Mahsi, Mr. Chair. [Translation] We have to work on all the things that they have asked us to when we were elected. We also met with a lot of other leaders in the last little while. We’ve had many discussions about different issues that we were concerned about, but we have gone to all the communities and talked to the people. We know exactly what their concerns are and we have to look at those issues. I have been here now for how many terms? We have to look at what our priorities are. We have to look at them, and a lot of people here have expressed their concerns too. Also with the RCMP, some communities don’t have any RCMP in their communities. Also, the housing shortages in the community, I would like to talk about that, and then language and culture. When you look at our languages in the Northwest Territories, we are losing a lot of our languages right now and I would like to speak on that too. But now that we’re all here in the Chamber, I would like to say thank you very much, and I hope that in the future we will have a good working relationship and I know that we can make a lot of changes. [Translation ends]
…each and every one of you here today on being elected; and to newcomers, 11 of the new Members, welcome. I’d like to say a huge mahsi cho to the Tlicho constituents for having confidence in me and allowing me to serve for another four years.
We saw changes at the federal level during the election process and it had a ripple effect here in the NWT elections. The North called for a change and we have 11 new Members. This is unprecedented and it’s very exciting.
We have to start doing things differently in the 18th Assembly government. We need to be innovative, very strategic when it comes to decision-making, policy changes and program delivery. One of the areas that needs focus in the 18th Assembly government is the infrastructure in the communities and, in particular, all-weather roads to the communities. A lot of our communities do not have road access to the outside world. The only way to travel is by air, winter road, or boat. There are safety hazards and issues when travelling the winter roads. Climate change is affecting us each year and it’s becoming more challenging to building winter roads due to a warmer climate and ice that is not thick enough to travel on. When the roads do open up, there is only a limited time to travel or have community supplies delivered. At times not all supplies are delivered on time due to short winter road operations, thus creating high costs of fuel, groceries and household goods in the communities. A Whati all-weather road has been in the works for the last 20 to 30 years, and finally the GNWT has a proposal into the federal government as part of the community infrastructure projects. This was part of the GNWT infrastructure priorities in the 17
th
Legislative Assembly, along with the Mackenzie Valley road, which is also before the federal government for consideration. We need to expedite these two major files at the federal level and move forward for the construction phase in the 18th Assembly government.
The safety of our communities is another priority. Preventing crimes should be another priority of this government. We currently have 12 out of 33 communities that do not have RCMP detachments. The partnership between GNWT and the federal government states that we pay 70 percent and they pay 30 percent of the costs of RCMP and the detachment in the community. An RCMP presence in the community is a preventative measure which will reduce the crime rates in the community. It will be a challenge to have RCMP detachments in all communities; we’re fully aware of that. At the same time, we have to look for solutions. One of the solutions the federal government has been very receptive to is adding our RCMP manpower to an existing regional RCMP detachment to allow them to serve a community that does not have officers. Arrangements have been made between a community and RCMP to have an officer, at least on a part-time basis. Mr. Chair, using this model, Fort Simpson has added an officer to serve the community of Wrigley. Fort McPherson serves Tsiigehtchic, and the community of Behchoko serves the community of Gameti as well. It has worked for these communities. We need to scale up this model to reach out to those communities that badly need these services.
Another priority that I feel needs to be addressed is the caribou management in the NWT. We need a plan comparable to the Yukon Porcupine Caribou Management Plan, which has been very successful to date. The caribou population in the Yukon is ever increasing. We need to establish a similar plan in the NWT using the best practices already in existence in our neighbouring territory. Our caribou population in the NWT is declining rapidly. The Bathurst herd, Bluenose-East, Bluenose-West, the Ahiak herd is stable at present in Nunavut, but we have to work with the new government and Inuit government to establish and also devolve a similar co-management plan in place for future generations. The caribou has been integral to our culture and way of life in the NWT and has a huge impact on each and every one of us.
One of the concerns we hear over and over in our communities as well as at our community meetings is the housing issue. There is an outcry to overhaul the NWT Housing policies and programming so they better meet the needs of our communities. We need to re-examine our way of delivering the housing programs at the community level. There isn’t enough housing in some of the communities. Where there is housing, these houses are not always accessible to those most in need. The current policies and procedures of the NWT Housing Corporation appear to be either directly or indirectly creating barriers for community members to qualify for these vacant units. They either make too much money or they simply do not make enough money. They all tend to fall through the cracks. Too many of them, in my view, Mr. Chair.
Furthermore, in some communities we have some professionals such as nurses, social workers, teachers, and others that are also on the search for new units to live in, to be part of the community. In Behchoko there are over 30 professionals who work in the community but cannot live in the community. They are commuting from Yellowknife to Behchoko every day. Aside from the obvious safety concerns that arise from that hour’s travel, lack of housing prevents these professionals from becoming true members of our community. We all know how important it is to have these service providers connected to our communities. I understand these policies were in place to regulate housing; however, the fact remains that these policies are preventing people from accessing life’s necessities and preventing necessary services and resources to our communities. It is time we review and change these policies.
Another issue, the one that is dear to my heart, is the state of our Aboriginal languages in the NWT. I was listening intently to our two Premier candidates’ speeches. Language and culture were not part of their platforms or given a priority. We would be remiss if we do not include Aboriginal language and culture in the 18th Assembly government. Our language is our identity. Aboriginal languages not only define those of us who are of Aboriginal decent, they define all Northerners. It is through our language that we express our culture, our history, our traditional ways of knowing. It is this traditional way of knowing and being at the core of what we are in the North. Traditional ways and language are consensus government. Traditional ways and language will guide us in economic and environmental sustainability. Traditional ways and language will guide us on how we deal with our children, how we deal with caribou populations and how we deal with all NWT priorities. Traditional ways and language is what will keep our North strong. We are on the verge of losing some of the languages such as Gwich’in, Inuinnaqtun and Cree, just to name a few. If we do not do anything to preserve these languages in the 18th Assembly government, they will be lost and forgotten along with the knowledge that has kept our culture strong since the beginning of time.
If we are serious about saving and preserving our language and culture, I would like to propose creating a portfolio, a department of language and culture. It should have the same attention and focus as any other department such as the Department of Transportation, Department of Education, Department of Health, Municipal and Community Affairs, et cetera. I would like to see a newly created portfolio on language and culture with operating funds. This, in my view, is the only way to save in the Northwest Territories.
[Translation] Today when you look at it, when you look at your language and culture, we identify our language by our culture and language. My grandparents, my great forefathers’ language, it’s their language and it’s their culture and my culture. That is what I think we identify with. We have to take our language and our culture in the front and we can support one another. We can be strong in the North with our language and culture. I am very happy to have spoken my language and in the next four years I want to speak in my language more. [Translation ends]
GNWT needs a government that thinks outside the box. It needs to be a government that looks at all the needs and priorities mentioned by my colleagues around the table here who spoke previously, including infrastructure, housing, policing, caribou and, at the heart of it all, our language and culture. Mahsi cho, Mr. Chair.