Masi. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are to Premier McLeod. Earlier, I made reference to the community of Ka'a'gee Tu First Nation of Kakisa and their aspirations as a Deh Cho community. What they are contemplating is the question: how can their relationship with the GNWT get better? I think that it is a great opportunity. I am going ask my first question to the Premier: can the Premier update this House on the status of discussions with Ka'a'gee Tu First Nations of Kakisa on their priorities? Mahsi.
Masi. The Honourable Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Government of the Northwest Territories is happy to work with the Ka'a'gee Tu First Nation to advance their priorities. I certainly agree with the notion that building a better relationship will lead to new possibilities. Each community develops its own infrastructure plan supported by Government of the Northwest Territories funding. MACA provides advice and support on projects and priorities.
We are happy to continue these discussions and look for opportunities to leverage federal funding to achieve the community's priorities. One challenge we all face as leaders is the reality of having more priorities than funding. MACA can support some of the critical analysis required to ensure the local development of their capital plans that will reflect their priorities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would like to thank the Premier for his reply. My second question is: is the GNWT currently planning any future engagements with the Ka'a'gee Tu First Nations?
Each region has a regional management team, and we also have a regional director; one in the north and one in the south. Our regional management team is committed to continuing engagement with the community. Departments such as MACA and the NWT Housing Corporation have committed to ongoing support and engagement. We want to ensure that our engagement is effective. The regional management committee will work to expand these engagements into other areas of priority as identified by the community.
The fact that we are only a couple of weeks away before the writ is dropped, I don't anticipate that there will be any political visits or engagement with the community. I expect that early in the new 19th Assembly, there will be lots of opportunities for future engagement with the Ka'a'gee Tu First Nation.
Is there a difference in engagement by the GNWT when an Aboriginal government is part of a broader self-government agreement like the Deh Cho process, versus a stand-alone government, such as the K'atlodeeche First Nations?
I guess it's a fine line that we walk because we try to respect the regional Aboriginal government, such as the Dehcho First Nation. We do not want to be seen as dividing and conquering, so we work with the regional Aboriginal government. In this case, in reference to the K'atlodeeche First Nation, they are no longer part of the Dehcho First Nation. They have signed on to the devolution agreement of 2014, and they are part of our intergovernmental counsel. We have also signed a formal government-to-government arrangement by signing an MoU with the K'atlodeeche First Nation, which we formalize this, regular meetings on an annual basis, and to work out on different priorities and issues. I guess I should also raise the fact that the on-reserve/off-reserve issue also complicates the matter because the K'atlodeeche First Nation is also on reserve, so it does make it very complex, so that is the difference in engagement.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier this afternoon I did a Member's statement on some challenges that we see with infrastructure in contracts, so I have questions for the Minister of Infrastructure about big projects and the process the department uses. Can the Minister explain why the Business Incentive Policy was developed by the Government of the Northwest Territories in the first place? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The intent of the Business Incentive Policy when it was created was always to support the creation and growth of a competitive business sector in the Northwest Territories. As I have said in the House before, this is probably one of the best policies the Government of the Northwest Territories ever created. The policy recognizes the additional costs that northern operators experience in the Northwest Territories, and what this policy does is allow businesses to adjust their bids by 20 percent versus southern bidders, and it leverages our government in our procurement projects for investment in our business communities across the Northwest Territories.
I have been advised that previously, with the Business Incentive Policy, it was for the whole contract, and now I have been advised that it's only based on a few million dollars, and I am a little bit confused. Can the Minister advise this House what the cap is when it comes to northern contractors bidding on projects using BIP?
There is no cap for northern contractors bidding on projects. We welcome bids from northern contractors on all projects, but I think what the Member is referring to is the BIP adjustment within the BIP policy, which adds up the contracts to up to $1 million and over $1 million. I will read it all in verbatim, just for the public.
Section 8:
(8) Application of Bid Adjustment
Contracts Less than $25,000
Whenever possible, goods, services and construction valued at less than $25,000 should be purchased directly from BIP Businesses in the Local Community, but no bid adjustment will be applied.
Contracts equal to or more Than $25,000 and Less Than $1,000,000
(i) A 15 percent Bid Adjustment will be applied to the NWT Content. An additional 5 percent Bid Adjustment will be applied to any Local Content.
Contracts Equal to or More Than $1,000,000
(i) For the first $1,000,000, a 15 percent Bid Adjustment will be applied to the NWT Content and an additional 5 percent Bid Adjustment will be applied to any Local Content.
(ii) For that portion of the contract above $1,000,000, up to the maximum allowable bid adjustment:
a. 1.5 percent Bid Adjustment will be applied to the NWT Content;
b. an additional 0.5 percent Bid Adjustment will be applied to the Local Content.
The maximum bid adjustment for all bidders on northern or local content is $500,000. So that the Member is also aware, in 2018-2019, the GNWT had contracts of 1,501 contracts, and only 46 of them were above $1 million. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
So this policy has changed, from my understanding, and maybe the Minister can correct me if I am wrong, but what was the rationale for the department using this new process to up to a maximum of a half a million dollars?
First, let's be clear. We are not limiting the contracts that NWT businesses can bid on. There is a limit in place on the dollar amount of the total adjustment that can be applied, and that is $500,000. While the intent of the Business Incentive Policy is to support northern businesses and recognize the higher costs of doing business in the North, we also have a public responsibility to ensure effective and appropriate expenditure of public resources. In a review that was taken a number of years ago, it was determined that the total bid adjustment of $500,000 was a fair amount and would offset any higher costs of maintaining a business in the Northwest Territories, regardless of what the overall value of the contract was.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the Minister for the clarification. I guess his definition of fair and my definition of fair is a little bit different. When I see a whole bunch of money going down south, it's a bit of a challenge. I know in BC they actually have a policy in place that, you know, gives incentives to businesses in their province to just keep the contracts there, and it's making it more of a challenge. Can the Minister advise the House here why doesn't the department have similar policies in place so it makes it harder for southern companies to come and take contracts from us, to go down and take the money down there?
I think the BIP policy is more than fair. That is a $500,000 adjustment to a contract over a million dollars. That is a significant amount of money. As the Member is referring to the policy in BC, Infrastructure follows the BIP policy to the letter of the law, and we do that, and that is for NWT-owned and -operated businesses in the Northwest Territories, and that is what the BIP adjustment is for. What he is referring to, what BC is trying to do, I am not even sure if they are doing it. I have to double check it, but we cannot put restrictions on people bidding on contracts in the Northwest Territories, because this would breach our obligations under the Canadian Free Trade Act. I have had lots of opportunities to speak to different people about BIP and how things are working in the Northwest Territories, and a lot of people do not understand our BIP adjustment is subject to all of these Canadian free trade agreements and international trade agreements. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member's statement, I talked about alcohol impacts on our communities. I would to ask the Minister of Finance some questions on some of the items that I thought might help, hours of operation for liquor stores and purchasing limits. I would like to ask if the Minister or his staff can begin discussing the hours of operations with the communities that have liquor stores, to see if they are amenable to looking at hours adjusted, with the thought of combatting bootlegging. Thank you.
Masi. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The consumption of alcohol and the effects of alcohol is a very sensitive topic across the Northwest Territories. A lot of people grew up with the effects of alcohol. A lot of people are still feeling the effects of alcohol, even today, and I totally agree with the Member. I mean, if there are steps that we can take to try to curb the consumption of alcohol, one of the first things we would like to do is we like to see people make the decision to quit their drinking. That is always a first good step, but we need to do what we can as a government and as a society to try to help them do that. Is shortening the hours or lengthening the hours going to help? We don't know that. They may. They may not. I can see shortening the hours as to maybe increasing the number of trips that people need to make to bootleggers because they don't have the liquor store open.
There are a number of things that need to be taken into consideration, and there is always a willingness to have that discuss with people. We have an election coming up in about a month and a half, and then there is a new slate of MLAs that will be coming out, a new Legislative Assembly that will be coming. Of course, there are going to be some new MLAs who come in as well. I think it would be and should be a priority of theirs when they come in, and it should still be a priority of ours as we are leaving the Assembly.
We need to take what steps we can. We see the effects of alcohol all over the place, all of the time, small communities, large communities. We would like to see what we can do to try to help alleviate the problem. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
In my Member's statement, I spoke of the City of Yellowknife having discussing on operation hours of the liquor store. I think that the initial concept was that they would reduce the amount of hours, and it was, I think, rejected by council. I would like to ask the Minister if his department could have some form of dialogue with the City. It is quite possible that the best way to combat bootlegging with operational hours would be to have the liquor store open longer so that people don't go and feed the bootlegger, that they are able to go to the liquor store most hours that they wish to.
I am not advocating that the liquor store be open 24/7, but maybe something with more hours would have the people who are looking for alcohol go to the liquor store as opposed to supporting bootlegging.
We can always have those discussions with not only the City of Yellowknife, but we can have those discussions with all of the communities that do have liquor stores in them. I mean, we all know how sneaky smart a lot of these bootleggers are, and they will always find ways around everything. Everything that you try to do to combat the problem, they will find ways around. I think there was a rationing system that was tried. I know that, in my home community, a number of years ago, they found ways around that. We have to be vigilant in trying deal with this. Again, we will have discussions with anybody, any time, on the effects of alcohol on the people of the Northwest Territories.
In Iqaluit, recently, they opened a beer-wine store, and they put some restrictions and limits on the amount of wine and beer that can be purchased by an individual, I think, like, 24 cans of beer and maybe four bottles of wine, or a combination of something. In our liquor stores, we also have that added hard liquor.
I was wondering if we should start to think about putting restrictions on the amount of alcohol an individual can purchase in one day. I know that, sometimes, these programs or ideas backfire. Preventing people from getting alcohol sometimes doesn't work. However, I think that preventing people from buying cases and cases of alcohol might work.
I would like to ask the Minister if his department could start looking at restrictions, dealing, again, with individuals that are directly involved, like the councils and the liquor store operators, but to start looking at ways of restricting the amount of alcohol an individual can buy in one purchase.
The Liquor Act provides for provisions for community control on the sale and distribution of liquor in the community. A community can request to hold a plebiscite on these types of controls. The department works with the communities on that process, including developing the question.
Any broader change that would apply across the Northwest Territories would likely require a legislative change. This is something that the 19th Assembly could look at, but the department, in anticipation of that, could develop some options for consideration.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is exactly what I was thinking of: a legislative change. I think that going to the communities and having the communities vote on this type of thing sometimes works, sometimes doesn't work. People are upset over those types of decisions, but I was thinking of making a legislative change saying that an individual person can only purchase a certain amount of alcohol in a day. The limits could be adequate for most people who are using alcohol, but certainly not adequate for bootleggers. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Like I said before, we can have those discussions with the operators, or we can have those discussions with communities. It is something that I believe has been tried before. As I said before, they do always find ways around it. I agree with the Member 100 percent that this is an issue that really has an adverse effect on the people of the Northwest Territories. Always has; always has.
We hope, with some of the changes that we have made, some of the education out there, and people seeing first-hand the effects of alcohol, that they would make a decision to change their lifestyle. There is always support there for them, but we do realize that a lot of these people need help. By putting in some of the changes that the Member is suggesting, that might be a start. Again, we could start the work, and then we would hope that the 19th Assembly would come and carry the ball. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. I just want to say that I absolutely do appreciate and respect the boundary agreement between the City of Yellowknife and the YKDFN. I think that that is a positive move and would be beneficial to the residents of Yellowknife, Detah, and Ndilo.
With that said, I do have a few questions for the Minister. I want to be able to best inform my constituents, so I want to start by asking the Minister: what is the process if a band council or a city council wants to change their boundary? What is the process for a community to request a change to their municipal boundary, and what is our government's role in that process? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to let the Member know that we did have a meeting with the City of Yellowknife and the chiefs from the YK Dene. I won't say that the process is pretty simple, but all of our communities across the Northwest Territories do have to submit a Community Land Use Plan. In this case, I am honestly glad to see that the City of Yellowknife and the YK Dene are working together to address some of these boundary issues here in the region. However, communities have to submit a Community Land Use Plan, and before it does get signed off through myself or the ministerial approval, the department does review the plan. It normally goes through the community planning division to ensure that Community Land Use Plans meet the requirements of the Community Planning and Development Act.
Now, on top of that, there is section 35 under the Constitution Act. That does require that consultation with Indigenous groups happen, and we want to make sure that any Indigenous groups that are in the area are consulted with when these plans are looked at and approved. That is the process.
As I did mention to the Member, we did meet with the City of Yellowknife and the chiefs and their staff earlier this summer in June, and we have started that process, but that is the process moving forward for any of the Members who want to look at their Community Land Use Plans. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you to the Minister for his reply, and I am happy to hear that the department is working with the respective governments. The Minister mentioned that there is a review process, so maybe he can expand a little bit more on what that is, what does that really entail. Does the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs undertake some kind of assessment on maybe what impacts such a boundary change may have? For example, in my case, the boundary is going to leave houseboaters who were once upon a time inside the municipal boundary now on the outside of the municipal boundary. What does it mean for residents such as them?
As I mentioned, all communities submit a community land use plan, and we appreciate the work that they do in terms of consulting with their residents and taxpayers. I also mentioned under section 35 that they also have to consult with Indigenous groups in the communities before it is approved. We feel that our staff and the staff of the municipalities and the communities do their due diligence to make sure that everyone is consulted with when these discussions, and more importantly, decisions are made.
Thank you to the Minister for the reply. I appreciate that there are some levels of consultation that will take place, and as it relates to section 35, and that's important, but notwithstanding section 35, will the department be engaging in a public consultation process to inform residents of such a change? Is that part of the Government of the Northwest Territories' responsibility? Is that part of this review? Will the residents that could be affected by this have the opportunity to be informed and provide input?
As I mentioned, there are a couple of acts that we have to follow, and that is the Planning and Development Act, Community Planning and Development Act, as well as the Constitution Act with section 35. Some of this responsibility also has to fall on the municipality, whoever puts in their community land use plan. In this case, I know the Member is mentioning the City of Yellowknife as well as the Yellowknives Dene and the Metis all play a part in this, and I think the consultation needs to be put on the responsibility of all those involved. As a government, we follow those two acts to ensure that we are following our due diligence and making sure that those that need to be consulted, and the partners that we're working with, do the work that they need to do, as well.
Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Minister for his reply. Some time ago, the City of Yellowknife through one of their respective committees started a harbour planning committee, and there were a number of recommendations in there with regard to a number of aspects around the waterfronts of Yellowknife. One of them was about starting a harbour commission. Now that lands and water has been devolved down to the territorial government, is there any interest from the territorial government?
I will put it to the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, since this would certainly affect their department, in working with the city and other key stakeholders in starting a harbour commission so that we can start to better understand what uses can be made in the waterfronts around Yellowknife; Back Bay, Yellowknife Bay. Is there any interest in the government in starting a harbour commission with the respective stakeholders? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I can't make that commitment at this time; however, I can let the Member know and interested stakeholders know that we have had these discussions with the City of Yellowknife and their officials, as well as the Chiefs of Detah and N'Dilo, and let the Member know that these are discussions that we are going to continue to have. In terms of the community land use plans under section 35, that is something that we need to get out there to make sure that everybody is on board should the boundaries change for this region or any other communities throughout the Northwest Territories. I want to assure the Member that we have had these discussions already, and I think it is going to be something that is going to be in the 19th Assembly, and I think further discussions are going to happen. I thank the Member for his concerns and his questions. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document entitled "Follow-up Letter for Oral Question 766-18(3): Aboriginal Sports Circle Funding." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Tabling of documents. Minister of Finance.
