Thank you, Mr. Norn. Notices of motion. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Given the change to our House sitting where we will have next week for Members to return to their constituencies, I give notice that on Thursday, February 13, 2020, I will move the following motion: I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River North, that, notwithstanding Rule 4, when this House adjourns on Thursday, February 13, 2020, it shall be adjourned until Tuesday, February 25, 2020; and further, that any time prior to February 25, 2020, if the Speaker is satisfied, after consultation with the Executive Council and Members of the Legislative Assembly, that the public interest requires that the House should meet at an earlier time during the adjournment, the Speaker may give notice and thereupon the House shall meet at the time stated in such notice and shall transact its business as it has been duly adjourned to that time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to deal with the motion I gave notice of earlier today.
---Unanimous consent granted
Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. WHEREAS Tabled Document 12-19(2), 2019-2023 Mandate of the Government of the Northwest Territories has been tabled in this House;
AND WHEREAS the 2019-2023 Mandate of the Government of the Northwest Territories requires detailed consideration;
NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the Member for Hay River North, that Tabled Document 12-19(2), 2019-2023 Mandate of the Government of the Northwest Territories be referred to Committee of the Whole for consideration. Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you. The motion is in order. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried.
---Carried
I will now call Committee of the Whole to order. What is the wish of the committee? Mr. Norn.
Mahsi cho, Madam Chair. The committee wishes to consider Tabled Document 16-19(2), Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 3, 2019-2020. Mahsi cho, Madam Chair.
Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. We will take a short recess and resume with the tabled document.
---SHORT RECESS
I will now call committee back to order. Committee, we have agreed to consider Tabled Document 16-19(2), Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 3, 2019-2020. Does the Minister of Finance have any opening remarks?
Thank you, Madam Chair. I am here to present the Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 3, 2019-2020.
The Supplementary Estimates document proposes an increase of $1.3 million comprised of the following items:
$418,000 for an enclosed cab snow blower for the Fort Smith airport that is fully funded by the Government of Canada's Airports Capital Assistance Program;
$400,000 to initiate work under the Surface Structures Adaptation for Climate Resilience project agreement at the Mike Zubko airport in Inuvik. This project is 75 percent funded by the Government of Canada's Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund;
$280,000 for one vehicle and three patrol boats for the establishment of three protected areas under the Nature Fund agreement, the costs of which are offset by Environment and Climate Change Canada; and
$200,000 to commence initial environmental assessment and planning work to inform the construction of an all-weather road from Highway No. 4 to Lockhart Lake within the Slave Geological Province Corridor under the National Trade Corridors Fund.
Those are my opening remarks, Madam Chair. I would be happy to answer any questions that the committee might have.
Thank you, Minister. We have agreed to begin with general comments. Does the Minister of Finance wish to bring witnesses into the House? Thank you. Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the witnesses to the Chamber.
Would the Minister please introduce her witnesses?
Thank you, Madam Chair. With me this afternoon, I have Jamie Koe, deputy secretary to the Financial Management Board, and Terence Courtoreille, the director of the Management Board Secretariat.
Thank you. I will now open the floor for general comments, and the Members have ten minutes each. Seeing no general comments, we will proceed to a review of the supplementary estimates by department. We will begin with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. I will now open the floor to general comments on the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Madam Chair. Can the Minister tell us what these three patrol boats are for?
Minister.
Thank you, Madam Chair. There are three jet boats and one truck that are being purchased for the operations and management of three Indigenous and territorial protected areas, the Thaidene Nene, the Ts'ude niline Tu'eyeta -- I am looking over this way for some help -- and Dinaga Wek'ehodi. I will practice over the course of Indigenous Languages Month, Madam Chair.
Member O'Reilly.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I appreciate that information from the Minister. I understand that this is federal money. What's the term of the agreement, and when is it going to end? Thanks, Madam Chair.
Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Madam Chair. This is a four-year, four-fiscal-term agreement, so it will be running until 2023. I'm sorry; I'm having trouble hearing the Member, so I think I may have missed some of his question. I will put my earpiece on. I apologize if I didn't hear all of it.
Member O'Reilly.
Thanks, Madam Chair. I appreciate the response from the Minister. What happens after 2023, if there are capital needs for these three protected areas? As I understand it, there is going to be a master plan or a plan developed for each of these; presumably, there are going to be some efforts to encourage local business development and tourism with these new protected areas. What happens after four years, if there are capital needs for these areas? Are we going to have to go to the federal government cap in hand, or is this something that we would start to fund ourselves? Mahsi, Madam Chair.
Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I have a little more faith in the system, perhaps, insofar as the nature of the three protected areas is such that they are investments by the Government of the Northwest Territories as well as the federal government, and in partnership with the Indigenous communities and Indigenous governments of those areas; so I am perhaps a little bit more optimistic as to their future and the future partnerships between the governments.
I can note for the Member that Environment and Natural Resources is continuing ongoing research into the long-term planning in order to make sure that there is a bridge over any funding gaps that might arise after the 2023 point in time, so, while that's not a complete answer, I can assure the Member that the department is alive to his concerns.
Member O'Reilly.
Thanks, Madam Chair. Thanks to the Minister for those. I have lots of confidence in our Indigenous governments and their ability to protect these areas, plan for them, and so on. I am not as confident, though, when it comes to our government. When I continued to ask questions in the last Assembly about where the money was going to come from and how much our government was prepared to dedicate to Thaidene Nene, for example, I was told that our total commitment was $190,000 a year. That's what I'm concerned about, is our commitment as a government to these areas, not everybody else's. Just to clarify that for the Minister, and I don't expect a response, but I will certainly be watching this very carefully moving forward to make sure that our government continues to invest in these areas as part of our economic diversification. Thanks, Madam Chair.
Minister of Finance.
Madam Chair, I don't have any particular specific reply, other than to reassure that, certainly over the next four years, this is a joint contribution and that the Government of the Northwest Territories continues to contribute and support these protected areas.
Thank you, Minister. Are there any more questions? Mr. Bonnetrouge.
Thank you. Yes, I note in here that Fort Smith airport is getting an enclosed-cab snow blower, and it's listed at $418,000. In the other, climate change ones, you've got three patrol boats and a vehicle for $280,000. I'm not sure what kind of a snow blower this is. Can you provide some details as to why this is $418,000? Mahsi.
We're on the $280,000 commitment. Are there questions for the Minister, Member Bonnetrouge, on the Environment and Natural Resources stewardship and climate change, not previously authorized, $280,000 commitment? Okay. Committee will begin at page 6 of the details. Environment and Natural Resources, environmental stewardship and climate change, not previously authorized, $280,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. Environment and Natural Resources, environmental stewardship and climate change, not previously authorized, $280,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
We will now go to page 7. Information asset management, not previously authorized, $200,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Member O'Reilly.
Thanks, Madam Chair. Can someone tell me what this $200,000 for initial work on an environmental assessment, what that is actually going to be spent on and what is it going to accomplish? Thank you, Madam Chair.
Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Madam Chair. This is the contribution of the GNWT towards the project. A larger proportion of the amount is being funded by the federal government under the National Trade Corridors Fund. This was a successful application by the Government of the Northwest Territories for this partnership with the federal government and, as a totality, this part of the Slave Geologic Province will fund quite a number of things. There will be the initial environmental assessment, which will include studies of everything ranging potentially from water, water use, water quality, wildlife, permafrost, fish studies, air quality, as well as business opportunities using both scientific method as well as traditional knowledge. There is some pre-planning work that is to be done in terms of engineering, although the root analysis has been determined under prior funding. The next stage is actually to bring the matter to being shovel-ready.
As well, of course, and perhaps most importantly, is consultation with Indigenous governments, and to ensure that there is a thorough consultation plan in place, and that that work gets under way so that all Indigenous governments and Indigenous communities are a part of this process from the earliest possible stages. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Member O'Reilly.
Thanks, Madam Chair. Thanks to the Minister for that. What is the total cost of this project? Thanks, Madam Chair.
