ANALYSIS: 18 headaches awaiting the 18th N.W.T. government

On Thursday night, regular MLAs and ministers in the Northwest Territories convened at Yellowknife's Explorer Hotel for a "dissolution dinner" marking the final sitting of the 17th legislative assembly.

Stuffy title aside, the party offered attendees a chance to put down their hatchets, loosen their collars and trade light-hearted barbs over which member had racked up the most points of order. Someone even unveiled a portrait of the assembly as an all-star hockey team:

But no good vibes and no hangover remedy can rid the assembly of a seemingly endless list of unresolved, not to mention costly, issues.

Here, in no particular order, are just some of the unfinished pieces of business that will (or probably will) plague the next batch of MLAs elected on Nov. 23.

1. The cons of consensus government

It's official, say current MLAs: the much-ballyhooed system is broken. Exhibit A: the fact that regular MLAs didn't even know, until they read about it in the media, that the government had switched from (a) renovating and adding to the existing Stanton Territorial Hospital in Yellowknife to (b) building a completely new, $350 million facility.

Then there was the perceived slight by cabinet when it announced — with what was said to be little consultation with regular MLAs — that the government would be giving the Northwest Territories Power Corporation up to $29.7 million to help cover unexpected power costs. Speaker Jackie Jacobson ultimately ruled the move did not constitute a breach of consensus government etiquette.

But even Hay River North MLA Robert Bouchard — who stood up in the assembly last week to defend the consensus system — says the government needs to keep regular members in the loop about "how things are being done and when things are being done."

Maybe they're not doing that because they're convinced regular MLAs will tattle to the press about sensitive information, Bouchard suggests. 

"When I first got here, people talked about how the hallways had mics in them," he said. "Because as soon as we had a conversation, everybody seemed to know about it."

2. "Deh Cho Bridge déjà vu"

The territorial government is poring over two claims from the companies building the $299 million Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway: one for $12 million in existing cost overruns, and another for $20 million for future anticipated overruns (based on bad weather having previously frustrated construction efforts).  

Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins, who termed the highway "a Deh Cho Bridge déjà vu all over again," wants to know cabinet isn't going to make a call on either claim after regular MLAs are essentially stripped of their ability to weigh in on the topic come Oct. 26, when the writ is dropped and the territorial election season begins.

Transportation Minister Tom Beaulieu says he'll keep regular MLAs advised up to that date, but if a decision needs to be made between the writ dropping and Nov. 23 (N.W.T. election day), "we would govern according to the contract we have with the company. The last thing we want to do is stop or delay the project."

3. A shaky financial outlook

Most days in the Legislative Assembly follow the same dispiriting pattern:

Regular MLAs continually point out the need for social investments in everything from schools, health centres and addictions and mental health treatment. Ministers, meanwhile, trumpet the need for infrastructure investments (like all-weather roads to the Sahtu region and the diamond mines). Ministers say these investments should take top priority because they will grow the economy, increase the population and, by extension, add to the government coffers that will make possible the very social investments wanted by regular MLAs. It's a snake eating its own tail.

And unless the resource economy takes a turn for the better, or the N.W.T. economy becomes a lot more diversified, the bickering over priorities is destined to remain at a stalemate.

Finance Minister Michael Miltenberger, in his most recent fiscal update, predicted the government's operating surplus — only half of which is available for capital investments — will shrink to a mere $10 million by 2019-2020.

To put that in perspective: just one health centre — opened in Fort Providence this past summer — cost $11 million.

4. Government staff layoffs?

Hawkins says he's been told by staff in several departments that the current government is drafting layoff plans for the next one. It's a scenario Hawkins says runs counter to recent trends (devolution had the government hiring more than 200 new people) as well as the government's goal of boosting the territory's population by another 2,000 people by 2019.

"Why would anyone take a job with the GNWT and move their families here if they risk losing their job in the next assembly?" he asked.

When grilled by Hawkins, Human Resources Minister Tom Beaulieu chose his words carefully.

"This government will not be laying any of the public service off, but we do provide the best information possible for the next government to look at," he said.

Miltenberger offered this ominous final thought: "We have over 5,000 employees. Our human resources costs are the single biggest costs in the government."

5. The fate of junior kindergarten

Last October, the government said a review of the territory's plan to expand the junior kindergarten program to regional centres like Yellowknife and Inuvik would take place over eight months. Any chance for regular MLAs to chime in on that review, however, got lost in the black hole that is summer, when no sittings of the legislature took place.  

Last week, Education Minister Jackson Lafferty confirmed the findings of that review will be passed on to the next government. Asked by Yellowknife Frame Lake MLA Wendy Bisaro if the review will be made public, Lafferty replied, "I can't speak for the 18th assembly."

6. Fracking

It's the issue that won't die.

Industry Minister Dave Ramsay has committed the next government to consulting the public some more about his department's proposed (and some say soft) rules about hydraulic fracturing. But what form that additional consultation takes will be up to the next government, and whether MLAs will try again to temporarily or permanently ban the practice remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, no one is proposing to frack in the N.W.T. anytime soon.

7. Universal child daycare

A recently tabled report found it would cost the government $20 million a year to offer universal, affordable childcare throughout the territory. Between 718 and 1,415 spaces would need to be created.

It's a formidable task, one made more so by the fact that one downtown Yellowknife daycare with space for a dozen kids aged 1 to 2 will have to vacate its premises by next July.

Asked what will happen with the universal childcare file, Lafferty said, "If it is seen as a priority for the 18th assembly, then the groundwork has already been done."

8. 'Paving a road to hell': the conservation plan

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources hit a nerve among industry types with its draft conservation plan for the territory, which left the door open to barring mineral (and other) development in 40 per cent of the territory. One recent newsletter from the N.W.T. and Nunavut Chamber of Mines accused Environment Minister Miltenberger of "paving a road to hell."

Overkill? Yes. But the chamber's anger is rooted in some very real concerns, some of which are even shared by the government: our diamond mines are past their prime, investment in exploration to replace those mines remains tepid, and the N.W.T. is developing a reputation for being a bad place to do business (see item no. 6: Fracking).     

As with the fracking file, Miltenberger says the conservation plan will go under the microscope of the 18th assembly.

9. Caribou

The latest surveys of the Bathurst and Bluenose East caribou herds indicate both herds continue to die off. Miltenberger says the government expects to finalize fall 2015 harvest restrictions by the end of this month.

But with a longer-term management plan for the Bluenose East herd close to finished, Miltenberger says the government's next big task is to work on "an ongoing, longer-term plan on the Bathurst herd, which is in the most dire straits."

10. Disabilities issues  

Last week MLAs successfully pushed through a motion calling on the government to review why it hasn't taken more action on a 2008 plan to improve services for people with disabilities.

MLAs pointed to everything from a lack of elevators to taxis incapable of accommodating people in wheelchairs. In Tsiitgehtchic, "some families use their own money that they save up to buy a vehicle that's needed," says Mackenzie Delta MLA Frederick Blake Jr.

Health and Social Services Minister Glen Abernethy disagreed with the motion, pointing to hundreds of thousands of dollars in investments.

Cabinet has until next June to respond to the motion.

11. Rescue 911?

The Department of Municipal and Community Affairs has recommended the government move forward with the long-discussed service. A bare-bones version would cost the government $24,000 a year, while cell phone and land line users would pay 87 cents and $1.07 on their monthly phone bills, respectively. But the initiative barely got any lip service in the final days of the assembly.  

12. A mental health strategy for youth

The last major bill to be passed by the 17th assembly was the modernized, long-overdue Mental Health Act. But before the bill's passing on Thursday, several MLAs had pointed out that the act lacks strategies specifically aimed at youth. They said the health department told them such a targeted strategy wasn't necessary.

Cut to Health Minister Glen Abernethy on the floor of the house last week: "I have already directed the department to begin the preliminary work on the development of a comprehensive mental health or youth mental health strategy."

13. An ombudsman office

MLAs called on the government to create an ombudsman office. Cabinet responded by saying there wasn't enough time in the 17th assembly to do that, and chafed at the cost — between $400,000 and $600,000 annually. We'll let the 18th assembly consider it, cabinet said.

Unfazed, Bisaro submitted a draft Ombudsman Act for the Department of Justice's consideration last week. "My expectation is the 18th would think it's a good idea. In reality, it depends totally on the legislative priorities of the assembly," she said. 

14. More calls for greater transparency — from both sides of the assembly

Transparency and accountability loomed large this assembly. MLAs called for a lobbyist registry; cabinet responded by posting its first list of meetings between ministers and outside parties, which only prompted more criticism (specifically, about how little information that list contained).

Last week, cabinet fired back — sort of. In the assembly, Miltenberger said there's no policy requiring regular MLAs to report back on what they did during publicly-funded fact-finding trips, such as committee trips or trips taken alongside a minister. Pressed by CBC to clarify what he was getting at, Miltenberger replied, "I would suggest that there is going to be pressure for MLAs who travel to have the same kind of rigorous accountability [as cabinet.]"

15. Superboard no. 1

Six of the territory's eight health and social services authorities will be combined into one entity next April. The idea is to help trim the authorities' collective $35 million deficit and bring consistency to a patchwork of conflicting policies.

But the independently-run Hay River Health and Social Services Authority remains a holdout, its employees concerned about job losses and the implications of joining the union representing government-employed authority workers.

Abernethy says talks to bring Hay River into the fold remain ongoing.    

16. Superboard no. 2

The federal government's plan to create one land and water superboard in the N.W.T. continues to be challenged in court by the Tlicho Government and the Sahtu Secretariat. Some say the territorial government made a pact with the feds: if they stayed silent on the superboard issue, devolution would happen.

As the case unfolds, it will be interesting to see if the territorial government keeps its mouth shut or if it offers even the slightest hint of where its heart lies on this matter. If the feds win the case and the superboard does take shape, you can bet there will be pressure on the territorial government from aboriginal groups to do what it can to abolish the superboard.  

17. Another look at electoral boundaries?

It won't have any effect on next month's territorial election, but the City of Yellowknife has filed an N.W.T. Supreme Court case asking for the territory's electoral boundaries to be studied again, even after a review conducted in 2012 and 2013. Who knows when a judge will make a decision on that — and what form it will take — but if the court orders the government to do another review, expect the fur to fly again come debate time.

18. The MIA Energy Efficiency Act

Miltenberger took to the floor last week to tout what the government is doing to wean itself and some communities off diesel. Among the latest efforts: doing a two-year study to suss out the potential of adding wind or solar generation to the North Slave region's power grid.

But MLAs like Bob Bromley, who represents Yellowknife's Weledeh riding, say the government is still dragging its feet when it comes to a comprehensive energy efficiency act.

Public Works Minister Beaulieu says a discussion paper on creating such an act will be — you guessed it — passed on to the next government.

What other issues do you think will plague the next assembly? Tweet your thoughts to @gq_in_yk.