Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker and the Minister for his answer. He answered part of it but he didn't answer the second part, but I'll work on that a little bit later on. With the number of outstanding issues with the lands in our small communities, will the Minister make a commitment to have his department get out there and provide the information to the residents especially elders and equity lease owners out in my riding, so they understand the process so they can actually afford to live in our ridings? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker I will make that commitment. In fact, it's already happening in the Member's community where we had a member of our regional office meet with the Chamber of Commerce. I believe it was on May 26th and it was a very informative session from what I've been told, and they had a lot of questions, and they had a bit better understanding of how it works, but I will make a commitment to have our folks… It's part of our jobs too as representatives for our ridings is to share the information that we know with our constituents so they'd have a better understanding. Our department can assist in that by having some community workshops and getting some communication material out there so folks have a better idea of how the land leases and pricing policies and all that work. We are going to do some modernization to the land pricing policy. I believe that it's in the works now. We're looking at the fall of 2016 to bring some of the revised policy before committee and seek their input before we move forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have questions for the Minister of Transportation. Mr. Speaker, since April many scientists predicted an early spring and also a number of elders, so we've had a lot of time to prepare for an early spring. With the early spring we’ve had why did the service begin this past Sunday afternoon in Tsiigehtchic and not any sooner? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Transportation.
Mr. Speaker, the Member is correct. We did experience an earlier spring than normal. As the river broke up early on the Peel and the Mackenzie it kind of caught the department a little off guard in getting some of these things. One of the issues with the Tsiigehtchic and Peel River ferries was we had scheduled Transport Canada inspectors to come in for the replacement bottom of the Tsiigehtchic ferry, and at the same time they're in there to do the Peel River ferry. With the early spring and stuff, it's kind of caught us off guard from our normal scheduling, so that's one of the reasons for the holdup was the late arrival of federal inspectors.
Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned, the Tsiigehtchic ferry was launched on Friday I believe and started service Sunday afternoon. I'd like to ask the Minister: why is the Peel River ferry not launched and not in service at this time?
As I alluded to earlier in my statement that the transportation of Canada inspector was in. He was there to look at the Tsiigehtchic ferry as we replaced the bottom of that ferry and put it in and do its seaworthiness which takes a couple days of trials and stuff. When they were finished that they moved on to the Peel ferry. The Peel ferry is in the process of going through its inspection as such and with the low water now expected after high water from breakup we now have five anchor points available to run this ferry. The original anchor points that showed up after breakup, there were only two and that's not significant enough to have the ferry run safely for the general public.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister just mentioned that the water level is too high at this time. I'm not sure who the Minister is getting his information from because I get this from the people that live in Fort McPherson that have traditional knowledge in that area. There's nothing wrong with the water level right now. Right now the landing should be in and you know if the inspections are complete there's no reason why the ferry is not in. I'd like to ask the Minister, when will the service begin on the Peel River ferry?
As I alluded, there's five anchor points now available and as of today the slipways are being prepped and the timbers are being installed to launch the ferry. As of this evening, we plan on having the ferry into the Peel system and with more seaworthiness testing we're hoping to have the ferry service in operation by late Wednesday, early Thursday morning.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I spoke earlier on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and my questions are for the honourable Premier McLeod. My question is: has the GNWT here received any formal correspondence from the federal government respecting its announcement to the UN declaration? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Honourable Premier.
Thank you. Mr. Speaker. The Government of the Northwest Territories received notice from the federal government that the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs would be making an announcement during the United Nation's Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York City regarding its position on UNDRA. The Government of the Northwest Territories, like all other jurisdictions, was not made aware of what that announcement would be until the announcement was made by the Minister in New York. Understanding the implications of Canada's recent full endorsement of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples will require further consideration and engagement with Canada.
The Premier answered part of my second question. Does the GNWT have a formal position on the UN declaration or does it plan to develop one?
UNDRIP is an important document that recognizes, among other things, the right of Indigenous people to maintain and strengthen their own institutions, cultures, and traditions. In 2008, UNDRIP was endorsed through a motion of our Legislative Assembly. The Government of Canada’s recent adoption of UNDRIP in accordance with Canada's laws and Constitution is an encouraging and tangible demonstration of the federal government's renewed commitment to Canada's Aboriginal people. Currently Canada, through Section 35 of the Constitution, has a very robust framework for the protection of Aboriginal rights. Fully adopting and implementing UNDRIP requires careful consideration of its application within Canada's constitutional framework.
My final question is: what is the GNWT doing to ensure that the interests of its northern Aboriginal residents are being represented as the federal government moves to adopt and implement the UN declaration?
Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories will continue to work with the federal government and Aboriginal governments to further their promotion and protection of Aboriginal and treaty rights. This includes collaborating and fostering government-to-government relationships with Aboriginal governments as well as negotiating and implementing Aboriginal resource and self-governments that respect, promote, and protect the rights and freedoms of Aboriginal peoples as highlighted in the priorities and ministerial mandates of the 18th Legislative Assembly. The successful conclusion of modern treaties and self-government agreements can be seen as the ultimate expression of free, prior, and informed consent among partners.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier I spoke about the very bad condition of the road, the access road, from the junction of the Pine Point/Fort Smith highway to the Hay River Reserve. We all understand that jurisdiction is about sorting out who's responsible for what in terms of the context of this road. In that exercise there's negotiation that goes on. Within that party there's usually the GNWT, the federal government, and in this instance is the K'atlodeeche First Nation. The other element to this is that sometimes we get bogged down by red tape and it stops us from doing meaningful things for people at the end of the day. The biggest people that are affected by the bad condition of the road are the motorists and at the same time, the residents of the K'atlodeeche First Nation. My question to the Minister is: am I correct in my understanding that jurisdictional issues need to be resolved before repairs to the Hay River Reserve access road can get under way? Mahsi.
Masi. Minister of Transportation.
Thank you. Mr. Speaker. To answer the Member's question, the Department of Transportation is indeed responsible for the maintenance and reconstruction of the Hay River road. This section of road was part of the highway devolution agreement that came forward in the late 1980s and the department has funded to operate and maintain this road. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
If the department is responsible for the work, what are the major barriers to getting this road repaired?
As many Members in the Assembly know, this year the roads across the Northwest Territories have some issues just because of the way of thawing. We've had an early spring this year and it's created some challenges on the complete road system in the Northwest Territories, but on this road in particular with the poor drainage that's on the right of ways and the department is currently making efforts to improve the drainage on this road, and we continue to look at how we're going to upgrade the subgrade of this road. Work will commence soon as time allows.
You know the people that are most affected by this as I indicated or stated, Mr. Speaker, are the motorists and the residents of the reserve. If I can't have reassurances, can the Minister give to the travelling public that go from Hay River and onto the reserve or from the reserve onto town? What are the immediate actions to ensure that the repairs are done to the road? At what point would the Minister commit his resources of the department to ensure the road is repaired?
The department will do temporary repairs as soon as time allows. As I said, the early spring melt and the conditions that are out on our roadways is challenging. We will do everything that we have to do to ensure a safe operation of this road in the meantime but we have to wait for the frost to come out of the ground before we commence working on this, so temporary signage and stuff will be up to ensure safe travel for all.
Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the meantime as we wait for the dryness of the summer to set in to help adhere to the conditions for repairs to the road that could be made, what kind of reply would the Minister make in terms of the travelling public that have sustained damages to their vehicle? Mahsi
That is something that hasn't come before me so I'm not aware of any people wanting to make claims against Transportation on the road conditions, but we continue to put signage up and everything in efforts to ensure that there's safe travel for everybody in the general public.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.
Thank you. Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minster of DOT in regards to the marine landing in three of the Sahtu communities. We seen a significant amount of, I would say, left-behind ice in our three community dock landings, and my understanding there's an existing federal program in that jurisdiction. I'd like the Minister to elaborate if that exists on the clearing and maintenance of the barge landings. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Minister of Transportation.
Thank you. Mr. Speaker. The barge landings across the Northwest Territories, including the one that the Member is talking about in the Sahtu region, are a federal jurisdiction. This is something that we have been working with closely with the federal government to look at to reinstate the funding that they have taken away from the territorial government approximately two years ago, so it's actually a federal jurisdiction, but we're working closely with the Department of Coast Guard and Fisheries to see if we can reinstate the funding for all ports. Thank you.
It seems that there is a commitment there or a program that we're waiting for. In the meantime, in particular one community in Norman Wells is expecting the barge to land here momentarily and we'd like the ice to be cleared so if the Minister could elaborate and clarify when would this be reinstated and if the dock landing would be cleared prior to the barge landing momentarily.
I think it's a little premature to say the barge is going to be there shortly. I know that the sailing season historically leaves Hay River in late June. I'm not saying that is all this ice and stuff is going to melt on these landings, but this is definitely a federal jurisdiction. It is something that has been pointed out in the CTA report along with other issues across the North, and we will continue work with the federal government to see if we can reinstate this funding to make sure all the ports and harbours in the Northwest Territories have access.
There is the secondary carrier in our barge landing schedule called Cooper Barging and they do sail before the lake ice allows NTCL to leave Hay River and that arrives in Norman Wells on a scheduled basis. They are actually going to be the first one, so if the Minister would elaborate a little bit more on an interim solution I would say incurred by this government rather than waiting for the federal response, in particular for the landing in Norman Wells.
I can commit to the Member that that's something we can watch closely as things evolve and when Cooper is going to have their first sailing. I do know that the Hamlet of Fort Good Hope took the initiative themselves and cleaned off their landing space, but we will keep an eye on it and work with the Member to see if we can find a solution for this.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm going to continue on with my questions for the Premier based on my statement. One of the key things that he promised was to assist in evening out the bumps of the resource economy by providing support for economic diversification. To that end, I'd like to hear from the Premier when he expects the agricultural strategy to be ready. Thank you.
Masi. Honourable Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The agricultural strategy has been worked on for some time. I expect it'll be ready sometime this year. It's just going through the rounds of the different departments. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thanks to the Premier for that answer. We are looking forward to seeing it on our side of the House. My next question involves the promise to establish better government-to-government relations with Aboriginal organizations and to speed the process of land claims. Can the Premier please tell us when he plans to present an offer to the Dehcho and meet with the leadership of that organization?
I'm pleased to say that we have made very good progress in this regard and had the opportunity to meet with all of the Aboriginal governments that still have unsettled land claims and had a number of meetings with the federal government, met a number of times with the grand chief of the Dehcho First Nations. There's another meeting scheduled for this week. I'll also be meeting with the federal Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs. As your Member knows, there's three parties to the negotiations and it's more than just making an offer within a specific period of time. We can do that anytime. What we want to do is we're focused on results. When we make an offer we wanted to make sure that it's a very reasonable offer with a very good chance of allowing us to settle these long-standing land claims. We also, our negotiators, are sitting down to have a good understanding on both sides so that we know what would be a very good reasonable offer.
Thank you to the Premier for that. I assume he had all of that information when he made the commitment to make a new land offer within 90 days to the Dehcho First Nations. That hasn't happened. I understand the Dehcho First Nations are eager for that to happen. When will it happen?
