Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in preparation for the summer months, for discussions to the Sahtu housing needs and assessment with proper strategy planning, which is fundamental to family home security in this steadily growing demand environment.
Mr. Speaker, all regions, including our capital, are experiencing shortages and overcrowded homes. Mr. Speaker, as we already know, our territory faces many challenges, such as seasonal community access, high operating and building costs, and limited resources. However, the NWT Housing Corporation continues to balance their efforts with additional focuses on accessing federal resources.
Mr. Speaker, last June, this government tabled as a starting point a community-by-community core needs assessment on the concept of prudent management, allowing our communities to analyze their housing goals and aspirations by reviewing this assessment material. Mr. Speaker, on the issue of advancing forward, developing a sound model, and giving thought to what we have done, where we were, where we are, and more importantly, where we want to go, this theme can be the Sahtu Regional Housing Conference Summer 2018.
Mr. Speaker, it is incumbent upon us to utilize information both nationally and territorially to not only advocate, but ensure our residents are accessing all necessary available programs and services. Later, Mr. Speaker, I will have questions for the Minister of Housing on this theme. Mahsi.
Masi. Members' statements. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. Giant Mine Oversight Board is responsible for independent oversight of the mine remediation project. That board recently held its second annual public information meeting in Yellowknife, attended by about a hundred people, including me. The meeting follows on the release of the board's second annual report. Earlier in this sitting I tabled a recent board letter to the Prime Minister of Canada on the need for an apology and compensation for the damage done by the Giant Mine. The board has also written an urgent letter to the federal Indigenous and Northern Affairs Minister and to our ITI Minister, calling for action to capture more of the massive potential benefits of the billion-dollar-plus project.
The board letter to the Ministers points out there is "no public comprehensive socio-economic strategy developed for the remediation project." Of the more than $350 million in project work spent so far and the more than $1 billion spending in the coming 10 years, there is little prospect of local people getting jobs, contracts, or training. In its 2017 annual report, the Giant Mine Oversight Board pointed out that the federal government spent $40.3 million on work at Giant in 2016-2017, but only 23 per cent of the workers were from the Northwest Territories and only 4 per cent were Indigenous. The future does not look much better. Parsons Inc., a US-based multinational, was awarded a $32 million contract to be construction manager for the work at Giant for the next two years, and will likely go on to be the project manager following the proponent's completion of water licensing.
Urgent action is needed now, Mr. Speaker. The board points out that, with only two years before remediation work begins, "the timeframe for developing the socio-economic strategy is now." The letter calls for vision and leadership from the most senior levels of both governments.
The board has called this government to action. Our government needs to step up the pressure on the federal government to make sure the people who suffer Giant's legacy at least get some benefits from the planned remediation. I will have questions later today for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources as the lead on Giant Mine for the GNWT. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Members' statements. Member for Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, graduation is without a doubt a huge accomplishment to many students this time of year. Throughout every school, there is excitement in the halls, decorations going up, the students are excited, parents are proud, teachers are happy.
We have kinder grads, grade 6 grads, grade 9 rites of passage, high school graduation, not to mention college and university grads. We celebrate with our families and other families in our communities. Graduation is a special occasion, and we take every aim to congratulate our students any way we can.
Mr. Speaker, it takes teamwork to survive anywhere in life. Our students' teams consist of parents, teachers, friends, siblings, mentors. The list goes on, Mr. Speaker, but that does not mean teachings are done. Our students have a long way to go in life. Achieving this goal is a milestone to many, one that will stay with them forever.
Mr. Speaker, at this I would like to mention grade 12 graduates from the Mackenzie Delta riding; Amanda Andre-Niditchie, Darius Andre, Cassandra Paul, Dakota Whitbread, Raquel Blake, Keenan Francis, Judah Hanthorn, Janessa Blake, Richard Stewart, Brandon Firth, Tony Alexie, Dre Neyando, and Calvin Macdonald. Congratulations to each of you. We are all very proud of your accomplishments and wish you all the success in your future endeavours. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, for 31 years, Brian Jaffray has been teaching and working with the students of the Nahendeh/Dehcho region. It is with sadness and joy that I announce Brian's retirement after this school year. Brian has worked at the Echo-Dene School and the Dehcho Divisional Education Council office. He was awarded the Governor General's Medal for Teaching Excellence in History, and today he was inducted into the Education Hall of Fame. Brian, I would like to thank you for the positive impact you have had over the years, and I wish you the best in your retirement. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Quyanainni, Mr. Speaker. Earlier I spoke about increased maritime traffic and the impacts of northern communities. My questions are for the Minister of Infrastructure. Mr. Speaker, my first question is: how is the Department of Infrastructure ensuring that our northern communities have proper marine infrastructure to cope with the increased marine traffic? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Currently there is significant opportunity to secure funding for marine infrastructure in the Northwest Territories under the Oceans Protection Plan, which I have mentioned in the House here lately. Under this program, the federal government is investing roughly $94.3 million over five years under the Safety Equipment and Basic Marine Infrastructure in Northern Communities Initiative, which is the intent to make investments in on-the-ground safety equipment and basic marine infrastructure to support safer communities, resupply operations, in training for the use of maintenance equipment, and for infrastructure. Transport Canada has begun recently accepting proposals under this program, and the department has been working diligently with them, and we will be submitting our application here shortly.
It's good to see that the Minister is looking into opportunities for Nunakput and the Northwest Territories. Mr. Speaker, Tuktoyaktuk now has a highway, and, to me, it's an obvious candidate for a deep-sea port in the Arctic. Mr. Speaker, I am wondering: has the Minister of Infrastructure considered the construction of a deep-sea port in the western Arctic Ocean?
One of the things that we are considering submitting under this Oceans Protection Plan when the call comes out is actually for a planning study of marine services in the centre in Tuktoyaktuk. That would be a shipping marine operations for the Arctic Ocean. I know the department has been in discussions with the mayor, and I believe we actually have a letter of support fully supporting our proposed planning study application with the Oceans Protection Plan when we do submit it.
It's good to see that the department is working not just within the federal government, but as well with Indigenous governments in the Northwest Territories. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister provide a timeline for improving the precarious docks in our northern communities?
The Oceans Protection Plan is going to provide a great opportunity for us to secure funding to improve marine infrastructure across the Northwest Territories, in all communities. In the case of Tuktoyaktuk, once funding is approved for the planning study, which we hope it will be, and with the ongoing discussions that we are doing it sounds very favourable, we will be able to get a better picture of what the marine infrastructure needs will be in the community. Once that planning study is done, it will be able to give us further submissions. As I have said, this is a five-year process of rolling out this $94.3 million.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources as the lead on Giant Mine. The Minister must have received the May 24th letter from the Giant Mine Oversight Board that asks that he "direct senior levels of management to expeditiously initiate a concerted and coordinated effort to develop and implement the Giant Mine remediation project socio-economic strategy." What is the Minister's response to that request? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as co-proponent of the Giant Mine project, the GNWT will be working with the Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs in responding to the recent correspondence from the Giant Mine Oversight Body. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would like to thank the Minister for that. Not just work with CIRNA on getting a letter together, but actually take some action as well, and that is the subject of my next question: what action has the ENR Minister taken to raise these northern benefits concerns with the federal Minister, who has received the same letter, and is he prepared to lead the urgent work of developing a socioeconomic strategy for Giant Mine remediation in partnership with his federal counterpart?
ENR is the lead department for the Giant Mine project. However, we do work closely with other departments, such as ITI, through the Interdepartmental Working Group. This is a federal-funded project, and federal procurement and contracting rules are being followed. We continue to work with the federal government on bringing our concern forward. I believe our Minister of ITI, in his conversations with his counterpart, has raised it. I believe our Premier has also raised it in his discussions on there, as I have as well.
This work is expected to be completed by the summer of 2018. We will outline considerations to ensure Indigenous businesses and Northerners benefit from the remediation project.
I want to thank the Minister for that. It sounds like more than one Minister is raising this matter in Ottawa, and that is a good thing. There doesn't seem to be very good tracking and reporting of northern benefits from this project. I would like to know: how does the Minister plan to begin tracking northern benefits from the Giant Mine remediation in accounting for the future economic impacts of this project? I understand it is being led by the federal government, but what is he going to do to help make sure that better tracking of benefits takes place?
The main construction manager's contract requires them to track northern and Indigenous benefits. The Giant Mine Remediation Project team will be reporting on the socioeconomic benefits associated with the project on an annual basis.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. Thanks to the Minister for that. On an annual basis, maybe we can get something quarterly or something, but I am sure he is going to take that up.
Our government gets millions of dollars in federal funding for infrastructure projects each year that we administer to maximize Northwest Territories benefits. I don't understand why we can't manage the remediation of the Giant Mine, with appropriate federal oversight, and use our better-equipped toolbox and experience some benefit retention. Have the Minister and his officials considered whether we could take this approach and work with the federal government on Giant Mine remediation and use the full suite of our tools, things like negotiated contracts, the Business Incentive Policy, and so on, to make sure that the benefits from the remediation stay here in the Northwest Territories? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
The federal government has contracting authority on this project, and they have awarded the contract to Parsons Canada. The benefit of having a main construction manager is that the delivery of the project is broken down into smaller work packages, which maximizes local opportunities for Indigenous and northern business. Using this approach, there are a number of contracts related to the project presently out for award. Once these contracts are awarded, we should have an indication on how the socioeconomic benefits are rolling out for Northerners. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier in this week I was asking questions to the Minister of Lands about leases. As I said, when I looked into this further, I noticed a large number of residents who live in designated authorities were hit big time with increases due to their leases, whether it's their homes or their traditional cabins. In speaking with the residents, they came up with a question: how is this government working with First Nation peoples if we continue to do this? Can the Minister please explain how his department is working with the First Nations community? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Lands.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In November of 2016, the department engaged committee with our intent and duty, in fact, to consult Indigenous governments with respect to proposed fee changes. The consultation included changes to fees for lease rent minimums, among others.
In November, following up on that commitment, consultation letters were sent out to IGOs. Now, I have the letter in front of me, which I would be very happy to share with the Member opposite, and can see that it dealt with a large number of fee changes, including the lease fees. This letter went out to a large number of Aboriginal organizations, dozens of them, both within the Northwest Territories and outside the Northwest Territories. As I mentioned the other day, there was a consultation period, and committee was informed when that consultation period was over. That consultation, as I say, included a great number of Aboriginal groups, so we felt that we fully fulfilled our obligation to consult. That really is the consultation period that I referred to in some earlier questions, the consultation with Aboriginal groups. That took place, and as a result, after the consultation period was over, we moved ahead with this.
Of course, quite apart from the letters that did go out, there was considerable discussion in this House and in the press about the proposed changes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I thank the Minister for his answer. I guess consultation is different in my books. I think we should be engaging. We should actually be going to the communities and talking to them, and not just downloading a whole bunch of letters to them and expecting them to understand what we are talking about, but I will take the Minister up on it and get to see the letter, and we will go from there.
When the government was looking at this increase, I was wondering why they didn't have an implementation over a period of time on that instead of just the one-time shot. Can the Minister explain why this idea was not looked at and implemented?
There is no phase-in for individual lessees because the approach taken is to have the changes take effect during rent review or lease renewal processes. Because the changes to lease fees do not take effect until an individual lease is renewed or at the next rent review date, as stipulated, some leaseholders may not see changes for their lease fees for up to five years. This means that some leaseholders will have received, in essence, a five-year advance notification of the fee change.
As I mentioned yesterday, although it seems, when I was looking at Hansard, I may have used the wrong dates, if a lease was renewed last year for a period of five years at the old rate, if I can put it that way, then that rate would still be in effect for the term of the lease.
I thank the Minister for that answer. I guess I am still struggling with why we didn't do a phase-in over a period. Leases change, and that, but they could have done that. I think the government could have been working with the residents instead of seeing a 336 per cent to up to a 560 per cent increase in their fees. That concerns me.
With the Government of the NWT reducing Commissioner's lands to 5 per cent, I have to give credit to the government. That was a positive step. I would have loved to see 3 per cent, but 5 per cent, as the Minister says, is better than the 10 per cent. I will have to give them credit for that.
However, was this part of the strategy to make up the shortfall for the revenue that the GNWT was losing when the Commissioner's lands leases were reduced, by increasing these fees?
No, the matters are really unrelated. I think for some time we had thought that the lease fees were too low, and of course when discussing the 10 per cent amount, which we have now reduced to 5 per cent, we heard from the Members opposite this was of great concern, and in response to those concerns, we lowered the rate.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, but unfortunately, I didn't get an answer. I heard a reduction of 5 per cent, you know, but it didn't say if that was in there, this reduction. I guess, the Minister of Finance, maybe I should be asking him the questions on that, but I'll worry about that later on. So my last question: with the huge increases to NWT lease fees, can the Minister please advise the House what the residents will see when it comes to the service being offered by the GNWT? Are they enhancing the services? Are they doing anything, including for these people out there who have cabins out in the bush? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
We had thought for some time that in no way did the lease fees cover the types of costs of administering such a huge area. So we thought there had to be an increase in any case, but apart from that, of course, there are certain things that lessees receive. One of those things is exclusive right to use the land with legal certainty. So we feel that that alone is worth quite a bit, and of course there are issues that Lands is going be having to deal with in the future, such as unauthorized occupancy. So yes, there were increases, and we feel they were justified. Thank you.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation and responsible for Homelessness. Is the Minister satisfied that having six people in a bachelor apartment with a hot plate and a bar fridge is appropriate housing for them, and not a priority case for the Housing Authority? Thank you.
Masi. Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Of course, I'm not. I don't think anybody in this House would feel that way, or even agree to that. I think that, as a government, we try our best to house individuals in the situations that were mentioned. We have a homelessness working group that we're working with to address these issues.
In terms of anybody who is in a situation, as the Member had mentioned in her statement, the NWT Housing Corporation has formed a new partnership, called the NGO Rental Partnership Program, also referred to as rapid re-housing, to support the YWCA, the Yellowknife Women's Society, with housing stability for residents who they serve. This support is very flexible and can be used for such things as damage deposits, rent supplements, or rapid re-housing. This partnership is designed to support households, like I said, throughout the NWT, as we had mentioned.
Now, Mr. Speaker, there is a reality. There is a reality that we do have long waiting lists on housing throughout the Northwest Territories, specifically in our regional centres, and here in Yellowknife is our biggest. We try our best, we try to address it, and I do want to affirm that staff at the NWT Housing Corporation works diligently, they work hard, they try their best to house any individual in any circumstances, as well as our staff at the local housing organizations, as well as our regional offices. We've developed partnerships with NGOs, we've worked with community governments, Indigenous governments, to address homelessness and housing issues.
Mr. Speaker, there are realities out there, and I just want to let the Member know that my staff are working very hard to try to address these issues. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
What I take from that answer is there's no shortage of programs, but somehow there's a disconnect where this family, who is living in inadequate circumstances, is not being hooked up with a variety of programs that they may be eligible for as a low-income family. It's important to note, Mr. Speaker, they're a working family. They are not on income assistance. So they are trying to make it on their own initiative, and somehow there is this gap between what they need and what is on offer. How can the Minister bridge that gap?
