Legislative Assembly Briefs
Cabin leases up for grabs off Ingraham
Northern News Services
Friday, March 13, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Residents looking to build cabins outside of the city will have 22 chances to acquire land along the Ingraham Trail, Lands Minister Robert C. McLeod announced on Wednesday.
"The lottery process for leasing these lots will be done in an open, fair and transparent manner in the early summer," said McLeod.
"Information on the lot locations and lottery process will be posted on the Department of Land's website on May 1 and will be advertised through the local media."
The announcement came as part of an update on the department's progress in building regulations around land management. While a moratorium on new land leases around the city is still in place, McLeod said these parcels are in previously surveyed blocks and have become vacant for various reasons.
The lots are spread among six existing subdivisions: two on Reid Lake, seven on Tibbitt Lake, five on Peninsula Lake, one on Pontoon Lake, six on Prelude Lake and
one on Madeleine Lake.
"This decision is only possible because already-surveyed lots have become available," said McLeod.
"There is still a moratorium on issuing new recreational leases within the focus area along highways 3 and 4 until the Recreational Land Management Framework is completed."
No tax break brewing
Warning that high taxes on microbreweries could dissuade future brewers from tapping into Northern business opportunities, Range Lake MLA Daryl Dolynny looked to Finance Minister Michael Miltenberger for answers.
"I'm not going to beat around the bush, I love beer and beer loves me," Dolynny told the legislative assembly on Wednesday, pointing with excitement to a microbrewery currently under construction in Old Town.
"I know in just a couple more months Yellowknifers will get the chance to enjoy the brewing sensation of Old Town startup Miranda and Fletcher Stevens' NWT Brewing Co."
Despite some easement to the microbrewery tax announced in December, Dolynny said the NWT still has the highest tax formula in the country.
"What is the competitive advantage of having the highest microbrewery tax rate in the country while trying to encourage business, manufacturing, jobs, tourism potential and what (Miltenberger) proposed as a 2,000-person population groawth?" Dolynny asked.
The taxation around alcohol, Miltenberger said, is seated in the high impact it's had on the territory.
"We need to look at this issue, I would suggest, from a broader perspective of why we have placed such a high cost on alcohol," Miltenberger said.
"Having spent a good number of years in social services and five and a half as health minister, I can tell you it's because abuse of alcohol costs this government over $100 million a year."
Miltenberger likened alcohol-related costs to a carbon tax; the higher the price, hopefully the lower consumption is.
Dolynny, however argued that a lower microbrewery tax likely wouldn't add to health risks.
"This government has an opportunity to do the right thing, to evaluate the tax regime on microbreweries manufacturing in the Northwest Territories," said Dolynny.
"Will the minister commit to re-examining the tax regime and bring our tax system with what is thought as standard best practice for this type of small-scale brewing?"
If the committee showed interest in a review of the tax formula, Miltenberger said it would require a more holistic review of alcohol policies than just the microbrewery tax.
This one's for the girls
The legislative assembly paid homage to women over the past week in honour of International Women's Day, marked across the world on Sunday.
"I thought every day was a day for women," Sahtu MLA Norman Yakeleya started off his statement on Friday. Though he declined to sing the well-known Shania Twain song "Man I Feel Like a Woman," he and numerous MLAs recognized women's progress both outside and within the territory and the tireless efforts of many to realize equality.
In response to questioning from Yakeleya, Human Resources Minister Tom Beaulieau said that, within the GNWT, indigenous women in particular make up approximately 12 per cent of management positions. In senior management, that number is approximately eight per cent.
Through affirmative action, in which both women and indigenous people are listed as priority hires, Beaulieau said the government is working toward increasing the representation of both.
Premier Bob McLeod said the Status of Women Council and Native Women's Association are working closely with the government on this.
Looking at women in general, 64 per cent of GNWT employees are female and 50 per cent of deputy ministers are female, McLeod said. He added that the government would still like to see more women advance to senior roles.
