Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With respect to the issues I brought up, I guess, about procurement and the hiring, can the Minister confirm if her department is going to do a review of MTS to address those concerns? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
In the pre-COVID era, I had directed my department that I wanted a review of MTS, and I will continue to do so. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Just going back to my Member's statement about Internet speeds and Internet connectivity, my questions are for the Minister of Finance. My question is: have there been any recent efforts from her department to help improve Internet speeds in our small communities? Marsi cho.
Thank you, Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Internet speeds in small communities right now are subject to a target that was set by the federal government of improving to a national rate of 50 and 10 or 50 megabytes per second. We certainly aren't there yet, but that is a federal commitment, and it is the role of the GNWT in this regard to act as an advocate and a supporter; an advocate with our federal partners and a supporter of our local service providers to ensure that they are taking steps to achieve that goal.
With respect to the federal government, Mr. Speaker, there are some important funding initiatives under way that we will be looking to ensure we get our share of, the CRTC Broadband Fund and the Universal Broadband Fund that are meant to advance those goals. As I say, it certainly will be our intention to take every effort to see that all of the communities in the Northwest Territories are moving towards achieving those goals. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you to the Minister for that response. I guess, for the other part of my Member's statement, I mentioned the fibre optic link. I was just wondering why Lutselk'e was bypassed as part of this plan.
That particular project, I acknowledge, simply was not looking to divert itself toward Lutselk'e. It was a project that ran up the Mackenzie Valley, and that was the design and intent of the project, to run up the Mackenzie Valley. To my knowledge, to be very honest, there is no understanding that I have right now that Lutselk'e is easily added to that. That remains a challenge. It is one of our satellite communities, and I anticipate that the next likely scenario that will see significant improvement is with low-Earth-orbit satellite systems that are hopefully coming online in the next couple of years. Again, in that regard, the GNWT is an advocate to ensure that we have access to those systems and that service providers are able to make best use of them once available.
Thank you for that response. Again, just trying to get some better understanding for the other side: let's say if we have a committee meeting there right now, we couldn't do it. That is a problem. I need to bring more public awareness to this. We couldn't do any meetings right now as a House, just because it wouldn't be doable because of the lack of infrastructure there for this. I guess I will need some commitment. My next question is: what commitments can the Minister make to further improve Internet speeds in our smaller communities such as Lutselk'e?
All of the eight satellite communities, eight communities that are on satellite services, they are sadly stuck at 5 megabytes per second, as I understand, which is a slow speed. It is far below the standard that the federal government is seeking to bring all of Canada up to. There is going to be some significant work there to do. Again, though, we aren't a service-providing business; we are a government. That does change our ability and limit our ability to act as a service provider. That said, the Government of the Northwest Territories is very keenly focused on the national target and very keenly focused on ensuing that our role, again, as a supporter to the Northwestel or other service providers and as an advocate at the federal government level, that we are fulfilling those roles as best we can to make sure that we are getting all of our communities up to the federal standard as quickly as possible.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for those responses. I did have another question, but I would just try to navigate my way through this. Just from hearing your responses, I think it's important that we need to know what is being done now to fix this problem. I want to hear what the Minister has to say to fix this problem now. Marsi cho.
We are all struggling right now in the North. Even Yellowknife speeds are slower than what would be ideal. It makes it difficult in the time of COVID to be doing our work, to be in school, to be self-isolating when necessary. I am certainly alive to the challenges. As far as what is happening now, Mr. Speaker, I know that Northwestel, as a private industry partner, has been active and does have applications in to the CRTC. It's perhaps not really my role to speak to what they have on the go, but I would certainly offer to work with them to perhaps provide a briefing to committee of what information is available.
Secondly, Mr. Speaker, I think it's come up in this House already, the need for a plan that does again acknowledge the role of the government. Sometimes, it's a somewhat limited role of the government, but still, the role that we do have, there should be a plan in place. I certainly want to assure that that work is underway so that I can come back and be in a better position to give some concrete examples of what we can do, acknowledging at the same time what we can't do. To that extent, I hear the Member's frustration, and I will commit to moving forward to get that part of my work done. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Infrastructure. My first question would be to ask the Minister if she'd read the report from the standing committee of the 18th Assembly, but we have discussed it. I know she has read it. What I would love to know is what her position is on the recommendations contained in the report. Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was looking to have that easy "Yes. I have read the report." I have read the report and the recommendations. Thank you. Ultimately, the report and everything in it seems to be a very good summary of the conversations that we have been having as a 19th Assembly here over the last eight months. There was a lot of good information in there that I am keen to see started. We do need to sit down as a group and determine what we want to get out of our procurement review. However, I had directed the department to do so ahead of COVID. Obviously, we are continuing on with that work. Part of that will play into our business advisory council, as well. Yes, I am fully in support of revamping our procurement process based along the lines of the recommendations of the 18th Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Given that we just simply don't have time to wait for the review of the Business Incentive Policy before we refocus our procurement on northern benefit, how does the Minister intend to ensure that government contracts will come with a benefit retention to Northerners?
I don't think we need to wait, necessarily, on the review to start making some of the changes. I do believe I have shared a letter where we made some small tweaks to the BIP policy or the procurement policies to that we could favour more northern businesses. As it was part of our mandate and priorities set by all of us, we are going to continue along with revamping the BIP program to make sure that it actually does what it intends and the loopholes are closed within the program.
We are also going to be doing a lot of communications around our Buy North or Shop NWT going forward and encouraging people to use our northern businesses and consider that when they are making their own personal and commercial purchases. I also want to say that I shared recently an email, or it will be going out today to my departmental staff in both departments, to encourage them to go forward, realizing that they are the on-the-ground, front-line people who will be supporting our northern businesses and that the work that they are doing is very important and encouraging them to always have the lens of northern business, Indigenous business when they are looking at procurement and review.
That makes me very happy to hear because our public servants are definitely in the driver's seat when it comes to making sure that northern procurement stays in the North and benefits northern workers. Would the Minister be willing to commit to quality-based procurement rather than lowest-bid rule while the department works to modernize its procurement policies to ensure that benefit retention to northern businesses and northern workers exists?
Quality-based selection is very close to my heart. It is something that, as a consulting engineer, we discuss often in our association. I speak to engineering projects; we do not feel that engineering is done well when it's done cheaply. You get what you pay for. I do commit to bringing in more of a quality-based selection mindset to the procurement process. Obviously, we have a duty to protect the public purse. We need to make sure we are getting value for our dollars. However, that discussion around the indirect benefits of keeping money in the North, i.e. not having people go onto income assistance, is a conversation I have been having with the department since the day I took this seat and will continue to have. We will just keep pushing this forward and making those changes.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. No. I am very thankful for the Minister for being able to have this conversation, but in order for us to be able to put our money where our mouth is, literally, and be able to show the people of the Northwest Territories that change is happening, although some of these changes do take time, will the Minister be willing to commit to providing this House with annual reports on all tender activities? Thank you.
There is an annual GNWT contacts report that can be found on the Department of Finance website, and it does list all the GNWT contracts. However, it is a very large and not very easy document to handle. I see the Finance Minister shaking her head in agreement. I do envision that our review process will involve an additional analysis beyond just that reporting of contracts and development of sort of a metrics or system in which we can track and see if we are doing better.
It's great to say, "Oh, we've got northern business," but, if you don't have any comparison or really understand what the number means, it's a bit of a useless fact. I do commit to figuring out a way to better communicate to the public, to the Members, to the business community how the business contracting is going out, in a plain-language type summary that people can understand, that is not an accounting, legalise or such type document. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. My question is for the Minister responsible for Worker's Safety and Compensation Commission. I'll ask these questions: as the reliance of WSCC risk assessment for reopening businesses and workplaces is key to the success implementation of the Emerging Wisely plan and economic recovery of the NWT, can the Minister tell us what the current staff levels are within WSCC to review risk assessments and inspections? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Minister responsible for the Worker's Safety and Compensation Commission.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The WSCC has 16 people in the Northwest Territories who are working on responding to COVID-19, either through direct contact with stakeholders or in the research and development of resources. This does not include our communications group. To ensure that stakeholders have timely information and assistance, our group in Nunavut has three people who are also being utilized as backup whenever needed to answer any enquiries. Additional help is being pulled, or can be pulled, from other areas in the organization, but where people have occupational health and safety knowledge to assist. WSCC does not review risk assessments. However, if the employer needs help to complete or has questions, they can contact our OHNS inspectors and they provide guidance. Inspectors will request a copy of the completed risk assessment if they are responding to concerns, and, as per the CPHO orders, completed risk assessments must be made available at the worksite and they must be updated if situations or conditions at the worksite change.
I want to thank the Minister for that. It sounds like there is a lot if inspection work that is going to be required. It is clear that with the Emerging Wisely plan that there will be an increased workload for WSCC in terms of general enquiries, maybe not reviews of risk assessments but assistance in workplace inspections. Can the Minister explain whether WSCC has conducted any analysis of how the current workload is expected to increase under the Emerging Wisely plan?
The WSCC has completed a relaunch inspection plan, which I can make available to the Member. All enquiries that WSCC has been responding to with respect to COVID and their regular business have been answered within the standard service timeframe. At this point, WSCC has not come to me and said that they have any staffing issues. However, it is a situation that I'm alive to. If we do determine that they are being overwhelmed with COVID response or back-to-work plans and advice, we would then look to get them the supports that they need.
I want to thank the Minister for that. I would very much be interested in seeing the inspection plan. I'm not sure it's what I asked for, which is an analysis of the increased workload, but I'll move on. Can the Minister tell me what new resources, including staff, contractors, and/or funding, have been allocated to this increased WSCC workload to help implement Emerging Wisely?
As mentioned, WSCC has not needed to add new resources. However, all resources within the prevention division are being utilized for site inspections, telephone engagements, et cetera. We have also partnered with the Northern Safety Association, which is also providing education and advice to its member employers. As mentioned, if the WSCC does feel that they need to have more resources allocated, we would look at that time. WSCC is always in a guidance-providing position with all employers, so, despite COVID being busier and slightly needing some reallocation of resources, this is the business that WSCC does always and continues to do so. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. I guess I'm still not quite convinced, here. It would also be helpful to know whether service standards have been established for responses to enquiries under the Emerging Wisely Plan for a risk assessment assistance, site inspections, and any other anticipated work. If there are significant delays from the service standards, that should logically trigger the need for additional resources and those triggers should be identified ahead of time. Can the Minister tell us whether service standards have been developed for the WSCC's role in implementing Emerging Wisely, how those would be used, and whether those service standards are available publicly?
WSCC has not developed new service standards as our standards are always to have safe workplaces. COVID is just a new additional risk that is factored into the health and safety planning. It does not create an entirely new type of health and safety or risk assessment. Therefore, the service standards that we are adhering to always can be found on our website under the "About WSCC" tab. I won't read you the link here. Please note that we do commit to responding to voicemail and email messages within 24 hours. We are monitoring our ability to respond on a daily basis and to date have continued to meet the standard. I have encouraged them to be proactive, and we do have discussions, and they know my door is open if they feel that they are not able to meet this. Seeing as we've had no delays, I think we're good. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday, in the Committee of the Whole, I asked a question whether or not the double-hulled barges we are going to take delivery of will be soon going to the Mackenzie River. The answer I received was yes. These barges are 3500 series versus our current 1500 series. They are heavier than our double-hulled Deh Cho barges. They have a freeboard of 13 feet versus the 6 feet that our 1500 series have. There will be problems offloading deck crates, so communities' fuel capacities will be cut in half, probably, because of drafts on the Mackenzie River and because these barges are really ocean-going class, not suitable for shallow water. Will the Minister commit to having her department review the answer received yesterday and provide me with an updated answer? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As it's been a very busy day, I have not yet had a chance to follow up on my commitment in the Committee of the Whole yesterday, but I do commit to having the department provide me with a better briefing and understanding of the double-hulled barges and their abilities to work on the Mackenzie. I commit to coming back to the Member with the results of that discussion.
If it is found that these barges are not suitable for the Mackenzie River, can you check with your department about if we have another use for them? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I'm going to be very concerned if those barges do not operate on the Mackenzie, but, as that was prior to my time in this role, I don't have that knowledge on hand right now. Of course, I commit that, if we purchased barges that cannot be used for what is their originally intended purpose, we would be looking for other places in which we could utilize those barges, perhaps in the ocean. I'm not familiar with their specifications of whether or not they are all just freshwater or if they can go to marine, as well. I'm assuming there would be multiple uses for the barges, and I commit to that.
I know the Minister will like this question. Can the Minister provide me with the engineering process that was used to decide on the double-hulled 3500 series barges?
If that process does exist, I will provide you with it. If that process hasn't been used in the past, I commit to you that it's going to be used in the future under my ministerialship. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Minister also commit to have her department review the processes used when purchasing any such assets for MTS? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
One of the first discussions I had with my department was to ask for a review of MTS, so I will commit to that, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.
