Masi. Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, harvest from licensed resident hunters is estimated from an annual survey. Results are sorted into three large areas: Fort Smith, Yellowknife, and Inuvik, for the whole of the NWT. For the 2015-2016 hunting season, I can inform this House that 182 moose were harvested by residents of the NWT. An additional 76 bulls were harvested by licensed non-resident hunters through outfitted and guided hunts in the Mackenzie Mountains that help bring money into our communities. The moose harvest by general hunting licence holders or people exercising an Aboriginal harvesting right within their traditional area is not tracked, or if it is by an Aboriginal government, it is not shared with the department. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mahsi cho to the Minister for that answer. As I previously stated, there has been a number of cows being taken. This is a huge concern for the community and elders alike. We all know that taking a cow has a huge impact on our moose population. Mr. Speaker, will the Minister have his department look into doing a five-year ban on hunting cow moose to help increase the moose population?
Regular moose surveys in the Deh Cho region have shown a fairly stable trend and no evidence of any decline in the Mackenzie Valley. There was a community meeting in Fort Liard at the beginning of the month, and we actually heard that moose numbers in the Liard area have improved recently. Also, some of the other Deh Cho communities have not raised concerns over the moose population. I can inform the House that the next moose survey in the Deh Cho region is planned for November 2017 and February 2018, after which we will assess the population trend.
I appreciate the answer from the Minister. I guess we are talking to different people, because when I was back home, they were saying there was a huge decline in my area and a number of communities. Fort Liard Road was one of the places where people were taking moose from outside the region.
Mr. Speaker, in the past, there has been a ban from allowing hunters from hunting from the side of the road. It is my understanding from the residents this may have been stopped. Can the Minister advise if the department has revised their policy and regulations to stop hunting from the side of the road?
Specific regulations to ban hunting from the side of the road may not be needed. The Wildlife Act already has provisions to ensure dangerous harvesting practices are not occurring, specifically, no person shall discharge firearm, bow and arrow, or anything that pass along and travel portions of highway while hunting of wildlife.
Also, no person can harvest wildlife without due regard for the safety of others, and that is just common sense as well for property. This applies to all licenced hunters in the GNWT as well as harvesters with Aboriginal harvest right within their recreational area. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the answer from the Minister. I guess there are some concerns from the residents of my area. People are hunting from the road and there is a safety concern out there, so I greatly appreciate the answer and understand the rules, but we need to find out how we can enforce it. Is the Minister willing to come to my riding to do a regional tour to meet with the residents to hear about their concerns and other issues they have with ENR first hand? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would be pleased to accompany the Member on a tour of his riding and hear from the folks in his riding. I will also give the invitations out to all the Members opposite that, if there is an opportunity for you to go to their riding and explain some of the work that we are doing within ENR, I would be pleased to do so. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation. In the summer of 2016, her department awarded a contract of Concept Energy Services in Hay River to construct 19 modular duplexes to communities throughout the NWT. How many of those duplexes have been completed and how many have been shipped to their destinations? Mahsi.
Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, what we have is eight of the 19 buildings are now partially completed. We have three that are in Ulukhaktok, one in Inuvik destined for Fort McPherson, and four are now under construction in Concept's Hay River facility. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Unfortunately, the contract is not publicly available, or at least I can't find it. Can the Minister tell me whether the completion rate, that is an eight out of 19, and the partial completion meet the terms of the contract with Concept Energy Services?
No, the original contract completion dates were between March and June 2017. There were some delays that have been happening, so at this point they have not met the completion date.
What action is the Minister taking to either revoke the contract with Concept Energy Services or work with Concept Energy Services to have the terms and conditions met?
At this point, the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation is exploring all of the options that are available to us to ensure that all of the houses actually meet their needs within the communities. Our number one priority is to ensure that homes are in communities. That is why some of the units actually were pulled into Ulukhaktok and like I say, partially completed as the Honourable Member pointed out, because we were conscious that they needed to meet the barge. So we are working diligently. Our number one focus is to make sure that we have houses in communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would be interested to know whether the Minister can make the contract available so that we on this side can see what the terms and conditions are. In addition, I wonder if she could tell us whether these units were paid for in advance or whether they are going to be paid for when they are complete. What is the situation with the money? Thank you.
I believe those were two questions, but I will answer them. I do apologize. I had said that the contracts would be available on the procurement website and for some reason, I have learned that there is some issue with not getting them on there. If the Member would like, I will be able to provide her with a manual copy of the contract. I will commit to doing that.
As for the money, some money was provided up front to help. It is not a normal practice, but it was provided up front to support the manufacturing strategy and recognizing that this is a new strategy that we are trying. To date, though, there is no upfront money. The money has been recouped for the work done, so there is no money that is with Concept at this point that is owing to the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation. We will not make any further payments until the products are complete or near completion. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier, I spoke about safety concerns about highway crossings in Hay River that were brought to my attention. One issue was about how bright, or rather dim, the lights are at the crosswalk by the Red Rooster. I would like to ask the Minister of Infrastructure if we can upgrade those lights so that they are brighter and more noticeable similar to the ones at the new health centre crossing. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, there is a difference between the two lightings at the two crossings in Hay River. The one that we just put up at the Hay River Hospital has the latest technology that has been introduced right across the country. Moving forward, the department has a program that we are going to install the latest version within this fiscal year at this crossing at the Red Rooster. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
That is good news. My constituents will be happy to hear that. I would like the Minister to confirm that this upgrade is only to the electrical portions of the crosswalk, just to the lighting. I know that yesterday we discussed the Frank Channel Bridge has been delayed because Industry said that it would rather -- they want to bring wide loads through and high loads through. I know the new crosswalk in Hay River, the arms on it don't swivel so there is a limit to the loads it can go under. I want to make sure that we are going to keep the swivelling arms on this crosswalk and just upgrade to electrical. Is that correct, Mr. Speaker?
This is correct. We are going to be installing the new flashing beacons that are the LED ones similar to the or exactly the same as the ones at the hospital, but we will also be changing the panels that house those lights.
I also discussed the unofficial highway crossing at Poplar Road. Has the department considered installing some type of crossing lights here, or even signs warning motorists that there are pedestrians on this highway? Has that been looked into at all?
When we consider new crosswalks anywhere in the communities, or in particular on the highway system, there are a number of factors that are involved. We have to figure in the projected traffic flows, the type of traffic, the volume of traffic, the width of the highway, the speed limit, all these sorts of things, but we also sit down with the community and talk to the RCMP about these types of things. I can commit to having the department have a conversation with the Town of Hay River and the RCMP for consideration.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is good to hear, that the Minister is going to sit down and have that conversation. I will just ask: would the Minister keep me informed of this so I can keep Nicholas informed of the progress we are making? Thank you.
Yes, I will keep the Member informed as this progresses. Just as a note, if there is a consideration of doing something, adding a crosswalk to a highway system in the Northwest Territories, the cost is approximately $40,000 and takes 12 weeks to complete. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister of Environment and his leadership role for our climate change efforts. In my statement, I summarized the findings of the audit released yesterday that clearly shows our failures as a government to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Our GHG strategies fail to reduce emissions. We did not provide information to allow others to take action on climate change and we have serious long-standing deficiencies affecting ENR leadership on climate change have not been addressed.
For the Minister, and I would like some specifics if he can because I certainly gave him a heads up before today or the question session today, what lessons have been learned from this audit and how are we applying them to the upcoming Climate Change Strategic Framework? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The first thing I want to do is assure the people of the Northwest Territories that the sky is not falling down and we will still continue to have clean climate and we are taking steps to address that. ENR staff have worked very closely with the Office of the Auditor General over the last year. During the time that the Climate Change Strategic Framework was already under development and the input received during the audit is being incorporated and addressed in the address CCSF, the Climate Change Strategic Framework. The Auditor General's Office can only assess work that is being completed, so they were unable to take into account the work that was already under way by ENR to address leadership, sharing information, reporting on results through the development of the Climate Change Strategic Framework. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thanks to the Minister for that. I am no Chicken Little, and it is not my leadership that is being questioned by the Auditor General here on climate change. It is this government's. ENR and Infrastructure undertook joint public engagement on the development of an energy strategy in Climate Change Strategic Framework.
That work was done months ago and a draft energy strategy is now out for further public consultation. There has been no public recording on the status of the Climate Change Framework until earlier today. Why is the Climate Change Strategic Framework lagging so far behind the energy strategy? I would like to get a response from the Minister on that.
The Climate Change Strategic Framework is not significantly lagging behind the energy strategy work. The CCSF, and I will use by its initials, is currently going through an internal approval process. I can inform this House and people who are listening that we did get Cabinet approval this morning to go to the next stage so that it will be released now to Aboriginal government stakeholders and the public for review and comment.
The energy strategy is currently out for public review, which is a stage that the Climate Change Strategic Framework will be going through approval for. The Climate Change Strategic Framework is also being developed based on the key elements of the Pan Canadian Framework on clean growth and climate change, which was developed over the last couple of years.
Our release for external review was slightly behind the energy strategy, which is correct, so our mission targets within the 2030 Energy Strategy and key elements from the Pan Canadian Framework will be reflected in the Climate Change Strategic Framework as well as recommendations from the Auditor General's Office.
Thanks to the Minister for that, and I look forward to getting the document shortly. The Minister did talk about how GNWT signed onto the Pan Canadian Framework on Climate Change, and that happened in December of last year. That agreement sets a crystal clear target for greenhouse gas reductions of 30 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030. This is a very important target and commitment that we will need to adhere to, otherwise we cannot reasonably expect to get any federal funding assistance.
I would like to get a very clear confirmation from the Minister that this target in the Pan Canadian Framework, the 30 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, is that going to be explicitly set out in the Climate Change Strategic Framework with a plan of action to achieve that target?
Yes, the overall target for NWT greenhouse gas emissions is a reduction of 30 per cent at the 2005 levels as per the Pan Canadian Framework. We are working with the federal government. They have made opportunities for investment into help us mitigate and adapt to some of the challenges that we are facing, which will in turn help us reach the 30 per cent by 2030.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that very clear commitment. One more question for him, if I may, Mr. Speaker: the audit shows that there is often a flurry of activity around the adoption of a greenhouse gas strategy and then efforts to monitor and report quickly wane. We know that, if we don't get our act together, we may be ineligible for federal program funding. How does the ENR Minister intend to ensure that climate change becomes a real priority for this government with the attention and leadership it clearly requires and as called for by the Auditor General? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
I believe there has been leadership shown by territorial government, past and present, on the work in climate change. We recognize and we are at the front line of climate change so we are feeling the effects a lot quicker than people across the country. In having said that, I think this government has invested a lot of money into some mitigation and adaptation measures. We will continue to work with the federal government. They have made it known that climate change is also a priority of theirs. They are willing to put some money into the mitigation of the effects of climate change. I think we are in, through all of the good work that has gone on from the departments, I think we have positioned ourselves very good to take advantage of some of the investments that the federal government. We will just continue to push that. Debates like we are having in the House today will also strengthen our case as we go forward to the federal government. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, a follow-up to my Member's Statement. I have questions for the Minister responsible for Housing. Mr. Speaker, I believe some constituents may be listening in right now. Can the Minister explain the working relationship between the Housing Corporation and the local housing organizations? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Currently, the relationship between the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation and the local housing organizations is as a third party entity in that we contract out our services to provide supports on the ground for the housing units that are built in their communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
