Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ll follow up with questions to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment on my Member’s statement.
I’d like to ask the Minister if he in fact is familiar with the Canadian Education Association and the Ken Spencer Award for Innovation in Teaching and Learning and if any of those programs that this organization has awarded, if he’s looking at ways to better our education system through these programs. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. Minister of Education, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. This is one of the national awards that have been recognized throughout the Northwest Territories, and I’ve been trying to get some more information on that since the Member addressed that information to me. We are doing what we can as a department to recognize those talented individuals or organizations in the Northwest Territories. We’re working with those organizations to make some sort of recognition and even go further beyond that. Mahsi.
I mentioned that the East Three gardening program in Inuvik is doing some great work and they want to do some more innovative thinking in terms of how they’re going to grow veggies and create produce for lunch programs in Inuvik. I want to ask the Minister if he’s familiar with that program, have talks with the East Three staff and look at how they can support them so they can purchase these materials and continue to build on their national successes that’s been recognized so we can help them and support them in getting the materials that they need to continue with this program and the successes that they’ve shown.
Obviously, ECE supports healthy foods in our school system. The growing program, obviously, we’ve heard just recently, as well, and we believe and support innovative thinking. How can we have those vegetables in our school system as possibly part of our lunch program? So, we’re open to those ideas. I have to work with the local DEAs and DECs, if they’re acceptable to that initiative. I need to sit down with my counterparts and see where we can go from there, but this is a brilliant idea that we should carry forward.
This program has helped students engage. It’s helped with attendance. It’s given them nutrition so that they can excel in school work. They’ve got a really great program that I don’t think has to be reinvented, and it’s something that’s unique and brought forth from the local people and is something that can be forwarded to the schools.
I’d like to ask the Minister if he’d be willing to work with the staff who developed this program and take it out to the regions and to the schools so they can develop their own programs and have the success that Inuvik has shown and has been recognized nationally. Will he be working with the schools to create some type of framework that they can take into the schools, as well, and help other schools in the success of attendance, healthy eating and education?
When we talk about healthy foods, obviously we provide funding towards this initiative as well. Approximately $650,000 we distribute on an annual basis for healthy eating programming in the Northwest Territories. We give the funding directly to the schools, so it’s part of their initiative. There is already funding in place. My department will be working with the organization on how can we best move this forward as well. We have to keep in mind that we have to deal with all the schools across the Northwest Territories as well. Then again, there is funding in place already, and we will continue to more forward working with the school boards.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can I ask the Minister whether or not he would review the funding policy in terms of this healthy nutrition program so that students in regions that have a higher population will get more funding so that they can feed a higher percentage of the population in the school? Will he review that based on population size?
As I indicated earlier, we’re open to some ideas on how we can generate funding, based, obviously, on students. Currently, it’s based on students. Those are discussions that we need to have with the local organizations and also the DECs and DEAs as well.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to follow up on my Member’s statement from earlier today with questions for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.
The grain harvesting practices throughout North America have been a windfall for the snow goose. As we’ve heard, large amounts of waste grain left in fields after harvest has made them fatter, enabling them to survive better and lay more eggs when returning to Arctic nesting grounds. This has caused overpopulations to where hunting can no longer control them and habitat destruction for all wildlife including caribou is the result.
I’m wondering what plans the Minister has to address this growing snow goose overpopulation disaster.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are no imminent plans at this point. I have listened to the Member’s statement with interest and I will be following up with the department.
Thanks to the Minister. I appreciate that follow-up. As I mentioned, this issue was highlighted 20 years ago. I know the Minister is about as long in the tooth as I am with this department. With an NWT proposal to address this issue and benefit our people at that time, yet almost every province and state in concert with their federal government have recognized both opportunities and need and acted to try and address this issue, we, who are holding the solution in our hands, have done nothing.
I’d like to ask the Minister if he has any ideas why, given the clear benefits, the many opportunities for our people and the likelihood of international financial support to implement the simple actions required, again, why have we done nothing?
I think the key question, of course is, is there something we can do? The Member has raised a good issue. I’ve been Environment Minister now for quite a number of years and I must confess this is not one of the issues that has been high on the priority list that I’ve been aware of. Now that it’s been raised and the Member has provided the history, I will restate my commitment to go back to the department and see what options there are to try to address this issue and look at some of the suggestions and advice provided by the Member.
Again, I appreciate the Minister’s commitment and I am happy to work with him on that to provide any background and resources there. There is clear opportunity for northern benefits here, as I mentioned, including halting the habitat destruction, providing modest local employment in a remote community that has need of that and addressing the issues of high cost of living and food security in many of our communities that are in most desperate need.
I’m asking the Minister one last time, in his considerations, will he commit to providing committee with a full accounting of the cost and benefits of the management action called for today?
Yes, I will report back to committee on the results of the discussion with the department. I will make sure we go back and look at the documents the Member has referred, and we’ll look to what we think is possible and share that with committee. We will be happy, of course, to appear before committee to have a further, more detailed discussion.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, again, appreciate the Minister’s return there. I just mentioned that I focused on eggs today. The same thing could be true for the birds themselves which are a well-known source of nutritious food, and so I just ask the Minister that he include the possibility of harvesting the birds. The Sachs Harbour hunters have had a lot of experience with them and are fully capable of answering this need if directed and provided with the support. I’ll leave it at that.
Yes, we will ensure that we look at not only the eggs but the harvesting of some of the birds as the Member has suggested.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In follow-up to my Member’s statement on the new health centre, we’ve been informed that there is going to be a new maintenance system.
Can the Minister of Health tell me how this new system will roll out when the new health centre is opened?
Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. The Minister of Health, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In keeping with the direction provided in 2010 which basically established that PWS would be responsible for providing operations and maintenance services to buildings owned and operated by the GNWT, eventually when the building is completed, the maintenance of the new facility, the boilers and structural maintenance will be done by Public Works and Services. We in Health and Social Services believe that there are a number of residual functions, maintenance functions that should be retained by the authority and by the health system, maintenance specific to technical equipment and other factors in the authority and in the new building.
We have been working with the authority. We have been working with Public Works and Services to identify what some of those residual functions will be. We’re really not going to finalize that list until we start moving into the new building to see what some of the actual realities of being in that new building are. In the meantime, we’re also going to keep the existing H.H. Williams open for a period of time because the extended care residents will stay there until such time as we’ve done the upgrades to Woodland Manor.
We know that Public Works is going to be doing the maintenance. We have approached the staff to see if any of them are interested in moving over to Public Works and Services, if they could be part of that structural maintenance team. But in the meantime, we still have the role for the maintenance staff that we have to maintain the existing buildings in that authority as well as to maintain the existing authority.
We have a bit of time to work through the details with our staff, and we have been working with the union and the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority to find the most reasonable and appropriate methods to resolve these issues.
I’m not sure. I have some questions about those statements the Minister just made that he’s talked to the authority, he’s talked to the employees, because at my last constituency meeting those weren’t the comments coming from all those people and the fact that they don’t know where this plan is coming from.
Is there a set plan? And if not, we’ve been asking for a plan for over a year. We built the facility in over a year and a half and now we’re looking for the plan in one year. Can we get a plan going forward of how this is going to lay out for the maintenance? We have people that have their jobs on the line. They’re questioning whether their jobs are on the line. Can we get this plan going forward as soon as possible?
I have confirmation from the authority that they have been in contact with the staff and they have articulated that the structural maintenance and the boilers and whatnot of the new facility will be done by Public Works and Services and that they’ve asked the staff if any of them are interested in transferring over.
We have been working closely with the Department of Public Works and Services who will ultimately have the big picture maintenance responsibilities for all of the government assets here in the Northwest Territories. But at the same time, and I want to continue to articulate, not all the functions need to be transferred to Public Works and Services. There are a number of residual functions that we’re attempting to quantify at this point. Once that is fully quantified, we’ll be in a far better position to articulate what the health and social services needs are and what functions are truly going to be with those in Public Works and Services.
I will commit to working with Public Works and Services to put together a more concrete sort of analysis so that we can share that information with our employees in the authority. Thank you.
Will the Minister commit to giving me some of that documentation? He says they’ve consulted with the employees; they consulted with the authority. Because the authority, at the meetings that I’ve had, they don’t know where this maintenance project is going. They know that between Public Works and them having responsibility, but there’s nothing defined, nothing laid out. Like I said, there are employees’ jobs that are being considered, and without the information, people are making up stuff and people are thinking that there’s going to be job elimination. So, we need to get this plan forward.
Will the Minister commit to getting me that information? Thank you.
I’ve already committed to working with the Minister responsible for Public Works and Services as well as Hay River Health and Social Services to put together the information that we have so that it can be clearly articulated to the Member as well as to the residents of Hay River who think they may be affected by these changes in infrastructure in Hay River. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bouchard.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister give me an indication of when this plan would be available and talk to the people, because the people want to know sooner than later. Can we get a date or even a month when this would be available? Thank you.
The new hospital in Hay River, as the Member has indicated, is moving along smoothly and we anticipate to be moving staff over in the near future. We will get the information to the Member and to the individuals who are potentially affected before the move is finalized. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
QUESTION 735-17(5):
CITY OF YELLOWKNIFE
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are addressed to the Minister of Lands and I want to follow up on some of the questions and the information sharing that we had yesterday in Committee of the Whole.
The City of Yellowknife has expressed interest in gaining ownership of all of the Commissioner’s lands within the city’s territory. In my mind, that’s a good thing. It’s a consolidation of lands. It clears things up and it makes it clear just what the city has and gives the city control over the whole area.
That request has apparently been turned down by the Department of Lands, and I’d like to know from the Minister why the department, why the Minister would not turn over all of the Commissioner’s lands in the City of Yellowknife in one application. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Minister of Lands, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’re continuing to engage the city on the transfer of Commissioner’s land within the municipal boundaries to the city. We have advised them that when it applies to acquire Commissioner’s land, our preference is they do it incrementally and indicate to us the proposed use of the land. This approach to applications improves the ability of the general public to focus on a particular parcel. So, we are continuing to engage with the city. Thank you.
Thanks to the Minister. I didn’t hear much of a rationale there, except that we want to do it in small pieces. I’m struggling to understand why the public would be involved. This is generally something between the city and the GNWT.
My city is being proactive, planning for the future and for future developments, and yet the length of time that it takes for some land applications is quite long and, as I’ve mentioned, the size of the parcels is really quite small.
I’d like to know from the Minister if he would go back and look at some of the recent applications from the City of Yellowknife and if he would consider to increase the size of the parcels so they can have a decent size of land to do the next subdivision development and/or that they can get that land to the city sooner. Thank you.
Since 2006 we’ve transferred over 700 hectares to the city. There are a couple of applications that are in the process right now. We’re working with city officials on completing one particular transfer. The consultation survey work is done and Lands is working on completing the transaction. As well, we have another application that we are working on the city with for 102 hectares. Now we’re just in the final stages of transferring the land. So, if the Member wants, I can speak to the Member and give her the information on which pieces of land we’re talking about. Thank you.
Thanks to the Minister. I appreciate that offer of getting some information. We’ll have to get together on that.
One of the things I mentioned yesterday, and I’d like to revisit the interim land withdrawal for the land around the city of Yellowknife. The agreement, I believe, was first put in place in 2006 for five years. It’s been extended three times after that one year at a time, and yesterday I heard that there is apparently an intention to extend it forever or until there is a land claim settlement. So, if there’s going to be extensions, I’d like to know from the Minister, is it going to be a one year at a time extension, because that adds to a great deal of uncertainty in terms of lands around the city, or is it possible that it’s going to be a multi-year extension? Thank you.
The Member is correct; it was a five-year interim withdrawal to begin with. It’s been extended three times for one year. It expires in November of this year.
Again, until there’s a land claim settlement we’ll continue to keep extending it. As far as the one-year term or multi-year term, I will confirm that and have that discussion with the Member as well.
As I said before, we are engaging with the city. We’re actually engaging with the YKDFN, too, to see how we can move some of these issues forward. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks to the Minister. Yes, I was going to ask whether or not there’s been any consultation with the Akaitcho or the Yellowknives Dene, and I’m glad to hear that there is.
Before this interim land withdrawal agreement is extended yet again, will the Minister and the department be consulting with both the city and with the YKDFN to see how it’s going to be done going forward? Thank you.
I will commit to having further discussions with the city and the YKDFN. I’ll point out that I actually met with the mayor of the city this morning and we had a very good conversation, and we’ve had some conversations with the YKDFN. There is a desire there to move some of the issues forward and address some of the issues that are facing both the city and the YKDFN. We’ll continue to have those discussions and I will keep the Member and Members apprised of where the discussions are going. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Parks are an integral part of the Tourism Development Strategy in the NWT. In my riding the Alexandra Falls was recently recognized and gained notoriety in that there was a magazine that listed it as one of the top 10 sites in Canada that is visited. It’s got a rich history of First Nations and Dene people, so they figure prominently in the operation of the parks. My questions are for the Environment and Natural Resources Minister.
How will the Department of Environment and Natural Resources promote this area this year? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.
