Thank you. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to welcome Ms. Crystal Lennie to the House today and take in our proceedings. I believe she's been regularly coming to Yellowknife to take her management and leadership courses and I wish her the best of luck in that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Frame Lake.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I want to recognize Marie Buchanan who helped with the birthing of either our son or daughter. It's over 20 years ago and I can't remember which one, but she was there and helped very much, and I appreciate her efforts as a nurse in Yellowknife. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to acknowledge a young lady named Haley Cassie who is participating in the current annual track and field competition in Hay River on behalf of her school, the Mackenzie Mountain School in Norman Wells. Mr. Speaker, just yesterday Haley broke the record running the 1800-metre track. No one has broken that record since 2002. Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Sahtu region, I would like to congratulate her, her family, her colleagues, her friends, teachers, coach, community, on her success and wishing all the competitors at the function or event and from the Sahtu an enjoyable event. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, as you heard in my Member's statement, community capacity is important. During my last constituency tour, a number of concerns were raised about Municipal and Community Affairs' role in this area. I would like to ask the Minister for Municipal and Community Affairs if he can explain the role his department has in regard to working with communities in regard to capacity building. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. MACA has a different relationship with the local band government than we would have with other governments. Other governments fall under the legislation that defines authority and roles and responsibilities. Local band governments fall under the authority of the federal Indian Act and are the responsibility of the Indian and Northern Development Canada, or INAC. We have nine local band governments in the Northwest Territories, and MACA has a financial agreement with them to deliver municipal services. Beyond these agreements we really have no authority over their governance or their operations in their community. We work closely with INAC and, if there are areas that need to be improved within the band, then we will try to work with the band to help improve some of the areas and help them build capacity as well.
I thank the Member for his answer. Can the Minister please explain how his department works with Dehcho First Nations to help band communities in the Nahendeh riding to ensure the bands are successful in their operations?
MACA has no relationship with the Dehcho First Nations as to the operations of the band within their area. We work directly with INAC, or we will work closely with the local band governments as it relates to the municipal-type services or responsibility that we have an agreement with them to deliver.
Again, I'd like to thank the Minister for his answer. In the past, we've heard about an accountability framework and how it is important to help communities out. Can the Minister please explain how this tool is used to help the communities to achieve success without the government stepping in or entering into a co-management relationship?
We would like to think that the accountability framework tool has been a very valuable tool for not only our department but for community governments as well. It allows us the opportunity to identify any issues that are small before they become big issues and work with the communities to try and resolve these issues. Before we had the accountability framework, unfortunately we ran into a few situations where communities had run into some difficulties and we had to step in later. With the new accountability framework, we believe we have the tools in place to respond to any small issues before they become a big issue, and we have to possibly go in there and comanage with the community.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker and I thank the Minister for his answer. The Department of Municipal and Community Affairs is very proud of the new deal direction they have taken. Can the Minister please provide this House with what tools the department gives the communities before implementing this process? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The Member is absolutely correct. We are very proud of the new deal. It's actually been since 2007 now, so it's not so new anymore, but we're very proud of the deal and the responsibility that it's given the communities to prioritize a lot of their initiatives and with the ability they have and the financing they have they can put these to use. The major difference in responsibility is probably the capital planning, and we work closely with the communities to assist them in the application process and the planning process for their capital infrastructure projects. Ultimately at the end of the day the decision is theirs. What we've found, I think, in the past number of years is that the communities have really stepped up and embraced this. The communities are actually getting infrastructure projects done cheaper than it would have been had you stuck a government sticker on there, because you stick a GNWT sticker on there and the price seems to be a little higher. They've been able to get some fairly good deals and finance their own projects. Under the new Gas Tax Agreement, we're also working to implement an asset management strategy for community governments which, for the Dehcho, will help to build off the previous efforts to advance our asset management with the band government. Mr. Speaker, MACA's role now is basically to be a support to the community governments as they try to forward a lot of their own initiatives and priorities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member's statement I talked about the socio-economic agreements that our government has with the three diamond mines. I'd like to ask the Minister of ITI questions on that. Does the government have any way of holding the diamond mines to account for employment targets set out in the socio-economic agreements? Thank you.
Masi. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Member knows, the government of the Northwest Territories oversees the implementation of the socio-economic agreements and coordinates the Government efforts under each SEA while monitoring how well each developer carries out its respective responsibilities. I think the mines are very accountable for their respective SEAs. Through the environmental assessment process or the regulatory process, the Government of the Northwest Territories, when the first diamond mine was established, pushed for socio-economic agreements that came out as a recommendation from the environmental assessment process. Every mining project that has gone forward requires socio-economic agreements, so we have to go through that process. The socio-economic agreements have evolved over time from the first one that was negotiated with BHP and Ekati, which essentially their only reporting was to this Legislative Assembly. However, our government holds annual meetings with senior officials from all the mines that have socio-economic agreements. All socio-economic agreements have dispute resolution clauses and requirements for public reporting. The mines produce an annual report documenting their progress in achieving socio-economic agreement commitments and these are made public. Also, ITI publishes annual results in their Communities and Diamonds reports. Community meetings are also held to communicate results. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I represent a constituency that is over 90 per cent Aboriginal, and I would like to know if there's anything specific in the socio-economic agreements between the government and the diamond mines that hold the diamond mines accountable for the employment of Aboriginal people at the diamond mine. I recognize that the socio-economic agreement does cover the northern/Aboriginal employment, but I'm particularly interested in how the government will hold the diamond mines accountable for the employment targets for Aboriginal people.
We've taken a number of different approaches to it. Most of the mining companies that are operating in the Northwest Territories are very large companies that stake their reputation on achieving the targets that they've negotiated. We use a process of publishing the reports. Where those targets are not being met, we follow up with meetings. Certainly in the first instance when there was difficulty meeting targets, the diamond companies came to meet with us to find, well, why weren't we producing more students that could meet the academic requirements that could be streamed into trades or so on that could go to work at the diamond mines, and we certainly looked at that. We also set up a number of different processes where we could work with the mining companies to find ways that we could have more northern and Aboriginal employees. We also looked at: how do we deal with fly in/fly out workers. We have a number of processes. It's a very difficult area. Obviously mine safety comes to mind. You also need people with the requisite skills to do the jobs. Also, there are other factors that come into play to make sure that you have a very sustainable mine that pays very strict adherence to mine safety.
The Minister sort of answered parts of the third question, but to be very clear and focused, I would like to ask the Minister what the mines have identified as the key reasons for failing to meet the target of hiring Aboriginal employees at the diamond mines?
I think we have to remember that the mines, especially the diamond mines, have had a very positive impact on our northern workforce with over 20,000 person-years employed. However, we are constantly working to improve this. The mines and ourselves know that there are a number of factors that contribute, such as low commodity prices and the financial markets. The mines have to match revenues and expenditures. What they have indicated is we have a very small workforce; they have a very small pool to draw from. Consequently the more mines we have, the less ability they have to hire northern Aboriginal workers. They’re robbing Peter to pay Paul, kind of thing, where you have the phenomenon of people moving from mine to mine, yet it’s the same people. The inventory is not growing larger. The safety issue is paramount; also they have very strict requirements in flying in and flying out, two weeks in and two weeks out, or the management, those that work four and three. Essentially, those are the areas. Also they are limited to pick-up points. There are only so many pick-up points that have been negotiated. They would like to hire more across the Northwest Territories, but for example most of the socio-economic agreements don't have provisions for the mines to pay for employees outside the pick-up communities. For example, some mines are paying close to $200,000 to fly in workers from outside their area, and they are saying, “well, it's not in our socio-economic agreement, and we're doing it but we can't continue to do it as the diamond prices go down.” Those are the things that we're faced with, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.
Those are good responses. I believe that it seems to be an issue of the skills of the workforce. What are the mines and the department doing to develop a workforce, an NWT Aboriginal workforce, as per the workforce development agreement inside the socio-economic agreement?
The Government of the Northwest Territories works hard to bring awareness to the significant benefits that mineral exploration, mine operations and processing can bring to people. The Government of the Northwest Territories through our Department of Education, Culture and Employment is working with the mines to support them in meeting their northern hiring targets. This includes connecting the mines with students, promoting employment opportunities throughout the Northwest Territories by working with and supporting the mines as they undertake regional and community recruitment initiatives, supporting regional and community training opportunities to prepare residents for employment with the mines, and providing labour market funding to the mines to train employees for advancement. The Skills 4 Success initiative is working a four-year action plan. Other examples include the Northern Leadership Development Program administered through Aurora College, which provides employees with leadership skills to prepare for management, supervisory or leadership positions. The mines have policies for priority selection for training and employment opportunities, as well as dedicated Aboriginal training investments through partnerships with impacted Aboriginal groups. They collaborate with other GNWT and federal governments. They also leverage training funding for a qualified northern workforce. They work with resource developers, the Mine Training Society and other stakeholders, including Aboriginal governments, to ensure that our local workforce is ready and prepared for the opportunities of the future. The success of the NWT Mine Training Society in capacity building has provided 1,900 individual Northerners with training and/or career counselling and has placed over 830 students in jobs. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have some questions in follow up to my Member's statement for the Minister of Housing. I'd like to ask the Minister, right now, how does the Housing Corporation take both family incomes and community costs into account in applications for their programs? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The coordinating thresholds that we use to determine allocations for programs that the Housing Corporation utilizes is done every two years, and they are separated into different zones between communities, and recognizing that there are differences within incomes and the cost of living within each zone, so there are certain things that we do. For example, I'll give an example of the PATH program to emphasize that. Within Yellowknife for the PATH program, because of the cost of living, people who are applying for housing, their own housing, can get up to a five per cent down payment on that program. But in the communities, because we recognize that jobs are hard, cost of living is high, et cetera, they can access up to 55 per cent of the down payment for those programs. We do take into account the different regions and the different costs of living within each region.
I know this is before both the Minister's and my time, but some of you may recall the HAP program that many of the people in the communities took advantage of in the mid-'80s. Mr. Speaker, that was a great program, but to help those home owners with the programs we have offered today, it just doesn't match up. I'd like to ask the Minister: will the Minister direct the Housing Corporation to review income thresholds that determine access to PATH and CARE programs to make sure they are tailored to the unique needs of each community?
Yes, so the income thresholds will be reviewed in 2017. We do that every two years. As well, like I had said when I first started here, I am committed to being very community-focused and we are sending out a survey probably towards the end of this month that is asking each specific community what their needs are and what their priorities are. We will be developing a plan, a community-based plan, from that that identifies what the communities' issues are and what they see as needs within each separate community.
I would also like to ask: when the Housing Corporation does repairs to public housing in small communities, could arrangements be made for its crews to assist private home owners?
Currently at this moment we are in talks, I am in talks, with the Housing Corporation. There is a cost to having crews, but I'm looking at more of a training program. When I recognize that the CMHC funding is going to disappear within the next 20 years or so, we need to have a better plan. I'm actually looking at more than just having crews go in and assist home owners, but actually looking at, is it possible for us to do some training of community members so that we can support self-governance and support the communities to take some ownership within their own communities. That's in the beginning stages, but I can guarantee that within this government's term we will be looking specifically at seeing how we can assist communities to take more ownership and self-reliance within their housing issues.
Home building and renovations are more expensive outside the regional centres. How do current housing programs take this into account?
As stated, we do have the different regions for the income thresholds, so we take into account the cost of living, et cetera. They are also separated by the amounts of bedrooms, the counts with two bedrooms or less, three bedrooms or more, et cetera. Again, we will be doing a new threshold needs assessment within the 2017 fiscal year. There are programs in place such as the PATH which does give 55 per cent, again, for a down payment, versus in Yellowknife where it's only 5 per cent. We are trying to recognize the communities' needs and work within the communities. Our survey that will be going out will provide more in-depth knowledge so that we can provide a proper plan to address those issues. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. As I stated earlier today, the mining sector should not be forgotten in our efforts to strengthen and diversify the northern economy. Many northern mines are maturing while exploration is in a steady decline, and the sector requires this government's support to begin growing again. Can the Minister explain how the department is working to encourage mineral exploration in this climate where worldwide commodity prices and investor confidence is low? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The government of the Northwest Territories' mandate document highlights that benefits from non-renewable resource productions enables an investment in many of the priority areas of our Assembly. The primary means by which this government is addressing the Assembly's priorities in this area is the ongoing implementation of the Northwest Territories Mineral Development Strategy. Establishing a Mining Industry Advisory Board has played a very important role. They are helping us to get the word out to industry that the Northwest Territories is a good place to work and to invest in. The Fraser Institute, which sets out a report on an annual basis, has always indicated that the geologic potential of the Northwest Territories is very high. We are always in the top ten. But on the working in the Northwest Territories, we have been very low. We have been rated right up there with the Congo, at times, at 39th place. We are very surprised at the ratings we were getting, so we approached the Fraser Institute and asked them what their process was. We found out that most of the people that were submitting hadn't worked in the Northwest Territories for a long time, and the ones that are here now hadn't had the opportunity to fill out these questionnaires that they send out. We are going to make sure that they are working with current information and that they know what the realities are. We also have the Mining Development Strategy, which is a very important piece of our toolkit. We invest in geoscience, which is the backbone of mining. We also invest in prospector training to train prospectors. We also provide a Mineral Incentive Program, which provides funding of up to $400,000 annually to junior mining companies, and that has been over-subscribed since its introduction. We are working very closely with industry so that we can continue to get ready, so that when the commodity prices come back, we'll be ready to see the Northwest Territories take its rightful place so that exploration spending will be back up where it was in 2008. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you to the Minister for his very good reply; it is much appreciated. Mr. Speaker, the territorial government and the Northwest Territories often gets criticized for its regulatory regime and I know that there's been considerable efforts in recent years to improve that. I wonder if the Minister could please elaborate on what the role this government has had in streamlining that process and are we any further ahead than we were in past years as it relates to the regulatory processes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are working at this from a number of fronts. First of all was the successful achievement of devolution two years ago and we are now continuing to devolve and evolve and the mining legislation out there will be reviewed. We are also looking at introducing a Mineral Resources Act. The Northwest Territories is one of only two jurisdictions in Canada that does not have a Mineral Resources Act. This will be very important for our mining industry. It will provide for more effective oversight and enforcement of Northwest Territories mining regulations. We are also talking to the federal government about the MVRMA process. We pushed for it under devolution that we should take it over, and we've raised that with Minister Bennett, Minister of Indigenous Affairs and Northern Affairs and so we have a number of areas that we want to look at to improve the mining regulatory regime. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Again, thank you to the Minister for his reply. Mr. Speaker, one of our successful programs in this area is, in fact, the Mining Incentive Program. I wonder, can the Minister inform the House what has been the uptake in the Mining Incentive Program and what feedback from industry, if any, has the department received?
The Mining Incentive Program has been very well received in the Northwest Territories, especially with the downturn in the economy. In the two years that we ran the program, it's been oversubscribed. We had $400,000 available for the exploration side; that was oversubscribed. There was about $1.4 million requested and we only had $400,000, so it's obviously filling a very important void. On the prospector's side, it has been fully subscribed where prospectors in a number of regions have taken the training and have received funding through the prospector's program. I think it's going to benefit the industry going forward and especially when the commodity prices recover.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
