Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My Member's statement today, Mr. Speaker, was the aircraft being held up for the court parties.
Would the Minister just I guess clarify in regards to why are we still holding aircraft in Tuk when we do have a road and places to stay in the community? And why is that why are we still holding aircraft because we do need that aircraft for others, to service other communities because we're kind of in a shortage. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Nunakput. Minister responsible for Justice.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I recognize the Member's concerns. Unfortunately, I don't have that level of detail about the operations of the courts. The travel schedule and those logistical pieces are the decisions of the courts so it's not my decision to make. But I can look into it and get back to the Member. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister convey to the court parties I guess in the territory that just to make sure that proper planning, if not using aircraft that's holding up in the communities to provide service, if he could just let them know that in the communities, every community that they're going to they do have a hotel. Paulatuk has a hotel, Ulukhaktok has a hotel, Tuk has B and Bs and a road, and cost savings for that it would save them money. And, Mr. Speaker, I think that these times I think we should be looking at something like that to be more cost effective across the board. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will make sure that we convey the entirety of this conversation to the courts. We'll provide them with the transcript, and we can have a discussion with them. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Monfwi.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am not asking for the Government of the Northwest Territories to allow the Tlicho government to apply on funds for child and youth care counselling. I want to see the government work government to government and transfer child and youth care counsellor positions.
Will the Minister commit to meet with the Tlicho government to develop a timeline for transferring over the child and youth care counsellors to the Tlicho government? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Monfwi. Minister responsible for Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Education, Culture and Employment Minister and I, as the Ministers responsible for this joint initiative, have met with education leaders and we have heard firsthand their concerns with the CYCC program. That program is now being evaluated on an expedited basis, meaning that we will act on results as they come in. An example I'll give you of that is changing the job description. Now the job description is oriented to significant postsecondary education. But what we've heard is that people would like more flexibility in the qualifications of the counsellors they're hiring. And so that's an example of the change we've already made. Thank you.
Thank you. Yeah, Mr. Speaker, Tlicho government want our children and youth to be counselled, mentored, and supported by Tlicho people. It is critical that children and youth receive the support from their own people.
Will the Minister of health agree with me that Tlicho children and youth should be counselled by Tlicho people? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we use the standard government hiring process to hire counsellors. There's a job description. The position is advertised. There's an interview and scoring and so on and that's how we come up with the qualifications.
I would like the Member to know that the highest use of the CYCC program is in fact in her region. So students are using the existing program. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We know GNWT struggles to fill positions in Tlicho region. So why does the government GNWT need to keep control over positions they cannot fill? Can the Minister review all the unfilled position in the Tlicho region and work with the Tlicho government to transfer over positions that Tlicho government is ready to take on? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the CYCC initiative started to roll out before the beginning of this Assembly, and it was in a phased process over four years. In the course of that four years, we have learned more about what is effective and isn't effective. So we're now leading a comprehensive evaluation of the program and that will, of course, include looking at vacancy rates, why they are so high. I know that they're not only high in the Tlicho region for health and social services in general but that there are significant vacancies all around the territory, which has forced us to pivot and to become more flexible offering online and virtual, phone and so on options, so that students get the help they need. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of ENR. Mr. Speaker, within the work hours currently going to southern workers, I'm wondering if the Minister can speak to whether or not there are trends in the type of work hours that are going to southern workers over northern workers? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister responsible for Environment and Natural Resources.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, ITI completed an analysis of the GMRP arson contract in June of 2022. The results showed 68 percent total spending had gone to NWT Indigenous businesses and that is on par with the diamond mines. Categories of spending that has gone to southern businesses include construction, air quality monitoring programs, medical sampling and analysis, minerals such as lime, sulfate and dust suppression, drilling and installation specialized equipment, specialized water pumps, and pylons I think I guess I got that one wrong. This helped us identify opportunities for the GNWT and NWT business to help build capacity in these areas, but it is important to note much of the work is specialized. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And I'm happy that the Minister was able to read my mind because I just realized I gave him zero context about what we're speaking about. So just for Hansard, we're talking about Giant Mine. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I'm wondering if the Minister can provide some clarity as to what rate these work hours are going to southern workers because of available northern workers are either being underbid versus there being no NWT bidders? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, ITI analysis showed that the reason contractors went south included not receiving the highest score on the contract evaluation, no northern companies submitted a bid, noncompetitive processes work, technical capacity is absent in northern firms. These contracts were limited to the specialized equipment items. Through Indigenous Opportunities Consideration, or IOC, the Giant Mine project aims to provide benefits for all work packages to the Indigenous community in the area of the contract. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member's statement today I spoke about how it can be difficult for local proponents to be able to bid on the large scale of work that is happening out at Giant Mine, and this can be because there's just not the required clarity around the size, scale, scope, and timelines associated with some of the bidding that's happening out there. So I'm wondering will the Minister push the federal government to provide a more detailed budget and timeline so that local proponents can properly prepare and bid on this work? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, ENR along with ITI and ECE participated in the socio-economic working group and the socio-economic advisory body group. These groups provided the Giant Mine project with specific geo-economic advice and input. ECE, with the support from ENR, has developed the North Slave regional training hub to support trainers and funding responses to large scale projects. Canada and Yellowknife Dene First Nation are in the process of finalizing a procurement framework agreement which will finalize Canada's commitment to providing socio-economic benefits to the Yellowknife Dene, by confirming the procurement approaches that will be used for the project, giving the Yellowknife Dene First Nation a role in the decisionmaking process by reviewing and commenting on planning procurement methods before they are implemented and creating a mechanism way for projects to monitor and report to the Yellowknife Dene socio-economic process. The project is currently in discussion with the Tlicho government and the North Slave Metis on similar agreements. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And I was furiously writing and so I am going to have to go back through Hansard as well. And I appreciate that the government is working with YKDFN on a socio-economic agreement. One of the things that I am hearing, and that I'm talking about right now, is that there's not really a clear understanding of whether or not a project is going to be $1 million, if it's going to come out and be a $100 million, and the capacity of northern businesses to be able to kind of play ball in those ball fields is much different, right? If you need a team of five people versus a team of 50 people, well, you're talking about much different projects there.
And so what industry is looking for in the territory is a better idea of what is coming down the pipe what is showing up at the doorstep and coming out in tendering processes so that they can actively be part of that. And so I'm wondering and asking the Minister if he will be an advocate for northern industry and advocate to the federal government for more clarity on the size, scale, scope, and timelines associated with the projects so that Northerners can participate in the remediation of the mine? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the GNWT is part of the Giant Mine Remediation Project team and is involved in all work planning, including consideration of timelines. The GMRP timeline has recently been lengthened to maximize Indigenous and northern business opportunities. The GNWT will continue to pursue opportunities associated with the Giant Mine Remediation Project that will create opportunities for Indigenous and northern businesses. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Infrastructure. Can the Minister tell me if she's aware of, and what they are, the activities that her department is doing to celebrate Engineering Month this month given that all of the NWT or the GNWT's engineers typically reside in the Department of Infrastructure? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Great Slave. Minister responsible for Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm doing a Minister's statement next week to acknowledge all the engineers so I'm very proud to be able to do that. In terms of what the department's doing, we've got a number of things happening I'd be quite happy to share with the Member. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would appreciate that, but I'm disappointed the Minister can't tell the public right now what they are.
Another issue within engineering is that there are only about 13 percent of engineers in Canada who are women, and this is a very stagnant number. When we look at the Department of Infrastructure, it does counter a lot of the other GNWT departments in that it is not a department that has a lot women and particularly not a lot of women that are in technical roles.
Can the Minister speak to how the department is working to increase the diversity of the workforce, particularly around gender and nongender conforming people, in the department? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we do recognize within the Department of Infrastructure that it is, you know, predominantly one gender positions and, you know, we are as a department looking out reaching out to try and get a more balanced equity. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. One of the events that NAPEG, which is the regulator here in the Northwest Territories for engineers and geoscientists, puts on during Engineering Month is the popsicle bridge building contest.
Will the Minister commit to taking part in the popsicle bridge building contest and constructing her own popsicle bridge for demolition during NAPEG's event week? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am going to have to have a chat with the Member just to understand what this popsicle event is because I'm off the top of my head, I'm not familiar with it. I'd like to understand a little more of it before I commit to doing this because yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Well, Mr. Speaker, I'd be happy to tell the Minister about what the popsicle bridge building contest is. So for years now the engineers have been sending out to all out of the communities, all the school groups, if they would like to participate a set and series of popsicle sticks and through that they have to construct a bridge. They are provided with the means to transport the bridges back to Yellowknife if they themselves cannot come to the event. I think Canadian North is usually a sponsor of that shipping. And then they bring them here and we use a machine and we crush them, and we see which bridge withstands the most pressure in the crushing. So this is a great way and a very easy way for children and youth of the Northwest Territories to be exposed to what engineering is and to really put their minds to how buildings and structures are constructed. So I think it would be a wonderful opportunity for the Minister to show her department that she is involved with this and is committed to it. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And I appreciate the Member's description of what this means. It sounds like fun. It sounds like something I should be a little more proactive in. You know, building bridges in the Northwest Territories falls within my department so I'd be quite happy to build with popsicle sticks. Perhaps when we get to actually building bridges, it's not with popsicle sticks. We'd rather do it with steel, which is going to cost money and so on, but I'd be quite happy to do this activity and, you know, invite anyone else who wants to build popsicle bridges with me, I'd be quite okay with it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In order for my dream to come true I actually got to get ahold of a piece of land, which is not an easy task. You know, there was a cabin lottery, after decades, in 2015 and it was a real long shot whether you could actually win one.
So my first question for the Minister of Lands, does he have any update to this House on whether there will be another cabin lottery? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Minister responsible for Lands.
It's Friday, and I feel like I'm crushing dreams here, so I apologize to the Member. I'm aware of strong interests for new recreational lease opportunities. The Member has brought this up to the House a number of times. Now opportunities need to be carefully planned and that's what we're going through. We also have to reach out to our Indigenous governments, and that's what we're doing. We're working with our Indigenous governments, doing section 35, to be able to do this. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I hope there can be buyin from our Indigenous governments and we can all find a path to move forward on this. I think there are a number of options.
My next question is, you know, even if you get one of those leases you can't live in them; you can't get a real mortgage. There's a lot of kind of limitations. I think the easiest solution here is that for longterm leaseholders that we create some sort of policy that allows them to get title in appropriate circumstances. Is there any path forward for longterm leaseholders to get fee simple title? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Member is aware, we are wrapping up the review of the land leaseonly policy, and I committed to providing the results prior to the end of this sitting. However, we are aware that land resources and selfgovernment agreements are under negotiations, and we continue to work to ensure that land is managed appropriately under these agreements that are under negotiations. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Yeah, thank you, Mr. Speaker. The current process of new leases seems to be recreational leases, and I'm not really sure where that stems from. I know many people live illegally in their recreational leases. They use them as residential leases. Is there any path forward to if we're not going to get title and we're not going to have new leases, allowing a mechanism where a recreational lease can become a residential lease? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Department of Lands recognized there may be lessees who have utilized their cabin or dwelling as a residence. There has been longstanding discussion with recreational lessees regarding what restrictions may be in place regarding their occupancy. Issues related to increased waste and fuel storage when people occupy these dwellings on an increased or fulltime basis needs to be considered. The department is working to address lease conditions that allow for permanent residency within certain leases under the Public Lands Act and regulations. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Final supplementary. Member for Yellowknife North.
Yeah, thank you, Mr. Speaker. One of the other frustrations I've heard is from the people who aren't allowed to live in their leases is they're also not allowed to run any sort of business activity out of them; you know, whether that's as simple as making wood stoves or doing wood haul or it's something like renting out your cabin from time to time. I know there's kind of an insatiable demand for cabin rentals but it's not currently legal under the leases. Is there any path to allow some sort of homebased or commercial business activity in leases? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I thank the Member for the question. Current provisions for recreational or residential leases does not allow for commercial activities such as an Airbnb. Having a home business or a B and B is considered a commercial endeavour. In most jurisdictions, it requires a commercial lease as well as business license. Commercial leases are available to the public now in appropriate zoned areas. If this is a desire, lessees should reach out to the department to discuss the parameters for changing the use of their lease and potential issues that may need to be considered regarding regulations to address this. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
