Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to speak about an important project I have spoken about many times before in this House and I’m referring to the Deh Cho Bridge.
I want to assure all Members that my interests in this project remain the same as they’ve always been, to ensure that the Deh Cho Bridge Project is delivered safely in an efficient and effective manner. The Department of Transportation’s overarching commitment is to build the bridge to the highest standards of safety and quality. We have a team of highly motivated professionals overseeing every aspect of construction. I have every confidence in their ability to manage the project and mitigate the risks.
Construction has reached a key milestone with the installation of the first two towers. These towers hold up the cables that will support the centre span of the bridge. The truss is 90 percent launched with only two sections to go. Earthworks and abutment construction on the north side are nearly completed. In the next couple of months we will witness the stringing of the cables on the first tower, the joining of the truss and the installation of the second tower and cables.
The installation of the deck panels will follow. These are major accomplishments that will set the stage for the final work next summer, which will include the grouting and the paving of the deck, installation of electrical and utilities work, and completion of the earthworks and abutments. I encourage everyone to visit the Deh Cho Bridge website to track the progress of the final phases of construction.
I am committed to keeping Members and the public fully apprised of all aspects of this project. The two issues that are of the greatest interest are the schedule and the budget. With regard to the schedule, we are anticipating that the bridge will be open to traffic in the fall of 2012. The contractor is responsible for the progress of work and they have the contractual obligation to complete the work as specified. Risks to the schedule include the late delivery of key components; new work such as the installation of the towers and cables, which could take longer than foreseen; and severe weather conditions, which could slow the overall pace of work.
The current construction budget stands at just over $182 million, but it is now estimated that we will now require additional funding to complete construction. The added costs are required for contract change orders arising from improvements to the design. These will enhance the quality of work and long-term performance of this bridge. There are also additional project management and engineering costs arising from the extension of construction to the fall of 2012, and we will also need to maintain a suitable construction contingency fund to deal with unknowns on the remaining construction activities.
I’d like to assure the Members and the public that this additional funding is a valid requirement for completion of this project, that the project is moving forward in the most efficient manner possible and that every effort to mitigate further financial risk is being taken.
At this time I also want to reiterate the commitment of the previous government, which was to undertake a retrospective analysis of the project after it’s completed. The analysis will include total project costs as well as lessons learned. This will assist the Government of the Northwest Territories with future large infrastructure projects.
The GNWT is currently developing regulations respecting the collection of tolls from commercial vehicles crossing the bridge. The regulations will establish, among other things, the toll rates. The department has designed a toll collection system that is seamless for the trucking industry. It is fully integrated with our existing commercial vehicle permitting process and linked to our financial administration system. There will be no toll booth. There will be no need for trucks to stop prior to crossing the bridge. Tracking of vehicles will be done electronically.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation, Mr. Miltenberger.
Mr. Speaker, the Northwest Territories Power Corporation has been undergoing rapid and significant transition over the past three months. This transition is required to maintain the confidence of its customers and sole shareholder, the GNWT.
While NTPC has delivered power to the customers of the NWT for many years, pressure with respect to increasing rates and sliding reliability demanded significant changes. While many changes have already been implemented, others will take further time to complete. There are some significant challenges ahead for NTPC; namely, a general rate application, the gas situation in Inuvik and Norman Wells, as well as ensuring the Bluefish project stays on budget. However, the new organization is now in a better position to manage these significant issues.
Some of the areas where improvements have already begun are:
a complete restructuring where the corporation flattened the management structure to eliminate layers between front-line employees and the top of the organization;
elimination of nine redundant or unnecessary positions which included the chief operating officer and several other senior positions within the organization;
significant unit cost reduction initiatives have been implemented at NTPC in anticipation of required increases to rates. These increases are due primarily to five years of general inflationary and diesel cost pressures since the last general rate application;
NTPC is now focused on operating and maintaining the power systems of the NWT. NT Hydro is now responsible for renewable energy projects, as well as the development of a long-term NWT power system plan. This will allow each part to focus on achieving excellence in their respective areas;
NTPC’s management “at risk” pay structure or bonus system is now aligned with that of the GNWT. This has been a long-standing issue that has finally been addressed by the corporation;
NTPC has developed a strategic plan focused on striving for excellence in the three areas that customers measure their performance most: reliability of service, price of electricity and meeting commitments made. This will be achieved by working towards excellence in four key areas: employee, operational, customer service and financial excellence.
NT Hydro has also developed a strategic plan focused on improving the system that delivers energy to Northerners, as well as facilitating industry coming to the NWT. This strategy specifically aims to deliver renewable community-based projects in partnership with government, develop a long-term power system plan, service start-up private industry with power to build in a strong northern economy, and lastly, examination of alternative fuels like biomass and geothermal to heat, as well as power our communities.
Some of the areas where more work remains include:
creating apprenticeships for Northerners so that the people of the NWT have the opportunity to be trained to work in skilled jobs that contribute to life in the North;
a condition assessment of all NTPC assets that will drive the development of effective and efficient maintenance programs as well as capital replacement programs;
the use of key performance indicators and benchmarking with compatible utilities that will drive the implementation of best practices and ultimately lead to top quartile performance;
development of a business-focused culture that strives for the lowest cost and treats expenditures as their own. This means working to reduce costs from within and externally from suppliers;
the filing of the general rate application in the next few months when NTPC will explain its costs, the significant gap between present revenues and the required revenue to operate the company, and what it is going to do to manage costs so as to keep rates as low as possible;
working with the GNWT to develop an affordable and transparent process that protects the interest of ratepayers during a general rate application, without costing in excess of $2 million that all ratepayers have to pay for;
in Inuvik the community gas supply has a limited life of two years remaining and NTPC is working with stakeholders to extend the supply of gas to the town by converting to diesel and to try to find a long-term solution to this challenge. In Norman Wells NTPC is working with the community to manage the end of gas being supplied to residents and businesses;
implementing community-based renewable projects in partnership with government where the gap between costs of various technologies versus existing cost of power is minimized; and
developing an NWT power system plan where we highlight all the known potential sources of energy and requirements to connect them. This will provide a basis for us to consider and discuss our energy future. The projects that ultimately proceed can only be the ones that bring real benefits to the residents of the NWT.
While there are some significant hurdles to overcome in the coming year and beyond, progress is being made and the Power Corporation has been directed to deal with these issues head on and work toward the best outcomes for the residents of the NWT. I will be providing regular reports to Members of this Assembly on the progress being made at NTPC and NT Hydro as we move forward.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Mr. Beaulieu.
Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to speak about the state of the health and social service system in the Northwest Territories. We need to take decisive action to ensure that we can continue to deliver high-quality services to our residents into the future.
Sustainability of the health care system is a national issue and one that is of concern to Canadians across the country. Every health system in Canada is affected by rising costs, shortages of health professionals and the health needs of an aging population.
But in the North we face additional challenges, including the heavy use of medical travel in order for residents to access services. Our health and social services system also has to deal with the impacts and high rates of smoking and alcohol abuse, unhealthy diets and low levels of physical activity among many Northerners. Our communities are dealing with the after-effects of the trauma of residential schools. We have a health governance system that has evolved over time but is not structured to respond to today’s program and service needs.
These are big challenges but they can be overcome. We can make real change in the health and social services system, change that will improve access to services for Northerners, support improved health outcomes and help contain costs. The basis for change is spelled out in Health and Social Services Strategic Plan, “Building Our Future,” which will run to 2016.
What needs to happen? First of all we need to improve the management system. We need to take advantage of the economies of scale and share resources collaboratively among regions. We can accomplish this by streamlining the governance system and finding ways to integrate services such as finance, procurement and technical support.
Secondly, we need to take advantage of eHealth using modern communications technology to bring services to the people in their home communities. We have already had great success sending X-rays from the communities to Yellowknife, in providing speech and language therapy to the children in our community schools, and in providing psychiatric and family counselling by video conference. Expanding eHealth can help minimize the need for medical travel, both saving costs and providing faster care.
The strategic plan includes other key building blocks to a sustainable system. We are working to find better ways to manage chronic diseases like diabetes, by giving patients the proper support at the community level and the tools they need to manage their illness. We need to support people with mental illness and addictions by ensuring that programs and trained staff are available in their communities. We need to do a better job of working with families to address problems that might lead to children being taken into care.
One of the priorities of the 17th Legislative Assembly is to ensure a fair and sustainable health care system by investing in prevention, education and awareness, and early childhood development. Focusing on wellness and prevention at the community level will lead to improved health status over the long term. To put it simply, there are four key steps that every resident must take to live a healthy lifestyle: stop smoking, consume alcohol in moderation, eat healthy foods and stay physically active. We need to get this message out to help Northerners make these healthy choices.
The Government of the Northwest Territories multi-department Healthy Choices Framework helps to accomplish this through programs like Drop the Pop, Get Active and Tobacco Cessation. It may take years for these campaigns to lead to improved health outcomes, but we know they will work. Our successful Don’t be a Butthead campaign has helped reduce teen smoking.
Perhaps the most important investment we can make is in our children. The Healthy Families program now expands to six communities and provides supportive parenting services and promotes healthy parent-child relationships. Children who grow up in a loving, nurturing family can do well in school and in the workforce and lead productive lives.
In closing, I am committed to working with all Northerners to improve the operation of the health and social services system to improve health status of the Northwest Territories residents and to ensure that our system remains sustainable while meeting the needs of all Northerners. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Minister of Justice, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to update the House on discussions I had with the federal Minister of Justice, the Honourable Rob Nicholson, yesterday. The purpose of this meeting was to bring the concerns of my colleagues regarding Bill C-10 to the Minister and to discuss how best to mitigate the impacts of the bill on the Northwest Territories.
The Parliament of Canada has the right and responsibility to pass national legislation in respect to criminal justice that can significantly affect all the provinces and territories. The motion passed just last Friday by this Assembly details some of the concerns that we have about this bill, and how it may affect our residents and our institutions that respond to crime. But we must be mindful of the fact that Bill C-10 is the latest in a string of federal bills aimed at addressing crime. Since 2006 there have been 18 crime and public safety bills that have gone through Parliament, many of which are now law. These initiatives have had a cumulative impact on our services here in the Northwest Territories.
For the record, Bill C-10 bundles nine bills that were introduced in the previous Parliament into one large piece of legislation. The bill covers everything from sexual offences and drug crimes, to compensating victims of terrorism and eliminating pardons for some offences. The bill also introduces new offences and mandatory minimum sentences, imposes higher penalties and restricts the use of conditional sentences.
We anticipate the changes in sentencing will affect our corrections system where we may see more or see increases in the number of adults in custody as well as more youth in pre-trial and sentence custody. There may also be pressures on our courts and on our Legal Aid Program as more people may contest charges due to the increased penalties.
Additionally, the new legislation may place more demands on our victim services. There may be increased pressures on our community justice programs and will continue to try to deal with matters outside of the court system wherever possible.
Minister Nicholson and I had a positive discussion, recognizing the unique concerns we have in the Northwest Territories. We agreed that we will continue to work together on a number of fronts including: diversion options, potential options for alternative courts, victim services, Aboriginal justice and youth justice.
I extended an invitation to Minister Nicholson to come visit one of our small communities here in the North to see daily life firsthand. He was open and receptive to the invitation.
We will be continuing our discussions with Canada to develop concrete approaches to mitigating the effects of Bill C-10, and work with our northern counterparts in Nunavut and the Yukon to promote our common interests and to share the best practices. We look forward to further discussions with all Ministers of Justice at the FPT Ministers of Justice meeting at the end of January. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. NWT exploration takes a hit. Investment in environment is not as strong as it should be. Mineral exploration is booming in Nunavut. These are the media headlines to which every resident of the NWT is reading. What is interesting is that it is also occurring at the heels of a successful geoscience forum. Pretty sad, but moreover, quite embarrassing.
Have investors lost confidence in the Northwest Territories? By sheer numbers, it is very clear they have. Even our Chamber of Mines is quick to point out that, in comparison to our two neighbours, something has gone wrong here in the Northwest Territories. Nunavut is up over 23 percent this past year with $396 million being invested in 2011. Even the Yukon is up by 21 percent, with the NWT down 5 percent in 2011 at a meager $81 million in investment. These are not numbers to be proud of and our residents in the business community deserve some serious answers from this government.
What is causing this poor performance? Some say it stems from our complicated regulations and unsettled land claims. Yet others feel our stakeholders do not know where we stand to our barriers of investment. However, there are those that chastise previous Assemblies for not applying such things as the McCrank Report into action.
No matter what the hurdles are to stimulate this economy, we cannot linger lightly along, hoping for our federal counterparts to magically save the day. Our diamond mining industry has hit its peak, and without future investment in this territory, we will be in serious trouble. Although I am proud of the 17th Assembly’s commitment to working on our Mineral Strategy, it is worrisome that we are taking two paths of approach and hope that the Minister and his team work on ways to put some confidence back into this industry in short order.
Some of our younger members here today in the gallery and I am sure those watching want to read tomorrow’s headlines. NWT back on top. Exploration is strong again in the NWT. The mineral future is bright. These are what people want to read.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My Member’s statement today is going to deal with the current gas situation in Inuvik. As we know, there is a short lifespan to the gas reserve that supplies natural gas to the residents and businesses in the town of Inuvik. For the past 12 years Inuvik Gas Limited has supplied natural gas to over 900 customers, and during this time there have been noticeable and significant financial and environmental benefits. However, that gas supply to the people of Inuvik is estimated to be at less than two years, even closer to a year and a half. This has now become an urgent matter for the people of Inuvik as well as this government, also focusing on a very sensitive timeline.
With that said, key stakeholders have been meeting and working hard to find solutions. Currently a propane air system has been installed as a backup plan to use only for emergency situations. However, this is not a long-term solution or a long-term answer. The answer will deal with the key stakeholders and working with the GNWT to find a new long-term gas supply for the people of Inuvik.
I will have questions later on today for the Premier of the Northwest Territories in regard to this matter. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. The Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s surprising what one can find while looking for something else. Last week I found the following statement in a GNWT document titled “Framework for the GNWT Response to Homelessness,” and I quote from there:
“NGO programs need GNWT financial support. The GNWT recognizes that:
non-government organizations are the front-line service providers for the homeless;
NGOs require predictable and multi-year financial support; and
terms and conditions of contribution funding need to support the flexibility of the non-government organizations.”
That’s very gratifying to me to see those words. It justifies the position that I’ve been espousing for the last four years, but how depressing and disappointing that none of these three things are paid anything but lip service by our government. Those words were published in January 2007 and now, five years later, GNWT actions have not reflected any truth to those words.
The situation for NWT NGOs continues to be made very difficult by this government. Let me give you a case in point. Early in June 2011 a call was put out for NGOs to apply for funding available under the NGO Stabilization Fund. Some $350,000. Thirty-five organizations did their homework, filled out the forms, provided all of the necessary information and sent their applications in. The asks in those applications totalled about $1.5 million, a good indication of the need out there for more funding amongst NGOs. Then the applicants waited, and waited, and waited. For five months they waited for a response to their application.
I was contacted by a frustrated constituent in late November. She’d heard that the funds would not be awarded at all this year. I was flabbergasted that in five months our government had not been able to evaluate 35 applications, make recommendations and get approval from the Minister. It makes me think of that joke about how many people it takes to change a light bulb.
I know the wheels of government move slowly, but five months? I’m sorry; that’s ridiculous. I must give credit where credit is due and recognize that the funds have now been awarded and applicants advised, but now they have a different problem. There’s only four months left in the fiscal year to spend the money that they will soon get and one of those months includes the Christmas break.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
Only four months to spend their money. This hardly seems fair to me and I believe the delay is inexcusable. There’s never a shortage of Ministers acknowledging the valuable work done by NGOs on behalf of the GNWT, but when will we start respecting our NGOs in actions and not just words?
I will have questions for the Premier at a later date. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today’s Member’s statement that I’ll be conveying to the House is about the downtown day shelter here in Yellowknife.
In 2009 we had a pilot project here in Yellowknife and it was the establishment of the downtown day shelter. This couldn’t have happened without the great support of at the time the Health Minister, who helped lead this project in partnership with the City of Yellowknife and, very importantly, the generous support of BHP Billiton, and with all three partners that brought this project to life.
What is the downtown day shelter? Well, it’s a location – for some it’s the only location – where they can go where it’s warm during the day where these people – and I definitely mean people – can access washrooms, phones, get a warm cup of coffee and have a snack. In many cases this is the only place they can go where it’s warm, get a coffee, even access a washroom, and have a snack. This is a very important service, a valuable service, if I may say, to many people who often get ignored and have nowhere else to go.
I think what’s coming up here is a bit of a problem and this is part of the reason why I wanted to talk about it today. The downtown day shelter is a pilot project. It was a pilot project, as I pointed out, developed with the Department of Health in partnership with BHP and the City of Yellowknife. Unfortunately, as all pilot projects go, they always have an end date. That worries me as well as a number of people. The pilot project is scheduled to end in the new year, which brings me to my concern: What are the long-term plans for the downtown day shelter? It’s a valuable service, as I said, to provide somewhere for people to go who really have nowhere to go.
While we have the doors wide open, hearts open to help others, let’s make sure padlocks aren’t put on those doors and they’re put out to go who knows where.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I take this time today to congratulate the newly elected leaders from our municipal communities in the NWT. Elections for mayor and councillors were held on December 12, 2011, and I look forward to meeting the new community leaders in the coming year.
I trust that our territorial and community governments will work positively towards a healthier and stronger territory. I want to extend to all municipalities my best wishes throughout the term and I, again, look forward to meeting and working with all the leaders.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker Today I would like to congratulate the leaders that were elected as mayors and councillors of local communities. A community is defined as all the people living in a specific locality, a body of people having an interest in common. While I understand we have public and Aboriginal governments, we all work together on common interests, issues and concerns. Taking a leadership role is a big responsibility, especially in small communities where you have to work 24/7 and be everything to everybody. For these reasons I applaud the people who have taken this step forward to take on these roles.
A Leader Is Often Defined To Have Certain Qualities About Them, Including Vision, Consensus-maker, Communicator, Organizer, Planner, Coordinator, Monitor, But Most Of All Being A Figurehead For Groups And Organizations In Communities. Lao Tzu, A Chinese Taoist Philosopher, Defined Leadership In This Quote: “A good leader inspires people to have confidence in the leader; a great leader inspires people to have confidence in themselves.”
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again I rise to talk about the lack of RCMP detachments in our communities in the Northwest Territories. Presently there are 10 communities without RCMP members. The RCMP serves these 10 communities from a larger detachment. For example, in Tsiigehtchic the RCMP from Fort McPherson serve that community; in Gameti the Behchoko Detachment serves that community; Colville Lake is served by the RCMP Fort Good Hope Detachment. It has been a long-standing issue with the communities that do not have RCMP members in that community. It at times can be very frustrating. It can be very painful for some of the members in the community when they need protection, and they need to ensure the safety of the buildings and their lives, that there is an RCMP in that community.
Because of the isolation of our communities some of my communities are not hooked up on all-weather road systems. Sometimes the weather is bad. Sometimes when the community is asking for help, the RCMP is not able to get in there as quickly as they want. Sometimes it takes days; sometimes longer. Sometimes the requests to have RCMP members in their communities are questioned, like they have to go through a screening process to see if there really is a need to have a Member there. The communities are getting frustrated because sometimes they’re seen to not be taken very seriously, or if the issue is not taken to the extent that they need an RCMP.
I want to ask the Minister, in light of his meeting with the federal Minister, what this government is doing to ensure that people, like in Colville Lake, can rest assured that they can have an RCMP member there or some form of law enforcement to ensure that older people and younger people can live and have some safety there.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If I could put a title on my Member’s statement today it would “Why?” Why is our North rich in highly valued natural resources but our disjointed regulatory regime discourages exploration and development? Why are industries that thrive south of the 60th parallel and create enormous economy and prosperity non-existent in the Northwest Territories? Why do we have abundant renewable resources in the area of forests, fisheries and wildlife, and we extract next to no industry from these resources? Why can our neighbours to the west in the Yukon generate millions of dollars in economy through tourism, and we lag so far behind? Why do we allow projects like the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline to languish when our people need jobs and we try to muddy the waters by using the pipeline to leverage political agendas?
The list of why goes on and on. We have some very serious questions to ask ourselves here in the Northwest Territories. I guess Ottawa will keep sending us the money that we need to keep the status quo, but I don’t think people should be satisfied with the status quo. I think our people want more, they expect more, and we better get some answers to these questions.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It gives me great pleasure to recognize an almost-constituent. It’s not a reincarnation, an incarnation of myself with the granddaughter of a constituent, Ms. Dylan Harker. Welcome to the House, Dylan.
I’d also like to recognize Mr. Byrne Richards, co-chair of the Yellowknife Homelessness Coalition.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank you for introducing every one of the students of Grade 5 J.H. Sissons School. I also want to recognize them as a group and say thank you for coming today. It’s great to see everyone’s smiling face. I certainly look forward to seeing them all very soon in their class. Thank you for coming today, students. Good to see you all.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize my wife, Carolyn Smith, in the gallery today.
Welcome, Carolyn. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. [English translation not provided.]
Mr. Dolynny, good. Thank you. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize the Grade 5 class of Sissons, and Monique as well. I often go and visit with the students over there.
