Masi. Members' statements. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. One of the most exciting opportunities currently before us is the development of advanced post-secondary education through a polytechnic university. I am proud that, in the 18th Assembly, we have taken significant steps towards making this a reality, but it is important that it be done right, so it demands our continuing attention and vigilance, even in the remaining months of this Assembly.
Mr. Speaker, I see a polytechnic university providing many benefits to the NWT, such as:
significant education dollars will stay here at home;
students can engage in a northern priority curriculum that will equip them to find career opportunities here at home;
promote affordable post-secondary education for all NWT students;
continuing success of existing Aurora College programs and campuses;
address labour shortage issues here at home; and
encourage and retain northern residency.
A made-in-the-North curriculum can be designed to meet the unique needs of both the northern economy and the student body. Programs can be designed with a staged curriculum to meet both the demand for vocational and trades-based skills and academic research, possibly leading to post-graduate work.
A polytechnic university campus based in Yellowknife is a logical choice because of human and civil infrastructure, as well as the demands for housing. As for Inuvik and Fort Smith campuses, I see their communities being enhanced by the increase in post-secondary activities generated by the polytechnic.
Mr. Speaker, the circumpolar regions of the world are gaining increasing international focus. There is huge potential for foreign students attending northern educational institutions. Foreign students pay tuition averaging three to five times what Canadian students pay. This is another area of huge potential growth.
Finally, partnerships with other northern, national, and international educational institutions can provide further opportunities, academic and otherwise. Important research is currently conducted by institutions across the northern hemisphere. Connections and collaborative partnerships among such agencies can be mutually beneficial.
Mr. Speaker, an NWT polytechnic institution should take its place among them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Members' statements. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. According to the Legislative Assembly's own website, the role of Regular Members is to sit as the unofficial opposition. They are "responsible, through questioning in the House and the work of standing committees, for holding the government accountable and responsive to the people of the Northwest Territories."
For Regular Members to do their job effectively in holding government accountable and responsive to the people of the NWT, Regular Members require expedient and complete access to information of government activities. In our current system, all information requests by Regular Members must go through Cabinet and their staff, then to the department, and back again to Cabinet, eventually answering Regular Members. Cabinet members have extra staff to handle their workload, discretionary funds to appropriate as they see fit, and maintain a tight grip on access to departments, agencies, and information.
Simple requests for data sets will often be answered by an executive summary written by departmental officials, and in the past, Regular Members have had to pay for out of their own pockets and file ATIPP requests to get answers from the GNWT on legislative reviews of bills before committees.
Mr. Speaker, the House has the paramount responsibility to oversee the public purse, among other duties, and paramount is ensuring the laws of the land proposed by the government reflect the will, attitudes, and aspirations of the people.
Regular Members need a system that functionally permits this, and our current system places barriers and challenges in the way. Regular Members should not have to have their access to government information filtered through a Minister's office. As far as the membership of this House is concerned, in the much-derided partisan institutions of the South, there are backbench MPs who can speak directly to deputy ministers in those governments to get information. That is something simply not permitted under our current standing procedures.
The restrictions on Regular Members which currently exist in the operation of our consensus system ensure that they are left in the dark at the best of times, and typically, only one perspective in public policy as written by government is provided to them. This is inherently contrary not only to the values of consensus, but also wholly contrary to the values of good government.
Mr. Speaker, we desperately need to fix this system and make the job of Regular Members more consequential to the operations of government and more effective to their constituents, because they are first and foremost the reasons we are here, to represent their attitudes and not the will of government. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Members' statements. Member for Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. [English translation not provided.] Recognizing the Minister of ITI's statement a few days ago on the advancement of the NWT's resource potential initiatives and the number of strategies developed by this Assembly, the petroleum resource strategy, alongside the proposed amendments to the NWT Petroleum Resources Act and the Oil and Gas Operations Act, have been efforts by this Assembly to increase our competitiveness comparative to other jurisdictions and promote increased investment in the NWT oil and gas exploration and production, while enhancing transparency and public accountability. This Assembly has been working to create an environment where investors can be confident in, and proceed with, energy and infrastructure projects throughout the territory, and it's this confidence that will benefit the economic growth and prosperity in regions such as the Sahtu.
Mr. Speaker, we also must continue to support and identify opportunities for our energy resources to be developed locally to reduce the cost of living, displace diesel for a cleaner environment, and create good, long-term jobs. In this regard, we all have a role to play as we adapt to the realities of climate change and transition to a stronger, healthy economy, less reliant on fossil fuels, while benefitting all residents and the small communities, and large urban centres, as well.
I also appreciate that key infrastructure investments in the Mackenzie Valley Highway will help increase the viability of resource development in the Sahtu and support advancements in our territory. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to complete my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mahsi, colleagues. Mr. Speaker, the idle time we have can be used constructively through strategic planning and engagement that include all NWT stakeholders. It's through these collaborative processes that the NWT will create an environment for responsible resource development. Our post-devolution engagement on legislation modernization is in process and, as our term draws near, it allows all Members an opportunity to reflect on the progress and successes achieved.
Soon, we will be reviewing over 200 mandate commitments that were developed collaboratively at the beginning of the 18th Assembly. Although I look forward to the final report, along with the transition report for the next Assembly, I would be remiss not to highlight the successes this Assembly has made in key energy and infrastructure projects.
Lastly, Mr. Speaker, we should all ensure that with our remaining time, we will continue to look for opportunities to collaborate and create positive change for the people of the Northwest Territories. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier I spoke about Marine Transportation Services, and my questions are for the Minister of Infrastructure. Mr. Speaker, my first question is: what is MTS doing to plan for this and future seasons to ensure that they don't run into the same issues as we did last year? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I mentioned in the House here the other day about some of the conditions that we are working on to make sure that we don't get into the same situation as we did last year with the shipping season. We've moved our schedule forward, as I mentioned in this House, and I encourage all Members who have communities that participate or use MTS to inform their residents along with what we're trying to do, along our communications line, to inform them that we've moved our sailing schedule up.
Of course, that is conditional, as I said again on a number of conditions. It's going to be on ice conditions on Great Slave Lake. It's going to be on the conditions of the ice going down on the Mackenzie River. We are a little concerned about the low water levels. The Coast Guard has to put their buoys in again, and a lot of it is conditional, too, as well. We're working with the fuel supplier that supplies the Government of the Northwest Territories for our annual summer resupply. Maybe many Members of the House don't know we have hired an extra person with our communications process through our customer service representatives. These are some of the initiatives that we've taken to hope alleviate the situation that happened last year.
I appreciate the response from the Minister. It looks like there have a lot of lessons to learn as we move ahead, seeing as this is all very new to the government. My second question to the Minister is: are the bulk fuel prices being done, and will they reduce the price of gas for petroleum products for Arctic residents?
All our bulk fuel is purchased in the summer, as I've said. That's our normal practice for the marine summer resupply. The final price of gasoline and other fuels is based on the cost of fuel and the cost of shipment to each community. The changes in sale prices are based on these costs, and we won't know what those prices are going to be typically until the end of fall, until we gather all this information.
Also, on the Member's first note, too, another effort that we are doing to help address the situation is MTS plans to mobilize and stage all fuel and dry cargo in the Nunakput region and Tuktoyaktuk early in the season, too, so that's one of the things that we're looking at adjusting our schedule.
I appreciate that. It's good to hear. It gives MTS a little bit of a reaction time to some of the issues and some of the conditions up in the Arctic along the Beaufort Sea.
Mr. Speaker, my third question is: have there been any planning studies done using Tuktoyaktuk as a staging point for future shipping, not just to Nunakput communities, but to other communities, say, in Alaska and in Nunavut?
Infrastructure has applied for funding through CanNor, and the application is for a study to examine economic employment and community development opportunities, induced by potential investment and improvements in the marine assets and supporting infrastructure to six communities of the Beaudel and the Inuvialuit Settlement Region.
The study will examine and recommend a future role for Tuktoyaktuk as a straightforward staging location for cargo and fuel to support marine resupply of and through the western Arctic. We are contemplating that these improvements will mitigate the risk of any future marine resupply in the area.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is good to hear that. I think that we have gone a long way since this time last year, as far as MTS goes and the planning for shipping in the Arctic communities. It is great to see that the Minister is working federal Ministers on this, as well, Mr. Speaker. That is good news. I commend the Minister for that. My final question is: are there any infrastructure investments planned to improve shipping in Arctic coastal communities in Nunakput? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
As I said, the money that we applied for CanNor will actually give us some pinpoint ideas of what we need to do around that, but one of the big things, I think, that we are doing this year is that, as this House knows, we have gone out and secured the money to purchase four double-hulled barges that will help do the resupply in these communities. The procurement process for building these is under way right now, and we are anticipating, if all goes well, that we will have delivery of these by August of 2020. This is going to help with the existing fleet of the two double-hulled barges that we already have; so we will have six double-hulled barges.
As I have said in this House before, when I have talked about this, this is going to help us. Instead of making two trips to some of these communities, or all of these communities, we will be able to do the resupply based on one trip to each community. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday afternoon the highway between High Level and Enterprise was closed because of a fire that is straddling the highway by Steen River. Not only has this stranded some residents, but the majority of foods and goods that come into the territory travel along that highway. That is because it is the most economical route. If all of the truck traffic needs to be routed through BC and up the Liard Highway, you can be assured that the price of everything is going to go up, not just for the residents, but for businesses and for the GNWT, and depending on how long this is closed, it could cause disruptions to the construction season as well. My first question for the Minister of Infrastructure is: does the GNWT know how long this stretch of highway will be closed? If not, what is the department doing to keep the public informed about the closure in a timely manner, and where can people find that information? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No, not at this time; we don't know how long the highway is going to be closed. We are in constant contact and communication with our Alberta counterparts on this issue. We know that this is going to significantly impact the residents of the Northwest Territories if it is ongoing for a considerably long time. I even mentioned to some of the people last night at the event that the Premier and I were at that they don't think about it, but if this road is closed for any significant amount of time, the residents in the South Slave who are on the road system who are impacted by food delivery and fuel delivery and stuff could be significant.
We are in constant contact with the Alberta counterparts, as I have said. For residents of the NWT who are listening today and want to read Hansard, we have our GNWT Infrastructure website that is going to be posting constant updates on that. We have the Infrastructure Twitter page, which we will be using, and we will also have variable digital messaging signs that are going to be on the highway system. They are already out there, I believe. We are working with different media outlets across the Northwest Territories to get this information out there in a timely manner. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I remember a few years ago when I was heading back up north, and there was a fire by Zama, and we were escorted in the nighttime like a convoy. Is the GNWT working with the Government of Alberta to have vehicles escorted through the fire zone to avoid disruption to the supply of food, fuel, materials, and so on?
The short answer is no. The reason for that is, based on the information that we are getting out of the Alberta department of ENR, whatever their title is in Alberta, this fire is out of control at the present time. It is not safe to be able to escort people through there. They have to get a better understanding of the fire's behaviour. We will be working, as I have said, very closely with these people to get a better understanding of when this will be able to be done. All is I know is today we have north winds down there again, the fire is right along the side of the highway, and it is plus 30 in the region. It is going to remain closed for the short term.
Now, this happened less than 24 hours ago, I believe, the closure was. There were some people who were on their way up north, some people headed south, and I am not sure what the fuel situation is where these people were stopped, if they have all turned around and gone home, but are there motorists who are stranded at either end, and if so, are there services being provided to them, just basic things like access to washrooms and water and fuel?
Yes, we have put washroom facilities at the barricade already. The Department of Infrastructure is also in talks with the Hamlet of Enterprise to see if we can use some of their existing infrastructure, like the Seniors Centre, as a rallying point for these people. The motorists are also being directed into the community of Hay River to use their facilities, as well. As I said, we are in constant communication with the Alberta government and trying to do what we can if there are any questions that need to be answered for people stuck on the other side.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think that every day so far during this sitting, we have heard either statements or questions about marine resupply, and that is because of what happened last season. People are a little worried about whether or not they are going to get their goods, their fuel, their food on the barges. How long before this disruption causes problems with the resupply? I assume that the rail line has also been shut down; I am not quite sure, but that is how most of the fuel comes into the territory. Can the Minister give us some insight on that? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Yes, the rail traffic has been affected, particularly around the High Level fire, not even the new fire that's around the Steen River area. There has been no rail traffic for over a week already. Infrastructure has been in conversation with CN Rail. They have been out there and checked out their asset. They are inspecting it, then doing a weight test on the rail tracks and bridges to make sure that everything is copacetic once they are able to open back up. As of today, none of their infrastructure has actually been affected by the railroad, but we are continuing to work with CN to stay abreast of the situation and keep residents and this House informed when the railroad will be opening back up so that they can get the fuel supply back north. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday I had an opportunity to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services some questions regarding foster parents, and I have some follow-up questions for him today. Mr. Speaker, I believe that people who open their homes for our youth are amazing and kind-hearted people. How does the Department and the NWT Health and Social Services Authority show appreciation to the foster parents annually? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Foster parents make a significant difference in the lives of children and youth, and their efforts and commitment really needs to be recognized and supported and celebrated. Mr. Speaker, we do do that as a government, and we do support the Foster Family Coalition, who takes significant efforts to do this, as well.
Mr. Speaker, each year we take time to celebrate the important contributions that foster families make in the lives of children and youth within the Northwest Territories. For example, over the years, there have been a variety of events to help honour and celebrate the foster families in individual communities, led by regional offices in those communities. Each community and region often has its own way of celebrating. In some regions, they host breakfast. They have dinners or lunches. They provide small gifts of gratitude. The Foster Family Coalition has been really fantastic in supporting the foster families, and they help us by actually getting letters out to the foster families thanking them for their service across the Northwest Territories.
They also host a number of different functions throughout the year. I have had the honour of attending a couple of different dinners and events that the foster family coalition has put on for foster families, where I have had the opportunity to thank foster families directly for all that they do. We also take every opportunity like this to really thank the foster families throughout the Northwest Territories for their incredible work. There are a lot of different things we do. There is not one set program of gratitude or acknowledgement, but we take every opportunity and we work with the foster family coalition, who is really the lead on this, and we support them in their efforts to congratulate and thank our foster families, as well.
That is great to hear. Again, I am looking at the territories and trying to see how we help recognize our foster parents, and it's great that a coalition does that, but sometimes the coalition does not exist in some of these smaller communities, that I am aware of. Has the department looked at recognizing these foster parents, especially on Mother's Day, Father's Day, like even a small gift like a box of chocolates or a card?
The Foster Family Coalition of the Northwest Territories is a territorial NGO, and they reach out to all communities throughout the Northwest Territories. We have not targeted something like Mother's Day or Father's Day. We have actually targeted our formal appreciation of foster parents to communicate in other activities actually centred around Foster Family Week. There is actually a national week set up for this, so we do that rather than looking at Mother's Day or Father's Day.
The celebration of foster caregivers occurs both at a national and a territorial level every year. We know that we need to look at further opportunities, Mr. Speaker, and we recognize and appreciate everything that foster parents do. We will certain work with the faster family coalition to find ways to better support them. There are lots of opportunities for us to do this. We have a good relationship with the foster family coalition, and we will certainly continue to have dialogue around this issue to make sure that our foster families are really getting the support and appreciation that they deserve.
I appreciate the response from the Minister. Again, Mother's Day, Father's Day, just a small appreciation for the great work that these folks do, and, again, I think they are the most amazing people. They open their own homes to look after our youth in difficult times. Does the department budget for such activities in their yearly budget? When you talk about the coalition, do we give them money to help them provide this kind of service?
There is not a budget line referred to as "foster family appreciation" or "foster family gratitude," but there is specific budget within each of the regional offices of the territorial authority specific for supporting foster families, Foster Family Coalition. Within those budgets, the three authorities and the regional operations are able to support foster care appreciation activities and initiatives. So, although there is not a specific line, the dollars that they have available can be and are used to provide appreciation and gratitude to those who are doing this incredibly important work throughout the Northwest Territories.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, I would like to thank the Minister for his answers here today. I guess I am trying to understand the budgeting process and getting it out there, so can the Minister provide us information on how much money is allocated for foster caring, maybe not here today but provide it to us later on so that we can have a better understanding of the money that is put into this? Because, if we see a shortfall in it, then maybe it's something that we need to look at to help improve our foster cares out there.
As the Member knows, any time that any of the departments wish to put additional money into any of our programs and services, we have to build a business case that has evidence to suggest that it's necessary. We are always looking at our programs to see if more money is needed. To that end, we actually did significantly increase the allocation for families through the Foster Family Care Program. The per diems increased significantly about a year and a half ago. That information was brought forward in this Assembly. It was discussed. I cannot remember off the top of my head what the budget is for foster families is here in the Northwest Territories, but I will commit to getting the Member that information. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the Minister of Health and Social Services talking about seniors' month starting in just a couple of days. Although the department provides many valuable services to seniors, there is a gap here in Yellowknife because there is no adult day program. It closed about two and a half years ago, and I ask each session what's happening with it. So, with that, I wonder if the Minister could give us an update on the status of the adult day program for Yellowknife? Thank you.
Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.
