Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the review was done in the 19th Assembly, and it was anticipated that the changes would actually come into play for residents of the Northwest Territories before the start of the 20th Assembly, but this project has been held up and delayed due to system requirements on our IT side, and so it is anticipated that these changes will be seen by residents coming in the summer of this year. Thank you.
Thank you. Oral questions. Member from Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. Not meaning to gang up on her today specifically or deliberately but just happens to be the way it is.
Mr. Speaker, what is the department actively and specifically doing to prepare both our economy and workforce for the 2026 closure of the Diavik Diamond Mine? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Frame Lake. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for the question. Mr. Speaker, I can honestly say that when I sat down for the first time with both ECE and ITI, I was very honest with both departments in that I wanted our efforts getting to prepare residents for the mine closure and especially the workers to be whatever we were doing to be purposeful so that we were not losing this opportunity. So I can make that commitment here as well to my colleagues that that is what I have said and that is the direction I have given.
Mr. Speaker, this mine closure absolutely will be felt across the territory because Diavik has been such an important part of our economy for decades now. And so getting this right is really important. So Diavik is doing a tremendous amount of work, and I've had the opportunity multiple times to sit down with their senior management team and to actually discuss what they're doing, and it's very impressive. But we have a role to play in that too. So here at the GNWT, we have a steering committee that is made up of GNWT and Diavik officials, and that is in its early days of kind of taking form and taking force.
This is coordinated by ITI, and we also have working groups that will be formed for specific issues and this is, for example, to address labour assessment and worker transition. Because I think in order to be purposeful, we have to know exactly who we are talking about and what their skill sets are and where they as working NWT residents want to go. Because that really matters to this conversation what do people want to do? Maybe they're in a position right now that they don't want to continue in, and maybe there's other opportunities. So the intent of these working groups is really to build on work that's already being done by Diavik because they truly are the leaders of this work, and we want to be as collaborative as possible with them. So we want to tailor education and training services specific to either careers in need but also to the careers that they want. And that includes large scale opportunities that revolve around Giant Mine remediation projects or the remediation economy. We also want to ensure that we're creating pathways for apprentices to continue their apprenticeship. Because Diavik does have an SEA, a socioeconomic agreement, and they are working hard right up until the end to make sure that they are meeting those expectations. And so there are going to be staff from Diavik who are going to be right in the middle of their apprenticeship, and we don't want to lose that opportunity for them. So making sure that we're creating roadmaps for other northern employers for them to absorb those staff members do you want me to stop talking? I can stop talking and wait for the next question. Okay, thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to give the Minister the opportunity to finish her response to my first question since it was so comprehensive. So I'll wait for that before I ask a second question. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And you're very effective at your job. Thank you to the Member.
Mr. Speaker, in addition to creating pathways, there's also promoting program mentorship and support funding related to entrepreneurship. And so I've said before in the previous Assembly that, really, a healthy economy is reflective of our entrepreneurs and our private industry, and so making sure that we are supporting people who want to take advantage of entrepreneurship is very important to me and something that I'd like to see go forward.
Mr. Speaker, in addition to new products, there's also opportunities that are going to open up for some that's going to help some of our labour and workforce development and some of our labour needs, and that includes in the section of trades, administration, aviation, environment, energy, and climate monitoring as well.
And I will I'll stop there, but as you can see, Mr. Speaker, I'm very excited about this. I think that although this will be a sad day for Northerners, it's also an opportunity that we can't afford to pass up. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Minister for that very surprisingly comprehensive answer. I wasn't quite expecting that much but I am very encouraged. I'm getting to it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm sorry.
If I could ask one additional question. I heard a lot about employment, Mr. Speaker, which is an important aspect of this. Another piece of this closure is going to be the impact to the various contractors who are involved. So I'm wondering if the department is considering more than just employment but also all the ancillary services that are provided at the mine and how those companies are going to be affected? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Member for bringing that up. Those sticky dollars are so important to the Northwest Territories and to our economy. And that is exactly the purpose of conversations like we had at Roundup, to be able to find out from industry that is the up and coming mines, the mines that are about to open, the mines that are in the process of opening, what they need from us, how we can connect them with Indigenous governments to ensure that right from the getgo they're doing their projects properly and they're having the right conversations. So ITI is absolutely committed to ensuring that we are supporting industry and that we are supporting the mineral resource sector. And we're also ensuring that we're having these necessary conversations with Canada because our critical mineral strategy feeds into their critical mineral strategy, and they cannot achieve their critical mineral strategy without the Northwest Territories. So these are all important pieces of this. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of ITI. Final supplementary. Member from Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I am sorry for the informal nature with which I was conversing with you just now. I do respect the authority of the Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm very encouraged by those answers from the Minister and really appreciate it. I have no further questions.
Thank you. Before we go into the next Member, don't need to thanking the Ministers if it's your fourth one. There's 29 minutes still and other Members want to talk. So please, let's focus on the questions. Thank you.
Oral questions. Member from Tu NedheWiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I mentioned earlier that Fort Resolution hamlet is under third party management. On January 9th, 2024, we had a serious house fire in our community, and my question is my first question is, will the Minister commit to put in place a volunteer fire department in the community of Fort Resolution as soon as possible? Also, to work with the chief and council, and president Arthur Beck, Fort Resolution Metis Council, on the plan? Mahsi.
Thank you, Member from Tu NedheWiilideh. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With volunteer fire departments, there's obviously a concern of commitment from community members. Volunteerism is down everywhere, and I know the struggles in Fort Resolution are there. MACA is committed to making sure that the department is fully supported, and they have the resources in order to establish that department and operate it as such. However, again, it is a commitment that community members need to also step up and volunteer, and I hope for the sake of the community that local community members step up and put their name in to help out the community with volunteerism on the fire department. Thank you.
Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. Member from Tu NedheWiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you, Minister. And I think it's great that you're going to make that commitment. And the other thing too as well I brought up, Mr. Speaker, is that we had a fire plan that we brought forward in the last Assembly and going forward the fire season's right around the corner. I want to know if the Minister could commit to putting in place a fire plan for the community of Fort Resolution and work with the chief and council of Fort Resolution and also the president of the Fort Resolution Metis Council? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If it's the community emergency plan that the Member's talking about, I'm aware that the community is working on the community plan. They're hoping to have it finished off here shortly. They're working with community members, including the Indigenous governments in the community to make sure this plan is up to date. I'm also aware that they completed some Cat guard work within the community. I believe it was the end of December that it was completed. So in regards to the fire plan, which I believe he's speaking about, the community plan for the safety stuff there, there is a commitment to complete that and get that done before the upcoming season. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As well, the water levels have dropped just over three feet this year, and in Fort Resolution we have the water intake lines that are they're not far off the shore but they because the water went down. The lines had to be brought out a little further. In regards to fire safety in the community and water for the community of Fort Resolution for each household, what can you do to get this thing fixed right away so that this is not an issue? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This beginning of the year here we had a I had a phone call from the chief, and I hear his concerns, and they were addressed with local knowledge and local people that were on site and I appreciate the work that they put into it to help the community. MACA's committed to making sure that these kinds of things don't happen, especially with us being in the community and working on that stuff, so. We are aware of the low water levels and the intake problems, and we're committed to working with the local contractors and try to solve those problems. Thank you.
Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. Final supplementary. Member from Tu NedheWiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Minister. Also, can the Minister commit to meeting with the leadership in Fort Resolution and the public along with myself, as the MLA, to talk about the hamlet of Fort Resolution? Also, can you also commit to having a monthly meeting with the community members with the SAO?
Thank you, Member. Two questions. Please stick to one. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, so with the meetings, I have no problem going to the community and having public engagement with the community. As I stated to the chief when I spoke to him, I said that, you know, if I have the opportunity to go there I will go there. Hopefully sooner rather than later. Also, I will answer the other question; that's fine. I can't commit to going monthly but I would like to go there as soon as I can. I like to go home monthly if I can. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. Oral questions. Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm a little nervous; I want to make sure I get this right.
Mr. Speaker, as a followup to my Member's statement on Indigenous procurement, I'd like to ask the Premier if he can make the approach to the Indigenous procurement policy publicly available? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Inuvik Boot Lake. Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So I have been Premier a couple months now, and there's many different things in this portfolio. For some reason, there's homelessness, there's procurement, all sorts of different things. So I'm still wrapping my head around every single policy that we have, and I want to make sure that I put my stamp on it going forward. It's the start of a new term, and I'm not just going to accept what has been given. I want to make sure that I'm working with the Indigenous governments and going in the right direction before we start before I start putting things out that might not yet be finalized. So I'll just leave it at that. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And certainly I appreciate the Premier has a lot of issues in his portfolio. But I will ask, and something else to add to that wrap, I guess, is that has the GNWT established a definition of Indigenous businesses for the purposes of the policy? Thank you.
Working on it, Mr. Speaker. There's a lot of voices in the room so it's taking some time, but we'll get there. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Then I'll just do one final one. Will the GNWT evaluate the outcomes of the current negotiated contracts policy to ensure that it achieves the intention to support the development of the Indigenous business policy? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Premier. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So my questions are for the Minister of Infrastructure.
Does the Minister and her staff at the Department of Infrastructure have on their radar the technical feasibility study for district heating in downtown Yellowknife that was commissioned by Alternatives North in partnership with the city of Yellowknife and Arctic Energy Alliance, and has the department considered what its role might be in furthering this project?
Thank you, Member. I think that's two questions again. To the Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Hopefully that means I have time to answer both. I'm happy to do so. Yes, the department is aware of this study and, in fact, I understand may have had a role in doing some review and support in terms of the work that was in the background on that study. So, in fact, more than merely aware of it. I'm also aware of it. It's on my radar now. I had not read all 109 pages but I've gone through some of it.
And as far, though, as next steps, Mr. Speaker, it's an opportunity where there would have to be proponents. This study is speaking about potentially changing the way heating happens for as much as 50 to 75 different buildings in Yellowknife. So the role of the GNWT when it comes to private enterprise would certainly not be the necessarily driver of them having to change but certainly would have potentially a role to bring people together to enable some change. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. One question at a time; I promise. Has the Department of Infrastructure studied what the regulatory or policy barriers might be to either forprofit or nonprofit partnerships running district biomass heating systems in the territory? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I don't know that there's been any study per se commissioned. I can say the department is aware of the kind of regulatory systems that might exist for large scale infrastructure projects being the Department of Infrastructure. I can say any regulatory process would depend on the nature of the project and depend on the scale of the project. Really being here, typically being Yellowknife, it would largely be the city's processes and bylaws that might be the first point of call as well as potentially some oversight by the utilities board depending upon the nature of what is being contemplated for sale. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Final question on this one. Will the Minister commit to enter into discussions with the Public Utilities Board to clarify whether or how district bio mass heating systems will be handled by the Public Utilities Board? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can certainly put it on my colleagues' radar that this may be an item that's coming before them. That said, it likely is more under if it's a heat sale, it may or may not fall under the or under the Public Utilities Board. So what I certainly will commit to do is going back to the department to see where a next step for us might be, but I think further to that would be a conversation with the city, which, again, certainly as the Government of the Northwest Territories, we do have regular conversations with the city. So that might well be the next point of call. Thank you.
Oral questions. Member from Monfwi.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I know the Minister is new to the position, but the stats are still there. So this question, the last government in the 19th Assembly gathered $60 million from the coinvestment fund, $85 million from CIRNAC to build 100 new homes. Can the Minister confirm that 100 new units have been fully constructed and completed?
Thank you, Member from Monfwi. Minister of Housing NWT.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I announced in the capital update that 100 new homes were either completed or in progress. So we do have some homes that are in progress because of transportation issues. So there are some homes that are not completed yet. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when looking at previous capital estimate plans for the Tlicho region, Housing NWT had planned to retrofit two units in Gameti and two units in Whati between 2022. Can the Minister confirm whether those retrofits have been completed? Thank you.
