That is something that I will consider. If we have folks within our department who are able to navigate their way through and understand what type of permits, licensing, or approvals might be needed, if we have that kind of knowledge, I don't see why we wouldn't be able to provide that kind of assistance to those who are trying to navigate their way through to see what they actually have to do to meet all of the regulations.
Thank you to the Minister. That is encouraging. Can the Minister give direction to his department to provide at least an active offer or something public-facing on a website to let other people know, if they are interested or have a proposal, that they can go to the Department of Finance for assistance with Ottawa?
I will have a discussion with my officials and see if there is any type of information that we could put out there to help people. Again, it would be just assisting through navigating to see what kind of permits that they actually have to get. I am sure that we would have some knowledge of that. Again, I would have to work with the department and make sure that we have the knowledge before we even make that offer.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Is the government in a position to be open to supply contracts or sole-sourcing northern businesses that enter into the cannabis market? Is that something that is a possibility if a viable business is brought forward to help address our supply needs? Thank you.
It would have to be a case-by-case basis. I can't make a commitment right now that we would specifically buy from a northern manufacturer. If there was one here and they gave us a price that was competitive, then we would seriously have to consider that. For me to say that we are going to strictly buy from a Northern supplier, I think, is premature. We need to work with them, make sure they have a price that is competitive and one that we can work with. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources. I will go a little easier on him today. It is not even about caribou. I know that he also has responsibilities to lead on Giant Mine remediation. The Giant Mine Oversight Board is concerned about the murky relationship between the working group and advisory body and socio-economic action plan. All of this is supposed to increase benefits from remediation work at Giant Mine. Can the Minister explain briefly the roles and relationships of the working group, advisory body, and the action plan? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Kind of ironic, we are having that conversation today. I had my grandchildren here this weekend. I took them actually out for a ride to the site, but there was a fence there. We couldn't get too far in. I was explaining to them some of the history of Giant Mine and a lot of the stuff that they were working on. I was hoping to actually get them as close as I possibly could. My grandson was asking me questions. I actually had to go back to the apartment. I had to look it up and see, get some answers to his questions. I managed to do that.
The socio-economic advisory body is a committee made up of senior management representatives from Indigenous, municipal, federal, and territorial governments. An advisory body meeting was held March 11, 2019. There was agreement that all signatories to the environmental agreement would be members to the advisory committee, including the YKDFN, Alternatives North, and the North Slave Metis Alliance. The advisory board provides strategic advice to the working group. The working group was established to coordinate all aspects of the socio-economic strategy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I want to thank the Minister for that. I actually got to go on a caribou road show with him one time, too, while we were driving around, driving-around stories. I want to thank the Minister for that answer. The working group is supposed to develop an action plan to flow benefits to the Northwest Territories. Can the Minister tell us whether this action plan is finished, and can he share it with Regular MLAs so we can see what kind of benefits may be coming for NWT residents from the remediation of Giant Mine?
The action work plan to carry out the objectives for the implementation of the socio-economic strategy draft plan has been prepared. The project team already reports on socio-economic performances to the Giant Mine Oversight Board annual report and remains committed to continue to do so. Feedback from stakeholders have informed the key performance indicators. Targets will be presented to the working group in April for discussion. I think the Member's short question was: would we be able to share a copy of this draft plan? I will follow up on that. If there are opportunities there to share it with interested or the public, then I will make sure that is followed up on.
I want to thank the Minister for that commitment. I neglected to say that it was a good move to have all the signatories to the environmental agreement as members of the advisory body. If the Minister checks, one of those signatures on the agreement is actually mine. I don't want to be there, but I helped to negotiate the agreement.
There are $430 million in contracts that have been let so far for remediation. The final price is going to probably be closer to $1 billion. Can the Minister describe whether there is the ability to directly negotiate any of the remaining contracts or other mechanisms to ensure Indigenous and Northern businesses benefit?
It gives me great comfort to know that one of the signatures on there does belong to the Member, knowing the Member's commitment to detail. It is a very detailed report. It gives me a lot of comfort. The federal government remains responsible for the procurement on the Giant Mine remediation project. Indigenous involvement is considered through the use of the Aboriginal Opportunities Considerations, or AOCs. AOCs are measured and aimed at maximizing opportunities for Indigenous companies, businesses, individuals local to the comprehensive land-claim agreement area. Parsons, the MCM contractor, will develop remediation work packages to target the local workforce based on their own labour capacity studies. This will result in work packages structured to maximize local socio-economic benefits. Indigenous involvement is encouraged through the Aboriginal Opportunities Considerations and contained in each work package. Out of the 10 contracts let in 2018-2019, seven of them are Northern or Indigenous business. Out of those seven, five of them are local Indigenous business.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for the detail in that response. I have frequently mentioned the economic potential for the development of a knowledge economy. Creation of a world-class centre on contaminated site remediation is a major opportunity from the Giant Mine project. Can the Minister describe what steps our government may be taking to ensure that we create such a centre and to help us take advantage of the remediation economy? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
The Departments of Environment and Natural Resources and Education, Culture and Employment are preparing to undertake a feasibility study in 2019-2020 for a northern centre of excellence. The feasibility study has been reframed to focus on assessing institution models that best advance GNWT research priorities, grounded in those identified in the GNWT knowledge agenda, and building on the outcomes of the Aurora College Foundational Review process. The core team is finalizing an RFP for a feasibility study request for proposals, RFP. The RFP is anticipated to be completed and released at the end of March.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have risen on the floor of this House to address the concerns of parents around the safety for their children in online environments. I am wondering if the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment can tell me what efforts the department has undertaken to ensure parents are aware of the risks and have the appropriate tools to respond to any concerns. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes. We definitely work within our schools. We start with our Safe and Caring Schools. We provide work around informing students about bullying, supporting each other, et cetera. We re-enforce to students when they are bullied in any way on media and the Internet, et cetera, to notify the school, and we will address that. That is one piece of it.
We also do a lot more areas. We have a media smart, I believe it is called, that is available to all of the JK to 12 that people can use to inform on Internet safety. We have specialized programs for grade fours that they can actually get training on internet usage and then the high schools, as well. Part of that package also actually provides a package to parents to support their youth in Internet safety. It gives them tips around: keep your internet in a public area; don't let them have them in their room; watch what they are doing; limit times; et cetera. I expand on that because it is not only in schools that this is happening. This is happening in homes and communities. It is not only the school. Community-wide, we need to be diligent about what our children are watching on the Internet. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you to the Minister. I know from my own knowledge working with the school boards that they are very good to supporting to parents at most times. Is there any work being undertaken to strengthen the curriculum that is offered to students in these learning environments? I know that my son, for example, is learning how to use computers and the Internet. He has a Google account. These are things that I didn't expect a nine-year-old to have, but he has them. Is there a focus from the department on looking at those curriculums and making sure that they are providing appropriate tools to our children?
Yes, we are always looking at upgrading what we are doing within the school curriculum. That is a normal thing.
I would like to go back to what we do for our grade four to eight students. We actually focus on five modules that provide on social networking, they talk about privacy, they talk about tricks of the trade for online advertisers, authentication skills, and judging reliably with a mock search engine, safe and wise web surfing, and the ethical use of messaging. For high school students, we use the MyWorld curriculum. There are four chapters, and they aim, again, to teach the authentication of online information, to manage your reputation and privacy online, dealing with online relationships, and acting ethically online. Again, at that age, for the high school students, we really focus on what you put out there might not be private.
We are always looking to expand and to update our curriculum, especially with technology. It changes quickly, so it is something that we monitor on a regular basis.
I know that the Minister is fond of saying, "Nothing for us without us." How are students involved in this process, and what are the feedback mechanisms that either the school boards, or the department has working in conjunction with the school boards, and the district education authorities, to ensure that students have an ability to provide feedback to these materials and so that our policies and our supports to families and our kids are informed by young people's own experiences with the Internet and other material?
I will have to get back to the Member on that. We have 10 education authorities. We usually provide the curriculum. I am not exactly sure how they get the student feedback, but I take note, and I am expecting that they do get student feedback. If not, then I will put that forward as a recommendation. I will get back to the Member and find out if we currently do, and if we don't, my recommendation at the next education leaders meeting will be that they get as much feedback from students as possible on all topics.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to waive rule 100(4) and to have Committee Report 14-18(3), Interim Report of the Special Committee to Increase the Representation of Women in the Legislative Assembly, moved into Committee of the Whole for consideration later today. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. The Member is seeking unanimous consent to waive rule 100(4) and to have Committee Report 14-18(3), Interim Report of the Special Committee to Increase the Representation of Women in the Legislative Assembly, moved into Committee of the Whole for consideration later on today.
---Unanimous consent granted
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following three documents entitled "Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 1, 2019-2020"; "Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 1, 2019-2020"; and "Inter-Activity Transfers Exceeding $250,000 (April 1 to September 30, 2018)." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Tabling of documentation. Government House Leader.
Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Premier, I wish to table the following document entitled "Self-Government Agreement-in-Principle for Sahtu Dene and Metis of Norman Wells." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Tabling of documents. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document entitled "Economic Opportunities Strategy - Connecting Businesses and Communities to Economic Opportunities: 2016 to 2018 Progress and Performance Measures." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Tabling of documents. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I have two documents that I would like to table. The first is a letter dated February 25, 2019, from the Giant Mine Oversight Board to the Giant Mine Remediation Project. The second document is a terms of reference for the socio-economic advisory body Giant Mine Remediation Project, dated January 16, 2019. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Whereas Tabled Document 383-18(3), Draft Code of Conduct and Guide For Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories, has been tabled in this House, and whereas the Draft Code of Conduct and Guide for Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories requires detail consideration, now, therefore, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Great Slave, that Tabled Document 383-18(3), Draft Code of Conduct and Guide for Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories, be referred to the Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures for review and that the committee report be presented to the Legislative Assembly during its August 2019 sitting. Mahsi.
Masi. The motion is in order. To the motion.
