Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is a question for the Minister of Finance. What in the federal budget will support an offset for the added cost of the carbon tax increase? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Minister responsible for Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it's not my place necessarily to speak to what is or is not in the federal budget. What I can say, Mr. Speaker, having spent a lot more time studying in depth what was in Budget 2022 of the federal government is that there is still opportunities to use that money towards addressing the fact of the carbon tax. In addition to which is they're only just starting to roll out what's happening in Budget 2023. We want to strike while we can, Mr. Speaker. I am glad there's a minister in the House from the federal government. We want to use all of the resources of the federal government 20222023, and we want to get the North off of fossil fuels. This is our opportunity, and I'm glad they're here to hear it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I'm pleased to hear that there's a minister a federal minister in the gallery. I didn't even know that.
Mr. Speaker, residents and businesses in the NWT are struggling. How does this government expect to provide immediate support while we are waiting on this cheap green energy that's supposed to show up at some point? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There continues to be, Mr. Speaker, a number of different initiatives well, before I go any further, I want to give a shout out to the Arctic Energy Alliance. They do a lot of work in this space, and they receive a lot of funding from our government to continue the work that they do in this space in terms of energy audits and ensuring that there's alternatives and paths forward and to help chart those paths forward. So I'd certainly encourage everyone to reach out to them. There are also funds within our government, again, to help support businesses in their changeovers. And, Mr. Speaker, as we've always done, and as we continue to do, ITI, there's a lot of supports in the business space through SEED in terms of helping businesses to grow their capacity. If they're growing their capacity, if they're growing their business, then they certainly will have more funds available to them. The COLO payment that we have, Mr. Speaker, built in purchasing power for residents so that they can help address the fact that they may be facing higher costs from businesses. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think I'm going to ask this question again, and there's something wrong with my earpiece so I didn't hear the answer.
Will the Minister ask the federal government to consider exempting residents and businesses of the Northwest Territories from carbon tax, because I understand the agricultural sector is looking for that in southern Canada. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, let me sneak this one in first and just say that there is the GHG grant program for buildings and industry that does give a 25 percent eligible project cost for business and industry applicants. I want to sneak it in so that the business community does hear that and does access those funds.
Mr. Speaker, we've asked, other governments have asked, a number of Ministers have asked, hasn't gotten us very far in terms of being exempted from the carbon tax. So the Minister here has heard it himself. What I'd like to do, though, moving forward, let's get ourselves off fossil fuel, let's have more reliable energy, let's have energy alternatives. We can't do that alone. We're working off of old infrastructure. We're working in communities that don't have road access. These are things that are going to take serious dollars; they're going to take federal dollars. And if that's a commitment of the federal government, we've heard it again in this budget, they need to come to the North, they need to see the realities of the North. We are more than prepared to work with them. We're more than prepared to help communities with the federal government. And we can then be leaders in Canada and stand up and say that we've got these communities off fossil fuels. It's time to make that change, Mr. Speaker. We're here to help out. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. One other question that I had trouble hearing as well. Will the Minister relay to the federal government the negative impact the carbon tax has on all residents and businesses in the Northwest Territories, because people are suffering right now, especially in the northern part of the territory and we need some type of support. Like, I know that green energy is the way of the future. That's what we're looking for. But it's not going to be here today; it's not going to be here tomorrow, it's going to take a while. And so I'm hoping that, you know, federal government hears the needs that we have and the urgency of it and that, you know, we need to do something and I'm hoping that this government relays that message and makes it a strong message. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We'll certainly be carrying the message of the North forward as we do, as all my colleagues as Ministers do. We want to see the North prosper. We want to see businesses prosper. We want to have residents to have be able to put food on their tables. In the context of the carbon tax, Mr. Speaker, I realize it creates a burden and it's creating a burden at a time where times are already tight, inflation is high, interests rates are high. We're all seeing it in the North. And we want ministers to come from Ottawa and actually see it themselves.
Mr. Speaker, I'm going to be, along with my colleagues, extending invitations out to the ministers who have their hands on, whether it's carbon tax dollars, environment dollars, energy dollars, we want to bring them here, have them in these communities so they can actually see the realities of a large proportion of Canada's 40 percent of Canada's land mass in fact, here in the North across three territories. Let's bring them to the North, and I'm going to make that commitment. We're going to make those offers and try to get them here so that they can see it themselves and we can then all work together. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Infrastructure. I raised this numerous times in the House on the Dempster Highway and I want to know where is this Minister at with discussions with the Yukon about improving the Dempster Highway. This is the vital link to our region. We need to ensure that this goat trail is corrected, and we don't have the money on this side so it's on the Yukon side. So where is the Minister in this discussions on getting this money? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes. Minister responsible for Infrastructure.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, maybe perhaps I shouldn't have mentioned that the Minister Vandal is here because now everyone's hands are going up.
Mr. Speaker, the Member from Inuvik and, you know, I'm a Member from Inuvik Boot Lake and we both have an interest. So do yourself, Mr. Speaker. The Dempster Highway is a critical I won't call it goat path, but it's a goat trail. I won't call it that. But other than to say that we have invested money on the NWT side. I made a commitment to the Member from Inuvik Twin Lakes that I would meet with the Minister, Minister Nils Clarke, which I did. We had discussions on perhaps partnering to look at joint proposals going forward to work on perhaps some of the things on the Yukon side. So we had that discussion, and we will further that discussion. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Well, I'm glad to hear that. And I'm just wondering if there's is there any plans on a joint submission because there's not just the road that needs to be repaired. There's two bridges. There's the wooden bridge, there's the small bridge that's like, you can't get wide loads up that highway. We have a housing crisis, we can't get anything wider than 14 foot 5 inches up that highway because of that wooden bridge in the Yukon. Those are all in the Yukon. And I need this Minister to advocate so that we can get more in our region. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have been having this discussions with the Yukon. You know, we did talk about having continue to make the case with the federal government for the Dempster Highway. It is important to a number of things. Canadian security, sovereignty. We need to invest in this on a national basis. Mr. Speaker, my mandate right now is the Mackenzie Valley Highway. I'm trying to do both, but there's only so much that we can do. I'm all about the Dempster Highway as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm glad that the Member had brought up the Mackenzie Valley Highway. Like, I'm sitting here and I'm asking the Member over and over again about dollars to fix a road that, you know, we have a plan to go down the Northwest Territories. So is the reason because we want this money in the Northwest Territories for the Mackenzie Valley versus the Yukon? So is that the reason why we're not getting any agreements? Can the Minister explain. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there's both discussions going on. I am meeting with the Yukon government and having discussions on some of the work for the Dempster Highway as well as, you know, we're expecting that this mandate of the 19th Assembly is to advance the Mackenzie Valley Highway. It's not going to happen overnight. Perhaps it's not going to happen in five years. It's going to take time. But for now if we can have this discussion with the Yukon to be able to look at some of the things we can do on the Dempster Highway.
I also want to mention that I had an opportunity to speak with parliamentary committee just a couple weeks ago. I brought that up to the committee. The Yukon has you know, that was one of my discussions with the parliamentary committee. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I know in the same discussion that we were having with the Dempster Highway and the Mackenzie Valley Highway, the Minister committed that we would be having an assessment for how much it was going to cost to get the road from Inuvik down into the Sahtu. And is that work being done and if there's money, have you requested for that work to be done? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I had an opportunity in February, during our break, to drive the Mackenzie Valley Highway from Fort Simpson to Norman Wells. And, you know, it was great to see a lot of work happening on the Norman Wells side with the Prohibition Creek Access Prohibition Creek Road. So I mean, there were a lot of people, businesses. There were workers from the Sahtu, small communities. It was really great to see some that work being done. It is being advanced. We're also having discussions with some of the Indigenous group that are along the alignment, such as the Pehdzeh Ki First Nation as well as, you know, Tulita. So we are furthering that discussion. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Monfwi.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased with the Frank Channel Bridge moving forward, which is an important piece of infrastructure for the NWT. We all know that that infrastructure is over 50 years old and liability is great. Our young people from Behchoko and Edzo travel on that bridge every day to attend Chief Jimmy Bruneau school in Edzo, which is over 50 years old as well, and our day care in Behchoko. Therefore, will the Minister of education commit to ask the federal minister of infrastructure commit to billion a new school in Behchoko as soon as possible, maybe within the next fiscal year. Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Monfwi. Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And so as the House is aware, we have committed to working with the Tlicho government on procuring a new school for Behchoko. The federal government does not billion schools generally and so in our discussions with the Tlicho government, it's been determined that they would be the best to approach the federal government. And we are fully supporting them once they do that. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, where does this government get their money from? From the federal government. So therefore he can ask the federal government, probably not this one or whoever, but to commit that if we can if they can billion or help us billion a school. So I'm just asking the federal the Minister of education, wherever they're getting their money from, to ask those government to help us billion a school in Behchoko. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There has been a plan in place for quite some time now to approach the federal government, ask them for money to billion a new school in Behchoko. As the Member is aware, it was the federal government who built this school outside of the community many years ago because it was cheaper. But obviously that is not in the spirit of reconciliation. So we have committed to working with the Tlicho government on approaching the federal government hoping that they will be supportive and that they will rectify, really, the mistake that they made 50 some years ago. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that is good. I know that when the school was first built in 1969, you know, and it opened in 1972, that was not the will of the people, of my people. It was the will of the government of the day, which is that two government: The territorial government and the federal government, they thought it was because of the infrastructure and, you know, whatever of the the government decided to do at the day and they're trying to move people away, they thought that, you know, that they can do better, that our life was going to improve better than in Behchoko at that time. So that was their will, not our will. So I'm just making a statement because I don't have any questions, and he already said it and so they admit that there is a problem, and it was not our will to billion the school in Edzo as well. So thank you.
Thank you, Member for Monfwi. Taken as a comment. Oral questions. Member for Tu NedheWiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yeah, I'm glad the Minister's here; we're all going to take advantage of that.
Mr. Speaker, like, I mentioned this year I've been trying to get a winter road to my communities but, again, it just still goes to show that, you know, we got winter roads to Colville Lake, Deline, Gameti, Nahanni Butte, Norman Wells, Somba K'e, Tulita, Wekweeti, Whati, Wrigley. And then we got ice roads. We got Aklavik ice road, Dettah ice road. Ice crossings. Liard crossing, Mackenzie River crossing, Peel River crossing. And then we got a road to Tibbitt Lake. And this year I asked for help to get a winter road built to my community of Lutselk'e. We have the high cost of living there. To bring in a vehicle is crazy, to bring in material, homes into the community, just really, really at a very high cost. So and, again, I was told that it's going to cost about $2 million to put a road in on an annual basis. So I'd like to take this opportunity to direct my question to the GNWT Infrastructure Minister, Diane Archie, to see if we could work with the Government of Canada to help find $2 million a year just for the winter road on an annual basis, plus additional barging that we could do to provide services to the community of Lutselk'e so that we could help reduce the cost of living in our communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Tu NedheWiilideh. Minister responsible for Infrastructure.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Member and I have had discussions in the past on the Lutselk'e ice road request. We did look into it. The Member's correct, it was going to cost about $2 million annually to have a look. And with that, there was a number of things. You know there's a short window. There's a number of risks going across that lake. And, you know, we will continue to discuss. I know the Member's wanting to have further discussions with perhaps the federal ministers on how we can work together, perhaps find some funding, to be able to look at, you know, other ways to get get the road done. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And my invitation to all the Ministers and Premier still stands to coming to the community of Lutselk'e and Fort Resolution and Dettah and N'dilo. I think we had some kind of commitments in April and May so we look forward to that. But when you come to the community of Lutselk'e, again, the issue of winter road is still going to be there. The high cost of living, like I said, to bring a bed frame into the community costs $600. Things we take for granted living in a community like Yellowknife or in places where they have winter road, ice road, allseason roads, there's good. But, again, people in Lutselk'e are very concerned about the high cost of living. So I'm hoping that when we go to the community, we're going to be talking about that. But at the same time, I encourage you to continue to lobby on behalf of my community and the people in my community to the Government of Canada to see if they could get them on board to help start planning, do the feasibility study, and then start looking at putting an allseason I mean, a winter road, ice road, and also look at barging. We only get one barge a year, but we need probably a couple more. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Member is correct. We do have the communities currently serviced by marine transportation services for the annual supply of fuel, construction, marine, and dry goods. Trucking fuel on the ice road over the Great Slave creates significant environmental risk, which would increase cost of fuel. So there are technical challenges, Mr. Speaker, of building an ice road across the lake. As I mentioned earlier, I understand where the Member's coming from and wanting to look at, you know, future development future road into the community. You know, we do have capital processes that we do as a government. So I hear where the Member's coming from. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I want to thank the Minister. And I look forward to working with you and also with the federal counterparts to, again, find money for our community. And the sooner the better. And I think when we come to the community of Lutselk'e, we're going to have that discussion. And there's other opportunities. Like, you said as well is that there's housing; there's materials in the community, the CoOp, and everybody could all have a hand, including the parks. So I think if you all got together and had that discussion, I'm sure we could reduce that cost as well. But, again, we just got to do that homework and I look forward to sitting down with you. And that was just a comment. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Tu NedheWiilideh. Taken as a comment. Oral questions. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we know that what happened last year in Hay River. There was flooding, major flooding. And we're looking at a cost of probably $175 plus million. And another issue that we seen happen last year was supplies not getting into northern communities and part of it, I think, was because of, you know, the harbour access to the harbour in Hay River, and the problems with the coast guard grounding and other boats as well. So even though I didn't get these questions in advance to the Minister of Infrastructure, she's answered them prior anyways, so. I would like to ask the Minister of Infrastructure if she can confirm if there was any funding for harbour remediation for Hay River in the federal budget. Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Minister responsible for Infrastructure.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when I was in Hay River in the fall, we had a community meeting. We talked about harbour restoration, otherwise known as dredging, but I'm not going to say that today. I'm going to call harbour restoration just for sake of having our Minister here. We did send we did some work, Mr. Speaker. We had money. We had bathymetric studies done. We spent over $150,000 to get some of this work done, mostly because it helps us set a business case to put towards the ocean protection plan. So I'm going to just stop right there in case the Member has more questions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No, I appreciate what the Minister and her department have done. They've done a lot more than we've seen in the past and I think we're on the right track. And I guess I'd have to ask what is the status of this business case submitted to the federal government, and where are we with it? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, everybody was tuned in on Tuesday to the federal budget. And I was very happy to see a number of things mentioned, more specifically the Taltson, which I was excited to see, but we did put in a funding proposal under the Ocean Protection Plan. You know, I met with Minister Alghabra when I was in Ottawa for FPT. We had oneonone discussions on, you know, the need to have the Hay River harbour restoration completed so that we can get our tugs all the way up the valley into Nunakput. You know, we had struggles this year. We were late. We had, you know, a number of issues trying to get our supplies of fuel, equipment, into the communities. That's important for us. We put this proposal together. Going back to the budget, I was really excited to see that Mackenzie River was on one of the one of the listed projects for the budget. So I'm hoping that's what that is. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I'm hoping the dollars for the Mackenzie River included Hay River. And I'm just expecting that, you know, since the people doing the budget are from southern Canada, they may not know kind of where the Mackenzie River is and where the Hay River is. They may be mixing them up and I'm hoping that's what's happening.
I'd asked the Minister what is the status on the permitting which will allow work to happen on the channel where coast guard has repeatedly been grounded? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned, we have the proposal in under the Ocean Protection Plan. We had a lot of community support up the valley, all the way from Aklavik. So I mean, this is a priority. Once we get a response on the funding, then we will start some of the work that's much needed to complete the harbour restoration as well as, you know, in our funding proposal, we asked for some money for double haul barges. We asked for four years of funding for the Hay River restoration. So, I mean, once we get that approval, that sets the stages on how we proceed with this project. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think it's important to note that how important that harbour is to Hay River, how important MTS is to Hay River, how important coast guard is to Hay River. You know, if we happen to lose those, basically Hay River's going to slowly disappear. And I think, you know and also the service that it offers to northern communities for supply, to northern businesses, to mining companies, it's very important. So we have to ensure that that harbour is in good shape. And I know that in the past there when the dredging ceased, I think it was because they went to a, you know, a user pay system. But we can't afford to pay that in the Northwest Territories.
So I guess what I'm looking for is what's the realistic timeline for start of remediation for the channel coming into the Hay River? And if we don't get federal dollars, we have to get this done. It has to get done this year. And if it's not this summer, which I hope it is, and then it's going to have to be off the ice in the winter. Thank you.
