Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First of all, I want to congratulate the Department of MTS on the first sailing season of the Mackenzie River and the Arctic Coast. It was a challenge to get that going, but they did a great job.
I can gladly update the House that the Marine Transportation Division reactivated six tugboats this last season. We delivered 37 million litres of diesel fuel, gasoline, jet fuel, and carried more than 10,000 tonnes of cargo freight to the communities for industry clients, which included construction materials, pre-fabricated housing units, heavy equipment vehicles, and consumer goods. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you to the Minister for providing that information. Moving along to see how our new company is doing, here. On the issue and previous discussions, there was the establishment of a marine training facility in Hay River. How many Northerners were trained at that facility?
The previous marine training was run out of the Hay River Friendship Centre. I don't have those exact numbers, but I would like to update the House that the federal government announced just as of February 2nd that MTS, working alongside with us and Nunavut Fisheries and Marine Training Consortium, have established an announcement where they're going to establish a marine training facility in Hay River, and this will be coming. There was a press release announced by the federal government that they are working particularly with the Nunavut Fisheries and Marine Training Consortium, who already does this sort of thing in the Nunavut side of the territory. They will be working closely with us and our government to set up a facility in Hay River to be able to address the ongoing needs of people in the fishing industry and the people in the marine side of things in the Northwest Territories.
I'm glad to hear that we're providing benefits with this new acquisition that happened last year and the operations of last summer. My next question is related to, aside from training the workforce, the workforce itself. How many of the workforce were northern NWT residents?
One of the challenges, when we bought these assets moving forward, was to get everything up and running. A part of that would be the HR side of it. On the HR side of it, there was a number of agreements that were in place that had to be renegotiated and MOUs put in place for a collective bargaining unit, so we had to deal with three different types of operations: the Canadian Merchant Service Guild, the Seafarers' International Union of Canada, and the Public Service Alliance of Canada.
Through that, we hired a company called ORSI who facilitated hiring our HR for staffing up the marine side of things. I'm glad to say that we had 141 employees at peak, and out of that, 60 of them were from the Northwest Territories.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My last question is, I want to ensure that the continuation of this operation is being done so that our remote communities in Sahtu could be ensured that we're getting our supplies and dry goods and particularly fuel. In the future operations from last year, is there a financial stability from the earnings of this previous summer's operations, and if the Minister will provide that in a summary of operations financially to this side? Thank you.
As the Member is aware, we've set up a revolving fund to ensure the continuation and operation of this. We will have our first year under our belt. When we have our financial statements done for the year, we will gladly update committee on the first sailing season of MTS. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur Ie President. I mentioned in my Member's statement about the Premier's red alert that there were a number of news releases issued by Indigenous governments raising concerns about the lack of consultation around the red alert. Can the Premier explain why he did not consult with Regular MLAs or the regional Indigenous governments before going to Ottawa to issue his red alert? Masi, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. The Honourable Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have been speaking about the elements of the red alert for two years. First and foremost, on the moratorium, and I have to correct the Member. He said he had to correct me in the media because I made erroneous statements. I think he made an erroneous statement about the moratorium. It's not a five year moratorium. It's an indefinite moratorium and to new offshore oil and gas licences.
So first and foremost about the moratorium, I've been speaking for over a year. The one-year anniversary for the moratorium is December 21st and it has gained no traction from southern or northern media on devolution, the parts of devolution. Devolution was negotiated in 2014. Two years later, we're still waiting for certain elements of the devolution agreement to be acted on. On the programs and services for Aboriginal people, 10 principles came out, and we were not able to get any answers. I met individually with the Aboriginal governments that were quoted and the Gwich'in, and they said that they had not talked to the media at all. So we had an intergovernmental council, and we met, and we now understand each other, that the Aboriginal governments were meeting with the federal government for some period of time without our knowledge or involvement, but we have all agreed we are all going to work together so that programs and services can be fully funded and certainly so that Aboriginal governments can benefit from it, as well, with our support.
I want to thank the Premier for his valiant defence of the red alert. He did not really answer the question about prior consultation, and I will table the news releases from the Indigenous governments in the House tomorrow. In the past, Cabinets retained lobbyists in Ottawa to provide advice on federal engagement. Cabinet currently has a $120,000 sole-sourced contract with communications firm and federal lobbyist Global Public Affairs. Can the Premier tell this House where the idea came from to issue the red alert and what role the lobbyist firm has played in the campaign to date?
Global Public Affairs has been contracted by the Government of the Northwest Territories to help us advance the objectives of the federal engagement strategy. It also provides what we call strategic intelligence on the workings of Ottawa, and it also provides assistance with communications. It helped us release the red alert, which gained some national attention.
Thanks to the Premier for confirming the role that Global Public Affairs has played to date. Global Public Affairs, though, has also represented a number of other industries, organizations, governments in relation to NWT affairs in the past, including Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, Inuvialuit Development Corporation, and others. Can the Premier tell us whether Global Public Affairs currently represents any other interests in the NWT and how those roles and responsibilities are kept clear to avoid conflicts of interest?
Global Public Affairs currently does not represent any other clients in the Northwest Territories, and the contractual arrangements clearly provide for conflict provisions so that we have no conflicts. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President, and I would like to thank the Premier for providing that clarity on that particular issue, but, given that the Premier has issued a challenge for debate on the future of the Northwest Territories on the floor of the House of Commons in Ottawa, it is surprising that there has been no similar call here at home. Is the Premier ready and willing to have an emergency debate on the so-called Red alert and future of the Northwest Territories here on the floor of this House? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. The Honourable Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I had called for a national discussion because it was our understanding that the Prime Minister was getting most of his advice from southern Canada and he was seeking to get most of the votes from southern Canada. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as you heard in my Member's statement today, I had the pleasure of having the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources and of Finance and the deputy minister, Dr. Dragon, Superintendent Lafferty, and Officer Sabourin do a Nahendeh riding tour. It was really good, and the people really enjoyed it, so my questions to the Minister of ENR are about this trip. During the trip, we heard concerns regarding the rules and regulations as it pertains to hunting on the road corridor. There seemed to be some confusion about what was allowed and not allowed. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister confirm that the department will be looking into these concerns and addressing them in the near future? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First of all, I want to thank the constituents of Nahendeh for their great hospitality during our travels there, and I am glad that we had an opportunity to drive through Nahendeh. I am assuming after that drive I am not going to hear much about Highway No. 7 from the Member for Nahendeh. That is beautiful road.
To the Member's question, though, we had heard that concern and, under section 70 of the Wildlife Act, there are no specific rules currently in place for harvesting alongside the road. For public safety reasons, you cannot fire any weapon, firearm, bow and arrow, or crossbow alongside the highway, and in addition, too, the Wildlife Act says that you cannot harvest wildlife without due regard for safety and property of other persons.
Mr. Speaker, we did hear about that, and it is unfortunate that this is happening along the highways. I do not know if we have to legislate common sense, because sometimes it is all it does take. I do not believe we will be looking into it any further, and if anyone knows people out there who are hunting along the highway, shooting alongside the highway, they should report it to their local offices, and then we will deal with the matter.
I thank the Minister for that great answer. However, he drove on the road in the wintertime, and as he talked to the former MLA, he said, "Come drive it in the summertime," so we will get the Minister of Infrastructure to come with you and we will see how it is. However, it is good, and I have to say the workers are doing a great job maintaining it. Previously in the House I spoke about the possibility of the department working with Aboriginal leadership to come up with a plan to stop the hunting of cow moose for at least the next five years to help improve the moose population. Mr. Speaker, I understand the department is doing the second part of the moose survey, but during the trip we heard that this is something that we need to be looking at. Can the Minister confirm if this idea is on the department's radar, and if so, when will he be starting the consultation process?
Mr. Speaker, the Member is correct. We did hear about it on the trip, and we have done a couple of surveys. I think we did one in October, and as I said on our trip there, we are going to do another one in February. Once that work is done, we will analyze the information that we received, and then I think I made a commitment during that trip to share that information with some of the governments that we met there. I believe they are having an assembly or a meeting of some of the governments around the Deh Cho. I think they are having some kind of wildlife meeting, and I had made a commitment to share that information with them at that time, so once the information is gathered and analyzed we will be more than happy to share it with the Aboriginal governments in the Nahendeh.
I thank the Minister for that answer. It is actually refreshing to hear that, and I would like to thank the Minister and the department for making that commitment. Another issue we heard about was the growing wolf population. It seems that one of the factors in seeing the reduction of the moose population is because of the wolves. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister confirm if the department has done any studies on the wolves within the last five years and if they are concerned with the population growth of the wolves?
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources has been documenting observation of wolves during its wildlife survey and field work in a number of different species in the Deh Cho region over the years, and we conducted a targeted wolf survey near Fort Liard in January of 2016. During these surveys, the wolf population densities that were observed were relatively low, particularly compared to wolf surveys in other areas. We also monitor the number of wolf pelts that are brought in through the Genuine Mackenzie Valley Fur Program, and regionally ENR staff are always available to discuss any concerns and observations that Members may have.
The meeting I spoke of before was the 8th Biannual Deh Cho Regional Wildlife Workshop. That meeting is going to be held in October of this year, I believe, and we have made a commitment to have our people there and share a lot of the information that we have gathered with the participants.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I would like to thank the department's regional staff. They do a great job of communicating and working with the communities. Like most trips, Mr. Speaker, you have things that happen to you personally, and you get to learn from these experiences. This trip was no different. I would like to share learning opportunities, but I would like to ask the Minister: what did he learn from this travelling in the Deh Cho during it and gassing up his own vehicle? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I think the first lesson I learned on this trip was not to rely on others to tell you that you are full of gas and to check your gas levels yourself, and thanks to the excellent condition of those roads in Nahendeh, we were able to make it into Jean Marie on an empty tank. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Those who pay attention to our proceedings know that I start every sitting with a discussion of commercial fishing. I spoke at length about this issue, so I am going to forego a big introduction and get right down to business. I have questions for the Minister of ITI about the implementation of the strategy for revitalizing the Great Slave Lake fishery.
I apologize in advance, because I am going to be bringing this up a lot during this sitting. A quarter-century ago, my dad did work on the revitalization strategies for the commercial fishery in the Great Slave Lake, and there is probably a stack five feet high of these types of strategies that have been produced over the past few decades. We have been going on now years with this current strategy, and it is time to start moving.
My first question is: does the Minister know how the amendments to the Federal Fisheries Act that were introduced in the House of Commons yesterday will affect the plan to revitalize the Great Slave Lake commercial fishing industry? If you would be willing to elaborate further, I would like to know what the GNWT will do to ensure that our interests will be represented when the new regulations under the act are being developed. Thank you.
Masi. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First of all, the Fisheries Act just came out yesterday, but I can update this House that ITI staff has attended a technical briefing on the amendments to the Fisheries Act. Based on the most current information that I have, Mr. Speaker, that has been shared with us in briefings, we do not expect any of these amendments to affect the building of the processing plant in Hay River for the fishing revitalization strategy, and we expect these changes to have minimal impacts on the commercial fishing industry. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
It's good to hear that they are paying attention to these changes. Next, I would like an update on this fish processing plant that has been talked about for a few years now in Hay River, and I am looking for any information we can find. Are there blueprints? Is there an estimated cost? Do we know when they will break ground? The last I heard, it was supposed to be this spring.
The fish plant itself is on schedule according to our strategy. We said we wanted to be able to build this thing in the first two or three years of the strategy. That is still the expectation of myself, for sure, and the department. We are finalizing the design project right now. Moving forward, in the coming weeks we should be able to share that with Members, and particularly the Member for Hay River North. The cost of the plant will still depend on the equipment that is going to be optioned for this building. There are various cost estimates and options based on the level of funding that we receive, so that will have to be taken in consideration of the funding that we receive from the federal government. If we do secure all of the funding from the various different federal departments that the department has reached out to, we expect the top end of the price to be $12 million for the fish plant.
That is an expensive piece of infrastructure. I would like to ask about the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation. Last year, the feds commissioned a report on possibilities for the future of the corporation, and I was wondering: can the Minister give us an update on what that report said and how the conclusions of that report may affect the industry in the Northwest Territories?
As we know, DFO did a stakeholder engagement last year, and we know DFO is considering a fisherman-led cooperative to replace the Freshwater Marketing Corporation. Those decisions have not been made yet. DFO has assured us that they will continue to engage NWT fishers on the outcome and the future state of the Freshwater Marketing Corporation. This thing is still in flux. Every time I have talked to the federal Minister, we haven't got where they are at on this whole thing, but the DFO has assured us the interests of northern fishers will be taken into consideration before it moves on, and I can continue to update the House on that.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think the Minister said the DFO is looking at a fisherman cooperative to possibly take over Freshwater. If that happens, will that have any effect on the plans to build a plant? There is a Freshwater plant in Hay River; it's just sort of the shell of one right now. If a cooperative takes it over, they might own that infrastructure. Will that affect the plant in Hay River that the GNWT plans to build? Thank you.
In my discussions with the federal DFO Minister, no, those plans of going to a cooperative are still in the early stages and will not affect our strategy moving forward and our plans to build a brand new fish plant in Hay River. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier I spoke about conditions in housing in Nunakput, and my questions are for the Minister of Housing. Mr. Speaker, my first question is: can the Minister provide an overview of the NWT Housing Corporation's rules and procedures for evictions, specifically during the winter months? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Evictions are not an easy thing. When I first came in, my objective was to be able to provide people with the tools so that they could obtain, maintain, and retain their housing. Eviction does not fit within any of those priorities of my own. It is a last resort. It has always been a last resort for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation. The process we go through is, first of all, the local housing organizations work closely with the tenants to try to get them to deal with their arrears and set up a repayment plan. If that follows through, then the process is stopped, and then we just deal with the tenants and work towards them paying their current rent and dealing with a payment plan on their arrears.
If the repayment plan is not followed through or people refuse to enter into a repayment plan, then, sad to say, we do take them to the rental officer, which does sometimes take a few months to get through. The rental officer then provides an order, and usually it's telling people, if it's around arrears, to pay their rent and make a repayment plan. If it's around damages, that might be a different order. Most of the people actually adhere to the rental officer's orders. The last process within the step is when people do not enter into a repayment plan, do not work with the local housing organization, and do not adhere to the rental officer's orders; then we will start the eviction process.
The process specifically in the winter, there is no process. When I first came in to take over as Minister for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation, I was shocked at the amount of arrears people had. My direction has been: after two months of not paying rent, start the eviction process. It is a lot easier for people to pay a couple of months' rent than it is to let it build up for a whole season and have thousands of dollars that they cannot get out of. That is my direction, and I stand by it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
