It is actually one of the benefits that we're going to be co-sharing the space with the Medicalert. We will be looking at sharing some of the training that they receive as well. That will give us a little bit of a heads up on some of the situations that we may be encountering when people accept 911 calls.
Of course, everyone that does work in that station will be Government of the Northwest Territories employees, and so they do qualify for the employee assistance program, where people can access services, counselling services, as needed, and then, of course, we will be looking at specialized training to assist them. We are doing as best as we can to make sure that we support our workers when they implement 911, because we recognize that some of those calls are going to be heartbreaking, and we need to take care of our employees.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, monsieur le President. In October 2016, the then-Minister of Transportation said in this House that environmental considerations, more specifically, potential impacts on the Bathurst caribou herd, played no part in the current alignment of the proposed Slave Geological Province Road.
Can the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources tell us whether his staff have had any discussions with the Department of Infrastructure about the routing of the proposed Slave Geological Province all-weather road and what the outcome of those discussions has been? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, ENR staff have provided the Department of Infrastructure with wildlife data to support the development of road-routing options, and, based on preliminary discussions, I understand that the focus at this stage is in obtaining funding to advance the Slave Geological Province. Once we do that, there is still a very lengthy environmental assessment process that we would have to go through, as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I want to thank the Minister for that, and I just sort of wonder when environmental considerations will go into the planning of the road. In December 2016, there was an interim discussion document for the Bathurst caribou range plan, and it recommended winter road access over all-weather roads wherever possible, to reduce impacts. The draft range plan that is now out for public engagement is a lot weaker. It says the following: "New roads in the Bathurst caribou range take into consideration the needs of multiple purposes and users, seasonality of construction and use, routing, and design to minimize impacts to caribou." That is the end of the quote, Mr. Speaker. It is a lot weaker. Can the Minister explain why the draft range plan was significantly weakened with regard to how all-weather roads would be acceptable?
The wording on the draft range plan was modified to reflect recent input received during the last round of engagement, and I think the Member pointed out before that we do have a second phase of public decision-making engagement going on from January to the end of March, as well.
I would like to thank the Minister for that. I looked at the "what we heard" report, and there were no comments from any government agencies about this particular weakening of the report around roads, so I'm not sure where that came from. Can the Minister tell us whether any resources have been dedicated in the 2018-2019 Environment and Natural Resources budget towards concrete actions and implementation of the Bathurst Caribou Range Plan?
Mr. Speaker, the GNWT is currently conducting a certain engagement on the Bathurst Caribou Range Plan which had been funded internally in our budget and funding received from Polar Knowledge Canada. ENR plans on returning to Cabinet in the summer of 2018 for approval on a final range plan and funding needs for the implementation of the range planning dependent on the final content of the plan. ENR and GNWT will need to identify funding for implementation of the plan at that time, which will likely involve existing program funding and request for new internal and external, as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I'd like to thank the Minister again for that. I look forward to the supplementary appropriation for the plan. As I said in my statement earlier today, if our government will not sign off on the Bathurst Caribou Range Plan and claims that it is advisory, not binding and not government policy, just what is the status of this plan and what confidence can the public have that our government is ever going to do anything to protect the Bathurst Caribou herd? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I mean I can inform the public that this government will do all we can to protect the Bathurst Caribou. We know that the numbers have been down drastically over the last number of years. Hence, the reason for trying to put a good range plan together. It will be a Cabinet-approved document and, as such, the GNWT will be responsible for implementing those recommendations following under its authority again. Once we have all the information compiled and we're ready to go out and go get a final approval of the range plan, we will obviously sit down with committee and seek some input from committee, if that's the wish of committee, and we will come up with a good range plan that will work for the preservation of the Bathurst Caribou herd. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I was talking about the Site C Dam in BC, and I have some questions for the Premier. My first question is: what discussions, if any, has the GNWT had with the BC Government on the downstream impacts of the Site C Dam? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. The Honourable Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Ten years ago, the BC Minister of Energy along with a planeload of BC hydro officials flew down to Yellowknife to advise our government that they would be proceeding with building Site C and that they were proceeding into an environmental assessment mode. At that time, we advised them of our experience with the effects of the Bennett Dam. We were concerned about it. They told us that Site C would only have a 12-kilometre reach downstream of Site C, so we shouldn't have to worry about it, but we told them that we didn't believe that. Our experience is that it would have a longer reach, so we prevailed on them to consult with Aboriginal governments and communities all the way down the Mackenzie River, right up to the Beaufort Sea. We gave them a list of all of the contacts, and they proceeded to do so.
We also, as a government, the Government of the Northwest Territories, fully participated in the environmental assessment process for the Site C project. The Government of the Northwest Territories provided written comments, attended multiple hearings and meetings, and ultimately provided recommendations to decision makers to address any potential downstream effects to ecosystems, traditional harvesters, and communities in the Northwest Territories. Our government recognizes the importance of maintaining the ecological integrity of the aquatic ecosystems in the Northwest Territories.
Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Premier for that answer. I appreciate the government trying to do what we can do with the BC government. Unfortunately, they seem to be not listening to us in some of these areas. Has the GNWT made a public announcement regarding this position on this mega project and the impact it has on Northwest Territories residents and our First Nations communities?
Through the environmental assessment process for Site C, the Government of the Northwest Territories provided numerous submissions, including advice regarding potential downstream impacts to aquatic ecosystems in the Northwest Territories.
Our Government of the Northwest Territories submissions are pubic and are available on the Canadian and environment assessment agency's website. The Government of the Northwest Territories incorporated into its submissions concerns heard about the Site C expansion from Northwest Territories residents and Indigenous governments and organizations. As the Member has stated, several Indigenous governments, including the Deninu Kue, Salt River and Smith's Landing First Nations, and Northwest Territories Metis Nation also participated in the environmental assessment process.
I appreciate the Minister and the answer he's provided here. My next question is: what is the government doing during this Assembly to mitigate the negative impact of this project on our Northwest Territories First Nations and communities, and has the Premier contacted in writing the Premier from BC?
Following the three-year environmental assessment process, the Site C project received federal and provincial approval in 2014. Construction of the Site C expansion project began in 2015, and the decision to approve the project included 80 conditions, which are intended to prevent or reduce impacts to the Peace River.
As well, our government negotiated transboundary water agreements with Alberta and also with British Columbia. The Transboundary Water Agreement with British Columbia primarily focuses on the Liard River basin, whereas the Peace River system flows into Alberta, so we are relying on the Transboundary Water Agreement with Alberta to monitor the impacts and effects of the water quality and water quantity. We have increased significantly the monitoring at the border on the downstream impacts so that we will be aware of any negative impacts. We have a process set up through the Mackenzie River Basin Board where, if there are any concerns, we can raise them with the applicable government. We're working very closely with Alberta and British Columbia on transboundary waters. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Further to my statement on Destination Deline, my question to the Minister of ITI is: Mr. Speaker, we saw record-breaking tourism numbers last year, which bodes well for the future of this important industry in the Northwest Territories. Is the GNWT Department of ITI going to change the way it looks at tourism because of the new numbers? Mahsi.
Masi. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Member stated, with the high numbers, no, we are not going to change the way we are looking at this. We believe that our approach to this whole thing coming forward is showing that our strategy of tourism 2020 is actually working for the Northwest Territories and it's showing great success. We're on track to hit our $207 million spent by tourism by 2021.
As I've said in this House just recently, our numbers are up, hitting record-breaking numbers again. The NWT marketing plan, which I tabled last week, is a big part of that equation, as well.
Thanks to the Minister for the reply. The 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang were broadcasted around the world, and I was pleased to see TV commercials advertising the Northwest Territories as a tourist destination. I'd like to ask the Minister who developed and placed these commercials? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.
I'd like to take credit. NWT Tourism does our marketing plan and our destination marketing for our organizations in the NWT. I had a chance to see our "Just a Bit Different" commercials as well, and we provide a lot of funding to the organization NWT Tourism to carry out these marketing initiatives. Kudos to them for having them during the Olympics. I just want to update the House. The Premier and I were just at PDAC, and I never even had a chance to tell the Premier this, but I ran into the old ADM of Tourism for Ontario a couple of days ago while I was down there, and he just finished working there, but he said his Minister pulled him aside there lately and said, "What the heck's going on in our department, here? How come Newfoundland and NWT have such good commercials, and ours aren't very good? So what's going on here?"
That's a positive report and positive comments. My third question, Mr. Speaker: the tourism industry is certainly working at large centres like Yellowknife, but can the Minister tell me what the GNWT is doing to promote tourism in the regions like the Sahtu?
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Even this month coming up, we're going to have our first-ever tourism conference on March 21st and 22nd in Tulita, and we're doing that in partnership with Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada. So kudos to Tulita for hosting that here in the next couple of weeks. We've talked in this House about a number of programs and supports we have around tourism, and all the people within the Sahtu region and the NWT can access those, as well. Lately, we've supported a couple of business initiatives in his riding in particular: a paddleboard business, ski trails, cabin maintenance and renovation to the museum. We've also, I think, helped out the Norman Wells Historical Society. So there are a number of initiatives going on, along with training and mentorship programs that can be accessed, and there are a number of them doing them in his region. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Member for Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm glad to hear the Minister included cabin maintenance. I'm hoping that will include the shelters for the future highway. My last question here, Mr. Speaker: this government has a mandate to expand tourism options, specifically by building new parks, such as the Dodo Toi Canyon Park. Can the Minister provide an update on work being done to develop the Dodo Canyon Territorial Park? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
The Member is well-aware that the remediation of the Canol Trail is the responsibility of the federal government. We continue to hold their feet to the fire on that, but the federal government has tendered out the next step of this contract. It has been awarded, and remediation is expected to begin next summer on that project. Since 2015, the Government of Canada and Dodo Toi Territorial Park has through us, I guess, and working with the Park Corporation cleaned up 350 kilometers of telephone wire along that trail, and that project has been completed as of last summer. This year, we're going to add two additional shelters to complete the work on the trail that we're committed to for this coming season. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier today, I talked about reducing the effects on climate change while growing our economy and wondering if it's possible to do both at the same time. My questions today are for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, and I recognize and appreciate that we're in a bit of a unique situation here in the North. We've signed on to the Pan-Canadian Agreement on Clean Growth and Climate Change, and, yet, we're mandated and we want to reach the goal of growing our economy. So I have a question to the Minister: does the Minister believe that our obligations to reduce the impacts on climate change can be met while we undertake initiatives to grow the economy? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I believe we can do both, and the Member is right. We signed on to the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change and the Paris Accord Agreement. These are commitments that we have made as a government. We are moving on those. We are moving on these strategies. They're all in lock sync. The Energy Strategy, the Petroleum Resource Strategy, and the Climate Change Strategic Framework is coming out. They're in lock sync together. All of these departments have been working very closely together. It's a complicated issue when all of a sudden we shift our economy from a resource-based economy, around mining, around petroleum and oil and gas, and all of a sudden now we're signed on to these international agreements. We've had to change how we think and move forward. It is a challenge on how we pull these things all together because we're such a small jurisdiction and we live in probably the harshest part of the country, but our government is working very hard on how we can grow these initiatives to continue to grow our economy as well as meet the obligations that we've signed on to.
That's a reply that I like to hear; that we can grow our economy and meet our environmental obligations at the same time. Mr. Speaker, there are a number of studies out there that are looking at different types of weather events around the world, such as heat waves and precipitation and the huge storms that we've been having, and many of those same studies also look at the impacts on agriculture, industrial output, even labour productivity. So I'd like to ask the Minister: what is our government doing to measure the impacts of climate change on economic activity in the Northwest Territories?
While I believe we're already doing it because climate change is already here. When I'm speaking down south, I don't say climate change is something that's coming; it has already impacted the Northwest Territories. As a number of Members in this House know, we continue to say that it's already warmed up by 4 degrees in some parts of the Northwest Territories. So, as the Ministry of Infrastructure, in particular, we know the challenges around climate change. We have changes around construction, around maintenance, around building of ice roads, operation of government infrastructure, and that's just on our side. That's not even on the private side of things or what industry faces around climate change, around the difficulty of the ice roads for the diamond mines. So we're already doing certain measurements of impacts because we know what it's already costing this government and how we have to plan for the future around our infrastructure needs, but I think, as these new strategies roll out and we sign our bilaterals with the federal government on investment of our $500-and-some million that we're going to be receiving from the federal government around these things, there is a climate lens put on most of those programs going forward, and we'll have to have a serious look at how we're going to roll them out and how they're going to be a part of our economy.
Thank you to the Minister for his reply. I appreciate it. The Minister spoke about this a little bit earlier. We have a number of forthcoming strategies: the Energy Strategy, the Climate Change Framework; we also have the Mineral Resources Act, and other environmental pieces of legislation under review and set for change. Are these new strategies and laws being looked at through the lens of having the economy grow while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions at the same time?
As I've said, we are very concerned about this. When we went out and did our public consultation, some of the biggest things we heard is the cost of living and how it relates to our economy and how we're going to move these initiatives forward. We have to be very careful, and, at the same time, we have to meet our commitments that we've signed on to. As I've said, this is all a whole bunch of departments working together on how they pull these things together, and a big part of it is going to be our federal infrastructure dollars and how it rolls out and how do we invest those dollars and our commitments to the federal government on how we spend that money. We'll continue to work on that at the same time to meet our greenhouse gas emissions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Minister. My final question: I spoke about industry taking the lead toward initiatives such as toward zero mining impact and meeting new ISO certifications. I would like to ask the Minister: is our government talking with industry specifically about how we can both reach our goals of enjoying economic wealth but while also meeting our global demands to reduce emissions? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Yes, industry is a big part of our consultation process as industry is one of the biggest parts of our GDP of our Government of the Northwest Territories, so we have to consider their factors in, as well.
When we start talking about industry, I tend to lean a little bit more towards the mining side because they're the biggest part of our economy right now. We've taken their concerns into serious consideration on how we're moving this forward. There has been some great talk with them specifically around the carbon tax and how this is going to make implications on them. At the same time, we have to identify a model, as I've said, to meet our international goals and our Canadian goals, however we're going to meet our greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, we want to minimize the impacts on our economy and the cost of living for residents of the Northwest Territories. These things are all considered while we're doing that. We don't know where we're going to end up on the carbon tax side of things as yet. There are ongoing discussions with the federal government. Going forward, we will be working very closely with industry. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my member's statement, I speak of the importance of hand games to the youth of the Northwest Territories. I'd like to ask the Minister of MACA questions: does the Minister and the department support and encourage funding for hand game tournaments? Thank you.
