Thank you, Mr. Speaker. You can clearly see now the reason why I'm trying to bring this to the floor and draw a little bit more attention to this because, with respect, it just continues to sound like the organization and/or this government is finding a way to say no again to this organization. It's clear that the SPCA needs support to sustain their services. As the demand grows, so does its operating costs. The city and businesses and individuals are all making contributions, but the GNWT does not. Will the Minister commit to finding funds to support the operations of the NWT SPCA?
I really appreciate the work that the SPCA does throughout the Northwest Territories as well as our local SPCA groups in the communities where they do the work. I've also mentioned this is also the responsibility of our community governments, our municipal governments. We will be working with them. I can be prepared to provide my support in terms of speaking with the NWT Association of Communities. We will be having a meeting coming up this month, and I know this has been an issue for the Member and the SPCA, as well. I will make sure that this topic will get addressed at the next NWT Association of Communities, and I would provide my support for the SPCA to look at getting support from our municipal and community governments at this time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to follow up on questions that my colleague from the Mackenzie Delta was asking the Minister of Infrastructure about ice bridge construction. Before this session, I met with a number of delegates from the community of Nahanni Butte, and they spoke about the lack of employment opportunities in the communities. One of the concerns was why weren't local residents and the community's equipment used to build the Nahanni bridge crossing. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister explain the process that is used to build the ice crossing at Nahanni Butte? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think this is going to be an interesting discussion because the Nahanni Butte ice crossing is flooded, dredged, and profiled by the Nahanni Butte Dene band. They already do that work. I know our department brings in the heavy equipment, the Sno-Cats and plow trucks, once they get that up to that speed, and we work with the community on providing their local labour, employments benefits to the community as much as we can.
I greatly appreciate the Minister for that answer in explaining that the community gets it going, but my understanding is that the government takes over. Can the Minister explain: does the GNWT staff, after this road has been built, does their staff look after it afterwards?
As I said, the community is responsible for the construction of the ice crossing through a service contract that they have with the Government of the Northwest Territories. Once an ice crossing is constructed and ice thickness can handle heavy equipment, specialized ice road construction equipment, such as the Sno-Cats and plow trucks, are brought in either from Fort Simpson or Fort Liard. The reason we do this is because the Nahanni Butte Dene band doesn't have this equipment in place. We're there to help them if they were to go out and purchase this type of equipment, that we would certainly look at handing over this portion of the contract to them.
I appreciate the answer from the Minister, and I understand that. The community has come to me and said that they are willing to do this. Will the department look at having the community build and maintain the ice bridge in the future years?
As I've said, we're willing to work with the community if they're willing to go out and purchase equipment. We're certainly willing to hand over the rest of the contract to them to employ their local people and get the most benefit that they can out of it, as much as they can from their community. We're also working with them around their financial management of their contract, as well, and encouraging them to submit invoices in a timely manner so they can recover their costs on a faster basis to be able to help them move this along.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I greatly appreciate the Minister and the department willing to work with the community. It's great to hear, and as always a little bit of work for these small communities has a huge impact on them. The Minister talked about equipment and that, so will the Minister be willing, or his staff, to meet with leadership, discuss this issue, and tell them what they need to do and maybe work with them to see if there is excess equipment out there available for them to take that on so they can continue to work on this bridge?
I can do better than that. I actually had a chance to meet with the Nahanni Butte leadership down at Roundup and we had a sidebar conversation about economic opportunities in their community. We've already decided that, when they're in Yellowknife, they're going to set up a meeting with me to discuss a number of issues, and I will certainly bring this up as part of our conversation with the leadership and try to help them through it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. Now that we have the Minister in such a helpful mood, I might as well go ahead with my questions. In my Member's statement, I raised the issue of GNWT's support and assistance with the replacement of Yellowknife's potable water line. I'm sure the Minister has received the January 10th letter from the mayor of Yellowknife. Can the Minister of Infrastructure say whether he or his staff have had any discussions or meetings with the City of Yellowknife, and describe the outcomes? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, I can one-up that. Myself and the Minister of MACA actually met with the SAO and the mayor of Yellowknife and had this discussion. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Well, while we're on a roll, the municipal funding review conducted in 2014 shows that the City of Yellowknife is underfunded by the GNWT to the tune of about a million dollars a year, based on its needs and size. This is apart from the proposal for the replacement of the existing Yellowknife River water stores pipeline. Has the Minister of Infrastructure had any discussions with his colleague, the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, about Yellowknife's potable water needs, and if so, what was the outcome of those discussions?
At that meeting we had discussions with the mayor and the SAO, and the department and ourselves have had some conversations since. We know the City of Yellowknife, and our department actually has helped them do their application to Infrastructure Canada for the Federal Disaster Mitigation Fund. I believe they had that submitted sometime in January, if I remember correctly the date. They have submitted that, and we have helped them with that.
The departments have talked to each other a little bit. I know the Minister of MACA was off to another federal FPT and was going to have brought this up at the FPT, table some discussions to try to bring back some more information on how we can work with the City of Yellowknife and what other options are available for the City of Yellowknife's water line replacement with the federal government.
The Minister is just full of good news today, and I sincerely thank him for all of this. I'll keep pushing him a little bit harder. Our government, we're always bragging about how many federal infrastructure programs are out there, all the applications we've got in, and so on, and thanks to the Minister for his assistance with the application that the city has submitted, but can the Minister tell me: are there other federal infrastructure programs available to the city and/or our government to help assist with the cost of this water line replacement?
As far as I know, the Disaster Mitigation Fund is one of them. I don't think the federal government has come out with round two of the Clean Water and Waste Water Program yet, but I don't know if that would even be able to meet the expense that this would be, because this is in excess of millions of dollars. I think it needs $28 million, if I remember the number correctly, to replace this line.
As I have said, the Minister of MACA was going to look into other opportunities, what the city could do. One of the things that was discussed briefly is the YK Dene is tied to this situation, if there are other opportunities with the federal government around what their involvement would be and what kind of federal dollars would be available if they were included in this process.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. Thanks to the Minister again for that. To help refresh his memory, it's $33 million for the water line. As almost half of the population of the Northwest Territories is served by the Yellowknife River water system, can the Minister commit to continue to work with the City of Yellowknife and maybe even submit its proposal for a new water line as part of our infrastructure submissions to the federal government? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
For sure, I will be working closely with the Minister of MACA and following up with the mayor and the SAO of Yellowknife. This is an important issue for them going forward. We know this is something that needs to be replaced in the near future, if not sooner than later.
The big thing about chasing federal dollars, and one of the things that both of us, between myself and the MACA Minister, are going to have to do, is they have a certain lens on different types of applications and we're going to have to see whether this can actually dovetail into those opportunities that may lie out there, and we will certainly be chasing those for this particular project. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier I talked about the process of accessing residential lands and commercial lands in the community of Enterprise, so my question is to the Minister of Lands: what is the holdup in turning over lands to the Hamlet of Enterprise for residential and commercial development? Mahsi.
Masi. Minister of Lands.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. There have been meetings, of course, between Lands staff, and I know at least one of our senior people has been over there many times to meet with the community. They have been attempting to arrange some other meetings, and I understand that it has been somewhat difficult to arrange a firm date, but hopefully dates can be arranged in the future.
The Member will know that one of the prerequisites to turning over the land was the community plan that was worked on and has now been approved by MACA, so hopefully we're going to be moving ahead in a staged process to complete this matter. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would like to thank the Minister for providing some encouragement. I really hope that something will come out of the discussions, and at least some mutually agreeable dates on a future meeting. What will the Minister do to bring some certainty to residents and businesses that need land in Enterprise?
As I mentioned earlier, there was a delay in this pending the completion of the community plan, which has been approved by MACA. Lands has been attempting to set up times that they could meet with the hamlet. I am encouraged by the information that I have been provided that there have been several attempts. We realize sometimes in the smaller communities there are capacity issues, but we're hoping that there will be a meeting shortly, or perhaps in March. We realize the citizens of the hamlet do need certainty, and we are working towards that.
When applications are made for land in Enterprise, will the department make sure they are consistent with the hamlet's community plans and bylaws? The Minister stated that the community plan was approved by MACA.
As I have mentioned, a prerequisite to the transfers which have been spoken of by the Member opposite was the community plan. That was required before we moved to this next step. We are now moving to that next step, and there will be a staged approach so that the land that we are planning to turn over will be turned over to the Hamlet of Enterprise.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am curious as to this staged approach that the Minister has stated and whether that staged approach is more likely the condition or perhaps the approval of the industrial project that is on the brink of coming into reality, which is the Aurora Wood Pellets. How long will it take the Minister to resolve this matter? Mahsi.
When I was in Enterprise last year and in speaking to the Member for Deh Cho, I realized that this is an important issue for the Hamlet of Enterprise. We are going to be moving as quickly as we can to resolve these matters because, as I said earlier, we realize how important they are to the community.
We realize that, in smaller communities, sometimes there are issues of capacity, so we are moving ahead on a staged approach, which, in the circumstances, we would think is the best way of moving ahead. I can't give a firm date, but I do know that our staff is eager to meet with the community. Thank you.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it has come to my attention that there is an apparent conflict in the Manufactured Products Policy that this government operates. There was a tender put out. It was very specifically applied to registered manufacturers under the policy, and it seems that certain details of the policy were not followed. I have a question for the Minister. Have there been any changes to the approved NWT Manufactured Products Policy in the past year? Thank you.
Masi. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Manufactured Products Policy still does exist, but, as the Member knows, we are in the process of engaging or have engaged with the Northwest Territories Manufacturers' Association in the public engagement sessions, and we are working on that. We will be tabling that strategy probably in this sitting, but the policy still exists as it has.
On that basis, then, the approved NWT Manufactured Products Policy says that a product that is from an approved manufacturer must be made a term of any contract that it applies to. Yet, on a recent request for tender, the form that was publicly issued said "whenever possible" it would be using NWT products. Can the Minister speak to this inconsistency between the policy and what is being issued on the forms from Infrastructure on procurement?
I don't know the exact specific tender that the Member is talking about, but I suspect, the way the process works, that if there was a procurement for an NWT manufactured product, that would be put out to all compliant northern manufacturers for a bidding process, and, if there were no compliant bids, then it would be going out to public release. That would change the wording of the document.
What I heard is the Minister confirm that the policy still applies, whatever the language of the document says. That is a good thing because, in this case, there were three registered manufacturers, and the policy quite clearly says that they have preferential treatment in this case. Now, I will share the details of this case with the Minister, and he can look over it, but will he undertake to correct this deficiency between what forms are going out and what the policy clearly states, so that we can have certainty for our manufacturers and continue to support them?
I will gladly have a look at the documents that the Member has, but, as I have said, if there was a tender put out to these three manufacturers or something that these three people have qualified for, if there were non-compliant bids that came back, then we would put it out to the public and the wording of that document would change. I will gladly look into this particular tender he is talking about.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier, I spoke about the complexity of our legal system, particularly in regards to family and civil law, and the difficulty that the members of the public have engaging with this system. This isn't the first time that I have raised this with the department. I have had a number of constituent issues that the Minister is aware about. I have brought this to their attention during our business planning process, and I have walked down the hall and sat with the Minister and his staff and discussed this. I don't think the government should provide everything to everyone, but, because it has an authority over the legal system, it must ensure that the system is accessible. It is already providing some good services that could be expanded to make the system much more accessible.
One of those is the Legal Aid Outreach clinic operated out of Yellowknife. The outreach lawyer offers up to three hours of advice to anyone who needs it and can act as a pathfinder to help people navigate the system. I personally think that this work is invaluable and should be expanded, but the government always wants data to back up their decisions, and I understand that the government has been collecting data to understand what outreach services are needed and what are being used. Could the Minister please give us an update as to the status of that work and when we can expect to see this data? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
