I'll have the territorial authority work with our partners to explore all options.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, if there are no vehicles available, will the Minister look at possibly renting a vehicle until we could get one for the community? As you can tell, there is a huge need in the community.
Elders have trouble getting around the community, and it is a big help when CHRs and home support workers help the elders get to where they need to go with their groceries and prescriptions and so on. Thank you, Mr. Speaker
Our home support workers and our CHRs do incredibly important work, and we certainly do not want them to experience any liability issues from using their own vehicles. If they need a vehicle to provide those valuable services that they are providing in the community, we will find a solution. It may not include the rental of a vehicle. That might prove a little bit beyond our capacity, but we will explore all options, Mr. Speaker, and we will find a solution for the community and our valuable staff. Thank you.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I was happy to hear today from the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment with regard to his statement about unlocking our potential. It is really good to see that the exploration industry is having some positive upward trending numbers and some good uptake that we have not seen in a number of years.
However, with that comes concerns, and industry has shared with this government in this past some of its concerns. We listened to a number of them down at roundup last year, where they shared a list of concerns with us; Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act issues, carbon tax issues, capacity issues. I am wondering: can the Minister let us know if there has been some strong ongoing communication with industry, and have we been addressing industry's concerns? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member is quite correct. There is an uptick in interest in the Northwest Territories, on the mineral resource side in particular. In the past year, since I have had this portfolio, I have had conversations with a number of proponents interested and existing ones that are here in the Northwest Territories. They have sent me numerous letters about carbon tax and the sorts of things and infrastructure needs that we need to address in this territory to make it viable.
They are quite happy that we are moving forward with our Mineral Resources Act. That is one piece of the legislation that we need to address as a territory through devolution, and we want to have a predictable northern design regulatory process to be able to address these concerns moving forward to make a viable industry. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you to the Minister for his reply. The Minister touched on the development of the Mineral Resources Act. We know currently, Mr. Speaker, that the territorial government, when it comes to resource management, is guided by the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act.
It is something I understand that we are going to be inheriting as part of devolution come 2019. Can the Minister maybe shed a little bit more light on what the MVRMA and the new Mineral Resources Act will do for mineral resource management? Will they work in tandem? Will they be still used separately, or is our new act going to force the other one out? Can we get some explanation with regard to that?
As I have said, through devolution, a number of pieces of legislation that are coming forward actually impact the mineral resources. It is not just the Mineral Resources Act. There is the Mackenzie Valley Resource Act. There is the Lands and Water Act, carbon price, and all of these sorts of things. All of these have to work in sync together to make sure they are not conflicting with each other.
The challenge, I guess, around the Mackenzie Valley Resource Act is it is still under federal legislation. I believe the Premier has had conversations with the Prime Minister about bringing that within our portfolio, and those discussions are ongoing.
The problem with that is the Tlicho Government filed a claim against the federal government when they proposed to get ready of the Wek'eezhii Land and Water Board, and they are still in negotiations on how they were going to settle that.
The Minister indicated that there is the likelihood that we will still have the MVRMA as a component of our regulatory process. Industry has indicated in the past to this government and to the federal government for a long time a number of concerns that they have with regard to the MVRMA, a dozen or more. A few of them are very high-priority, and if this is something that we are going to inherit, is our government working with the federal government right now to address these concerns? I am sure our government is very familiar with them. Are they working with the federal government right now to address these concerns before we inherit this act?
The Member is correct. There are a number of concerns on this act moving forward, including the one I mentioned with the Tlicho Government. The Premier has asked the federal government to turn that legislation over to us so we can deal with it in our own manner for our own territory for our people, and those discussions are ongoing moving forward.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will just ask simply if the Minister has any timeline in which we can expect taking inheritance of that act. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
A five-year review was put on that, and the Premier has asked the federal government to try to advance that. That is where that is at right now presently. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Marci cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources questions about species at risk, the caribou. My first question is: what actions will be taken for the species at risk, and will those actions impact Indigenous hunters? Thank you.
Masi. Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, with the species at risk, the caribou, there is a committee called the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, and they make recommendations on species at risk. We work with them to try to come up with a territorial plan as to how we can implement that or what steps we need to take to have the protection of the caribou.
There will be some impact on Aboriginal hunters or Indigenous harvesters, but we have actually just gone through a plan that we are bringing to Cabinet in the next Cabinet meeting, and then I will share that with the Regular Members. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I was wondering if the Minister could advise the House if the Department of Environment and Natural Resources has a regular working relationship with the specific federal department that is responsible for species at risk.
In addition to the committee that I mentioned before, we do have a Species at Risk Committee within the Government of Northwest Territories, and we are close to them. If the federal committee decides that a species is at risk, then our Species at Risk Committee would have to determine how we would come up with a plan to protect the species that have been identified. I believe we have a representative who is on the federal committee, too, but I will confirm that and let the Member know.
I wanted to ask if the federal government did consult with ENR on species at risk, but I guess my question would now be: does the GNWT or ENR have equal say in whether or not they are going to place a species-at-risk designation on the various species in the NWT, specifically caribou in this case?
We try to work with the federal government, but, ultimately, the federal government will decide if a species is at risk, and then we will work with them plus our Aboriginal governments across the Northwest Territories to see how best we can mitigate the effects on the species that have been identified.
Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am trying to get into more of the traditional knowledge, so I want to ask the Minister: while considering which species to be put on this designation, do the Aboriginal governments or Indigenous governments in the NWT have equal say as to the actions that are going to be taken by this group or by the federal government or by a group between the Minister's department and the federal department? Thank you.
We rely a lot on traditional knowledge, and I can assure the Members of this House that there is extensive consultation with the Aboriginal governments. On the caribou, for example, we had sent out a number of requests. We got, I think, 147 responses back through various stakeholders, including the Aboriginal governments, so there is an opportunity there for them to have their input as we put our plan together as to how we are going to mitigate the fact that the federal government determines the species at risk. We work closely with the Aboriginal governments.
I have to give a shout-out to many of the Aboriginal governments. A lot of them recognize that caribou are in low numbers. They have shown some leadership and determined that there was going to be no harvesting from within their own organization until we come up with a plan, so a shout-out to some of the Aboriginal governments that have shown some leadership. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I welcome the Minister's statement about the next steps in the foundational review, but I also have some concerns. When the standing committee wrote to the Minister at the end of August, what we said was that we were concerned about the project's strict timeline because the contract, at that point, had not been awarded, so I am wondering how that became advice to delay the project. Thank you.
Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There was a delay in the contract, but we want to make sure that we do this review the best way we can for the residents of the Northwest Territories so that they have access to the best education possible. It is the responsibility of this government. Our next steps outlining will help us create a long-term solution for post-secondary education in the Northwest Territories.
I did not hear the Minister answer my question. I want to be very clear that the committee did not ask for a delay in the foundational review. We realize that the stakes are very high for the students whose programs have been put on hold pending the outcome of this exercise. What, in fact, will the impact of this delay be on them?
As I mentioned, we want to make sure we do this review right and that we get the best possible report moving forward to provide the best education for the residents of the Northwest Territories. We appreciate committee's input into this.
I am not sure that the students in the social work and teacher education programs are going to find that response very helpful. They were told that their program would be on hold for a year while this took place. Clearly now it is going to be more like two years. What is the Minister going to tell the students and the staff in those affected programs about the future of their program?
When decisions were made about the two programs, we mentioned that our social work and TEP program students are still going to continue to get the support from our department and get the support, also, from the Aurora College staff to help them on their path to a career and a future education.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am not sure that the original announcement cancelling these programs and then later suspending these programs really prepares students and staff for what has become a very long and arduous process.
It is not clear to me, and I would like to ask why this delay happened in the first place. The Minister announced the foundational review in March. The contract was not awarded until September. Why did it take that long? Thank you.
Anyone knows that, when you are going through a procurement or a contract, it does take time. This is the same thing. We want to make sure we do it right, and we want to make sure that our students have the best opportunity for the best services and programs in post-secondary education, and we are committed to that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following two documents entitled "Assessment of Aurora College, Cleveland Consulting, March 2013" and "Letter from Standing Committee on Social Development to Minister of Education, Culture and Employment regarding Aurora College Foundational Review Terms of Reference dated August 28, 2017."
Masi. Tabling of documents. Minister of Finance.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following three documents entitled "Northern Employee Benefits Services (NEBS) Pension Plan Annual Report for the Year Ended December 31, 2016," "2016-2017 63rd Annual Report of the Northwest Territories Liquor Commission," and "Northwest Territories Liquor Licensing Board 63rd Annual Report 2016-2017."
Masi. Tabling of documents. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
