Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have made a commitment to work to negotiate all outstanding land claims in the 18th Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
That sounds great. It would be great if we could do that over the next couple of years here. That opens up a lot of our territory to development. But the biggest challenge is to ensure that we do this. I would like to ask the Premier: Will we be changing our negotiating mandate to ensure that we have a common interest to settle both land claims and self-government agreements?
In reviewing some of the reasons for why it has taken so long, and as the Member indicated, in some instances, it has been 20, 25 years of negotiations. We have met with the Aboriginal governments to try to determine the problems, the stumbling blocks that have stopped us from settling these claims a lot earlier than this. We’ve had very good discussions. I think part of it is the mandates that are in place that don't allow us any flexibility. As I have said before, we have met with the federal Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs and outlined how we saw us going forward. They are very open to it. The Prime Minister, during the federal election, wrote to us and indicated that their objective is to settle their outstanding land claims in a very facilitated manner. We have all agreed to work together. We have followed up with the federal Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs with a letter outlining how we see us moving forward and our officials will be getting together. Right now, we feel very positive about the possibilities.
My final question here. That really sounds great. In what sort of timeline can we actually see a change in the mandate? Is it six months or is it eight months or two months?
Just as an example, the Gwich'in rolling draft self-government agreement-in-principle is currently being negotiated by the Government of Northwest Territories, the Government of Canada, and the Gwich'in Tribal Council. The Gwich'in Tribal Council have expressed their desire to have the rolling draft completed by the end of March 2016. Both governments are committed to negotiating an agreement that meets everyone's interests as quickly as possible. However, there are several remaining outstanding issues to be resolved. We are going to work very hard to address these outstanding issues so that we could have an AIP in a very timely fashion.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member’s statement I talked about some housing problems faced by the elders in my riding. My question for the Minister is: has the Minister written out any sort of plan to address housing problems as identified in the 2009 Housing Needs Survey. Thank you.
Masi. Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. 2009 is seven years past. It is a little bit outdated. In April, the NWT Housing Corporation is putting out a new survey to all LHOs, all community band leaders, all people in housing to be able to assess what they think is the best options and then we will be developing a plan from that information that we gather. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
That’s rather disappointing. The 2009 Housing Needs Survey is the last survey that was completed by the Housing Corporation and has all of the core needs, by community, laid out in there. Is the Minister actually contemplating doing something different? Changing the way we collect information and then, by going directly to the people, finding out what it is they want? I think the survey does that. Is the Minister actually contemplating a different way of capturing core needs in the NWT?
Yes. I correct myself actually. The 2009 survey is 17 years old. This government has made a priority on transparency and letting the public be as engaged as possible in decision-making. To be able to do that, asking the public what they think is best, and the program users, is what I feel is most appropriate at this time.
Yes, I guess that would be seven years.
---Laughter
In any event, I don't think that it has changed that much, so the question for the Minister is: is the Minister aware that the largest proportion of core need is adequacy?
I do have a flu, so I do apologize. It is actually seven years. My brain is a little bit foggy. Yes, currently it does show that adequacy is the current biggest problem within the regions. But in order to maintain our priorities within this 18th Legislative Assembly, I do think that it is appropriate to go to the communities again and ask them. Before I develop a plan, I want to be as up-to-date and current as I can with the information.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I indicated the problems we are having currently with having people become eligible for housing programs, largely because there are wrong programs out there and in some cases because individuals are just clearly not eligible. They have a core need, but they don't have all the right statistics to fit into the programs the Housing Corporation is currently offering. It is a huge issue. I would like to ask the Minister if they are going to look at programs that will directly address the housing needs in the NWT. Currently, the programs do not address the needs. The core need is not going down by any significant amount. I want to ask that question again. Will the Minister introduce programs that are appropriate to address core needs in the NWT? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Yes. As stated, I do realize that many of the programs are old and many of them might not be appropriate at this time. I adhere to the priority of the 18th Legislative Assembly that says we need to be transparent, and within doing that, then, I believe that the best philosophy is to ask the community and to develop a plan based on what the communities and the people that use the programs say they need.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier our Minister of Transportation made a statement about three of the major corridors that this government often speaks of. The government talks about investing in these highways, but what that really means is the people of the Northwest Territories investing in the highways. We are asking the residents of the NWT to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on these highways. I’d like to know what are the direct fiscal benefits that our residents are going to see from these investments? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Transportation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Increasing the number of communities connected to the public highway system is a key objective of expanding the transportation system. Transportation of goods and materials by the roads continues to be the most cost-effective way to deliver essential services to the communities. Construction of the Mackenzie Valley Highway and Tlicho all-weather road will add several communities to the highway system and greatly increase the window of access provided by winter roads to many other communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The other part of this equation that we always hear is that it's going to benefit industry and bring industry to the Northwest Territories. What other benefits to the industry can we expect to see from these roads?
Replacing existing winter roads will help us adapt to the pressure of climate change, which is reducing the window of access into more of these remote communities. Our winters are getting shorter and increasingly, warmer weather means that we cannot open up our winter roads as usual, as we've seen this year. This winter, our roads were late in opening resulting in an increased cost to our communities, delays in resupply, and decreased access to both residents and businesses.
Are there any of the benefits that the Minister would like to elaborate on?
---Laughter
As I've said in this House before, the Department of Transportation is pursuing funding from the New Building Canada Plan to fund these new projects. With access to this funding, it will bring economic benefits to all Northerners and communities, and help us tackle the climate change issue and other issues facing the remote and small communities.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just wanted to make sure got four questions in.
---Laughter
Finally, I'd just like to ask the Minister: how does the department intend to pay for all of these highways? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The department has a number of asks into the Federal Government through the Building Canada Infrastructure Projects. One of them is the P3 Project Plan through the FPT process for the Whati Highway. We have the Mackenzie Valley Highway, which is through the New Building Canada Plan Fund as well, and we also have the bundle three project through the FPT process with the federal government.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Yesterday, the Minister give us an update on the Junior Kindergarten Program, and the update seems to turn on a lot more of the kind of consultation that was done for the report itself. My first question is: what more is there to learn about junior kindergarten in order to implement it? Thank you, Mr. Speaker
Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There's many areas that we need to still go out and consult on. As Members are aware, the 17th Legislative Assembly, the government at the time, did put a pause on the program to ensure the rollout was adequate and that we did get engagement and consultation from all the Members. A comprehensive report was done. We took the eight recommendations out of the comprehensive report with the main one focusing on engaging our stakeholders, which are daycares, Aboriginal Head Start, parents, elders, community leaders, and not only that, but also finding out what is in the communities that can help them implement junior kindergarten a little bit better in terms of resources, the strengths that they have, and the makeup of the community. In those engagements, we will also go to the regional centers, which junior kindergarten wasn't part of, as well as here in Hay River. Part of that other stakeholder group is if the daycare centres and home daycares are getting as much information as we can so that when we do look at junior kindergarten, we can provide that program to the best of its ability meeting the needs of the child and the needs of the community. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thanks to the Minister for that answer, but my question remains. Between the information that's available in the junior kindergarten report and the feasibility study on universal daycare, what information does the department not already have to proceed with implementation?
I did mention a few of the areas that we're looking into. Other areas, we're going to be looking at making the communication strategy on getting junior kindergarten communities a funding model, which was a big issue in the last government when junior kindergarten was first pushed out. We're looking at training our Early Childhood Development Officers plus the wage subsidy, and we want to get out there and do it right this time around and make sure that all communities do have input into the Junior Kindergarten Program and rolled out. It was a recommendation from the technical report that was brought forward. The feasibility study also gave us some really good reviews and said that we do need to continue with junior kindergarten, and we did get a lot of good feedback in that technical report.
Thank you to the Minister for his answer. Could the Minister please tell us what the timing is for implementing junior kindergarten?
As mentioned, over the next few months we're going to get out to the communities, engage them. We are new into this government and there are a lot of priorities within this department. We're looking at graduation rates, we're looking at post-secondary, and early childhood is one of them as well. We're going to try to get out there and try to get our staff into the communities, get that information. Once we have that information in the communities that want to provide junior kindergarten, then we'll look at an implementation date.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thanks to the Minister. My last question is whether the money is secure to continue the implementation of junior kindergarten in the next fiscal year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
In this last fiscal year, we did have some communities that had the option of moving forward in junior kindergarten. We are in the process of going through our budgets for 2016-2017 coming up after we go through the interim appropriations here, and at that time, we'll look at where we can get the dollars to continue to implement junior kindergarten. But there is a process, and right now, we're going to have to wait until we go through that 2016-2017 budget to see where we can continue to provide all early childhood programs.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the K’atl’odeeche First Nation is one of several groups that have outstanding lands and governance matters that have yet to be resolved, so my questions are to the Premier again, because of the matter of housing on the Hay River Reserve. Fourteen years ago, there were a couple of housing units that were built, and unfortunately, nothing's been done to try to house them. We have housing concerns throughout the communities. My question is to the Premier. What has the GNWT done in the past and what is it doing now to address the issue of vacant housing on the Hay River Reserve? Masi.
Masi. Honourable Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I am pleased to say that we have seen the light.
---Laughter
The Government of Canada, the Government of Northwest Territories and the K'atl'odeeche First Nation are working together to resolve this long and outstanding housing issue on the Hay River Reserve. The way forward, as explained yesterday, is that there is still work to be done. A phase one environmental assessment was completed on the ten lots on the Hay River Reserve. A consultant has recommended that a phase two assessment will need to be completed in the summertime. In addition, the K'atl'odeeche Band is required to conduct the environmental remediation, as per a previous agreement, and we understand the federal government will not issue the federal leases required until remediation has occurred. The NWT Housing Corporation is currently in discussions with the K'atl'odeeche First Nation to ensure their commitment to complete their remediation so that the units can be placed back into service. Once the federal leases are ratified, the NWT Housing Corporation will provide those 10 houses to residents under the public housing program. Once the processes have been completed for 10 units, the NWT Housing Corporation will seek federal leases for the other six lots so that the units can be utilized for NWT Housing Corporation home ownership programs. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I'd like to thank the honourable Premier for his reply. It's very encouraging actually seeing progress being made, but in his reply, I got lost somewhere in terms of the land leases. Such is the system that we have, where sometimes, simple matters get lost in the bureaucracy. What we are seeing now is an effort by this government to try to decentralize some of the decision-making in these communities, and so in this particular case, negotiations could be fast-tracked, that these houses become available as soon as possible to make them available to constituents. We have done it. We have established a health cabin on the reserve, so there is precedent. My question to the Premier again is: does the GNWT support having the funding for the housing on the Hay River Reserve go directly to KFN, rather than being flowed through the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation, if that is their desire?
That is something that we would negotiate with the K'atl'odeeche First Nation. There are two different aspects of it: one is who determines who goes into the houses; and secondly, who will do the maintenance. We would need a maintenance agreement and also, we would need an agreement with the K’atl’odeeche First Nation as to how the units would be allocated.
The simple question amounts to: When can the people of the K’atl’odeeche First Nation expect to see these houses become occupied by band members?
Being a very optimistic person, I expect that the environmental remediation will be completed this summer. As soon as it's completed, the federal government will issue the required leases and we can have people moving into the houses.
