Good afternoon, colleagues. Colleagues, I would like to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery this afternoon of Mr. Andre Marin, ombudsman for the province of Ontario. He’s accompanied by his assistant manager of communications, Ms. Ashley Bursey.
I understand this is your first visit to the North. Please let me extend a warm welcome to the Northwest Territories on behalf of our Assembly.
---Applause
Mr. Speaker, today I wish to tell you about Building a Northern Evidence-Based Approach to Crime Prevention, a new pan-territorial research initiative that the Northwest Territories Department of Justice is participating in with Yukon and Nunavut.
With the support of our federal partner, Public Safety Canada, the three territories have launched a four-year project to develop a made-in-the-North approach to crime prevention. Through the National Crime Prevention Centre, a total of just over $1.2 million has been committed over the life of the initiative. While the NWT has the lead, the intent is to deliver the project through a true partnership involving the residents and communities of each territory.
Each of the three territories has crime reduction initiatives in place, and we have all been working with community partners to decrease crime in our communities. However, we acknowledge that the crime rate in the three territories is consistently higher than the rest of Canada. This is especially
true when it comes to the level of violent crime, which is significantly higher.
In developing approaches to crime prevention, it is critical that we understand crime and the impact it has on our residents and communities. This includes a deeper understanding of the root causes of crime across the territories and why our crime rates are consistently higher than other areas of Canada.
Currently, data is collected by various government agencies and partners, but it is important to ensure that the information gathered is shared in an organized and responsible way. It is also important that we make sure that the quality and the consistency of data being collected is relevant to our needs, so that we can work together to make informed decisions.
To date, there has not been a comprehensive study across the North that pulls together this kind of information and focuses specifically on crime prevention. This new four-year project will address this need.
The first phase of the project is well underway, Mr. Speaker, and will set the stage for a successful initiative. The end result will be a northern crime prevention framework that recognizes the uniqueness of each territory as well as our common goal to work in close partnership with our respective communities to deter and prevent crime.
Building a strong and sustainable future for our territory by strengthening relationships with Aboriginal and other northern governments is one of the priorities of this Assembly. Through initiatives like Building a Northern Evidence-Based Approach to Crime Prevention we are helping to create sustainable, vibrant and safe communities. We are proud to be part of this valuable work. By working together with Nunavut and Yukon, we can build on the partnerships that each territory has developed with their community members. This coordination of our strengths will lead us to crime prevention solutions that are truly reflective of all Northerners. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Colleagues, before we go on today, I’d like to welcome back former Member of the Legislative Assembly, former Premier, Member for Inuvik Boot Lake who sat in the 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th Legislative Assemblies, Mr. Floyd Roland.
---Applause
Good to see you back in the House, Floyd. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mr. Speaker, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment is committed to supporting the development of an educated, skilled and trained northern workforce. As stated in the Economic Outlook 2014-15 report, we have an incredible future with a potential for more than $4.5 billion in new investment in the NWT planned over the next several years. With these investments come many new jobs and opportunities.
The Northwest Territories Nominee Program is a key component of the GNWT’s efforts to attract 2,000 new residents by 2019. ECE has set a target of increasing the number of nominees by 25 percent annually, starting in 2014-15.
Work to enhance our Nominee Program has already begun. We will be clarifying the nominee application process, improving the forms and access to online information and promoting and improving awareness of the program.
We will be engaging our many partners in the coming weeks to ensure the program meets the needs of the business community and is ready for implementation in January 2015.
Mr. Speaker, another of our ECE programs contributing to the GNWT’s population growth work is our Student Financial Assistance program. ECE is presently considering options for enhancing the remission and repayment program to reduce students’ debt much faster. We believe such improvements will encourage our students to return to the NWT and potentially encourage more southern students to come to the NWT.
As well, Mr. Speaker, due to the improved nature of collecting and sharing information from students, the GNWT is able to review the skill sets of northern students studying at post-secondary institutions and match them with meaningful and rewarding jobs with our government.
We believe these improvements will contribute both to the success of our economy and help grow the NWT’s population.
ECE remains committed to delivering effective labour market programs that achieve results and respond to residents’ needs. We are doing detailed assessments of the North’s current and future labour market needs across all sectors so that we have relevant labour market information. This initiative will examine skills training and post-secondary education systems and complete the entire spectrum of services from early childhood to employment. It will provide us with valuable information on which we can base our future investments and decisions as a government.
Mr. Speaker, this is work no one can accomplish alone. I believe we can achieve our goals by working together across government, through our valuable partnerships, and with businesses and the public. We are excited to be contributing to the future, and are in it for the long haul. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Our second Energy Charrette in as many years begins today. Will we finally get it right? We’ve made no net gains in the intervening time. Another $58 million in diesel subsidies and millions in failed subsidies in connecting power grids, some clearly a waste because results were so predictable. Hardly progress. We must get real.
The Premier, ENR and NTPC may finally be starting to think in terms of keeping the lights on and begin to address energy costs in ways that also gain environmental social benefits, all part of the affordability equation.
Current diesel power subsidies insatiably consume budgets. The public pays the rising cost of government’s attack on our environment through subsidies, carbon emissions and both ratepayers and taxpayers can no longer bear the burden of a monopolistic power provider. Change has become essential.
The plan to go with full-blown renewable energy will not achieve us the gains we want unless communities are involved from the bottom up. Will this Energy Charrette be based on the knowledge that we must invest in community-owned renewable energy tailored to individual circumstances if we are to cut our energy costs, build our local economies and create cleaner environments for our children?
It must be abundantly clear by now that a one-size-fits-all approach has had the opposite effect. Every region has different opportunities and challenges for meeting energy needs and conservation. Whether it’s biomass, solar, wind, or run-of-the-river hydro generation, all have energy efficiency and conservation opportunities. But unless communities are fully engaged in addressing these, benefits and sustainability will be far below what could be achieved.
I’m not saying this is easy and I don’t think a one-day forum will provide the answers, though given proper context, important insights could be gained. But the right guiding principles must be asserted and the right questions must be asked.
We need an integrated energy system that looks at all of our energy needs – power, heat and transportation – and that can grow or shrink into the future as needed. We need a system that cuts costs and provides both social and environmental benefits in this challenging jurisdiction.
Finally, we need to be prepared for solutions that move away from a single provider like NTPC or Imperial Oil.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement. Mahsi.
---Unanimous consent granted
Finally, we need to be prepared for solutions that move away from a single provider like NTPC or Imperial or whomever. We must address the issue of stranded infrastructure, efficient fossil fuel backup systems, locally derived forms of energy that provide local jobs, and the energy education and training to help us move into the 21st century.
As we hear from every quarter, scientists and our dwindling population, time is running out. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A few of us today are going to be talking about energy, and I would like to add my voice to that from the angle that I’ve been contemplating.
With Halloween just having passed last Friday, I’m going to talk about ghost busters. Everybody knows about those little lights that are all over in your house. They call them phantom or ghost consumers of power.
What I would like to do is challenge people to go into their homes and look around their kitchen and the night table beside their bed and look at how many cell phone chargers they’ve left plugged in when they’re not charging their phone. In the kitchen, look at the microwave, the stove, the dishwasher, the ice machine. I mean, everything has a light on it. So let’s just say that every one of those little lights – think about the power bars for the multi-plugs, they’ve got a light on them – let’s think about all of those and I challenge people to go to your house and count them up, because I think that you could easily find 30 of those in any given home. I know you probably could in mine.
If you figure out that each one of those little lights costs about just an insignificant amount of $2 a month for power consumption. Let’s just say you could save $60 a month on your power bill by addressing all those phantom ghost consumers of energy. Now, there are 8,500 power accounts in Yellowknife. I don’t know if we could safely double that for the whole territory, but even in Yellowknife, if you took 8,500 customers and you reduced their power bill by $60 each, that would be half a million dollars per month. Now, correct me if my math is wrong. Could that be possible? Five hundred thousand dollars a month in savings if we took $60 off of everybody’s power bill?
Now, multiply that times 12. Now we’re talking over $6 million a year. Now, let’s double that because there’s probably another 8,500 customers out there around the Northwest Territories. Now we’re almost up to the amount that our government just subsidized NTPC for, for their fuel rider, because we had low water this year.
I don’t know. Like I said, my math could be all wrong here, folks. But you know, the point of the matter is that we could all look at what we are consuming energy on and how we’re consuming it, and we could probably all do something to address the consumption, therefore, our costs and the cost of living. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. We all know that in small communities and regions the cost of electricity and fuel is very high. We know that it makes it difficult for working families and individuals to balance their household budget and for local businesses to be competitive.
We also know that the costs differ from one community to another. For instance, the cost of power for Tuktoyaktuk residents is more than twice what it is in Fort Smith. The rates for residents in Nahanni Butte, Jean Marie River and Liidlii Kue are among the highest five in the Northwest Territories.
Small and remote communities cannot sustain the increasing costs of energy and fuels. In order to save money, we need to reduce our dependence on expensive diesel-generated power.
I have spoken in the Legislative Assembly in support of the government’s proactive approach to developing green energy initiatives. Investments in alternative energy, hydro, wind and biomass will help us move away from fossil fuels and will save us money. Technologies with regard to many hydro projects are improving and bode well as a solution in our regions.
Fort Simpson has identified goals to reduce its energy consumption, including promoting energy awareness, just like Mrs. Groenewegen did a few minutes ago. There are also plans to use residual heat recovered from the NWT Power Corporation’s diesel generators and investigating plans of potential geothermal energy. These are great initiatives.
I also would like to wish all the attendees at this year’s Energy Charrette the best as they discuss and look for ways to help all Northerners with a cheaper and sustainable future. Mahsi cho.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If one was to evaluate our current state of affairs when it comes to our energy production, our over 26 percent in power rate increases over the life of this Assembly and our continued lack of a plan, some would say we are on a constant morphine drip, and they would be right. Furthermore, as a main shareholder in what is in essence a Crown corporation, the NWT Power Corporation has shown its lack of accountability, and instead of being held to task as a corporation would in the real world, we lavish it with subsidy rewards.
History has shown time and time again the GNWT has a history of failure when it comes to energy planning and rising costs in its production. How many more reviews, strategies, collaborations, reports, papers, action plans, panels and advisory groups does it take to get from A to B in lowering costs and ultimately reducing our cost of living?
As the North gravitates to what is yet another Energy Charrette – the second one in less than two years – I, like most Northerners, wonder at what point will this new initiative gather the same dusty fate as its predecessor.
As optimistic as one can be as an MLA who sees this from a unique perspective, I have a very difficult time understanding why we would be using such a delay tactic of a charrette to mitigate what we already know.
Aside from the obvious of needing to instill the proper business mentality at the NWT Power Corporation, the GNWT needs to simply undertake what I call two strategic directions.
If you truly want to lower the cost of living with energy solutions, the GNWT needs to first lower our thirst for fuel. As mentioned in last week’s Member’s statement, we need to recapture at NTPC production sites, unused stovepipe heat energy and store it in earth tubes through what is called ground-coupled heat exchange system. This will immediately lower our diesel consumption in all our non-hydro communities and our return on investment would be almost immediate.
The second strategy investment is simply through incentives. We need to provide as many incentives as possible to let the industry, with all its latest technology, moving at lightning speed, do its thing. This will lower the capitalization of investment from 15 to 20 years to a more reasonable five years or less, thereby making energy investment more economically viable to the consumer.
I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
It’s through targeted incentives that will ultimately uncork innovation of individuals and the private sector to find the path of change. Let us not forget it was not government who made the life-changing discoveries of our past. It was the risk-takers and the inventors who ploughed the way. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The Member for Hay River South, Mr. Bouchard.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m before you today baby-faced and clean-shaven.
Today is the first day in November where we have session and I am partaking in Movember, a cause for men’s health, issues for prostate cancer and below the belt issues. We need to encourage men to go get themselves checked, get their prostates checked to make sure they keep their health up.
I use my face and the little bit of stubble I’ll have over the next month as a message and a billboard to men’s health and that men go out and get themselves checked. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. The Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Did you know that we have a lot in common with Ontario when it comes to complaints about government services or agencies? Getting the most grief in Ontario, which the ombudsman addressed in his 2013 report, included, ringing in at number one with nearly 7,000 complaints: Hydro One. Trailing in at second: the Family Responsibility Office of Ontario with 1,157 complaints.
It’s time to get down to the facts. Isn’t it interesting that the top two agencies or the departments formerly complained about in Ontario are probably the top two in the Northwest Territories. Let’s stick with energy since it’s the word of the day.
Last month the government said the people in Fort Good Hope would pay less to fill up their vehicles. Instead, the people saw prices at their pump jump from $1.80 a litre to $1.83 per litre. A promise is a promise is a promise.
Colville Lake customers got the unpleasant surprise, a 6 percent markup at their pumps at $1.99 a litre. Something doesn’t add up. But who are you gonna call? Not the Ghostbusters.
We have an abundance of energy resources beneath our feet in the Sahtu. Why aren’t we using it? Why are we relying and building and continuing to build our dependency on foreign oil and gas? The time is now, the time for sustainable resource development in the Sahtu in the North, and a time for an independent watchdog here in the Northwest Territories.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On October 23rd the Town of Inuvik issued a media release, entitled “The Town of Inuvik Prepares for the Arctic Energy and Emerging Technologies Conference in June of 2016.” This could not come at a better time. The Town of Inuvik is planning to host this conference and tradeshow from June 13 to 16, 2016, and replace the Inuvik Petroleum Show, which has been successful over the years.
This new approach is going to address a lot of the current needs of not only the community of Inuvik but the Northwest Territories as a whole. If it’s going to show any impact or any importance, it’s going to show that Inuvik is one of the leading communities and one of the leading conferences, such as the petroleum show, and it actually will be one of the leaders moving forward into this new way of looking at alternative energy.
Over the years we have seen a decrease in the activity of oil and gas in the community of Inuvik and the Beaufort-Delta region and, most recently, in the Sahtu region. As this happens, we’re also facing the realities in Inuvik of a gas shortage. We’re also seeing the realities of an increase to the cost of home heating fuels and the increased costs of transporting liquid natural gas, which all, in the end, results in a high cost of living for residents of the community of Inuvik.
This year, the government alone will subsidize public housing units and affordable housing to the tune of just over $9 million, plus we just gave a $20 million subsidy to the Power Corporation. Twenty-nine million dollars this year, without looking at a big increase into alternative energies, which I think really needs to be addressed to offset the high cost of living we see a lot of our residents facing.
On top of that $29 million, we’re not even talking about the costs that this government is offsetting by turning a lot of its government buildings over to diesel so that the natural gas can last longer in Inuvik.
I did speak last week to subsidies in this House, but I specifically spoke to subsidies for the homeowner and how we can subsidize them for their high heating fuel.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
Yes, last week I spoke on how this government, if they had any new ideas on how we can subsidize the homeowner, the taxpayer, the ones that are contributing to our economy without any good solutions. This is a growing concern for the people in the community of Inuvik. As I said, double income households having a hard time making it paycheque to paycheque.
As the Energy Charrette begins today, I just want to take this opportunity to applaud the Town of Inuvik for taking the leadership, to take the positive step moving into a new direction to finding alternative solutions to address our current gas situation in Inuvik and to address the high cost of living for residents of Inuvik. Like I said, it couldn’t come at a better time, and hopefully, we can find solutions sooner than later. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As we all know, this evening will kick off the second Energy Charrette, the second attempt by our government to find a solution to the huge cost that everyone in the NWT, including our government, pays for our energy products. The first charrette, two years ago, began and ended with much fanfare.
The reports of the event suggested we would soon have solutions to our energy woes. How wrong that was, Mr. Speaker. Now, two years later, we are no further ahead. No concrete developments that will solve our energy woes and much further behind in curtailing our spending on energy.
To be fair, there have been a few projects and they have proved successful in reducing energy use, but the gains are small. Instead the government has been throwing money at both the problem and the users.
In the last three fiscal years, including this one, GNWT has spent almost $36 million to subsidize power costs for residents and businesses. On top of that, NTPC has received almost $50 million to keep power rate increases down and to convert buildings to diesel fuel in Inuvik. On top of that, NTPC has not paid any dividend to its one shareholder, the GNWT, for the last three years. That’s another $6 million that they have been gifted.
In the same time period, little seems to have been accomplished to advance cheaper energy. The many, many millions spent by NT Energy Corporation to develop power generation and transmission plans seems to be for naught, as we are now informed that it will be too expensive to follow that plan.
Instead of providing millions of dollars in subsidies, the government should have been looking elsewhere, being innovative. The second charrette comes with assurances, again, of great promises for solutions to solve our high energy costs. I am sceptical that that will be achieved, but I look forward to the results with an open mind.
There are many things we could be doing right now to lower our power costs. Community biomass plants is only one of them. Surely if Europe can have community systems, then we can as well. What is stopping us? Well, I guess that would be initiative and bold thinking from NWT Power Corporation. Something I don’t believe they can do.
The Northern Journal had an editorial, several weeks ago, that summed up our situation very well and offered a solution.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
So, from the Northern Journal, “The NWT government’s approach to power generation is muddled.” And further, “A disturbing trend of costly ineffectiveness, despite an endless series of consultation and reviews,” and further, “The NWT government has demonstrated it cannot manage the situation. It must stop wasting time and money with reviews, reports, consultants and experimenting with things it has no expertise in. It should create an environment through incentives that unleash the ingenuity of individuals and entrepreneurs. Do that and the problems will be solved within a decade.”
Mr. Speaker, I couldn’t have said it better. I only hope the charrette participants and the government are listening. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The natural wood grows abundantly in this land mass of an area of about 519,000 square miles. We have lots of trees. Wood is removable and it is sometimes simply a matter of an axe or saw to bring a pile of wood into your home to keep you warm. Advances in technology have made many of the tasks of chopping or sawing an afterthought. Now we have chainsaws for industrial skill type methods for collecting firewood.
Wood is used in woodstoves, for heating systems, for boilers systems and for the production of wood pellets, to name a few. In the NWT, campfires burn for ages with wood and woodstoves are common. Nowadays most NWT homes have indoor woodstoves. Having a woodstove promotes independence and active living, getting your own firewood with your family with your snow machine in the wintertime.
Mr. Speaker, this is part of a greater initiative that this government has undertaken. Biomass is a source of energy. Recently in Fort Providence, it was a proud moment when the community entered into a forest management agreement with the GNWT and a business person to explore the idea of establishing a wood pellet plant. That day brought that reality closer, and at some point other communities will jump on that too.
So the northern wood has served the North really well and I’m hoping that now and into the future it will continue. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Truly the sky is falling on this particular issue if we do not make a positive change. Everyone knows renewables are the future. Those people who continue to deny this fact, deny the future that they hold for their children.
We all know we must get behind renewables and continue to make strides in that particular area. It’s well known that Canada does not meet its targets on climate change initiatives and greenhouse gas problems, but yet it’s leading the future into an unknown peril that we may never be able to get off of the track that’s driving us to the end.
In contrast, the GNWT is certainly making great strides in this particular initiative, and we certainly have to appreciate that. But we all understand the impacts big oil brings to our world. What is this issue that continues to blind us? It may be easy to reach for the oil and it may be a struggle to reach for the renewables, but we must ask ourselves: do we want a tomorrow or do we want to see things end in a negative way?
Mr. Speaker, those who tell you our economy is important I would not disagree with them, but our economy deserves a future and that’s got to be the undertow of every consideration. Canada continues to fail its federal GHGs, as it’s been reported, and even the federal deputy ministers say this as well.
Our Prime Minister promised in 2007 that he would deliver oil and gas regulations that would make sense, and yet Canada still waits. While the new Premier of Alberta, Mr. Prentice, says that he has a climate change strategy and he will be developing it in the near future, I worry about us Northerners who sit downstream as to what we will be promised because we will be the ones benefiting from their short-sightedness. Mr. Prentice goes on by saying, “We must be responsible stewards, but we can’t damage industry’s competitiveness.” I don’t want them to damage my future. Northern Gateway has been refused, for all intents and purposes, and now they look to the Northwest Territories as the solution to their problem. Let’s be honest. We all know pipelines bring lots of jobs in the construction but there are not jobs in the future.
We know that a pipeline through the Northwest Territories may only create 10, maybe 15 jobs. That’s not the future. Renewables are our future. We are not powerless and we should be asking ourselves to face that problem. The economy matters, but so does our future and you’re hearing it today. We must get off of this addiction of oil. We must get an intervention if necessary, but we must take the first step to a future which includes renewables as the first choice, not as the last choice. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As you can tell, we have a theme day here on energy. I’d just like to speak to my riding.
Fort McPherson has been one of the leaders in our region in biomass as the band office is connected to one system. Also, as we move forward, the community will soon have a new elders facility which will have a solar panel system set up. Also, many of my constituents have woodstoves installed in their home. This not only cuts the cost of fuel used but during the winter months a woodstove can be a lifesaver when the power goes out.
As we move forward, we need to look at ways to make the most of our renewable resources; for example, turbine energy, as many of our communities live along a river, also wind turbines. Many of our communities have a lot of wind, for example. Up in your region, you know quite well, wind up to 100 kilometres per hour. That alone, Mr. Speaker, probably powers our whole Beaufort-Delta region. Those are things that we need to look at moving forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have the honour of recognizing a gentleman who is known to just about all of us: Dr. David Suzuki.
From the Suzuki Foundation we have, as well, travelling with him Miles Richardson, Michiah Prull, Alvin Singh, Deneze Nakehk’o, and Steve Ellis was there from Tides Canada as well. I also don’t want to miss the rare opportunity to recognize my friend and colleague of many terms together – four, I believe, 16 years in the trenches in this House – former Premier Floyd Roland.
Mr. McLeod.
Mr. Speaker, being one of the Members from the Beau-Del, we’re very fortunate that we get to rely on the advice and experience of a lot of good leaders up there, and one of those is Mr. Floyd Roland, who was very instrumental with his advice and experience when I first started this. It’s been almost 10 years already; it’s 10 years this month. So I thank him for that and welcome him to the gallery once more. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Abernethy.
