Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I talked about housing for Hay River, and I've got questions for the Premier. I'm going to be a realist here because I am not holding my breath on the Housing Corporation coming up with any solutions for the community. We have a solution in front of us. We've got 50, 60, 70 apartments and up to 122, and for some reason, this government just does not see it. I don't want to hear that anybody has died in Hay River because of exposure or freezing to death, as well, so that's why I keep after this subject. I would like to ask the Premier to confirm: what departments are involved in addressing the efficiency issues and orders related to the Mackenzie Place high-rise? Is there a lead department? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Honourable Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes. The lead department that will be looking into the Mackenzie Place high-rise -- I want to make sure I get the name right. I'm just used to calling it the high-rise; sorry, Mr. Speaker. The lead department will be Municipal and Community Affairs, and then there are key departments that are working on it, of course: Municipal and Community Affairs; Health and Social Services is working on it; Infrastructure has a piece in it; the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation; and then also the WSCC, Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I'd like to ask the Premier to confirm the status of orders placed on the high-rise by the department of health. Has communication stalled, or are we making progress to have those orders satisfied?
Since that is a direct question for the Department of Health and Social Services, I would like to defer it to the appropriate Minister.
Thank you, Honourable Premier. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Member for Hay River South for that question. There is a public health order in place for the building based on the risk of exposure to asbestos and mould, among other things. The CPHO has been working diligently with the owner this month to understand the level of contamination and remediation that has taken place and what needs to take place in the future. The most recent development is that the CPHO has hired a consultant to verify and augment the reports that she has received from the contractor for the owner, and this work will be done on an expedited time frame. I think that the CPHO is well aware of the value of the building as housing in a situation where housing is in very short supply and is trying to bring together the need for safety with the need for housing as soon as possible. Thank you.
That answer is very encouraging. I'm glad to hear the word "expedited," as well, and I look forward to hearing the results. The other issue, now, with the Mackenzie Place high-rise is that there is potential for the power to be turned off next week, and it's going to have an effect on the emergency lighting, which sits on top of it and gives some indication to aircraft that there is a building there that is kind of high. What I'd like to ask the Premier is if she or one of her departments will commit the appropriate department to keep the power on in the high-rise to ensure aircraft and passenger safety, because, at this point, if that light goes out I'm not sure what's going to happen with that. I heard that the airport was going to just tell the aircraft that there is a big building there, so be careful. I'm kind of hoping that's not the situation.
That question I'd like to defer to the Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Honourable Premier. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The role of the Department of Infrastructure is limited to inspections, to communication, and enforcement of the territorial regulations to ensure that the GNWT-owned assets are in compliance with the applicable federal regulations. As this is a private infrastructure, the owner is responsible for the complying with federal Canadian aviation regulations. For the lighting of the towers above the specific heights of this enforcement by Transportation Canada. We remain hopeful that the owner will be able to find a solution by November 6th and will be able to keep the electricity on the building. Should this not happen, there will be a notice to airmen, or the NOTAM, created that will advise pilots of the building that does not have a rooftop beacon in the vicinity of the Hay River airport. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thought, with that sunshine shining in here, I was going to get some good answers, but I see it has kind of gone away now. I hear that the department has certain responsibilities, but as government we have responsibility of the safety of our people and the residents of the NWT. We have a lot of aircraft flying around. For probably $5,000 or $6,000 we can keep this power on for probably for the rest of the winter. I'm not happy with the response, and I'll talk to the Minister later. Can the Premier confirm what is the position of the Office of the Fire Marshal on the Mackenzie Place high-rise? Has that order been satisfied or is there further work and inspections required with respect to it? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I'd like to defer that question to the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Madam Premier. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just in regard to the fire at the Hay River high-rise, I want to follow up with the Member. It is quite lengthy, and there is a lot of detail with what the fire marshal has displayed. I'll follow up with the Member on that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, the housing situation has been going on in Nunakput and across the whole territory, lack of housing. It made the news the other day that $60-million fund that wasn't touched in regard to the co-investment fund. I'm wondering if the Minister is making with her department, her housing department, making a strategy and working with our local NGOs and where I'm from, IRC and the community corporations. I'm going to send a letter out saying that, "Okay. The $60-million fund, what kind of plan can we come up with in the communities?" Will the Minister entertain that, in regard to helping her spend that $60 million in regard to getting more units in the houses where they are needed in the communities? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Nunakput. Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know there is going to be a lot of talk about the national co-investment fund and how this program is rolling out. I just want to make it very clear that this is a federal funding program that the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation is acting in support, to try to program deliver and try to connect and outreach the CMHC to access these programs throughout the Northwest Territories. This summer, the Housing Corporation had mentioned we had visited 14 communities out of the 33. Out of those 14 communities, every Indigenous group was consulted. We did meet with them and also to provide them with an update on how the program works. It is $60 million.
I am committed, and I want to spend that money by the end of this government. I want there to be applications coming forward. My department is working strategically on how are we going to be partnering up with CMHC to tell the federal government we are not a southern jurisdiction. The way we do business in the Northwest Territories is different. It does not match the way that the program is laid out.
In regard to my colleague's region, I just wanted to provide him an update that we do have housing retrofits happening in Tuktoyaktuk this year with the completion date of 2021, materials and labour and major retrofits on four units. Paulatuk, we have major retrofits on five units, as well, with the completion date of February of 2021. Materials and labour on four additional units in Paulatuk, as well, with a fourplex that is being finalized in Inuvialuit Regional Corporation. Sachs Harbour we have three major retrofits, two units that's completion for December 2020. Tuktoyaktuk, as well, we have materials and labour on one unit and the tender will be going out in February 2021 and the delivery date of October 2021. Just to further update my colleague, we are working on a community plan, and we are starting the consultation and hopefully the completion would be within 2021, as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Madam Minister, for that update, too. I see that, but we need new units. We need more units. The units that we do have we could have had about another 20 more units because there is so much mould and stuff going on in the community. People are getting sick. I'm thankful to hear that. I know that's happening, but we need more units. We have either sell out what they can get rid of to get it out of the system because I know we're only allowed so many units in the community. We have to get rid of some of the old units and put some new ones and bigger ones, fourplexes. We need more fourplexes. We have young families in regard to that.
I know the Minister tried to come up to my riding, but at the time I wasn't available to do a tour. I'm inviting the Minister to come up with me to see firsthand what's happening in my communities in Nunakput and hearing it from my constituents and seeing what we need. We need to work together and spend this money. I'm here to help her to spend this money. The NGOs got a list, IRC, community corporation. Like I said, priority one is my constituents in regard to proper allocated housing in regard to a roof over their head and homelessness, also. That's my next question.
I hear the plea from the Member. The lack of housing throughout the Northwest Territories is quite significant, and we are working with each of the communities. We do have partnerships, as well, with the Indigenous groups throughout the Northwest Territories. I did send out notices to the Indigenous groups in Nunakput, but the invitation to invite was declined due to COVID. We are scheduled to go to Tuktoyaktuk possibly the third week of November. I'll be speaking with the Member.
I'd like to thank the Minister for that. We do need to get this money flowing. Last time the money was being spent was eight months ago. They have to have somebody hired right away at the department of housing to start allocating and start getting priorities set to start spending this co-investment money. It's free money. I really would like to see if we could, what's the timeline for that person being hired in the department to start spending the $60 million?
The Housing Corporation is in the process of hiring a person right now. Hopefully, we'll have the hire completed and done and in the office by the end of November. I just wanted to elaborate on the co-investment fund. It's a federal funding that is provided to the Northwest Territories, also the Rapid Rehousing Program funding, as well, but these are federal funding programs. The Northwest Territories does not have direct access to it. We are supporting these federal initiatives, and we are trying to get the messaging out there so NGOs, stakeholders, and Indigenous groups can come to the table, submit their application. We as a Housing Corporation can provide our technical support. I have also advised my department to make our construction plans and our building plans available to these applicants, as well.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to invite CMHC on that tour in regard to seeing. They came to Tuktoyaktuk about two years ago. We told them all our issues, and we never heard back from them. I would ask the NWT representative invited onto that tour of Nunakput and whatever tour she is going on in regard to other than my riding, but I think it's a real priority. It has to be done. We have been sitting. If they are holding $60 million of the territory's access to funding, it should be spent, and it's urgent. Some people are homeless. Some people, they need a little bit of a light to say that -- I know this Minister is trying, and we are here to help her. Help me help you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you for the Member's comments, as well. During these tours, CMHC is travelling with us, as well. The purpose of CMHC to be travelling with the Housing Corporation is to provide those introductions, as well, and to build those relationships with the communities so we could see these applications completed and we could see successful applications delivered from the Northwest Territories. Also, the commitment to get houses on the ground is absolutely a priority for this government, for the Housing Corporation, as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Premier. I ask if all possibilities were looked at prior to the creation of the secretariat with the bottom line in mind. I would like to reiterate that we had a state of emergency, which has since been removed but currently still have the public health emergency. Mahsi.
Thank you, Member for Deh Cho. Honourable Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I had stated earlier, the formation of the secretariat was because there were multiple departments that were working on different initiatives. Oftentimes the right hand was trying to figure out what the left hand was doing, so the secretariat formed, I think it was just about a month ago, within that. When the secretariat formed, Mr. Speaker, we were hit with the increases of the cases, the second wave coming in southern Canada. We did not have a lot of time to do a lot of consultation, and our communication was not the best on that. We have spoken to address that before.
Since that meeting, though, I have reached out to Indigenous governments. We are still in that process. On September 30th, I did meet with the Indigenous governments. There were eight of them in total. I had strong support, verbal support, that they actually said, "We support the creation of the secretariat," once we explained the aspects of it. The NWT Metis Nation, Gwich'in Tribal Council, Acho Dene, Akaitcho Dene, Salt River First Nations, North Slave Metis Alliance, and the Sahtu Secretariat firmly said, "We support the secretariat." There was one other one that wanted more information, so I will not mention their name. They have not given me concrete. Since then, I have also met with the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, who also have given me strong support for creation of the secretariat, understanding that we needed to have better coordination in what we are doing. I have also met with other members, Chief Bonnetrouge, Nahanni Butte Dene Band and Dene Nation and the Dehcho First Nations, but then again, at this point, we have not got a solid. We have got soft supports, but they have not said, "We 100 percent support it," concrete.
We are doing our work working with our municipal governments, as well; we have met with them; the business community, we have met with them; and the Indigenous governments. Options, Mr. Speaker? I wish we had more time. This pandemic hit us really quickly at the beginning of this government. When we have had a chance to breathe, almost as soon as we could take a breath, the second wave was starting in southern Canada. Time has not been on our side. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would like to thank the Premier for her answer and for listing the First Nations that she had been in contact with. I certainly do not want to undermine the leadership's decisions from each of those regions, but my question had been if all possibilities, scenarios, were looked at prior to the creation, like having a think tank how we could do it. In my Member's statement, I had listed. We have up to 5,000, and now I am hearing close to 6,000 employees. Why did we not canvass? I am trying to get to the bottom line here.
We are paying an extra $87 million over four years. That is extra money for just 150 positions, which I believe we could have created from within our bureaucracy, our bloated workforce, and re-profiled the positions. I keep stating the state of emergency and the public health emergency, which probably is a strong tool to get you to direct those positions, something similar to what we have been hearing on the radio lately about the late Pierre Elliott Trudeau, who invoked the War Measures Act back in the day. That is why I keep harping on the state of emergency and this emergency that we have in place. This can direct us to do those things, and this is hurting our bottom line.
I kept stating in my statements that our small communities are suffering. There are lots of issues with housing. I don't want to repeat myself, but there are a lot of social problems there. I am trying to help out this government of why we don't go that route to look at savings to the bottom line in our budget. I am wondering if I could get an answer to that. Further to that, it's not too late to start recruiting from within. I don't mean this out of disrespect, and I really want to stress that. I certainly do not believe we need to pull retirees out of retirement to continue the work of the GNWT. Will the Premier look at using the current GNWT workforce to create this task force?
I would love to be able to say that we will stay status quo and we will use the current workforce. That is what we were doing at the beginning of the pandemic. I would have fought back and said that was the right way to do it, except I spoke to the employees who told me they were burning out. They were working way too much overtime. They were working seven days a week. It was not sustainable. It came from their mouths, saying that the current structure, the old structure, was not sustainable.
We do not want to spend a whole bunch of money, so we are looking at -- I can't remember the number. At the beginning, all of them were redeployed, but I do know that well over half of them right now are still redeployed from departments, people who are committed to helping with the health and safety. It's not because they need extra work. It's that they believe the cause is necessary. We do have a lot who are redeployed wit*hin departments. We have new hires, as well. Sixty-six of the 150 positions are going to be outside of Yellowknife. That means 66 positions outside of Yellowknife that are actually new jobs for community members.
Mr. Speaker, we speak in this House so often about the need for jobs in small communities. This is one option. It should not be riding on the health and safety, but it is an option for people. Again, I would love to have looked at it different ways, but it is coming from the staff and the people. Now, the Indigenous governments are saying that, as well. We need to have coordination within this, and this needs to be our priority. I keep going back to when I was fighting to look at different structures. Honestly, one Grand Chief told me and it stuck in my head to this day: how much money is one life worth? Mr. Speaker, that will probably rest with me until the end of this pandemic, and I ask MLAs the same question. Mr. Speaker, to all MLAs, how much money is one life worth?
I understand the federal government's partial contribution is welcome, but I do not see the guarantees for further funding in the coming years. T7*-his may be redundant on cutting other programs and services to keep feeding this secretariat. Will the Premier commit to revamping and looking at cost-saving ways to form this task force?
Absolutely, we're looking at cost-saving ways. That's why the secretariat was formed, to get better coordination, to be able to see what we're doing, to look at ways that we can actually be more efficient, more effective in our service delivery. I would like to say, Mr. Speaker, that, of the $31 million I believe it is, around what we're looking for in this supplemental that's coming forward, I believe it's around $23 million that is already funded from the federal government. The federal government in their Speech from the Throne identified the maintaining of COVID-19 supports as a huge priority in their government. We're holding them to that.
In my last meeting with the federal government, I emphasized the needs of the North and how vulnerable we were because we don't have the health supports that we need in every single community. Prime Minister Trudeau promised me on that call, and he has followed through, that he does care about the North, and he would get in touch with us and look at the additional money that we need. We are in the process. It is just being finalized this weekend actually, that we will actually be asking for more money for the secretariat. I do take to heart that the Prime Minister does hear us and is concerned about the North.
As well, again, since we formed the secretariat, we are looking at cost-saving measures. We are meeting with the municipalities, the Indigenous governments next week, and looking at isolation centres and what we could do with that, options of how we can afford that. That's the biggest expense within the secretariat is for isolation centres, critical for smaller communities, critical for our people. If we can find ways to get that down and still provide for the health and safety, then, we shall do that.
Thank you, Madam Premier. Final supplementary. Member for Deh Cho.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mahsi to the Premier for her actions and work moving forward. I know you state that the Prime Minister does care for the North, but all the funding to cover COVID issues does not come from the federal government alone. It has been left up to the territorial government to find funds from other programs and services to continue the secretariat. I'm just wondering the scenario that I had before. If we had taken employees from within, this would have helped our bottom line tremendously. I'm just wondering, what is the COVID secretariat hoping to accomplish or change that will see a noticeable improvement over how we're currently delivering it from within? Mahsi.
What the COVID secretariat is hoping to accomplish, I stated before, is better coordination, more transparency, better communication to the communities, and the opportunity to be able to look at efficiencies and effectiveness within our services. I'll give an example, Mr. Speaker. I've been asked about the border patrols down by Providence-Hay River. It's a great question. The reality, and the reason that we're looking at different things and didn't go out through normal processes is we didn't have time.
Mr. Speaker, the secretariat was only formed, I think, three weeks to a month ago, and before that, it was individual departments. Normal procurement processes would have helped, but there was fluctuation within departments, et cetera. It was until the COVID secretariat formed and took over, at that point, we said we need to have facilities for our workers and, therefore, we're rushing. We got the Providence one, and we're doing the other up North, as well. Those areas, if we had it under one structure as the secretariat, ideally -- I hope it doesn't last another year, but if does last another year, we would be better prepared. We would be making sure that we had services and supports in place all season round. That's just one example of how we will actually be more efficient as we go forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I thank the Honourable Premier. Colleagues, before we continue, I just want to remind everyone to keep your questions short and also the answers because we're not even midway through here and we still have six people to go. Our time is 20 minutes. Just a reminder for the future. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. My question is for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources. In my statement earlier today, I noted that the Alberta provincial government and Alberta energy regulator unilaterally decided to reduce water quality monitoring as a result of the pandemic and to provide so-called industry relief. Can the Minister confirm whether he received any notice of these reductions in water monitoring by Alberta, and what we are doing to prevent this from happening again? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First of all, I'd like to thank the Member for Frame Lake for doing the Member's statement and asking these important questions and saying how good the work that the ENR staff are doing. The suspension of the long-term water quality monitoring in Alberta caused significant concerns this summer. The GNWT was not notified about the suspensions of water quality monitoring. However, I must inform the House here, it should be noted, that there are provisions within the Alberta and NWT water management agreement that allows either government to take urgent action where needed to protect the health or safety of the public. COVID-19 was an example.
Mr. Speaker, as soon as we learned of the water quality monitoring suspension, I reached out to my Alberta counterparts, Minister Nixon, and the federal Minister of ECCC to express my concerns about reduced water monitoring in Alberta and ask that the GNWT become members of the oil sands monitoring committee. I'm happy to report that all provincial water quality monitoring has been reinstated in June and July, and the monitoring at key federal sites has been in place since August. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I want to thank the Minister for that. I'm not sure that industry relief qualifies for the sort of exemptions that the Minister said, but I understand that it takes some time to have water quality samples analyzed and that, of course, once that analysis is done, we can better understand adverse impacts from upstream. I think some of those impacts may have compounded by high water levels that have been carrying additional sediments into the NWT. Can the Minister tell us whether the analysis of this summer's water samples has been finished and whether there are preliminary findings?
In our conducted water quality monitoring in the North and South Slave regions on the Slave, Hay, Liard, Peel, and Coppermine rivers this spring, the department did additional monitoring on the Slave River at Fort Smith due to the concerns about flooding in Fort McMurray. Results for the July monitoring of the Slave in Hay River have been released, and analysis of the August sampling is under way. The department has committed to make these findings available to the public through our website, and we will also provide it to standing committee as soon as they become available. So far, the results have pointed to the effect of high water levels, including higher than normal metal concentration.
I want to thank the Minister for that. With the surprise reduction in water quality monitoring by Alberta and the federal government, this would seem to have some impact on our ability to detect water quality changes. We need to have repeated, continuous, long-term water quality monitoring, and that's one of the cornerstones of the Transboundary Water Agreement. Can the Minister tell us what impact the reductions in water quality monitoring have had on our ability to detect and predict adverse impacts on NWT waters and people?
Healthy water is of critical importance to the Northwest Territories and its residents, and continuous long-term water quality monitoring is a critical part of the Transboundary Water Agreement. While water quality monitoring in Alberta was suspended, the GNWT conducted our own monitoring at borders throughout most of the pandemic, with only slight delays at the start of the season. Our results at the border are consistent with those in other parts of the basin and point to the impact of high water levels. All Alberta monitoring and most key federal sites, including all key sites downstream of the oil sands, are now up and running.
