Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The comprehensive review of the ATIPP Act involved extensive consultation with GNWT departments, public bodies, the Information and Privacy Commissioner, as well as the public. Feedback received during the course of these consultations, including the IPC's extensive submission, and recommendations identified by the standing committee were thoroughly considered and informed the development of the bill. The amendments will serve to address a number of concerns raised through the comprehensive review of the act. The focus for the department will now be on implementation. I agree with the Member opposite that this legislation is excellent legislation, worked on every a very long period of time by Members of this House and the public.
A number of areas for further work flow from the public consultation and changes that we made to the legislation, including fee reductions, training, identification of classes of records that do not require an ATIPP application and so on. Can the Minister give us a sense of the priorities and timing of this work?
Generally speaking, it is expected that the majority of amendments proposed are expected to come into force by April 1, 2020. The department will need to work with other departments and public bodies to prepare for the implementation of the new provisions and provide training as is necessary. Planning for this work has already begun and will remain a priority for the department.
One of the major irritants we have heard about the current administration of access to information and protection of privacy are the fees that are charged to applicants. These are set by regulation. Can the Minister tell us what action he is going to take with regard to fee reduction and/or elimination?
Yes. Based on what we heard, the regulations will be revised to lower the fees related to the processing of access to information requests. The changes being contemplated are: firstly, decreasing the initial fee for general requests from $25 to $10; secondly, providing for 10 free hours of processing for general requests; thirdly, maintaining the charge of $27 an hour for general requests after the initial 10 free hours; decreasing costs of photocopy charges to 10 cents per page; and maintaining personal information charges of $25, but increasing the number of free pages from 100 to 200.
Of course, the ATIPP regulations will continue to allow public bodies the discretion to waive fees where they present financial hardship to the applicant.
Thank you, Minister. Final oral question. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for those details. I was trying to scribble them all down. Can the Minister give us a sense of timing as to when these fees are going to be reduced and/or eliminated under Access to Information and Protection of Privacy regulations?
This work will require some time, but it does remain a priority. Understandably, the focus of the department has been on the development of the new act. With the passage of the act, the attention of the department will turn to successfully implementing this work, including the development of new regulations. This work is already under way. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am going to ask questions to the Minister of Infrastructure on MTS, which I didn't get to ask yesterday. I am wondering if MTS is well-prepared for the 2019 shipping season. I know the previous speaker asked about MTS, but I am just wondering if the Minister could provide a brief update on how things are going with Marine Transportation Services for the 2019 shipping season. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am glad that we are getting these questions so we can update the residents of the Northwest Territories. Things are going well in Hay River. This is a busy time of year down at MTS getting everything ready and in the water. It is a highly regulated business. Transport Canada is down there. The insurance companies will be there going through our vessels and through all the inspections.
To update the House with what is going on there, the Kakisa has been inspected. That is the tug that we use around the harbour to move stuff around. That is in the water for the last couple of weeks. The Vic Ingraham is in the water, now going through its annual inspection with Transport Canada.
All six barges for the first northbound tow from Hay River are approved for loading. They have already been inspected and ready to be loaded. As I said, the first load of trucks are coming in with our fuel. They will be loading those up and getting ready for them to be able to leave here in the coming days. That is six barges. They are going to depart on June 14th. This is the tentative scheduled sailing date of those.
Of the three vessels that were wintered in Inuvik last year, two are up and running. One is already performing services for Imperial Oil in the Delta. Barges in Inuvik have been loaded with southbound freight. The vessel Edgar Kotokak and the Kelly Ovayuak are preparing to leave Inuvik southbound following behind the Canadian Coast Guard, Eckaloo. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I appreciate the update. It is good to know what is going on and how the logistics of preparation for shipping. I understand that our only rail line to the Northwest Territories is interrupted. If the rail line is interrupted, how will fuel come north, and what is the department doing about this?
As we have updated the House last week, we know the rail line is down with the bridge burning down at Steen River and a number of the rails are being warped. That work is being performed. As I have said, we are working with the trucking companies to bring petroleum products to Hay River. The department is in daily communication with our fuel supplier, Imperial Oil, regarding the impact of the recent interruption of rail services to the Northwest Territories. Imperial Oil is working closely with CN, with the trucking companies, and with their customers to maintain the supply of fuel into the territory. This is a priority for them as well as for us.
I recall last year when we were talking about the cancellation and possibly shipping by truck and what the cost would be, definitely more expensive. Will the change from shipping fuel by rail to trucking fuel cause a delay in the barge departures or deliveries in the Nunakput region this year?
At this time, Marine Transportation Services does not foresee any significant delay in the delivery of fuel to Hay River or delay in the sailing schedule. The department is working closely with the fuel supplier, with CN and the truckers, and has an alternate supply of sources and transportation plans in place. However, the situation is fluid and can change very quickly.
Thank you. Final oral question. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate that. Last year, the ice definitely had a big impact on shipping. I understand that trucking fuel is more costly than transporting by rail. Can the Minister tell me what impacts this will have on fuel prices for the communities of the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Yes. It does cost more to truck the fuel versus moving it by rail. However, Imperial Oil has stepped up to the plate on this. They have told us that they will pay the extra costs for transporting the fuel. They will also move the fuel by truck and will manage the transportation. The Government of the Northwest Territories will only be paying for the original rail rates for the fuel supplied to the Government of the Northwest Territories for 2019 barge season. There is no impact on the price of fuel in the communities that are served by the Government of the Northwest Territories through the Petroleum Products Program. We owe a thanks of gratitude to Imperial Oil for stepping up to the plate for the residents. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In recent weeks, there has been media reporting about the demolition of the Bellanca Building in downtown Yellowknife. This has been part of our skyline for many years, and many residents have been concerned about tearing down what seems to be a viable asset and whether or not there are options to convert it to, some of the ideas that have been brought forward, student housing, a university campus, or transitional housing or low-income housing. I would like to ask the Minister of Infrastructure if the GNWT has considered the Bellanca Building as an asset for any of its projects. Thank you.
Thank you. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I knew we would get questions on this one. This was raised in the newspaper with the Bellanca Building coming down. Now, we have to make one thing quite clear: it is a privately owned business. They own this asset. We are actively leasing space off the Bellanca Development Corporation in other buildings that they own in Yellowknife. They have never made anything aware to us as a government about this building. They haven't used it to bid on other projects in the Northwest Territories, or in Yellowknife, I guess.
For us as a government to look at this as an asset to use for something around the polytechnic university or other things in Yellowknife, we haven't had a viable look at this. We have to go through our processes, get money through the House to be able to move on a number of these projects in the Northwest Territories. The short answer is no, we haven't done that. If we were to do that, we would have to have a good, hard look at this because this is an older building. I suspect there are deferred maintenance issues on this building and hazardous material, depending on what type of renovation a person would have to do on this thing. At this point, we have not clearly had a look at this thing. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I do share the Minister's caution. It is not all that appropriate for governments to reach in to private commercial matters, but there is some precedent when it is useful to government such as MTS. We bought those assets, and now we are using it. If there is a real need for a campus, could this be an opportunity to start fresh? I appreciate what the Minister is saying.
Now, there is some concern, as well, that the public has brought forward around demolition and all that material that as the Minister said, may or may not be hazardous going to the Yellowknife landfill and potentially being an environmental concern. Is the Minister aware of any procedures the GNWT has in place to assist in assessing those concerns if they do present a risk to the public?
We have a lot of environmental regulations in place that the developer would have to follow if they were going to dispose of this building. They are going to have to deal with the City of Yellowknife, I suspect, around municipal waste disposal bylaw requirements. There are a number of environmental issues that would have to be taken into consideration on their side as well as probably ours and the City of Yellowknife if this building was to be ripped down.
Thank you to the Minister for that clarification. The Minister hasn't looked at this. Has any analysis been done on it, not just on whether it is for a GNWT project, but just on the viability of the building as a commercial development? The GNWT rents space from this development corporation. Is there any reason why they are not renting space in this particular asset?
As I have said, they have not looked at any GNWT lease procurement opportunities with this building for office space proposals. We are not aware of any department that is looking for incremental space at this point. I don't believe there is any funding available to do that at this point. A lot of this is all speculation in the paper about what is going to happen with this building. I don't mind having a conversation with the Member if there is an opportunity to have a look at this thing for other projects that the Government of the Northwest Territories is having a look at, but that would be early days. We would have to look at a number of things, I think, to look at this thing. We would have to look at the operational needs, the technical upgrades that would have to take place on this type of building to meet those requirements, all these sorts of things. As the Member knows, the siding fell off there last year. There are code deficiencies, deferred maintenance issues. There are a lot of different things that we would have to have a look at, but I am willing to have those conservations.
Thank you. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Following up on my recognition of NWT Mining Week, as we heard from the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation in his statement, the De Beers Group has made a meaningful contribution. This is an example of industry's presence in our territory, not to mention the absorbing costs of transporting fuel by imperial oil, as well.
Mr. Speaker, last week the Minister released the 2018 Socio-Economic Agreement Report for diamond mines operating in the Northwest Territories. This week is Mining Week, as mentioned, and again, we are hearing about the diamond mines. I recognize that diamond mines are very important to our economy, but what has happened to the other commodities? What has happened to gold, for example? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Sahtu. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. All Members in this House know how critical the importance of the mineral sector is to our economy, and I have been out there promoting this sector, trying to bring back the investment that was gone since the 2008 crash. We are out there promoting the Northwest Territories of our economic viability and our engagement with Indigenous governments. We have been to PDAC. We have been to Roundup, and all of these great things, promoting the Northwest Territories. In those discussions, the juniors have told us quite clearly that access to cash for exploration projects anywhere is very tough. It's very tough. Most of the money has gone to the marijuana market. Raising money is extremely tough for these people. We are continuing to work with them the best that we can.
With that said, we have a couple of different projects that are past exploration stage. We have NorZinc, and we have Fortune Minerals, who are trying to move theirs into the operation stage. We will continue to work with them. We have Osisko and Pine Point, who have really ramped up their advanced exploration and are trying to advance their project rapidly in the Northwest Territories in Pine Point. We both have TerraX and Nighthawk Gold, who are trying to define their projects. We know that they are in a greenbelt situation, and they look very promising.
We are working with all of these guys, and we have our Avalon project with Cheetah Resources, who are trying to do the mini-project out at the Avalon site. These are all positives indicators in the mining sector for a market that is very tight, and we will continue to work on that and promote the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thanks to the Minister for that reply. That is good news there. Can the Minister tell me what his department is doing to support or promote this exploration and interest?
As we all know, we have done a number of things in the last three years, and we will continue to work on them. We have our mineral development strategies in which we will invest another $2 million this fiscal year for the regions that are participating. We have the Unlocking Our Potential brand that we will continue to work to increase public and industry awareness, knowledge, and understanding of the Northwest Territories.
We will continue to fully engage with the federal government, particularly around infrastructure investments. We have been very successful in infrastructure investments in the Northwest Territories, and we will continue to work with our colleagues in Ottawa to invest in the Northwest Territories, to help us improve our mineral potential in the Northwest Territories and to the world.
The Minister of ECE continues to work on Skills 4 Success to help promote education around the jobs needed in the future of the Northwest Territories. A number of them are around the Mineral Resources Act. We have built the new building in Fort Smith.
There are a number of different things that we are working on. The geological survey is trying to update their information. Also, the mineral incentive program that we have in this House.
Thanks to the Minister for that reply. Moving on to the next question, we have a manufacturing community in our territory. The Minister introduced the manufacturing strategy. It seems to me that a vibrant mining sector could be a good customer for manufacturing projects in the NWT. Are there any plans to link the two sectors together?
A strong, prosperous mining sector totally helps benefit the many aspects of our economy, and the manufacturing sector is one of them. We will continue to work with that. The manufacturing strategy that we introduced in the House this week is to increase market size for the manufacturers, and the mining sector is an important sector of that. We will continue to work with them on that.
The other thing that I think we need to look at, and hopefully will happen, is to have the mining sector participate in the reverse trade shows that we will have the Manufacturers' Association participate in and build a showcase of what they have available to the mining sector in the Northwest Territories. These things are all important. They are all linked. Our economy is important to all of us in this House, and we will continue to work on them together.
Thank you. Final oral question. Member for Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for that allowance. When it comes to diamond mining, we have also talked a lot in this House about opportunities to manufacture diamonds. Can the Minister give us an update on the department's work regarding the NWT secondary diamond industry? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
As all Members know, I just came back from JCK in Las Vegas. It is the premier event around diamond industry in the world. The world-leading diamond industry executives are there, and I had had an opportunity to talk to a number of them. At the same time, the biggest thing that came out of this event this year was our new diamond policy framework that we introduced last year in December in this House. I had a lot of support from Members across. SCEDE was very supportive of the initiative, but one comment I think was mentioned in committee when I was in front of them was, "It looks like a good idea, Wally, but I'm not so sure it's going to work."
Well, I would like to update the House today because, at JCK, Mr. Speaker, I had the opportunity to meet people from South Africa, from Namibia, the President of Botswana; these people are very interested in how we change our beneficiation around diamond policy framework. It was a very interesting couple of days down there. Our diamond policy framework has obviously turned this thing upside down globally. They are very interested in what we are doing at the department, and kudos go out to all of our staff at ITI that worked on this. It was a very creative way of thinking about how we could benefit from diamonds in the Northwest Territories. People around the globe are paying attention to what they are doing, so kudos to them. I support the diversification of our economy, and this is one of them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In follow-up to my Member's statement, I have a few questions for the Minister responsible for Housing. As I mentioned in my statement, I have an elder in the community of Aklavik who is being forced out of her home and told that she has to move into the elders' home. I would like to ask the Minister: does the Housing Corporation support elders in aging in place, or is it aging in place that they decide? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In regard to the constituent's concern, I won't get into the specifics. The Member and I have had conversations on that.
One of the mandates of the 18th Legislative Assembly is promoting community wellness and safety to support elders in their own communities for as long as possible. I had questions from one of the Members earlier this week, and we talked about the seniors' aging-in-place retrofits, and we support that. We also want to make sure that, when we look at the work that we are doing in the communities with our seniors and our elders, it is done on a case-by-case study. I did encourage the Member that we will be working with his constituent and himself to address the situation.
Like I said, we do have a mandate. We have done a comprehensive seniors planning study that we're going to focus on. We do have a seniors aging in place retrofits. We are working with the Department of Health and Social Services. Over the past few years, we have constructed five seniors' complexes which I must mention; two of them are in the Member's riding. We continue to support seniors aging in place, or seniors aging in a place where they have the supports and the services that they need.
We will continue to keep the Member updated, and we will continue to dialogue with the Member and work on the case before us and come up with a solution. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
As I mentioned in my statement, I am happy to have these elders' facilities in my riding, and we do have elders who are looking forward to moving into these facilities, but we also have elders that enjoy being independent. In one of my other communities, I have an elder who is in her 90's who lives by herself with a wood stove, and hauls her own wood into her home, and she enjoys that. Will the department work with my elder in Aklavik and not force her against her will to move to the elders' home? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
In short, yes, we will. We will work with the Member as well as leaders. We just had a housing summit up in Inuvik, and we had a lot of really good discussions on all the housing issues throughout the Northwest Territories. As you know, we are developing these community housing plans, and the leaders and the stakeholders and community members can tell us what their priorities are. We'll work with them to address them, and we do know that our elders are very important. They're the holders of our cultures, our traditions, our languages, and we want to make sure that we support them so that they can support us and support our youth and the ongoing traditions and cultures of our people.
Thank you. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
