Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in follow-up to my Member's statement, I have a few questions for the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation. I would like to ask the Minister: how has the Housing Corporation tracked and evaluated seniors' housing needs in Tsiigehtchic to date? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister responsible for Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Currently at this moment I do not know if we have tracked the seniors' needs in Tsiigehtchic at this point. I can make a promise that we will do an assessment on the community and see how many seniors there are. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would like to ask the Minister: what criteria does a community need to meet to trigger planned construction for a new seniors' home?
The current practice is that we try to do an assessment every year, and we try to look at all of the housing needs throughout the whole Northwest Territories. In my opinion, that was not always the best practice. That is why we are doing the survey and actually developing community plans, because, at that time, each community would have its own identified priorities, which, in my opinion, is a better way of providing services.
I would also like to ask: what other housing programs and services does the department offer to support Tsiigehtchic elders who want to say in their communities and the families who want to help support their elders?
There is a variety of supports that seniors can actually access for renovating their own homes that they currently live in. Recently, we also put an extra $500,000 into our budget specifically for seniors' homes, that they can actually use to help renovate so that they can stay in their homes as long as possible.
We are working hand in hand with Health and Social Services. We recognize that, seniors, there is a huge need, that the population is growing, and we are doing the best we can to try to help seniors to be able to age in place, whether that means staying in their own homes or having extra supports.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, will the department look at a planning study to see, if there is a real need in the community, which areas, for elders in the community? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
As the Members are aware, the housing survey actually just closed the other day, and so we will actually have the statistics coming in which we will share with all Members, which will identify the prioritized needs of each community and what they say. So, once that information is all compiled, I will share that with all of the Members.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yesterday the honourable Minister of Transportation spoke at length about Yellowknife Airport evolution. This plan is somewhat controversial, and even more so perhaps in the light of a recent CBC investigative report that showed that between 4 to 6 per cent of airport improvement fees are pocketed by airline carriers and go into their direct revenues. How does the Minister plan to avoid this in light of our airport improvement planning and ensure that 100 per cent of all of the proposed fees are invested in crucial airport infrastructure, as he has promised? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Transportation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The plan moving forward is, yes, we are going to introduce an airport improvement fee into the Yellowknife Airport to help pay for some capital expenditures moving forward. The airline fees typically charge a percentage on these fees across Canada, and it is something that we are keeping a close eye on. As the Member alluded, that is in the news today, and we will see what the outcome is from that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
So it does not sound like there is a plan. When they were considering doing this, was the Minister aware of how these fees operate across Canada, or is this investigative report new to the Minister's knowledge, too?
Yes, we were well aware that this fee was charged when the airlines collect the outbound passengers, so that is the answer.
I and my constituents eagerly await the Minister's plan to stop the pocketing of this fee. Further to his statement, the Minister also made reference to the Yellowknife Airport currently employing approximately a thousand people and that there is an opportunity to generate more jobs. How many direct jobs will the proposed airport plan create?
I want to thank the Member for bringing that forward. Yes, the Yellowknife Airport has a significant economic benefit to the City of Yellowknife and the residents of the Northwest Territories, with a thousand direct jobs. When we move to this new funding model for how we develop the airport, it has the potential of creating probably tonnes of more jobs. I couldn't give him the exact number. We realize the economic potential that lies there, particularly for the City of Yellowknife. It brings in significant amount of dollars to the community as well as the Northwest Territories.
I can't remember the number exactly, off the top of my head, the amount of GDP that the Yellowknife Airport brings. I believe it is somewhere in excess of $100 million. The direct taxes to the City of Yellowknife and the Government of the Northwest Territories is around $40some million.
If we could take this asset and develop it into a better economic opportunity to bring more tourists to the Northwest Territories, more business through cargo, more direct flights, more businesses that are operating in the airport, it is going to bring significant opportunities for all residents of the Northwest Territories.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have tonnes of more questions, but I understand I only have one left. You know, for the definition of "tonnes," I think it is a thousand, so maybe a couple of more thousand is what the Minister is getting at, but I digress.
The Minister also said that there is an infrastructure deficit, there is a strain that needs to be upgraded in the short term to cope with the pressure. These improvements that the Minister has listed off today, and on other days, as well, when will Yellowknifers be able to enjoy them? Is it next year? Is it the year after? Is it 10, 20, 30 years? What year will a new airport be delivered to Northerners and we will start seeing all these benefits, and what is the cost? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As soon as we pass the budget and pass the Revolving Funds Act, we will be able to address this. Moving forward, we anticipate to collect upwards of $8 million to $9 million extra in revenue per year, offsetting the $4 million that the government already subsidized the airport by, so, with the collection of these new fees, we will be able to invest this money at an opportune time once we move forward.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. As I discussed in my Member's statement, diamond mine environmental agreements are an important part of the network of arrangements that form the social licence for the diamond mines to operate and to maintain public confidence. My questions are for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources. Can the Minister summarize the thinking and action that has taken place on amending the diamond mine environmental agreements? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, after devolution, the Government of the Northwest Territories assumed the responsibilities of the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs, or INAC, as outlined in the environment agreements for the territory's three diamonds. However, the environmental agreements have not been formally amended to reflect this. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thanks to the Minister for that response, because it leads perfect into my next question. There are still residual federal responsibilities in the Northwest Territories for fish, toxic substances, migratory wildlife, transboundary issues, and then the value, of course, that the federal government can bring to the table in terms of experience and funding. Does the Minister recognize these roles of the federal government, and will they be adequately reflected to any amendments to the diamond mine environmental agreements?
The Government of Canada and the GNWT actually drafted an addendum and release agreements to reflect the transfer of responsibility from Canada to the GNWT. These agreements were not signed prior to devolution because the Aboriginal parties did not support having Canada removed as a signatory to the environmental agreements.
I thank the Minister again that he recognizes that there was opposition to the sorts of changes that were being proposed by our government on the environmental agreements in the past. So can the Minister explain how his department intends to meaningfully consult with Indigenous governments and the public regarding any amendments to the diamond mine environmental agreements?
Mr. Speaker, the decision was actually not made by our government. We were prepared to sign an agreement with Canada; however, because of the concerns of the Aboriginal governments the agreement was not signed.
In December of 2016, there was a joint letter that was sent to the environmental agreement signatories and parties to inform them that the GNWT and INAC recommended that Canada remain a signatory to these agreements but with limited responsibilities.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker, and thanks again to the Minister for that response, but I can assure him I was in the room in my previous life when the changes were being proposed. We couldn't even get the federal government into the room, and it was actually being led by the territorial government, these changes last time around.
I'm pleased to hear the Minister say in this House that he recognizes that there's an ongoing role for the federal government in these agreements. So can the Minister commit to engaging the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment regarding changes to the diamond mine environmental agreements? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, that was the one unanswered question and the answer would be, yes, that I would continue to update and upgrade the Regular Members as we move forward with the discussions we're having with Canada and the Aboriginal governments.
Masi. Such a unique word, "upgrade." Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today with breaking news stories from around the country on a local level we learned from CBC News today about a story with regard to the Power Corporation and some generators which the Power Corporation has ordered, so my questions today are for the Minister responsible for the Power Corporation.
Mr. Speaker, it seems as though these generators have been awarded to a contractor. Some 25 inspections or visits have taken place with regard to the progress of the design and development of these generators, and it seems as though, according to the article, little or no progress has been made to date. So in the interests of protecting our investments,
I want to ask the Minister: has the Power Corporation put any kind of funds towards this $2.5 million contract to date? Is there some form of deposit or funds that ratepayers have paid to date? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister responsible for Northwest Territories Power Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can advise that the Power Corporation did order generators from Virdi Power Inc. in June of 2015; I understand that $1.1 million has been paid to the vendor and we're hoping that the generators will arrive by the end of spring. Thank you.
One of the things that the article pointed out was that there were three bidders on this particular project, two of which have very familiar names and are very well-known brands and have experience and came within just a few dollars of each other in terms of the bid.
The winning bid, apparently, came in a million dollars shy of that. Would that not have been a red flag to the Power Corporation as something that could be considered a non-responsible bid? Would there not have been some work that needed to be done to further evaluate whether that bid was even a legitimate bid? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The company that did win the bid, Virdi Power, is a company very well known in the industry. I understand that there was a careful evaluation of the bid made by the Power Corporation. The bid from Virdi was the lowest rated, and among the factors looked at was price.
Mr. Speaker, I guess the question has to be: now that we've had a delay in receiving these generators, what kind of costs are we incurring? What kind of costs have we had to incur to date? I'm not talking about the deposit or what have you that was put down; I'm talking about locally. These were intended to replace aging infrastructure. Have we got temporary generators in place? What kind of costs have ratepayers incurred to date to take care of this void that was supposed to be filled by these new generators?
The Power Corporation, when they became aware of this, this problem of delay, went back to the company, and the company to its credit, to compensate for the lack of delivery, the vendor, Virdi, agreed to cover any additional costs, including the costs of the modular rental units that were brought into Jackfish for the winter of 2017 to ensure reliability. So the company will be absorbing those costs.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I had a separate question for my final question, but I now have to ask: what are those costs? If they're going to cover them and we are notably incurring them, what are the costs? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I mentioned, the company, Virdi, which is a very reputable firm, has been in the business for many years, supplies American military among others, has agreed to cover those costs. I do not have a detailed list of the costs, but I can seek that from the Power Corporation.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Marci cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I made a Member's statement on the cost of land leases, rental. I would like to ask the Minister of Lands questions. Can the Minister explain why the lease costs or lease rates are so high? Thank you.
