Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier I spoke to milestones being missed at the college and the president asserted that they are not adequately resourced to achieve transition. Mr. Speaker, what is the Minister's response to these revelations? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Frame Lake. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for the question. I guess what I can say is just some facts around some funding that has been received by the college. So through CIRNAC, the college did receive $8 million. In addition to that -- so, first of all, those monies were for planning through community and Indigenous government engagement and grants transformation, the centre for research excellence pilot, and also the Western Arctic Research Centre infrastructure. Those being the largest initiatives. So through that, the capital investment of the warehouse was $2.53 million, facilities master plan, $1.36 million, research services team $2.62 million.
In addition to that, the GNWT has also invested $1.04 million in transformation to Aurora College on an annual basis, Mr. Speaker.
And I can also say that Aurora College has also used a portion of their base funding, because they did have two programs that were put on hold through this process, being a social worker program and the bachelor of education program, and they were able to use those dollars as well to invest in transformation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, we are coming towards the end of the existing mandate for which a number of milestones have been missed. I'm curious what the Minister's plans are for a renewed mandate and, in particular, how we're going to ensure milestones are being hit in that mandate. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And my apologies to interpreters, not a great start out of the gates. I was speeding right through that last one. So I will slow down.
Mr. Speaker, thank you to the Member. So to start off, we've already missed some milestones as the Member referred to in their Member's statement. So I do have intentions of reissuing and working with the existing board of governors on the strategic mandate document with them. I will be issuing a letter shortly here that -- because the existing one expires in July, so shortly I'll be issuing a letter calling on the board of governors to, you know, let's work together and get the next one done. I have an intent to be very -- I don't want to use the word demanding, but I think this is a really exciting project and so why would we not want to throw our weight behind it and get it done. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So I would like some further detail on what the GNWT is doing to support the college in showing their commitment to seeing this project through to success.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my role as Minister of ECE within the college is oversight over the post-secondary system for the whole entire NWT. The Aurora College board of governors is responsible for the oversight of the operational matters of the college. So even that being said, ECE does still provide funding dollars for this work to get done. We -- I do have meetings with the chair of the board of governors so that they can identify to me what their priorities are as a board and so that we can work together in order to provide them with support that they do need that is appropriate for ECE to be able to provide.
In the last Assembly, there was legislation passed that made Aurora College arm's length and so we're now in a transition period of really respecting those new roles. So this really is the role of the board of governors. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Education, Culture and Employment. Final supplementary. Member from Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Minister for that answer. You know, the board of governors has kind of stated that they need support, financial support is needed. It's clear that they're not able to achieve milestones on their own. So I'm looking for a commitment from the Minister to show the GNWT's commitment to this project and seeing it through and would like to hear further from the Minister on that.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can make a commitment to the Member to follow up with the chair of the board of governors for sure. When I previously met with the chair of the board of governors and asked what their priority was, they identified their priority as housing. Not for assistance with transformation. And so I can go back to the board of governors and ask if -- where they're at, and I can reflect on the appearance before committee because I think that there was some information that was inconsistent with information that I have as well so I think it's important that we align our information and ensure that everyone's supported to move forward. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister for Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I said in my Member's statement, the brewing industry in Canada accounts for 60 percent of the industrial brewing workforce. It's a really important local driver. Every province that supported their industry is seeing phenomenal growth and return on investments in these projects. Yet, in the Northwest Territories, we tax beer brewed 67 cents per litre versus Alberta, which only taxes 10 cents a litre. And this is the closest jurisdiction for comparison. It's attracting our brewing companies' interest because it's so much cheaper to do business. If they had done business there in the exact same time period, it would have been $162,000 paid in NWT tax versus $9300.
So I'm going to ask the Minister, will she give them a break, this very small industry that accounts for 1 percent of our total share of sales, will she give them a break and lower the tax to 10 cents? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Range Lake. I am assuming that it's the Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I know, because I did have the opportunity to sit down with the NWT Brewing Company.
Mr. Speaker, the brewery markup is what is at issue here. So right now, the Northwest Territories Liquor and Cannabis Commission has a general rate. For everything that crosses the border up into the North, there is a markup rate on all alcohol products here. And that markup rate does take into account the fact that we have fairly significant social issues that stem from overconsumption of alcohol and alcohol-related dependencies. So that is still part of what makes up that market rate and what makes up the fact that our overall markup rate is high. We know it's high, and we've been asked in terms of when we go out to do reviews of the act and our pricing to keep it high to consider the social realities here in the Northwest Territories.
When there was a brewery discount initially put into place some years ago now, it was done knowing that we have exactly one brewery here in the Northwest Territories that would be able to make use of it. Having had the opportunity to meet with them, we initially had a production cap put on what that markup would be. Alberta's system is entirely different. I gather they have 10s, 20 -- I think maybe up to 70 different categories. So their system's quite different. But in meeting with them, we've said, look, let's go back, let's look at this, is it still working for you? Is it still something that will allow you to be a thriving business here in the Northwest Territories? And, Mr. Speaker, I remain committed to doing exactly that. Thank you
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it's not working for this -- for the NWT Brewing Company. And it's not working for anyone else who'd want to jump into this industry. The brewing company has said it's too onerous, we'd never do it again. So it's time to make it easier. Alberta has different categories, different tiers. Would the Minister add more tiers to our production -- to the production markup so we could situate the NWT Brewing Company in a lower tier and still provide higher taxes to companies, bigger companies, that are producing more alcohol? Again, give them a break. We're not talking about reducing overall tax for all liquor. Let's tax Budweiser appropriately. Let's tax NWT Brewing a lot less. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, so, again, the general markup rate does apply to everything that's coming across this border, including, you know, the bigger companies or whatnot. I would first note, Mr. Speaker -- there's a lot of folks that listen to us here -- there are rules with respect to interjurisdictional trade, and that does apply to the cross-border sales of alcohol across all of Canada. So certainly anything we do when we make changes in this space do need to be compliant with the trade rules, trade regulations. But to the extent that we are able to create a system that is more amenable to growing and positive business industry for a small business here in the Northwest Territories, again, Mr. Speaker, the beauty of being a small jurisdiction, you can sit down with your one company in this one space, bring in senior folks from a department and say, hey, look, what can we do to try to make our system one that is supportive and positive for that small business, keeping in mind, again, as I've said, that we have trade laws to work with. We have an alcohol strategy here that, at one point, was asking us to, in fact, raise the increases, raise the rates on alcohol. So trying to put all those things together, again, I certainly made a commitment in a previous meeting. Happy to make that commitment again. We want to see a small business succeed. Everyone in this room, I think, wants to see small business succeed, just need to make sure we're doing so in a way that takes those other things into consideration. If it means changing the production cap, changing the markup rate, that's something that needs to be looked at carefully and considered what else is happening in other jurisdictions and that is successful. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I appreciate the Minister is aware of this and wants to help. But she can help by changing these rates. Another way she can help is by allowing manufacturers, liquor manufacturers of beer, brewing manufacturers, to be able to handle alcohol products that are brewed outside of jurisdictions that are in their stock. Right now that all has to go through the commission. Is she willing to make changes to the regulations that will allow companies like the NWT Brewing Company to -- license to handle alcohol to reduce the red tape and allow them more control over their inventories and stop paying high rates to store those inventories in other jurisdictions? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Member is quite correct. The current Liquor Act, which is still the old Liquor Act that we're operating under, has some pretty limited mechanisms and actually is quite out of date. So in the last Assembly, we were very pleased to see a change to the liquor legislation, modernizing it. Still need to get those regulations put in place. So this is, in some ways, the right time to be asking what those regulations might contain because we are at the point of being able to put those regulations together in a way that can, again, respect the different social issues of balance but also looking at how we can best support an industry here in the Northwest Territories. And that may well include an opportunity for someone who produces a product -- is a Northwest Territories company but produces a product down south to be able to hold, move, warehouse their product. They currently can't. It's the right time to bring it forward, so I'm happy to certainly take that back to the department and look at whether that fits into the regime that we have. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Finance. Final supplementary. Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So I've met with my honourable friend, the Minister of Finance. I've met with the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, spoke with the Minister of health. How many more meetings do I have to have until we can get some clarity on where we're going with this? Just wondering if the Minister can advise. Is it one? Two? Three? When are we going to get some commitment to act on these problems instead of just appreciate that they're problems? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, that clarifies for me the comment, I think, made earlier about being extensive meetings. Because I've had one meeting. But I know when we were meeting with the Minister of health, because there's an alcohol-managed alcohol program here in the Northwest Territories and some interest in whether or not a local brewery could participate to support that, that's a very different question, Mr. Speaker, from asking whether or not the production cap needs to change, the markup needs to change, regulations around holding or transporting need to change. That does sit solely within the Department of Finance. And, again, Mr. Speaker, I was, it wasn't that long ago, Minister of ITI as well so I'm conscious of the need to increase small business. I'm conscious of the need to be -- have a positive and enabling environment for small business. That's something that I believe all my colleagues would share. I made the commitment in that meeting. I'm happy to make it again. We are going to look at these issues. But we want to do that in a way that, again, balances all of this. There are different ways to find good solutions to support this business within the context of the Northwest Territories, in a way that supports our business environment and also supports our social environment and adheres to our trade regulations. I believe we can make change; I just don't know what it's going to be at this moment. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Finance. Oral questions. Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I said in my Member's statement, right now the residents of Inuvik are paying up to $4.83 of additional costs on their gas bill due to the carbon tax.
My question for the Minister of Finance is what has this government done with regards to lobbying, imploring, begging -- I don't know, talking some sense into our federal counterparts -- to finally get an exemption on natural gas in the Northwest Territories? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Inuvik Boot Lake. Minister of Finance.
Well, Mr. Speaker -- Mr. Speaker, I'm often in a situation where I have to just say I agree and then want to sit down. So I've heard the Member's statement earlier. The carbon tax is a challenging one for the Northwest Territories. We're at the front lines of climate change. We desperately need to see change in terms of the approach to overreliance on fossil fuels. At the same time, this is a jurisdiction that doesn't actually contribute, certainly on the part of residents, very significantly to it. So I hear that concern. And I hear it particularly from parts of this territory who are on LNG, or propane, which are cleaner burning fuels.
I know I have raised this issue directly at -- not -- in fact, at the finance Minister's table. I had others from other jurisdictions also echo that call at the finance Minister's table. We've actually written letters to the extent of saying, look, is this the right way forward to best achieve the goals of reducing fossil fuel emissions. I know that other -- certainly the floor of this House, folks do listen because sometimes the calls then come in as to what we may have said on the floor. So we've had multiple conversations, last government and this government, and I have no doubt that the federal government hears us.
Why they are doing what they're doing in the way that they are doing it, Mr. Speaker, I think earlier the Member said it was that the federal government attempted to offer some relief. Mr. Speaker, they are still political entities, and I think they have done something political. It just didn't suit our needs or our desires, but I don't know, I can't say why. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Minister. The Minister speaks about the letters that have been sent and the conversations that have been had and meetings that have been had with her federal counterparts.
Can the Minister speak to any responses, if any, that they've received from the federal government on this request. Thank you.
Well, Mr. Speaker -- Mr. Speaker, there's no exemption for anything other than home heating fuel right now after the fall round or spring -- fall round with the federal government. So I guess their response is that they've chosen not to do that. The ask also went from British Columbia. So we might even say, again, if it's a political matter, we have relatively small presence in terms of our representation in Ottawa. British Columbia has a very large presence in terms of their representation in Ottawa. They, too, did not get an exemption for LNG, which a number of their residents also rely on. So we're not alone, Mr. Speaker. Doesn't mean any of us are any less frustrated. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as a territorial government, we do implement, I guess -- I'm not sure how much we control the cost of living offset, or the COLO, for the carbon tax.
Is the Minister willing to consider an offset increase in the COLO for those who burn natural gas to offset the additional increase in this $4.83 that they're burning -- spending for natural gas? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, Mr. Speaker, by maintaining our own system that complies with the federal rules, we do control how the COLO does get set. And what we have done in that regard, Mr. Speaker, although we adjusted it because there's a significant drop in revenue to the GNWT with respect to not having home heating fuel anymore, we did still maintain and do an analysis to ensure that the existing COLO amounts should still be enough to pay for the additional amount from the tax, so -- which is challenging at a time when diesel costs have gone up and fuel costs have gone up and transportation costs have gone up. The cost of fuel overall has gone up significantly. COLO only is meant to respond to the impacts of carbon tax. And on average, average household in the Northwest Territories for its impacts with carbon tax, is still seeing that come back from the COLO. We can always -- you know, there's certainly the opportunity to always run those numbers again, look back at it again, but that adjustment was made and that consideration was done when the COLO amounts were varied the last session. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Finance. Final supplementary. Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when those adjustments for the COLO were made, I believe they were made in the last Assembly, and they were made prior to the 23 percent increase. I don't know if the Minister can speak to if they had been taken in consideration that diesel would be exempted and natural gas wouldn't be and whether or not that's something they're willing to look at going forward as maybe, as she said, take a look at those numbers again. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when the COLO amounts were reduced, they were reduced by -- and the number did take into consideration the amount of carbon tax that was still being paid for propane and for heating fuel. It's not a perfect measure. I don't have data on exactly how many households use what type of fuel or what combination of types of fuel, because there are certainly some that are using a combination of fuel, so that does make it more challenging. I can't reach into each individual home and say this is the amount of carbon tax you pay.
We also, in the COLO, tried to take into consideration the indirect carbon tax that households are paying. So not only their home heating fuel, but what are the costs that have increased to businesses and to then spread that out so that those -- so those residents are also seeing an offset for that amount. And so what I'm here saying that that average resident will still see their impact on carbon tax considered in COLO. I can, again, certainly commit to providing the charting that I have. I'll start by giving that to committee, to my colleagues on the other side of the House, so that we could all look again at exactly how the number was calculated, why we're seeing that that average continues to be met. That's -- I mean, that's really one of the benefits, I think, of this system is that it gives us all an opportunity to look at those numbers together. So I'll certainly commit to getting those charts over to them. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Finance.
Colleagues, we've spent 20 minutes on three set of questions. So maybe speed up our answers a little bit so we can get all our colleagues to get the chance to ask questions.
Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
I'm so excited, Mr. Speaker, and I'll do my part here.
The scorching issue I raised today is the crisis of affordability for seniors who live on fixed rent is quickly evaporating, and the NWT housing has reduced their contribution. Previous years, we've been reduced by a hundred percent -- and I'm trying to compress all of this in maybe one question, Mr. Speaker.
And whereby it was a direct drop in 14 percent of the support, will the Minister, just as the Premier has stated, recognize the pressures of those who are paying rent and the increases and problems it's causing, will she reinstate the previous level of contributions to help keep Avens rent affordable for those people on fixed income? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife Centre. Minister responsible for Housing -- Housing NWT, that's what I'm looking for.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for the question. Unfortunately, we can't offer that at this time. The agreement was with CMHC. That agreement has sun-setted. So Housing NWT was administering that agreement on behalf of CMHC, and that agreement has expired. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I anticipated the Minister to hide behind CMHC funding as the excuse. Mr. Speaker, what is the Minister willing to do to help keep our seniors independently living with dignity? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What Housing NWT is willing to do at this time is meet with the tenants, those clients that need assistance, and provide them with support in applying for the Canada-NWT Housing Benefit. They can go through the forms with the tenants and provide that assistance at this time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm well aware of the Canada-NWT Housing Benefit and, as a matter of fact, it would be cheaper if the government reinstated the hundred thousand dollars and applied for it directly. But that said, would the Minister be willing to send a team down to Avens and work with the seniors collectively and process and file applications, as individuals but in a group setting, so we get it done efficiently and we take this fearsome burden that has caused enormous anxiety to this community. And we need it now. Will the Minister step up and send a team down there? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, yes, we're willing to send a team down to assist those seniors that need assistance.
Thank you, Minister of Housing NWT. Oral questions. Member from Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As you know from all my previous Member's statements, I've always advocated for community-based programs that will benefit the community. This is no different. I want the best outcome for communities of the Mackenzie Delta.
I would like to know if the Minister or her department has had any discussions with the Indigenous governments, with either Aklavik, Fort McPherson, Tsiigehtchic, in reference to collaborating to renovate vacant units within their respective communities? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Mackenzie Delta. The Minister for Housing NWT.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for the question. Housing NWT has not had direct discussions with community governments at this time in Fort McPherson, Aklavik, or Tsiigehtchic. We have had regional discussions with Indigenous governments but no specific discussions at this time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
