Thank you to the Premier for his reply, and I hope that certainly we can continue to voice our concerns to the federal government that there needs to be some streamlining with regards to these application processes, and that there needs to be improvements made to the legislation.
With regard to approvals of these applications, what do we know? Do we know, is it now going to be just a straightforward kind of approval, or are there a number of conditions that are attached to these approvals? Do we know anything along those lines?
Our expectation is that we'll get more details when our officials talk to the Global Affairs Canada later this week, which will allow us to try to make things better going forward.
Also, we're hoping that Planet Lab with this pending approval will see fit to revisit their decision to pull out and take their antennas out.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My last question is: certainly, we can't expect to promote the Northwest Territories as a place to build antennas if applications take two years to approve. Other jurisdictions clearly can streamline this process. What can our government do to put pressure on the federal government so that we can start to fast-track some of these applications? Certainly we don't want to have folks who have already made investments starting to dismantle their antennas and relocating them into other jurisdictions. What are we going to do to put pressure on the federal government to start fast-tracking these applications? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I think the fact is that the federal government is well aware of the potential for satellites in the Northwest Territories. Certainly, Natural Resources Canada was aware of it. They invested a significant amount in developing the federal site. The other federal Ministers, including the Prime Minister's Office, is well aware of it now, and certainly we will continue to work with the federal government to find ways to resolve the issues so we can continue to grow the industry in the Northwest Territories. We can work with them to identify to them where we see the bottleneck so that certainly updating the current legislation would be a good start. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier I spoke about conditions on the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk highway. My questions are for the Minister of Infrastructure.
Mr. Speaker, I know that no matter how many signs you put on a winter road, especially up in the North in the Arctic, the chance of an accident are still very high. Mr. Speaker, my first question to the Minister is: what is the department's plan to improve signage and highway markings between Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First of all, our highway meets the national guidelines with respect to engineering, signage, and design posting limits along that highway. We've all had an opportunity and Cabinet has had a chance to drive it.
The further work that we're going to commit on signage going forward is there is going to be some information signage installed and some more delineators to add to driver comfort along the highway. We realize that this piece of highway is in one of the harshest conditions in Canada, or anywhere in the world, and people must have to drive accordingly through it. As the Member referred to the accident in his Member's statement, the RCMP are investigating that. They will determine what the causes were of that accident, and we'll have a look at it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I appreciate the response from the Minister. It's good to see that work is going on to improve the highway. Mr. Speaker, my second question is: under what circumstances does the department issue public alerts on road conditions for the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway?
We have our web page where we continually update the highway conditions of the highways in the Northwest Territories. The department also uses Twitter on a lot of occasions, because I always re-tweet out what the department is putting out there, from waits on winter roads to closures of the Dempster and such.
On the Tuktoyaktuk to Inuvik Highway, I think a lot of people maybe even don't even realize they're driving by, because as the Member said, people don't pay attention to signage sometimes. At the beginning and at the end of both sections of the highway, there's a sign up there to say if the roads are open or closed.
It is good to see travellers using the website. I have noticed Facebook is probably the number one user-interface for road conditions. Mr. Speaker, I am talking about winter conditions, and my question is: what will the department do to improve the information it provides to road travellers about winter safety?
First of all, drivers must drive according to the conditions. The maximum speed is posted for optimum conditions, so if the highway is 100 kilometres per hour, that is for optimum conditions. If there is bad weather, well, then you have got to drive to those conditions. To ensure safety in the Northwest Territories, the highway system is a top priority of our department. We are always promoting safety as the number one thing. Driver education is one way that the department is working to communicate to residents in the Northwest Territories through advertising, enforcement, signage and such. Infrastructure has posted a new sign at the entrance of this highway, as well, to let residents know that they can go to the website to have a look at this stuff. We are continuing, as I have said, to update our web page and to use Twitter to do these things around road safety and guidelines.
Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the response. Mr. Speaker, my final question is: will the department increase the frequency of snow clearing on those sections of the highway that are subject to high winds during drifting snow? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
On this section of highway, we have a Government of the Northwest Territories employee and a maintenance contractor who inspect the highway twice a day to make sure the road is safe and cleared. If it is snowing or blizzardy and driving conditions are conditions that need to have the road closed, that will be informed and we will post that. There are protocols around highway maintenance of when the road needs to be plowed, and those are at the discretion of the maintenance contractor and the GNWT employee, and then they will follow up on that. For moving forward, being this is the very first year of this road operating in these conditions, I think the department is already looking at certain areas of difficulty that have snow drifting. They are going to have a look at what they can do for procedures to address that, be it snow fencing or some other means of something to help address that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask the Minister of Finance some questions about how we are using our potential in the satellite industry to grow the knowledge economy. My first question for the Minister is: can the Minister advise the House on what resources have been allocated by this government in its budgets to promote the NWT as a destination of choice for the global remote sensing sector? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I do know that this government spent $91 million in getting the fibre optic line up and running, and I think it is a very good investment. I think we expect to see a return on our investment. As far as the Member's question as to the exact number that we have in the budget towards promoting that, I do not have that exact figure at hand. I will find it and email it to the Member.
I would hazard to guess that, if I asked the same question about promoting our mineral sector, the Minister could find those facts and fingers at his fingertips, so can the Minister develop the same approach to promoting investment in working with his colleagues in the mineral sector for the global remote sensing sector? If we want to grow it, we need investment, so is this work something he can do?
As far as finding the figures on investment in mining, I would not have that at my fingertips, as well. The Minister of ITI might, but I will not. I do know that this government is investing a significant amount of money in trying to promote the knowledge industry because we do recognize that it is a way forward. We have taken a couple of tours in Europe to try to promote it. I have tasked my officials with finding some industry magazines that we could possibly promote the geographically gifted area for retrieving satellite information in Inuvik, and I have also asked them to see if there are any industry type meetings that I could go to to promote the Northwest Territories. Again, we are also, as the Premier said before, working with the federal government to try to see if they can streamline their whole legislation so that it makes the Northwest Territories an attractive place to invest because it is an attractive place to invest.
I appreciate the Minister's support for this important industry. This is another example of how we have natural advantages in the North tied to our unique geography, tied to our natural resources, and we need to use every one of them to grow the economy. On the issue of lobbying the federal government, has the Minister in his work with the fibre optic link had the opportunity to develop any regulatory improvement proposals to share those with the federal government? Has he done that work?
In our discussions with the federal government, my discussions with the Finance Minister, we have raised the issue of our concern with the act and how improvements need to be made. As far as actual regulations and a proposal to put forward, I am not sure. I do not believe we have done those yet, other than having conversations with them and attending meetings, but I will confirm to see if we have made an official submission to this particular issue, and I will share that with the Members.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If the Minister finds that an official submission has not been made or the consultation has not been done on improvements, is that something he will undertake? Can he make that commitment to pursue this issue, working with his Cabinet colleagues so we can clear up this regulatory bottleneck and get certainty over our remote sensing opportunities in the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I can assure Members of this House and members of the public that this is an issue, the Mackenzie Valley fibre optic line. We recognize that the area in Inuvik is very good for retrieving satellite information, so the decision to put a fibre optic line in and invite industry to come in and put up their satellite dishes, we recognize how important that is as we go forward. We have put a lot of effort into this. We have had a lot of discussions with the federal government. We are trying to do what we can to see if we can streamline this process and have more investment made in the Northwest Territories. As Finance Minister and our Cabinet colleagues and, actually, as an Assembly, we all do what we can to try to promote all types of investment in the Northwest Territories. If there are ways we can make Ottawa aware of some of the challenges we face, then we will certainly address those, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services about medical travel services in Hay River. The Minister is well aware of the issues we face in Hay River and has committed to look into them. The last time I raised the issue in the House, he noted that Hay River is unique in the way the medical travel services are provided. That is probably good for the rest of the territory, but not so good for us. Basically, because the services are provided through a contract, the department has little control over delivery. So, since this has been identified as a problem, what has the department done to remedy it? Thank you.
Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in September I indicated that we were going to look into this issue and try to make some improvements in Hay River. Since that time, we have done some analysis on how it is done. The Member is correct. It is the only place in the Northwest Territories where the service is provided by contract as opposed to being provided by the territorial health authority. As such, the contract is going to be expiring in March of this year. We are not going to be renewing the contract. We are going to be moving forward with creating a position in Hay River as part of the Territorial Health Authority to provide consistent quality medical travel services in Hay River and the surrounding area.
Not only is he addressing the issue; he is also creating a job in Hay River; well, I guess, a government job. He is taking one away, though, so I have to be careful what I say here. I appreciate that something is being done, but how can I assure my constituents that this change will actually result in an improvement in service delivery? Precisely why should we expect the Territorial Health and Social Services Authority to provide a better service than we are currently getting?
I think the Member actually answered some of his own questions in his preamble. Building upon the comments that the Member made, one of the advantages of having the territorial authority do this, as opposed to a contractor, is we'll be able to ensure that our people have the best training and are completely familiar with the processes and programs that are in place. Also, we have to recognize that people go on holidays, people are occasionally sick; people might want to, you know, go on training or other development. Currently if that happens we're not always guaranteed that the person who is going to be backfilling is trained. By being part of the Territory Health and Social Services Authority, if one of our persons were to leave or go on holidays or be sick, we know we've got a group of competent, fully trained staff who can backfill on a minute's notice in Hay River; which means they will always have quality people, competent and qualified people, with lots of backup to continue to provide services at all times.
I'm a little under the weather myself, today. It would be nice to have a bit of backup here. Because of the timelines involved -- I mean, I think it's end of March you said the contract is expiring -- will there be enough time to hire and train this new employee?
We are going to move forward as quickly as possible to staff that position, but we acknowledge that it may prove difficult to get somebody. We've gone out for competitions before for lots of different jobs and not been successful on the first round, so we want to err on the side of caution here. What we're going to do is, for the first couple of months, we're going to work with the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority, who is going to identify a person who can help us during the transition phase while we're out recruiting so that there is no gap in service. We also want to make sure that we have the best equipment and the appropriate equipment for our new person in Hay River to provide all the services. We want to make sure they're fully trained. So even after we hire them, they might not be full on-stream until we get them properly trained. So we figure this is going to take six months;, but there's going to be no gap in service, because we're working with Hay River to provide some temporary backfill in that area.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So just to clarify, there will be a person physically in Hay River who people can go and see about their medical travel issues? Because I know sometimes, you know, with elders, it can be a little difficult if they have to speak over the phone, or those kinds of things. So I just want to confirm there will be a person who people can go see in Hay River. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
That's the plan, Mr. Speaker. Initially it will be somebody from the Hay River Authority. We're going to work on an agreement there. Our expectation is we're going to go out for staffing immediately and fill that position, get that person trained up. As for all medical travel, I mean, it is a nine-to-five job. There will be times when people do have to call, just so that we're clear that it's somebody always available 24/7. It's a nine-to-five job, there are some after-hours calls, and we'll be able to provide that support, as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Justice. The 2016-2017 NWT Rental Office Report shows an enormous increase in wait times from the norms of the previous five years. Why has the turnaround time between the dates of application filing and the dates of hearing become so long? Thank you.
Masi. Minister of Justice.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the period of 2016-2017, there were actually fewer applications, but there were more complex issues involved in those applications. Also, too, the long-standing rental officer retired, so that left one rental officer working there. Those two issues led to delays, which we fully acknowledge. Now, I have noticed that the numbers for the period from April 1, 2017, to January 31, 2018, do represent an improvement. So we are committed to improving those numbers further, Mr. Speaker. We knew there were also pressures on the office administrator's workload, and those procedures have been streamlined. So we think that all these adjustments will lead to improved service, which, of course, is our aim. Thank you.
I appreciate the response from the Minister. Can the Minister tell us whether he has allocated additional resources to this office?
Yes, I can advise that we have allocated additional resources to the office. We have entered into a contract to have a second officer, a second rental officer, work there on a part-time basis. So we believe that that will reduce the workload.
I appreciate the Minister's response that there is, in fact, more staff available. He said that service time had been improved. So, for example, what percentage of applications are now taking more than 90 days to process?
I don't actually have those figures, but I will undertake to provide them to the Member opposite.
