I want to acknowledge the MLA for actually talking about some of the things that we have done, because it's nice to hear in the House. We have a lot of work to do, but it's also nice to recognize that we are working at things, so thank you for that comment.
What are we doing? We have developed our measurement plan. It is already done. Some of the indicators that we have been looking at: we will be measuring stakeholder satisfaction with the program, that is normal; the number of apprentices that are registered and that are certified under the program; and the number and the type of new trades programs introduced. Those are a few of the things that we will be measuring. That is done. That work is done.
We are actually, in the next couple of months, going to be reviewing the outcomes of our evaluations to see what needs to be done. This fits really well within our polytechnic visioning because the vision exercise is talking about what we need in the territory. This work is coming at an opportune time to be able to look at where we are moving forward within our polytechnic university.
As I have stated, we need a whole-of-government effort to effectively address this issue. We need ECE, ITI, Infrastructure, Finance, the Housing Corporation, and probably even Health and Social Services, all working together.
When I asked questions about training to the Minister of Infrastructure, he directed me to address my questions to the Minister of ECE. This leads me to believe that there is some sort of formal relationship between the departments, which is great. I know that the Minister of Infrastructure has stated that there was training done with the Canyon Creek project and the Inuvik Tuktoyaktuk Highway, but I want to make sure that there are training opportunities for the fish plant in Hay River and the 48-bed long-term care facility in Hay River and all of those projects, Mr. Speaker. We have to utilize every one.
In terms of a formal relationship, are there MOUs or other similar instruments in place with Infrastructure and the Housing Corporation regarding using infrastructure projects for training and with Finance regarding utilizing P3 projects for training? Does ECE have these types of MOUs?
We don't have a traditional MOU, because that is not something that we use traditionally across departments. It is more what we use with contractors outside of the government.
However, in saying that, we do work very closely across the departments. Our deputy ministers meet regularly. We have committees of Cabinet who sit and meet regularly. As well, we have our regional training partnerships that ECE uses. It has representation from ECE, Aurora College, Indigenous governments, and industry partners. We work closely, as closely as we can.
Some of the projects where we have been finding examples of how we work together have been the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk highway and the Canyon Creek all-season road. With the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk highway, approximately 185 people were trained on that. The contractor trained over 70 people using simulators to operate rock trucks, graters, and excavator equipment. We provided additional on-the-job training. They also trained one administrative assistant, one heavy equipment support person, three apprentices, and 40 individuals with class 1 and class 3 driver's licences. As well, within the Canyon Creek project, the contractor provided training for 12 trainees and 16 heavy equipment operators, as well as employment opportunities for 50 people during that.
Those are just two examples. I have a list of them, but I am not going to go through them all, Mr. Speaker. We try to work as closely as possible. We need to do better. We know that, but we are trying.
Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give the government credit for what they have done in the past, but I am looking to the future. That is what I am concerned about.
I know that the deputy ministers meet and Cabinet meets, but there is nothing official in place. In the absence of any official relationship, how, exactly, does ECE engage with Infrastructure, the Housing Corporation, and Finance in the evaluation of capital needs and the development and evaluation of RFPs to ensure that training opportunities are fully realized? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
As stated before, we do have a deputy ministers committee, as well as a Committee-of-Cabinet to work with the economy. We still have work to do. Major projects, such as when we look at mines, socio-economic agreements, et cetera, we sit together. The Ministers actually sit together at the table and discuss what we need. Those are put into things such as socio-economic agreements.
All of the departments, when it comes to capital needs, believe me, we are all at that table. We all have our own interests in that process, though, I think, maybe more so than working collaboratively together. What we are falling down, though, in my opinion, is the evaluation of RFPs. That is something that we actually should be looking more at. I will bring that to the Committee-of-Cabinet for the Economy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I have a few more questions for my friend, the Minister of Finance.
I would like to ask the Minister: of the $411 million of spending on the road to Whati, how much of that will go to Tlicho businesses and individuals over the 28-year period? Mahsi.
Masi. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The $400 million that is being invested in the project agreement signed between the GNWT and North Star Infrastructure is designed to maximize the Tlicho and northern involvement. In addition, the Tlicho government has directly invested, I believe, 20 percent into the project.
As far as the actual breakdown of what is going to be staying in the Tlicho region, I think that we will have a better idea of that as the project gets moving forward. As we do with most projects, there is a reporting process, so we will be able to provide real-time information as the project proceeds. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I am wondering if the Government of the Northwest Territories assisted the Tlicho in taking that participation in the consortium that is going to build the road.
If the Member is asking if we assisted them financially to take a stake in the project, the answer is no.
I would like the Minister of Finance to tell us whether this project can be instructed over a longer period of time so that the construction jobs last longer.
No, the financial close has been completed with the proponent, and changing the construction schedule would impact that project cost. Obviously, we would like to see folks working as long as possible. I think, with some of the experience that they gain on this, there may be other opportunities for them to work in other places. It may require some moving around.
I think we have seen a good indication of that with the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk highway project, where 85 percent of the workforce was pretty well from the Beaufort-Delta. A lot of them, with the experience that they have gained, have been able to find other work where they have required operators. There is a benefit that way. It may require some moving around, but we think that that is one of the benefits of the project, and I think that the Tlicho region will see that as well.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Minister for that response. As I mentioned in my statement, in terms of economic returns, it looks like the Slave Geological Province road may be more lucrative because of the advanced exploration that has gone on in that area and because it may be a lifeline for the diamond mines, who are trying to maximize production and minimize costs.
Has the Minister examined the relative economic benefits of the road to Whati to those of the Slave Geological Province, and can he share those results? Mahsi.
First of all, a lot of work was done on the Whati road. The project was submitted. Funding was received for it. I don't think that you can underestimate the value of the road to the citizens of Tlicho and Whati and the benefits that it will bring to them. I don't think I need to point out the benefit, but there are a lot of benefits.
The same level of work on the Slave Geological Province has not been done yet, so I think it would be hard to compare the two, but we can never underestimate the value of making work for residents across the Northwest Territories who actually want to work. I think that this is one of those projects that would be beneficial to Whati and to the citizens of the Tlicho. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs delivered a statement on community government funding. I would like to question some of the contents of that statement. We see the total gap. We see the $8.3 million that the government has invested into this funding gap, and we have a lot of talk about a 50 percent, covering the gap by 50 percent, all this progress that was made. However, the largest pot of funding that remains unresolved is infrastructure, so how much progress has the Minister made on closing that gap?
Mr. Speaker, I know we are going into Committee of the Whole later on and debating the budget for Municipal and Community Affairs. We want to be open with all Members of the Legislative Assembly. Something that we will be bringing up this weekend when we meet with the NWT Association and communities and their membership is that this is an area of issue. As much as we can work and try to get, secure, federal funding to address some of the infrastructure concerns, we will, and we continue to do that. Previous Ministers, previous governments, have worked on trying to reduce that gap that has been involved, and that is the message that I will be sharing with all of our mayors and our councillors this weekend. I think that the Minister's statement says what we have done, and we have seen some successes. I know that, in future governments, this government and future governments, it is going to be a challenge to close that gap, but we have made some progress. We will continue to make that progress, and we will continue to work with our partners, with the municipal and Indigenous governments, to address these issues.
The Minister just mentioned the federal government's role in this funding. His predecessor also spoke of leveraging federal funds to close this gap. I would just like to get a better understanding of this. Is the Minister saying that this formula that has been developed isn't the responsibility of the GNWT to fill? Can he answer that question?
Mr. Speaker, one of the, I guess you could say, the reputations that I have built as being a Minister is developing strong partnerships, and those partnerships do involve federal government. They involve municipal governments, Indigenous governments. We all have a role to play in this. GNWT cannot be the one-and-all to provide the services. We've got to work together to identify priorities and also address some of our core needs. It takes a partnership between all levels of government, but we do definitely play a significant role in this in terms of working with our municipal governments but also lobbying the federal government to get the funds needed to address some of the concerns that we have been hearing.
I agree. We need to support all of our communities and work together to do that, but this funding gap is no one's responsibility but the Minister's, so I am going to ask: what is he actually doing to address the other shortfalls? We have a plan for water and sewer or environmental that is 50 percent complete. It shouldn't be too hard to fill the other 50 percent, but the vast majority of the funding, there is no plan. What is the Minister doing to address this?
We have been working with our partners within the NWTAC. Since I have taken this role on, I have sat down with them, the executive, and have had these discussions. We continue to lobby the federal government. We are creating a strategy, a strategy that we have been working on for a number of years. As I mentioned, you know, I will be open. This government is not going to be able to, probably, close that funding gap. The next government might not be able to close the funding gap, or the government after that. I mean this is something that we've got to address, and some of these are long-term lives of our assets, so we need to address the priorities of our communities on working with other elected officials to move forward.
Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you. Look, I have to compliment the Minister's honesty. It is hard for politicians to break promises on the floor of the House like that. This is our responsibility. This is something we must accomplish. Will the Minister commit to rebalancing this formula so it is a realistic formula, in partnership with the NWTAC? Will he commit to either doing that or fully funding this? There are only two options.
First of all, Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned, we are creating a strategy. I don't know where I broke a promise. You know, I have only taken this position on for about a year, so I think some Members need to be walking a fine line in how they make statements, first of all. We are going to continue to work with our municipal leaders, our federal partners. As I mentioned, for the record, I did not break any promises on this strategy, and we are going to continue to work on that strategy, and we will table it by the end of this government. As I mentioned, I am being honest. I don't think this government is going to be able to close that gap. We have met with mayors and officials. I have met with the NWTAC executive to address the funding gap, and I think there is a good understanding of everybody involved at the table. We will continue to do that, and we can't tie the next government into funding dollars that are going to be tying their hands together. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Your committee would like to report on its consideration of Bill 29, an Act to Amend the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act. Bill 29 received second reading in the Legislative Assembly on October 30, 2018 and was referred to the Standing Committee on Government Operations for review.
To permit time for the legislative drafters to complete the proposed amendments, I would like to advise the House of the committee's wish to extend our review of the bill, with the intention of reporting back to the House on or before March 11, 2019. Therefore, Mr. Speaker, in accordance with rule 75(1)(c) of the Rules of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River North, that the review period for Bill 29 be extended to March 11, 2019. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. The motion is in order. The motion is non-debatable. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried.
---Carried
Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document entitled "Early Development Instrument: Measuring Children's Developmental Health, NWT Change Over Time 2012-2017." Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Tabling of documents. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following four documents entitled "Follow-up for Oral Question 517-18(3), New Mine Potential Resource Revenues Forecasting Analysis;" "Follow-up for Oral Question 541-18(3), Tsiigehtchic Ice Bridge;" "Follow-up for Oral Question 553-18(3), Speeding on the Deh Cho Bridge;" and pursuant to section 6-2(2) of the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act, I wish to table "Annual Report to the Legislative Assembly for 2018 under the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, that Bill 40, Smoking Control and Reduction Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. The motion is in order. The motion is non-debatable. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried.
---Carried
Bill 40 has had its first reading. First reading of bills. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, that Bill 41, Tobacco and Vapor Products Control Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The motion is in order. The motion is non-debatable. All those in favour? All those opposed? Motion carried.
---Carried
