With the gay-straight alliances in the two communities that the Member has brought up, we have to do a school visit with those two schools. I will make it a point that when I do go to those schools for a school visit, that we will sit down with the group and see what we can do as a territorial initiative and have them on board to initiate that and be territory-wide leaders, not just in the communities but for the whole Northwest Territories. I look forward to working with them on that. I will get the department to look into that, and once we get a chance, we will do a school visit and look at those groups. I am very excited to see what they are doing.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Barging schedule was on my Member’s statement. I ask the Minister responsible for Public Works and Services, what is the current arrangement between this government and the resupply courier, NTCL? There are a number of rumours out there about the courier’s financial position. I know that we are going to see the sailing service acknowledged by the current courier, but are we quite confident that they will fulfill the season’s sailing schedule? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Public Works and Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This situation of NTCL came as a surprise to the GNWT as well. We did our due diligence. We looked at alternatives. We made sure we had a backup plan. We have a strong working relationship with NTCL and through our talks and the negotiations, we have actually got their confirmation that they will be sailing for this fiscal year. The court process that they went through, that they initiated, a restructuring process, kind of gave them some leeway to be able to operate for this season. People may be aware that within the current newspapers we do have a new release or request for proposals for the next sailing season. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
In the RFP, could the Minister confirm that there are additional requirements, I would say seven in the RFP, to isolate, I would probably say, all couriers in this northern territory underneath the business directory? For example, does the RFP require that all vessels, be it the tug itself or be it the barge itself, that they have to be double hulled? If that is so, Mr. Speaker, then it restricts anybody and everybody that is currently operating right now because the current operators, I am not too sure, have that standard. Would the Minister confirm, please?
The Department of Public Works and Services does recognize that there are some issues going into some of our northern communities. We have taken that into consideration within our request for proposals. There are companies within Canada that actually do have the ability or have the ability to purchase what they will need to be able to provide the service to the Northwest Territories.
Given that there are companies with that additional qualification, such as double hulls, and it is also this government’s mandate to acknowledge BIP and capacity building for Northern operators, are there avenues to work with the proponents out there in that marine sector?
Yes, the GNWT is always interested in working with people to support businesses within the Northwest Territories. However, the request for the proposal has gone out. We will be seeing what comes forward to us. At that point, then we will make a decision on what we need to move from that point forward.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My last question is, if the Minister could supply me with information related to this season’s schedule and the future plans. I know the RFP is out, I just saw that a few hours ago. I am not familiar with the document itself. But if I could get some information to pass on to the leaders of the Sahtu and any other interested leaders down in the valley that gets resupplied by the marine barging season. In one case, in Fort Good Hope in particular, they are only getting one barge courier per season. They have no other options other than air support. That is really not an option in some cases. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I am more than committed to trying to keep the Members as informed as I can, although sometimes I may need a reminder on that. I acknowledge that. We will commit to speaking to the Member at his convenience on that. Also if the committee would like to, we can provide a briefing on that as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister responsible for the Status of Women. Does the Minister agree that the family violence survey from 2007 produced valuable insights into attitudes held in the NWT? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister responsible for the Status of Women.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, absolutely. The 2007 family violence survey provides really valuable information about the attitudes of people within our territories on family violence. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, thank you to the Minister for that answer. My next question is does the Minister agree that addressing attitudes towards family violence is the best way of preventing it?
That is a very difficult question in all honesty. I think that attitudes are a part of it. Speaking as a child who came from a home with very severe family violence within that and a large family, I can say from personal knowledge and also professional knowledge, being a social worker for over 20 years, that family violence is a really complex issue. It is a really complex set of solutions to address it. It is not only attitudes. It is about services. It is about women’s ability to take care of themselves. There is a whole complex list of needs that we need to address to be able to actually fully address family violence.
Thank you to the Minister for that answer. I agree that family violence is a complex problem, but in order to get to the fundamentals, I think that we have to address attitudes in the way, historically, attitudes have changed towards drinking and driving, towards wearing seatbelts and towards smoking. To that end, I am wondering whether the Minister will commit to updating the family violence survey by doing another one.
Within this fiscal year, I don’t see that we can do a new family violence survey due to the financial limitations that we have. Although, I will advocate and try to look into bringing it into the next fiscal budget because, as stated, if is a very valuable tool. There has been a lot of work within the Northwest Territories on family violence. Our Coalition Against Family Violence has done a really remarkable job on communities’ attitudes with the “What Will It Take?” project that they have done. We do need to evaluate that. We need to evaluate if we are on the right track or what else we need to do. Within that survey piece, I would also like to see a more comprehensive plan go forward. I am looking at bringing that in within this term of the government.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Mahsi. Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the Minister for that commitment to advocate for a repeat family violence survey in the next fiscal year. It is my understanding that the information it will provide will be a very useful planning tool to create promotion campaigns aimed at ending family violence. Thank you.
I am really pleased to hear that one of the MLAs is really taking this to heart because it is a serious issue. I would like to challenge all of our MLAs as well, as our Ministers actually, to take the “What Will It Take?” program in because I think it is something that all of us need to take, need to be aware of, and need to address and be role models within our constituency.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
Mahsi. Mr. Speaker. Small communities sometimes are drive-by communities. We drive by, and we see a small community, and we just drive by. One particular community is Enterprise, located within my riding. It is in the Deh Cho riding, but it also has access to the jurisdiction of the South Slave district offices. However, my questions today are for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. Can the Minister explain how Enterprise is involved in discussions at a territorial level about initiatives and activities that have an impact on the community? Mahsi.
Masi. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, because it is within the municipality of Enterprise, they would be a full participant in any discussions that take place with regards to any type of development or initiatives that might be happening in the community of Enterprise. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Maybe later on I will ask the Minister in terms of what he meant by full partnership. He said partners. As we all know, here in the NWT the traditional economy has been hunting, fishing, and trapping. What do residents of Enterprise need to do in order to access GNWT programs that are frequently offered through local Aboriginal governments and organizations such as the Community Harvester Assistance Program or Community Wellness funding?
Mr. Speaker, I will have to have that discussion with the appropriate departments as to what the community of Enterprise has to do. I could talk at length about what the community of Enterprise has to do to access a lot of the MACA programs and assistance of the MACA staff? As far as what they have to do to access the other programs, I will have to have that conversation with the appropriate departments.
I would like to thank the Minister for his reply. Here in the NWT, we promote the day of natural resource development. If that happens, we are quite fortunate especially if you are a neighbouring community, you have access to jobs that are fairly limited, and business opportunities, to ensure that the community grows. Plus, we also have the expectation that we are trying to balance economic and social impacts. Is the Minister aware of any effort being made to help the people of Enterprise benefit from the proposed pellet mill especially in terms of jobs and other economic opportunities?
Mr. Speaker, as far as jobs go, that is something that they would have to take up with the proponent. I do know that we have been engaged with the proponent since about 2011. We have supported both the hamlet and the proponent on their land application. We assisted the hamlet with their land acquisitions by-law, and we also worked with the hamlet to determine the fair value for land sale, and we participated in a number of meetings with the hamlet council. There are some opportunities there when the pellet mill goes into Enterprise. There will be, obviously, some revenue for that that the community can take full advantage of. There are some opportunities there. As far as the jobs go, that would be a discussion that they would have to take up with the proponents themselves.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Would the Minister agree to meet with the mayor of Enterprise and visit the community the next time he is in the area on official business to explain his explanation that they are full partners in terms of any initiatives that are perhaps in their neighbouring community? Mahsi.
Masi. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.
Mr. Speaker, I would be glad to meet with any community government across the Northwest Territories. We have a good working relationship with the NWT Association of Communities. They understand that anything that happens within their communities ultimately they have control over, so they are more than full partners. I will agree to meet with mayor and council next time the Member invites us to his riding. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I would like to put the Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation to work today. Earlier today I related the story of NTPCs cancellation of a request for expression of interest for a joint venture supplying wind and solar energy for the North Slave. The NTPC former board vice-chair said that the direction to abandon the renewables project came from GNWT. Can the Minister confirm whether this is true and why the GNWT would interfere with this process? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister responsible for NWT Power Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As a result of two consecutive low-water years, the Power Corporation sought expressions of interest in November of 2015 with a closing date of February 5, 2016. They received 29 expressions. At that point, the Power Corporation and the government and Arctic Energy Alliance evaluated the proposals and decided not to proceed to the next step which would have been a request for a competitive procurement. they were simply seeking expressions of interest. It was not cancelled by the government. Twenty-nine were submitted. They were found not to be economic so it didn’t proceed beyond that stage. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I thank the Minister for his response. The recently released North Slave Resiliency Study did not consider climate change and made no predictions of future water levels. Low waters have caused this government to burn through more than $60 million in diesel subsidies in recent years. That is money that could have gone into renewable energy development. What role does the Minister see the NTCP playing in building capacity for wind, solar, and biomass in the North Slave region?
As the House heard last week, we will be proceeding with a new energy plan. The Premier spoke to that before the House last week. As a Crown corporation, the Power Corporation will play a critical role in the proposed energy plan. We already play a critical role in the development of alternative and renewable energy systems, including the recently opened Colville Lake plant. There are also solar plants in Fort Liard, Fort Simpson, and Wrigley. Hydro itself is a renewable resource, a green source of power. As the energy plan is rolled out, the Power Corporation will play an integral role in its development.
I appreciate the answer from the Minister. I recognize that NTPC is doing some good work on renewables in communities and that they are going to be playing a critical role in the development of the energy plan. I think part of the issue, though, is that some of the same people that are running the Power Corporation, those deputy ministers, are going to be the same Ministers in charge of helping develop the energy plans. Can the Minister describe for this House what role those deputy ministers will play in the development and implementation of the upcoming energy plan?
Yes, Mr. Speaker. I understand that the deputy ministers do have two roles in the sense that apart from their usual responsibilities they also will be directors of the corporation. The energy plan will be rolled out in the next few months as the Premier mentioned last week. I am confident that the directors of the Power Corporation will be able to fulfill that role and also their usual role as deputy ministers.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I will be very interested to see how this rolls out over the next while. Some in this House have called for the development of large hydro projects that could even flood communities to export power. Earlier, I spoke of another vision for the NTPC where it would basically be doing itself out of a job by building energy self-sufficiency in communities and households across the NWT. Can the Minister explain: what is the current vision of NTPC? Will it become an instrument of this government for big hydro for export or build energy self-sufficiency? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister responsible for NWT Power Corporation.
