Transcript of meeting #1 for Midterm Review Committee in the 18th Assembly. (The original version is on the Legislative Assembly's site.)

The winning word was work.

Mr. Beaulieu's Question
Members' Questions for Ministers

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just to clarify, we did put a hold on those two programs until the foundational review was completed. The students in those two programs will continue to get support to complete the programs in Fort Smith, as well as the social work program. They are getting work from our department. They are getting support from staff at Aurora College. Plus we continue to support students that are taking a degree, granting programs for education, as well as social work, outside the territory.

These discussions were brought forth in the May-June sitting. I listened. We worked with Aurora College, and we decided to put those two programs on hold until the foundational review was completed. We did not shut them down. We stopped. What we did shut down was enrolments into the access program, and we will wait for that foundational review to come out. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Beaulieu's Question
Members' Questions for Ministers

The Chair

The Chair Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Questions to Ministers. Next on my list: Member Vanthuyne.

Mr. Vanthuyne's Question
Members' Questions for Ministers

Cory Vanthuyne

Cory Vanthuyne Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chairman, we all know that in the early days of this Assembly that there was a kind of a contention and some tension between Regular Members and Cabinet relating to the fiscal strategy and the budget process at the time. One of the things that we have as an opportunity through that process is the opportunity to stand up and provide a reply to the Budget Address. My question is for the Minister for Health and Social Services, Minister Abernethy.

While all of us Regular Members took advantage of that opportunity to stand up and give our thoughts, positive or negative, it was our opinions and our views that we were sharing on the budget at the time. Minister Abernethy had his right to do that, and he stood up in this House and gave his reply to the budget address. However, as most know, it did not seem to be a reply to the budget address. It was more a criticism of Members and their replies to the budget address. I would like to ask the Minister: if he had the opportunity to do it again, what would he do to change, if anything? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Vanthuyne's Question
Members' Questions for Ministers

The Chair

The Chair Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister Abernethy.

Mr. Vanthuyne's Question
Members' Questions for Ministers

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm an MLA as well as a Member of the Executive Council and I've been around for a few years in this Assembly, and I do have to say that that budget process was one of the more frustrating budget experiences that I have been around for. This is a consensus government. This is supposed to be about working together. If you go back and read that statement, I made some criticisms and maybe I was a little harsh and I apologize that, but I was also hard on Cabinet as well.

I did indicate that we have an obligation as Cabinet to work with the Members of this Assembly, to work together to find compromise and it seemed like we were both having difficulty in that process at that time. I was frustrated. I might tailor my words slightly differently and be a little bit more soft in some of my approach, but I do acknowledge that I did criticize both sides of this House. We're supposed to work together in the best interests of the people of the Northwest Territories. That takes compromise. That takes work. Some of the statements that were being made, in my mind, some of them were not exactly accurate. It was frustrating, so I made a statement. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Vanthuyne's Question
Members' Questions for Ministers

The Chair

The Chair Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Questions to Ministers. Next on my list: Member McNeely.

Mr. McNeely's Question
Members' Questions for Ministers

Daniel McNeely

Daniel McNeely Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Chair. My question is to the whole Cabinet. We heard earlier on the accomplishments and the targets achieved from the Members across the floor, and now we know what is there. Now I'd like to discuss what is not there. My question: which department or departments within your portfolios can you explain that needs the attention of what is not achieved, aside from the presentation we heard earlier? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. McNeely's Question
Members' Questions for Ministers

The Chair

The Chair Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister Schumann.

Mr. McNeely's Question
Members' Questions for Ministers

Wally Schumann

Wally Schumann Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think that is a hard question to answer, what we have not achieved, because a lot of the stuff that's within my portfolios is well under progress. We are working to achieve them. We have a number of initiatives. Like I said in my statement earlier today, I had 30-some commitments of the mandate, and we are working to achieve those. If I wanted to speak about specifically one particular commitment that has been left behind a little bit, I guess, would be the Petroleum Resources and Oil and Gas Act, and there is a reason for that. It has to be dovetailed in with the energy strategy that we are working on. It has to fit in with the climate change framework that's being proposed with this government. With the downturn of the economy in the oil and gas sector, it was one I think that was not quite brought forward in a timely manner that maybe in different Assemblies possibly could have been, but with the sector down right now… We are trying to figure out how we can capitalize on this energy sector to help facilitate bringing the cost of living down for residents of the Northwest Territories. I think out of all the general ones that I have that are in progress, that's the one that sticks in my mind that we need to be working on, but there is a reason for it, which was my explanation of what I've just said. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. McNeely's Question
Members' Questions for Ministers

The Chair

The Chair Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister Sebert.

Mr. McNeely's Question
Members' Questions for Ministers

Louis Sebert

Louis Sebert Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think one of the greatest challenges that I have faced in my time as Minister is dealing with the issue of equity leases. I was aware of this issue in private practice before I became a Minister and certainly was made further aware of it by members of my profession who contacted me soon after I became a Minister, seeking a resolution of this serious issue. I had thought that it might be simpler than it has turned out to be. I didn't realize when I first looked at the issue that there were literally hundreds of equity leases; I think around 250 in the Northwest Territories. Certainly, when I did my travels to the communities, concerns about equity leases and the need for people receiving certainty in their land tenure were brought to me. We are working on this matter. I will be working with the department to bring options to Cabinet, and hopefully we can come to a satisfactory resolution of this matter before the end of this term. It's a very important issue, particularly in the smaller and more remote communities. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. McNeely's Question
Members' Questions for Ministers

The Chair

The Chair Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister Moses.

Mr. McNeely's Question
Members' Questions for Ministers

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We do have a four-year mandate in front of us here. We are halfway through. There are a lot of good things that the Department of Education has done to meet their mandate commitments. Obviously, two years in, you're not going to meet all of them. I am looking forward to addressing some of the other ones, especially around post-secondary education. There's work that we can do, we've had questions in the House about it, working with our post-secondary institutions and our partners to address other learning opportunities for our northern residents, obviously creating jobs in small communities, developing skills and training for our Northerners so that they can enter the workforce. We've got a lot of things under education renewal that when we get them implemented and running, we are going to see a lot of really good impacts there moving forward as well. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. McNeely's Question
Members' Questions for Ministers

The Chair

The Chair Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister Robert C. McLeod.

Mr. McNeely's Question
Members' Questions for Ministers

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, one of the biggest challenges that we faced when we all got elected, I think even before we sat down in this Chamber, was the fact that the federal government made an announcement of a $34 million decrease to our Territorial Formula Financing. I would have to say that we are fortunate that they gave us $24 million back, but we are still short $10 million. I think that has been our biggest challenge, and that's one that we will continue to work on. With regards to the other portfolios I have, there are some challenges in there. There's some things we want to see going forward, but we still have two years left in the mandate. We have a couple more business planning cycles left and a couple more budgets. I think you will see some of the initiatives come forward then. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. McNeely's Question
Members' Questions for Ministers

The Chair

The Chair Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister Cochrane.

Mr. McNeely's Question
Members' Questions for Ministers

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As I had stated in my Minister's statement at the beginning of today, I hold high expectations for all of my team. I know that they are out there watching, so just letting you all know that no one is getting off easy. We still have a lot of work to do. I will be putting a greater focus on every department. The Department of Municipal and Community Affairs has important legislation around public safety that we need to get addressed. Women in Leadership, we are still only two out of 19, so we have huge work to do with that to get women involved in politics. Of course, like I had said earlier, the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation, I'm really excited, actually. We have a lot of work to do in policy renewal and we also are looking at an educational component. Every team member out there, it's been great to work with you, but we have a lot more to do. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. McNeely's Question
Members' Questions for Ministers

The Chair

The Chair Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister Abernethy.

Mr. McNeely's Question
Members' Questions for Ministers

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the Department of Health and Social Services had 84 different milestones within the mandate that we're following here in the Government of the Northwest Territories: 43 of them have been completed; 26 are on schedule; but yes, some of them are clearly behind. Outside of the ones that have been behind, there are some things that obviously I think are frustrating for myself and for Members. For the Members in Yellowknife, I think one of the things that has been frustrating is the fact that it has taken us so long to get a sobering centre up in place. This is an area that I am keenly interested in and pushing the department very hard, but I am frustrated, as I think everybody in this territory is, with finding the location and getting that location up and running. We're still committed to getting it done, but it is clearly something that has been frustrating. Another area that has been frustrating for me is an area that I am passionate about, and I think Members who have been around for a while know, is moving forward with Building Stronger Families. We are on the fourth year of a five-year rollout of Building Stronger Families. We have to fundamentally change how we provide child and family services here in the Northwest Territories, and in my opinion we're on the right track, but it feels painfully slow. I've accepted that we have to take time in order to get this right, that we have to test the different tools that we've put in place and make sure that they work, rather than rushing the implementation and ending up with tools that are really no better for families here in the Northwest Territories. I'd love to see this go faster, but I'm committed to getting it right. I am frustrated, as I think everybody in the Northwest Territories is, about how long it has taken us to get to the point where real change is evident, but it's coming. We're rolling into our fifth year, and we'll see some real change shortly. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. McNeely's Question
Members' Questions for Ministers

The Chair

The Chair Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Questions to Ministers. Next on my list: Member Nadli.

Mr. Nadli's Question
Members' Questions for Ministers

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good morning. One of the priorities of the 18th Assembly was to settle outstanding land claim agreements here in the NWT. We all understand: if we conclude the land claim agreements throughout the NWT, it will create of course a level of certainty and bolstering of course the economic climate in the NWT, but we also have to be aware that in some respects we're led by the federal policies. One of the significant, more likely principles, that guides this whole process is section 35 of the Constitution Act. My question is to all of the Members of Cabinet. In your view, what are the GNWT impediments to negotiating outstanding land claim and self-government agreements? Mahsi.

Mr. Nadli's Question
Members' Questions for Ministers

The Chair

The Chair Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister Robert C. McLeod.

Mr. Nadli's Question
Members' Questions for Ministers

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

I believe the Member said "impediments." I would like to see them all come to the table. I would like to see them get land claims settled. I don't know what the impediments might be. Maybe they're reluctant to settle. I know there's been offers out there. I recognize the importance, in this day and age, of getting the land claims settled, because I don't want to see the people across the NWT lose opportunities because the land claims have not been settled yet. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Nadli's Question
Members' Questions for Ministers

The Chair

The Chair Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister Moses.

Mr. Nadli's Question
Members' Questions for Ministers

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chair. To the question on the land claims and impediments and work that's being done. I think we really need to build a strong working relationship with the Indigenous governments throughout the Northwest Territories. I believe this government, under our leadership, has progressed us in that area, with all the bilateral meetings that we're having with all the governments across the Northwest Territories and continuing to work with the federal government to address these issues. Thank you, Mr. Chair.