Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the unedited Hansard of August 18th, yesterday, page 36, between Mr. Roland, Premier, and Ms. Bisaro, in one paragraph Mr. Premier made reference to the Norman Wells natural gas situation. I often say that we shouldn’t make the people of Norman Wells go back to their coffers or the taxpayers to pay for the natural gas situation within that community. But the policy applies and he had to look at it.
So I want to ask Mr. Premier in regard to the policy that he’s referring to, and if there’s any type of discussions that could be looked at within the life of this government that would cause this government to reconsider the request from the Town of Norman Wells for financial assistance.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Honourable Premier, Mr. Roland.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The issue of Norman Wells, one, the gas supply has seized our attention. In fact, a number of departments -- Municipal and Community Affairs, Public Works and Services, and our Power Corporation -- are working with the community to deal with the issue that we were all notified that the gas supply would be coming to an end in two years.
The additional pressure that mounted in the spring was the issue of the pipeline, and thereby a reduction in natural gas supply. The community has done their work. They approached us, through the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, to offset their expenditures through our Extraordinary Funding Policy, as they declared a state of emergency. As we looked at the policy as it is, that did not qualify, it did not fit our programming. We have since worked with the community to try to come up with another solution. But ultimately, as Minister Robert C. McLeod has responded to the community, that they had to use their own resources first and then we would have to then look at it overall. So that is the policy in place.
I’m not aware of any additional work going on with that policy at this time. Thank you.
I want to state publicly that the Premier, along with some of the Ministers, did come into Norman Wells and talk to the town. So I want to say, on behalf of the town, I appreciate the Ministers who were there to discuss this important issue.
Getting back to the policy of the extraordinary funding, under the principles my point is that the community under the principles under subsection 3, community governments should not be penalized for practicing sound financial management, nor should they be rewarded for poor financial management.
I take the point that the Town of Norman Wells through good, sound financial practices are being penalized, because in there states that the town is in a healthy financial position, but it also causes them concerns to their programs and services that they want to run because now they are expecting to pay for unplanned circumstances that are beyond their control. The government, I ask them again if they would consider looking at this request or working with the town to ask the federal government what type of support is there for them.
We have -- and I must say the Member has been consistent on that -- raised the issue, invited us to meet with the community leadership. We’ve done that on a couple of occasions. We’ve come up with an approach to help the community looking at the actual conversion that has to happen as gas supplies run out. I believe the target for residential customers is 2014. We’ve started working on that. We as departments have started conversion of our own assets to ensure that we reduce the demand for natural gas to try to extend that gas season, I guess we can call it.
The ongoing work, and I know the community has recently made a decision to look at our offer of this project management process of conversions. The existing situation that the community found itself in, declared this emergency, again didn’t fit the criteria both for ourselves and the federal government. We’re trying to find a way of addressing that as we go forward, because there’s a number of communities that find themselves in a similar situation. I think the Norman Wells situation can be compared in some degree to what the Northland Trailer Court faces.
The community itself is a utility provider, for example, to Norman Wells, and that’s somewhat different. That is one of the issues that the community faces. I understand the community council is looking at removing itself as a utility provider. That will have to open. We’re hoping that we’ll be able to come up with something. Clearly, it doesn’t fit under the existing policies. Future governments will have to look at that policy and approach the federal government.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. The time for question period has expired. I will allow the Member a short supplementary question. Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It seems like the answer could be very simple, yet it’s so complex. I ask this government to take this situation in Norman Wells under consideration for the 17th to have some discussion under the Extraordinary Funding Policy.
It’s nobody’s fault. The pipeline broke. The town was left with a situation where they had to bring in a machine that would keep the power and lights on in Norman Wells. The town has also asked to pay for your own power bill and go through that to the customers. The government is doing what they can for a long-term solution. The immediate solution now is that somebody has to pay the $700,000 bill and it’s going to be up to the town because of their sound fiscal discipline and responsibility of doing good management. Can the Premier bring this forward to this Cabinet to look for solutions in the 17th?
I believe that the situation as we find ourselves in Norman Wells also is being felt in another community supplied by natural gas, Inuvik. There the utility provider is looking at their options and approaching the federal government. We know that throughout the territory we have to come up with a process that works.
This is such a large issue that in fact at the Western Premiers’ Conference that we held here in the Northwest Territories the idea of disasters and disaster mitigation was discussed and then brought to the larger table at the Council of Federation to address this, and we’re hoping that through that work we work with the federal government to look at preparation and dealing with matters before they become an emergency. So there is an avenue there. It is at the larger tables, as I mentioned. Hopefully the 17th Assembly will be able to continue on with that type of work and looking at disaster mitigation and the efforts of prevention as well.
I do appreciate the Premier’s continued support for this issue to be resolved in a satisfactory manner. Would the Premier at his next opportunity in his discussions with the federal government look at options as to how the federal government can see its way to support the Town of Norman Wells since they are one-third ownership of the Norman Wells oilfield? Certainly in this day and age they can see some relief to the town to support their bill in terms of helping out in this situation. Can the Premier make a commitment to that?
We have limited opportunity left in the life of our Assembly to make approaches to the federal government. As I stated, this is of national significance and importance when you look at what happened to the natural disasters that did occur in Alberta and the prairie provinces for the flooding, and other disaster areas in Ontario, for example. The idea of dealing with the issues before they become disasters is being discussed and will continue to be discussed. There seems to be some favourable language coming from the federal government.
Specific to our communities, we will have a challenge. Thankfully, as the Member pointed out, the financial health of the community was well and they were able to deal with the initial costs of that. We as the GNWT will continue to have to look at how we deal with those emerging situations that face our communities. Ultimately we know we have to support our communities at one level or another, and our approaches to the federal government are one of those ways and we’ll continue to try to do that as much as possible.
