Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Similar to my colleague who had just spoke a moment ago, I want to further follow up on the mandate letter specifically. So it appears we're working well together on this type of concern and initiative. My question would be is that if the former mandate letter expired in July, had the department not been working on it previously? Because it doesn't seem as if there was -- there shouldn't be an overlap period of gap within -- in other words saying there's no mandate or no one's doing any mandate or following any mandate. So I'm asking the question, why wasn't there a transition letter for the transition mandate letter included and started and initiated in July; what is the delay? Can maybe the Minister enlighten the House as to that. Thank you.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the Minister.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And, Mr. Speaker, thank you to the Members for keeping the conversation on Aurora College alive and well in the House. There was no gap, or there is no gap because the previous mandate commitments stand until the new one is stood up, and so the previous one continues to exist until the next one is put in place. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can appreciate it's status quo, you know, as in the -- they're using inertia to move forward, but the fact is that we're concerned about the direction, the firm and clear direction of the mandate letter to give them the direction and plan and commitment to do the transition from a college to a polytech. Can the Minister confirm in the House today that it will be absolutely crystal clear that the transition into a polytech is part of the moving forward mandate letter? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the mandate letter that currently stands, that was the previous one that would have expired, so to say in July but still stands today, does very clearly say establish a polytechnic university. As it is very much the will of both myself as Minister of education, as well as the board of governors, I would fully expect for that to be a clear priority laid out in the mandate letter going forward. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I would appreciate in the context of transparency if the Minister would share that letter with Members because I don't believe we have it and if we do have it, it's the old government kind of context because I certainly don't have a copy of it. So we're going on what we understand.
Mr. Speaker, the next part of the mandate letter is will it be funded for a transition to a polytech? Because currently, if we're following the old methodology, they're using money left over from the education diploma -- or sorry, education program as well as the social work diploma program. So they're using leftover surplus money to fund something that should have a dedicated line item. So in other words, will it be funded specifically with the target line item that does that needed work? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. To the Member's first question in regards to sharing the existing mandate document, it is available online, and I would be happy to send the link and share it with my colleagues on the other side of the House.
In regards to the question around funding, I can share with Members that at the meeting between myself and the board of governors at the end of September, concerns were raised about the funding that they do receive for the transformation, and those conversations are ongoing. I need to know from the college what it is that they're looking for. Because any type of additional funding would certainly require me to go and plead that case to the financial management board, and given our fiscal context, we would need to make sure that those asks are weighed against the additional asks of the people of the Northwest Territories and Ministers. Thank you.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the Member of Yellowknife Centre for final supplementary.
Thank you. Mr. Speaker, I'm not -- I'm familiar with the mandate online but I'm more referring to the mandate letter specifically, just to be clear. So in my view, they're two things but if they're the same thing at the end of the day, then I'll let the Minister clarify.
My last question, just very quickly, Mr. Speaker, is will the Minister be willing to table her mandate letter to the college before the House for transparency and table it in a method that it can be consumed by the public for everyone to fully appreciate what direction and support they're getting from the Department of education. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would be happy to both table and share publicly and online the next mandate agreement between myself and the college. Thank you.
Thank you. Next on my list here I have is the Member from the Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have legislation at our disposal. My follow-up first question to my statement is addressed to the Minister of MACA. Will the Minister of MACA accept the humanitarian state of an emergency issued by the town of Norman Wells? Mahsi.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the Minister of MACA.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The department has received the local state of emergency that the town of Norman Wells has declared. To say that we have a documented support of that local state of emergency, we don't, but we are supporting -- as a government, we're doing everything we can to support the region. We have our staff on the ground working with the town of Norman Wells, regional superintendent. We have all our departments -- I can't speak for anybody else, but I will speak for myself to say that our staff have been very engaged in this in trying to help the situation there in Norman Wells. So thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thanks to the Minister for those comforting words. The residents of the Sahtu very much appreciate the words of support and acknowledgement in receipt of that state of an emergency declaration.
The unique opportunity is here. And my next question, will the Minister of MACA provide this notification to the federal public safety Ministers while they are in Yellowknife today or tomorrow or whenever they leave? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Declaring a local state of emergency or state of emergency doesn't guarantee us federal funding. My counterpart, Minister Sajjan, Minister of public safety, is not here. And I have spoken to him recently as yesterday in regards to the issue in Norman Wells. We have had discussions on this. Unfortunately, this type of emergency does not fall under the federal regulations or the federal disaster -- federal assistance arrangement. So we are continuing dialogue. And the Minister has committed to reaching out to his counterparts to see if there's any other solutions for the community. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thanks to the Minister for that reply. Would the Minister provide a briefing or backup documents specific to the state and the discussion happening between his office or this government and the federal government and provide that to my office and the mayor of Norman Wells? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm more than happy to share any correspondence I've had with the Minister. I'm also willing to sit down with the Minister, give him a briefing on what discussions our department's had with the community, and also any of my federal counterparts. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you. Final supplementary. Member from the Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thanks to the Minister. That information to the leaders would be beneficial.
Now for the public residents, will the Minister support a press release on the state of emergency and the actions taken and future actions to be taken? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do not have an issue with releasing any information on the work we've been doing. I think we've been pretty open and transparent right now with everything we've been doing, so I'm more than committed to work on a press release that we could use, both as the MLA for the Sahtu and the department, to share with the residents. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, can the Deputy Premier elaborate on the plan for the temporary on-the-land healing camp that EIA staff spoke of with the CBC earlier this week? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the Minister of EIA.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, with the encampment that took place in Yellowknife this summer, and continuing to now, there was an opportunity to engage directly with the community of individuals relying on that for sheltering, and it gave an opportunity for EIA to identify a cohort of folks who are looking for an opportunity to be in a more transitional type of shelter. And so it's with that in mind that -- and in a lot of discussions with the NGO community here who supports folks who are underhoused that they were able to identify an opportunity to use this facility that is outside of Yellowknife, for up to approximately 30 people, provide some limited programming out there. I do want to clarify it's not a healing camp in the way that we might sometimes think of it. It's a much shorter timeframe than that. But it will be offering some programming and be a facility that can at least be on the road towards a transitional type of opportunity for people. Thank you.
Thank you. In terms of the encampment and its residents, I want to note that NGOs really stepped up to the plate with possible solutions. So aside from this camp that the deputy Premier just spoke of, what, if any, rental options have been pursued with NGOs in absence of any secured federal dollars to date? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the NGOs have been extremely valuable partners. Indeed, the camp that I mentioned earlier as a transitional opportunity wouldn't have arisen and wouldn't be possible without NGOs coming forward and making themselves and their skills available. So there's been a lot of discussions and a fairly exhaustive look at different options here in Yellowknife. It involved not only the NGO community and their facilities, at least one of which is able, with some additional funding, to expand their beds, but also looking at local developers, you know, hotels, large scale landlords, small scale landlords, all -- even territorial parks. So there's been a real comprehensive look at the different assets, but also a look at whether or not those assets would truly be appropriate and serve the needs from a person-centered approach for the people that are requiring supports and assistance in their housing right now. So with that said, it really was an opportunity to look at what's here, to try to be efficient with what's here, and to keep in mind that NGOs, while they're being at the table, can't be expected to step up without some more supports and investment in them. So without, you know, significant new dollars coming in, that was part of the discussion around what could be done with the camp and then also sort of a medium-term solution and longer term solution. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So I caught the words people-centered approach in that response, and that's really good to hear. I'll probably have more to speak about that in the days to come. But as the deputy Premier knows, the folks who are in the encampment do need wraparound services. And that is something that we are limited in our actions right now.
What preliminary actions, then, does EIA see as crucial to address the core need for effective transitional housing in Yellowknife, our regional centres, and small communities? Thanks, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is certainly not an easy one, and I want to acknowledge that from the get-go, that the efforts to deal with what became a crisis situation this summer interrupts the ability to plan for the future. And we're well aware that we need to get out of the cycle of responding to crisis in order to actually plan in a careful way to deliver the services we need.
Working towards a place where integrated case management which has become integrated service delivery can be expanded, expanded out of Yellowknife and, in fact, even expanded within Yellowknife, those will provide the opportunities to, again, be person-centered, to be delivering transitional housing in a way that responds to the needs of those who need it and to engage with communities so that when communities are being brought in to an expansion of integrated service delivery, it's with solutions that the communities are asking for and in a way that the communities are ready and with what they need rather than having supports or programs given to them that might not actually meet the needs of their underhoused population. So that focus on integrated service delivery and doing it in line with the ongoing community work, that's where this is starting from. Thank you.
Thank you. I'm going to go to Great Slave for your final supplementary.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I think the Minister has anticipated what I wanted to say next. So in the Homelessness Strategy, the goal of establishing functional zero of homelessness says that in less than two years that there will be goals set for each community to reduce homelessness. That was a year ago. That gives us one more year on the timetable. So what is the GNWT seeing right now that they want to take steps in the next three years left of this Assembly to help us reach functional zero? Thanks, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And it is similar in some ways to what I had just responded to, that functional zero for each community will be set by each community not for each community. In other words, it's identifying what population is able to find some form of appropriate housing appropriate to where they are at and meeting a person where they are which may mean that there's often going to remain some number of people within a community who are effectively without formal shelter or may be transitioning between shelter. But functional zero ensures that everyone has a place for where they're at in whatever their journey might be. But, again, that does have to happen with communities. So that engagement is -- I understand is underway, and I certainly can commit to providing a more detailed timeline -- I don't have that here, but a more detailed timeline to the extent that we have it and, again, just knowing that that may shift based upon the needs of communities. But we can certainly provide a more detailed timeline from our perspective, and I'll commit to getting that to the Member. Thank you.
Thank you. Next on my list is the Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Infrastructure. So given this government's commitments to strive towards a net-zero climate target by 2050, what plans are underway for this government to commit to a net-zero power system by 2035 in order for our power corporation to benefit from the federal clean electricity investment tax credit? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm quite pleased to talk about the clean energy investment tax credit because it is an interesting thing that there's an opportunity here for the North, for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation, to be seeking this tax credit except that we have to make a nonbinding commitment to be on net-zero.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to make that commitment. I'm happy to simply make the commitment, but it certainly is going to be pretty challenging for the Northwest Territories or, frankly, probably any part of the non-connected to the North American energy grid communities, the three territories, to reach that. But we could certainly make the commitment if that's what it takes to unlock a little bit of tax credit funding.
Obviously, getting there, Mr. Speaker, is going to take significant investment. We certainly have the opportunity to look at Taltson facility, whether or not it would be operational by 2035 would certainly bring 70 percent of our population onto clean energy. The challenges will be different in communities that are more isolated, through the Sahtu and the Beaufort Delta. And certainly what would it take at that point? Well, Mr. Speaker, at that point, we're going to be looking at probably new technologies, different technologies, and working with Indigenous partners through those regions as to what opportunities they see for investment as well. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So given that the vast majority of our emissions come from transportation and industry, what does the Minister believe are the key opportunities to introduce clean energy into the NWT transportation sector, particularly the long-haul trucking and the heavy equipment? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this certainly is a more difficult area to decarbonize effectively, particularly long-haul trucking. Some of the more heavy equipment machinery used in mine sites, for instance, might be looking to electrify, and there's certainly some efforts to do that underway. Elsewhere, again, challenges in terms of the climate here in the North do impact the battery capacity. One of the more promising opportunities would be in renewable diesel. Once again, though, Mr. Speaker, the way that this has unfolded through Canadian approaches thus far, there's not a strong market for renewable disease that is Arctic grade. I am happy to say that we are looking at this again and reexamining whether there's some opportunities to help incentivize that market or bring about some of that market here to the North. We would need a supply, and we would need it to be at an affordable price point that doesn't overly displace the fiscal capacity. But that would certainly be part of the modeling that we need to undertake to reach a net-zero. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So on the subject of clean fuels, one of the key federal funding opportunities for clean fuels is the Indigenous clean fuels fund. So what conversations are underway with Indigenous governments regarding those funding opportunities through the Indigenous clean fuels fund? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, let me say I would say not enough conversations. I hope there's more attention paid to these opportunities. It would be expectational to see this kind of funding flow to Indigenous governments here within the Northwest Territories. I know I've mentioned it in passing at Council of Leaders of meetings and in opportunities, for example sitting with colleagues at the Taltson steering committee, and department officials certainly do point their counterparts and colleagues to the 2Y2 Indigenous single window funding portal that exists with the federal government. But, again, any opportunity to raise their profile of this more here in the North, this is a chance to bring money into the North and a chance to bring about economic reconciliation and putting some of those dollars and power into the hands of Indigenous governments. Thank you.
Thank you. I'm going to go back to the Member from Yellowknife North. Final supplementary.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So in terms of industry reducing emissions, we have the large emitters fund that industry has already been paying into, and it's supposed to be designed to help industry reduce their carbon emissions. So what have been the barriers to industry fully tapping into and expending those dollars that are sitting in the large emitters fund? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm not sure that it's barriers within necessarily that are preventing this. There is some -- certainly some requirement that the funds would have to be, for example, 5 percent change from the baseline of the operation which, if it was for the whole of the mine it might be easier, but when it's for a specific portion of operations that actually can turn into a fairly significant number. And another challenge being that it actually needs to have some sense of provability and not be a test or a trial or a research project. So you know, again, certainly very happy to say that there has been use of this with respect to the solar farm, I believe, recently at Diavik. We're hoping that there may be some interest from one of the other mines in another project and very happy to try to work with them to ensure that there are, in fact, not barriers to advancing the use of this money towards energy emissions in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from Monfwi.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister tell us how many tenants relation officers are currently employed in in the region? Thank you.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the Minister of Housing NWT.
