Mr. Speaker, I'm not a lawyer, but I do understand a bit how this works and I'm starting to understand it a bit more. My understanding is that if any of the parties feel that procedural fairness was not met, they could possibly go through the court system. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker, and thanks to the Minister for his response. That's exactly what I'm getting at, rather than put himself in the position of trying to deal with procedural fairness, get the courts to do it. That's where the applicants should go.
Earlier today, I spoke of how land and water boards are required to deal with compensation claims; compliance with water standards, although we don't have any after 45 years; and financial responsibility of applicants.
Mr. Speaker, that track record may have been in the past, way in the past, and we're starting to move ahead. Through devolution, we think we've got a lot of the necessary tools to put ourselves in a position to move ahead and be responsible for the environmental protection and going through all the processes. So there may have been mistakes made in the past, I can't speak to those, but we can definitely learn from them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier, I had mentioned my questions would be related to the antipoverty initiative here and the campaign. This program, I'm very intrigued with it here on my attendance seven months ago in March, there. It's a consolidation of various initiatives to address antipoverty.
Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the intention at this point is to have an annual conference on the antipoverty work that's being done across the Northwest Territories. This is actually a great opportunity for people from across communities who are undertaking community and regionbased activities to come together and learn from each other and share best practices. What's working in one community can be done in another community. So it's a wonderful opportunity to come and keep the conversation alive and keep it current and mould and change as needed, based on new information.
This year, we are having our antipoverty conference. It's going to be in Inuvik. We are planning to have ones for the remainder of this fiscal year. Today, I'll make a commitment to the Member that in 2017, when we have the antipoverty conference it'll probably be at this time of year, similar to the one that's happening this year we'll have it in Norman Wells, and in 2018, what the heck, let's have it in Hay River, and in 2019 how about Fort Simpson. That's what we'll do, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Wonderful words for our second last day in action in front of the media here, something to take home for Christmas. I look forward to the upcoming schedule of the proposition. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I'll take that as a comment. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Marci Cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources. Researchers with Social Ventures Australia, a firm that has assessed a federally funded Aboriginal Stewardship Program in Australia for the Prime Minister and Cabinet just released a case study of Indigenous Guardian Programs run by Lutsel K’e and Dehcho First Nations. I'd like to ask the Minister if he's aware of the findings in that report. Thank you.
Masi. Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am aware of these programs and we're actually proud of the fact that in the Northwest Territories we do have a couple of Indigenous Guardianship Programs. The Ni Hat'ni Dene or Watchers of Land and the Deh Cho KOD which means taking care of Dehcho, and we've seen how these programs actually benefit the community, they generate some good-paying jobs, they prepare young people to be our next generation leaders, but the guardianship program, my understanding, do even more because they are guardians of the land monitoring wildlife, tracking changes to watershed and other aspects of the environment.
They can help the GNWT meet our mandate for conserving biodiversity and responding to climate change and enhance our collective capacity for environmental monitoring and management. So it's wise of us to work with these groups and continue to seek their advice because who knows the land better than the people that use it? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, research confirms that Indigenous guardians helps strengthen the community self-determination. How does the Minister see that benefitting the rest of NWT if a program was to be expanded?
Mr. Speaker, I see a great benefit to the work of the NWT because it aligns with many of our current GNWT strategies and initiatives, examples like the Water Strategy Conservation Areas Networking Planning, Anti-Poverty Strategy and Culture and Heritage Strategy amongst others. We think that the guardian programs can play a critical role in the stewardship and strengthening the government-to-government relationships.
Mr. Speaker, in my Member's statement I indicated the return on investment for this program. The report indicates a return in investment. I use the number 2.5 times return and the potential return would be 3.7, so that's quite substantial. Considering these enormous returns, how does the Minister feel about the government supporting this program moving forward?
Member is asking for Minister's opinion. I'll allow the Minister to respond.
Mr. Speaker, I always have an opinion. We will continue to work with these groups to see if there's resources that might be made available to them. ENR staff actually attended the National Indigenous Guardianship Program in Ottawa in early October and the purpose of the gathering was to highlight the knowledge of the Indigenous Guardian Approach to the protection and management of lands and waters and as with most of our trips to Ottawa, there was some discussion on funding. I'm not sure the nature of those discussions or the outcome of those discussions yet, but as we continue to move on with this initiative I will be happy to share the findings with the Member.
Mr. Speaker, leaders from across our country are calling for the federal government to fund the National Network for Indigenous Guardians. Similar to the program that's been running for the last 10 years in Australia. Does the Minister support that proposal?
Mr. Speaker, I spoke before about the success that we've had with the couple of programs that are operating in the NWT and also the success of the program that's operating in Australia, and we support the idea of bringing Indigenous Guardianship Programs to more communities across the NWT. Again, if it's a question of funding then we will work with our federal counterparts because we can see some benefit to the rest of the country if we have these particular types of programs across the country.
So I will make that commitment that we will work with our federal counterparts and through our own government if there is potential room for investments in these types of initiatives, we will be happy to have a look at it.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, a follow-up to my Member's statement. I have a few questions for the Minister of Education. Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned in my Member's statement, parents feel the need to -- you know, the decision should be theirs to put their child in any language program that they'd like them to learn. I'd like to ask the Minister how has the department directed education councils and school boards on access to language classes? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I appreciate the concern from the Member. I know in communities like Inuvik and Aklavik where we have two different Aboriginal groups such as Gwich'in and Inuvialuit, putting your child in a language class is very important. It helps preserve culture languages as I spoke earlier in my Minister's statement; however, at Moose Kerr School I know that the staff work really hard to maintain, protect and revitalize both Inuvialuit and Gwich'in languages.
With the Moose Kerr School, about 10 years ago they went by the healthcare card, what was on the healthcare card, then your student went into either Inuvialuit or Gwich'in. They changed it up a few years ago where the parents decide, and then I just found out that recently this year, 2016-2017 academic year, they went back to the healthcare card system. That's to make sure there's a good balance of students going to both the Inuvialuit and the Gwich'in classes. So right now they're using the health card system to choose how the student takes his class. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I'd also like to ask the Minister what options are available to parents and children who would like to enroll in a different language class?
It was actually up to the parents choosing up until this fiscal year, but moving forward I'd ask the Member if we have families that are concerned in Aklavik to go and speak to the teacher. If it's not resolved with the teacher, to speak with the principal and the last resort is bring it to the superintendent, but we will speak with the Beaufort Delta Education Council about this as it is a concern and we do have two communities, Aklavik and Inuvik, that can run into that issue in years to come.
Mr. Speaker, my constituents have gone to the school and to the local DEA, and they were told that this is a BDEC policy. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to ask the Minister, how will the department work to address parents' concerns, as I've outlined here today?
Yes, the department will follow-up with the Beaufort Delta Education Council, as this has been a concern and it's not the first time that we've had a family from the Member's community that brought this concern forward. Obviously, we want to revitalize our languages in Inuvialuit and Gwich'in, and keep it thriving in especially our smaller communities. So it is a concern and we'll have somebody from the department work with the Beaufort Delta Education Council to look at that policy.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, I'd like to ask the Minister, can the Minister ensure that this is straightened out by the mid-term of the school year? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
As the Member said, the family member has already spoken with the teacher, so we will speak with the superintendent and try to get this addressed as soon as we can.
Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I spoke about Darnley Bay, and my questions are for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. Mr. Speaker, my first question to the Minister is what geological information has the GNWT collected about mineral deposits in Darnley Bay anomaly area? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No mineral deposits have been discovered in the anomaly area, but, as the Member knows, Darnley Bay Resources has reported diamond-bearing kimberlite pipes there on the Parry Peninsula just northwest of there. Unfortunately, as the Member stated in his statement today, the drilling at Darnley Bay has not been able to determine what the anomaly actually represents and it's, you know, supposedly a very significant one. Mineral resources, what is contained there, will not be known until we are able to drill the area. But to get back to his question, ITI's Northwest Territories Geological Survey Division has Mineral Industry Assets Reports for the Darnley Bay area dating back to 1972.
Another area of interest is that the Geological Survey of Canada and NWT Geological Survey have recently conducted research in the area through a federal government Geo-Mapping and Energy Minerals Program, which is a seven-year $100 million program. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I appreciate the clarification. Mr. Speaker, my second question to the Minister is how is the department engaged in monitoring mineral resource development projects and staying up-to-date on activities of junior mining companies?
The Mineral Resource Division and the NWT Geological Survey both follow mineral development projects in the Northwest Territories and speak often with junior mining companies throughout the NWT. These divisions also monitor press releases by junior mining companies and compile a report. This report, though, is actually put out by the Mineral Exploration Overview and it's produced by the NWT Geological Survey. In addition, companies and prospectors regularly contact the staff at the Mining Recorder's Office, so we're in contact with junior mining companies in that manner.
Also, as early as this month, we're going to have the Yellowknife Geoscience Forum of the Northwest Territories, which I invite everyone to participate in in the House, it's on for three days from November 15th, and companies will regularly inform us on some of their updates and exploration programs.
I see the importance of the GNWT working with Aboriginal governments has moved toward mineral explorations and road building. Mr. Speaker, my third question for the Minister is what project readiness activities is the department undertaking during the current downturn in the economy so the Northwest Territories has a better capacity to take on new projects when commodity prices rise?
We have the Mineral Development Strategy, which provides the GNWT with clear direction on a large number of programs and activities that benefit the NWT economy, and when commodity prices rebound we will be looking towards that. Within ITI, both the mineral incentive program and the exploration incentive program provides various forms of support to help these companies participate in the Northwest Territories and be active.
It's also critical that we encourage companies to continue their exploration efforts in the territory and provide them with the information they need. ITI is well-equipped in that through our client services and our community relations unit, and we'd also like to highlight the work conducted by the mineral resources division to encourage NWT regions to develop their own mineral strategies for their regions.
It's been encouraging to see that the regions are going to be moving forward in developing some of their own mineral resource strategies, and we look forward to that.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I appreciate the response. Mr. Speaker, my final question is Darnley Bay is also the site of a proposed marine protected area. How would developing minerals interests and their sensitive ecosystems be balanced in a way that satisfies traditional land users, but also modern society's demand for mineral resources? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
As the Member knows, the Government of the Northwest Territories is very supportive of the marine conservation area along the east and north coast of the Parry Peninsula, and we continue to work on that. This marine protected area, once established, will have numerous regulations in place that are expected to provide the balance that the Member speaks of here today in the House. It's encouraging to know that the conservation goals of these regulations have been developing using traditional local knowledge, so that's very important.
The regulations also consider the economic needs of the region and, in particular, the residents of Paulatuk. Moving forward, if the balance between conservation and development is not being achieved, the management plan in the marine area is adaptive and can be modified to better meet the needs of traditional land users.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. At a recent constituency meeting, homecare services were the main topic of conversation, and devoted users of the service in Yellowknife reported to me that their homecare support worker visits had dropped from the past frequency of weekly to as infrequently as once every two or three weeks. This doesn't speak very well for the preservation of this service or the enhancement either. Can the Minister explain to me why these reductions in service are taking place? I'll start with that, thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.
