Thank you, Member. Members' statements. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. For my Member's statement today I'd like to recognize three constituents of mine who were recently awarded the Aboriginal Sports Circle of the NWT for their achievement in sports.
The name of the first individual is Bayleigh Chaplin of Deninu Kue, who won the Langugae and Culture Award. Cabin Radio wrote a great story about each of the winners, and wrote this about Bayleigh:
Bayleigh is always willing to lend a helping hand and, despite hard times in life, she always puts on a strong face and takes part in cultural activities and events. When she isn't on the field, training in her own sports and activities, such as archery or Dene Games, she is constantly making an effort to be out on the land. She also loves to participate in cultural events such as bannock making, assembling fish nets, cultural crafts, making dry meat, and storytelling.
Mr. Speaker, the second individual I'd like to recognize is Dianna Beck of Ndilo, who won the Community Builder Award. Again, a piece was written about Dianna and had this to say:
Dianna Beck and her family are well known in the dog mushing community. She is recognized for her hard work, dedication, and active involvement with the Canadian Championship Dog Derby in Yellowknife. Dianna does a lot of work with the Dog Derby, namely her efforts behind the scenes that often go unnoticed, until now. Dianna's efforts keep this tradition alive. All of her success and accomplishments are a result of her incredible compassion and love for sport.
The third constituent I'd like to recognize is Aaron Plotner, who works at Ndilo's K'alemi Dene School and won the Coach Award. Once again, this was said about Aaron:
Aaron Plotner plays a huge role in the after-school activities by coaching a variety of sports teams. He recognizes the importance of building relationships with students and encouraging them to lead a healthy, active lifestyle. Aaron attends every day with a goal to make a difference for the students at the K'alemi Dene School. Aaron is an outstanding coach and a fantastic role model through his actions and encouragement for students to live their best and healthiest lives.
Mr. Speaker, I'd like to congratulate these three constituents for their outstanding contribution to the communities and the world of sport. I hope to see each of you continue to prosper in these areas and beyond. With that, I'll have a few questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services later. Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member. Members' statements. Member for Thebacha.
Mr. Speaker, today I'd like to talk about the issue of recreational land lease rental fees being increased on cabin owners who reside on territorial land in the NWT.
On April 1, 2018, the Department of Lands increased the minimum land lease rent fees on all cabin owners and subsistence harvesters who have recreational land leases on territorial lands. The fees went up 560 percent, going from an annual amount of $150 up to $840. This is an extraordinary fee increase to impose all at once. These fee increases have disrupted many people, not only in Fort Smith, but people in all regions across the territory, as well.
I know that our new Minister of Lands is well aware of this issue, because he made numerous Members' statements on it and asked the former Minister of Lands about these fee increases many times during the previous Assembly. In fact, I counted at least 31 occasions during the 18th Assembly where the Member for Nahendeh spoke and asked questions about land leases, so he is familiar with the file and the issues these increases bring to people. Having said that, now that he is Minister of Lands, I am wondering if he is going to make any changes regarding these large fee increases for recreational territorial leases.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister holds considerable discretionary power over these types of issues, and, with this being a new Assembly with different priorities, I see potential for a change in course on this file, so I urge the Minister of Lands to reconsider these exorbitant fee increases and to instead modify the increases to a lower amount. I'm not asking the government to scrap the increases altogether, but rather listen to the people and make responsible decisions, because this decision affects all the people of the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I will have questions for the Minister at the right time. Thank you so much.
Thank you, Member. Members' statements. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. On August 20, 2018, I made a Member's statement on the environmental liabilities related to the Cameron Hills oil and gas field owned by Strategic Oil and Gas Limited. From the questions I asked the then Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, it appears the GNWT is on the hook for any shortfall between the roughly $3 million in financial security currently held and the unknown liability which the court-appointed monitor appears to have estimated at over $12 million, and possibly much, much higher.
Despite having a clear mandate from the 18th Assembly to develop "a sound financial security system to prevent public liabilities," this shortfall happened under our watch and there does not appear to be any way to turn this back to the federal government, as we accepted the site under the devolution agreement.
How many more contaminated sites are lurking out there, where there is a significant shortfall between what we hold in financial security and the actual cost of environmental remediation? Such shortfalls amount to public subsidies that place the taxpayers of the NWT at unnecessary risk. So much for responsible development, Mr. Speaker.
What has happened since I last raised the issue in August? The GNWT appears to have legal counsel participating in the receivership proceeding, which is a good thing. The company has again applied for an extension to its creditor protection, until January 31, 2020. Efforts to sell the Cameron Hills property and assets have not produced a buyer to date, so the future of the operation continues to be in considerable doubt. The Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board is now reviewing a long-overdue fourth version of a conceptual closure and reclamation plan finally submitted by Strategic Oil and Gas. The company now says that it will not be submitting a revised cost estimate for reclamation of the area until June 2020. This is a field that has not operated since 2015. Although GNWT has raised the issue of the need for a revised cost estimate, it has not made that as a direct request to the board itself.
Needless to say, I will have questions for the Minister of Lands on why GNWT's post-devolution resource management failed to protect the taxpayers and the environment in the case of Cameron Hills. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member. Members' statements. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Residents of public housing in communities across the Northwest Territories, especially in my riding, have challenges created by the Housing Corporation's Public Housing Rent Scale. Something has to be done urgently to help the people who we serve, Mr. Speaker.
The Housing Corporation's website says to the public, and I quote, "The rent scale is designed to help reduce your cost of living in Northwest Territories communities, to increases your personal responsibility for your shelter costs, and to encourage your participation in employment, if employment is available in your community." I am here to tell you that it is doing the exact opposite.
People are afraid to work for the fear that their income will put them over the top and that they will lose their home. When those who work seasonal employment hand in their T4s every year, they get prorated. That has to change, Mr. Speaker, to monthly, bimonthly. People are having to make choices based on their highest levels of income. Even if they're not working all year round, they still have to pay.
This government needs to show compassion and understanding for its less fortunate citizens in the territory, where there is no work. We should not be putting people in positions where they have to make the impossible choice of paying rent or buying food and clothing for their children. We need to stop this practice of evicting people in the winter, Mr. Speaker. In fact, eviction should be an absolute last resort because of the effects, not just to the rent-payer, but to the entire extended family, including dependent children, elders, and family members, who have to take them in, overcrowding. We need to make it easier for our elders to access repair funding and cut out requirements like insurance and homeownership courses before they are able to get that funding.
Mr. Speaker, I am angry about this, but I feel that these problems are because of decisions made long ago by previous governments. This is a new Assembly, one that is committed to working together. I am inviting the Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation to work with us, to work with me, to identify the barriers in their policies that are causing undue stress and worry for our people in our small communities, Mr. Speaker, for the people who are already dealing with difficult circumstances of no work and no jobs in the communities. There is nothing going on in the Beaufort Delta.
Let's make this the government that is on the record for listening to the people and responding positively to their concerns. Mr. Speaker, I will have questions for the Minister of Housing at the appropriate time. Thank you.
Thank you, Member. Members' statements. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is the time of year for celebration. Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House to honour the passing of Lindsay James St. Ledger Waugh. He was the first-born son of James St. Ledger Waugh and Ella May Taylor. He was born in Palmerston, South New Zealand, on October 7, 1946. He was followed by six siblings and spent most of his time in Waiati, a village outside of Dunedin.
His stories of childhood and adolescence involve working hard, taking the steam train to school, working on cars and motorcycles, smoking and drinking beer, and having the best time with his best mate, Gray. He was blessed with that friendship his whole life.
He also marked June 5, 1971, as an important date, the date he quit smoking.
After becoming an electrician as a young man and living in other parts of his home country, his sense of adventure took him across the ocean by boat to Canada. He still has those shoes he wore on that journey, and by the way, he was never a guy to throw anything away that had sentimental value at all.
Soon after his arrival in Canada, he found his way to Mayo, Yukon. He met Patricia Keyes, and they married on August 31, 1974, with their son, Bruce, by their side. Tracy arrived a few years later, and they made their move to Fort Simpson, where he started Kiwi Electric. They welcomed Jake and, later, Vanessa into the family. Victoria became an addition to the household, along with Dwight and other young people along the way.
He had an amazing work ethic and still worked the Kiwi Electric phone right up until he passed away in October.
He loved his community in the Deh Cho region. He was passionate about music, singing, and song writing. He always kept a small notepad in the pocket of his shirt in case of getting hit with inspiration for a new song. The family were so grateful that he accomplished his dream of recording his music and has left this legacy for his friends and family to continue to enjoy.
He was so proud of his business, his apprentices, his fellow musicians and friends, and his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. He was most proud of his wife, Pat Waugh, whose strength, patience, and sense of humour kept the whole ship afloat.
He took great joy in all of his children's accomplishments, was there to listen when they stumbled, and sent the best text messages ever. He loved to put aside chitchat time and talk about self and life and big ideas and balanced it out with being a total goofball at times.
Lindsay had a way of connecting with people and getting them to share their stories and collected many true friends along the way. He brought light and music and laughter to many cancer patients on their tough days and lived his motto, "Progress, not perfection."
Kiwi's presence in our family, community, and the Deh Cho will forever be missed. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to recognize the career and achievements of Yellowknife North constituent Hilary Jones. Leading up to her recent retirement, Hilary was the general manager of the Mine Training Society. Hilary's exemplary work in her field has been recognized by the Chamber of Mines, and she has been awarded a Special Achievement MAX Award.
Working with industry, Indigenous, and government partners, she delivered mining programs that helped facilitate the growth of the Mine Training Society into a Canadian leader. I thank her for her contribution to the successes of so many in our community.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. I, too, have an acknowledgement.
I would like to recognize Sheila MacPherson, a partner at the legal firm of Lawson Lundell and our very own law clerk. Sheila has been recognized as one of Canada's Top 100 Most Powerful Women by the Women's Executive Network. The WXN awards were created to recognize the achievements and leadership of women in Canada. Ms. MacPherson was recognized for her more than 30 years of experience as a leader in the north.
Sheila, I know you serve many clients in your law practice, but we certainly have benefited from your leadership here at the Legislative Assembly, a place I know you hold dear to your heart. Mahsi.
---Applause
Merci, Monsieur le President. In my statement earlier today, I noted that the publicly available end-of-life obligations for the Cameron Hills field as prepared by the court-appointed monitor appears to be over $12 million. The actual figure is probably much higher, and that leaves a significant shortfall from the $3 million held as financial security. My questions are for the Minister of Lands. Can the Minister explain how our government failed to ensure that financial security held for Cameron Hills does not at least equal the liabilities, and who will make up the difference? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member. Minister of Lands.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Strategic Oil and Gas was, at the time of devolution, transferred an operations site which has gone through an environmental screening and regulatory process and met the criteria for a release site. The site has an owner that is responsible for clean-up and environmental liabilities. Canada transferred the securities associated with all operating sites on April 1st, 2014. Adequacy of security is the subject of continual review and revision as part of the modern regulatory process in the NWT.
At the moment, Strategic Oil and Gas, although it is in creditor protection as it attempts to restructure its operation, is still responsible for remediation obligations related to its sites in the NWT. Under our current system, there are a number of authorities that address securities, including the independent Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board. Security is required as part of the land tender authorization, and, in the case of oil and gas, operation securities operate to address operations and safety. I believe that the Member will agree with me that there is room for improvement to better ensure that the environmental liabilities are borne by the developer who is responsible for creating them and that adequate securities are put in place to address them when operators become insolvent and unable to continue their operations.
I want to thank the Minister for that detailed information. It didn't really still answer the question of how this happened under our watch. More than five years after devolution, it appears our government still doesn't have an early-warning system on operations like Strategic Oil and Gas, that place taxpayers at significant financial risk. The commitment to develop a financial security system to prevent public liabilities remains unfulfilled from the 18th Assembly. As GNWT is a big promoter of oil and gas development, can the Minister tell us what the plans are to prevent future public liabilities from these activities?
The Department of Lands, and Environment and Natural Resources prepared security estimates to cover environmental liabilities for new projects as well as existing operations. The process to review and amend securities is directed by the regional land and water boards, which have the legislative responsibility to set the securities amount in water licences and land use permits. If there is change to the project or authorization, a new security review process is initiated by the regulatory boards. Making sure that the right balance between protecting the environment and allowing for investment is a challenge for all jurisdictions. I think it is fair to say that this is a particular challenge when we see industry like oil and gas struggle. While we will not always be able to anticipate when operations will run into difficulties meeting their obligations, efforts are made to review existing securities, to mitigate the risk associated with this development. This is something that I can say I believe we can work on as a government and improve.
I want to thank the Minister for that. This is something I have been working on for most of my adult life here in the Northwest Territories, over 30 years, so I look forward to working with this Minister to try to get this where it needs to be. Strategic Oil and Gas, in preparing its conceptual closure and reclamation plan, relied on something called "Guidelines for Closure and Reclamation of Advanced Mineral Exploration and Mine Sites in the Northwest Territories." More than five years after devolution, our government does not appear to have put in place a coherent policy and regulatory framework for closure and reclamation of oil and gas. Can the Minister tell me, Mr. Speaker, when we are going to have a robust framework for closure and reclamation of oil and gas development in the Northwest Territories?
The "Guidelines for Closure and Reclamation of Advanced Mineral Exploration and Mine Sites in the Northwest Territories" were developed jointly by the land and water boards of the Mackenzie Valley and the Government of Canada, now CIRNAC. These guidelines outline the requirement for closure and reclamation plans and stress that closure objectives and criteria be established for the site. Although these guidelines are designed to cover mineral explorations and mine closure, the concept of guidelines apply to all development projects in the NWT. These guidelines were used to guide development of the closure and reclamation plan for the Imperial Oil production facility in Norman Wells and have been used to guide the development of the revised closure and reclamation plan for the Cameron Hills facility. This was submitted to the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board in August 2019. Given the predominance of mining in the resource-extraction sector of the NWT, it is understandable that the early focus of the work between the Board and Canada was focused on mining. I believe we can continue to work on this with the board and Canada to provide more direct guidance related to oil and gas.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. We have had devolution now for five years, and we don't have a proper, robust regulatory framework for closure and reclamation in place, five years, Mr. Speaker. It is my view that the government doesn't really have a great track record in managing resources in the post-devolution world. In an unprecedented move, the Minister turned back a decision on a water licence amendment, following a request from a diamond mining company. Then unilateral changes were made to measures arising from an environmental assessment of the Tlicho All-Season Road. Financial security gaps still exist for the Prairie Creek mine and now for Cameron Hills. Can the Minister tell the House whether there has been a systematic review of all operations for which we are now responsible, to ensure that we have full financial security in place, and, if not, when is this going to happen?
Before I answer the question, I would like to thank the Member for Frame Lake for bringing these questions forward. I understand his passion as we try to work on these issues.
The GNWT conducts a review of reclamation securities when there is a new licence, a licence amendment, a revision of the closure and reclamation plans, or a change to the project that would result in changes to the environment securities. These reviews are meant to ensure that the liability associated with these projects are covered in the securities held by the GNWT. I think it is fair to acknowledge that the current system might be improved and that a more comprehensive review is something that should be considered in the future. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I mentioned in my statement, the operator of the day shelter has adopted a new policy of serving only the homeless population. The population with homes are not welcome. My question for the Minister of Health and Social Services is: how does the day shelter staff determine whether clients are in fact housed when they come to the door? Thank you.
Thank you, Member. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Operating the sobering and day centre is not without challenges, and the Northwest Territories Health and Social Services authority and the operator of the centre are working hard to make sure these changes to ensure programming is meeting the needs of the clients who are homeless and not receiving services from any other service providers. I would like to let the Member know that the day centre and sobering centre have been allowing people to come in and warm up during this cold snap. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you to the Minister. In fact, my question to the Minister was: how does the day shelter staff determine whether clients are in fact housed when they come to the door? Thank you.
I have been there. I have had a tour of the facility myself. When clients come into the centre, they are asked, and it is a self-assessment. When you come in and you say, you know, that the operator will ask if you have, if you are homeless or if you are here for what type of service, and if you self-declare that you are homeless, then you will be provided, and you will be allowed in the centre.
I thank the Minister for that answer. The origin of this change in policy is the recent evaluation of the combined day centre and sobering centre. Can the Minister say when that evaluation is going to be shared with service providers and with us, so that we are all on the same page? Mahsi.
The program evaluation was recently publicized, August 2019. All those providing services to the clients who visit the sobering and day centre would have been able to review the evaluation recommendations. The evaluation recommendations were added to the RP released over the summer for a service provider for the sobering and day shelter. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Minister for that. As the Minister is aware, the evaluation says there is a lack of understanding about the shelter's mandate and about the target audience as well as a need for partnerships to extend programming. Will the Minister commit to facilitating the creation of an inter-agency committee for this purpose?
The department recognized there is a need for the inter-agency group. The NTHSSA will formalize an inter-agency group with the mandate to monitor the impact of the new admission policy and establish regular meetings. This collaborative approach will create a formal venue for all parties to meet regularly, to raise issues, and to address concerns related to the operation of the centre and public safety.
In October, a Good Neighbour Agreement was signed between NTHSSA, sobering and day centre, other stakeholders, including the City of Yellowknife, the RCMP and Department of Justice, and individuals and business owners in the direct vicinity of the centre. Meetings with the community service agencies are ongoing as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As mentioned in my Member's statement, my questions today are for the Minister of Housing. The housing situation and supply in the NWT is getting worse. How is the department planning on dealing with our housing situation that is on the records of getting worse in Inuvik and the rest of the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member. Minister of Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The majority of our budget currently goes towards supporting one of every six households in the Northwest Territories with quality affordable housing through our public housing programs. One of our major challenges is to find funding so that we don't lose the units that we currently have. In our regional centres like Inuvik, we will need to work collaboratively with the municipal government and majority landlords in order to develop more affordable housing.
