Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Minister responsible for Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The GNWT recently commissioned a study on liquid biofuels, such as ethanol, bio diesel, and renewable diesel. The study found that there are significant challenges with ethanol and bio diesel in our old climate and our longterm storage requirements. The study did find that renewable diesel could be used as a diesel substitute in the Northwest Territories if the formula is right. However, right now, there is a limited international production of renewable diesel, and what is being produced is being sold under a contract and cannot be brought into open market. Once we get the renewable diesel that meets our cold climate requirements, we will attempt to get some perhaps to do a trial study. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. It's my understanding that there's quite a bit of unallocated money remaining from the federal Low Carbon Economy Leadership Fund but that there's some conditions that prevent its use to fund trials.
Can the Minister tell us how much money is left to be allocated and whether her department will ask the federal government to permit use of these funds for trials of biofuels? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Right now, and this is subject to change as we have our yearend numbers, there's approximately $2.7 million available under the GHG grant program for buildings and industry until March 2024.
Under our federal rules, LCELF funding cannot be used for operational expenses such as biofuels. We have asked the federal government if there's any flexibility, and they have responded that there is not.
We do track federal funding programs, and we will continue to look for a program that might find funding for this type of project. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. I'm happy to work with her to put some pressure on the feds.
So a significant portion of the carbon tax paid by large emitters goes to fund installation of greenhouse gas reduction infrastructure but switching to biofuels doesn't really require any infrastructure. And it's not clear what whether the retained carbon tax money set aside for GHG reductions can be used to purchase biofuels.
Can the Minister confirm whether any of the GNWTretained carbon taxes and/or the large emitter trust funds can be used to purchase biofuels for testing and use in the NWT? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Department of Finance administers the Large Emitter Grant Program. However, I do want to perhaps, with my colleague's permission, speak a bit about the program.
It is an applicationbased program that allows large emitters to receive grants up to the amount in their individual account for projects that reduce their GHG emissions at least 5 percent from the baseline business as usual. If a switch to biofuels from regular diesel will reduce GHG emissions by 5 percent on an ongoing basis, then the large emitter may apply for a grant for those costs of the switch. The cost of the liquid biofuels itself would not be an eligible cost.
The Large Emitter Grant Program does not include grants for research. However, if the research is applied and produces a 5 percent reduction in GHG emissions from the baseline, then large emitter may apply for a large emitter grant.
Retained carbon taxes going to general revenues and are allocated based on government priorities. 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. That's probably some of the best reasons I've ever heard to change the large emitter trust account and the policy around that. I talked to the Minister of Finance about it. She committed to review it. Nothing's changed. Nothing.
But I want to turn to the report on biofuels identified that 75 percent of the territory's emissions come from industry. I understand that De Beers is a large emitter, as a corporation has committed to carbon neutral by 2030. Yukon government is relying on biofuels as part of its climate change work. The feds are working on clean standards. There's a lot of things working together here. We just need to get our own government on board.
So can the Minister tell us whether there are any plans to partner with industry or other governments to conduct a trial of biofuels in the NWT? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We would gladly partner with industry for such a project. Unfortunately, as I mentioned, the availability of Arcticgrade product is a challenge. We understand that there are several renewable diesel refinery projects that are under development in Canada, and we hope this will lead to Arcticgrade renewable diesel becoming available for purchase soon. You know, when this happens, we'll be able to look to partners to be able to trial this project. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The last minimum wage report was never made public, and I understand the Minister's position and he told the committee that the work they would do would remain confidential. But I understand that we're now looking at reviewing the minimum wage again. And I just don't want to be standing here at that time asking that question once again.
So can the Minister speak to what the process is going forward for the next minimum wage review? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Generally what happens is every two years the minimum wage committee is struck, and it does a review of the environment in the territory and produces some recommendations for the Minister in regards to the minimum wage. The department mentioned to me that they were embarking on that process again and I said, just wait. I'm not sure if that's the route I want to go.
The committee does a lot of great work, and I appreciate the work the members put in but, you know, given the criticism by the Members about that process, I might be taking a different approach. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I'm sure the Minister will keep us apprised of his different approach.
One of the things I would really like the Minister to look into is tieing our minimum wage to inflation. I know we have the second highest right now, but we're kind of in a tie with Yukon and BC and it looks like Yukon's going to pass us on April 1 when inflation goes up. And so we're kind of in this constant battle where we have a political choice to raise the minimum wage as opposed to many jurisdictions who just automatically raise it with inflation. Is pegging the minimum wage to the consumer price index or an inflationary measure something the Minister is willing to do? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We haven't done that in the past, and I don't want to speak for the previous Ministers, but when I was elected, that year minimum wage was $10. I've only been here six years. So it went from $10 up to $15.20 in a relatively short amount of time. So we far outstripped the rises to CPI or inflation. And so we haven't been in a position where we would want to do that. You know, if this is seen as adequate right now, this minimum wage, then it would make sense to tie it to the CPI. But I'm not sure if this is adequate. You know, there needs to be a bit more analysis. So am I willing to look at that? Yes, we always look at that. The minimum wage committee has traditionally looked at that. But it's just one factor that we have to consider. Thank you.
Yeah, thank you, Mr. Speaker. I spoke earlier that we lost the wage topup program which brought many workers up to $18 an hour, and then I think this year we are going to see one of the highest inflations Canadians have seen in years, and the cost of living is not getting any cheaper in the North. I just worry that, you know, we in the NWT are heading down a path where making a living wage is just getting harder and harder for other people.
Can the Minister speak to what plans the department has to ensure that NWT workers are making a decent wage that, you know, keeps the pace of the cost of living and inflation? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And that responsibility is not mine alone. That is really all of government needs to work to ensuring that. We need to ensure that we have an adequate housing stock so that the rents are affordable. We need to ensure that, you know, our economy is robust so people can find jobs. So the minimum wage, people have to remember, it's a minimum standard. You know, this is an employee's market in the Northwest Territories. Our wages, on average, are much higher than the minimum wage. It's a very small proportion of the population, and a young portion of the population, that is making minimum wage. So minimum wage is not the tool to get to a living wage. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to table Sharing Common Ground Review of Yukon's Police Force Final Report on Implementation, May 2014. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Tabling of documents. Notices of motion. Motions. Notices of motion for the first reading of bills. First reading of bills. Second reading of bills. Consideration in Committee of the Whole of bills and other matters: Bill 23, 29, and 38; Minister's Statement 20219(2); Tabled Document 561, 567, 578, 57919(2), with Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes in the chair.
I now call Committee of the Whole to order. What is the wish of committee? Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Madam la Presidente. Committee wishes to consider Tabled Document 56119(2): Main Estimates 20222023, with Education, Culture and Employment and Justice. Mahsi, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. We will take a short recess and start with the first, ECE.
SHORT RECESS
I now call Committee of the Whole back to order. Committee, we've agreed to consider Tabled Document 56119(2): Main Estimates 20222023, and we are on the Department of Education, Culture and Employment. Does the Minister wish to bring witnesses in?
Yes, Madam Chair, thank you. I do wish to bring in my witnesses.
Okay. SergeantatArms, please escort the witnesses in to the Chamber. Thank you.
Welcome back, deputy minister MacDonald and ADM Mr. Saturnino. And we are going to continue on where we left off yesterday under income security.
Member for Monfwi, I had cut you off due to the time. You still have five minutes left. Did you have questions under income security, or? You did, okay; I just got to fix the clock. There. You ready?
Member for Monfwi, you can continue on under income security.
Okay, yesterday I was saying about the income support and, okay, the Indigenous students, they get they're eligible for basic and supplementary. And I was saying there, I said a lot of students are saying that the funding that they get, it's not enough. So a lot of them are saying they're going they're applying for the repayable loan. And so when they do that, they are they were told that they have to pay, like the full amount. And it's not they don't like it. They would like some of them were saying that it would be nice if it was the same as the remissible loan where they can pay half, because a lot of them live in outlying communities, in the small communities. And if they don't get a job right away, then what SFA or the ECE does is they send their file to the collection, to the collection department. They didn't even start their life or doesn't even have a job, now right away at the beginning when they're just starting their credit is already ruined because of the collections. So lot of them is there any way that we can change that within the policy or the SFA can the department look into that by, you know, part of the renewal policy?
Thank you, Member. Minister of ECE.
Yes, thank you. Yes, as we look at SFA and, you know, how we want to improve the program, we can look at things like that. You know, there's always considerations. You know, we have to follow the rules in other legislation and there's other financialrelated legislation that might be requiring us to do certain things but, you know, with the review, I want to ensure that we are developing a program that is responsive to the needs and the circumstances of all residents. And if those residents are in small communities and they have different circumstances that require perhaps some a different way of doing things, then we want to look at that. So I appreciate the Member bringing it to my attention. Thank you.
Thank you. Member for Monfwi.
Thank you. Another one too is that there are some students that took because they use up their basic and supplementary grant, which is equivalent which is 12semesters, an equivalent to $60,000. So some went on the because of that, they're not eligible for the remissible loan. So they have to go on the repayable loan and some are saying that well, some of the students that or the people that I talked to, they're close to 60 years old and they're saying we don't have a job. Government is not going to do a write off of that loan. They would like to see that write off.
Is there any way that can can SFA or ECE review those outstanding student loan for those people who are close to 60 years old or over 60 years old, those who have used up their basic and supplementary grant? Thank you.
Thank you. Minister of ECE.
Thank you. And again, we do have to follow the rules in other financial legislations. So there are processes in place to request forgiveness if you get to the point where you, you know, you're having collections called on you. So there are some processes in place but we don't want to have a program and have some people, you know, have to follow that program and others not. So what we might need is to perhaps change the program so it's a little more responsive but I don't want to, you know commit to, you know, just treating some people differently because, you know, they have different circumstances than other people might have but those other people might be following the rules, so. Short story, we were going to look at all of these things as we review the program. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Are there any other further questions? Member for Monfwi, just wait.
Oh, my five minutes is up? Okay.
Thank you. Are there any further questions under income security from Members?
All right, so just going to Education, Culture and Employment, income security, operations expenditure summary, 20222023 Main Estimates, $60,121,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. Committee, we will now turn to page we've already done JK to grade 12 so we're going to skip that.
Labour development and advanced education, page 53, with information items on 54 to 57. Questions. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Just looking at the trades and occupation wage subsidy, can the Minister I guess give me a breakdown, roughly, between the trades and I guess occupations, I suspect it's two different things, what the breakdown would be? Thank you.
Thank you. Minister of ECE.
Thank you. So just for clarity, what's the question; a breakdown between what?
Member for Hay River South, did you want to clarify?
Thank you, Madam Chair. It just says trades and occupation so I expect that there's two different parts to it; is that correct? And if there is, what would the breakdown be or what would be the difference between trades and occupations? Thank you.
Thank you. Minister of ECE.
Thank you. They're not separated in the budget but perhaps Mr. Saturnino can provide a bit of a description about what a trade is versus what an occupation is. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Saturnino.
