Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just made a statement about the Family Support Centre in Hay River, so I will forego a lengthy preamble.
I would like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services about the funding formula that he committed to have developed. He stated that they would begin developing this a year after the Territorial Health Authority was amalgamated, and that was last August. We are about 10 months from that, now. I would like to ask the Minister: what is the status update of the funding formula for family violence shelters in the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we continue to work on the development of the funding model that we hope will strengthen the ability of existing shelters to deliver services in an equitable manner throughout the Northwest Territories.
The department does remain in close contact with the shelter network about the work being done, and hearing their perspectives on that process and the formula, as well. Department staff did attend meetings with the shelter staff within the last couple of weeks, where we had an opportunity to discuss the formula, as well as the operational standards.
Mr. Speaker, we continue to move forward. Any funding implications with respect to adopting the standards and the model will be considered in the upcoming business planning process for next fiscal year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I know that the funding formula is being drafted right now; they are still looking at it, but if you look at the way that the department is organized, I believe there is a family violence prevention position in there. There is funding through the Family Violence Prevention Program.
Shelters are tertiary care. They're not really prevention. With this new funding formula, will there be a focus on community outreach and education as well as just a place for people to go to flee violence? Will there actually be a focus on prevention as well?
At this time, the formula that we are talking about is funding the shelters to actually provide safe housing for families fleeing violence.
With respect to the other work, campaigns that we are doing to break the stigma, to help get people educated, to create more awareness, to create more discussion, those are being done with other groups, such as the Status of Women and other groups across the Northwest Territories and, at this point, does not anticipate providing advertising or communication dollars to the shelters. With the shelters, we are focusing on housing.
That is a bit disheartening, that they are not going to the people who know the most about this to do some work on prevention.
How is the government working with the Hay River Family Support Centre to acquire a new building? I know that there is federal money out there, but it is not always easily accessible. There are a million different applications you can fill out. There are a million different pots of money. There are all of these things going on, and it is difficult for one organization to navigate this world. How is the GNWT assisting the Family Support Centre in getting their new building?
Just to provide some clarity to the last response, of course, we are working with the shelters, because they usually have a significant impact on supporting families that are dealing with or fleeing violence. They have certainly got a lot of information to help us get good information out there into their hands, but when it comes to some of the individual programs we are running to create that awareness, currently, we are investing $477,000 as a territory for campaigns like What Will It Take and other means to get the information out there. We do work with the shelters closely because they are a great source of information.
With respect to the shelter in Hay River, the Minister of Finance, during the budget session, indicated that, should the shelter obtain or get to a position where they can acquire some money from the federal government, we are prepared to come to the table to support that process. If it requires money, the Minister of Finance could say that we would find it, but as far as leading that process, we are not doing that.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I mentioned that there have been guidelines drafted up for the family violence shelters, and I think they are in their third decade of draft form. Has the government committed to finally finalizing these draft guidelines and taking this issue seriously? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The draft operational standards have been developed and are being reviewed to ensure they represent the safest and most sustainable approach to the delivery of family violence shelters. Our goal is to formally adopt those service standards over the coming year, and as I indicated previously, these standards will help us formulate a formula for funding, because it has to be based on something. It should be based on the standards that we work together with our shelters to develop. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, you heard me talk about the taxation issue in Fort Liard, and I have questions for the Minister of Finance. My first question: as a department, how did they come up with the mill rate for the Community of Fort Liard? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Hamlet of Fort Liard's mill rate is the general mill rate which was first established in 1988 and over time has increased, as decided by the Minister of Finance. As part of the new deal in 2005, general taxation area communities were able to request increases to their general mill rate to raise additional revenues to pay for community services. Beginning in the 2010-2011 fiscal year, the general mill rate has been escalated by the inflation rate.
I thank the Minister for his answer. Can the Minister please explain to us: what is the percentage that the GNWT keeps from collecting the taxation for the community?
Mr. Speaker, the property tax invoices are broken down into three sections. You've got the general tax, school tax, and any interest. The school tax is approximately 48 per cent of the property tax invoice for the current year, and all the interest charged is revenue for the GNWT to fund schools and other government programs. The general tax portion is approximately 52 per cent of the property tax invoice for the current year and is currently granted back to the communities through the MACA Property Tax Revenue Grant Program under the new deal once an invoice for the years of 2004 to present has been paid off.
I thank the Minister for that answer. In my Member's statement, you heard me say that the interest rate is coming out at 15 per cent, and it seems to be very high. Was the community consulted or engaged in coming up with this rate?
I am not sure what type of consultation they had in 1988 as far as the mill rates go. The Member mentioned the interest rate of 15 per cent, and I believe he mentioned in his Member's statement that there was one outstanding tax of, I think it was, $50,000 plus interest; or I am not sure if that included interest, but plus interest would have come out to about $100,000. We do not want to see anybody get that far in debt to the Government of the Northwest Territories. That is why we encourage people to try pay their property taxes. If you look territory-wide, we have about $9.7 million in outstanding taxes that should be coming to the Government of the Northwest Territories so we can in turn reinvest that money into providing services. That is why we continue to encourage people to enter into repayment plans or try to make sure that their taxes up to date, because, $50,000 taxes, that would be like not paying your taxes for about 20, 25 years.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the Minister for that information. Yes, it was a $15,000 taxation, but, you know, you add $55,000 to it, it all becomes a $70,000 tax bill, and some of these people are inheriting these from people as their parents or families are passing away. I guess my understanding is that the Government of the Northwest Territories was a collection agency for these municipalities that are not tax-based, but all of a sudden, you know, they are collecting it, and 48 per cent of it is going to school and 52 per cent to the hamlets, which is great, or the municipality. My question, though, is: it's my understanding that this 15 per cent interest rate happening, of non-payment, is actually going to the GNWT and not to the municipality, so can the Minister explain to me why that 15 per cent interest rate is going to the Government of the Northwest Territories?
The Member is correct. All interest charges that are collected remain with the GNWT, and we keep the money because we bear the cost of collections, so that is why we keep the money. Again, I have to make the point that we do not want to see people getting that far into tax arrears. A few years ago, I think there was an initiative to try to have the communities themselves set their own mill rates, collect their own taxes, and use it, but most communities, other than these tax-based communities which already do it, did not want that option because then they in turn would have to deal with the non-payment of taxes and the interest that is collected. So, we would like to enter into repayment plans with anyone who wants to come forward and have a discussion on the repayment of their plan.
As far as the interest rates go, I mean, that money still stays with the government, and it may have to be a broader discussion. One of the things I am concerned about is, if we do it in one community, start forgiving the interest, then we have to do it territory-wide and we send the message that, if you don't pay your taxes, don't worry about the interest; we are going to write it off. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier today the Minister mentioned in his statement that it is Tourism Week. My questions today are for the Minister of ITI. As we know, tourism is having a big impact here in the North, all year round now, and NWT parks experienced 35,000 visitors in the last year, and campgrounds seem to be booked year over year, so I would like to ask the Minister: can the Minister please give us an update on what the GNWT's investments are expected this year, maybe even next year, for the purpose of expanding campgrounds or maybe even building brand new campgrounds? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I did in my Minister's statement, I said that ITI is going to be spending $7 million on parks infrastructure in this coming year, which is a significant investment across the parks system. One of the things that we need to make quite clear: we are almost a victim of our own success here around tourism, because the growth has been so substantial and the pressures put on the system have been enormous. I commend the department for all of the hard work they are doing. As I said, we are spending $7 million on the parks system this year, which includes a lot of money in all the regions. We have six regions that we have to look after, even though Yellowknife probably has the most pressure right now, with the amount of people who are using the parks in the NWT, especially on a daily basis.
Like I said in my Minister's statement, we are spending $1 million on project design to attract the visitors across the Northwest Territories in this coming fiscal year. We are spending $200,000 around community tourism infrastructure programs to help build transformative tourism infrastructure in small communities, so, with the limited amount of funds that we do have, I think the department is doing a great job. As I have said, I think we are a victim of our own success.
Thank you to the Minister. Yes, we indeed are blessed with great tourism opportunities. I guess maybe what I should have done was be a little bit more specific. I would like to ask the Minister if there are any plans for investments with regard to the campsites up and down the Ingraham Trail, as it relates to specifically expanding campgrounds to meet this high demand and/or even look at opportunities to build new ones? I know that, last year or the year before, the department did do a new loop out at Prelude main, but are there plans in the capital plan for the next five years, 10 years, to help meet this demand by building more campsites on Ingraham Trail?
As I said, we are spending $7 million on park infrastructure this year. In my notes, just in the North Slave, I think going forward for this capital year, we are going to spend roughly $1.384 million in the North Slave region. There is going to be money spent at Fred Henne Park, Prosperous Lake boat launch, Powder Point Territorial Park, Fred Henne kitchen shelter, Prelude Territorial Park boat launch, North Arm Territorial Park in the Monfwi area, and Prelude Lake Territorial Park loop D needs to be finished up, as well. So there is significant money that is going to be spent in the North Slave region, and we will continue, as we go forward in the next capital budget cycle, to look at our needs assessment as we look at all the parks across the whole system and what investments we need, and, with the help of this House, where we are going to target those investments.
Thank you to the Minister for that reply. Everybody is grateful for the contributions and investments that the government is making. In particular, the residents of Yellowknife North are grateful for the investments on Ingraham Trail, or all Yellowknifers and visitors here, quite frankly.
I mentioned in my statement that maybe it is time to reach out to potential partners to further exploit this great tourism opportunity, and I am just wondering: can the Minister tell us if he or his department staff have had any discussions with, say, the City of Yellowknife, a private enterprise, maybe even non-profits, the Yellowknives Dene, about opportunities to partner or building and maintaining additional campgrounds?
If those types of conversations took place, they would have taken place at a level below me. I could certainly have a look at that. I think that one of the things going forward, something that has crossed my mind is particularly the Fred Henne Park, which is right here in the City of Yellowknife. I think we need to have a discussion of maybe the city wants to take that over or maybe the YK Dene or somebody. There is an opportunity there, I think, for either one of them to latch onto that, and we can have a discussion around that.
As far as expanding new parks across the system, I am not aware of any conversations that have taken place so far.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, indeed, I believe that there are possible opportunities, but the conversation has to start somewhere. The Minister did mention the City of Yellowknife and the potential for Fred Henne. I mean, thinking also of Folk on the Rocks, maybe with the Yellowknives Dene down at the Yellowknife River, some things along those lines, but we have got to start somewhere with these conversations, because there is definite need.
With that said, talking about earlier, there is demand all year round now for tourism in the Northwest Territories, and particularly Yellowknife. I am wondering if the department has given any consideration to opening up some of the campground sites in the wintertime, like actually ploughing some snow and making it accessible, say, at Fred Henne and maybe Prelude Lake to allow some of the aurora tourism to take place in those places instead of being parked in every ditch and nook and cranny on Ingraham Trail? Is there an opportunity for this sort of thing, Mr. Speaker? I would like to ask the Minister. Thank you.
Yes, I believe those conversations have taken place, and the department is looking at what we can do particularly around opening up some of these parks, particularly on the Ingraham Trail around the wintertime. It is a serious safety issue, I believe, with the amount of traffic that is on there, with the amount of loads that are going to the mines.
We have a number of tourists. Operators are well aware of the situation. They are trying to run safely and look after their customers, but one of the concerns is these independent tourists, if we want to call it that. They come here, they rent a vehicle, and they go out on the Ingraham Trail. They want to see the northern lights, and they park on the side of the highway. That is a concern of ours, and we are trying to address that through signage and communications around that, but I think the department is looking at bringing something forward where we can open up these parks in a more meaningful way to get these people off the road system, particularly in the wintertime. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I made a Member's statement on Taltson Dam, but I am not exactly sure where to direct my questions, either Infrastructure, ITI, or the Power Corporation. I will ask the question and maybe the government can provide me a response.
Discussion has started on the expansion of the Taltson Dam again, and there is a plan, I believe, to do something with the dam. I am wondering if any of the discussions have included the Indigenous people of Fort Resolution and Lutselk'e at this time? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Who would like to take on the question? The Honourable Premier.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to direct the question to the Minister of Infrastructure. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I have stated before in this House, the Taltson project was one of our pan-Canadian asks around the Climate Change Strategic Framework. This is an important project, we believe, but it is also in the very early stages. I think, once we get a little more information from the federal government, if they are supportive of this project going forward, at that time we will sit down with Indigenous governments and figure out their involvement going forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would like to ask the Minister if he is prepared with his staff, or the appropriate staff, even if he doesn't attend himself, to meet in Fort Resolution and in Lutselk'e to advise the people of what the plan is? Whether the federal government has approved it or not, there is some movement, and it would be nice if the people were there from the beginning, not like what happened the last time. I would like to ask the Minister if he is prepared to send staff into those communities to talk about the Taltson Dam expansion?
As I have stated, this is a very important project to the Government of the Northwest Territories and residents going forward, and I believe, based on what the Member has just asked me, I would be prepared to send our staff in there and have an early conversation, not just with the Fort Resolution community, but with both Indigenous governments that represent everyone in the community.
That is good news. I am pleased to hear that. I would like to ask the Minister if the government would possibly do a retrospective environmental assessment on what had occurred prior to the Taltson Dam?
I would have to have a discussion with my department and get back to the Member on that.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister if there is any plan from the GNWT to spend any money on the Taltson Dam expansion this year? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I can get those details for the Member, but I believe, through our infrastructure bilaterals that we signed with Minister Sohi, one of the line items there is to have a look at some of the preconstruction work that would need to be completed for the Taltson project. There is certainly some money there that we are looking at spending on predevelopment work. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
