Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. On the way here, I just want to share something that made me chuckle a little bit. I heard on the radio a song by the band called Cake. There is a line referencing finding somebody who isn't afraid to cut through red tape with a machete. It made me chuckle. You know, I thought that was a pretty good song, and it made me think about this. It made me think about my Member's statement today, and I thought I will get right into my line of questioning.
Mr. Speaker, my questions are to the Premier as Minister of MACA. It's quite simple: why is your department holding a critical approval from the LKDFN for Frontier Lodge when the only thing that has changed since then is that the lodge is now owned by an NWT Indigenous community instead of nonresidents? Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Honourable Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is not about because the only thing that changed was Lutselk'e Dene band, because I didn't even know that was the owner or not or whoever it is. The reality, Mr. Speaker, is that there was a change in ownership, and, with the change in ownership, they are looking for a liquor permit. If you are looking for a liquor permit, it's a little bit more difficult. You have to have not only a business licence but an occupancy permit, and then the fire marshal has to go in and do an inspection, so that is the difference. It's not only the owner; it's the request for a liquor permit at the lodge.
It's the Lutsel K’e Dene First Nation, just to make sure I got that right. Thank you for the response from Madam Premier. My next question is: how will putting the regulatory burdens on a struggling tourism business help us emerge strong from this pandemic? Why is a MACA licence now required for remote tourism operations?
The assumption is that this is a new policy, and, actually, it's not. It's always been in there that, if you are looking for a liquor licence, if you are looking for a liquor permit, that you need to have both. The reality is that my opinion is that we were a little bit lenient with lodges before. We did a review of the Fire Prevention Act, and then it really did confirm that all remote fishing lodges are subject to the building code. It just happened that this lodge was one of the first ones after that review, so it's not that we want to penalize. We want to help them, but we also have to make sure that people do follow the law.
Thank you for the response again. I guess where I want to go with this is I want to get some assurances for people of the LKDFN and their business interests, to make sure that they get this up and running, because I think enough is enough. I think two months to get this up and running is far too long. I know that, if I was running a small business and if I had to start up, I would go under right now, so all this is really unacceptable. My next question is: what will the Minister do to resolve this issue so that community-owned businesses continue to operate under the same licensing terms and conditions that they have held for many years?
I think it's important as elected officials to actually take ownership when things aren't too good, so I will take ownership on this one in that some of the delay over the couple of months was on our behalf, on the department's behalf, because COVID-19 hit us, and we were scrambling. All government departments were told, "You are now working from home," and we had to figure out what that looked like, so I do take ownership for some of that delay. That is our fault, and there is not much we can do about that. We are trying to work with them.
How I am going to fix it, though, is that we have already reached out and told them. We have reached out to the lodge. We have talked to the MLA. My commitment is, for any business, and not only this one because it was brought to the attention, when people are having problems with our systems, we are not trying to set businesses up to fail. We are trying to support them, but, if there is anything we can do, if people have obstacles, call us. In this case, we have agreed to walk with them, work with them, help them fill out the paperwork. We have told them to perhaps get a consultant to go in and look at what they will need. We will work with people. We want people to succeed in the Northwest Territories. When you have issues, bring it to our attention, and we will try to address them.
Thank you, Honourable Premier. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. On March 20th, the GNWT announced a $13.2 million economic relief package for NWT businesses. This plan committed the GNWT to creating a business advisory council. This council has turned into a bit of a hurry-and-wait exercise for businesses that really want an opportunity to provide some feedback. Will the Minister make a commitment that the membership, meeting schedule, and terms of reference of the business advisory council be made public during this sitting? Thank you very much.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The business advisory council is one of the three advisory bodies that our government is looking to put in place to guide our actions going forward. We have received initial input from the Members, so thank you for that, and we have incorporated their feedback into our terms of reference as well as our composition.
I appreciate it has now been just over two months since I and Minister Wawzonek first announced the proposed establishment of the council. It was partly due to our subsequent decision to establish the other two councils and then create an overarching theme between the three, so it did create some delays with getting the advisory council out. Our intent is that the role of the three advisory councils will complement each other so that we do capture as much as we can under the Indigenous community one, the health and social sector recovery, and then, as well, the business council. We are working hard to ensure there is a broad, diverse representation on the council and that there are inputs. Admittedly, this has taken longer than we anticipated, and we do appreciate the Members' patience with that.
Does the Minister have an idea when we will see the first meeting of the business advisory council?
We have contacted the organizations that we are using to sort of staff or populate the councils, so the idea is to organize within either this week or by the end of next week a membership meeting with them.
Is it safe to assume that the membership, along with the terms of reference, will then be made public during our sitting this time around?
We definitely commit to having an open and transparent and collaborative government. I would like to actually have the conversation, though, first, with the membership as well as the two co-chairs of the council so that we can determine if that is the best movement for it. Personally, right now, I think that should be fine, but I do want to respect their privacy and their thoughts and whether or not they thought there needed to be some element of confidentiality around the council.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Should this be made public, which I hope it will be, is there an appeal process that the department has thought about, for if members of the business community would like to be able to be more readily involved or would like to be able to provide feedback to the terms of reference? Thank you.
With the way the structure of the council is working, it is to have the representatives be fed up through the organizations that we have contacted, so the idea being that those organizations will do the work themselves, and then their representative will bring it forward. Through that manner, members of those organizations will input on things within the council. I would imagine, as anything else, I have always expressed that my department is open to any sorts of feedback or comments or conversations, so I would still commit that again. If there are people who have concerns about the council, they are very welcome to reach out to us and have that conversation, and we will go forward that way. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Thebacha.
Mr. Speaker, in a letter signed by all the leadership in Fort Smith, dated June 17, 2019, the leaders were clear in their disapproval of the proposed changes of the Fort Smith airport. However, Transport Canada and the Government of the Northwest Territories Department of Infrastructure went ahead with them anyways. My question is: upon receiving this letter from the Fort Smith leadership, were there any attempts made by the infrastructure department to modify or delay the project to fit the community's liking? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Since receiving the letter from Fort Smith leadership in June of 2019, the former Minister of the Department of Infrastructure and I have both provided multiple responses that explained why the decision was made to proceed with the project.
Transport Canada sets the standards by which airports are designed and operated. Airport owners and operators, such as the GNWT, apply those standards and construct and operate airports to meet current and future operational and regulatory needs. The GNWT reviews airport infrastructure on a regular basis to identify current and future needs and, Mr. Speaker, it was identified that the lighting at the Fort Smith airport was in need of replacement. As a result, the GNWT secured funding from the Government of Canada for the installation of the new LED airport lighting. Since the lighting replacement project would have required digging up sections of the runway, the GNWT decided to review the runway width requirements at the Fort Smith airport at the same time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Why does the Department of Infrastructure continue to proceed with the airport infrastructure changes despite the community's leadership opposing them?
Construction on the project began in May of 2019. Subsequent to that, Northwestern Air Lease, the local air carrier, and the town and local bands raised concerns to the Minister of Infrastructure and in the media. Additional information was provided to these groups to confirm that the concerns they raised were taken into consideration during the planning of the project, and to reaffirm that the level of service at the Fort Smith airport has remained the same. The project proceeded because it addressed the current and future operational needs of the airport.
Will the Minister admit that the community stakeholders and leadership of Fort Smith were not properly consulted, if at all, about these changes to the Fort Smith airport?
Public engagement is a critical part of the way our government does business. It ensures that the GNWT is visible, accessible, and answerable to the people it serves. In this case, while we engaged with industry and regulatory entities regarding the airport work in Fort Smith to ensure that the runway would continue to be safe and meet federal regulations and maintain a consistent level of service, we did not ensure that the community of Fort Smith understood the project's purpose and benefits before we completed the work. We understand that airport maintenance and improvements are especially important in Northwest Territories communities like Fort Smith, where residents and industry depend on safe, secure, accessible, and reliable air travel.
Our approach to public engagement continues to evolve. I think you've all heard me speak here, even just yesterday, about the need for my department to do better when it comes to engagement, so, in the future, we will work with the community of Fort Smith to ensure that its residents are informed prior to the work being completed, and not after.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Thebacha.
Mr. Speaker, will the Minister admit that errors were made during the infrastructure changes to the Fort Smith airport? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
No, there were no errors made during the changes to the Fort Smith runway. What I will acknowledge, though, is that it does sound like the engagement was not done properly, or to the liking of the Member and her community, therefore I do commit that the Department of Infrastructure will do better. We recognize that residents and community leaders in Fort Smith are concerned with the recent changes to the runway and the community, so we commit to having a conversation to explain why the runway narrowing happened. The improvements to the runway will position the department to effectively and efficiently maintain an important piece of infrastructure, while reducing operating and maintenance costs. Narrowing the width of the runway did not change the level of service in the airport. What it did do was allow us to access federal funding to maintain it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. As I mentioned in my statement, enforcement of the Chief Public Health Officer's orders in downtown apartment buildings isn't happening or, if it is happening, it's not making a difference to the people who routinely report to me about the orders being ignored. The gap in enforcement is important because it could put us all at risk of the community spread of COVID when it recurs. My question for the Minister is: what responsibility does the enforcement task force have for ensuring that orders are followed, specifically in apartment buildings? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife Centre. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Compliance and Enforcement Branch is actually there to enforce the orders of the Chief Public Health Officer. A lot of that is, like the Member said, around public education. Some are verbal warnings. Some are written warnings. The last would be a fine. That is the purpose of the Compliance and Enforcement Branch. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
That wasn't really the question that I asked. Apartment buildings are kind of a complex environment because there's the tenant, there's the landlord, in some cases there is the Yellowknife Housing Authority, and by-law is not eligible to be there. RCMP can be there. What I'm trying to clarify is whether the enforcement task force members have the authority and the resources to enter apartment buildings to ensure compliance.
The big difference is that the public health officers who are doing the compliance and the enforcement are not RCMP officers. They come with a different set of skills. All along, we've said that, if there were huge parties and people were breaking orders, disturbances and stuff, we would not put our public health officers at risk within that. That is the job of the RCMP. I do think that sometimes our public is getting confused. They tend to phone us. What I have to say is that we have almost, I believe it was, 800 inquiries or calls in to Protect NWT. Every single one of them gets followed up. However, we will not put those officers at risk. If there are people partying in apartment buildings, there are laws. If they're disturbing, it is not to call the Protect NWT; at that point, it's to call the RCMP. I think that's the confusion. If tenants are having complaints about repeated parties, like I have heard in the statement, then it is the landlord who has to be notified of that.
Well, Minister, as you see, there are a lot of gaps in this because, when tenants call the RCMP, they are told that it's not up to the RCMP to enforce the Chief Public Health Officer's orders to not gather in apartment buildings. I appreciate that the peace officers don't feel equipped to go into the apartment buildings if there is a big party going on, but it just seems to be no one's problem to put an end to this. I'm trying to say, look, this is really a significant problem. In the end, what can you do, as the Minister, to coordinate the response in the apartment buildings? I can tell you, from living across the street from one of them, this will be ground zero for the community spread. It's like a train station. Now we have a chance to figure out how to deal with that, so how can we make these gaps disappear, Minister?
I hear the Member's concerns, and I have the same concerns about people. We have been doing as much as we can to try to make the public aware that we are not in a bubble; we are at risk, and it takes every individual to do this. What I worry about is that we are trying to deal with an issue that has been long-standing. It's the partying, it's the drug dealers, it's the people who aren't being good neighbours in apartment buildings, and we're trying to deal with all of that with COVID-19.
I'm not sure if that's the answer, if we even have the capacity to do that. What I will commit to, because that was the question, was what I can do about it. I will actually meet with my colleague who is responsible for the RCMP. We'll talk about how it is. I think there might be confusion. If people call in to the RCMP and say, "I want you to enforce an order," absolutely, that's not the RCMP's job. If people phone in and say, "There's a big party going on next door and they're yelling and screaming and drinking and it's after 11 o'clock," that is the RCMP's job. It might be a communications thing. That, I will look into with the Minister. We will talk about that. It's also about working with landlords. It's about time that we actually talk to landlords as well.
I will commit to, not during this session because we're busy, but when session is over and we can get back to normal business, then, I will commit to meeting with the landlords in our bigger centres that have longstanding issues and see if we can actually talk to them about the risk that they're putting residents to as well.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister is on the right path here. My specific ask is that there be a meeting between the COVID enforcement task force, and the RCMP, and the landlords, and the Yellowknife Housing Authority, which, in some cases, is the landlord, and Northview, in the other case; and to bring these people together to talk about exercising better control over the apartment buildings so that they don't become a ground zero for community spread of COVID-19. I think it's really important to have the parties at the table and to discuss how this kind of enforcement can be made more effective. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
The reason we have seven Members on Cabinet is because there is value in having many voices. I do appreciate. My first question was, "Can we do this?" and it was, "Yes, we can meet." Then, a wise Minister said to me, "That's why we have a committee of Cabinet for COVID-19, our social issues committee." What we will do, then, is bring that to our COVID-19, our committee, to address that issue, but we will be talking about it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This will be for the Premier. With the weather becoming warmer and people are starting to want to move around now, people are wanting to go south. They're wanting to come back. They're not wanting to self-isolate. They're looking to maybe self-monitor instead.
I guess the question I have is: how is the Chief Public Health Officer and the COVID task force working with departments to identify gaps or gray areas affecting our businesses and residents, such as the ones I've mentioned; and how are they going to deal with people travelling south and coming back? What we're going to have now is we're going to have more people trying to circumvent the system. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Honourable Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The chief health officer has the autonomy to be able to do the directions herself. She doesn't need to work with departments. She has been very, very nice to actually work with us as much as possible though.
Actually complying with the enforcement, that is our biggest fear. I am just going to put it out there. People have this misperception, and I need everyone to help me with this. Not only MLAs in this House; municipal governments have brought it up; Indigenous governments; we need everyone. People have this misperception, Mr. Speaker, that we're in a bubble, and we haven't had any active cases and we're fine. We're not fine. We are just waiting.
The only way that I can say is that all of us, as elected leaders, and that, I'm talking about municipal and Indigenous governments also, throughout this summer, this is going to be our biggest risk. I said that on the radio the other day. This may be the calm before the storm. My fear is that people are going to get too comfortable, too relaxed, and then, they will not be abiding the orders. I can't do this on my own. We all need to take a step on this. We will be doing more public campaigns right through the summer, and again, for residents, every time I get on the radio, I say that. Anybody that's seeing people breaking the orders, we need residents to call, protect NWT or 8-1-1 and inform us. We all are in this together, and we all have a role to play. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
