Recognizing the impacts that supplementary health benefits coverage has for many in the Northwest Territories, public engagement will be carried out before any proposed changes are made. Before going out for public engagement, a certain amount of scoping and cross-jurisdictional research must be completed. Public awareness efforts will occur as part of any public engagement campaign carried out in the future. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. 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, there is a housing shortage in the Mackenzie Delta, much like a lot of the communities in the Northwest Territories. I would like to ask the Minister: are there plans to increase the housing stock? We are doing a great job replacing units, but we still have a housing shortage. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To our agreement with the federal government, our obligation is to provide public housing to just over 1,300 units. Currently, we go above and beyond that and provide about 2,400 units in public housing, plus market rent and other projects that we do within the Housing Corporation.
Most recently, when we were at the Canadian Housing and Renewal Association conference in Victoria, we did give that information to the membership there and talked about how we are making those strides to address housing in the North. We also know that there is a national Indigenous Housing Caucus that, as the Housing Corporation, we are going to be looking at providing possibly a couple of memberships for people that really need it. As the speaker knows and Members know, I did make a statement in the House yesterday on the community housing plans and how we address those.
There are numerous programs that we do throughout the Housing Corporation, and I think that it is through the leadership of the MLA, and the leadership of the chief and mayor, that we can sit down and start working on how we can address this and inform everyone on the programs that we do, which we did do during the first housing summit that we had up in Inuvik earlier this year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would like to ask the Minister: will the department hold workshops in the Mackenzie Delta on how to take advantage of all the federal funding that is available for new homes in the communities?
One of the objectives that we had when we did the housing summit was that we can bring all of our Indigenous leadership together throughout the Northwest Territories, so that we can actually go and lobby the federal government, as well as our national Indigenous organizations, to see how we can get some of that funding here in the Northwest Territories.
As I have mentioned in this House before, the Inuvialuit has a good partnership with ITK, and they are doing some really good work up in the ISR region. We want to make sure that we can ensure that our other Indigenous organizations throughout the Northwest Territories have that same opportunity, and we will continue to work with our leadership to try to access that kind of funding.
Is there a limit to what a community can access with the National Housing Co-investment Fund?
One of the bright sides of the co-investment fund was that we were able to negotiate a $60 million carve-out that the NWT can use, and we are working with Indigenous organizations, as well as NGOs and our stakeholders that address housing needs in the Northwest Territories. Above and beyond that, we can still work with our partners to put in applications federally to that coinvestment fund.
As we work on that, I think that we are going to see some good head way moving forward, but there is not a limit, and I encourage all organizations, Indigenous governments, to come and meet with our headquarters or even send an email to myself or through your MLA to see how we can put in an application as well as working with the CMHC to possibly seek some of their seed funding to get a proposal proposed.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I would like to ask some questions about the Food Establishment Safety Regulations that I found out about today through the Minister's statement. I was contacted while we were in the House here by someone who prepares food for sale at the Yellowknife Farmer's Market. Can the Minister tell us what sort of public engagement took place around the development of the Food Establishment Safety Regulations? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. The Honourable Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will have to take that question as notice. Thank you.
Masi. The question has been taken as notice. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have follow-up questions for the Minister of Infrastructure. Can the Minister advise us, in the contracts, does it have a clause which states how many Northerners will be used on the job and where the company will get their accommodations, fuel, and food, especially when we are using southern companies? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Infrastructure is not in charge of BIP. ITI is in charge of BIP, but Infrastructure follows the BIP policy in our procurement process. When we put out a tender, depending on the size of it, say it's under $1 million, because that's the conversation that we have been having, $1 million under and $1 million over, there is a line in there that you can put, which encourages local use of labour, local use of northern content, local of use of business, and that helps you do your bid adjustment to how much northern content you have. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Since this could be part of the tender process or tender contract, how does the department ensure that part of this is actually being followed by the contractors?
When a contract is awarded saying that it has these conditions tied to it, the department follows up on the reporting from the contractor on the person that is doing the tender, and we track those things on a regular basis.
I guess that will lead me to my next question. What happens if the contract does not fulfill the commitments that they say they are doing in the contract?
I didn't quite hear the question. I believe the Member said: what do we do if the person isn't following the conditions that they said they would do in the tender? Well, first of all, if a person is not following the conditions of the contract that they were awarded, I suspect that they are subject to penalty or even disqualification of being able to continue to do the work until they rectify what they have bid, to get the bid adjustment to determine that they were awarded this tender that they would have to follow the contract that they signed.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you. I thank the Minister for his answers moving forward. My last question is basically: we are seeing a lot of southern companies come in and take contracts from northern companies. Has the department or the government looked at making sure that they have a socio-economic impact and economic multipliers as part of it because right now, when we see money, southern companies get contracts? That money is going down south with limited money staying back. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
We are talking apples and oranges here because on the local procurement, when we are going through procurement for the Northwest Territories, again, let's put it under $1 million. We use our BIP policy to ensure that the most money stays in the Northwest Territories through, as I said, locally used, local northern content, local business. That bid adjustment gives you the upper hand on someone from down south to bid on it. If we are talking about larger projects, say the Slave Geological Province or the Taltson project, the department certainly, along with finance, will sit down and have a look at these projects and the social and economic benefits that these things are going to create.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to direct my questions today to the Minister of Lands. I would like to simply start by asking the Minister: I have travelled up and down the valley now. I have learned a lot from different communities about their need to want to have control over inner-boundary municipal lands. I would like to ask the Minister if he is aware of this and what the Minister's opinion and the department's opinion is on the likelihood that they can transfer municipal lands over to municipal controls. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Lands.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As a former municipal councillor, as is the Member opposite, I have been aware of this issue, which is an important issue in many of our communities. There is no overall policy to transfer all Commissioner's land in municipal boundaries to municipalities. Applications can be made by municipalities to obtain portions and parts of that land. I do realize it is an important issue. As I mentioned yesterday, MACA and Lands staff are currently finalizing a strategy on the process with the transfer of land assets specifically to community governments. We do recognize the importance of this issue. We are working on it. I, like the Member opposite, do understand the needs of communities. Thank you.
Thank you to the Minister for the reply. I am happy to hear that there are some small steps being taken in this direction. If there is no overall policy to turn all land over to the municipalities, that also kind of sounds to me like there is no overall policy to not turn land over to the municipalities. What considerations is the department making in terms of taking these progressive steps forward so that municipalities can get a little bit better understanding, a little bit more confidence, and a little bit more certainty that our government really is committing towards this effort?
As mentioned, MACA and Lands are working on a strategy, which, hopefully, will clarify to municipalities what they need to do to obtain land in the communities. As I say, it is now currently done on a case-by-case basis. I do understand the frustrations of some of the communities, including some of the larger ones.
Just one last question to the Minister: does the Minister believe that we will actually get to a point in time where our government will turn over municipal, uncontested lands to municipal corporations or to municipalities?
It is rather difficult to predict the future. However, as I said, Lands and I expect MACA, also, is very well aware of the concerns of the municipalities, which we will take into account as we move forward.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to report to the Assembly that the Standing Committee on Social Development has reviewed Bill 45: Corrections Act. Mr. Speaker, committee wishes to report that Bill 45 is now ready for consideration in Committee of the Whole as amended and reprinted. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Reports of committees on the review of bills. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to report to the Assembly that the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment has reviewed Bill 34: Mineral Resources Act and wishes to report that Bill 34 is now ready for consideration in Committee of the Whole as amended and reprinted. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I have two documents I would like to table, the first being "CBC News Article posted July 2, 2019, 'Here’s what you need to know as carbon tax takes effect in Yukon.'" The second document is a copy of the "Yukon Government Carbon Price Rebate Implementation Act." Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Tabling of documents. Item 15, notices of motion. Item 16, notices of motion for first reading of bills. Item 17, motions. Item 18, first reading of bills. Item 19, second reading of bills. Item 20, consideration in Committee of the Whole of bills and other matters: Bill 25: An Act to Amend the Workers’ Compensation Act; Bill 39: Environmental Rights Act; Bill 42: An Act to Amend the Petroleum Products Tax Act; Bill 43: An Act to Amend the Income Tax Act; Bill 56: An Act to Amend the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act, No. 2; Committee Report 27-18(3): Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment Report on Bill 39: Environmental Rights Act; Committee Report 28-18(3): Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment Report on the Review of Bill 25: An Act to Amend the Workers’ Compensation Act; Committee Report 30-18(3): Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures Report on the Review of Bill 56: Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act and Draft Code of Conduct; Minister's Statement 151-18(3): New Federal Infrastructure Agreement; Minister's Statement 158-18(3): Developments in Early Childhood Programs and Services; Minister's Statement 211-18(3): Addressing the Caribou Crisis; and Tabled Document 442-18(3): 2030 NWT Climate Change Strategic Framework 2019-2023 Action Plan.
I will now call Committee of the Whole to order. What is the wish of committee? Mr. Testart.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Committee would like to consider Committee Report 30-18(3): Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures Report on the Review of Bill 56: Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act and Draft Code of Conduct; Bill 56: An Act to Amend the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act, No. 2; Committee Report 28-18(3): Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment Report on the Review of Bill 25: An Act to Amend the Workers’ Compensation Act; Bill 25: An Act to Amend the Workers’ Compensation Act; Committee Report 27-18(3): Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment Report on Bill 39: Environmental Rights Act; Bill 39: Environmental Rights Act in that order. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
