Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to acknowledge three St. Patrick High School students who are Frame Lake residents serving as pages in this sitting: Ava Maurice, Deniye Lockhart, and Kyla. Mahsi, merci, and thank you.
Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Minister responsible for Housing NWT.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to recognize two constituents from the Sahtu. I'd like to recognize Ms. Rhea McDonald who is working with us in the Legislative Assembly, and she is just completing her political science degree. I'd also like to recognize Mr. Robin Doctor from the Sahtu as well, too. He is celebrating 14 years with the GNWT and actually works for the Department of Infrastructure. Mahsi.
Thank you, Member for Sahtu. Recognition of visitors in the gallery.
Colleagues, I'd like to recognize Pam Williams, also Aurora and James oh, James must have stepped out. But I see this spring both Pam and James went to the Islanders game, which was Tom's favorite team, and it looked like you had an enjoyable time. It's a privilege to have you all in the House today. And I know Tom was a good friend to many of us and dearly missed. Thoughts and prayers are with you all.
And if we have missed anyone in the gallery today, welcome to the Chamber and I hope you are enjoying the proceedings. It is always nice to have people in the public gallery. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. At the start of this Assembly, there was a lot of talk about an Indigenous procurement policy, and then the feds, they stepped up, and they created some targets for Indigenous procurement and as well as the Yukon, and we kind of seem to fall apart on that. And now our plan says we're going to identify some potential solutions and maybe get this work done. I'm actually a little confused whether we will have a clear Indigenous procurement policy in the life of this government. So my questions for the Minister of Finance is where we are at in regards to creating an Indigenous procurement policy? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Minister responsible for Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we don't need to do things the way the Yukon or the federal government do. I know the Yukon process wasn't necessarily greeted with a hundred percent pleasantness from the Indigenous governments in the Northwest Territories or in the Yukon nor from their businesses.
Where we are on this one, Mr. Speaker, an Indigenous procurement policy has gone to the Northwest Territories Council of Leaders and our modern treaty and selfgovernment tables. This is where it belongs. These are the groups that are going to be impacted. These are groups that need to have a voice and need to have a role in developing this policy. So we're taking this through that process. They've already met with officials. It's already on the agenda for the upcoming Council of Leaders meeting. The work is already moving forward in terms of developing the internal process that they'll be using to look through what steps they need to take to define an Indigenous business and define a northern Indigenous business and how we can work through ensuring that any policy we apply is in line and respectful of the treaty obligations that we have to modern treaty holders and our economic chapters.
So, Mr. Speaker, I'm not putting a deadline on this. The intention was never to force through a policy and to place it down on Indigenous businesses or Indigenous governments. It really is to work with them, and that work is now well underway. Thank you.
Yeah, thank you, Mr. Speaker. You know, I worry that this is going to get caught in negotiations and hopefully by the next Assembly, we'll have an Indigenous procurement policy. But I'm hoping for a clear yes on the business incentive policy. The work plan is pretty clear that in the life of this government, we are going to revise the definition of a northern resident, and we are going to increase BIP thresholds for tenders and RFPs.
Can the Minister provide us an update about whether that work to finish the BIP review will and amend the BIP policy will be done in the life of this Assembly? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, Mr. Speaker, as I had previously said the work is well underway and will be delivered in the life of this Assembly. There will be a change to the definition. We're going to be getting rid of the need for a Schedule 3 and getting back to focusing on what the objectives of the BIP really are, which is around investment in the Northwest Territories, encouraging investment, encouraging business growth here in the Northwest Territories, and supporting businesses that support that objective. That definition, as I've said, so it is on its way. It will be here in the life of the Assembly, and the Member will have plenty of opportunity to ask me questions about it before the August session. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. During the procurement review, there was a couple sections on leasing, and then the procurement review panel said that the GNWT should look into whether there was a different approach to leasing, and then the Department of Infrastructure kind of took that as we can't do any work until the procurement review is done. But I don't actually believe the procurement review is changing anything with leasing. I could be mistaken. But can the Minister let me know whether there is any intention to change any of our leasing policies related to procurement in the life of this government? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, leasing does fall a little bit out of the wheelhouse for me in the Department of Finance but certainly in terms of understanding what's happening as a wholeofgovernment, infrastructure and the Department of the Executive do confirm that they do want to look together at the improved real property policy. They do want to do that once the formal procurement processes for government procurement and public procurement are done, but also in line with the Indigenous procurement policy that I had just described a few moments ago. So that work will be underway once that is complete. It's important to again, we want to be integrated in the approach here, and we don't want to develop this policy around leasing knowing that there's Indigenous development corporations and Indigenous businesses that are interested in this area until the Indigenous procurement policy work is done.
Mr. Speaker, what I suggest is we can certainly add this to our work plan in this area so that there's a clearer timeline and a clearer sense of the work that's happening. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Yellowknife North.
Yeah, thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I get that perhaps the desire to negotiate Indigenous procurement policy, which could potentially affect all areas of procurement, has, you know, paused some of that other work. I guess perhaps a review of a new work plan that clearly will take beyond the life of this Assembly of what is being done and when would be helpful. There was some recommendations about negotiated contracts policy in the procurement review. Some are small, some are larger about setting targets, some are about reporting. I'm a little confused what's being done there, or whether that also is completely dependent on first finishing a negotiation on an Indigenous procurement policy. So can the Minister tell me whether any changes to the negotiated contracts policy will occur in this government's term? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there are indeed some guideline changes coming through the Department of EIA to support more clarity around the negotiated contracts policy but, really, the challenges here are, as I think the Member's pointing out, the negotiated contracts policy's right now being used in place of an Indigenous procurement policy to really look at how we are supporting and helping grow Indigenous businesses in the Northwest Territories. So the Indigenous procurement policy really is what is going to be the focal point here with guidelines, as I've mentioned nonetheless in the interim, to help make the negotiated contracts policy more clearer. But as far as what we have done here, Mr. Speaker, the Department of Finance does have an improvement already in terms of our overall reporting. There's contracts reporting. There's an online dashboard. There's a lot more online information about how we procure, what's being procured and where. And importantly, Mr. Speaker, vendor performance management has already rolled out, continues to be enhanced, and is at a stage of ensuring that there's actual enforcement around vendor performance management. If we're at a point where we can enforce the contracts and enforce the expectations, we have on businesses to be hiring locally, procuring locally, that is going to be addressing the needs of our local businesses. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Thebacha.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in April during the CRTC public hearings on telecommunication services in the far North, your deputy Minister of Finance testified. In his testimony, he stated that Indigenous households have an internet takeup of only 63 percent compared to 94 percent of other households.
Can the finance minister expand on that point and tell us where this statistic came from and what her thoughts are on those public hearings from CRTC? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Minister responsible for Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there's a lot there and our submission to CRTC was around 70 pages or so. So let me try to sum up. The statistics of the 63 versus 94 comes from the Northern Canada Internet Use Survey, NCIUS, and that's done by Statistics Canada. This one was from 2021. And, Mr. Speaker, the I would say the public hearings were productive. One very discrete and specific outcome was we saw that NorthwesTel, in fact, agreed with the proposal that we've been advocating for, both at the federal government and publicly, around the Connecting Families 2.0 Initiative.
This is an opportunity where it bridges a digital divide. It's something the Government of Canada keeps telling me is available and yet hasn't been available to residents in the Northwest Territories because we needed an internet service provider to actually participate. So we were pleased that, having raised it yet again, it does seem that we've finally been heard and NorthwesTel will be participating in that program. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, overall there's a lack of competition with internet service providers in the NWT. Does the Minister agree that having more options of internet services for the NWT residents will help reduce the household costs of internet and also bolster the speed of internet in the longterm? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, having more competition certainly is one way, traditionally and historically, that improves affordability in a marketplace. It does, of course, rely on there being the infrastructure to provide the options to the market and that is still an area where we are challenged here in the Northwest Territories. As far as the all that said, Mr. Speaker, this is exactly what we've been expressing at CRTC for some time, trying to balance between the fact that we need significant investments to support infrastructure in a marketplace that wouldn't necessarily have the customers to actually then offset the high costs of the infrastructure at the same time wanting to get services into the hands of residents and be affordable and available.
So one of the reforms we've put forward is reforms to the wholesale access provisions within the Northwest Territories, Mr. Speaker, that are controlled by the CRTC with the hope that does help find that balance between encouraging and allowing for infrastructure development at a high cost while also ensuring that there's a greater affordability for residents. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, can the Minister explain what the Government of the Northwest Territories has done over the course of the 19th Assembly to address the issue of internet disparity between the small communities and regional centres within the NWT? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, one of the things I've certainly advocated to counterparts in the federal government now, several of them indeed, has been exactly on this issue that we face where we not only have a lack of infrastructure to deliver the services, we then have a lack of affordability and we have a lack of redundancy, which for us in the Northwest Territories isn't just a luxury; it means that when one line gets cut, entire communities go without services for significant periods of time. We've suggested ways that the federal government could change their subsidy programs, could change their funding programs. But we've also worked with communities to try to ensure that they are able to apply, where applicable, to these different funding criterias. And I'll look to the example in the Tlicho with the Whati Highway and the ability to support the Tlicho in terms of becoming an applicant. So we certainly are doing, I believe, our part to try to get that message out to modify what we see. And, in fact, the report that the Member referenced earlier makes a lot of the same points, that the funding right now, as is structured around the federal government, needs to be adapted to the needs of the North, needs to be adapted and modified to the needs of the North, and so we're pleased to see the uptake of that message that we've had.
Mr. Speaker, I certainly continue to advocate for all of these things. Again, we're happy to see that we're now part of the northern families subsidy program and opportunities like this, Mr. Speaker, to continue to bring forward around what other needs we have. Satellite is probably one of the next options. I'll stop there, Mr. Speaker, but that's another area where we're going to need to see some options given the delays coming out of LSAT with the federal government. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Thebacha.
Mr. Speaker, does the Minister agree that increasing access to highspeed internet will overall help to advance economic reconciliation for Indigenous peoples and communities within the NWT? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Yes, Mr. Speaker; absolutely, Mr. Speaker, access to quality, available, affordable, reliable, competitive, internet telecommunications, absolutely that increases economic reconciliation. Mr. Speaker, there's I could stop there but this is an opportunity I know there's times where our federal government counterparts are listening. I know they follow what we say. I hope the CRTC follows what we say here because that is an absolute truth. We're trying to do our part. We need to have private sector involved. We need the federal government to be involved. These are major investments, major infrastructure investments that are needed, not only to bring fibre but where fibre's not feasible or realistic, to ensure that they have those satellite systems up and running, that we are notified well in advance when they're not, that to the extent that there are federal regulations around satellite provision, that they are keeping up to date with the realities on the ground. And, Mr. Speaker, I think the right things are being said. The right things are hopefully going to be happening. The CRTC, while their formal hearing process is over, final submissions are not. So the opportunity to get our message out is not over and we will continue to take that opportunity whenever it arises. 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 Justice.
Mr. Speaker, as a mother of two children, I can't even imagine what Laura is going through with Frank missing. The feeling of not having any power and to feel that the RCMP is not doing enough to find her son. So I'm asking the Minister of Justice to commit to contacting the commanding officer of the Northwest Territories to ensure that the RCMP in Fort Smith have all the staff that they need, any missing persons expertise to continue the investigation to bring Frank home. Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes. Minister responsible for Justice.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, of course, as everyone knows I can't direct the RCMP. But I certainly can relay what is being said in the House, and I will say that I did speak to the commanding officer about this prior to today actually, and I know that, you know, he is concerned, the RCMP are concerned. I feel for the mother. This is unimaginable. This is every parent's nightmare. And so I think that if I was in the same position, I would also feel that people weren't doing enough. I can't imagine, Mr. Speaker; so my heart goes out. And I appreciate the Member's statement as well, her call for people to get out or bring information forward. And I've had this discussion with other MLAs as well. There's rumors out on Facebook. There's lots of talk. But the RCMP needs information. There is someone who knows something, they need to come forward, they need to bring that information forward. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, you know, I think the Northwest Territories is going through a lot right now, and I think the Minister is going through a lot right now in his own home community, and I think the Northwest Territories continues to be a reactive. We're always reacting to situations. And, you know, we've worked hard in this government to bring the missing and murdered to life and to make actions and Calls to Actions. And I just want the Minister to follow up with the RCMP on their section of that section 9 of the Calls to Action, because is there a way is there a department that maybe the mother can go to make sure that the investigation is being done properly because and that's what these recommendations calls for, because Indigenous people, throughout Canada, have continuously been failed. People don't take our word as face value. It just seems like we're not heard and RCMP needs to hear us and, please, somebody help this mother bring her son home. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I will certainly raise these issues with the RCMP. You know, we, as a government, have been work on implementing our action plan, our response to the final report on the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. The Department of Justice has been working on a missing person's legislation. I was hoping to get it done this term, get it introduced, but it's taking longer than we had hoped. There's a bit more work to be done consulting with the RCMP, with other departments as, you know, it's a piece of legislation that impacts a lot of different departments and other pieces of legislation. So like I said, this is unimaginable for the family. And as the Member is correct, there's a lot going on in the territory. You know, dealing with the wildfires, I'm always and the floods, I'm always struck by the fact that life continues to go on despite that these things that everyone's living through, life continues to go on and we do need to recognize that people do have these struggles and we do need to be responsive to them, not just reactive. So I take the Member's point. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I guess my last question is, you know, it's this time of the year, the mother is concerned that there are fires close to that community; it is a time of the year where all the animals are coming out and, you know what, we don't want to think the worst but, you know, the reality is we haven't seen him for a long time and so within his department or any other department that there's funds available somehow to support the family or more searches within the surrounding area of Fort Smith and to, you know, with the police and everything? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Department of Municipal and Community Affairs does have funding. The community government applies to applies for that funding to initiate or support a search of an area that is available. And it's my understanding that has happened and those funds have flowed to the town of Fort Smith to help support those efforts. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Deputy Premier.
The establishment policy for the new Department of Environment and Climate Change came into effect on April 1st, 2023. Can the Deputy Premier tell us whether this government acknowledges that the current climate emergency is the result of human activities and explain why that doesn't appear in the policy? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Deputy Premier.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories Climate Change Strategic Framework clearly acknowledges that the climate change is linked to human activities. The definition of climate change in the establishment policy is consistent with how climate change is defined in the Climate Change Strategic Framework, and its broadly accepted definition as well, Mr. Speaker. The establishment policy is intended to be a high level overarching document that describes the work of the department. And it's important to note that the new department specifically has climate change in its name to reflect the significance of climate change action to the department and the GNWT.
Mr. Speaker, I do want to note that the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment reviewed the draft establishment policy and provided feedback in February. Mr. Speaker, concerns about the definition of climate change were not raised at that time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. I can I'm raising that concern right now, and it's not in the definition, but let's move on to the next question.
Nowhere in the establishment policy is it acknowledged or recognized that climate change in the NWT is a crisis or an emergency. And I will tell the Minister this was raised by standing committee. So can the Deputy Premier tell us whether this government considers climate change a crisis or an emergency for the Northwest Territories? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Climate change represents serious and urgent challenges for the Northwest Territories, and the GNWT takes climate change action very seriously. Mr. Speaker, like look at us now, we're dealing with wildfires and floods so I mean, this is very real to us. The Climate Change Strategic Framework, as well as the energy strategy and their associated action plans, are guiding the GNWT's commitment to address climate change and its impact.
The Legislative Assembly has advanced a number of climate change related mandate items, including ensuring that all Executive Council and Financial Management Board decisions consider the context of climate change within all of their decisions.
As I noted, Mr. Speaker, adding climate change to the name of the new environment and climate change department demonstrates the importance this government places on climate change action. Mr. Speaker, the government and Premier Cochrane take climate change and impacts being felt in the North seriously. Like I said, she has spoken at length and in great detail at recent events, particularly to a national audience, about the severity of climate change in the North as well as some of the impacts felt by some of the Northwest Territories residents as well as our communities. This message is one that she is very passionate about, about trying to alert other Canadians the realities of climate change.
Mr. Speaker, I was at one of the events where the Honourable Premier Cochrane had spoken about that, you know, climate change is more active in the North. It is. I mean, we're seeing it on a yearly basis. So I mean, this is a message that this government is doing to ensure that we are getting the message out. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Deputy Premier for that. I didn't hear the word crisis or emergency. I heard serious, but I didn't hear the right words. So I'm going to try it a different way, Mr. Speaker.
I mentioned in my statement that I've only ever heard one senior person in this government ever use the word crisis or emergency next to the word climate. So can the Deputy Premier tell us whether the public service are allowed to call climate change a crisis or an emergency? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. There's no restrictions on public service related to the use of the term crisis or emergency. The way we communicate climate change to our residents is important and the terminology we use ultimately plays a role in shaping public discussions. The GNWT uses climate change generally in our communications because it is commonly accepted and understood by residents.
Mr. Speaker, we recognize climate change is a highly political issue. So are the conscience of using the terminology that we could be dismissed or polarized by individuals who are holding very different views. Ultimately, there are a variety of factors, including audience engagement, political sensitivity, that shapes how this government communicates about complex issues, including climate change. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Deputy Premier. Final supplementary. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. I just wish that the GNWT would get on board and, you know, join one of the 650 other Canadian jurisdictions that have made a climate emergency declaration, so. But in all the debate and public statements I've seen from this government around a carbon tax, I don't ever recall it being clearly linked or described as a tool to fight the climate emergency. So can the Deputy Premier confirm that the real purpose of the NWT carbon tax is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I stand here as Deputy Premier, as well as wearing several Minister roles, I also have the opportunity to be able to redirect this question to another Minister that's able to provide more information on climate change and more specifically to the carbon tax issue. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to redirect to the Honourable Caroline Wawzonek. Thank you.
Thank you, Deputy Premier. Minister responsible for Finance.
