Additional maintenance work is planned for the complete section from the Dempster to the McPherson-Peel River section. We will be looking at all the signage and delineators as work continues this year on the widening of the highway.
I know the Minister will be up in the region next month, in the middle of the month. Will the Minister be open to travelling the Dempster with me for a trip so he could see for himself the challenges up there?
Time permitting, I would gladly take up the Member's offer to take me out to the Dempster.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Finance about the problems with the building of the fibre optic line down the Mackenzie Valley. The contracting company Ledcor has relieved its subcontractor for deficient work. The Minister has said that he expects the line will still be completed on schedule, but Ledcor says it won't be able to assess the effects of warm construction until the winter's end. Can the Minister tell the House what contingency plans are in place in case the project is delayed? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, our department officials will be assessing the options available to the GNWT under the Project Management Agreement to ensure that the work gets completed. This will include working with Northern Lights and the communities to ensure construction can be completed early in 2017 and the line commissioned shortly thereafter. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you to the Minster for his reply. Reports of problems with erosion and other problems with installation of the line go back to last summer. Can the Minister tell us what actions were taken by the government to address these issues?
Following winter 2015 construction, as the Member said, there was some erosion and slumping area of concern were identified by Lands inspectors and Ledcor personnel. Northern Lights produced and acted on the remediation plan, and all the sites that were identified are being attended to. Ongoing monitoring is in place and with additional remediation being staged this winter in advance of the spring melt.
Thanks again to the Minister for his response. Can he tell us how we can be sure the remediation work on known deficiencies will not increase the cost of the project and cost to taxpayers?
The structure of the P3 agreement with Northern Lights is such that the ownership, design, and construction of the fibre line was a transferred risk from the GNWT to Northern Lights. Additionally, Northern Lights has the obligation to fulfill the requirements of the regulatory permits. As indicated by Northern Lights, the cost of remediation was borne by Northern Lights in accordance with the project agreement. Unlike a traditional build procurement, the construction risk was transferred by the GNWT to Northern Lights.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My final question: We've seen some problems with cost overruns on some P3s, the Deh Cho Bridge comes to mind. Can the Minister tell us what the government's P3 policy says about analyzing risk and managing deficiencies in work contracted under P3s? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
We should note that the Deh Cho Bridge was actually not a P3 project. It was a negotiated contract where substantial design and construction risk was still with the GNWT. Before the P3 procurement starts, the GNWT undertakes a detailed risk analysis of the proposed P3 procurement compared to traditional procurement. This ensures risks are reflected in the procurement and all proponents are clearly aware of the risks they would be assuming as captured in the project agreement. To ensure that deficiencies are being properly managed, there will be no service commencement unless the design, construction, and operating specs as specified in the project agreement are met as determined by an independent certifier. No payments will be made by the GNWT until the Mackenzie Valley Fibre Optic Link is independently certified.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister responsible for Persons with Disabilities, and they follow from my Member's statement. First of all, I'd like to hear a renewal of commitment from the Minister. The motion of the 17th Assembly called for the government to propose an approach for taking a new action plan forward. This motion is not binding on the government, obviously; it happened in the last Assembly. However, will this Minister honour this motion in the spirit of progress and continuity, and propose an approach by the end of June? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister responsible for Persons with Disabilities.
Mr. Speaker, certainly I'm not going to talk to a motion that was in the previous government, but I can say that this government is actually committed to moving forward with an action plan for persons with disabilities, building upon the work that's been already done, but also working with our partners who are doing incredible work within the communities to help and address the issues of persons with disabilities. This is consistent with our mandate, and we'll have a plan in place and be able to give some details of how that plan is going to roll out and when the action plan will be completed, certainly by the end of June. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
MS. GREEN: The Minister is one of nine MLAs, including four Ministers, who said yes to the council's election question, “Will you commit to the development of a new strategic plan?” so half this House is on record promising support for a new plan. As the responsible Minister, will you commit to producing a new strategic plan in the life of this Assembly?
I'll read Hansard tomorrow but I think I just made that commitment in my previous answer. This is something that is consistent with our mandate. It's something consistent with what we actually said in the life of the last government, even though we didn't support the motion for technical reasons, and it is something that we're going to do in this Assembly.
My question now is about the process. The NWT Disabilities Council did an evaluation of the 2008 plan, but they do not want to go back and fix that plan. They want to start with a new plan. They're eager to come to the table with you and other members of the disability service and advocacy community. Will you commit to a process for developing this new plan that will be broad-based and include stakeholder groups who will work with responsible departments and work forward from today, rather than backward from 2008?
It's like the Member is reading my comments that I'm going to make later today in the response to the motion. Absolutely. This is going to require working among the departments to make sure that we're working as a system rather than silos, but more importantly, to address the needs of persons with disabilities and ensuring that we're providing the best services at the right time, we need to engage the stakeholders who are often champions and individuals who are at the front line working with persons with disabilities. As such, we are absolutely going to work with the council, as well as other organizations who are providing those services. We need to do this together, we need to be collaborative, and we need to put in a plan that highlights and addresses the issues moving forward.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have questions for the Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation based on her Minister's statement on market housing for community staff. The modular homes are not an acceptable method of delivering market housing in the community where it has been delivered in Tu Nedhe before, in Fort Resolution. I would like to know if the Minister has done any sort of consultation with the communities on modular versus stick-built in the communities. Thank you.
Masi. Minster responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The NWT Housing Corporation did put all of these proposals for housing out to tender. Northern companies applied on them and were awarded, so it is northern companies that are actually bringing in these modular homes, and there was a significant savings compared to the stick-built proposals that were received. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
So no consultation with the communities. The Minister is aware that the Housing Corporation has a program where they provide some money to private developers: so many dollars per unit to put market housing units on the ground. At this point, that number is too low to spur developers to construct some units. Would the Minister, in the savings of 30 per cent that she indicated, with respect to modular homes versus stick-built, consider looking at increasing the amount given to private developers to allow them to put market housing units on the ground in the communities? Increasing the subsidy to 30 per cent of the maximum unit cost might be an example.
The NWT Housing Corporation currently uses the BIP program to consider, which gives points. I'm sorry, I've lost the question. Sorry, Mr. Speaker.
My question was that there is a program in place now that gives incentives to developers to put market housing units on the ground. The incentives are $25,000 in some regions, and $50,000 in other regions. I'm asking the Minister if she would continue to look at stick-built instead of bringing modular homes -- For that 30 per cent savings for modular homes, provide a subsidy of 30 per cent to private developers and have them stick build units in those communities.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do apologize. Still I'm suffering from the flu so my brain is a little bit foggy still. The NWT Housing Corporation did try to increase it. It started at $25,000. It was increased to $50,000 to try to get more northern businesses. We still didn't have enough uptake with even increasing it to $50,000. Currently, though, we are negotiating. We are talking with northern manufacturing firms to see if we can get them within the next request for proposals that are coming out in the spring. We're trying to get them to actually be able to come forward and actually be more competitive in their pricing.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the bottom line here is that when you bring in modular homes you're not hiring local people to do construction. The communities need jobs. We're trying to bring market houses in so we can attract people into the community to work, but the communities themselves don't have jobs. When we have an opportunity to build something in the community, to allow other people to come into the community and have jobs, why would the Housing Corporation take the strong position that it has to be modular homes in order to save 30 per cent when the more important factor is that communities needs jobs? Will the Minister consult with the communities that are affected to ensure that they support modular homes before they proceed any further? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The reason that we took in the modular homes is because there was a 30 per cent savings by doing this, and that was looked at by doing the averaging of the proposals that came to us. We have 800 people on our wait list for public housing that are actually homeless and sleeping on people's couches. If we can save 30 per cent that's huge, to be able to transfer that over. The statement that it takes away jobs; there are still jobs. It's northern firms that bring the mobile units up. It's northern people that are used to put the units in. It's northern labour that's used to maintain these units.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We
heard the Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation talk about market housing for community staff. Can the Minister please advise how the NWT Housing Corporation was able to come up with the number 30 per cent using modular homes versus stick-built? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The tenders were put out by request for proposal, and proponents came in, people from the North and from wherever, came in and they submitted applications for this. We looked at the rates that were provided through stick-built and the rates that were provided by northern firms to bring up the mobile homes, and the 30 per cent was identified through that process. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I thank the Minister for the answer. As I was on the campaign trail, this was a huge issue for my constituents with limited employment. Can the Minister tell us if the Housing Corporation considered the impact modular homes would have on the economy, trades, and potential business in these communities where these modular homes are going?
The proponents that won were people the proponents come from the South Slave, the Beaufort-Delta, and the Sahtu. So they were awarded, the people that brought up the mobile homes. There will be jobs, as stated, to put them in and also to maintain them, and again, as I stated, we have 800 people on a wait list that are sleeping on couches and that are homeless, so we need to utilize the savings that we can to address the public housing needs that we have within the communities as well.
I thank the Minister for the answer. However, I think the Housing Corporation seems to miss the big picture. If we put people in homes, that's great, but if they don't have economy and they don't have income to support these homes, we're in trouble. Can the Minister please provide the House with where these modular homes came from, and how and where they were transported from?
Through the RFP process, the successful proponents were from the South Slave, Beaufort-Delta, and the Sahtu. I can't identify right now, where they brought up these units from, although the successful proponents were from northern companies.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the Minister for the answer. I guess I struggle because these modular homes are not being built in the Northwest Territories. They are being brought in from down south, and put into our communities. When the Minister talks about employment, it's for Northerners, in my community a pad gets built. These companies come in, drop the modular homes down. They bring their own food, their own gas, and their own accommodation. We don't even see any economy here. Will the Minister be willing to work with us Regular Members in our communities to see if modular homes are actually having the impact that is needed for the Northwest Territories, in specifically my region?
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm always willing to meet with the MLAs to discuss their concerns and bring it forward. As stated again, we are working with northern manufacturing firms to try to get them more competitive within the process before the spring request for proposals is released. The units actually that come up, I can't say, but I do know that there will be work to maintain them and to put them in.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, last year MACA reviewed the funding model to community governments and is look at moving to a needs-based funding formula. I'd like to ask the Minister: what kind of feedback has the Minister received from community governments on this funding model? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
