The Minister has stated that there is lots happening in terms of dealing with the crisis that we are facing in the NWT. One reality that we are facing is that, within the period of a year, we will likely see the legalization of marijuana. Perhaps that could precipitate statistically more people using marijuana and perhaps enhancing the problems that we already have. With this government, at that point, I would seriously consider the idea of a treatment centre for the North.
With the legalization of marijuana in Canada, one of our primary foundations in moving forward is promotion and awareness of the negative impacts of marijuana. This is one of the things that we are going to be working on. Currently, marijuana use is already normalized both in the Northwest Territories and across Canada, which is, I think, one of the reasons the feds may have considered moving forward in this way. The message is still the same, Mr. Speaker. We have heard loud and clear from residents that they want options, and we are looking at providing the widest range of options possible and practical in the Northwest Territories. Things like the sobering centre, on-the-land programming, community counsellors, great partners outside government, as well as the facility-based treatment options that we have with our southern partners -- which provide, honestly, a wider range of programs than were ever able to be provided here in the Northwest Territories -- do provide our residents with choice.
I am not saying we have gone all the way. I am saying that a treatment facility in the North is something we are always going to have to keep on the radar. It might get to a point where it is feasible, practical, and beneficial, but there are other things that we need to keep doing in the interim, including sobering centres and other options for people who are suffering from addictions.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the students that we work with on the reserve have this question in mind, and most likely all residents of the NWT. Perhaps this is the opportunity for the Minister to directly respond to this question to the students and people of the NWT. The question is: why will the GNWT not support a treatment centre in the North for the North? Masi.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have actually constructed, built, and run four treatments in the Northwest Territories over the last 20-plus years. Where we have had capacity for 32-plus clients in these treatment facilities, at any given time, we might have had a dozen individuals in these facilities. Given the nature of these facilities, a real treatment facility has to be able to provide a wide range of programs, including psychiatric and psychological support, as well as dietary programs and other programs. In the Northwest Territories, we were never able to get a psychologist or psychiatrist to be permanently located in these facilities. There just was not the demand. Also, with an average of 12 people who are choosing, it is important to recognize that, for a treatment facility, you have to be ready. You have to choose to go to those things. We did not have the numbers to sustain them and keep them operating.
Meanwhile, we have entered into contracts with four incredible facilities in the South that provide a range of programming that has never been equalled here in the Northwest Territories with respect to treatment facilities, and we are getting really positive results. I have had an opportunity to meet individuals who have attended these facilities, who have indicated that they like the supports they are getting from these facilities. They appreciate the programming because it is meeting their needs. I even had some of them make reference to some of the treatment facilities that they attended here in the North, and their indication to me at the time was night and day as far as programming.
I am not saying that the Northwest Territories will never reach that point where we can actually fully fund and fully operate with psychologists and psychiatrists and a range of programs in the Northwest Territories, but at this point, the numbers do not work and make it very difficult to run something that will be successful. So we acknowledge what our residents have told us, which is options, Mr. Speaker. We have moved forward with more on-the-land programming, more counselling supports, facility-based mobile treatment options using existing facilities. We are looking at sobering centres. We are looking at a number of different options so our residents can choose which option works best for them. The feedback that I am getting from people who are actually suffering from addictions is that, when they are ready and they use these options, they are getting positive results. We always need to do more, Mr. Speaker, but right now, I do not think there is a justification for the construction of a dedicated treatment facility. It has not worked for the past, and I do not believe we have turned a corner, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is just following up on the statements made earlier by the Minister of ECE. Can the Minister clarify for me whether NWT students graduate from high school with an Alberta education diploma? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Culture, Education and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, NWT students who do meet the required courses graduate with an NWT Senior Secondary Diploma. The NWT has set its own criteria and standards for a high school diploma, and although similar to Alberta's graduation diploma, it does have some differences. We are working with Sahtu communities to ensure that we work on supporting and having access to some of these core courses for the students in the communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
That leads me to the other question here on course curriculum delivery. As mentioned here, the beginning of the academic year in 2016-2017, we have seen particularly Math, English, and Social Studies 30-1 to 30-2. Is that being delivered, and what is the progress that we have made so far with the schools that are delivering that criteria?
Mr. Speaker, the four largest Sahtu schools that are in Norman Wells, Tulita, Deline, and Fort Good Hope all offer the basic courses necessary for students to obtain their Senior Secondary Diploma. As for updates on where we are within the school, I can get the specifics and share it with the Member.
On May 9th, we also met with the leadership with the Sahtu Secretariat. We did offer coming back into the community and having a more formal discussion on how we can work together to improve student outcomes and achieve student success in all communities in the Sahtu region.
I look forward to the Minister's information. My next question is: can the Minister tell me if any Sahtu schools are part of this NWT e-Learning initiative?
Currently no, but I can assure the Member that in the 2017-2018 school year, the school in Fort Good Hope, Chief T'selehye School, has agreed to come on board. It is a great opportunity. We are seeing some very good successes in all the schools that we are providing e-Learning. It is an opportunity to have schools in the small communities be able to obtain and have access to higher academic courses that will get them prepared for post-secondary education.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My last question: will the Minister provide that information along with the other previous questions and answers? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and yes, we can provide that information to the Member, as well as share with the Member when we do come up with a date to sit down with leadership in the Sahtu to look at addressing other education concerns and work on successes and how we can work together to address some of these education concerns.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister responsible for Poverty Reduction. The GNWT has had a poverty reduction strategy for the last four years, and now Ottawa is creating a national strategy. What is the GNWT doing proactively to align these two? Thank you.
Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yes, the federal government is moving forward on the National Strategy for Poverty Reduction. I have had the opportunity to meet the federal Minister responsible in cooperation and collaboration with my provincial and territorial counterparts, where we had an opportunity to explain some of the realities that we face in our different jurisdictions, talk about some of the actions that we are undertaking, and provide some advice on a broad approach on addressing poverty at a national level.
Mr. Speaker, I know that the federal government has also been doing a number of engagements across Canada, including the Northwest Territories, and we have had our staff attend, sometimes as observers. Where many of the events that the feds were having were invite-only, we have asked that we be there as observers so that we can hear what people are saying and bring that information back to our people who are working on poverty reduction here in the Northwest Territories, but also as an opportunity for me to prep for the next meeting with the federal government where we will be talking about their poverty reduction plan at the next FPT. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
As I mentioned in my statement, we need federal help in two priority areas: food and housing. I am wondering how the GNWT is planning to leverage Ottawa's interest in reducing high rates of poverty in the NWT by making changes to programs such as lobbying for changes to Nutrition North and the CMHC declining funding?
The federal government has already indicated that they have already begun flowing some dollars to the Northwest Territories to address housing specifically, some dollars that they have flowed to the IRC. The Minister responsible for Housing is going to a meeting with Minister Duclos, I think next week, where they are going to discuss the exact issues the Member is referring to, housing. With respect to Nutrition North, Mr. Speaker, we have had different individuals from Cabinet talk to their federal counterparts about our perspectives and trying to make a program that works for residents of the North.
If the Minister could share that information, that would be very useful to us. In the meantime, I am wondering what it will take to get these issues introduced into the federal engagement strategy along with roads.
These items are in our mandate. These are issues that, as individual Ministers, we bring up at the appropriate time at the appropriate FTPs to make sure that the federal government is aware of our realities, but also the realities of Canadians from other jurisdictions. We do raise those issues on a regular basis, and we are going to continue to do so. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am going to re-ask that question because I did not hear an answer. We have a federal engagement strategy. It talks about infrastructure. Housing is infrastructure. I am wondering if we are going to see some of the issues raised in the poverty consultation in the federal engagement strategy. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the federal engagement strategy is part of the work that we do as the Government of the Northwest Territories. We engage with stakeholders from all over the country, including Aboriginal governments here in the Northwest Territories and the federal government, on a regular basis. I have a number of mandate items that I am responsible for that did not appear in the federal engagement strategy, but that in no way, shape, or form limits my ability to raise those issues and fight on behalf of the residents of the Northwest Territories, which I and my colleagues are committed to doing and will continue to do, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. Earlier today, I spoke about the current unsecured environmental liabilities at the Prairie Creek site. There are numerous buildings and pieces of infrastructure at the site that would require remediation. Can the Minister of Lands tell me the current amount of financial security held under the surface lease and water licence for this site? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Lands.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can advise that the amount held is in excess of $2 million, broken down as follows: $1,550,000 is held as a guaranteed investment certificate under the water licence; $250,000 is held as cash under the surface lease; and an additional $275,000 is held as cash under land use permits, for a total amount of $2,075,000. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I appreciate the response from the Minister, and that agrees with his written response to a written question I asked last year in the House. In doing some extra research, I noted that the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board, in a June 14, 2013, decision on a water licence and land use permit by Canadian Zinc, found that the environmental liability at the site for what is there on the ground right now is about $9 million. We only hold a little over $2 million. That is a $7 million gap, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister tell me: what is his department doing to close that security gap between the liabilities that are at this site and what we actually hold?
Yes, I understand that the most recent cost estimates were carried out in 2013, where it was found that the current site liability is $9 million, and I understand that the way that we are looking at this is we are ensuring that the proponent is in compliance with all current security requirements. However, as the project proceeds, there may be a need for more security in the future.
I am worried about the liability that is on the ground now, and clearly, security that we have in place does not cover that. There is a $7 million shortfall, and I did not really hear a plan from the Minister to deal with it. I know that, as I mentioned earlier today, the surface lease for the site is in overhold tenancy. If our government moves to extend or renew the surface lease for the site, we may incur some additional liability. Will the Minister commit that he is going to seek legal advice to ensure that, by dealing with that lease in some way, it is not going to make us responsible for all the remediation at the site, and will he share that legal advice or opinion with the Regular MLAs on this side on a confidential basis?
Currently, the proponent, of course, is responsible for all remediation. The proponent holds the lease for mine site maintenance. The Government of the Northwest Territories is currently protected from the historic liability through the terms of the Devolution Agreement. Now, at some point in the future, Canadian Zinc, the proponent in this case, if they wish to begin negotiations for us to receive a surface lease authorizing the company to commence actual mining activities at the Prairie Creek site, the full amount of reclamation securities to cover the existing and historic liabilities for the mine site would be assessed by the GNWT. Now, it is a complicated legal issue. I will seek further legal advice on this, which I may share with the Members opposite.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
That is a tough act to follow, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. I think I actually heard the word "will," not "may," but it is hard to say with the Minister. I look forward to chatting with him offline about that. That is one thing that, when we start to touch the surface lease in some way, we could be incurring some liability, but he is going to get something even sooner on his desk, perhaps. The Prairie Creek All-Season Road is going through an environmental assessment, as I said, and I don't want to put him in a difficult spot here.
That report of environmental assessment is going to land on his desk in the next several months, so what are the implications for our government in making a decision about that environmental assessment? As I had mentioned earlier, every time our fingerprints start to come out on these sites, it is going to become more challenging to convince the federal government that they are responsible. What are the implications of making a decision on the environmental assessment, with regard to our government's risk of incurring remediation liabilities? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The road involved, of course, does not only go across territorial lands, but also part of a national park. Now, the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada will sign the decision letter for the Prairie Creek road environmental assessment, and we will contribute to the decision process, so it is a combination of us working with them once this is determined. I do share the Member opposite's concern about this. I think we all recognize that there can be downsides to development, but hopefully there is a sufficient regulatory system and security in place to allay those concerns.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister responsible for Public Engagement and Transparency. Earlier today I spoke about some of the good work that the Minister and his staff are doing with regard to this. I also mentioned that there is a need to accelerate a number of the initiatives that we have made commitments to. I understand that the Minister and his staff are in the process of holding public engagement on the open government policy. I wonder: can the Minister inform us if this policy will be coming forward as a draft to the standing committee? In other words, when will Members see a copy of the draft? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister responsible for Public Engagement and Transparency.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member opposite is quite correct; we have been holding public engagement meetings throughout the Northwest Territories. We had the opportunity of visiting all of the ridings, and there was a total of 13 meetings; actually, 15 meetings, because there were two extra ones in Yellowknife, meetings with NGOs and the media. We are now preparing a What We Heard document. The last meeting with the public here in Yellowknife was a mere two weeks ago, and we are still receiving comments. A What We Heard document is in the process of being prepared, which will be tabled in this Assembly. Then Cabinet will be preparing a policy which we will, of course, take to the appropriate committee. Thank you.
Thank you to the Minister for his reply and for his commitment to bring forward a draft policy to the respective standing committee. We, of course, look forward to seeing what the department has heard during their consultation period. Mr. Speaker, for the record, can the Minister advise this House when he is planning to introduce ombudsman legislation?
One of the commitments of this legislature and included in our mandate, of course, which was developed by all of us together, is to establish the office of an ombudsman. We have sent a legislative proposal to standing committee, and we are looking forward to their response.
To be frank, I think that the standing committee has kind of given a response already to the Minister with regard to the LP information, but I am going to move on. The Minister knows that the mandate calls for this government to find ways to report to the public on how their input is influencing government decision-making, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister tell this House the approaches that he is considering to fulfill this commitment, and when he might see the results of this work?
The position on this is multi-faceted. There are many things that we are doing. I mentioned already that we have been having public engagement with respect to open policy. I have referred to the ombudsman legislation, which hopefully will come forth in due course. Also, we are looking at improvements to the ATIP Act. I can advise also that, quite apart from those initiatives, of course, Cabinet has been going out and we have held five open meetings with the public in Norman Wells, Inuvik, Hay River, Fort Simpson, and Yellowknife. Further meetings of this type are being planned. I also, with respect to this issue, don't think I could forget the good work that is being done by the Standing Committee on Rules of Procedure, which is opening up the committee system.
