At the moment, LHOs have to take leave without pay during the Christmas holidays. Does the Minister feel that this is fair?
I just want to remind the Regular Member that, before I came into politics, I came from the non-profit sector, which didn't get paid for holidays as well based on if it is fair or not. The reality is that that is not our determination. We fund each local housing organization at a comparable rate to Government of the Northwest Territories levels. Each local housing organization has the ability to define their pay and their benefits and their compensations to their employees themselves. Those wages and benefits are determined by their board of directors. Some of the local housing organizations, 12 actually, are actually unionized. That, again, is not a requirement. That is an independent decision.
In conclusion, we fund them appropriate to the government's wages that are paid to government employees, and then the board of directors for each individual housing organization defines what they are going to do with that funding.
I would like to ask the Minister: will the Minister ensure employees of the local housing authorities have the same benefits, for example, Donny Days?
It is a really fine line that that Member is asking me to consider, in all honesty, because I do believe in self-determination, and I think that allowing the local housing organizations to have autonomy and determination of how they use their funding is best practice, in my opinion.
I can commit that I would recommend we meet with the local housing organizations on an annual basis. I can bring this up as a topic of discussion, but at this point, no, I am not willing to instruct local housing organizations on what to do with their compensation, the funding that we provide them for administrating their programs.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think there is a little communication gap between what the Minister is saying and the LHOs, because, according to the LHOs that I have been speaking to, they are sort of directed through their budgeting that they cannot take leave with pay. I would just like to ensure that, if the Minister is correct, that she relays that information to myself so that I could pass than on to my LHOs. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
If the MLA sends me an e-mail, I will actually address that to him and more to define exactly what he is looking for. Again, I must state that there are 12 of the 23 local housing organizations that are actually unionized, which in my impression is that it is really hard to tell unionized workers what to do because they are unionized. That does not itself state that they have autonomy over what they do with their funding, and like I say, each one is funded fairly. They are paid based on what we would pay government workers. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources. In my statement earlier today, I spoke of the need to make sure that we are ready to take advantage of the opportunities that might be before us as it relates to the Giant Mine Remediation Project. We, of course, want to see some opportunity for local business and local employment, and since ENR is the GNWT's lead on the Giant Mine Remediation Project, can the Minister outline what opportunities will be available under the final remediation plan when we go forward? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The priority of the Giant Mine Project is to maximize possible economic opportunities to Indigenous, northern, and local residents and businesses. The contracts for the main construction manager for Giant Mine will be awarded, my understanding is, by the end of December of this year. The purpose of the main construction manager would be to develop and procure subcontractors for the delivery of the project, and by dividing the project into smaller work packages, local employment and business opportunities can be maximized. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you to the Minister for his reply. Hearing from him as it relates to dividing the contracts into smaller work packages, this is good news. I have seen this done before, and it has worked well in the past. Mr. Speaker, there is going to be a lot of responsibility that the GNWT is going to have in this project as we move forward. There will be a lot of overlap going on between a number of our departments, whether it is Environment, Industry, Education, and the like. I would like to ask the Minister: how is the GNWT preparing for opportunities associated with Giant Mine?
The Departments of ENR, ITI, ECE, and Infrastructure have established a working committee to provide advice to the project and assess ways in which the GNWT programs can be tailored and maximized to prepare NWT residents and businesses for opportunities with this project.
Again, thank you to the Minister for his reply. It is good to hear that we are being prepared in that record. Mr. Speaker, we have heard all kinds of numbers when it comes to potential employment, anywhere between 200 to 300 jobs potentially. I would like to ask, Mr. Speaker: is there a good understanding of the current labour and skills required in order to help go forward with the Giant Mine Remediation Project?
ENR is part of the Giant Mine Project team and is making sure that GNWT interests are considered in the design and implementation of the project. The project has carried out and is currently revising a labour study to assess the labour market and identify gaps in skill and services in the NWT. This will allow the project team and GNWT departments to focus our training and capacity building to maximize opportunities in the NWT.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
bee Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Certainly, again, I appreciate the insight shared by the Minister. It is good to hear about the labour study, and I am glad to hear that the GNWT is working with the project team to hopefully fill some of those gaps.
Mr. Speaker, I spoke earlier about the potential energy demands that are going to be associated with the remediation of Giant, and can we meet the demands that the project will need as well as potentially if the needs of TerraX should come on stream at the same time that the remediation project is going forward. I would just like to put that to the Minister. Is the Minister prepared to describe to us how we are going to meet some of the energy demands? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The recent findings of the freeze of arsenic underground at Giant Mine determined that a passive freeze system is preferred, which uses substantially less energy. This means that the energy requirements for Giant remediation may not have a significant impact on energy consumption in the Yellowknife area. I can speak to the Minister of the Power Corporation and would be more than happy to discuss the energy needs of TerraX mine. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Following up on my Member's statement on strategies, my first question to the Minister of ITI is: how do you think a new manufacturing strategy could help better the territory's manufacturing industry? Mahsi.
Masi. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The manufacturing strategy that we tabled gives us an opportunity, I think, to reimagine how we approach supporting manufacturing in the Northwest Territories. It is an opportunity for us to possibly rethink how we re-categorize manufacturers and look at new policy ideas that could help bring more businesses to the manufacturers in the NWT and local manufacturers as well, but also use it to build a stronger relationship with the manufacturing community. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thanks to the Minister for the answer. Often, when manufacturing is on the agenda, we are talking about Hay River, Fort Smith, and Yellowknife. My next question is: are we going to see some benefits for the rest of the NWT? Maybe a dry dock in the community of Norman Wells?
Yes, we are absolutely looking how we can expand the manufacturing sector across the Northwest Territories. In fact, our team was recently in Norman Wells as of a couple days ago engaging with stakeholders and residents in the community to hear what we need to build a dry manufacturing in the Sahtu and what is possible there and what kind of ideas are brought forward. We will be doing this across every region in the Northwest Territories.
Will the Minister provide that information on engagement to the sessions that happened in Norman Wells?
I can certainly talk to the department and see whether we can release publicly to the Member.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My last question to the Minister is: why do you think manufacturing is an important area to spend time and resources on, given its small part or contribution to our overall economy? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Manufacturing is a relatively small part of our economy in the Northwest Territories, but it is a very important one, I believe, particularly with the background that I have. It has high potential. The stats that I have been receiving from the department is, for every million dollars of output from a manufacturer in NWT, it creates more jobs, and these jobs are well-paid jobs compared to other industries in the Northwest Territories.
So we think it is of great importance, and a good use of our time and resources, to look at how we can support the diversification of our economy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the recent climate change audit reveals, we have a large task before us in addressing our climate change goals and objectives, and also transitioning to a clean energy economy. The Northwest Territories Power Corporation serves an important role there, and I'd like to ask the Minister responsible today if he can respond to a few of the decisions he's made around the governance of that corporation.
In 2005, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat released a report called the Review of Governance Framework for Canada's Crown Corporations. In there, they define a Crown corporation by stating, "Crown corporations derived a raison d'etre from these statutory roles as instruments of public policy." How is the Minister using the NWT Power Corporation as an instrument of policy to drive our clean energy agenda? Thank you.
Masi. Minister responsible for the NWT Power Corporation.
Certainly, Mr. Speaker, we are working with other departments to ensure that the energy future for the Northwest Territories will be a cleaner one. We are in the process of developing a 20-year strategic plan that will focus on addressing such issues as cleaner energy, ensuring reliability, and supporting economic development in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I was looking for something a bit bolder than kind of boilerplate strategic goals like that. Clean energy is a demanding task in the Northwest Territories. It's going to take time and effort, and I think the board of directors is key in this role. This report also goes on to state that "best practices dictate that to be effective, directors must approach their work objectively and with decision-making independence. This independence helps establish a board's credibility and supports sound governance and effective accountability. For these reasons, corporate governance best practices require that boards of directors of Crown corporations function independently from management." Can the Minister explain why he has decided to go against best practices, and combine an independent board with management?
The nature of this Crown corporation has changed over the years. Many of its activities, particularly in the area of energy conservation and the more experimental projects, are now shared with other departments. So a new board has been put in place and is looking at these types of issues of management as we move forward. It's a question of added value, Mr. Speaker. The old board was quite expensive. Keeping it in place would have led to a higher rate increase than the one that's anticipated. The new board of directors has a diverse education and background, and I am confident in them.
I can't see the Minister's shoes under his desk, but I assume they're dancing shoes, because he didn't quite answer the question. I asked him why he has eliminated the independence of the board and combined it with management, which undermines the credibility of the Power Corporation. Northerners are frustrated to see their power rates continue to rise, and have no trust in this organization. The Minister has further damaged that trust by this decision. So will the Minister at least commit to re-visiting these decisions and installing an independent board that can direct the corporation towards a clean energy future?
Mr. Speaker, of course, we are looking at all these matters. As indicated in my response to one of the earlier questions, part of the concern of the board that is shared by the shareholder was that increase in rates be as moderate as possible. Had we kept the old board, there would have been a larger increase than the one that is anticipated. We are, however, looking at the whole corporate governance of the board, the future of the Power Corporation.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Over the last seven years, it would appear that Northland's rates have gone down by 1.8 per cent, and NTPC's have skyrocketed at 48 per cent, and we're still looking at an increase. Maybe it's a smaller increase. Perhaps the board could have been paid less or given less resources. The Minister has said he's working on governance. He's also talking about a 20-year strategic plan. When is the governance review going to be complete, and when is that plan going to come forward? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I will bring these concerns to the board, and work with them on a continuing basis so that we can improve the Power Corporation. We do wish to keep rates low. The rates, of course, are set by the Public Utilities Board, an independent arm completely separate from government. Northland Utilities and the Power Corporation are different corporations with different concerns. All I can say is that we are working to keep rates as low as possible, and I am in constant contact with members of the board. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the other day I was listening to the Aboriginal radio channel, and I heard an elder speaking about social housing in the NWT. He asked a question and he was just contemplating with the reporter, and one of the questions he had asked was: I wonder why the government no longer builds a federal government that no longer builds houses for us directly. Federal governments used to build houses for us directly. I'd like to ask the Minister of the NWT Housing Corporation when the federal government will start building homes in the NWT. Thank you.
Masi. Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to start by qualifying before I answer the Member's question about that, the information that I have on hand is just my understanding at this point and hasn't been qualified or researched. I will answer it, but based on my immediate understanding, not stuff that I can actually say I've researched and is factual, but my understanding is that the federal government started building homes in the Northwest Territories. They were built for treaty Indians, actually, and I apologize for the term, but that was the term used in the times from the mid- to the late 1950s. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, again, I'm referring back to that same elder. The same elder had indicated that the money had come from the federal government to the GNWT to house people, treaty people – treaty Indians, and that had evolved into something else. I'd like to ask the Minister: when were the first houses built by the federal government that became available to people other than treaty Indians?
Again, I'm going to apologize in advance. Some of the terminology that I'm going to use was terminology of the day; it is not politically correct at this time, but the answer that I have is that the housing programs actually incorporated Indian and Eskimo houses that were built from the early 1960s to about the mid-1960s. Recognizing that, again, that is not the terminology of the day, but at that time, that was the terminology used to name people.
