Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to know what the Minister of Education's plan is to resolve overcrowding in Ecole St. Joseph's School. Thank you
Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think we could have a good discussion about utilization rates here in Yellowknife, where the utilization rates vary from school to school across the community. When we look at our utilization rates, we do assess them by community, and unfortunately here in Yellowknife we do see some schools that have some high utilization rates.
I can let the Member know that there was a review conducted at the schools in May and June with the staff from my department as well as the respective education districts. They walked through the schools, looked at spaces and what the spaces were being used for compared to what they were actually designed for. In some cases, spaces that were originally identified as classroom space were actually repurposed for things such as resource rooms, storage for school supplies, or even staff rooms.
We have a consultant that we did retain to prepare a space analysis and will provide recommendations to address space utilization here in Yellowknife. We are asking that YCS, too, wait until this review is completed so we can identify those capital requirements that will address space concerns and adequacy of schools for Yellowknife district education authorities.
I'd like to thank the Minister for providing that comprehensive explanation of the work that's being done on capacity; however, this school is at 97 per cent. Does the Minister agree that that is an unacceptable situation that needs to be resolved immediately?
Yes, and that's why we've had these discussions. That's why we went and did the review in the schools to make sure that the school space was actually being used for what they were intended to be used for. Yellowknife does have a history of space sharing agreements. For instance, once St. Joseph's students had to be accommodated as a result of a fire at their school; YK1, YCS did enter into a space sharing agreement. It has happened before.
Recently, YK1 and Commission Scolaire shared space with the Ecole William McDonald School while that school is undergoing construction for their addition, so there is history of space sharing agreements here in Yellowknife and I think we can continue to work on addressing that issue. Space sharing is a viable alternative to constructing additional space when space is already available here in Yellowknife.
The Minister indicated a number of emergency situations or temporary accommodations due to construction. I think there is a big difference between those circumstances and circumstances where policy changes have brought more students into the school than the school can contain. Will the Minister look at the possibility of modular classroom facilities and report back to both the House and the school board?
Currently, our utilization rates are a little different from the ones the Member presented. We are still waiting for official enrolment rates at the schools, and we are still working with both district education bodies to try to address this space sharing, the space issues that are arising in Yellowknife schools, so we are continuing to work with them to find a solution.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I suppose this is an ongoing issue with schools in Yellowknife, and I am pleased that the department is trying to lump them out because they are not all the same, and you cannot just take kids from one district and put them in another. You need to work with the school boards. Parents choose to put their kids in those school boards, and those school boards deserve the support, when we put programs like junior kindergarten and inclusive education into these schools. Again, I would like to ask the Minister: can the Minister answer if he has a cost for those modulars, what that cost would be, and if he is willing to pay it? Thank you.
Currently, I do not have those costs for modular in front of me. As I mentioned, we were waiting to see what the space analysis says and what recommendations are coming out of that report, and are prepared to make decisions when we see that report and look at those recommendations. We just ask that YCS, YK1, be patient and continue to work with us to find a solution. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and you only had to ask me once today. Mr. Speaker, in all seriousness, earlier today I spoke about the important matter of us settling our land rights with the Indigenous people of the Northwest Territories. My questions today are for the Premier. Mr. Speaker, every session, I try to make a point of doing a Member's statement and asking oral questions on this matter. I would like to ask the Premier, since last May when he provided this House with the last update, I think it was around the time that the Ministerial special reports came out, has there been progress over the summer? Can the Minister update this House? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Honourable Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Ministerial special representative reports were a very important step in advancing Indigenous rights in the Northwest Territories, and were a key part of our commitment to look at new creative options to advance negotiations on land claims. After the MSR reports were issues, the Government of Canada, Minister Bennett and myself met separately with the Chiefs of the Akaitcho Territory, the presidents of the Northwest Territories Metis nation, and the Dehcho Grand Chief and leaders to review the report and to discuss next steps. In the case of the Akaitcho and the NWT Metis Nation, new offers with a range of options and increased flexibility were tabled within 45 days to both the Akaitcho and the NWT Metis Nation. With regards to the Dehcho, the Dehcho received a letter from Minister Bennett and myself seeking confirmation from the Dehcho First Nations that there is common ground on two fundamental issues that have challenged negotiations for many years. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I appreciate the update that the Premier was able to share with us. I had a different line of questioning, but the Premier has indicated there were a couple of fundamental issues. He was prepared to indicate that here in the House, so I am wondering: can the Premier elaborate a little bit more on what the context of the fundamental issues are, and are these solvable? Can we get past them? Will there be a resolution to the Dehcho's land rights?
There are two fundamental issues. The first fundament issue is whether the Government of the Northwest Territories effectively is a full partner in negotiations towards a Dehcho final agreement. The second fundamental issue is with regards to the Dehcho portion of resource management in the Northwest Territories. Will they be looking at a single integrated Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act, or will they be looking at a standalone system, a resource management that is coordinated with neighbouring regions to the Northwest Territories? Those are the two fundamental issues that we are seeking confirmation of.
Thank you to the Premier for that insight. I think we waited a really long time for these reports. We waited a couple of years to get these reports. We see them as critical tools in advancing the settlement of these land right agreements. I am wondering: can the Premier let us know if, in fact, after all this time, these reports have been helpful at all? Are they going to be the guiding documents to settle these land rights once and for all?
In my view, the MSR reports jump-started the negotiations so that there was increased emphasis on some of these longstanding negotiations. Some of these have been going for over 20 years, and the MSR reports provided an arm's length view of both issues and challenges, and it allowed us to find a way forward to look at overlap issues and also to deal with more increased facilitation that will allow us to move forward in land claims negotiations.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you again to the Premier for his reply. It seems as though the reports are going to be fundamental going forward to find some degree of resolution and solution to these land right agreements. I just want to put it to the Premier one more time: does he still feel confident that one, two, or all of these land right agreements can be completed in the life of this Assembly? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Yes, we are working very hard towards those objectives, and negotiations continue with the Northwest Territories Metis Nation and the Akaitcho on the recent proposals. We are very optimistic that the new offers that Canada and the Government of the Northwest Territories put on the table with their built-in flexibility and the ability of the Indigenous governments to tailor their agreement to their priorities, I believe will give us the impetus to make some real progress. I am also happy to report that we recently received correspondence from the Dehcho First Nations government. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister of Infrastructure, who is also responsible for the Arctic Energy Alliance. As I said in my statement, when program funds run out before the end of the first quarter, we obviously have a good program that needs to be better resourced.
As Regular MLAs, we had requested during the last budget more money for the alliance. Now that our prediction of inadequate funds has come true, can the Minister re-profile funds so the alliance can approve the applicants on its waiting list and publicize the availability of programs to those who did not bother to apply? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Arctic Energy Alliance is a great organization that is helping us particularly move forward now with the mandate of this Assembly around energy conservation. Regarding the programs that the Member is talking about, we give $100,000 a year to the Arctic Energy Technology Program as well as $120,000 a year to the Commercial Technologies Conversation and Efficiency Program. The Member is talking about the uptake on this program. I believe it is a very successful program, but there are things in place to help address some of these things.
Presently, if a program is oversubscribed this early on, the department or another department or the Arctic Energy Alliance will do a review process, usually quarterly, on where certain projects are, and if someone who is going to be a recipient of these funds is not able to use this money in this fiscal year, that money will be re-profiled back into the program and the next person on the waiting list will have an opportunity to access that money.
As well, I believe in the second and third quarters of the fiscal year, the Arctic Energy Alliance does a review on fiscally where they are at and which programs are not being overspent. These monies can be reallocated within that fiscal year to help address some of these things. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thanks to the Minister for that response. Good to hear that the Arctic Energy Alliance can actually re-profile money within their own envelope, but we have actually seen a reduction in their funding over the last few years because there was extra money made available as part of the deal to subsidize hydro low-water levels. Can the Minister, though, commit to bring back a substantially increased budget for the Arctic Energy Alliance in 2018-2019 so that we can continue with and build on the success of their programs?
Going forward, the one thing I am going to be able to commit to is that we are engaged with the federal government, as I said in my Minister's statement today, on the low carbon economy leadership fund. This is a fund that we believe can be used to help top up the Arctic Energy Alliance, and we believe it could actually even be in the million-dollar range to help support these programs moving forward. We will continue to update Members as we get more criteria and results from the federal government on where that is going.
That is a great figure from the Minister. That is exactly what the Regular MLAs asked for in the last budget, but you did not top it up. Glad to hear that there might be more available from the federal government, but as the feds come in, we want to make sure that we do not use that as an excuse to start to withdraw our funding. Will the Minister commit to at least maintaining our funding level for the Arctic Energy Alliance as new federal funding might become available?
Going forward, I do not see us backing off on the commitment that we already give the Arctic Energy Alliance. We give them roughly $2.7 million a year, and 95 per cent of that comes from the territorial government. We believe this low carbon fund will help us meet our energy strategy going forward. Particularly, there is 15 per cent in the strategy that we want to use towards energy efficiency on buildings across the Northwest Territories, and 40 per cent for renewable energy sources for space heating by 2030. We need these types of resources to help accomplish this in our energy strategy moving forward.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. Thanks very much to the Minister. I am very glad to get that commitment that, if the feds start coming in, we are not going to start clawing back money out of the Arctic Energy Alliance.
I am just wondering if the Minister can tell us what sort of program review or evaluation cycle is in place for the Arctic Energy Alliance overall. When could we expect that sort of evaluation to take place so that they can start to offer more programs and services? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Yes, the Government of Northwest Territories is in the process of reviewing Arctic Energy Alliance programs and services to ensure programs represent the best value for money on these programs and meet the goals that we want to achieve, particularly around our energy strategy moving forward. I can update the Member, as of right now, I think that we are in the process of awarding an RFP for that work, and it should be getting under way by next month. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in recent weeks in Tsiigehtchic, Tsiigehtchic has had an unusual number of wild animals coming into the community. Can the Minister comment on how current renewable resource officers address this situation? Thank you.
Masi. Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, currently, we have two wildlife officers from Inuvik in the community with a live bear trap trying to trap the bear that has been wandering around there. As well, we have another wildlife officer from Fort McPherson, I believe, who is going to be stationed in the community for a couple of nights. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, that is great to hear. When communities without their own renewable resource officers need the department's assistance on a wildlife call, especially when it happens outside working hours, what should residents do?
Mr. Speaker, my understanding is pretty well all the communities in the Northwest Territories do have wildlife officers, but in the cases of where they are not available or there is nobody there, they have an emergency wildlife line that they can call. If that number is not readily available in Tsiigehtchic or posted where a lot of residents can see it, then I will ask the department to ensure that the numbers are posted where residents of Tsiigehtchic are able to see it.
Mr. Speaker, roughly when can we expect to see the new officer position filled and a new officer taking up their work in the community?
Mr. Speaker, my understanding is the new officer for the community of Tsiigehtchic is going to be starting by the end of October.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in past cases like we have in Tsiigehtchic, ENR let hunters take down problem bears in emergency situations. Would it be all right if hunters helped out with the emergency situation, in a safe manner, of course? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, public safety and the safety of the community is our first concern. If the community feels that there is a problem bear or one that is a threat to the community, they are able to take it down. As the Member said, it would have to be done in a safe manner. We would like to have our wildlife officers do it, but if they are not available and there is a threat, then they would be able to take the bear down. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
