Thank you, Mr. Speaker. One of the issues with having municipal, territorial, and federal government is that we control the legislation for municipalities, and we often take our time to deal with it. My question is for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. Will the City, Towns and Villages Act be brought forward during the life of this Assembly?
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Minister responsible for Municipal and Community Affairs.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The legislative priorities for the 19th Assembly have not been finalized. At this time, MACA has identified the Fire Protection Act, Property Assessment Taxation Act, Seniors and Disabled Persons Property Tax Relief Act. At this time, we have not identified the Cities, Towns and Villages Act for amendments during this Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I believe this is why persistence is key, because without bringing the City, Towns and Villages Act to the floor in the life of this Assembly, a Yellowknife city charter is not possible. Is the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs willing to begin negotiations with the City of Yellowknife to hear their concerns and see what a possible city charter would look like?
With the negotiations for the charter amendments or the charter act that is proposed by the City of Yellowknife at this time, it's a southern model that has not been initiated in the Northwest Territories. We are looking at it. We are in conversation, but we have not implemented anything. We are far from that. Going forward, I really want to be mindful that, in the Northwest Territories, we do have self-government negotiations going on right now, we do have land claims that have not been settled. Looking at this new approach would definitely need a lot more conversation and a lot more thought into how this would be integrated in the Northwest Territories, but we also have to be mindful that we do have Indigenous groups that are currently in negotiations.
I am very mindful that we have ongoing negotiations, and, in many ways, this goes to the heart of what the future role of the City of Yellowknife looks like once we have devolved our powers into the smaller communities. This is what these conversations largely are about. Would the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs be willing to provide the Northwest Territories Association of Communities and the City of Yellowknife of what a process would look like to ultimately have a city charter?
This approach is very new to the Northwest Territories, and we have detailed, in conversation. MACA is preparing to receive information from the City of Yellowknife on the charter proposal. We are open to meet with them in discussion and concepts, but I think the key is to better understand the specifics of this area. The city is seeking to increase their authority through the city charter. We will, of course, also want to gather other relative information that the city would offer so that we can begin to build a full understanding of what is being discussed and proposed. As I said, this is a very new approach for the Northwest Territories, and I would like to be very mindful of how we are going to start speaking with the City of Yellowknife in making sure that going forward it is done correctly, and mindful of the Northwest Territories as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. In light of the existing tar sands projects and the legacy tailings ponds, and the proposed $40 billion tech resources tar sands projects, and the possibility of a $40-billion worth of tailing ponds, I wanted to touch upon the Transboundary Water Agreement, specifically the implementation site. Agreements are important to both upstream and downstream communities in that they help to ensure that upstream activities do not unreasonably harm the aquatic ecosystem of downstream waterways. Water-quantity and quality monitoring is necessary to ensure these commitments are being met. My question to the Minister of, I believe it's ENR: do these agreements include any provisions for monitoring and testing of water quantity and water quality? Mahsi.
Thank you, Member for Deh Cho. Minister responsible for Environment and Natural Resources.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The department's bilateral agreement or the Government of the Northwest Territories' agreement with Alberta does actually have that. It is actually part of the evaluation. It's the quality and quantity there, and it is actually at the Slave River and the Hay River. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mahsi, Minister, for that answer. Are there currently any reports of any findings of all this quality testing available?
Since 2015, two annual reports have been released under our Alberta-NWT transboundary agreement, and a report for 2017-2018 is currently being finalized for release.
Can the Minister ensure that the reports will be shared with the public, especially the effect on First Nations in the Akaitcho Territory, the Dehcho Territory, and K'atlodeeche First Nations?
All reports are publicly released and available on the ENR website, but specifically to the Member's question, we will make sure they get a copy of the report. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are going to be for the Premier. Over the last few years, I've had the pleasure to attend different events with the Premier in regard to the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women inquiry, so I know that it is important, as well, to her. My first question is: will the Premier ensure that each of her Cabinet reads the calls for justice? This is not only for the Minister responsible for Women, but all Ministers, so they work with their departments and they can ensure that they use them to guide their work, as there are many small changes that can be made with big impacts. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes. Honourable Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to start by recognizing the honourable Member for noticing. It is a huge issue that should not only be important for all Indigenous women, but it should be important for all women, and all men, actually. This is a serious issue that is affecting our people, and it's not okay. I do know I kind of had to get some okays because I have looked at the recommendations and I know that they are huge binders, so what I will commit to, recognizing that, is I will share the binders, all of the report, with the Ministers. I will ask that they read the second section of the binders, which is really the recommendations. The first part is actually the stories of people. For myself, it was heartbreaking, having a friend in that book, but what I will do is ask the Ministers to read the recommendations from the review. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would also like to ask the Premier to commit that she would have all senior-level management read the final report, because I think a lot of our senior managers may not know the stories and the history, so I feel that it's important that they read it. The reason why is, I feel like how can they provide direction to their departments without the complete understanding of the history of the people they're providing service for?
Yes, I will extend the recommendation to read it, or the direction to read it, to our senior managers, as well, at the deputy-minister level, and then they can decide from there.
I have one last question: can the Premier ensure that there are sections on both the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls report and the TRC in the cultural awareness training for all staff of the GNWT that is being piloted right now, and, if not, can they ensure that it's in there?
I'm a little bit cautious because I do know how big the reading is and training is not usually at that level. What I can actually request for departments is that they look at any cultural awareness training that they actually have key points from all of the recommendations and calls to action in their key points. I don't think it would be appropriate to ask every person in training to read the whole report.
Thank you, Honourable Premier. Oral questions. Member for Thebacha.
Mr. Speaker, now that we have the snow blower, we have to widen the airport. The widening of the airport is the next thing. Northwestern Air Lease was only informed of the lights being changed and replaced, with no mention of the runway narrowing, until a week before the work was to start. My question is: why were Northwestern Air Lease and Air Tindi, which is a medevac supplier, not consulted prior to all of these airport infrastructure changes? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The department talked with the Northern Air Transport Association, or NATA, and Northwestern Air Lease and Air Tindi are members of that association. The runway level of service did not change, therefore the aircraft used by Air Tindi and Northwestern Air Lease were not impacted. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
When was the decision made to make all these airport changes, and why were the major users of the airport and the Town of Fort Smith not part of that decision?
The decision was made in September of 2017. The level of service at the airport did not change. Only the air carriers as part of the Northern Air Transport Association were approached, as the airport operational certificate was maintained. Any aircraft that Air Canada or WestJet could operate in the Northwest Territories can land in Fort Smith.
It was noted last summer by Northwestern Air Lease that the Electra water bomber now has to taxi all the way to the end of the runway in order to turn around, thus delaying fire suppression activities. Was this risk factor taken into account when the decision was made to narrow the airport runway?
We feel taxiing down the runway does not pose a significant delay and thus can perform fire suppression activities accordingly.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Thebacha.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If there was a need to bring in heavy air tankers for the fire suppression, would these aircraft be able to use Fort Smith as a reloading base, or would the tankers have to reload in Hay River or Yellowknife, thereby delaying fire suppression activities? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The Fort Smith airport is designed for a 737. The geophysical features allow the operation of water bombers; the same level of service is maintained. Every aircraft that can land in Hay River can also land in Fort Smith. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Justice. Media is reporting that a woman was held on remand in RCMP cells for 11 days because of a number of reasons. Can the Minister say why this choice was the best one available at the time? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife Centre. Minister of Justice.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the last few years, there has been an awareness that women need to have alternatives available to them if they can't be transported to Fort Smith. In the last few years, part of the facility at the North Slave was designated to have four spots for women, specifically. Indeed, in December of this past 2019, those four spots were full, and, therefore, a woman was not able to stay there. Usually, she would then be transported to Fort Smith during remand. Unfortunately, on this occasion, despite efforts between the RCMP and corrections, that wasn't possible. There were four different appearances that this individual had back in court. As such, they weren't able to coordinate the flights. What I have done right now is to look at the reasons for that, to look at the nature of the appearances, to look at what was said, and to try to figure out if there are, in the future, going to be better ways that we can accommodate someone within the justice system so that they don't need to spend that kind of extended time in the facilities at the RCMP. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I appreciate the Minster's proactive approach to this. Could she say how conditions in the cells compare to those available for women at either NSCC or in Fort Smith?
RCMP's detachment cells are simply not designed for any sort of a stay past a very short day, two days at most, nor is it the role of the RCMP to act as a custodian for someone who is on remand. They are not corrections officers. That is not their primary function. Cells in the RCMP detachment don't often come with the kinds of frankly still fairly limited amenities that one would see within a corrections facility. They have the ability to turn down the lights, but the lights are on. There are no windows.
My understanding is that, when faced with a situation like this, the RCMP do their best to try to accommodate the individual and make them more comfortable. At the end of the day, it is not a place that is suitable for an extended period of time. I am certainly very well aware of that, and I trust the Member is likely aware, as well, that there won't be the mattresses, there won't be blankets, there won't be any kind of entertainment. Again, notwithstanding that, the RCMP do their best to accommodate and to help and to make someone comfortable. It is not the same level of care as what one would get at a correctional facility.
This is obviously a last resort. I think one of the disturbing points of this particular case is that it went on for 11 days, not just for a day or an overnight, but for 11 days. Can the Minister give us any insight into why that length of time?
That is the same question that I had asked when this came to light, to my attention. As I have said, I have looked into the nature of the four appearances. There were four appearances, and my understanding is that it was challenging to coordinate a flight down to Fort Smith because this individual had to appear back in court. Now, there are, no doubt, ways to avoid that. I think there are going to be, hopefully, ways to avoid that in the future, whether it is through encouraging and improving video appearances and access to video appearances, whether it is by encouraging the various parties involved to find alternative ways of securing that appearance, working with partners in the prosecution service around being conscious and aware that, when someone is in these circumstances, that we all, as partners in the delivery of justice, need to be doing our part to make sure we are aware when something like this is happening and that we are all looking for ways to try to support someone and to support the justice system so that an individual doesn't wind up exactly in this situation of having to spend more time than necessary in facilities that really aren't designed for an 11-day stay.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Minister for that response. Certainly, it is my hope that, with a brand new jail in Fort Smith for women, video appearances would be facilitated there right now. When I toured North Slave Correctional Centre last year, I noticed that there was excess capacity in the youth wing of the facility, which is no longer as full as it was when it opened. Can the Minister investigate whether more remand cells for women can be created in that space or another space at NSCC? Thank you.
It is a good-news story that there is excess capacity at the youth facility following changes under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. There indeed is extra capacity there. Hopefully, it stays that way. It can't be repurposed for adults, though. The Youth Criminal Justice Act has limitations on who can be present and limitations that prevent youth from intermingling with adults, individuals who might be on remand or in any form of custody. That makes it challenging to potentially have a youth person at the facility with any sort of adult. If there is a consistent way or consistent availability of space over a time, whether that could be renovated, that is a much longer-term issue. Really, what I would like to make sure is that this isn't a consistent issue for women who are not able to be transported to Fort Smith. I have no evidence to suggest that it is a consistent problem now since there are the four spots in the North Slave correctional facility going forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
