Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have questions for the Minister responsible for Seniors. I know we talked about seniors quite a bit in the House here. One of the questions that has been coming up through Regular Members is the issue with snowbirds and the time that they are allowed to stay away from the Northwest Territories. I know the Minister has talked about this in the House before. I’m wondering where this currently sits in relation to other jurisdictions.
Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. The Minister responsible for Seniors, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Currently, residents of the Northwest Territories need to be in the territory for six months plus a day, which works out to about 183 days. But over the last number of years, a large number of jurisdictions within Canada have been decreasing that time period to about 153 days, so they only have to be in their province for 153 days to be eligible for a health care card. Those jurisdictions are British Columbia, Manitoba, Alberta and Ontario.
We have done some analysis based on questions that have been asked in this House and questions that have been asked by seniors, and as a result, I have actually directed the department to follow suit. To that end, the department is actually preparing some revised guidelines that will change the requirement for people to be present in the Northwest Territories for 153 rather than 183 days to be eligible for the NWT health care card.
My next question is obviously the Minister has indicated he has given some direction. When does he anticipate that some of these guidelines and the increased amount of time to be away from the Northwest Territories for these seniors will be available?
At this point, I am hoping to have the changes done by the fall.
Can the Minister indicate to me how these changes will be implemented? Is it through a change in legislation? He indicated guidelines, but will those be before this House so that we can show to the general public that the issues that they have been bringing up are being dealt with?
We will be making this information public. We will be sharing the new guidelines when they come out. A couple things around that: There is still going to be a requirement for individuals who are going to be away from the Northwest Territories for extended periods of time to let the health services office know, and I would still strongly encourage residents who are travelling outside of the Northwest Territories to get medical travel insurance to cover any extra costs while they’re in the United States or other parts of the world as well as in the southern parts of Canada.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bouchard.
I’m just wondering why it took the department so long to do this. I’m wondering what the concern has been. These people typically, like the Minister indicated, have insurance on their own, so why has it been an issue for us to take so long to deal with this issue?
I guess it depends on how you define long. It first came to my attention about a year ago. I had the department do some research and analysis into what other jurisdictions are doing. We got some information back. I was satisfied that what the other jurisdictions were doing was reasonable and I have given the department direction to move. They need a bit of time to develop, sort of, the awareness campaign and to change our regulations and our guidelines to make sure that we can actually accommodate this and ensure that those residents who are going to be gone from the Northwest Territories are up to or within the Northwest Territories for 153 days can still get health care cards and still be covered by the health care system because they are residents of the Northwest Territories. So it has been fairly quick.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Can the Minister describe the measures being taken to ensure the new health care facility in Fort Providence is a culturally appropriate space and that the cultural needs of residents will be given due care and attention? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The Minister of Health, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know the public administrator and the CEO of the Dehcho Health and Social Services Authority have been working with the community, trying to make sure that those types of things are incorporated. Now that the legislation has been approved to move to one authority, I also am moving to re-establish wellness camps in the Deh Cho so we can continue to get input from the residents of the communities in a more effective manner. Thank you.
Will a registered nurse be based in the new health care centre to lead the expansion of home care services, and will an adequate needs assessment be completed for all our elders who currently or will soon need home care and assisted living services? Mahsi.
We do have Our Elders, Our Communities, which is our strategy for our seniors here in the Northwest Territories with a focus on helping residents age in place, where appropriate, and then moved to other facilities as needed. We are providing training to different people throughout the Northwest Territories in the areas of palliative care and others and then home care support, to ensure that we have people available. I can’t actually recall, off the top of my head, the specifics that are being done in the Deh Cho, but I will commit to getting that information to the Member. Thank you.
Thank you. Can the Minister assure me and my constituents that the new space in Fort Providence will be ultimately used to address key health issues? As an example, strategies to promote aging in place and to tackle chronic diseases such as diabetes and cancer. Mahsi.
That is the intent of the health care system, and in that clinic you’ll see well man, well woman, well baby clinics, as well as other information being shared with our residents. The facility has a huge opportunity to continue to provide the quality services that are being delivered in the community now, but over time, there’s also some space for growth and some change of programs. So, as I said to Mr. Menicoche earlier, we’re committed to the health and well-being of all of our residents and we will work with the communities. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister has stated that a wellness council will be established to ensure that the community has input into the department in terms of those regional operations.
What kinds of improvements can the community expect in terms of the community to regional reporting relationship in light of the move to centralized regional boards? Mahsi.
Currently, within our structure, there’s actually no board in the Deh Cho. We have a public administrator. The board was dismantled some time ago. With the move to single authority here in the Northwest Territories, we wanted to ensure that it was essential, or actually, we feel it was essential that we continue to get a regional voice and community voice to help us customize and enhance programs at the community level so that the regions and communities also have a voice at a territorial level.
As I’ve committed to this House before, now that the legislation has passed, I want to move forward and put in some interim wellness councils to start providing some guidance and advice as we move forward with the implementation of this one authority. When the authority goes live on April 1, 2016, that interim advisory council would become the official wellness council, and we will be working with the region and the communities to help us identify who should be on those councils, who can help us make the system the best it can be. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Lands, and I’d like to start by asking about recent news stories which have talked about layoffs at Cantung Mine. Cantung has recently cut their operating expenses and are considered by some to be in marginal operation at best. So I’m wondering if the Minister can give me a general update on the current status and fiscal viability of Cantung Mine. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As for the fiscal viability, I’m in no position to answer that. That would be a question that they would have to answer. I do know that they do have an application before the ENR, a water licence application for the ENR Minister and I can find out the update and status of where that’s at. Thank you.
Thank you. I’d say it would be important for this Minister to be on top of the viability of these mines because, of course, they’re the ones responsible for their cleanup and this Minister is responsible for ensuring that the liabilities are covered.
As we all know, mines failing and leaving huge environmental liabilities and costs to taxpayers behind are nothing new.
So my question is: What is the current status of Cantung’s security deposit for environmental liability?
I know that the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board, I think, had set their security at $30 million, and that was, I think, $27 million and $30 million was to be paid 90 days after the granting of the water licence. My understanding is, I think, the water licence is still in the process and I will find out as to the status of that from my counterpart over at ENR. Thank you.
Of course, we do have an entire division within the Department of Lands that is supposedly on top of liabilities.
In our fall session I was shocked to hear that the total shortfall of security deposits held by this government on behalf of mining interests was $176 million.
Can the Minister give me an update on the status of security deposits that are currently being held and what shortfalls there are now? Mahsi.
I believe I said in the fall that we had over $500 million that we are holding in security. As far as the shortfall, again, I will get that number and relay it to the Member. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks to the Minister. I’ll look forward to that. Despite NEB’s rejection of surety bonds as acceptable surety against environmental liabilities, instead requiring irrevocable letters of credit, this government allows this form of security for mining operations after devolution.
What are the government’s plans for the form of financial instruments acceptable for risky environmental liabilities in the new fracking regulations? Mahsi.
Surety bonds are an accepted form of security for many projects that are going on. Again, I think in the short time that we’ve had this responsibility we’ve done some work. The Member is correct; we do have a division that’s dedicated to this, and we will continue to do our due process and make sure that any work that does go on is adequately covered and that way we have the opportunity to do the remediation if need be. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m going to use my questions today to follow up on my Member’s statement, which was when I talked about the idea and certainly the issue of the establishment of an environment award.
As I said just briefly in my Member’s statement, we have great awards such as the Premier’s Awards, Education Hall of Fame Awards, Sport North, volunteer, and the list certainly goes on in many deserving areas that need to be recognized.
Not to take away but to add to this opportunity, I’m going to ask the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, would he believe that there would be great merit, and certainly opportunity, in the establishment of its own set of awards for environment? Would he be willing to do that? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If the Member would have the time to put his fingers to the keyboard and send me an outline and I’ll listen to the discussion and I’m interested to have further discussions about that. But for greater clarity, he could give us how clear it is on this issue in terms of key points that he’d like to see environmental awards, and we will definitely give it serious consideration. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, he took my second question away from me and I didn’t even have a question three or four. Maybe I can just ask if the Minister is interested in this kind of concept for stand-alone environment awards, recognizing the issues I talked about, recognizing children, recognizing schools, community heroes, community groups and even government employees who provide stewardship of public policy. I just want to be very clear.
Is the Minister supportive of the concept? I heard him say he’ll take a look at it, but is he individually supportive of the concept? Because it’s important to know he leads the department. Thank you.
The role of the environment and the importance of the environment to this Legislature, to the government and the people of the Northwest Territories is second to none in terms of priorities. So, yes, when it comes to doing the right thing with environment, including recognizing those folks who have spent their life doing good work as it pertains to the environment, we are interested. I am interested. If the Member will send me that information, I will give it my serious consideration and will put it on my ongoing list I have for discussion with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday the Minister of Transportation tabled in this House the 2015-2040 Transportation Strategy, which also includes four-year action plans along the way.
Going through the priorities, and we’re also looking at maximizing opportunities and creating new infrastructure, can I ask the Minister, in terms of priorities, where does the aging and underdeveloped system that we have throughout the Northwest Territories right now sit on that priority? Is it the number one priority that we have within this government? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. Minister of Transportation, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Strengthening our connections is one of the objectives of the Transportation Strategy for the next 25 years. We would be paying equal attention to all three strategies. That is one of the strategies, is to improve the current infrastructure that we have. In fact, we have been working with the federal government and improving our current infrastructure for the past seven years with the Building Canada Fund and our funding, and we’re hoping to continue that work for the next 10 years as we get the bundles in the current Building Canada Fund approved. Thank you.
The Minister alluded to the Building Canada Plan and the fund that he’s looking at in terms of building some of these new infrastructures but also putting money towards our existing infrastructure.
Can I ask the Minister for an update on where this government is in negotiations about the Building Canada Fund that’s going to improve our highway systems and also start building on these new infrastructure projects? Can I get an update on that? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
As Members know, it’s a $292 million proposal that we’ve submitted from Transportation to the Building Canada Fund. Right now we had separated them into three bundles of a little over $95 million. The first bundle received the approval through the Treasury Board. That’s one of the steps that it goes through: Infrastructure Canada to the Treasury Board and then back to us. The first bundle received approval today from the Treasury Board. Thank you.
I was hoping for more of a timeline when we can expect answers. I know there are a lot of companies out there that are really eager to get started on some of this work. With the time frame that we have in the Northwest Territories because of the extreme weather conditions, I think people like to get ready for that type of work…(inaudible)…time.
One of the sections in the strategy discusses incomplete highway infrastructure to maximize opportunities. One of the priorities in the 17th Legislative Assembly was the Mackenzie Valley Highway up the valley from Wrigley to the Dempster. In our discussions with the Mining Association of Canada during NWT Days, they said it was very important to have that infrastructure in place to move resources out of the territory, which we get a little bit of possible royalties off of that.
Can I ask the Minister, in terms of the Mackenzie Valley Highway, how long are we in terms of getting that project up and started up through the valley? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
As far as the timelines for the Building Canada Fund, we have pre-tendered a lot of the work and we’re waiting for approval so we can award the tenders to the various companies.
As far as the Mackenzie Valley Highway goes, we have submitted all of the information that the federal government has requested. The last one was a business case that was a little over 300 pages long. That is currently with the federal government. The federal government is looking at that proposal under the National Infrastructure Fund, which is a $4 billion fund that is to be spread across the country.
Also, we’re looking at maybe how we could phase the proposal. But at this time we have the $700 million proposal in with the federal government. Their request for information has been provided and we’re waiting for them to approve. We’re anticipating, if approval is received, it would take about seven years of construction to build the Mackenzie Valley Highway. Thank you.
