I do not think this is a disappointment, or the hard work from the rural and remote communities are going down the drain. Actually, it is an enhancement. We have $3 million added to the fund to top it up to $4.2 million. We made enhancements to the Small Community Fund. Like I said, program eligibility, you get more people who can apply on the program, increased benefit levels as well as flexibility for community employers and organizations. At no way do I think this is a disappointment. I think this is something that we should be excited about and promoting. It is focusing on employment, and it is focusing on training opportunities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I see progress being made in the area of several strategies, including the one that I mentioned in my Member's statement, and my question today is for the Minister of ENR. Executing this strategic climate framework is paramount to our contribution efforts. What more regional consultation is under way, if any, on this strategy? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We had initial input and an initial round of consultations on the Climate Change Strategic Framework. We are putting a "what we heard" document together, and our intention is that it will be released for external review and more feedback and comment in October. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thanks for the answer, Mr. Minister. On the issue of traditional knowledge, traditional knowledge can make a contribution effort to research development and the research institution. Is it the plans of the department or the strategy to set up a research centre in the Northwest Territories?
The Member is correct. Traditional knowledge plays a large part in some of the work that we are doing, and I think we see that all across the Northwest Territories in the Mackenzie Delta, and you have just seen in the news in the last few days, some of the slides that they are having on the river just down from Inuvik. As far as opening a research centre, if the federal government is willing to put a lot of the money into it, and we can put some contribution towards it, we would be glad to look at a research centre.
I recall years ago going to school in Grollier Hall in Inuvik, and there was a research centre there. The building is still standing there. I guess it is the beginning of what could be a future research institution contributing to research such as permafrost and the effects of climate change, as we see so much of these days. Even the animals that are around in the North have not been around here 10 or 15 years ago. Is it the department's initiative to seek funding from the federal government to set up this institution in Inuvik?
The Member is absolutely correct. There is a research centre in Inuvik. The old one that the Member recalls seeing back in the days when he was going to school in Inuvik, that one is gone now, and we have replaced it with a brand new research centre. We are taking advantage of all the opportunities that are available to do polar research around the world, and that is one of the reasons we are quite excited about the Mackenzie Valley Fibre Link and the opportunities that might bring to continue to do more research.
In speaking with the members of the industry, and they talk about the benefits of the location of Inuvik, they are able to gain a lot more information off the satellites. We have done a lot of work to enhance programs that we have up in Inuvik, and as we improve their telecommunications and everything else we are looking forward to the opportunity for more work up in Inuvik.
Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am just trying to reveal the hidden election platform of the Minister, considering that it is community, and their satellite to support the institution of this building. As the Minister said earlier, the fibre optic line will increase the technology and database of transmission in the area of communication. Ideally, it just makes sense that this research centre be set up and established in Inuvik. My question is: is there a time frame related to this incorporation of this building? Thank you.
The building has been completed for a couple of years now, and we are starting to see more and more researchers with the climate change making their way up to the Beau-Del. We would like to see this as a beginning of the University of the North, and we are better to have it than in an area where you have a lot of everything as far as scientific research and that goes. I think the term I heard was that Inuvik was geographically gifted for this type of work, and we hope we continue to build on that and see this program expand to where it may become a University of the North in the North. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to continue my questions for the Minister of Education on the Small Community Employment program. Mr. Speaker, I said that this was disappointing, and the Minister said it was not disappointing, but I think I would know if I was disappointed. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister, considering that he was not in the room when we were negotiating $3 million, if he consulted with anyone. I am wondering if he even consulted with the Minister of Finance before making this decision. Thank you.
Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and yes, we do go through a budgeting process with O and M, and some decisions are made when moving forward on where we implement our dollars, and this was part of those discussions. Thank you.
I am going to try for the third time here: did the Minister consult with someone else before he made the decision to take this money and put it outside the small communities? This was clearly a small community fund. This was clearly for small communities. This is clearly understood by this side of the House, that this was for small communities. Did the Minister consult with anyone else on his side of the House before making a decision to move this money out of small communities into the regional centres?
Yes, there were policy decisions made at the departments that we supported to focus on the success of this program. As I mentioned yesterday in the House, we also have communities that are hurting economically, and we want to make sure that we continue to support all residents across the Northwest Territories. We looked at some of the communities that were ineligible before that we thought we could bring into the eligibility list, and those are the communities that I mentioned in previous answers to the questions.
This program was not to prevent communities from being hurt by economic downturns. It was to change the employment rates in the small communities because they are much lower than anywhere else in the NWT. That program was put in place so it could address the issue of low employment rates in small communities. I said in my Member's statement, they are clearly way below regional centres, and way below Yellowknife. I am asking the question: did the Minister make this decision unilaterally to take the money out of the small communities to try to address the economic downtown in other communities in the NWT?
I just want to mention again that, previous to the enhancement of the $3 million into the program, it was at $1.2 million previously and was not being fully utilized. With the increase of that $3 million, my staff is working with the communities to try to promote that program so we can see more success. We are six months into the program with the new funding. I encourage the communities, and even the small communities and the communities that are now eligible, to work on getting applications in to get the employment, as well as to get the training that they need so that they can become part of the workforce. I encourage businesses, Aboriginal governments, as well as other governments to put their applications in. We want this program to succeed.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this program is not for what the Minister thinks it is for. We know. We negotiated this. We know exactly why we negotiated this. We negotiated this money, $3 million, and we asked for a lot more than that. We dealt with the Minister of Finance, and we negotiated this money to address the low employment rates in small communities.
I have asked the Minister now 16 questions. I am trying to find out what happened. How did this shift occur? All the Minister is telling me is that there is an economic downturn, we are trying to help this; this is very clear. We are trying to address low employment rates in the small communities. Why did the Minister make the decision to take money out of small communities to try to address something else that was not what the money was intended for? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Yes, the focus on the Small Community Employment Support Program is around employment and training development. We know what it is for, and that is why we worked with committee and Members to enhance that program. We want to see success in this program. That is why we made some enhancements. I will go back to the department and get some more clarity for the Member on some of these policy decisions that were made, and I will get back to the Member on that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, because it has been a while, I have some questions for the Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation. Mr. Speaker, in my last line of questioning to the Minister, I revisited the matter with regard to the generators that are being built out of California. The Minister indicated that we are still unsure whether we are getting them or potentially pursuing some legal action. Can the Minister today report in the House any more clarity? Are we in fact going to be receiving these generators at some point in time, or is that dead and gone and are we pursuing legal action? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don't have any new news with respect to this matter. Of course, as I did mention in the House previously, we are hoping we will get at least some of these generators. There is also always the possibility, I suppose, of litigation in California, but that may not lead to any great success because you are probably going to be dealing, should it come to that, with issues surrounding creditors' rights and so on. I will certainly give this House an update as soon as I have heard anything further. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I think we need to ask ourselves: when are we going to actually cut this loose? When are we going to stop costing ratepayers and taxpayers more and more money every day on this particular boondoggle that has obviously gone off the rails? What are the next steps? Can the Minister tell us what the next steps are going to be? We have to make a decision. Maybe we have to get another RFP out and start getting generators built and get them here soon. We are using backup generators in the meantime that are costing us daily. Can the Minister tell us when we are going to draw the line and put out an RFP and get some new generators built?
As this House knows, we have invested a considerable amount of money in this project. We do not want to cut that loose unless there appears to be no hope at all of getting these generators. If, however, it does come to that, we will have to go out for an RFP because we do need these generators.
My final question is: we have been incurring costs daily, notwithstanding the costs that we are potentially losing as it relates to the deposit that we put down on these generators and the generators themselves that we may never see. We have got a lot of equipment that is in place that is being used as backup equipment in the meantime. The last number that the Minister shared with us, I think back in March, was somewhere in the neighbourhood of about $500,000 at that point. I am afraid to ask what that number is today, but I would like to know: who is going to be paying for that, then? If this generator contract goes off the rails, who will be paying for those costs that have been incurred today that that proponent, Virdi Power, was supposed to pay?
Clearly, Virdi Power would be responsible for these costs if they have breached the contract. However, realistically speaking, it may be that that is not a likely option to recover our money. It may be, unfortunately, that, should we not receive the generators, we may simply have to write off this money.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following two documents entitled "Tabled Document 456-18(2), NWT Oil and Gas Annual Report 2016" and "Tabled Document 457-18(2), Northwest Territories Geological Survey Strategic Plan 2017-2022." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Tabling of documents. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to table the report "Everyone is Home – Yellowknife's 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness." Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
I will now call Committee of the Whole to order. What is the wish of committee? Mr. Beaulieu.
Marsi cho, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, committee would like to consider Tabled Document 416-18(2), Capital Estimates, 2018-2019, concluding the Department of Health and Social Services and going on to the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation, the Department of Finance, and the Department of Justice.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. We will consider the tabled document after a brief recess.
SHORT RECESS
I will now call Committee of the Whole back to order. We have agreed to continue our consideration of the Department of Health and Social Services in the Capital Estimates, 2018-2019. I will invite the Minister to invite any witnesses he has into the Chamber. Minister Abernethy, would you like to invite witnesses into the Chamber?
Yes, please.
Thank you, Minister. Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the witnesses into the Chamber. Minister, please introduce your witnesses to the House.
