Debates of October 12, 2005 (day 8)

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you and all Members back to this Assembly after a busy and productive summer. I would also like to welcome Mr. Jackson Lafferty to this Legislative Assembly and wish him the very best as he represents the newly named constituency of Monfwi.

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Many Members of this Legislative Assembly spent the summer in our communities meeting with local councils, organizations and residents or attending summer assemblies and meetings. Of course, the highlight of the summer was the ceremony held in Behchoko on August 4th establishing the Tlicho Government and the community governments of the four Tlicho communities: Wekweeti, Gameti, Whati and Behchoko.

Mr. Speaker, the Tlicho agreement sets the benchmark for aboriginal rights agreements in the North and will fundamentally realign our relationship with the Tlicho people. The new intergovernmental relationship that is evolving with aboriginal governments means we must consider how government and this Legislature are structured to manage this new relationship.

Another important assembly held this summer in the Northwest Territories was the 26th Annual General Assembly of the Assembly of First Nations. This assembly brought together over 1,000 chiefs and other delegates, elders and interested observers from public and non-profit sector organizations, as well as First Nations citizens and the general public from across Canada.

Putting on an assembly of this size is an incredible logistical challenge. Credit must go to the regional vice-chief of AFN, Bill Erasmus, and his team, as well as the Yellowknives Dene First Nations for all of their efforts in putting on a great assembly.

Mr. Speaker, this Legislative Assembly began its term by establishing a vision and set of goals, and the government developed its strategic plan on the basis of this vision shortly thereafter. The strategic plan continues to guide the work we do as a government so we can take advantage of the opportunities presented to us while responding to challenges that emerge.

The Members of this Legislative Assembly have accomplished a great deal during our first two years of office. Later this session, Mr. Speaker, I will be tabling a progress report that details the progress we have made over the past two years on the specific goals contained in the strategic plan.

With just two more years remaining in the term of the 15th Legislative Assembly, it is important that we focus our limited time on the most critical issues facing the Northwest Territories. Today I want to speak to a number of those issues.

Mr. Speaker, one of the key goals of our strategic plan is to ensure well-governed, sustainable communities and regions able to fulfill their potential. This is also a consistent theme we have heard from the Members of this Legislative Assembly, at both Circle of Northern Leaders meetings, and from our communities and our residents as we traveled the territory over the past two years. To accomplish this we must provide communities with the tools and decision-making authority to address their most critical priorities. Top down decision-making no longer works in a territory as diverse and complex as the Northwest Territories.

In response to this, the Government of the Northwest Territories will propose during this session to establish a $35 million community capacity building fund that would provide communities with financial support to address their priorities. This funding flows from the $40 million provided by the federal government at the launch of the Northern Strategy framework. Of the remaining $5 million, $4 million will be used to address the serious housing needs in our communities and $1 million will be spent on youth and healthy living initiatives.

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The government recognizes that each community, no matter the size, requires a certain base level of funding to begin to address priorities in their communities. For that reason, we are proposing the community capacity building fund be allocated on a formula blending base funding needs and population pressures. This will ensure that all communities receive a meaningful level of funding to address community priorities.

Mr. Speaker, eligibility criteria are designed to create an incentive for all governments, whether public or aboriginal, within a community to collaborate in developing and subsequently endorsing a community plan that benefits the community at large.

The proposed community capacity building fund is a one-time-only allocation. Once the community has agreed on how the funds would be used, the money can be drawn down anytime over the next three years, beginning November 1, 2005.

Mr. Speaker, during the past few weeks we have been witness to the impacts on the North American and global economies as a result of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Key oil producing and refining industries located on the southern coast of the United States were not immune to the devastation, and the disruptions to these industries have reached us here at home in the form of increased costs to fuel and, in turn, to other goods and services.

The steady increase in the price of oil and natural gas in the last few months has required all governments across the country to assess how these increased prices will impact on our communities, businesses, government institutions and most vulnerable citizens.

Fortunately, Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories has a number of programs or measures in place that will help protect those in our communities who can least afford these increases. People in public housing will not see a change in their rent as a result of higher prices in home heating fuel, and the seniors’ fuel subsidy provides an important subsidy that allows seniors to help offset these costs. The Territorial Power Subsidy Program is a program designed to provide equitable power rates throughout the Territories.

It is clear, however, that higher energy costs mean all goods and services will be more expensive. The NWT economy must be resilient enough to weather these global fluctuations in energy availability and price increases. To do this, we must have our own energy plan that will ensure our communities and residents are able to deal with increased costs this winter.

In the short term, the most effective way to deal with these increased costs is by simply reducing the amount of energy we use; simple conservation measures we can take at home and at work that can add up to considerable savings.

In the long term, this plan must set a course to develop our own sources of long-term, affordable and clean energy. By doing this, we achieve a greater level of self-sufficiency for our energy needs.

Mr. Speaker, during the current session we will be discussing with the Members of this House various initiatives related to energy consumption and conservation. We look forward to the debate on these initiatives and the input from all Members.

Mr. Speaker, there can be little doubt that the effects of hurricanes Katrina and Rita will be felt for many years to come. Not only is there the human element to this disaster but, as I stated earlier, it also points to the very real need for dependable and secure sources of energy to power our lives and economies.

While foreign sources are increasingly unreliable and conventional basins are depleting, energy consumption in North America continues to rise significantly. It is now certain that diversified continental supplies, particularly arctic hydrocarbons, will be critical to a long-term continental energy solution. This is yet another reason we must push ahead with the Mackenzie gas project so we can begin to see natural gas flowing from the Northwest Territories as early as 2010.

Today I want to bring this House up to date on the progress we have made over the summer to move the Mackenzie gas project forward and the work we need to do to resolve the challenges that remain.

Mr. Speaker, in my sessional statement last May, I made note of the important work undertaken by the Members of this Legislative Assembly in partnership with representatives of the business coalition and aboriginal governments during NWT Day in Ottawa last spring. Our purpose was to convince the federal government to work in partnership with the Northwest Territories to provide interim funding to deal with the serious challenges our communities and residents face as they prepare for and deal with the development of this important project.

This work has started to pay impressive dividends. The most significant development over the past several months was the announcement by the Government of Canada this past July to establish a $500 million fund to help address the socioeconomic impacts from this project for all residents along the pipeline route.

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To put the magnitude of this fund into perspective, more money will flow to some regions as a result of this agreement than was received by land claimant organizations in their comprehensive land claim agreements.

Mr. Speaker, this funding will be disbursed over the next 10 years in the regions directly affected by the project. We expect the federal government to proceed with legislation to establish this fund during the current sitting of the Parliament this fall so this funding can begin to flow shortly.

This fund will provide critically needed funding in the interim of a resource revenue sharing agreement to allow each impacted region to prepare for and mitigate the socioeconomic impacts of pipeline development in areas such as training, social support programs, treatment programs and counselling.

We are very pleased that the federal government has responded to this request from northern leaders in such a comprehensive and constructive manner. Credit for this response must go to Prime Minister Martin and Deputy Prime Minister McLellan, along with our Member of Parliament, Ethel Blondin-Andrew.

Mr. Speaker, while this commitment by the Government of Canada was an important step in resolving a number of obstacles facing the project, much remains to be done before this project moves into the regulatory phase. We have now reached a critical decision point for this project with a number of important agreements required over the next four or five weeks.

Last month, the Mackenzie Valley Producers Group wrote to the National Energy Board and Joint Review Panel describing the progress made over past months. The producers group also outlined the challenges that remained to be resolved prior to beginning formal hearings for the proposed natural gas pipeline. In particular, they noted the need to make further progress on two issues: access and benefit agreements with aboriginal organizations and an agreement with governments on the fiscal framework for the project.

Our collective goal must now be to address these issues in a manner that meets the interests of all parties to allow the project to go forward to public hearings in early 2006. We remain confident that the basis is there to resolve the outstanding issues if all parties come to the table with realistic expectations.

Mr. Speaker, at this critical point in time, it is important we step back and look at what this project can provide to the Northwest Territories.

I have already spoken about the $500 million in funding that will flow to communities along the pipeline route over the next 10 years should this project go ahead. As well:

This project will result in increased investment and job creation that will benefit the residents of the Northwest Territories and all of Canada. The numbers are impressive: $7.7 billion in total labour income and 157,000 person years of employment. This will create unprecedented employment and business opportunities for all residents of the Northwest Territories.

We are in discussions with the proponents and the federal government to convert workforce housing used in the construction of this project into critically needed housing in our communities.

As well, aboriginal communities will see a substantive return from the equity position they have in this project through the Aboriginal Pipeline Group; and,

Aboriginal groups will also realize benefits in the form of access fees and specific procurement, employment and contracting requirements.

Another important long-term benefit from the Mackenzie gas project is the opportunity it can provide to diversify our economy. This project and other large-scale development in the oil and gas industry can provide this opportunity if we take the necessary steps to ensure this development helps build our local and regional economies in healthy and sustainable ways. For example, we are talking to the proponents of this project about the potential for powering their compressor stations and hydropower from the Bear River.

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Mr. Speaker, if we do it right, this project can offer substantial benefits to all parties: to industry, to government, to aboriginal organizations and to the people of the Northwest Territories. This government is committed to working with the other parties to resolve the remaining issues so this project can move forward.

Finally, Mr. Speaker, I want to speak about the long-term potential benefit that can flow to all governments in the Northwest Territories, both public and aboriginal, from the negotiation of a devolution and resource revenue sharing agreement. While the socioeconomic impact fund provides a short-term solution to dealing with the social impacts resulting from the Mackenzie gas pipeline, the long-term solution remains the negotiation of a fair agreement that returns a fair share of revenues to the North, funding that can be reinvested into critically needed programming.

Restructuring our fiscal relationship and funding arrangements with the federal government is pivotal to our ability to create a territory that can meet its own energy requirements, improve its infrastructure and create vibrant, sustainable economies in our communities. Adequate funding is essential for the territorial government to deliver programs and services. There are too many examples of where the current arrangement simply does not work for the Northwest Territories.

For these reasons, the government has worked hard this summer to ensure the federal government’s Expert Panel on Equalization and Territorial Formula Financing and the Panel on Fiscal Imbalance established by the Council of the Federation fully understand our views on the fiscal issues facing the Northwest Territories.

Both panels will make recommendations that will significantly impact on decisions the federal government will make on the structure of equalization and territorial formula financing. We anticipate that both panels will make recommendations on the treatment of resource revenues for provinces and territories, recommendations that will profoundly impact on devolution negotiations. It is, therefore, critical that we continue to press our case for the fundamental reform that we believe is required for the financing of this territory.

Mr. Speaker, I have spoken today about a number of the critical challenges we must address over the next several months, challenges critical to the long-term future of the Northwest Territories. I look forward to working with all Members of this Legislative Assembly and our other partners in meeting these challenges. Mahsi cho.

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Thank you, Mr. Handley. Item 2, Ministers’ statements. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Motion To Move Minister’s Statement 24-15(4) Into Committee Of The Whole, Carried

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the Member for Great Slave, that Minister’s Statement 24-15(4) be moved into Committee of the Whole.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. A motion is on the floor. The motion is in order and is not debatable. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried.

---Carried