Once a month just isn't enough. As you know, it is winter, it is cold, things freeze, and they pile up, and I am not quite sure how they are going to deal with this. What is going to be done in the short term to fix this situation and ensure that these outhouses are kept clean this winter?
I can reassure the Member that we have already sent a contractor out there to clean this up. This has come up in this Assembly every year at this time of year, and we have to make it quite clear. This is a difficult situation for us. These things are isolated and remote. There is no power at these locations, and we spend a significant amount of money on this. We spend roughly $50,000 annually to clean these things up in the off-season, and we could probably spend that a week, if we had to really get after this thing, but we don't have the money to do this. The department is certainly going to be having a look at what we need to do. We are doing a review right now of our strategic plan on parks, and I am sure that this is going to be a topic of discussion.
It sounds like there is a review happening. There will probably be a report that comes out of it; maybe an action plan, maybe a framework, who knows? This has been ongoing for years and years and years, so there must be some sort of plan. I know that there are some bright people working in that department, so what is the long-term plan to ensure that these outhouses remain clean?
As I have said, we have sent someone out there to clean out this facility right now, and the Member is clearly right. We have 8,000 loads going to the mine site this year, so there are 16,000 extra trucks of traffic going just past that facility alone. Just think about that, if that was your washroom, the amount of toilet paper you have to supply.
We are looking at this thing. This is clearly an issue that is not going to go away unless we do something about it, but as I said, these things are located in locations where there is no access to power. We have to have a serious look at how we are going to be able to rectify this problem. Do we put in rotating porta-potties? Do we look at some type of antifreeze? Do we put bigger tanks in there? Is propane heat an option? These are the types of things that we are going to have to have a look at, or maybe, in this particular case, if Members really get on side and really push and help me access some funding from the Finance Minister, maybe we run a power line from the Alberta section to the border.
Certainly, with help of committee and the Members across the House, we can maybe rectify this problem, but we are looking at all of these alternatives. As I have said, we are working on our winter strategy and what we are going to do. This is going to be a conversation, not with just this facility, but with a number of facilities, and it is a challenging thing.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I understand the challenge. There is not even cell service out at the border. There is no power; there is no heat; there are no gas lines. I know that, in Alberta, they have gas lines, they have power, and so they have nice heated washrooms and don't run into these issues. Has the Minister put together an estimate on how much it would cost to install some heated washrooms or some type of infrastructure to avoid this? Do we have numbers that I can at least bring back to my constituents? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Roughly, from the department's numbers that I got from them, it costs $70,000 to construct just a regular outhouse. I suspect, for us to do a heated facility, as we have talked about in this House here and the challenges in the location that it is, it would probably be double that. We would be spending something like $140,000, not counting to run power out to this type of facility. We will work through this through our winter strategy and try to come up with something here before next winter about how we can try to rectify this. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today, I spoke of the directive for the enrolment of students in French language education programs, which, I would submit, is a hangover from a previous time when Ottawa was calling the shots. This seems to be only present in the three territories. Can the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment give us a compelling reason why this is important public policy that must be maintained? Thank you.
Masi. Minister of Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With only having a few minutes to think on my feet what the question is, I guess the first thing that pops into my head as a compelling argument is that we only have two schools in the whole of the Northwest Territories that offer French immersion as a language. That is Hay River and in Yellowknife, and we have to make sure that the numbers don't go over 85 percent, otherwise we are looking at new schools, and we don't have enough money to add more schools, other than what we already have in our current plan. I guess, thinking on my feet, the first argument that comes to my head is making sure that it doesn't go over the 85 percent capacity, which is when we have to ensure that we are looking at new builds. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Does the Minister have the current enrolment numbers? Are we close to 85 percent? Is this a live concern that there are students, you know, waiting to flood the francophone schools and completely overwhelm the current capacity?
As stated, I didn't get any of those questions beforehand, so no, I do not have the enrolment of the French schools on hand at this moment. We do have 49 schools in the Northwest Territories. It is impossible for me to try to memorize those all and bring them up with advanced notice. Therefore, I cannot say where we stay close to the 85 percent.
I have some sympathy for what the Minister has just provided to the House, except that there are only two schools, one school board, that requires Ministerial approval of enrolment. I would hope that she is a bit more in touch with the numbers on this file. Will the Minister commit to reviewing this policy again and, this time, to listening with francophone stakeholders, which was not done the last time? There are major concerns left with this policy. Is the Minister open to another review of the enrolment directive?
I do know that there are only two French language schools, but there are also 47 other schools that I am also responsible for, so it is something that I have to make sure that I spread my ability throughout. As for looking at it right now, if that was brought to me, actually, when I first started in April or two years ago, before it was my portfolio, I would have considered it, but we have six months left, and it is in the legislation. It is inappropriate at this time to start looking at that. We just don't have the time in this Assembly.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe the Minister is incorrect. This is government policy; it is not a legislative change that would be required. This is something that she could change right away, so I will ask now if the Minister will consider getting rid of this policy altogether? Thank you.
Again, because we only have six months left, I have a lot of priorities, and I hate to say that. I mean, it is not that I don't want to work with them. I think it is important to build the relationship and work closely with the francophone community. However, I have a polytechnic on my hands right now. I have new initiatives with the secondary school. I have childcare issues. I have income support issues. How far can I stretch myself in six months and make sure that everything is done to the best of my ability? At this point, no. I think that I will continue to maintain the relationship and build on the relationship with the francophone community, but it is something that should be brought forward in the new Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, my questions are for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. Earlier today I spoke about the federal government announcing their new Canadian Minerals and Metals Plan, and I would just like to start by asking the Minister: we are aware that he attended PDAC recently, and so I am wondering if he can enlighten us a little bit about the conference and, more in particular, about the announcement of the new Canadian Minerals and Metals Plan. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I certainly can update the House on our trip. I just got back this morning. PDAC, again, was another great success for the Government of the Northwest Territories, and a big thank you out to all of our staff who are down there still attending for the next couple of days to help educate people and promote the Northwest Territories. I was there, along with Minister Sohi and Parliamentary Secretary Lefebvre, to announce the Canadian Minerals and Metals Plan, and when we announced it, we had a large turnout, a contingent of people who were there, who were very supportive of the plan that we have been working on as Ministers for the last year.
A little bit of a history on this plan: this all actually started going back as far as 1994, when representatives from the federal, provincial, and territorial governments signed the Whitehorse Mining Initiative, so that is where this thing actually started.
When we introduced this thing yesterday on the floor of the conference there, it was well-received. What this thing is going to do is it is going to set the stage for the Canadian government to work together to build a competitive, sustainable, and responsible industry for the Canadian Minerals and Metals Plan. It is clearly a document that is shared by all provinces and territories. We all worked on it together. It is a valuable document needed to anchor the minerals and metal and mining industry in the Canadian economy. It clearly states that. We are all very supportive of the plan going forward. It clearly lays out in this plan, and the whole conference, actually, speaks to a number of things about this, and it goes to the Member's comments in his Member's statement today about the source of employment and business growth and opportunities for all Canadians and Indigenous people and Indigenous corporations across this country. We clearly say that we have to have a modern regulatory regime and new technologies to ensure safety and responsible mining in this country. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you to the Minister for his reply. I appreciate a little bit of the update from PDAC. We have done significant work in the North here with regard to our own efforts in support of mineral resource development. We have developed our own mineral strategy. We are also in the midst of developing our Mineral Resources Act. Can the Minister share with us a little bit about how he feels this new Canadian Minerals and Metals Plan will align with the efforts that we have undertaken, in particular, our mineral strategy and our Mineral Resources Act?
Our staff clearly worked on this with all of the staff right across the country. It is clearly lined up with what we are trying to do in the Northwest Territories, and when I am out there speaking on behalf of the Government of the Northwest Territories and the residents, particularly around the mineral sector, we are pretty much a leader on a lot of stuff in this country. Our new Mineral Resources Act is going to be something that is not seen anywhere else in this country. Our government predecessors to our Assembly came forth with the resource revenue sharing, which is clearly not adopted by all the people in this country. I think that we are the only jurisdiction; maybe Saskatchewan has something sort of similar. We have socio-economic agreements, which clearly are supportive of the residents in the Northwest Territories, to help us retain as many benefits as we can from these sorts of things.
The challenging thing for our government still is around the regulatory thing, and the Premier has been out there working diligently to get the federal government to have discussions with us to turn that over to us. Specifically to the Member's question of how this plan lines up with us, I think that we were a great contributor to this thing. I think, from everything that I am hearing and what you have seen here lately, with the Fraser Institute bumping us from 21st to 10th place, it clearly shows that our officials and staff in our departments are working very hard and that it is paying off for us.
Thank you to the Minister for the reply. PDAC is obviously one of the largest gatherings of mining companies from around the world, and thousands upon thousands of delegates join there every year. That is where industry meets every year. I would like to ask the Minister if he has any insight on what the commentary or what the feedback has been from industry with regard to the federal government's announcement on this plan, and in particular, if he can, what the feedback is from our northern industry partners on this plan.
We had the Nunavut-NWT Chamber of Mines actually attend PDAC this year. They were there for this announcement, and they were clearly supportive of what is in this documentation. There were a number of resource players from the Northwest Territories at PDAC. I had a number of side conversations with them, and they are quite happy with what is in this document, I think, as a country, as a whole, and how we are going to try to promote this industry and make us a global leader in this area of production in this country, but I think it got overshadowed a bit with our other federal announcement that took place down there.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, that is a good tie-in to my next question, which is: I would like to ask the Minister, then, if we recognize that the new plan is going to identify aspects around environmental responsibility and about Indigenous participation, does the plan identify anything specifically with regard to the infrastructure challenges, the infrastructure gap, that we have in Canada relating to resource development, but in particular in the North? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I am not so sure that the plan specifically speaks to exactly what our infrastructure deficit is, but those conversations are always at the forefront of all of our conversations, be it with industry players, the government, or other levels of government, be it provincial or territorial.
At the same time, when I was down there, we took the opportunity to meet with some industry players and financiers, again, to explain what is going on in the Northwest Territories and clearly lay out what we are trying to do in the NWT, particularly around infrastructure, be it the Taltson Hydro Expansion Project, the Slave Geological Province, or the Mackenzie Valley Highway. Those are the three big ones. We clearly laid out what we are working on, what participation of federal government has given us support here in the last couple of months to work on a number of these projects, and had some meaningful discussion about how we think that people can participate in these types of projects, be it either Indigenous participation with equity involvement or what P3 type of opportunities there might be to come out of these things, but how we have to work with all people in the Northwest Territories to help move these projects forward and make sure that everyone has a voice at the table. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. I would like to ask him when he is planning to table the Manufacturing Strategy. Mahsi.
Masi. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is something that we have been working on, but to update this House, we have actually shared this with the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment on February 15th for comment. Once it has been looked at by committee and responded to, we will be working on finalizing the strategy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Could the Minister give us a preview by telling us how that strategy will assist a small-scale manufacturing plant like the one that I discussed in my statement, the fish-tanning plant in Iceland? How will this strategy help that kind of enterprise?
This strategy has been something that I have been following very closely. As the Member probably knows, I used to be the chair, I guess, of the Manufacturing Strategy. We actually invited the Canadian president of the Manufacturers' Association of Canada to come up and participate with committee and the Members, and we actually had a couple of the Members of the committee participate. I think the Member from Hay River North was there, and the chair of the Standing Committee on Economic Development was there, as well, to be able to participate in these discussions. We have had a number of actions that are proposed in this draft strategy moving forward. Through discussions with the northern manufacturers to date, these proposed actions have been met with a positive response by the manufacturers, and it should lead to strengthening the strategy.
To your specific question of what would it do for fish tanning, I have had discussions with the Member on that, and it is a very novel concept. It is something that I actually thought was very interesting, and that I didn't even know about, that is taking place in other parts of the globe. That would have to be an initiative that would have to be brought forward by an entrepreneur, and if there is an opportunity for an entrepreneur to have a look at that and make some money on it, I would certainly encourage it. It was something that I was very impressed by.
Thanks to the Minister for that answer. I understand that the Manufacturing Strategy isn't to conduct the business, but to assist the businesses that are going into manufacturing or expanding it. It is my understanding from discussion in this House last fall about the Manufacturing Strategy that there would be no money attached to it. Is that still the case?
Currently, there is no new money attached to this strategy.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. It was my understanding from that same discussion that money for enhancing manufacturing would come from the existing SEED fund, and I note that the value of the fund is not budgeted to increase in the next fiscal year. I guess I am wondering how this strategy will be implemented. Mahsi.
As I have said, we have shared it with committee. The Member has an opportunity to access that, I believe, through committee, to have a look it. We have worked on this thing closely with northern manufacturers, and the proposed actions that we have in there, as I have said, have a positive response. We will continue to work with the manufacturers' association, committee, and all Members of this House on trying to figure it out; we are already the leader of manufacturers in the three territories, but how do we make it even better? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. Earlier today I discussed the presentation made by Hotii ts'eeda for their great discussion paper on the knowledge economy. The Minister of Environment and Natural Resources has the lead for our government on the knowledge economy, and I would like to ask him for an update. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the 2019 draft main estimates, which we are debating in Committee of the Whole, for Industry, Tourism and Investment, they have identified some money for work to begin on April 1, 2019, on a strategy to advance the knowledge economy. My understanding is that a project manager has been hired and work is under way. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thanks to the Minister for that. I am wondering whether the Minister or his staff have had a chance to review the discussion paper by Hotii ts'eeda on building the knowledge economy and how they intend to respond to it.
We welcome any work towards advancing research priorities of the knowledge economy in the North, including the recognition of social developments and health, the importance of multiple knowledge and informing research in economic diversification. As to the Member's question, I could not tell you off the top of my head if we have had an opportunity to review that. I will find that out, and I will get back to the Members. If there was some work done towards it, and if there was an opportunity that we had to address it and review it, I am not aware of that, but it may have been done, so I will follow up and inform the Members.
