Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Thursday, February 25, 2016 I will move that Bill 1, An Act to Amend the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act be read for the first time.
I now call Committee of the Whole to order. What is the wish of the committee? Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair. The committee wishes to continue the review of Tabled Document 1-18(2), Proposed Mandate of Government of Northwest Territories 2016-2019.
We will take a short recess and resume with the first item.
---SHORT RECESS
I call the Committee of the Whole back to order. We will continue discussing Tabled Document 1-18(2), Proposed Mandate of Government of Northwest Territories 2016-2019, as amended. We will continue where we left off yesterday. We will begin by discussing the section, “Priorities of the 18th Assembly.” Premier McLeod, do you wish to invite any witnesses to the table?
Yes, I do, Mr. Chair.
Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the witnesses to the table. Premier McLeod, please introduce your witnesses for the record.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. To my left, I have Penny Ballantyne, secretary to Cabinet, and to my right, Mike Aumond, secretary to the Financial Management Board. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Premier. Now we will continue where we left off yesterday discussing the document starting with the section, “Priorities of the 18th Assembly.” Are there any comments or questions on this section? Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the committee would like to go to the motions that we have section by section.
No comments on this section. We will move to the section, “Economy, Environment and Climate Change.” Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Are there any comments on the section? Mr. Blake.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that Tabled Document 1-18(2), Proposed Mandate of Government of Northwest Territories 2016-2019, be amended on page 11 by inserting the words, “We will develop and implement the strategy to increase employment in the small communities.” Thank you.
The motion is on the floor. The motion is being distributed. The motion is in order. To the motion. Mr. Blake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just briefly, I know a lot of good work has gone through the mandate, but I feel that we need to insert this section in here, because in the past we have developed some strategies to increase the employment in our small communities. In our last term it's actually gone up, I believe two per cent in my riding, which is great, but we need to aim higher, and I believe that inserting this, we will develop and implement the strategy to increase employment in our small communities as much needed. That's why I'm moving this forward. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. To the motion. Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I support the motion. The idea of developing an employment strategy as part of our mandate I consider to be very important. I consider this to be probably the most important thing that could happen in the small communities that has an impact on the lives of the people in the small communities. Everybody realizes that with employment we have a lot of government social spending would be deferred, would be eliminated, essentially, so I'm feeling that jobs in small communities, the variety of jobs, I think that the small communities would be available to do. A lot of the increase, I believe, in this strategy could be done with some infrastructure spending by the government, among other things. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Are there any more comments to the motion? No more comments. I call upon Mr. Blake to conclude debate on this motion.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I thank my colleague for his huge support on this amendment. Thank you very much.
All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried.
---Carried
We will continue the discussion on the section, “Economy, Environment and Climate Change.” Mr. O'Reilly.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have a motion I'd like to make to amend a document. I move Tabled Document 1-18(2), Proposed Mandate of Government of Northwest Territories 2016-2019, be amended on page 11 by deleting the words “We will ensure that residents are informed about the territories' resource development options, including the potential benefits and risks associated with different options” and inserting the words “We will ensure that residents have meaningful opportunities to participate in the assessment of potential benefits and risks associated with resource development, including hydraulic fracturing.” Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O’Reilly. The motion is on the floor. The motion is in order. To the motion. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just want to speak briefly about this change. What it really does is ensure that our residents are not just informed but they actually have meaningful opportunities to participate in assessing the risks and benefits of resource development. It's important to note that we did include the words “hydraulic fracturing” in here. This is not to say that Members are necessarily in favour or against it. It's ensuring that our citizens have an opportunity to express their views and participate in assessments of that sort of activity if and when it is to take place. The other reason for including hydraulic fracturing in the motion is that this was a major piece of unfinished business from the last Assembly. There was quite a large consultation process to look at filing regulations for hydraulic fracturing and it essentially was left unfinished and left for this Assembly to try to deal with.
Certainly, this was a major issue that was raised during the election by a number of residents in my own riding. They felt that it was an unfinished piece of business. I think we need make sure that's something that's dealt with in this Assembly, to look at when and where and how and whether we actually carry out hydraulic fracturing. Those are some of the reasons for proposing this particular motion. Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? Motion is carried. Thank you, committee.
---Carried
We will now continue to consider the details for the section, “Economy, Environment, and Climate Change.”
Mr. Chair, I move that Tabled Document 1-18(2), Proposed Mandate of Government of Northwest Territories 2016-2019, be amended on page 12 by deleting the words “We will help to promote products manufactured in the NWT” and inserting the words “We will develop a northern manufacturing strategy in collaboration with industry and the NWT's Manufacturer's Association to expand the manufacturing sector, identify potential areas of growth, promote, and market products manufactured in the NWT and aid in the professional and technological advancement of the industry.”
The motion is in order. To the motion. Mr. Testart.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'd like to speak strongly in support of this motion. It clarifies exactly how our government will help to promote products with some clarity and certainty, and gives industry an idea of the role they will play in this process. Kam Lake is home to many manufacturing businesses in the Northwest Territories, and they're all keenly interested in finding ways that the government can help support their businesses. It is definitely a growth industry. It is a value-added industry for the Northwest Territories. It deserves the full support of this House and I encourage all my colleagues to vote in favour in support of this motion. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Testart. To the motion. Mr. Simpson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The manufacturing sector in the NWT has been showing strong growth, averaging 26 per cent a year. If this government is serious about diversifying our economy, this is the sector we should be focusing on. It generates jobs, creates opportunities for apprenticeships and builds capacity. If manufactured products can be purchased locally that means money stays in the territory instead of flowing south. Right now, we have the NWT Manufactured Products Policy which is well-meaning, but inadequate. I've had discussions with manufacturers in Hay River and Yellowknife and they've identified persistent issues with the policy that runs across departments and hinders growth and employment. There is a need for a focused government-wide approach to this growing sector and for that reason I move this motion.
Thank you, Mr. Simpson. To the motion. Ms. Green.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I too heartily support this motion. This is a growing area of our economy and one which may be more sustainable than some of the non-renewable resource development that we've had historically. I heartily support this attempt at diversification and hope that it will have success in this House. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Green. To the motion. Mr. McLeod, our honourable Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Our government is committed to supporting the manufacturing sector in the Northwest Territories through the Northwest Territories Manufactured Products Policy, and has developed and is implementing a marketing plan to assist in promotion of this sector. A key strategy in the marketing plan is to familiarize customers of the capabilities and products produced by northern manufacturers. The NWT Manufactured Products Association had their first meeting last week in Hay River. They indicated that they wanted to work with the government on practical steps such as implementing a marketing plan, and the government will be supporting this motion. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. I will now call upon Mr. Simpson if he wishes to conclude the debate on the motion.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I conclude the debate.
Thank you, Mr. Simpson. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried.
---Carried
We'll now continue to consider the details for the section, “Economy, Environment, and Climate Change.”
Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have a motion that I would like to make a change to the mandate. I move that Tabled Document 1-18(2), Proposed Mandate of Government of Northwest Territories 2016-2019, be amended on page 12 by deleting the words “We will provide high quality public tourism facilities by developing a plan to invest in the modernization of our parks infrastructure and signage, as well as extending our tourism opportunities by building new parks such as Doi’Toh Territorial Park in the Sahtu region” and insert the words “We will provide high quality public tourism facilities by modernizing our parks infrastructure and signage, erecting emergency shelters along remote highways, and expand tourism options by building new parks such as Doi’Toh Territorial Park in the Sahtu region.” Thank you, Mr. Chair.
