Thank you, Member from Great Slave. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to recognize my constituent Mr. Floyd Powder, former sergeant-at-arms here at the Legislative Assembly. Floyd is here to honour Eddie Powder, a WWII veteran who you spoke of earlier today. And thank you for being here again, Floyd. It's always good to have you in the chamber. Thank you.
Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member from Monfwi.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, [Translation] Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to -- yes, he was an arm force -- with arm force, and I know his kids, but his daughter Sherry had shared a story about his to show respect to their late dad. Their kids are here. Marie Douglas and Irene Roth, North Douglas, they're all -- and they're also both -- Martha Sundberg the granddaughter of the late Robert Douglas who was -- I'd like to say -- I'd like to show my respect and say thank you to them. Their late dad Robert Douglas was in armed forces. And also Floyd Powder was also here to show the respect, and also he was a sergeant-at-arms at one point in time who is also here. But anyways, thank you
[Translation Ends]. Mahsi.
Thank you, Member from Monfwi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member from Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, rise to pay an honourable recognition of Robert (Bob) Douglas born in Fort Good Hope, and I'm glad to see the family in the gallery and the granddaughter Tanya Roth to the family as well. And Mr. Douglas is still talked about in high regard with the efforts he made in contributing to the community at the time there when he was living and working in Fort Good Hope. So I never met the individual, but I hear some remarkable stories, and it gives me pleasure, as I said, to pay my contribution. Thank you.
Thank you, Member from the Sahtu. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member from Thebacha.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to welcome Sholto Douglas, a constituent from Thebacha, to the House today. Sholto is here in honour of Robert (Bobby) Douglas, World War II veteran from the Royal Canadian Airforce combat. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Thebacha. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to recognize Marie Doyle who is in the gallery today. She is a Yellowknife Centre constituent, and she's a beloved family member of Robert Douglas, a World War II veteran. And just on that note, I want to remind people that as our veteran numbers do shrink, we still owe them a debt of great gratitude for the greetings we all shared here today and throughout the world.
And, Mr. Speaker, separately, I'd like to also acknowledge Sholto Douglas. He was a friend of mine when I was very young, and so I would say I know him well and I could tell some good stories about that, but we don't have the time today and I suspect he'd prefer they not be put on the public record. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member from Deh Cho.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to recognize -- they're kind of members of my family and friends of my family, Martha Simba married to my cousin from Kakisa; Tanya Roth from Norman Wells, Marie Douglas, North, Irene, Sholto, and the family that's there but from the late Robert Douglas. Thank you, and welcome to the House.
Thank you, Member from the Deh Cho. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to also recognize the former sergeant-at-arms Mr. Floyd Powder. I want to say mahsi and good to see you here. I also would like to recognize Irene Roth, Marie Douglas, Tanya McCauley, Sholto Douglas, North Douglas, and I have an elder there; I just don't know their name. But I just want to say welcome to the House. And Sholto, you look like a politician. So welcome. Mahsi.
Thank you, Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member from Monfwi.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize Sholto Douglas in the audience as well. I have -- I was given names, but I forgot to mention; I didn't realize he was in the audience, in the gallery. So I would like to recognize Sholto Douglas as well. Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Monfwi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery.
Welcome, Mr. Powder. It's great to see you here again.
If we've missed anyone in the gallery here today, welcome to your chambers. I hope you are enjoying the proceedings. It is always nice to see people in the gallery. And thank you very much for allowing us to represent you here today and for the residents of the Northwest Territories.
All right, thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm excited to ask questions to the Premier regarding his upcoming wonderful trip to Saskatoon, and I'd like to know little details and hopefully, we can share this within the House. Specifically, Mr. Speaker, what is the plan or what will the Premier be proposing at this First Minister's conference with the Prime Minister of Canada that suits -- that lines up with the mandate of the NWT but also some of our major significant infrastructure projects; and, lastly, especially noting the tone of the Prime Minister to build and be bold. Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. Mr. Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We've had a pretty consistent approach to dealing with the Prime Minister's office. We are advancing our federal priorities. When I meet with the Prime Minister, I speak about the need to settle land claims. That was actually what we talked about the last time that I spoke with him and then the next thing I know we have the Minister of Crown Indigenous Relations is from the Northwest Territories. So I don't know if that is a coincidence or if they're listening, but I think that's very promising.
I speak about things that the Prime Minister is interested in, things like nation building projects, Slave Geological Province Corridor, Taltson Hydro Electric Expansion, the Mackenzie Valley Highway. I talk about how we work with Indigenous governments in the Northwest Territories, how we have a co-management system that the federal government is actually part of, and they need to be more involved if we want to get things moving forward. So I do my best to put things out there that the Prime Minister can say yes to and that will stick with him so that when they go back and they make their decisions, the Northwest Territories is at the front of their mind. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier in the return to oral questions, the Premier had answered some of my questions with respect to the -- our Ottawa czar. So what advice is he giving us on a political tactic to approach the Prime Minister to find some yeses on our wish list at this particular meeting he's having in Saskatoon? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And it is political advice that is being given by the senior envoy to the Government of Canada. We don't have any czars in the government that I'm aware of, no positions at least named "czar." So I work with the senior envoy to, you know, pick his brain on, you know, what he's seen in the past, get information about past decisions made in Ottawa, some of that insight that you might not get, you know, through the media or through a briefing note. And so the type of advice that he gives is quality. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Premier. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there was, I think earlier in the return to oral questions, the Premier did cite that he's paid at a deputy minister III up to 300 and I think $26,000. It was actually more than the Prime Minister gets paid, oddly enough. But out of -- I would hope that, Mr. Speaker, that the Premier could be very specific as to what advice he's getting so he can approach the Prime Minister on these initiatives -- he's already lists them, I don't need to go through them -- and what type of political advice he's giving the Premier to help work in collaboration to get the national support on our national infrastructure projects. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe I've already answered the Member's question. Thanks.
Thank you, Mr. Premier. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have questions for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.
So as part of the public briefing this morning, the government's presentation stated that in return for accepting this relief, the diamond mines agreed to several commitments including to use commercially reasonable efforts to maintain operations until their planned closure dates. So can the Minister explain whether the commitment to use commercially reasonable efforts to maintain operations represents any change whatsoever from the status quo or, rather, would we always expect businesses to use commercially reasonable efforts in everything that they do? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife North. Minister of ITI.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, certainly in the Northwest Territories, we do always expect businesses to use reasonable efforts, to use local employment, local labour, and to really ensure that collectively and as a community we're really focused on benefit retention for Northerners. That said, I can't predict what would have happened but we were in the face of a very difficult decision that some of the diamond mines were facing. We know that globally it is a very difficult market for diamonds right now, and we also know that in the NWT that diamond mines provide a lot of our GDP. They provide upwards of 21 percent. They provide a lot of funding to businesses. They provide a lot of jobs to Northerners that Northerners rely on, and so what we were investing in were those jobs. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So the department explained in a briefing that the property tax relief is a, quote, "temporary measure." So does this mean that if profits rebound, we should expect the mines to repay the subsidies? So by "temporary", is this meant to be kind of a temporary loan? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, the relief in the form of property taxes and foregoing the property taxes was a one-time, one-year-for-this-year relief measure that the Government of the Northwest Territories, under direction of Cabinet, took. It is not a long-term solution. It is a right now -- an acknowledgement of the global diamond market and cost of doing business in the Northwest Territories and also the significance to northern employers, to northern workers, that the diamond mines play. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of ITI. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So the Minister also said in her statement that these subsidies are not about supporting mines; they're about supporting people. So if that's the case, did the Minister consider investing the $15 million directly into retraining and supporting the workers or the Indigenous development corporations so they can be better prepared to transition once the mines do close, whether that's a year or a few years from now? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, I'm all about return on investment. I think that we should be putting our dollars into places where we have a significant amount of investments.
In regards to the dollars that we did invest in the diamond mine relief, we end up with over $2 billion in annual exports, a thousand jobs for Northerners, joint northern spend of almost $900 million and $69 million in tax revenues annually to the GNWT. So I feel like that's a pretty darn good investment. That being said, I do agree that we do need to have education because education does last forever, unlike our diamond mines, which we do know.
In regards to the diamond mines, they all employ apprentices, and all of the companies that contract with them, a significant number of them, employ apprentices. They're doing workforce development. The Indigenous development corporations also have workforce development plans and are working on exactly what the Member is talking about. And without the dollars from the diamond mines, they can't sustain that. They're also working on social programming, they're working on housing developments. And so, really, this is more than just supporting diamond mines. This is supporting Northerners. This is supporting Indigenous businesses, and this is in support of our future economic development as well. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of ITI. Oral questions. Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as the Premier welcomes the western Canada Premiers to Yellowknife, there's a lot of attention on us today around some recent decisions that Premier Smith in Alberta has made, most notably, I think, my colleague spoke to some of the issues related to trans and nonbinary folks. And let's also talk about the constitutional crisis that the Premier's walking into for some reason. She's cut the threshold for constitutional initiatives in half in her province and is gunning towards a referendum on separation for whatever reason.
If this -- does the -- has the Premier discussed this with Premier Smith and what the result would be for the Northwest Territories if we lose a vital connection to Alberta? Because of course that's our logistic hub. It's a huge economic link. We really can't do without it. So has the Premier had those discussions, and can we have a position on this as a government? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Range Lake. Mr. Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Our position hasn't changed on the issues the Member is speaking about. If there are medical services that are no longer available in one jurisdiction, we will work with another jurisdiction to ensure that residents receive those medical services. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, Mr. Speaker, it's more than medical services. It will be all services. But that's good to know that we'd find someone else.
Mr. Speaker, this was -- this is a controversial decision. First Nations and Indigenous leaders have risen up to say that it's not okay, it's not something they'll allow on their watch. Will the Premier support those voices if there is a court challenge at some point, the GNWT can be in a position to intervene. Even if he can't make that commitment today, will he at least support those voices that are calling for Indigenous rights to be respected in the province of Alberta? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That's a hypothetical question, and it should be directed to the Attorney General. So I won't be answering it on both those fronts. But I'll say that our track record here in the Northwest Territories on Indigenous rights speaks for itself. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Premier. Final supplementary. Member from Range Lake.
Well, Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I caught myself there. So I'm looking more for a political commitment from the leader of our government to support the voices of First Nations in Alberta in their struggle to keep this country together and oppose a very dangerous precedent that is being floated by the Government of Alberta. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm not sure exactly what the Member is speaking of in technical terms. He's looking for my support for events in another jurisdiction. So I'm quite -- I'm unclear on the parameters that he's talking about, what would I be committing to support. I'm focus on the Northwest Territories. I'm the Premier of the Northwest Territories. We have strong relationships with Indigenous governments. We are moving to a future where the territory will be covered by settled land claims and self-governing Indigenous nations, and we are continuously working towards that end. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Premier. Oral questions. Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, prior to 1993, the Government of Canada provided funding to CMHC on an annual basis so that they could provide funding to the GNWT through the NWT Housing Corporation where they built at least 600 homes per year up to 1993 from approximately 1988 or so.
Anyway, Mr. Speaker, with Prime Minister Carney coming into power now, he's asking to build 5 -- sorry, he made a commitment to build 500,000 homes per year. My question will be to the Premier.
Will the Premier seek a commitment from the Prime Minister to ensure federal housing funds flow directly to regional Indigenous governments here in the Northwest Territories, and will he ensure that Indigenous leadership and is meaningful included in the federal/territorial housing discussions so that decisions impacting housing in Indigenous communities are reflected in their priorities? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
