Here in the Northwest Territories, we fully understand and respect the effects that residential schools have had on a number of our people in the Northwest Territories, and we try to work with them. I can commit to the Member that we will reach out, we will work with people, and if the Member or Members have any specific cases where folks are having trouble navigating through the system, I would encourage them to bring that to my attention so we can deal with it in a fair and timely manner. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. You never know what will capture the nation's attention. Unfortunately, this week, it was outhouses. The questions I asked two days ago about the state of the GNWT-owned outhouses at the border have generated more comments on social media and more news articles than anything I have ever said in this House before. I have even had an interview request from a national news program, so because of that, it is time for round number two of questions.
From all the comments I have seen on social media, two things have become clear: first, I owe an apology to truckers. I don't blame truckers for the state of the bathroom. The problem is obviously a lack of maintenance during a spike in usage, but I see how people could have taken my statements that way, so I apologize.
Second, residents are not happy with this issue coming up year after year with no resolution, so I have some questions for the Minister of ITI. The first question is: was that state of that outhouse acceptable to the Minister? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I like how the Member is trying to spin his Facebook problems back on to the department, but the answer is no.
I agree 100 percent. Everyone agrees that is not acceptable, so because the Minister has admitted it is not acceptable, can I get a guarantee from the Minister that this is the last winter where we are going to see toilet paper breaking the plane of that toilet during the winter months? Can I get a guarantee that we are never going to see this outhouse in this state of repair ever again?
No, I can't guarantee that. As I said in the House the other day when the Member asked me these questions, this is a very challenging situation for us, and I might not even be the Minister of ITI after September 1st. Who knows who is going to be here trying to deal with this situation, but I said we are doing our winter strategy review and we are having to look at the situation and trying to come up with a solution to deal with this. As I said before, if the Members across the House want to get behind me and they ask for more money for this initiative, please do so.
I recall that the Minister the other day said that the Member should get behind him and request some more money. The Minister knows full well that the Members on this side of the House don't control the money. It is the Cabinet that controls the money and Cabinet has to put forward money bills, so I am sure that we can get Members on this side of the House behind the Minister if he puts forward a supplementary appropriation to take care of this problem this winter. Will the Minister put forward a supplementary appropriation to take care of this problem once and for all?
I think the Member is getting a little ahead of himself here. As I have said, we are trying to find a solution to this. Money is not just going to clean up the border, I will tell you that. I told this House there is no power out there. That is the first big challenge around this whole issue in the middle of winter. We are looking for solutions and we will continue to work with that and, if Members want to work closely with me on this issue, I will be glad to take their input.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I understand that this is a challenging issue. There is no power out there, but this isn't a new issue. People have gone to the bathroom since the beginning of time. It has been winter, you know, every year for us since the beginning of time, so there must be a solution out there. I am not even sure what else I can ask the Minister. He is unwilling to put money forward. He is unwilling to commit to anything. Will the Minister commit to this, then? Will he commit to coming back at the next sitting with a concrete plan to get this issue dealt with once and for all? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
As I have said, we are having a look at this. There are a number of options that are available on the table and, if the Member has any solution besides just throwing money at this, I would gladly ask him to come down to my office and give me some solutions that will work on this, and any Member on the other side of the House. This is not an easy problem to solve. Sure, we may kind of make a laugh and a joke about it in the House, but this is a situation, as the Member said, that has been going on for a long time. It is going to take some money and some ingenuity and some innovation to figure out how we are going to solve this problem, and we will continue to do that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member's statement earlier today I spoke about some of our procurement policies, in particular, the Manufactured Products Policy. I would like to ask the Minister responsible why some of these products are proved in general terms, like winch truck, which has no specifications for what is required in that definition, while others require exact specifications, such as steel garbage recycling containers, 52 inches by 54 inches by 71 inches, bear-proof top. These distinctions seem arbitrary and are applied inconsistently. At least, that is the perspective of my constituents, who are not procurement experts. I am hoping that someone who is an expert in procurement can answer some of those questions for my constituents and help us understand why some products have no requirements and others have very exacting requirements. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To be honest with you, I can't answer that exact question, because this policy goes all the way back to the 1990s when the manufacturing policy was brought forward. That is exactly why this government has decided to come up with a new strategy and sit down with the Manufacturers' Association to have the discussion around how we can make our strategy and how we can make this policy better. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I am not getting into that policy, which is not before the House at this time, and the Minister has already told us that. Is that an area that they looked at when they were developing it? Was one of their policy objectives to correct this inconsistency between product classifications?
There were a number of issues that were raised by the Northern Manufacturers' Association, and I believe that this is one of them that we are looking at and trying to figure out a way to address it.
Thank you to the Minister. That is good news, and I look forward to reviewing that strategy. Looking to the manufactured products application form, it calls for "competitive pricing for the same product or products named above from a southern vendor." Why is it up to small businesses to do market research for the BIP bureau? Is this not something that the bureau could do themselves and then use that to inform the registration of these products? Can the Minister commit to at least changing that part of the application process?
As I have said, we are looking at a number of things. The strategy is in front of committee, and if the Member would like to make a comment on that when committee makes their recommendations back to us, I strongly recommend that he have a strong look at that section, but we are looking at this complete strategy to try to figure out how to bring more economic opportunities to the manufacturers of the Northwest Territories.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is always hard to wait for another strategy, but this one is with committee, so I will do my due diligence on that side. I would like assurances from the Minister that he is going to implement the decisions in that strategy, the specific actions, before the end of this government, and that it is not put off for another government to put on the shelf somewhere. Will he implement the strategy within the life of this government? Thank you.
We will be tabling this strategy before the end of this Assembly, and I strongly believe in what we are doing in working hand-in-hand with the northern manufacturers to make this a better document for them with more clarity and figure out a way, as I have said, to bring economic opportunities to the eleven manufacturers that we have in the Northwest Territories and hopefully grow that.
There are a number of meaningful ideas that have been put forward in this strategy to help them realize these opportunities. We have worked very closely with the Northern Manufacturers' Association and, as I said in the House the other day when we were talking about this, we had a couple of committee members who actually participated in that. This document is in front of committee right now, and I am sure that they are going to be making some strong recommendations based on what their feedback is as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Justice. As I said in my statement, the Yukon government is piloting a program to train people to write Gladue reports. The purpose of these reports is to inform the court of the Indigenous offender's background so that the judge can take this information into consideration for sentencing. My question is: has the Minister given any thought to funding a report-writing program like the one in the Yukon here in the NWT?
Masi. Minister of Justice.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Section 718.2(e) of the criminal code requires courts in sentencing to consider all available sanctions other than imprisonment and additionally to pay particular attention to the circumstances of Aboriginal offenders.
Now, the Supreme Court, in the case of Gladue from about 20 years ago, directed sentencing judges to undertake the sentencing of Aboriginal offenders individually, but also to consider the unique circumstances by examining some factors, including the unique systemic or background factors, which may have played a part in bringing in the particular Aboriginal offender before the courts and the types of sentencing procedures and sanctions which may be appropriate because the offenders are of Aboriginal heritage and connection.
For the judge to get that information, generally case-specific information is required from counsel and also a pre-sentence report. In our jurisdiction, these reports are done by probation officers, and I am confident that they are getting the information that is needed before the courts. Thank you.
I appreciate that the Minister has done his homework on this. However, it is my information that pre-sentence reports are written with a different focus than Gladue reports, and so my question, again, is whether the Minister has thought about funding a writing program like the one that they have in the Yukon to produce Gladue reports.
I know that in our jurisdiction there is a specific section of a pre-sentence report that refers to factors related to the accused as an Indigenous offender, including the legacy of residential schools and other contributing circumstances. That information, which is important, is actually a section within the pre-sentence report. The attention of the maker of the report, the probation officer, should be drawn to that section if it is applicable. Obviously, we are always looking for better ideas, and I understand that the project in the Yukon, which is a pilot project, has been going on for approximately one year. We are interested in progress. Certainly, we could look at ways of improving. We are always interested in that in the courts.
I am delighted that the Minister is interested in better ideas. I think that there it is, right next door in the Yukon. Among the benefits of the Yukon program is the collaboration between the Council of Yukon First Nations, Legal Aid, and the government. Does he see a way that this kind of collaboration could be replicated in the Northwest Territories for the production of these Gladue reports?
Obviously, the lawyers who appear before the courts and the probation officers are well aware of the issues and the necessity, in certain cases, of Gladue principles being brought before the courts. Again, we can always improve, and certainly I could be looking at ways in which our systems could be improved and would be looking at new and innovative manners of proceeding.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I am wondering if the government is interested in another of the benefits of the Yukon program, which is that it trains Indigenous people to be Gladue report writers. Could the Minister get behind that kind of an approach here in the NWT and not wait for the Yukon pilot to finish in two years in order to start it? Thank you.
As I say, we are always interested in what is going on in other jurisdictions to see if we can improve our methods. Of course, as I mentioned earlier, the probation reports here are prepared by probation officers, many of whom are Aboriginal themselves. I don't know whether it's most; it could well be. Again, we are always looking at ways of improving, and we will be looking at the Yukon pilot project. Thank you.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation. Now that Phebie and David are retired here, Mr. Speaker, using innovation and current community inventory and low-energy efficiency programs would result in improving our community market with renovated homes. My first question to the Minister: if we have units sitting idle in our communities, would the Minister support a pilot project to single out a unit in Fort Good Hope, Tulita, and Deline to develop the necessary applications to various sources, renovate, and showcase a low-cost home in these communities?
Masi. Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation definitely is committed to using energy efficiency when we are looking at building new homes or even with renovations that are being done in the communities. One of the big things that I have talked in this House, and I will say it again, is we are going to be looking at these community housing plans, and we are willing to sit down with the leadership. One initiative that we really need to get out there and let people know about is the community housing support initiative. That can have an impact on some of the statements that the Member has said. In terms of the pilot projects, I think we will have to sit down with leadership to see what we can do to address this. It is a concern not only in the communities that the Member has mentioned, but also communities across the Northwest Territories. I also just want to really quickly commend the Member on his Member's statement and for appreciating the work that our staff has done for the people of the Sahtu.
Thanks to the Minister for that reply. My next question is: would the Minister support directing his staff to set up a working group to undertake this pilot initiative, with me as a volunteer adviser to the group, to single out these units and develop a renovation plan?
We have set up working groups in some communities, which have been working well to address some of the housing issues. This is something that we can look at speaking with the leadership and the Member about to address some of the housing concerns in the Sahtu region. As I mentioned, we are going to be holding a Northern Housing Summit up in Inuvik, and these are the kinds of discussions that we want to have with our leadership, with our administration, with our stakeholders, and with people who we have invited to the table, so definitely. I know that, when we do have this Northern Housing Summit, perhaps we can look at having a sidebar conversation with some of the leadership in the Sahtu region on what the Member is asking.
The Minister must be a mind reader. My next question was to take advantage of the opportunity while the leadership is at the Inuvik summit to single out these three communities that we mentioned, have a sidebar meeting with the leadership. So would the Minister make an appointment to meet the leadership in these three identified communities to discuss a pilot?
We could even do better than that. We can get our staff to reach out to the leadership right now. I know we have had some of our staff go into the community of Deline. We have met with Fort Good Hope leadership, as well, in terms of their housing plans. They are doing a good job. We have seen what was on the news recently in Colville Lake, and we want to support that. We want to let the leadership and community members know about the programs and services that we do provide and that they can access. We will commit to that, and we will actually reach out to the leadership ahead of the summit and start those discussions right away.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thanks to the Minister for that reply. I have taken photographs already of the inventory. They are sitting idle, waiting for the assessment here to begin. I look forward to the summit engagements there, with the leadership in Inuvik. Thank you.
I will take that as a comment. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.
