Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Mr. Speaker, has the Minister spoken to frontline staff or personally toured the facility to see their daily experiences and the challenges they face and, if not, will the Minister commit to do that so he gets a good sense of what our peace officers go through in their daily lives?
Yes, Mr. Speaker, I did have the opportunity some months ago to go on a visit to the facility. I had been there many times in my former capacity as a defence lawyer. I do not speak to, and I don't think it would be appropriate for me to speak to the individual workers there with respect to this incident.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Marci cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have questions for the Minister of NWT Housing Corporation pertaining to the Aging in Place, as it's laid out in our mandate. Mr. Speaker, in answering questions in February, questions from me, the Minister responded to a question I was asking about Aging in Place by indicating that she would be meeting with the federal government on March 10, 2016. I want to know what the results of that meeting were? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of NWT Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. At the last meeting that we had with the federal/provincial/territorial Ministers we had strongly advocated for Northern consideration within the national housing plan. The result of that meeting is that the federal government is going to do a Northern Strategy, so that meeting was very successful. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I'd like to ask the Minister when the Northern Strategy would come into effect and if there's any money associated with the Northern Strategy insofar as money from the GNWT or money from the federal government? Thank you.
I cannot say exactly if there will be any money or when there will be money. It is hopeful that there will be money, but until the federal government releases that, we don't know. I will be meeting again at the end of this month, with them again, advocating for a northern strategy, and as soon as I find out then I can bring the results back.
Mr. Speaker, our mandate is not incumbent upon money from the federal government as far as the Aging in Place goes. I'd like to ask the Minister if there has been any budgetary discussions pertaining to a program that will allow seniors to age in place?
There's actually quite a bit that we're doing to assist seniors to age in place. So there are many programs; we have a CARE Major program that will do major renovations such as ramps up to their buildings, et cetera; we have CARE Minor; that'll do small programs, and then we have the preventative maintenance that we do every year that goes in and looks and tries to just nip it in the bud and make sure that their houses are in sustainable shape so that we're not looking at extended renovations.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member’s statement I spoke about the deterrents that were associated with a lot of the programs NWT Housing Corporation is delivering, deterrents that make the seniors apprehensive to apply for the programs that are in place. Has the Minister had a discussion with staff or with Cabinet on features that might be added to a program that specifically looks at allowing seniors to age in place in their communities without a lot of the deterrents? Right now, those individuals are not applying for the programs for various reasons. So I'd like to see if the Minister has really focused in on trying to allow the seniors to age in place without a lot of the deterrents that I spoke of in my Members statement. Thank you.
It is a mandate of the 18th Legislative Assembly and we do take the mandate very seriously. I think that all Members actually have a serious concern for our elders and a respect for them and want to promote them to stay in their own communities. So we're doing a number of things. Actually, one, prior to the engagement survey, that we're asking every person in public housing, every person that is taking part in housing programs, what's working, what's not working, what they want to see, so I'm taking that very seriously. Once that's received, we'll be going through every single policy, every single program that Housing provides so that we can alleviate as many barriers as possible for people.
The other thing specifically that we're doing right now actually for seniors is since September and ongoing until the end of November we've made a commitment, and we're going into every single community and we're reaching out to seniors specifically to tell them about the programs that we have to assist them in understanding what they are eligible for and to try to identify any barriers that they have. So we're taking our commitment very seriously and we are going into every single community as of now. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. In my statement I made reference to SEED funding in the amount of $21.5 million that were distributed to all 33 communities in 2014 and 2015. The question that I have for the Minister is how are grants and contributions monitored to ensure they are used for their intended purpose? Mahsi.
Masi. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm glad to inform the Member that ITI, who currently distributes SEED, is reviewing the outcomes and effectiveness of the program and the delivery of SEED programs, and this is something that we'll be hopefully finishing up by the end of this fiscal year and be able to present to the standing committee. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Could the Minister state in terms of committee and this side of the House, in terms of how it is that perhaps the review's been done, whether there's a scope of a terms of reference or a framework in terms of just how detailed perhaps the report could be developed in terms of accounting for that amount of money from that year, but also perhaps for the past fiscal year?
I can't answer that question in detail, I'd have to get back to you exactly how we're doing the review. But what I can say is we are completing it. As I said, the SEED policy and programs is expected to be completed this fiscal year, and we will be tabling it with the committee as soon as that's possible.
From start to successful stage in terms of deriving profit from perhaps a business venture, what are we doing to help small businesses become self-sustaining? Mahsi.
As this Assembly knows, I'm a small business owner prior to coming to public life, and I know the importance of sustaining a small business. As of today, I actually had an opportunity to meet with a group that is working with BDIC, it's called Futurpreneur and it lays out the groundwork from the business idea to establishing a business plan to working through to marketing to become a successful business as well as matching up entrepreneurs with mentors. This is the one of things that BDIC is doing through one of the initiatives through the Department of ITI. As I just found out about it today, it's something i really want to look into to help entrepreneurs in the Northwest Territories.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are good things that this department is doing in terms of supporting small businesses in small communities. Just to name a few, like, there's a Business Incentive Policy and plus there's policy in terms of how it is that this department provides funding for small businesses. One proviso is if there's an existing business in a small community the department heeds to the policy of, you know, not creating any market disruption and policies like that. How often are programs reviewed to ensure effectiveness and incorporate feedback from clientele?
I don't have an answer to that question. I'll have to get back to the Member on that.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier I spoke about the Darnley Bay Marine Protected Area and my questions are for the Minister of ENR. Mr. Speaker, my first question is: has the GNWT participated in any capacity on consultations for the Darnley Bay Marine Protected Area? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.
Mr. Speaker, when necessary ENR has been providing information and working collaboratively with our federal counterpart.
Recognizing that the GNWT does not have jurisdiction over the offshore, how much influence do we have as a government on recommending areas for protection?
Mr. Speaker, as far as the protected areas, we do have some influence, I mean, we would work closely with our federal counterparts; work closely with the communities. I understand in this particular situation, the community of Paulatuk are keepers of this particular area, so we will work closely with them. But as the way things are working now we do have a bit more influence than we may have had in the past.
Mr. Speaker, recognizing that all ecosystems are connected, would the GNWT be involved in the creation of a management plan for the new protected area designated for Darnley Bay?
Mr. Speaker, because we would have a vested interest in this particular area, we will work closely, as I said, with our federal counterpart. We will work closely with the community of Paulatuk and then if they determine that it was an area that needs further evaluation then I can see ENR playing a very significant role there because we do, at the end of the day, have to be the caretakers, so it would be to our benefit if we work closely with the federal government and the community of Paulatuk.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my final question to the Minister of ENR, is there anything more the GNWT can do to help advance its priority on behalf of the people of Nunakput and the Northwest Territories and urge Canada to keep its commitment to protect ten per cent of marine areas over the next four years? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I can work with my federal counterpart and see what they have in the works for this particular area and see what the next steps are, and again, we will work closely with them and the community to see if we can advance the community's wishes.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, a follow-up to my Member's statement; I have a couple of questions for the Minister of Transportation. As I mentioned in my statement, most of the work was completed on the widening of the Dempster, so I'd like to ask the Minister: what is the work planned for next season on the Dempster as the widening from the border to the Peel is near completion? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Transportation.
I want to make a comment on the Member's statement earlier today about the weather and the conditions in the Beau-Del there. I said it's been very challenging for all contractors in the region and I appreciate all the work they've done to get the work done that they did this year. We will be finishing up the border to kilometre 74 to Peel River Crossing this year because that work isn't completed. The section of highway from 60.5 to 61 will be lifted and that work is to be carried out over the next summer, and also in the next season we will be resurfacing the crushed gravel from kilometre 30 to kilometre 74.
Mr. Speaker, I know over the last year here, the department has been working to find another possible gravel source to crush for this project here. I'd just like to ask the Minister have they found adequate resources to fulfill the rest of the remaining work?
Gravel sources are a very valuable resource and the challenge in the Dempster area has been finding access to gravel. We've continued to work on our lands and Gwich'in lands to try to access this stuff; I believe we have enough gravel probably to finish the work in the next coming season. But we will continue moving forward to try to find pits that are sourceable that can work for resurfacing and reconstruction of the highway, and we need to work with all players in the region moving forward.
Mr. Speaker, I know over the summer I received a number of concerns for possibly going on Gwich'in land. So once a source has been identified, will the Minister ensure that the department has a community meeting in Fort McPherson just to give an update to the residents?
Once this stuff has been sorted out and no matter where it is, we will send our staff in there to have dialogue with the community.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
