Mr. Speaker, I wish to recognize Fernanda Martins, the health policy analyst from the Canadian Cancer Society, in the gallery today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Inuvik Boot Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is my pleasure to welcome to the House and to the North Mr. Michael Roberts, who is an author and motivational speaker. I just want to thank him personally for reaching out to our youth and giving some very strong positive messages, as well as to the residents and communities that he has visited. We do welcome him back up in the future. At this time, I would also like to thank the RCMP and the supportive staff for accompanying Mr. Roberts and getting him into our communities. Mahsi cho. Thank you.
Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to recognize a Page from Yellowknife North, Lea Schwarz, who is also a student at Ecole St-Cyr. I want to thank all of our Pages for the tremendous work that they do for us. We wouldn't be able do what we do without them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to introduce two Pages from the Kam Lake riding, Ms. Katrina Butt and Ms. Belinda Formaniuk. It is great to have them in the Chamber helping us out, and all of the Pages. The youth are our future, and it is great to see them taking an interest on our procedures. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Recognition of the visitors in the gallery. Member for Thebacha.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize two Pages from Thebacha, students at P.W. Kaeser School, Anais Aubrey-Smith and Sarah Porter. Thank you.
Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize our interpreters, Maro Sundberg and Tommy Unka. Mahsi.
Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize Mr. James Pokiak from Tuktoyaktuk. James owns and operates Pokiak Guiding and Outfitting. He has been operating this for over 40 years. When you talk about traditional knowledge in the House here, on the floor, and in forums around the territory and around the country, James is one of the people who you would naturally go to see to learn more. When you see him around, pull him aside, ask him a few questions, and gain some of his knowledge. It is nice just to be around some days, Mr. Speaker, so I would like to welcome James to the gallery. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Yellowknife South.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize a Page from Yellowknife South, Andrea Geraghty, and all of the other Pages who have been here for the past three weeks. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to acknowledge the achievements of Patrick Clancy, recipient of the 2019 NWT Outstanding Volunteer Award in the Elders category. Since establishing the Yellowknife Wado Kai Karate Club in 2009, Patrick Clancy has nurtured the physical skills and mental discipline of territorial youth, sponsored master clinics and demonstrations, and he has generated 18 new black belts. He spends more than 400 hours of volunteer work per year to make the NWT karate scene a centre of national excellence and youth achievement. Congratulations and thanks go out to Patrick Clancy. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier on, I spoke about the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and my questions are for the Premier. My first question is: can the Premier advise the House whether he has had any discussions with his Nunavut counterpart or Inuit leaders regarding the Northwest Passage? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. The Honourable Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have spoken publicly that the Arctic needs to be higher on the Government of Canada's agenda. The Government of Nunavut is supportive of this message. I am committed to raising the issue of strengthening Canada's position in the Arctic with Premier Savikataaq of Nunavut and Premier Silver of Yukon when we meet in early June. The geopolitical context of the Arctic is shifting, and I anticipate that recent events, like the statements made by the United States on the Northwest Passage, will be raised and create an interesting discussion. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I appreciate the response. Can the Premier advise if he has had any discussions with the Prime Minister on how he plans to involve the Northwest Territories in any discussions moving forward regarding the Northwest Passage?
I had called for a national debate on the future of the Arctic a year ago, but I have not yet had any direct discussions with the Prime Minister on this issue, though I have been clear in my statements in this legislature and publicly that I think that Canada needs to take steps to strengthen its position in the Arctic.
Our forum is always welcome to that. My final question to the Premier is: would the Premier be willing to include a question to party leaders on how they will engage the Government of the Northwest Territories regarding the Northwest Passage should they form government during the next federal election?
All of the major federal political parties should have platform positions on how to strengthen Canada's position in the Arctic. I am working to raise the profile of the Arctic, and will look at many opportunities including letters to the political party leaders to get this issue the attention it deserves in the upcoming federal election. I should point out that, four years ago, we wrote letters to all of the political parties and their leaders, and we had very good, detailed responses to the questions that we raised, so it's certainly a good way to getting attention during the federal elections.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have some questions for the Minister of Infrastructure. It might be better suited to the Minister of ENR, but I've been assured by his staff that the Minister of Infrastructure can answer at least part of these questions. It's about the highway closure on Highway 35 in Alberta. Now, there's a concern that Highway 35 leads out of Alberta, and there's really not a lot of Alberta infrastructure north of that highway, but for us in the territory, that highway is very important. There is some concern that maybe Alberta isn't putting the resources in there they could be to put that fire out so that we can open that highway up. Would the Minister of Infrastructure be able to give us an update on what the Government of Alberta is doing in order to put that fire out so that we can open the highway up? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As we talked about this yesterday in the House, and I think this is timely to have this question anyway to inform everyone what's going on. The Alberta government has reassured us that they are in full response of this fire. They have their own incident management team managing the fires in Alberta. They are well aware of the situation that's going on there, and I think the whole country is quite concerned about what is going on down there. I have talked to an ENR minister in his department to get an update on all activities on what's going on, and the Department of ENR has a resource-sharing agreement with the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, and we have mutual sharing aid agreements across this country. The Government of the Northwest Territories has exported to Fort McMurray, because that's where the Alberta government has asked them to send them, but we have exported an information officer. We have exported one complete Fire Boss group consisting of an air attack officer and four air tankers and a Bird Dog plane. ENR is also committed at this time to offer four crews, which would be up to 20 firefighters, which are going to be available starting Monday, June 3rd, with the expectation that, every two weeks, we would be rotating out the firefighters.
It doesn't sound like we're directly dealing with the fire, but we're sending resources down there where they're needed so Alberta can put resources toward the Steam River fire. Is the GNWT coordinating with the Government of Alberta to implement a plan to begin allowing motorists to travel along that highway by night with a convoy, or at least to let essential goods down that highway?
Again, to update the House, as of yesterday, the Alberta government, it's their fire. It's their jurisdiction, and they're in charge of things. They are escorting essential goods through this section of highway for the residents of the Northwest Territories as long as it's safe to do so, and as of yesterday, we're doing that. We are also communicating all these messages, as I said yesterday, publicly through Twitter, our online road map system, messaging boards and such, so the travelling public knows what's going on. There will be questions, I suspect, about Highway No. 7 through the Fort Liard region. That route is certainly open. I've had a few people phone me, and the Member made the statement today, it's double the mileage, but at this point right now, if you want to drive back and forth to either BC or Alberta, you're going to have to use Highway No. 7. That is the only available route at this point.
In addition to the highway being out, the railroad is closed, and not necessarily from the Steam River fire but from the High Level fire. As we learned yesterday, the rail bridge at Steam River was consumed by fire, apparently. Does the Minister know how long it would take CN to repair its railways after they have access to it? Because, if they have to rebuild the bridge, there might be other sections, and I'm just wondering how far behind this could put us in terms of the marine resupply.
Yes, the Member is right. I got a picture sent to me today of the trestle actually burning to the ground there. Actually, the fire was so hot that it warped the railroad, so there's going to be significant work that is going to have to go into this, and we're in constant contact with CN, and keep updated on how they're going to address this situation.
As far as the fuel goes, we've already got hold of the fuel supplier, and they have activated their fuel response team. They reassure us that they've got a trucking solution already put into place to get the fuel to Hay River to try to meet our barge schedule and maintain it as close as possible. We don't foresee that as being a concern at this point right now. As it is going to have to be trucked in the short term, the fuel supplier told us and reassured us that they are going to do that, and they expect to have trucks rolling as soon as tomorrow. As I've said, at this point right now, essential goods and fuel will be escorted through the fire situation at this point unless it gets too dangerous, and we're also looking at a long-term trucking solution to be able to meet our sailing schedule and work with CN.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know, I think, rail is probably the cheapest way to ship goods, so there's probably an increased cost associated with trucking the fuel, I guess, around the Liard Highway. I know last year we discussed trucking fuel to Inuvik, and it was about an additional $600,000. Does the Minister know what the cost implications would be for trucking as opposed to using rail?
Last year when we had those discussions, that was to meet the emergency need, what it would have been to truck it around. It was a hypothetical question, I guess, if we trucked our fuel and staged it out of Inuvik. This situation with delivery of fuel to the Hay River port, I'm going to have to check with our procurement people and see where the delivery of fuel is actually supposed to be. It may be that this extra cost might be burdened by the Government of the Northwest Territories. It might actually be on the supplier of the fuel. I'll have to get that information and get that back to the Member. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Recently, I had an issue brought to my attention about Student Financial Assistance. After doing my own research, I have some questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Mr. Speaker, some students exhaust all their remissible loans or supplementary grants. They end up needing to access student loans, which need to be paid back. In speaking with students, they don't have any issue with that. However, there seems to be a roadblock in the way. It's called an assessment of a student's income. I had one student after getting reassessed only get $120 per month. This did not help the student, so the person had to reach out for help. Can the Minister advise us why we need to do an assessment of a student's income if a student loan is what they are asking for? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do have to start by saying that we have one of the best student financial supports in the country. I know I've accessed student loans from other provinces and supplementary program for Indigenous people wasn't an option, so I do have to start with that. The other thing is that Student Financial Assistance isn't a basic right. It's a privilege, actually. The Student Financial Assistance isn't meant to provide unlimited financing to everybody in the world to access. It's actually meant to supplement income, and actually support people. It is income tested. We can't just give it to everyone who needs it. We just don't have that kind of money in our fiscal budget, so it is based on a needs assessment to determine how much the student would need.
I don't think anywhere in my comments did I say anything about how bad our system was. Our system is one of the best in Canada, so let's get that straight. I understand that system. It works well. However, it's about a student loan that they have to pay back. It's right in there. It says how much you get. You get a maximum of this, so all of a sudden the student is put on the spot. We're talking about Northerners, and when we talk about income assistance and assessments and that, we're having struggles.
To streamline the process, can the department have a monthly amount students can access in loans instead of having an assessment process done?
As stated before, at this point, it isn't just a monthly amount that anyone can access. It is based on the needs, so we do do an assessment, and I think at this point we'll be staying with that because we just don't have the money to support everybody to do anything. I think that it should be income tested. I think that, if people can afford it, then they should help supplement. Like I said, it's something that we try to supplement, but we have to make sure the money goes across as many people as possible.
I guess we should just tell our students to quit going to school, or go down south and don't come back, because that's what some of the students are saying, is that they cannot afford what they're getting with this assessment. When we do these assessments, as I said, I had a student who got $120. It's not that she has an elaborate rent, or anything like that; it's not because she's eating five-star meals. This is what her struggle was. She was looking at about $850, then it went down to $120. So this is the problem.
If the department is going to do calculations, then a minimum amount needs to be identified in the policy so that students are aware of this and don't plan on things that will not be available to them. Will the Minister direct the department to add this information to the policy or website?
Yes, we will absolutely look at our policy and add the minimum amount, because, in some cases, people might even qualify. If we don't have that in, we should have that in, so I will commit to actually having that information in our policy.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Minister's commitment on that. During my research, I noticed that Form F has to be filled out each time a student applies for SFA. Can they Minister explain why this has to be done? Once it's done, shouldn't it be good enough? I mean, their status is not going to change, so can the Minister explain that? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
