SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The territorial government plans to install a signalled crosswalk, sidewalk and temporary connection to the Niven Lake trail as part of safety improvements on Highway 4 near the newly opened Chateau Nova hotel.
Transportation Minister Wally Schumann last month said consultations with "all the user groups" and a traffic study was needed before taking on the project. Now, the minister says a plan for the work has been given to the city.
Schumann, speaking during a committee meeting Tuesday, said a request for proposals will be issued for the work.
The crosswalk would be near the entrance to the legislative assembly with a walkway on the north side of the highway leading away from downtown. It's proposed to cross private property to link with the Niven Lake trail.
The pathway along the highway would be ready within the coming months while the crosswalk is expected to be in place early next summer, according to Transportation department spokesperson Ioana Spiridonica.
How much it will cost the department isn't clear. The city, Schumann said, will pay maintenance costs.
The crosswalk plans come after Yellowknife North MLA Cory Vanthuyne sought to get the work done to ensure pedestrian safety, especially with the new hotel now open. Across the highway are tourist attractions like the assembly, Northern Frontier Visitors Centre and Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre.
On Tuesday, the minister said the department is waiting to hear back from the city and Nova Builders, the developer of the new hotel, about the plan. The trail may cross Nova's property.
Vanthuyne said he's pleased with the announcement and appreciates the work by the department and city after years of back-and-forth talks.
"It became very apparent that when development was going on in the Niven area that people were using that highway as a commute into town. It's not something we want to discourage," Vanthuyne, who last served as a city councillor, said in an interview Wednesday. "There just needed to be a safe way in which to do that."
911 on the table, maybe
In a series of exchanges in the assembly Wednesday, cabinet ministers gave conflicting responses to whether the government was planning to bring in legislation to implement 911 emergency phone service.
First up was Premier Bob McLeod, who said the government is working to implement the system while answering questions on an unrelated topic.
Kam Lake MLA Kieron Testart followed up with Municipal and Community Affairs Minister Caroline Cochrane, which is the lead department on the issue.
Cochrane said the government doesn't plan to spend money in 2017-18 for 911.
Establishing 911 service, which would require a dispatch centre, is estimated to cost around $600,000 in the first year and about $200,00 each following year.
Testart followed up, asking why the assembly was hearing conflicting information about 911.
"I appreciate the premier might not know as much as the minister so I'm hoping to get to the bottom of it," he said.
Cochrane reiterated the spending is not yet in department business plans, which precede introduction of the budget. She said cabinet is working with regular MLAs to change that - but only if the budget can be cut to make room for the new spending.
Testart asked whether the spending would be included if a committee of MLAs asks for it.
"We are hoping that they will be reasonable in recognizing that 911 is one of the initiatives that we are looking at if we can get the reductions we need to put money into new initiatives," Cochrane said.
In an interview, Testart said it's not the committee's job to make spending decisions.
"We can't. The only people who can are cabinet and cabinet ministers. So for the minister to say it's your responsibility - and again to put a price on public safety - is completely unacceptable," he said.
Proposed road to mines draws concern
A Yellowknife MLA has questioned why planning for an all-season road to the diamond mines doesn't appear to have considered environmental issues like the impact it could have on caribou.
An all-season highway would extend northeast from the Ingraham Trail and replace a winter road constructed each year to supply the mines.
Transportation Minister Wally Schumann said last week in the legislative assembly several routes have been examined by the GNWT using a mapping tool developed by Aurora Geosciences Ltd.
"As a result of this partnership, a route that will provide the greatest economic benefit has been chosen for the project," Schumann said.
Frame Lake MLA Kevin O'Reilly pointed to steep declines in the Bathurst caribou herd population as an issue that needs to be considered.
"I'm concerned about this road and its routing, whether it's going to disrupt the caribou herd," O'Reilly said Oct 27.
O'Reilly asked if environmental concerns had been factored into the routes. Schumann said no and that would be examined through a later environmental assessment.
"Well, it's interesting that we can locate a road based on economic benefits but we can't perhaps change the routing terms of environmental effects, but we have to wait for environmental assessment," O'Reilly said.
Schumann repeated the economic message the next day, adding the GNWT is assessing the public-private partnership potential of road along the routes through the Slave Geological Province.
A public-private partnership would involve finding a corporate partner to finance, construct and maintain the highway for a number of years before it becomes GNWT responsibility.
The route issue continued Monday, with O'Reilly asking about when a recovery strategy for caribou would be in place.
Environment and Natural Resources Minister Robert C. McLeod said that's expected to be done in 2018.
Meetings open to public
An MLA says the legislative assembly has taken a great step toward being more open in its decision-making as it now allows the public into many more standing committee meetings.
Previously, very few such meetings were open to the public and media. Now they will be open by default with some exceptions for topics such as personnel, confidential information, budget information not yet introduced in the assembly, or items requested to be held behind closed doors.
"We are fundamentally changing the way that we do our business as a legislative assembly," Frame Lake MLA Kevin O'Reilly said Tuesday in the assembly. "I don't think it's actually sunk in for us all, but now the default is that we will do our business in public rather than in private meetings."
Over the past week, there has been a notable increase in the number of meetings open to the public and media.
This week, committee meetings on the Mackenzie Valley Fibre Optic Line, the territory's energy strategy and a mental health and addictions plan have been public. However, some meetings have been announced with short notice, often only on social media and others have been as early as 7:30 a.m.
