Masi. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, I would like to recognize a few constituents in the gallery. I would like to start by recognizing the Privacy Commissioner, Elaine Keenan Bengts. I would also like to recognize Rosalind Mercredi, Lisa Seagrave, and who is that guy up there? Oh yes, that's Dave Kellett up there. Thank you for being here and welcome.
Masi. Member for Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would also like to recognize some constituents in the gallery today. Today with us are Cameron and Erin Twa, who are the proud parents of Alice Twa, who was recognized for the Minister's Cultural and Heritage Circle recipients earlier today. Also, Alice's proud grandfather Robert O'Rourke, who is with us today, and also with us in the gallery, a constituent in the Great Slave riding is Elaine Keenan Bengts. Welcome to the gallery.
Masi. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I would like to recognize a constituent as well, Lisa Seagrave, and congratulations on winning an award earlier today. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member's statement here, I talked about Madeline Nelner, and I would personally like to thank her niece Susan and her husband Larry Purcka for all the work they did with Madeline during her time here, and taking her home and making her feel loved. I'd like to thank you for doing that. As well, not too many times you get to recognize a couple of friends, Joanne Tetlichi and Liz Wright. Joanne's name wasn't that when I first met her, and it kind of ages me. They're still young and fresh there, but I would like to thank them for being here because they were friends of mine during school. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Nick and Karen Sibbeston married in Lloydminster, Alberta, on August 17, 1968, after meeting each other while studying Education at the University of Alberta. This year, they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. Nick noted that he grew up in the North, and Karen on a farm in the South, and that intercultural marriages are a phenomenon that is occurring more and more nowadays. Nick said that this is truly a great cultural experience; to give and take, and to learn from each other and your differences. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. [Translation] Today, I would like to talk about homecare, the people who are working with the elders. I would like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services: would the Minister be prepared to allocate more homecare money into the system to help seniors stay in their homes as long as possible? [Translation ends]
Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier in this Assembly, we put $2.5 million more into homecare support here in the Northwest Territories, creating a number of positions throughout the Northwest Territories. As the Member knows, we are also intending and planning to move forward with home and/or family community caregiver program that will help elders and persons with disabilities stay in their homes for as long as possible. We are getting close to being able to roll that out. We are hiring someone to help us with the final steps before we start reaching out to residents across the Northwest Territories on how to pilot that. Yes, Mr. Speaker, we are making investments in this area.
[Translation] Thank you. I have two questions there. There's the aging in place program. Is the Minister willing to put more money into the aging in place program? [Translation ends]
We are committed to moving forward with our Aging in Place Action Plan to find ways to help support our residents stay in their homes as long as possible. We are making an investment in this program now. We are getting individuals in place to help facilitate that piloting. Once the piloting is done, we will be in a better position to determine how much financial resources we need to support the program, but this is a model that we believe is going to be effective. This is a model that we believe is going to be helpful to our residents, and we are committed to rolling it out.
[Translation] My fourth question is: we ask for money at the Assemblies like that. Is the Minister prepared to request supplementary funding to run a couple of programs as soon as possible? [Translation ends]
If I understand correctly, the Member is asking whether I'm prepared to move a supplemental to fund more in this area this fiscal year. Mr. Speaker, we do have some dollars available in this fiscal year to help us with design. Until we actually have a design, it would be difficult to run it with a program. It would really be ad hoc, and I think what we want to do is learn from these opportunities, learn from these experiences, so we can develop the program that really meets the residents' needs.
We do have money in. We are rolling out. We will be seeking participants towards the end of this fiscal year so that we can do our testing next year, and then we will be in a really good position to determine what allocation of resources we are actually going to need to make this a reality in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On October 24th, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the Coast Guard announced that they would create a new administrative and operational region focused solely on the Arctic. According to the Minister of DFO, Minister Wilkinson, decisions about policy, resource management, and conservation should be made in the North in collaboration with territorial and Indigenous governments, but one of the first decisions was to hire a new assistant commissioner of the Coast Guard and place that position in Yellowknife.
Why the position will be based in Yellowknife when operations are based in Hay River, and DFO has a big building with a lot of office space, is a little confusing to me and a little concerning to the residents of Hay River. I would like to get to the bottom of it. I have some questions for our territorial counterpart to the federal Minister of DFO, the Minister of Infrastructure.
My first question is: because the federal Minister cited collaboration with territorial governments as a key element in the creation of this new region, what consultation occurred between the territorial government and DFO regarding the location of the new assistant commissioner position? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As far as I am aware of, there was no consultation done with my department. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
It's like the old days all over again when Ottawa was calling the shots up here. Since this decision was announced just last week, has the Minister inquired about DFO's plans and if they plan to move operations to Yellowknife?
As this announcement just came out lately, and we have been in session and I have been travelling, I have not had a direction conversation with the federal Minister about moving any of their operations or any discussion about this new position.
Can I get the Minister to commit to having those conversations so that he can share that information with the House?
Yes, when this announcement came out, I am looking forward to having a discussion with the Minister of DFO and see what their long-term plans are around moving any types of operations around and this new position as well, and having a discussion about this new Arctic region.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is always a challenge to stop the flow of centralization to Yellowknife. We need jobs in our other communities as well. In addition to chatting about the future of this, can the Minister also commit to supporting keeping those positions in Hay River? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Of course, we are committed to keeping what we have in Hay River around the marine facilities as well. There has been much debate in this House lately about how we operate MTS and what our long-term plan should be around that. It makes sense to keep MTS and the Coast Guard located in Hay River. That is both of their headquarters, and we will continue to work collaboratively with the federal government. If there are any plans of changing anything and updating the committee, I will do so. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last week you heard me ask about rights-based cabins to the Minister of Lands. I am going to actually move my questioning to the Premier. Can the Premier advise what consultation has been done by the Department of Executive and Indigenous Affairs with Indigenous governments about the process of determining what cabins in their area are rights-based cabins? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. The Honourable Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Department of Lands is leading the Government of the Northwest Territories' efforts to identify legal rights-based cabins on public land in the Northwest Territories. Lands is currently engaging, on a government-to-government basis and at the working level with Indigenous governments, to discuss how rights-based cabins can be identified and managed in a way that is respectful of Aboriginal and treaty rights.
The Department of Executive and Indigenous Affairs is not directly conducting the consultation or engagement on this initiative but has provided advice on the approach used by Lands to ensure that it is consistent with the Government of the Northwest Territories' engagement principles, negotiations, efforts, and our processes for consultation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I appreciate the answer from the Premier. Can the Premier advise this House if there has been any feedback from the Indigenous governments that is affecting the government's now proposed identifying of rights-based cabins?
The Government of the Northwest Territories recognizes and respects Aboriginal and treaty rights, including the rights of Indigenous peoples to build and use a cabin on public land that supports their rights to hunt, fish, and trap.
The Department of Lands is out engaging with Indigenous governments to discuss how best to identify and manage rights-based cabins. It is premature to say specifically how the feedback will affect any future process. The Department of Lands will use the feedback from the current engagement process to ensure that any future actions related to unauthorized occupancy will respect Aboriginal treaty rights and will not adversely impact rights-based cabins.
I appreciate the response from the Premier. Mr. Speaker, how, if at all, has the approach for identifying and registering rights-based cabins differ in regions with settled claims and unsettled claims?
The Government of the Northwest Territories is aware that some of these untenured structures may be associated with an asserted right in areas with unsettled claims or Aboriginal and/or treaty rights as established through a settled claim. In all instances, the Government of the Northwest Territories is respectful of Aboriginal treaty rights and wishes to develop a respectful approach to managing rights-based cabins in order to distinguish those cabins from untenured cabins.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, I thank the Premier for his answer. Mr. Speaker, can the Premier tell us what recommendation EIA has made about effective communications with people who have traditional cabins, and how is EIA making sure these guidelines are followed? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The Department of Lands participates actively in an interdepartmental Aboriginal consultation working group that is led by the Department of EIA and assists departments to implement best practices for engagement and consultation. The Government of the Northwest Territories' consultation approaches are intended to support respectful government-to-government consultation and engagement and to carry out effective communications with Indigenous governments.
The Government of the Northwest Territories values its relationships with Indigenous governments. Our doors are open. If an Indigenous government has concerns over this process or any other, they are welcome to come to us and identify those, either as a specific concern or during our bilateral government-to-government meetings. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Infrastructure, and it is regarding the possibility of a hotel at the Yellowknife Airport.
I would just like to ask the Minister if he can advise whether the department has spoken with representatives of the hospitality industry as part of the airport hotel study. I understood that that didn't take place in advance of this, call it, undertaking coming out. Has he spoken with the industry since? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I couldn't tell you if the department has or not, but myself, personally, I have received letters from one of the operators about laying out their concerns. We have had an exchange of a couple of letters going forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I guess, as part of that communication and for the interest of the public, as part of the study, has any land at the airport been set aside for an airport hotel?
