David Krutko

Does committee agree we’ve concluded Human Resources?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is directed to the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources in regards to a letter he received from the chief of the Inuvik Band Council, Mr. Herb Blake. It’s in regards to arsenic levels in Inuvik, and also it was sent to the Minister of Environment, Jim Prentice. Several properties that are owned in Inuvik by the Gwich’in Tribal Council and Gwich’in Development Corporation were tested for contamination, and high levels of arsenic were located on those pieces of property. Because of that, there is a question of liability and what you can...

With that, I would like to thank the Minister and thank the witness.

With that, we can move to the next department which is Human Resources. Page 2-2, we can defer that page and move to page 2-4, Human Resources, activity summary, human resource strategy and policy, infrastructure investment summary, total infrastructure investment summary, $715,000.

Mr. Speaker, someone that drives along the Mackenzie River in the Mackenzie Delta between Aklavik and Fort McPherson can visually see how cabins are falling into the river. The riverbanks are eroding at such a fast rate that the communities are in the same situation.

I don’t think the Minister gets it. This is a serious problem. We have to do something to ensure that we shore up the infrastructure of communities such as Aklavik and Tuktoyaktuk. We’ve heard from communities such as Sachs Harbour where they’re seeing the banks on Banks Island. This is a real problem and I don’t think we can...

Okay, Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister of Transportation and it’s in regards to my Member’s statement. I received several calls at my office in Fort McPherson in regards to the closure of the Abraham Francis ferry on the Peel River this coming Saturday. People were raising the concern that there is no ice on the river, so why are we closing the ferry, there’s no visible threat to ferry operations. My assistant took some pictures, which I sent to the Minister’s office, showing him visually that you can actually see there is no…If anything, the river is wide open where...

Another issue I have a problem with especially in regards to capital, is that we seem to put the onus on communities that any assets that this government transferred to the community, it is up to them to repair it, fix it. If it breaks down, that is your problem.

I think this government has to realize that a lot of these assets that we did transfer to communities are going to have to be replaced. But with the existing dollars that they get, you cannot replace a water treatment plant. You cannot replace a major piece of infrastructure like a utilidor system with the existing dollars that they...

Agreed. Moving on to page 5-7, Public Works and Services, activity summary, Technology Services Centre, infrastructure investment summary, total infrastructure investment summary, $7.042 million. Agreed?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I, too, have similar concerns as Mr. Bromley, but I think realizing it’s not only the requirements that we are putting on communities with regard to developing energy plans and looking at infrastructure, but also capacity for communities, especially when this was being implemented to give communities more ability to make decisions and invest in our capital. I think we overlooked a few things in that process and one of them is the incorporation of communities.

We are finding now that eight communities aren’t able to access capital dollars because they’re not incorporated. I...

Agreed. Sergeant-at-Arms, escort the witnesses in.

Mr. Minister, for the record, could you introduce your witnesses?