Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker earlier today I spoke about the Premier's commitments to settling land claims by the end of this Assembly. The direct quote is, "Let's get these land claims completed, all of them, in the life of the 18th Assembly." I would like to ask the Premier today if we are on track to do that and if these claims will be settled by the end of the 18th Assembly? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The Honourable Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am very pleased that the honourable Member from Kam Lake finally recognized that this file exists and that he's learned the difference between land claims and land rights, and I'm very pleased to say that we're working very hard to fulfil our objective of selling all of these land rights agreements within the length of this 18th Assembly.
Language is important and I obviously have to be careful, as does the honourable Premier.
On the topic of land rights agreements, Mr. Speaker, there was the commitment to have a new offer to the Dehcho processed within 90 days. Was that offer made? I'll just leave it there. Was that offer made? Was a new offer given to the Dehcho in 90 days of the Premier taking office?
We did better than that; we met with the leadership of the Dehcho and we committed to having ministerial special representatives appointed to review the progress to date to identify deficiencies and challenges and what areas we could change to move forward. We had the opportunity to have a discussion in Vancouver at the Mineral Roundup with the Grand Chief Herb Norwegian, and he agreed that we would continue to work together to resolve these long-standing negotiations and we are both optimistic that we can move forward.
I think there's a difference between making progress and a new offer. My understanding of a new offer within 90 days is there will be a new offer on the table for full consideration. Was that made? Was there a full deal given for consideration in this process, or was it only the appointments of the ministerial special representative from both governments that changed this process? That's certainly a new of way going forward, but I think it pales in comparison in a fully realized deal.
I have said before, it's very easy to make a new offer; could make one today to the Dehcho, but our objective is to reach an agreement and that's what we're working towards, Mr. Speaker.
Final question. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On an issue that's very near and dear to my honourable friends on this side of the House, the working group on this issue, it's only met once. I'm wondering if the Premier can advise when the next meeting will be and if the terms of reference allow this committee to give direction to the negotiations process, or if it is only a group that's being used to update my honourable friends? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'll be pleased to answer his multiple questions. First and foremost, the terms of reference were reviewed and agreed to by both sides at least six months ago, and so everybody agreed to them, and the honourable Member from Kam Lake knows that we had a meeting. Everybody agreed that the next meeting would be when we received the reports from the two ministerial special representatives, and we expect to have those very soon and then we would have a meeting at the appropriate time to discuss these reports.
Thank you, Premier. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. On the weekend I was doing some work, research for my Member's statement on socio-economic agreements, so I went to the departmental website. There's a mix of unsigned versions and only one completed and signed agreement there. Can the Minister commit to getting the final and signed versions of all these agreements on the department's website within a reasonable period of time? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'll have to have a look into this. If there's the only one posted there, certainly there are other agreements that have been signed off and have been in place for a number of years and I will ensure that the ones that are signed off and in place, that we will have them posted on the website. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I can assure the Minister that all those agreements are there, but most of them are unsigned, most of them are undated. I had to go to secondary sources to try to actually find out when they signed, like, news releases and so on. In any event, I look forward to having them all there.
As I raised in my statement earlier today, there are few, if any, legally binding commitments in the current socio-economic agreements. Can the Minister confirm these agreements are really best-efforts arrangements with few, if any, specific binding commitments with penalties and sanctions for non-compliance?
These socio-economic agreements that we have in place, which benefit Northern businesses, Aboriginal groups, and Northern people, are a great partnership, and that's how the Government of the Northwest Territories looks at these agreements. We take the partnership approach to it and corroboration and collaboration with these companies to try to bring as much investment and employment opportunities and business opportunities to the residents of the Northwest Territories, and that's the basis of these agreements.
That's great that these are partnerships, but when people don't live up to them there have got to be some sanctions there or some way of ensuring compliance again.
So there's a mix of commitments in terms of office locations and functions in the current socio-economic agreements. When I looked at the Voisey's Bay development agreement and our inability to retain head offices for large resource development projects, what is the Minister prepared to do to ensure that there are no further main office closures in Yellowknife by resource developers?
These are agreements that are presently in place. When they were signed back in the early 90s and later 90s, we never had the regulatory authority over this; this was done under the federal government, the system that was in place at that time, and we have to live up to what was taking place then. When we move forward, as we try to attract new mining companies to the Northwest Territories, we will try to enshrine the stuff that's important to Northerners and the Northwest Territories and ensure we get the best deal for the people of the North.
Thank you, Minister. Final question, Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, monsieur le President. Glad to hear the Minister say that we're going to start being a little bit tougher with our negotiations so that we can retain more of the benefits here for Northerners.
One way to perhaps help that: can the Minister commit to having a thorough and independent review of our socio-economic agreements conducted so we can learn from others and our own mistakes, and will he agree to make such a review public? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
As we move forward with the new socio-economic agreements with up-and-coming mining companies, some of this conversation is already taking place with the potential new mines that are in place and negotiations are under way. As for the Member's comments of having a full review, I'm not committed to doing that just yet. We have to get our mine regulations and stuff in place, as devolution has come upon us and we have to work on how we're going to make our House better; once that sort of stuff is in place, then we can have a better look at it.
Thank you, Minister. 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 Transportation. I'd like to ask the Minister: how frequently are contracts for ice road construction and maintenance awarded? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you. Minister of Transportation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would have to probably look into that. I imagine every section may have different appendices to it, but if he wants to ask on a specific contract I can look into that for the Member. Thank you.
How does the department plan to award the contract for the Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk Highway, maintenance contract?
We're waiting to have the completion of that road. We are having a hard look at how we are going to tender this process out for the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway. It is no different than any other contract, and it will have to follow our procurement steps as laid out by the Government of the Northwest Territories.
I would like to ask the Minister: will the Minister award the contract for the maintenance of the ice road between Aklavik and Inuvik to an Aklavik contractor, since the road primarily serves the residents of Aklavik?
As the Member knows, the section of road between Aklavik and Inuvik right now is between two different contractors, but the one section that is closer to Inuvik is the part that goes to the Tuktoyaktuk section, which will be closed off after this winter season with the opening of the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway. The present contractor for the majority of the road is from Aklavik. He presently has the contract, and I believe he has three more years, roughly, remaining on his contract. What I will do is have a look at that once the Inuvik section is done and see what we are going to do.
Thank you, Minister. Final question, Member for Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we are talking about 30 kilometres of road, here, that is to the junction of the Aklavik turnoff. I don't see why we can't just add this to the remaining contract, which is majority to the Aklavik contractor. Will the Minister ensure that this is straightened out before the fall? As you know, it is on that section of road to Tuktoyaktuk that will be no longer needed. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I said, there are two contractors on that section. The last 30 kilometres in the Inuvik section is a different contractor. Once the contract is done, at the remainder of this winter road, we will have a look at economies of scale. It probably makes more sense to have one contractor for that whole section of road versus two, but I will have to have a look at it when the time comes.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, Mr. Speaker, I talked about volunteerism, and my questions will be for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. During the 2016 nomination period, how many people and organizations were nominated for the awards that the department issued? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, through the 2016 nomination period, actually 23 nominations in total were received for the four awards: 10 were from elders; 11 were individuals; one group applicant; and one youth. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I must apologize to the Minister. I am going to probably ask a question that is a little bit outside the box here. So we have 23 nominations, which is good, but it is really sad for this territory, where we have a lot of volunteers out there. Can the Minister advise what the department is going to do to increase the nominations besides up to 23 so we can have more people recognized?
This topic of increasing volunteerism is not new to the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs. We have been realizing that the numbers of volunteers have been going down over the years. There may be a variety of reasons for that, including the need for twoparent families to be working now.
We are actually doing a number of things. We are looking at increasing our advertising to get more nominations out there. We are also going to be putting it forward to the stakeholders, the five regional stakeholders that we will be meeting with, because I am guessing that they are also realizing that their volunteer base is shrinking, as well. So we will be putting it forward to them when we look at how we look at a strategic regional policy and seeing if we can come up with ideas to support throughout the Northwest Territories to increase our volunteerism.
I thank the Minister for her answer. That is a good step, a good start. However, I think we have lots and lots and lots of volunteers. I know that. I can see there are people out there volunteering. I don't think it is the income thing; I just think the recognition is the problem. Is the department looking at ways to help communities recognize their hardworking volunteers as the first step towards the territorial award?
So although I recognize that volunteers are really critical, really important, very valuable in our communities, they often don't do that for recognition. However, it is important to recognize our volunteers, and so we do a number of things to promote volunteerism.
We have a Volunteer Organization Development Contribution program that gives training support funding. We have a Volunteer Recognition Program, that we have $30,000 that we provide funding for community governments to run volunteer recognition events. They can apply up to $1,000 per event. That program is still taking applications, so I would like that to get out there, as well as the Volunteer Organization Development Corporation program for training. We also are continuing to take applications for that.
We support agencies, the NGO Stabilization Fund that gives to non-profit organizations that are mostly led by volunteers. We provide them with funding. We have the NWT Outstanding Volunteer Awards where we annually recognize volunteer achievements, that we are talking about, in four categories, youth, individual, elders, and groups. We have the NWT Youth Ambassador program, where we give youth opportunities to travel and experience volunteerism and get recognized for that. Of course, we have the Fire Service Merit Awards where we promote our volunteers within our emergency services.
So we do quite a bit. We offer some training. We can always do better, but we are looking at ways, and we are hoping that we will be able to expand on that.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Nahendeh, final question.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for her answer. I am very familiar with those programs and that, so she did a great job. Still, I think we need to get that money out to the communities. It shouldn't be applicationbased. It should be given out every year. It should be done so the communities can recognize their volunteers.
Now, in regard to the importance of volunteers that the Minister has talked about, does the department have any courses or resources that they can offer to volunteer groups to become more efficient and effective volunteers out there? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have gone through on my last answer a number of areas where we promote volunteers and where we support organizations with doing that. Any organization that is interested in either accessing more volunteers or training their volunteers, we are willing to work with them individually, as well.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question today is on the energy alliance program, directed to the Minister of Public Works and Services. The program, as mentioned, is a good one, wellreceived in the communities, and I would like to know what currently the department is doing in this fiscal year on the program deliverance to the communities of the Sahtu? Thank you.
