In regards to homelessness, I do recognize that it is a territorial issue. I have known that for a long time, and the MLA is correct. The majority of people actually who are in our capital city are not from the capital. They are from the communities.
To that effect, I have been providing a lot of support. Not only am I funding the Housing First initiative in Yellowknife, we are doing shelters in four communities coming up. We have a homeless shelter coming into Aklavik, one coming into Behchoko, one coming into Fort Simpson, and the newest one is Fort Good Hope. My goal is, like I said at the beginning of this Assembly, that I would hopefully have a homeless shelter in every region throughout the Northwest Territories, because people do better when they are around their families. Wellness is all about having social supports, and the major part of social supports is not government programs. It is family and community. We need to focus our efforts in putting homes and shelters into the communities so that people all through the Northwest Territories have options, and they can seek out wellness after they have actually been housed. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, obviously, the concern of my constituents living close to the North Slave Correctional facility cannot be understated. These are people with families. These are people who have a right to be concerned about their public safety, and earlier in the week the answers have only created more confusion. I would like the Minister to confirm that the perimeter front's extension has begun, and is ongoing. Thank you.
Minister of Justice.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I informed this House the other day when I was asked a question by the Member opposite, the tender for the perimeter fence project closed on August 29, 2017. I understand that the project is now under construction, and that it will be completed by mid-October. It is on course to be completed, as I say, by October, so the project, which I know has been long awaited by the residents of that area, should be completed within the next couple of weeks. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would like to thank the Minister for offering a new kind of hope, a hope that comes from getting projects done, and making firm commitments in this House. Now, I would like to turn to the other issue of the security improvements. What is the status of them? Does he have any new information for the House today on those projects, which are significant in that the deficiency that they are designed to address resulted in an escape from the facility, an escape that brought an inmate into very close proximity with a residential neighbourhood?
Yes, this of course is an important project. As I mentioned the other day, we did go out for bids for this project, and, unfortunately, the response from the contractors who submitted tenders was way above the money that had been approved for this work. We therefore are looking at a revised approach to secure the yard from which the inmate escaped, and I will certainly keep this House informed as to progress. The original idea was to, in essence, put up a new interior fence. That proved to be much too expensive, so we are looking at other alternatives to secure this area. Hopefully once completed, that will assure the residents of their security, also.
We are hoping again. What are some of the options that are being looked at by the Minister? He is talking about revising a plan. I am of the opinion that there is no cost too great for public safety. If he could tell us what some of the costeffective solutions are that his department is looking at, I am sure my residents would be greatly appreciative of that.
It was thought initially that a completely new fence would be required. We are looking at less complicated and hopefully less expensive alternatives.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When does the Minister anticipate that this work will be done, Mr. Speaker? Will it be done next year, the year after, the year after that? When do we expect the tender to be released, and the work to be done? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
This is an important issue, of course, Mr. Speaker, because we would like to have the inmates to again have access to this portion of the facility. I do not have an exact date to provide to this House when this work will be done, but it is an important project. We are working on it, and I will keep the House informed. Thank you.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier I spoke about Treaties 8 and 11. Most of the Northwest Territories First Nations are descendants of leaders who negotiated Treaties 8 and 11 of 1899 and 1900. Those treaties were built and founded on the ideal of Nation to Nation. As I indicated in my Member's statement, my question is to the Premier. I would appreciate hearing the Premier's perspective on how the GNWT views treaty rights. Mahsi.
Masi. Honourable Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As spelled out in our Respect, Recognition and Responsibility Policy, the Government of the Northwest Territories recognizes that Section 35 of the Constitution Act of 1982 recognizes and affirms the Aboriginal and treaty rights of Aboriginal people. The Government of the Northwest Territories supports the recognition of rights of Indigenous peoples, honouring treaties and claims, and implementation of calls to action of the Truth and Reconciliation Committee.
I should also point out that the Government of the Northwest Territories has signed the Gwich'in and Sahtu Land Claim Agreements, which are recognized as modern treaties by the constitution. The Government of the Northwest Territories is also a full party of the Tlicho Agreement and the Deline Final Self-Government Agreement, which are also modern treaties recognized by the constitution. The Government of the Northwest Territories also recognizes and respects Treaties 8 and 11, the Salt River Treaty Land Entitlement Agreement, and the Inuvialuit Final Agreement.
I believe in 2001, as well, this government signed the Interim Measures Agreement and also the framework agreement that recognizes the role of the GNWT, the federal government, and the Dehcho First Nations in the current negotiations process. How is the GNWT planning to help move the negotiations forward in respect of the Dehcho Process?
I will be speaking to Minister Bennett about the letter received from the grand chief, as well as the letters attached to it from Chief Norwegian of the Jean Marie River First Nations, Chief Bonnetrouge of the Deh Gah Got'ie First Nation, and Chief Cayen of the West Point First Nation. The GNWT and Canada continue to work together on how to advance these negotiations and resolve areas of disagreement for which there is no clarity.
The question I would like to ask is: is the GNWT willing to accept the advice of DFN to engage the services of a mediator at the negotiating table? If not, why not?
The Dehcho Framework Agreement contemplates that, should an impasse be reached at negotiations, any party can request the use of a facilitator. I understand this to mean that the parties could engage a facilitator to assist them with finding a solution to the impasse that each party could support. Should the Dehcho or Canada request the use of a facilitator, the Government of the Northwest Territories would be prepared to engage the use of a facilitator with Canada and the Dehcho First Nations.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my last question is in terms of maybe the idea of a facilitator, but we do also have a joint working group between Cabinet and the Regular side. Of course, on the Regular side, we have a vested interest. We all have a vested interest in ensuring that the negotiations and the parties move forward. However, we have a joint working group. Would the Premier contemplate the idea of perhaps having the Joint Working Group on Aboriginal Affairs have an active role in terms of trying to encourage and support the negotiations process moving forward?
We will be very pleased to adhere to the terms of reference of the joint committee. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister for Infrastructure with regard to safety on Highway No. 4, also known as the Ingraham Trail. Mr. Speaker, in late winter and again in the spring the Minister told the House about ongoing work on the Ingraham Trail. There was some widening that was going to be going on, some chipsealing, potentially installing some new guard rails. I asked specifically about guard rails on the corner where the fatality took place this summer. As we wrap up the construction season here, can the Minister please provide me and residents of the Ingraham Trail with what improvements have been made on the trail this summer? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister for Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We continue to do extensive safety and structural improvements on Highway No. 4. As most Members of this House know, we have invested roughly $2 million per year on ongoing reconstruction of this section of road.
To update Members, this year we have completed road widening, structural strengthening, drainage improvements, resurfacing. Application of chipseal and guard rail installation were needed on kilometre 46 to 49. We have also, like I said, done impressive amounts of chipseal, of overlay, this year from kilometre 7 to 22, along with our ongoing patching of potholes and slumping that occurs. Through our ongoing safety enhancements, the Department of Infrastructure has replaced guard rails on Highway No. 4 at kilometre 33.8, kilometre 37.6, and kilometre 45.5. Planning, including survey design work, is currently under way for installation of guard rails at kilometre 17 and 13.5 for the 2018-2019 season.
Thank you to the Minister for the detailed reply. It's almost as though somebody gave him a head's up.
Didn't work for me.
It works for some. Mr. Speaker, in March, following a number of incidents involving haul trucks with regard to the resupply season to the mines, the Minister mentioned that his department had met or was going to meet with the joint venture operators of the ice road. I just want to know: did the meeting take place? What has come of that? What have we learned about those incidents that took place last year and will we be prepared for safety on the road during the ice road haul this year?
Again, we met with the joint venture group and their insurance providers to complete a discussion around the incidents that happened last year. There were a couple of trucks that went off the road. There were a number of fires that took place. The department does not have an accident investigator, as many of us know in this House, but we do have our guys that go out there and do the dangerous goods checks, secure of cargo on the loads, check the log books, those sorts of things.
I can update the House that we followed up with the joint venture operators who investigated the accidents last season, and we understand this year they will be further improving on a northern driving training improvement safety program. The orientation training is going to be northern-specific and we understand that it will include enhanced video situations.
Thank you to the Minister for his reply. It's good to hear that there will be a number of recommendations coming forward, and hopefully that improves the safety of the ice road winter season dramatically. Much appreciated.
Also, Mr. Speaker, last March the Minister committed to gathering some key stakeholders together along with members of his department to develop a public safety communications plan. Can the Minister advise the Assembly on the progress of this plan and did that gathering of key stakeholders come together?
We are always committed to improving our communications, as I said in this House on a number of occasions, to update residents and tourists in particular on this section of road in the wintertime, which is, as I've mentioned in the House, how the numbers are increasing in the use of this road, winter operators and general public who also use this highway. We will continue to work on our communications plan.
We have our digital signage that's out at the entrance of Highway No. 4; that will be placed there again once the season gets going. We have Twitter. We use radio. We use our website to give the most up-to-the-minute reports on the condition of the road, and we will continue to do that to improve communications with the general public and users of the winter road.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Minister for his reply. I hope that sometime we can get an actual tangible completed communications plan that we can get into our hands.
Lastly, Mr. Speaker, in May I asked about the potential for highway patrol and the RCMP and even the municipal enforcement division from Yellowknife. I asked the Minister if there is a way to improve and enhance patrols and possibly including things like check stops and other ways to enhance public safety. This road is now being used 24 hours a day. It is arguably busier from 8:00 p.m. to 2:00 in the morning than it is during the daytime hours.
Can the Minister report on any progress with regard to this area? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Highway patrol meets and regularly trains with other enforcement agencies. The department participated in a blitz together on a regular basis with these other agencies. In particular, recently we just did a bison awareness check stop both with ENR and the RCMP to check both commercial and public traffic on the highway, and we will continue to look at opportunities to collaborate with all enforcement agencies in the future.
As I said, we will continue to do our inspections on the winter road this coming season around the heavy truck traffic in particular to make sure people are well aware of the conditions of the highway. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Mr. Speaker, just to be clear, I'd like to ask the Minister if the Small Community Employment Support Program budget of $3 million that was added to the $1.2 million now supports all communities except Yellowknife. Thank you.
Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member is right; there is $4.2 million in GNWT funding that aims to expand employment as well as training opportunities across the Northwest Territories.
On April 1, 2017, we did make enhancements to encourage success and look at having the program become more successful than it has in the past, and one of those enhancements was expanding eligibility, and that included the communities that I had mentioned earlier this week. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I'm wondering if the Minister could tell me who was consulted prior to making this decision.
Since the enhancement of the program was in the last budget, we had to look at how we can look at improving the program in many different areas so that we can see success through the Small Community Employment Support Program. It is application-based. We continue to encourage businesses, Aboriginal governments, community organizations, even other governments to work with us to apply on the program so that they can get funding.
Since then, we've also had some consultations in May and June, and those consultations were with Aboriginal governments, communities, leadership, staff, employers, residents, other GNWT departments, Aurora College. We are waiting on that report and look forward to sharing that report with committee. That will help guide and develop small community employment strategy for the next fiscal year.
I'd like to ask the Minister if the department at first intended to deliver the Small Community Employment Support Program to small communities only.
As I said, with the increase of $3 million to this program we didn't see that the $1.2 million previously get fully utilized within the small communities. With the new $3 million that was increased to this funding, my staff has been going out and getting that information out to the communities to allow them to understand that they can apply for this funding.
We're working with businesses, Aboriginal governments, and community groups so that they can actually apply on this program. With the enhancements that were made, we looked at expanding eligibility that included the communities; we looked at increased benefit levels and added flexibility for community employers as well as organizations that wanted to apply on this program. We continue to ask these businesses, organizations, Aboriginal governments to apply on the program and let's get our people working, let's get our people trained in our communities.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Like I said in my Member's statement, this is a major disappointment to watch 10 years of our work go down the drain with one decision.
I'd like to ask the Minister: who made the decision to change the communities that this program was intended for? This program was intended to address the small communities; not the regional centres, the small communities. The regional centres have other ways of getting employment, obviously. Who made the decision to go outside the small communities with the Small Community Employment Support Program? Thank you.
