Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as other Members of the House have mentioned, many of my constituents have concerns with the government's carbon pricing plan. I've taken a look at some of the statistics on emissions. If you look at the overall emissions for commercial and residential combined, it only makes up 10 per cent of total carbon emissions, so it doesn't seem like everyday Northern families are really the ones who are creating the highest level of emissions. I'm wondering if there's a way we can better craft a system to shield them from potential economic hardship that comes along with new pricing systems.
When you look at industry, mining, upstream oil and gas production accounts for 25 per cent of emissions, whereas transportation accounts for 49 per cent. This seems like industry is really where we need to target. So has the Minister explored a cap-and-trade system or the potential inclusion of the NWT into a carbon market where we could put the onus squarely on industry who are causing most of the emissions? Thank you. Sorry, Mr. Speaker. Minister of Finance.
Masi. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, during our review of carbon pricing, we did look at whether cap-and-trade was feasible. The analysis at the time was the NWT economy was too small to participate in any cap-and-trade program in any meaningful manner. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Did the Minister look into partnering with larger jurisdictions to be part of a carbon market? The province of Ontario was a part of California's carbon market. They joined with Quebec. So was that proposed, or was it just looking at the NWT as a carbon market?
As the Government of the Northwest Territories, our priority is looking after the people of the Northwest Territories. That's why we informed Ottawa that we're going to come up with a made-in-the-NWT approach that would help minimize the impact that carbon pricing was going to have on residents of the Northwest Territories.
I agree with the Minister. We need a made-in-the-North system, so I'm trying to explore other options that may have not been considered. I commend the government for actually bringing forward a plan. It's just late in the game, and people are concerned about how it's going to affect families, so can the Minister share the cap-and-trade analysis they've done with this House or release it publicly so we can see the analysis and see exactly what was considered?
The federal government came up with carbon pricing. Our job was to adjust. I think the Government of the Northwest Territories and the folks have done a great job at mitigating some of the impact it's going to have on residents of the Northwest Territories. As far as the cap-and-trade analysis, I'll have a look and see if that document exists. If it does, I'd be more than happy to share it with Members. Again, I go back to the fact that we are finding a made-in-the-NWT approach.
We recognize there was going to be hardship in families. We had a "what we heard" document. We had a number of comments from across the Northwest Territories. A lot of folks across the Northwest Territories are wondering what's going to be on their table tomorrow morning for breakfast. I think we've taken steps to help address the impact that it's going to have on families in the Northwest Territories.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate that there are offsets and rebates in the carbon pricing proposal. However, industry, who are our largest emitters, seems to have many very high rebates built into it. So I'd like to ask the Minister what the priority was in the carbon pricing plan. Was it on the everyday family, the people who are producing only 10 per cent of emissions, or was the focus really to work with industry to lower those emissions and to bring us to the standard that we need to be at to reduce temperatures moving into the future? Thank you.
We are trying to find a balanced approach. Of course, industry in the Northwest Territories, which is very important to the Northwest Territories and our economy, are some of the biggest emitters in the Northwest Territories, so we wanted to work out a program that would benefit them. It goes without saying in this Chamber that people in the Northwest Territories are our priority.
Mitigating the impact on the people in the Northwest Territories, I think, is something that the government has done a fairly good job at. We rolled out our approach to carbon pricing. So there's a lot of information out there for those that are curious as to what the impact might be on them. Again, we need to find a balanced approach that works for industry and, more importantly, works for people in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have a few questions for the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation. Mr. Speaker, in the past, we have had some successful projects in the Mackenzie Delta, mainly Tsiigehtchic and Fort McPherson, with the building of three log homes, two of which went to private homeowners and one is now an RCMP residence. I would like to ask the Minister: is the Housing Corporation open to pilot projects in the Mackenzie Delta to build log homes? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First and foremost, I do know that building log homes has been done in the past up in the region, and that there were some successful projects with that. If we were going to look at such a pilot or project moving forward, they would have to meet national building codes, first and foremost. Also, as you know, we have had some debate in this House in the last government and this government about even just modular and stick homes, and that is another concern for residents up in our region. If we were going to look at log homes, it would be having to meet the national building codes. Also, the costs, it could be very expensive getting logs and getting that kind of work put together when you compare to modular or stick-built.
As you know, and as I have said in this House since we started session, all communities are going to do some community housing plans to look at priorities, where they want to go. As Members also know, we do have a community housing support initiative that we are working with community governments, Indigenous governments, to look at unique and innovative ways to address housing needs in our communities. If we were going to look at that, I would say that program, the community housing initiative, might be the one to look at. I will have more discussions with the Member and hope that he brings that back to his leaders to discuss.
The Minister touched a bit on my next question, but I would like to ask: in the past, residents were able to put in sweat equity. Would the department continue with their past practices?
Of course, we want to work with all of our communities, our stakeholders, our residents in the NWT, and one of the programs that we have here that has been working very well here in Yellowknife is working with Habitat for the NWT, and we want to make sure that we want to try to get that program out to outside of Yellowknife. The first community we are looking at is actually Behchoko. If we can get people in the regions, in the small communities, to work on something like the Habitat for Humanity projects, then definitely we will look into that. You know, each community is going to be different from the next and, if the communities of Fort McPherson, Aklavik, or Tsiigehtchic have some kind of idea, we would be more than willing to work with them and, as I mentioned, with the community housing support initiatives, work through some kind of project through that initiative.
The Minister touched a little bit on the national building code, and, Mr. Speaker, because we have Wood-Mizers in both Fort McPherson and Tsiigehtchic, we have the capability of doing log homes in line with the national building code, so will the Minister support this initiative to provide log homes in our communities?
As I mentioned, the community housing support initiative is, I think, the program that would well suit what the Member is asking. We would be willing to sit down with leadership, sit down with contractors, sit down with the Member. We do have some good partnerships in some of his communities already, and, as I mentioned, one good partnership that we have is with a lot of our Indigenous organizations. IRC and Salt River First Nations are a couple that I can think of. We would be more than willing to sit down with the Member and his leadership to try to look at addressing some of the housing needs. As I mentioned, you have to look at the cost, you have to look at what is going to be more efficient and better for his residents, and those are discussions we can have.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have questions for the Minister of Lands. Mr. Speaker, the Minister wrote to priorities and planning on managing unauthorized occupancy in the Northwest Territories. I have some questions for the Minister. Has the Minister rolled out the cabin-type lease at this point? Thank you.
Masi. Minister of Lands.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The department has developed a new cabin-type lease that will be implemented on both territorial and Commissioner's lands. This will support greater consistency between the two management regimes. We are expecting to roll that out in the fall of this year.
One of the options for unauthorized occupants is to take the government to court, and I would like to ask the Minister if going to court over unauthorized occupation includes cabin that are out in the hinterland, like just the regular traditional pursuit cabins?
Yes, Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned yesterday, we are trying to determine which cabins are unauthorized and which are rights-based. We have considered them all untenured, and we want to find out from initially the Aboriginal groups which are actually rights-based. So that is our first step in this effort. Again, as I mentioned yesterday, there are more than 700 cabins or properties out there that are of concern, and we want to know which fall into which category, so that is our first step.
In cases where the government considers unauthorized occupants are going through the stages and are then taken to court and the occupant uses Aboriginal and treaty rights as a defence, can the Minister advise us if those cases would be put on hold until the lands and resources negotiations are settled?
We realize, of course, that there are unauthorized and rights-based properties that we are going to be dealing with and that different defences could be raised in both cases, so we are going to be extremely cautious in moving ahead with court cases in either of these situations. However, I can't give a total undertaking that we will not proceed.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in that letter the Minister advised priorities and planning that there is an evaluation process. The evaluation process has various steps. In the letter, the Minister indicated that steps 1, 2, and 3 will begin in the fall of 2018. We are well into the fall of 2018. I would like to ask the Minister if the evaluation process of the unauthorized occupants has begun?
As I mentioned yesterday, we have written to Aboriginal groups; that is really a first step in this process. We are waiting to hear back from them. We sent a very extensive number of letters out to a large number of IGOs. We are waiting to hear back from them, so that is really the first step. I understand that I will be before committee at the end of October, and I could perhaps prepare and explain where we are in the whole process at that time.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Mr. Speaker, now that the Minister of Health has recovered from all his questions, I have a few more. He is well-informed about the situation of a constituent of mine who has ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease. Recently, people in Yellowknife held a major fundraiser to meet his expenses, now that his disease has progressed where he needs a lot of different kinds of support.
He is not eligible for public support for his condition because it's not listed in our medical health insurance program. My question for the Minister is whether he can explain how it's possible that such a serious and not completely uncommon condition could not be eligible for treatment?
Yes, the Member is correct. ALS is not one of the conditions covered under our specified disease conditions under our supplemental health program, but I do want to make it clear that, unlike many other jurisdictions, things like homecare are part of our services that we do provide. We are working with clients and residents who have different specified diseases such as ALS, providing them with things like homecare and other services that they wouldn't get, or they would have to pay for in other jurisdictions. Having said that, the specified disease condition is just one of our programs that focus on things like prescription drugs and sometimes medical supplies and these types of things.
Currently, most of our programs are tied to the non-insured health benefits program, and ALS is not something that's covered by NIHB. We are trying to move away from having a specified disease condition program here in the Northwest Territories. I agree with the Member. It doesn't seem to capture some of our residents who are in the highest level of need, and it should be based on condition or on individual's ability needs, rather than a specified condition.
We are doing some work to modify our supplemental health programs. Much of the work is going to occur in the life of this Assembly, but it probably won't be until the next Assembly that some decisions need to be made around that. I do hear the Member's frustration. I share that frustration. We will certainly work with individuals to ensure that they are getting as much support as they can.
There is lots of good news in that answer. The fact is that, if I had the misfortune to walk out of here and get hit by a truck and I needed a wheelchair, no one would question my eligibility for that, but my constituent who has this terrible progressive disease has to make a case for it.
Having said that, the Minister and his staff have been helpful coordinating with the ALS Society of Alberta in providing services to this person. As an alternative to the specified condition, is it possible to create something like a catastrophic disease fund where somebody who has a progressive disease that has very high needs over a short period of time might be able to access help?
In reviewing what has been provided by other jurisdictions across this country, it has been clear to us that no other jurisdiction actually has coverage for ALS, either. Fortunately, in other jurisdictions, they do have ALS societies that have done incredible work to support people with ALS by getting them the equipment they need, often on a loaner basis. We don't have an ALS society here in the Northwest Territories, but the Alberta ALS Society has been a significant partner for individuals in the Northwest Territories who are struggling with ALS.
Having said that, I take the Member's point, and we have had conversations about upgrading our supplementary health programs, modifying and changing them. We are doing that work. I think the Member's suggestion is certainly one that we have to consider, and it will be incorporated in discussions around the future of supplemental health programs.
Thank you to the Minister for that response. As the Minister may know, this is a disease without a cure. The debilitation continues to progress, sometimes quickly and sometimes not. Both of my paternal aunts died of this disease. I've seen it up close. What is the Minister's plan for this individual going forward in terms of providing him with the care he needs so that he has the best quality of life for his time remaining?
I'm not prepared to discuss an individual's plan of care in the House of this Assembly. I don't think it is the appropriate place. The Member and I, as well as other Members who have been providing consent by the family, have had some discussions. I am certainly happy to sit down with any of the Members who have received consent from the family, and I am happy to meet with the family again to discuss where we are. We have had a discussion with the family previously, but I am definitely not about to start talking about an individual's plan of care in the House before this Assembly.
Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
I appreciate the Minister's response. My final question is whether the Minister can give us an indication of how many people in the NWT have been diagnosed with ALS? Mahsi.
I know the current number in the Northwest Territories. I can't tell the Member how many people over time have had ALS. The number is quite small, and given the fact that it's small, it might be statistically inappropriate for me to throw that number out, but I am happy to have a sit-down with the Member and let her know how many individuals are currently living with ALS in the Northwest Territories.
I say that recognizing that the media has already interviewed both the individuals or their families, so we know how many individuals there are out there, but I'm not prepared to say at this time, except I did just say "both." Whatever, two.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to report to the Assembly that the Standing Committee on Government Operations has reviewed Bill 8, Emergency Management Act, and that Bill 8 is now ready for consideration in Committee of the Whole. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to section 64(2) of the Liquor Act, I wish to table the following document entitled "Northwest Territories Liquor Commission 64th Annual Report." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Tabling of documents. Minister of Health and Social Services.
