specifically for the Deh Cho. I wanted to ask the Premier if he could update this House in terms of the progress of those talks. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am pleased to report that the Senior Officials Working Group that we set up with the Dehcho First Nations that have been meeting for almost a year now have been working very well to resolve outstanding land issues between the Dehcho First Nations and the Government of the Northwest Territories. I think we’ve reached a point now where both the Dehcho First Nations and the Government of the Northwest Territories have taken what has been worked with to their respective authorities to seek approval. The Dehcho First Nations have indicated that they will be going on the road to their communities to consult with their leadership in various communities.
Our government have been running it through our process. We have not run into what we call showstoppers, and I expect that very soon it will come forward so that we can make a decision on whether there’s enough progress. The grand chief has said if we make progress in this area, they’ll sign on to devolution. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
It’s very encouraging and I applaud the Premier for his leadership in ensuring that the outstanding regions that haven’t signed on to devolution are at a possible precipice to sign on to the Devolution Agreement.
My question is: In advancing these talks, the Premier is leading those discussions and working with the First Nations governments. How is the Premier ensuring that trust is maintained at the same time progress is made? Thank you.
At the outset, the grand chief and myself signed an agreed upon terms of reference for the Senior Officials Working Group. We provide oversight and we meet on a regular basis, whether it’s by a telephone call or by a meeting for lunch or a meeting, and we’ve been able to ensure we keep making progress. When we hit bumps in the road, we get together and we work things out so that we can keep working in the right direction. Thank you.
It’s been indicated, of course, the deadline for devolution is April 1st. So I want to ask the Premier, is it possible that within that time frame that outstanding regions, including the Deh Cho, would come to the table and sign off? Yes or no. Mahsi.
I think our objective has been clear from day one that we want 100 percent of the Aboriginal governments to sign on to devolution. We have also pushed the federal government to get the federal representatives appointed to the Land Use Committee and other committees because we feel that will help advance the process.
The time frame that once devolution comes into effect is one year for the federal liabilities, as they call it. They don’t want to continue to carry on federal liabilities for more than a year. So those resources that the federal government has made to other Aboriginal governments, there’s a one-year period to sign on and if they don’t sign on before the one-year period, then those financial resources disappear. But in our view, we want 100 percent Aboriginal governments signing on. So, even if it takes more than a year, we’d be prepared to welcome them when they do decide to sign on. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. These discussions that have been taking place, it seems that perhaps the next logical step that the Premier is more likely to develop or advance towards is the first inaugural meeting of the governance council. Is this the purpose of those talks, ensuring that at least the foundation, the rudimentary structure of the governance council has been laid and that a first meeting could happen perhaps within a year of April 1, 2014? Mahsi.
Thank you. As a function of devolution, we will be required to have a sign-off on the Intergovernmental Council probably within this month. I think all of the Aboriginal governments that have signed on have agreed to sign off on the Intergovernmental Council and that will be put into legislation. As part of that aspect there will be a process for other Aboriginal governments that can sign on after this first instance. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to return to some of my questions earlier today regarding the power outage that we had on December 29th of 2013. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the purview of looking at Hansard, so I’ll get those tomorrow. I find that earlier today I was rather at the Minister’s mercy and convenience to some of the quasi attempts and answers that we didn’t get, but I wanted to further some questioning regarding the initial incident when the initial power failure occurred.
Was there any failure of equipment, automatic failure of equipment for generators to start us? Was there any feeder failure that caused a cascade of events as the Minister alluded to earlier? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation, Mr. Miltenberger.
Yes, Mr. Speaker.
Okay, so now we’re getting somewhere. We did have some feeder problems. If we agree that we did have some issues regarding the system failures, can the Minister elaborate how many other system failures occurred during the three-hour outage? Thank you.
I know the rules of the House are clear in terms of me reading a long, detailed response chronology that lays out all the events, so in order to respect those rules of the House, I will take the question as notice.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
QUESTION 43-17(5):
MINISTERIAL TRAVEL AND BENEFITS REPORT
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions will be directed to the Premier, Bob McLeod. I have a question regarding some of the tabled documents that have not been tabled. What I’ll do is rather than asking two separate questions, I will put them together, because basically it’s the same issue, they haven’t been tabled.
The first question I’d like to point out is the fact that the ministerial travel reports have only been updated as of January to March 2013, and they were tabled in the House. Of course, they haven’t been tabled for three consecutive sessions after that and there’s supposed to be a three month tabling.
Furthermore, asking the questions all at once here, the report respecting benefits paid to Ministers under the Ministerial Benefits Policy has not been tabled in this House since March 31, 2011, and that, of course, officially was tabled in May 2011. In other words, there hasn’t been the tabling of these two particular reports, and in large part they are not fully being accounted for. I would ask the Premier, when can we expect the tabling of these reports in this House to show accountability on our issues with our Cabinet?
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.
