Masi. Members' statements. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. Last week, the Giant Mine Oversight Board held its first public meeting in Yellowknife. There were over 80 people in attendance, including Chief Edward Sangris of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation and all of the board members. A presentation was followed by questions and answers, real answers, Mr. Speaker.
The recommendations in the board's May 2017 report include:
performance measures and timelines should be set for the Giant Mine Remediation Project;
improved communications are necessary;
a federal response to calls for an apology and compensation;
need for a comprehensive traditional knowledge plan;
a full environmental management system should be developed;
full explanation of why the project has not obtained a water licence for the current use of water at the site;
the need to build capacity through intervener funding for water licensing;
examination of other delivery models such as a community based trust should be carried out; and
a framework for socio-economic impact assessment and management should be developed.
This is a comprehensive and thorough report from the board. Some of the issues raised by the public at the meeting included:
off-site contamination, including near the school in Ndilo;
the need to survey former and current workers for health impacts;
progress on the research program for permanent arsenic disposal; and
the failure of Canada to allow the board to carry-over unspent funds into the research program.
I understand a federal treasury board submission may finally happen in the fall of this year, over two years after the agreement was signed. There is still the issue of whether the federal government will replace the funds that should have been carried over from the first two years operations by the board. I'll have questions for our Minister of the Environment about the GNWT position on a number of these matters later today. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker
Masi. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Inuvik Boot Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's a great honour to recognize our Aboriginal Languages Secretariat, Ms. Jessica Schmidt, Ms. Gayle Strikes With A Gun, Ms. Nora Russell, Ms. Jaycee Hegin, and Dr. Angela James for all the hard work that they've been doing on the tabled documents, on the document I'll be tabling later. Also joining us today are the members from the NWT Teachers' Association, President Fraser Oliver, as well as Adrien Amirault walking in as well, and a good friend of mine, Andres Hamel, who is visiting us from Ottawa. Welcome to the House. Thank you.
Welcome. Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and the Minister beat me to it, but I'd also like to recognize Fraser Oliver, Kam Lake constituent and president of the NWTTA. It's day two. Hope to see him for every day of this session because he looks very keen. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Welcome. Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to recognize Gayle Strikes With A Gun. She's a former principal from the school in Fort Good Hope here. Thank you. Welcome to the House.
Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd also like to welcome Ms. Jessica Schmidt. Jessica taught in Paulatuk for six years as a principal, and she has contributed a lot to the community here in her time. Welcome, Jessica. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. Earlier on, my statement was about selling local foods and wildlife in local stores. Mr. Speaker, my first question is: how is ITI working through the implementation of both the NWT Agriculture Strategy and the Commercial Fisheries Revitalization Strategy to bring local foods to local stores? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Both the development of the Agriculture Strategy and the fishing strategy that we've tabled this year precedes a very big important agenda for the government for our economic development of the Northwest Territories, but, getting strictly to the question about buying local foods in local stores, the challenge with that moving forward is that we have an agricultural strategy, but we have a need to develop a process moving forward, as it is the first agricultural strategy in the Northwest Territories, and the regulatory framework around that, and what needs to be put in place to protect and guide that for consumers and for retailers in the Northwest Territories. We need to develop food safety and inspection guidelines and regulations, as well.
Around the fishing strategy, we are still committed to the Great Slave Lake revitalization commercial fishery strategy. We still have the $1.4 million at work, that has been set in place to help develop the commercial fishing strategy. We have a number of support programs that were put in place around the fishing strategy, as well, which last year helped see the increase in the quota for the Northwest Territories. We will continue to work on those issues moving forward to try to bring greater economic opportunities for residents in Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I appreciate the response. Mr. Speaker, my second question is: the commercial fishery revitalization strategies focus on Great Slave Lake. I support that, Mr. Speaker, but has ITI considered the potential of an Arctic fishery centred in the Nunakput riding?
The fishing strategy moving forward, it says for Great Slave Lake, but, if you look at what we have in the document, fish harvester expansion programs to help fishers cover part of their capital investment is one of the ones in the strategy; support for new entrants into the fishing industry in the Northwest Territories; the Northern Food Development Program, ITI supports fishers for the domestic commercial market in the NWT. There are a number of things in there. We have also allocated another $225,000 in this year's budget towards helping revitalize this stuff, and I believe that all of these programs are available to help enhance the Arctic fishery. I would be glad to sit down with the Member and see how we can work that out.
I appreciate the response. Mr. Speaker, my third question is: what is ITI doing to allow for the sale of locally produced meat and dairy products in the Northwest Territories communities this year, beyond funded sales?
I think the Minister of Health actually touched on some of this yesterday. We are working closely with the Department of health and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources on this moving forward, to allow for future sales of these products, so, hopefully, within the next two years in the NWT. But before these sales can occur, public health regulations need to be developed, so that is why I am doing work within the departments.
From my understanding, though, through the Food Establishment Safety Regulations, this allows food to be sold that has been harvested legally by NWT harvesters and legally obtained by the operator, so there is an avenue there that something could be worked on in the short term. Health and Social Services' environment unit is working on what we need to do moving forward. For regulations and stuff, I think we need to defer those questions to the Minister of Health. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is very helpful information. Mr. Speaker, my final question for the Minister: is ITI considering small-scale abattoir legislation that could help communities in Nunakput and elsewhere market local meat products? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, I will have to defer that question to the Minister of Health and Social Services with respect to abattoir legislation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier I spoke about some of the issues surrounding the GNWT's Marine Transportation Services division, and I have questions for the Minister of Infrastructure. I am not going to ask the Minister about the $1.3 million in outstanding property taxes because I have already asked him about that in this House. I have asked the Minister of MACA, I have asked the Minister of Finance, and I have got a resounding "tough luck" from all of them. We will start off with some easy questions, and this is just for the information of residents who have been asking. How many people can we expect hired in Hay River by the Marine Transportation Services this year? Thank you.
Masi. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Our projections for the work force coming this year are roughly around 145 employees, and I can actually update the House a little bit. So far, to date, our work force is probably about halfway to where it needs to be to get up to full operation, but, up to date, 34 millers have been hired, as well.
As I also mentioned, when people are looking for employment, they have to send their resumes to Newfoundland because there is a crew company that we have contracted there, apparently. What are we paying this crew company to do that we cannot do locally?
As all Members know in this House, we bought the assets of NTCL in late December to bring the shipping season. The most important critical thing for us this year was to concentrate and get supplies to all of the communities that rely on the marine transportation industry. We have had to outsource the work force hiring, and that was to the company in Newfoundland the Member is referring to, ORSI. They subsequently had people sending resumes to Newfoundland, but, since then, I can update this House that they have a staff member sitting in Hay River that will receive resumes, and you can just go down to the shipyard and drop off your resume.
That is good to hear. I will move on to another topic related to the division. There are companies that are chomping at the bit to come up here and clean up Old Town, take the scrap metal, take the barges that have been sitting there for seven years. These are metal recycling companies. When are we going to get Old Town cleaned up? When can this process start because people are ready to go right now?
I know there are a lot of exciting things coming forward with the marine transportation thing now in the hands of the Government of Northwest Territories, and we are proceeding on a number of these fronts. Like I said, we are concentrating on getting the shipping season out in front of us and getting stuff to the communities, which is the most important thing.
We are working alongside with my colleague beside me, the Minister of ENR, on a phase 2 environmental assessment of all of the properties that are in Hay River and identifying any hazardous material that is on these potential properties. We will do an assessment, and we are hoping to have this assessment done by later this fall. In the short term, part of the cleanup, there are a number of barrels on site there, and we are working on cleaning those up right now. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have another question. This is actually a pretty serious topic in Hay River. I have heard from various businesses that there are concerns about MTS' rates for deck cargo. For the last four or five years, I believe, NTCL was raising their rates, and last year alone, they increased it by 10 per cent. People are concerned that, if MTS is aligning their prices with NTCL's, they are not only pricing themselves out of the market but people are going to go through other places in Hay River to get their goods. This is a serious concern, so what is the department doing to ensure that MTS' shipping rates for deck cargo are competitive? Thank you.
Masi. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have set the rates this year based on the 2015 NTCL rates, along with CPI. That is what has given us this rate. We have to do this first year of operations to determine what it will cost us to run this operation and what is going to be the ongoing funding to make this thing sustainable. At the end of this coming season, we will be able to have a look at what the rates are, and, if there is an opportunity to pass on the cost-of-living relief to residents of the NWT, we will do so. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in previous sessions, I have asked the Minister of Lands some questions about equity leases, and I guess it is time to do it again. It is that time of year. Can the Minister please advise us of what you are doing to address the concerns of the residents regarding their equity leases? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Lands.
Mr. Speaker, when I initially took over this portfolio, I was almost immediately advised of this issue, initially by Members opposite, but also by members of the legal profession and individuals as I travelled around the community. I had thought that this was not a particularly large issue, thinking that there might not be very many of these equity leases; however, after some investigation, we found that there were, in fact, a great number. We have heard the concerns from Members opposite and members of the legal profession, and I have directed the Department of Lands to take a comprehensive review of all equity leases and report back to me by the end of August with the findings. As I mentioned initially, I had thought that there were perhaps very few. It turns out that there are hundreds.
I thank the Minister for that answer. It is good to hear that we are actually starting to work towards resolving this issue. Can the Minister please provide us, about the leases that are expiring or will expire during this review, what will be happening to those leases?
Mr. Speaker, I have directed Lands to place any lease that expires during this review in over-hold status for one year at the last-paid lease amount. This ensures residents will not be compelled to sign a new long-term lease before the review is complete. Hopefully, within the next year, we can resolve this issue.
I thank the Minister for that answer. It actually makes some of these equity leaseholders happier to see we are working towards it and we are doing this agreement. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister please provide if this is part of the review, looking at leaseholders to purchase this title land?
Mr. Speaker, once the review is complete, I would want to assure all Members of this House that they will be briefed on all the options to meet the needs and desires of constituents before we move forward with any changes. I think we can all agree that, ultimately, the best solution may be actual ownership, but there are many issues surrounding these leases. The leases are not all the same. Some of them are very different. Some have an indication that might be that the leaseholder would get ownership at the end of the lease. Some are less clear on that issue. There are also issues of Aboriginal claims because many of the leases are in areas of unsettled land claims. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the Minister for that answer. I totally agree that equity leases are all over the board, and I am glad the Minister is looking at that and trying to resolve that. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister advise us, if somebody has an equity lease, do they have to purchase their land if private ownership is allowed? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Lands.
