Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Premier if he can provide some clarity on his position towards carbon pricing. He has both made statements that he is supportive of the Pan-Canadian framework, and also that he is seeking an exemption. For those people who do not want that tax, that is a confusing message. Can the Premier clearly lay out his vision for a made-in-the-North carbon tax? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. The Honourable Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think the Member has been reading too many newspapers because we are, as a government, taking action to deal with carbon pricing, and we have gone through one round of consultations across the Northwest Territories. I have said in this House many times that, with the federal government imposing a carbon price on all of Canada, we will do whatever is required. We have signed on to a nation-wide carbon pricing agreement, and we are continuing to go forward to implement our responsibilities. The federal government has recognized that. They have said that they will work with us, and that we will all be fully cognizant of the implications of imposing a carbon price on people in the Northwest Territories before we go ahead. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I do read the newspaper, and so do my constituents. When they see what is going on with this issue, they are concerned. They want to know what the government plans to do. I appreciate that the Premier has laid out his responsibilities very clearly, and I applaud him for that, but what I asked him for was a clear vision. Is it going to be a revenue neutral option, or are we going to see a revenue grab for government to fund clean growth? We need some certainty here that it is not going to unduly impact our economy and take money out of the pockets of Northerners. Can the Premier at least give us some of those assurances? I am not looking for a detailed proposal. I am looking for a broad statement of where the Premier wants this to go, and I appreciate we have to consult. That is an important part of our process, but he has to have some idea of where he wants this to end up.
We always listen to our residents, and we have gone out twice. We are still in the middle of our second round of consultations. We are coming to a close. We are still hearing from stakeholder groups. We will soon be doing an analysis of the online survey responses. I know the Member is very eager for us to impose a carbon tax, and as I said, we have done modelling. We have done all the work necessary. We will get the results. We will sit down and come to a decision. I mean, we all know the federal government has announced a carbon tax.
I do not want to impose anything. I want to implement a carbon tax that is going to reduce our emissions, protect our environment, and support our clean growth economy. The Premier wants to do that, too. He signed the same declaration. I am glad we have the model, and I am glad we have all this information, but are we going to be able to implement all this information by the deadline in 2018? It is fast approaching, and we are still in the middle of the second round of consultations. Could the Premier provide some clarity on that? Are we going to hit our deadlines?
I should remind the Member that, when British Columbia imposed a carbon tax, the price of the gas at the pumps increased by $0.10 a litre; multiply that five times is what the federal government is suggesting. It could have an impact on all of us. I should say, as the Member talks about us dragging our feet, well, we are working with the federal government. We have done modelling. We are waiting for an analytical paper from the federal government. We were supposed to receive it by the end of August; now they are shooting for the end of September. Then we will have discussions with the federal officials so that the federal government will better understand how it will affect the unique nature of the Northwest Territories in implementation and how we deal with carbon pricing.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The nice thing about revenue neutral tax that puts money back into people's pockets is that they can pay for fuel at the pump, which right now is increasingly getting out of reach as our cost of living continues to climb. My final question for the Premier is: how is he working with our Indigenous government partners beyond this consultative effort? How is he working directly with them to ensure that their interests are respected in this process? Can we get an answer to that? Thank you.
At the national level, certainly the national Indigenous organizations or governments have been involved. They were fully involved in the four working groups that the federal government set up here in the Northwest Territories. We work very closely with the Aboriginal governments, and certainly we have had roundtables where we have invited people. We have made arrangements to fund people to attend these roundtables. We will take all of the results of that information and, going forward, we will fulfil all of our responsibilities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in follow-up to my Member's statement, I have a few questions for the Minister of Justice. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister: what was the outcome of the Minister's engagement with the RCMP on the matter of overnight RCMP presence in Tsiigehtchic during break-up and freeze-up? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Justice.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As a result of the questions asked by the Member opposite in May, we did have correspondence from the RCMP, and I can advise the Member opposite that during break-up this year there were instances where RCMP members responded to immediate needs in the community of Tsiigehtchic and travelled quickly there by helicopter or boat. They were able to get there fairly expeditiously when required. Thank you.
The Minister previously reported on overnight RCMP patrols to Tsiigehtchic between January and March 31st. Can the Minister provide the most recent data?
I am very pleased to provide that update. Since January 1st, the RCMP members have spent 15 nights in the community, including four nights for the Tsiigehtchic Jamboree in March, participation in providing support for the Arctic Red River youth canoe trip in June, and participation in August with Canoe Days. I understand that, as of September 13th, the RCMP has conducted 15 overnight patrols and 36 day patrols to the community; compared, of course, to no overnight patrols in 2016, when they did not have a residence to stay in.
On average, how long does it usually take the RCMP to reach Tsiigehtchic compared to travel time during freeze-up and break-up?
I suppose it depends on the immediacy of the event that requires the police to go to the community. Obviously, if there was a helicopter available, they could get there very quickly. I understand sometimes, during freeze-up, members can access the community over a secondary ice road over the Arctic Red River. Clearly, it depends on the nature of the information that requires the RCMP to attend at the community. I am certain that they are able to get there in an expeditious way, if necessary, by helicopter.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as we prepare for freeze-up, will the Minister ensure that he works with "G" Division to see if it is possible that we have an officer this fall to stay in the community at the same time as we have the nurse there? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
While I will certainly bring that concern to "G" Division, I do not think I can guarantee that an officer would be able to remain in the community for that period of time. Thank you.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier, my statement was in regards to the Department of Fisheries and the responsibility of water and its resources. My question is to the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, and the question is basically founded on the reality that, here in the NWT, we have about 1.3 million square kilometres to watch over. Can the Minister inform the House of how many DFO officers actively work in the NWT to enforce federal and GNWT laws respecting water? Mahsi.
Masi. Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am not quite sure of the exact number of DFO officers there are hired by the federal government, but I will gather that information and share it with the Member. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Recently this government has been trying to diversify our economy. In that effort, we are extolling the value of a fishing strategy and that we need to try to get communities involved and revitalize the whole industry. At the same time, we are promoting tourism and also sport fishing. There is an increase in interest of activities to be out on the land. In its role as the government of the Northwest Territories, how are we protecting the waters of the NWT?
The Member, I think, raised a couple of questions there. He was talking about the fishing industry, and then the question was about protecting the waters of the NWT. Protecting the waters of the NWT, we obviously have a water strategy that we are working on. As far as the fishing goes, I mean, again, that is a federal responsibility. We have been listening to some of the outfitters on their concerns with sport fishing, so we have had those discussions with the federal Minister.
It is pretty clear that there might be a strong case for us, perhaps, from the GNWT's perspective to make a trip to Ottawa and ask for more officers here because we have a big land mass, 1.3 million square kilometres, but also just fresh from the devolution experience. Are we contemplating the idea of more control and authority for the NWT? With that in mind, has the ENR Minister met with his federal counterpart to discuss our needs in terms of ensuring that we have additional officers for the NWT?
We have had those discussions with the federal Minister of Fisheries, and we have raised the concern about the number of fisheries officers. They are more concerned with, through the devolution agreement, putting responsibility for fisheries on the GNWT as part of the devolution. We are continuing to have those discussions, and we have raised it with them, but their concern is possibly giving the NWT the responsibility for fisheries.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Is this the natural evolution of how we have heard devolution? It is ongoing, evolve and devolve. I think again there is an opportunity for us to perhaps push the agenda further on terms of taking on more responsibility for water and resources. The Minister has stated that he has had discussions with his federal counterpart on this very idea of taking more responsibility from the federal government, so is there a timeline in terms of this government engaging the federal government in terms of devolving more responsibility, especially for water and fisheries, to the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
As far as the timeline goes, I am not sure. I will find out. We continue to have discussions with our counterparts in Ottawa. I think water, we already have. I think the discussion was more around the fisheries part of it. We will continue to have those discussions with the federal Minister of Fisheries. Also, on the ENR side, I do have a PT coming up, I think, in the beginning of November, and there might be an opportunity there to have those discussions, as well. We will continue our discussions with the federal Minister, and I take the Member's point about devolve and evolve. That is exactly what we are looking at. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to do some follow-up with the Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation. I had a line of questioning yesterday, and I ended it with asking the Minister if he would commit the Power Corporation to meeting with the appropriate committee to report on the annual capital acquisition plan and main estimates. I recall the Minister closing with comments that said something to the effect that he would be happy to meet with committee. So, for clarification, I would just like to know: is the Minister prepared to have the Power Corporation present its capital acquisition plan with substantiations as well as main estimates, in the fall, to Members or to the appropriate committee? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation.
As indicated in my answer yesterday, Mr. Speaker, we are always prepared to appear before standing committee. However, the Power Corporation is a little different than the rest of the government in that we appear in front of the Public Utilities Board for discussions about our budgeting and ongoing requests for rates, so I think it would be duplicitous and probably a waste of time to go through that sort of exhaustive exercise also before committee.
I can guarantee the Minister that it is not ever going to be a waste of time. The ratepayers of the Northwest Territories, who contribute to the Power Corporation millions of dollars a year, want and deserve another level of accountability. Every other department of this government, they present their annual business case for the year, both for operating and maintenance as well as capital, with substantiations, to the people right here in this House, and so that is what I am asking the Minister to commit to. I mean, unless he is trying to tell me that the Public Utilities Board is who I have to start asking for those answers. Is that the case? I would like to ask the Minister that. Is it the Public Utilities Board that has to come under questioning with regard to the O and M and capital business of the Power Corporation?
We would be prepared to appear in front of committee to discuss in a general sense our ongoing plans for the Power Corporation. However, again, the whole point of the Public Utilities Board is to deal with these very complex issues and to set rates. I am wondering if the Member opposite is suggesting that we could do without the Public Utilities Board. I would be interested in that conversation.
There is a line of jokes that I could go down with that point, but I will not go there. This is a serious matter. What I am talking about here is accountability and transparency, which happens to also be the Minister responsible for Public Engagement and Transparency. I mean, we are talking about a lot of money. This is an item that affects us all. It affects individuals, businesses, homeowners, and they do not seem to have any clear answer of what goes on with this power corporation. I appreciate that the Minister keeps saying he can --
Member for Yellowknife North, what is your line of questioning?
We want to see the Power Corporation come in with the Minister and witnesses and be able to defend their annual case, and it seems like he is not going to be able to do that. Is the Public Utilities Board the one that has to now come here and speak on behalf of the Power Corporation for their capital planning and their operating and maintenance costs every year?
The Public Utilities Board has an exhaustive process which I understand costs the Power Corporation approximately $2 million each time there is a GRA application. I do not think there is any point, frankly, in duplicating that sort of detail of information before a standing committee. As I said, we are prepared to appear before committee and, in a general sense, go through the details of our plans for the future, but to go through the sort of detail that the Member opposite seems to be alluding to, well, I suggest that is properly before the PUB.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Mr. Speaker, does the Public Utilities Board answer questions with regard to the expenditures on generators that are to replace old infrastructure at the Power Corporation? Because, if the answer is yes, then that is who I will start to go to to ask those questions and not the Power Corporation. He knows where I am going with this. It is not about rate increases. It is also the numerous other questions that the public deserves answers on, and they have to sit before us, the public representatives, and answer those questions. No further questions, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. I am not getting where we need to go.
