Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last week I did a Member’s statement on a parking lot for Moose Kerr School. I have some questions for the Minister of Public Works.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. The honourable Minister of Public Works and Services, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don’t have any recent updates on the parking lot at Moose Kerr. I know that we have passed information on to the department and we had asked for some information. So as soon as the information is available, I can pass it on to the Member. Thank you.
When can the community expect to see a parking lot in place at Moose Kerr School?
I don’t know what date or if there would be a parking lot at the school at this time. I have indicated to the department that it appears as though the community feels, for safety reasons, that there should be an area where individuals are able to pull off of the main road in order to pick up their children. So, that’s something the community considers a priority and we are taking a serious look at it.
As I mentioned in my statement, the community is very concerned about the safety issues that traffic has on that facility.
Would the Minister commit to having a parking lot in place for this coming fall? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would certainly like to get some feedback from the department if there are any detriments on putting a parking lot at the Moose Kerr School in Aklavik. If there isn’t any and the money is there, I do believe it is part of maintenance. We’ll take a look at it for sure. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Blake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That sounded like a yes. I’d like to ask the Minister, was that a yes? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I certainly am committed to having the department work with the Department of Education to put a parking lot at Moose Kerr School. It appears to be a priority for the community and we’ll work with the community to try to make it happen as soon as possible. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to ask the Minister of Transportation some questions about the Mackenzie Valley road. He had a Minister’s speech about it today, and last week I was asking questions on the maintenance of the road.
My first question for the Minister is: What is the current status of the Mackenzie Valley road? Is it closed to nighttime only or have we been able to keep it open all week?
Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. Minister of Transportation, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Due to the current temperatures, all of the ice roads that are in our system are currently under normal operations.
Thank you. In the Minister’s statement he talked about ConocoPhillips and industry participating in the road construction. I’m just wondering what kind of feedback we’re getting with these closures from industry. Are they concerned about the length of time and the early closures of these roads?
We are not anticipating early closures. In fact, each year as we build the winter roads they improve. Sometimes it is extreme warm weather for the season and then there could be some problems, but this year we’re not anticipating any problems. We have sent out a communicae saying that there was a possibility, because we want to give industry as much warning as possible. People don’t like to be told things at the last minute. So we like to kind of forecast a bit in advance of what we think we’re going to be doing, but at this time normal operations. Cold weather doesn’t seem to be an issue. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, the importance of these roads is obvious. In the beginning, getting them open and then keeping them open as long as we can is very key. That’s the success of the road.
So I guess the question to the Minister is – I also questioned last week about the maintenance – are we continuing to maintain these roads currently or are we shut down on maintenance and letting the weather take its course?
Thank you. All of the maintenance is contracted out to the various contractors in the area and their job is to keep the maintenance up on the road right up until the time when we determine that the road is no longer open and closed to the public. So we’re expecting that the maintenance will continue with normal operations right up until we announce that the road will be closed due to weather. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bouchard.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m a little frustrated with those answers about the maintenance because I’m getting a different story from the Sahtu than what the department is giving us.
But I guess my next question is: What is the department’s communication protocol? I know the Minister indicated in his speech about the website, but how else is the public to know that these roads are shutting down to nighttime only and eventually when they’re getting ready to close? What kind of information are we giving them and what kind of lead time are we giving that it’s going to be shut down within 24 hours or when it’s going to be shut down? Thank you.
Thank you. I think the first vehicles that usually quit running on the roads are the heavy traffic when the season changes and the weather gets too warm where we can’t maintain the road for heavy traffic, but at this time if any industry looks on the website they will see that if we’re talking specifically about the road between Wrigley and Tulita it’s at 64,000 kilograms right now and there’s one detour that’s also marked at Steep Creek, there’s a detour. The road access into Deline is at 50,000 kilograms. Tulita bypass is at 64,000 kilograms. Also, from Tulita to Norman Wells the road is open up to 64,000 kilograms. That’s the highest rating or weight that we have on the winter road, so all of the roads in the Sahtu seem to be functioning normally. The road from Norman Wells to Fort Good hope is at 50,000 kilograms. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. Is the Minister aware of the Alexandra Falls recent designation as one of the top three waterfall destinations in western Canada and what is being done to recognize this award? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’ve been getting a lot of accolades lately for our waterfalls here in the Northwest Territories. I know the Member spoke of Alexandra Falls earlier today as well as Virginia Falls. Certainly in the South Slave region with the Waterfalls Route along Highway No. 1, we have a tremendous opportunity to market that award and certainly look forward to if the Member has suggestions or Members have suggestions on how we can enhance and promote that waterfalls route, we’d be happy to hear those suggestions. As far as the department having any specific plans to build upon that award, I certainly will be working with the department to ensure we get everything we can out of that accolade. Thank you.
I like the idea of trying to build up on the positive. What is being done to enhance tourism in the Deh Cho, including Twin Falls Gorge Territorial Park in 2014, this upcoming season? Mahsi.
Thank you. We have the Deh Cho Connection, which is a partnership with Alberta and British Columbia on the Deh Cho Trail. We continue to build upon that. There’s a diamond giveaway on an annual basis and a passport system that folks get stamps along the route. That’s one way that we promote the opportunities to camp and visit our parks and attractions in the South Slave part of the territory and also into the Nahendeh riding as well. Thank you.
Thank you. Will the department work with NWT Tourism to assist their work to promote the waterfalls highway and the Twin Falls Gorge Territorial Park? Mahsi.
Thank you. I’ll certainly talk to my officials at ITI and Northwest Territories Tourism to see how we can build upon that accolade for the waterfalls route, Alexandra Falls. We certainly have the attractions, we just have to do the best we can to market those and attract more people here. That’s exactly what we’re going to do. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister had indicated an effort to market some of the wonderful tourism and parks that we have in the NWT. I wanted to get an indication of when we can expect an effort to market similarly to try to promote the Deh Cho Bridge. Are there any plans for that? Mahsi.
Thank you. In my former life as the Transportation Minister I know the Member was very interested in the Deh Cho Bridge, what it meant in terms of tourism opportunities for the community of Fort Providence in his riding. I really do believe that that bridge has tremendous potential to bring tourists to his community and to his riding. Certainly, if there are opportunities to work with the community of Fort Providence to maximize the opportunity to attract people to the riding and to the community of Fort Providence, that’s something we’re very much interested in. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ve been around this Assembly long enough to know that when there are things that are ordered by the courts this government responds accordingly.
I would like to ask the Minister of Finance, do we, as a government, have funds set aside for emergencies, unforeseen things such as a court ordering this government to build a school. Do we have such a fund?
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The Minister of Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We don’t have an emergency fund but if there is a requirement, as a government, we do the things necessary to comply.
In the past we have seen unforeseen circumstances such as schools that have burned down, infrastructure that was unexpectedly removed from our inventory. Somehow we have come around to replace such infrastructure, and I would imagine that a similar approach could be taken to finding the money to respond favourably to the court-ordered construction of gymnasiums for these two French schools.
I’d like to ask the Minister, what would be the process for appropriating such funds?
There would be a request coming forward to the FMB through either Justice or Education, or in this case maybe Public Works. If it’s a capital requirement to meet those obligations then we’d be making those decisions based on those recommendations.
I’d like to ask the Minister if he is aware of any submission that is already prepared or is being prepared with respect to responding to the order to build this gymnasium.
Work has been done by the various departments in anticipation of looking at the impact of the court order and looking at what would be required to comply.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final, short supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With the support of this Assembly, are this Minister and this government prepared to proceed to respond to this court order without further expense incurred trying to come up with ways to avoid it?
We have, as a government, been looking at every avenue to try to come to a satisfactory resolution, a compromise that would address both the court order and in some cases look at the surplus in school space that is an issue in some communities, but at the end of the day this issue will be resolved.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are addressed to the Premier today. I’d like to follow up on my statement and ask him a few questions with regard to the Intergovernmental Agreement on Lands and Resource Management. I recognize that that agreement is between our “public government GNWT and Aboriginal governments.” But, as I mentioned in my statement, there is a need for non-Aboriginal residents to have an opportunity to have some input into lands and resource management in our territory.
My first question to the Premier would be to ask him how does Bill 16, which is the NWT Intergovernmental Agreement on Lands and Resource Management Act, what is in that act that will address my concerns and those of my constituents?
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Premier.
