Good afternoon. Orders of the day for Wednesday, March 4, 1992. Item 2, Ministers' statements. Mr. Kakfwi.

Thank you, Mr. Kakfwi. Ministers' statements. Ministers' statements. Mr. Whitford.

Hear, hear!

Ministers' statements. Ms. Cournoyea.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take the opportunity to congratulate Helen Maksagak of Cambridge Bay on her appointment as Deputy Commissioner of the Northwest Territories. Ms. Maksagak was sworn into office last night during a special ceremony in her home community. Over 200 attended the community-organized event.

Our new Deputy Commissioner is highly respected for her active participation on several boards and her service to the public. She has been a member of the social assistance appeals committee, the housing association, and the drug and alcohol board of directors, and numerous community support groups. Ms. Maksagak will be visiting Yellowknife within the next few days to familiarize herself with her duties, and we will get a chance to meet her then.

Mr. Speaker, I would also like to take the opportunity to express the appreciation of cabinet and the Legislative Assembly for the services provided by the former Deputy Commissioner, Ann Hanson of Iqaluit. Thank you.

---Applause

Ministers' statements. Ministers' statements.

Members will join me in welcoming to the Assembly today nine young men and women participating in the 1991 Ontario Legislature internship program. The interns are visiting our Legislature to broaden their understanding of parliamentary institutions. Accompanying the interns is Professor Graham White of the University of Toronto.

Sitting in the Speaker's gallery visiting us today are 15 first-year Canadian foreign service officers who work in the Department of External Affairs and International Trade and are visiting Yellowknife as part of a tour to familiarize themselves with the various regions of Canada.

And we also have today, in the gallery, a group from the management studies course from Arctic College in Iqaluit, with their course instructor, John Matthews.

Members will find interesting that a study of the Northwest Territories Legislature is included in the course curriculum, and this is the fourth successive year that we have welcomed representatives from this group to our House. We are exceedingly popular today.

--- Applause

Item 3, Members' statements. Mr. Lewis.

Mr. Speaker, we are very often given things to put on the fridge, and I have in front of me, like all other Members, a small decal of a green and white fish with a blue parka, a carrot in a green parka, and a bannock with a blue parka, and what looks like a garbage can with a toque on it. What I find oppressive, Mr. Speaker, is the phrase "Grab a bite that's right," because I have brought up four kids, I and my wife, over the last 30, years and if there is one thing we are fed up listening to, it is the phrase "Grab a bite."

I believe one of the greatest inventions we have is a table and a chair where you can sit down and have a good meal. I would like to tell Members of this government that they come up with all kinds of cute ideas in order to convince us that we should eat right, but the worst thing you can put on a fridge is the phrase "Grab a bite." I was sick for four months, Mr. Speaker, as the result of a long campaign where I never sat down to have a proper meal, where I was always grabbing a bite on the run, and I feel very strongly that if you want to keep your family together you do not let them sit in front of the TV with a bite. You do not give them a sandwich to eat in the car on the way to work. You tell them, "Sit down; eat your food, and let's do it as a family." And if you feel like it, even say a prayer before you eat it. But "Grab a bite that's right" is terrible. Do not grab a bite, sit down and have a proper meal. Thank you.

Members' statements. Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have a short statement to make on consensus government, and the events that transpired in the House yesterday. As all Members are aware, there were a number of controversial votes yesterday that saw the defeat of a government bill and the deletion of a portion of the Department of Education's capital budget. Mr. Speaker, I can tell you that I was surprised at the reaction of the honourable Members on the other side of the House. I was left with the impression that Members should not oppose the initiatives of government and that there was no room for disagreement once a matter reaches the floor of the House.

Mr. Speaker, I do not know what the practice was in previous Legislatures, but I feel confident that this will not be the practice in this Legislature.

---Applause

Times have changed. I sincerely believe that all Members of this House can work together...

It works both ways.

...to ensure this government meets the needs of all our citizens. But to make this happen, adequate consultation must take place between cabinet and ordinary Members. To me, the essence of consensus government is adequate consultation. I think the message is clear that Members on this side of the House will not rubber-stamp government initiatives.

---Applause

Members' statements. Ms. Mike.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to respond to public comments about the boundary plebiscite that have been attributed in the eastern media to the honourable Member for Iqaluit. The honourable Member has reportedly stated publicly that if the Dene want to deny Inuit aspirations, if the western business community wants to be seen as killing the Inuit land claims, they better be prepared for the consequences.

Shame, shame!

I want to be on record, Mr. Speaker, that I do not support this sort of heavy-handed message which appears to underline this statement. I believe this is the same antagonistic tone we heard in this House during the honourable Member's reply to the Opening Address on December 18, 1991, when he stated, "Perhaps we will never be able to satisfy Mr. Erasmus unless Baffin Island became part of the Dene land claim..." Last week, he was also reported to have stated that if the West votes "No" on the boundary, the Inuit land claim is gone.

Mr. Speaker, these comments reflect on us, them and their mentality and accomplish nothing. Throughout history, aboriginal people of the North -- Inuit and Dene -- have proven time and again that problems can only be resolved when we take the time to communicate. We have made decisions by listening to views which may be different from our own, expressing our thoughts respectfully. Eventually, we come to agreement.

We Inuit have not believed in bullying others with suggestions that they better be prepared for the consequences, or personal comments about their leaders, or statements that all will be lost unless we get our own way.

I do not believe that remarks attributed to Mr. Patterson, nor the tone of his reply to the Opening Address last session, reflects the way the Inuit of the Eastern Arctic are viewing the boundary plebiscite and the creation of Nunavut. We do not want Nunavut to arise from the ashes of a bitter struggle with our Dene neighbours and the non-native people of the Western Arctic. We want this matter resolved in the spirit of mutual respect. I believe that poor tactics will discredit the evolution of Nunavut and that they are unbecoming of a Minister of this government. He does not speak for me. I hope the Government Leader will take steps to ensure that we will not see this trend continue. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Members' statements. Mr. Pudlat.

(Translation) Mr. Speaker, we vote on issues that are on the floor. We knew that some motions were passed and some were defeated. I have just learned that some motions can be defeated and that the Department of Education budget is very large. I understand that the capital budget for the Department of Education was not planned properly, and maybe this is the reason why the motion was passed to cut some of the Department of Education's budget. Maybe we should work toward more monthly statements that have been requested by the educational boards; then maybe the $5000 would not have been deleted from the budget. I have just realized how a planning process should be set up. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Members' statements. Mr. Patterson.

Mr. Speaker, today I would like to pay special tribute to a constituent who showed extreme courage and dedication toward others in the last year of her life. Last Friday, Ms. Leetia Geetah passed away in Iqaluit, even though she was only 31 years old. Her death was caused as a result of her having become infected with the AIDS virus.

Her parents, Charlie and Inuapik Sagiaktuk, and her two children, Oolooleaktuk and Audla, were very proud of her because during the last year of her life she dedicated herself to doing all she could to see that others did not become infected with this deadly killer.

Mr. Speaker, this message was not being delivered by a health professional or by someone who had read enough books to be called an expert. This was from a woman whose own life was becoming shorter with every day that passed. It must have taken every ounce of courage for her to stand up in front of others and tell her story.

Mr. Speaker, Leetia Geetah will not be remembered for her special works of art of her great political actions. However, she should, and will, be remembered as a brave and unselfish individual who tried to help her people with every ounce of strength left in her. I hope that her messages about this terrible disease will be remembered by everyone that her life has touched.

By this statement, Mr. Speaker, I am hoping that we in this Assembly will also do our part to help spread her messages as one way of saying "thank you" to this very special citizen. Qujannamiik.

---Applause

Members' statements. Mr. Gargan.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to say something in regard to the Workers' Compensation Board. Up to recently, anybody that is hunting and fishing, if they do not make more than $10,000, and if they are hurt on the job, they will not be given compensation. In 1979, when people were hunting, things that they trapped for, like lynx, were worth about $1000. Whoever made this kind of money, at that time they would have been helped with compensation. This January, when people that were trapping sold some lynx, they were only worth $100. Judging by that, if we trap a whole bunch of fur, we will be able to earn some compensation. For the Inuit, if they shoot one polar bear they can get $1000. If they get two polar bears they would be able to get compensation.

I do not think it is right, Mr. Speaker. What I am saying is, we would have to trap a lot of fur-bearing animals to get compensation. I am just talking on behalf of the Dene and Inuit people that are trapping. If they want something, they have to hunt for it. For compensation I do not think it is working well for hunters and trappers. That is what I am talking about. The white man's law does not seem to be working well for the Dene.

Members' statements. Members' statements. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Mr. Kakfwi.

Mr. Antoine.

I would like to seek unanimous consent to go back to Members' statements.

The honourable Member is seeking unanimous consent to return to Item 3, Members' statements. Are there any nays? There are no nays. Proceed, Mr. Antoine.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the economic future of Deh Cho region, and likewise the Mackenzie Valley, is dependent on the rapid development of highways and transportation links. We need to be able to send products and other resources to a market, and we need to attract tourists and other consumers to our scenic and traditional communities. The former government realized the economic promise inherent in an improved transportation system. I am sure that the honourable Member for Amittuq and his officials must remember on October 15, 1990 when Gordon Wray, then Minister of the department, announced four strategic objectives which would guide his new Northwest Territories transportation strategy.

Mr. Speaker, the second objective was a commitment to push back our economic frontiers through highway improvements aimed at linking our resources to their markets. I can quote from Hansard what Mr. Wray said that day. He said, "We are proposing major new highway construction projects to put more communities on the highway map and to provide access to vast areas for tourism and the responsible development of renewable and non-renewable resources." Among the proposed projects was an extension of the Mackenzie Highway to Inuvik, Mr. Speaker. The people of the Deh Cho region believe this public government should keep its word.

Mr. Speaker, I am disheartened by the fact that the current cabinet appears to have turned its back to principles outlined by the previous government's transportation strategy. An example is the decision not to proceed this year with plans to build a bridge across Willowlake River linking Wrigley with Fort Simpson. This project would have been one step toward the sort of development that was the key government objective 16 months ago.

I realize that our government's finances are in a sorry shape, but, so far, most of what we have heard from colleagues on the other side of this House has been regressive talk about down-sizing, attrition, postponement and getting lame. I fully agree with the need for tighter money management at the departmental level, but, Mr. Speaker, this cabinet must stop to realize that if we forget about taking initiatives to develop our northern resource base, we will never be able to sustain our economy over a longer term. Mahsi cho.

Members' statements. Mr. Koe.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to honour one of our distinguished Members of this Legislature. Today happens to be a birthday of the honourable Member for Nunakput.

---Applause

On behalf of her constituents and all the Inuvialuit constituents from the Delta, we have some gifts for her. I would like to present them to the honourable Member. Happy birthday!

---Applause

There will be a new item on the order paper called "Ode to a Premier." Members' statements. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Mr. Morin.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a return to a question asked by Mr. Pudluk on February 21, regarding Resolute Bay pipeline freezing. I wish to provide an update to Mr. Pudluk on the freezing of the Resolute Bay water pipeline. It was the water supply line between Char Lake pumphouse and the water treatment plant which froze when a check valve at the Char Lake pumphouse failed. Public Works crews were able to thaw the line and restore normal service on February 16th. In the meantime, water to the town site was maintained by trucking water from Char Lake to the water treatment plant. The faulty valve has been replaced. In an effort to avoid future such occurrences, DPW has installed additional alarm systems at the water plant and at the pumphouse. If an alarm goes off, a telephone dialer system places a phone call to DPW personnel. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Returns to oral questions. Mr. Whitford.

Returns to oral questions. Mr. Allooloo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a return to an oral question asked by Mr. Pudlat on February 21, 1992, with respect to upgrading of the Lake Harbour airstrip. On Friday, February 21, the Member from Baffin South asked me if the improvements to the Lake Harbour airport he asked about in December were included in the department's capital plan for next year. In my answer to the Member's question in December, I recognized that the Lake Harbour airport was built on uneven ground. At the same time, I pointed out that Transport Canada has certified and licensed the airport for visual flight rules, day and night operations. The slope in the runway is not a danger to safe air carrier service.

In the "Northwest Territories' Transportation Strategy" there is a table on page 54 which outlines a proposed capital spending program for the community airports in the Northwest Territories. The strategy proposes, first of all, to bring all community airports up to a condition where they can meet Transport Canada's licensing requirements for airport certification. Next, the strategy proposes that the Department of Transportation should improve the airports that are certified but below standard for the type of aircraft and the amount of traffic the airport serves. Finally, the strategy identifies the communities that require new airports because the existing airport interferes with the community's safe and orderly growth.

The Lake Harbour airport is included in this last group of airports. The community has a licensed airport that meets its air traffic demand. I agree with the Member that the airport is in a poor location and takes up land that the community could put to much better use. However, the department's efforts must be concentrated on the communities with the most urgent airport needs.

The answer to the Member's question is that improvements to the Lake Harbour airport are not in the Department of Transportation's capital plan for the next year. Thank you.

Returns to oral questions. Mr. Patterson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is a return to an oral question asked by Mr. Pudlat on March 3, regarding Sanikiluaq community hall. A community hall for Sanikiluaq is not currently in the department's capital forecasting plan. A number of years ago the community was asked whether they wanted a new arena or community hall and they chose an arena as their priority. The Department of Education had plans at that time for the construction of a gymnasium. The new gymnasium was completed in 1988. The new arena is currently scheduled for completion in 1994-95. With the community receiving these two facilities, it is unlikely the department will be able to include construction of a community hall in our budget in the foreseeable future. However, the design and siting of the new arena will allow for the future addition of a community hall when it becomes feasible.

Returns to oral questions. Returns to oral questions. Item 5, oral questions. Mr. Bernhardt.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to ask the Minister of Social Services a question on yesterday's statement on social assistance case loads. Part three of the Minister's statement of March 3rd deals with continuation of a five-year agreement with CEIC, Canada Employment and Immigration Commission and Health and Welfare Canada to help social assistance recipients become more self-sufficient. This program sets a priority on training, upgrading and job development skills. Can the Minister indicate which job-related skills will be targeted within this program?

Minister of Social Services, Mr. Whitford.

Oral questions. Mr. Lewis.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There have been several people who have shown up regularly in the gallery who are interested in issues related to the Workers' Compensation Board. I would like to ask the Minister responsible for the Workers' Compensation Board whether he could tell us the process by which the rates or what we call YMIR, yearly maximum insurable remuneration are arrived at under our current set-up.

Minister responsible for the Workers' Compensation Board, Mr. Patterson.

Mr. Speaker, I am a new Minister and I have not dealt with the YMIR issue before, but the way I am handling it is that I have asked the Workers' Compensation Board at one of the first meetings I had with them, noting that the YMIR is now a number of years out of date and has not been adjusted, I asked the Workers' Compensation Board, for whom it is an issue, to make recommendations to me on a priority basis on what would be an appropriate new level on the YMIR. The board is diligently working on that, Mr. Speaker. Once I get their

recommendations I will have to take them to cabinet and then, in the usual process, through this House for a legislative amendment to the WCB Act which would then approve a new YMIR.

Supplementary, Mr. Lewis.

Thank you. To the same Minister. We are currently at the stage where Mr. Hinchey will cease to be the chairman of that board -- in the middle of the month -- and there are all kinds of uncertainties about membership on that board. Is it real or a fact that we now have a board that will find it difficult to make decisions within the next few months?

Mr. Patterson.

I would say not at all, Mr. Speaker. First of all, the terms of the current four members of the board do not end until June or July, and I expect that that issue will have been well in hand and will have been dealt with at the board level long before June or July.

As far as the chairman is concerned, he will be attending and chairing the next meeting of the WCB at the end of this month, at which I expect that issue to be resolved and from which I expect recommendations to be made to me for furtherance with cabinet and the Legislature. So I do not think there is going to be any problem of discontinuity by any changes that might be made in chairperson or board members. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Lewis.

Should changes to the levels be recommended, could the Minister indicate to the House what timetable for legislation he could envisage? For example, could he get this accomplished by the June or July session or would we have to wait until the fall?

Mr. Patterson.

Mr. Speaker, as the honourable Member knows, the legislative timetable is not up to the Minister alone; it depends on the standing committee on legislation who may well choose to have public hearings or receive submissions on the proposed amendment to the act once it gets to second reading. But having mentioned that caveat, Mr. Speaker, I think that it is realistic to expect that I could bring legislation to the next session of this Assembly in June, July, and then we will have to see how fast it can move. It really is a one-line amendment but there is a the matter of consultation and public hearing which will have to be determined by the standing committee on legislation.

Oral questions. Ms. Mike.

Mr. Speaker, I have a question for the Minister of Intergovernmental and Aboriginal Affairs. Recently I was troubled by public comments made by one of the Minister's colleagues that if there is a strong "No" vote on the boundary plebiscite the Inuit land claim will be lost. Has the Minister of Intergovernmental and Aboriginal Affairs undertaken any studies or developed any contingency plans which will guide the government's response in the event of a strong "No" vote on the boundary plebiscite?

Mr. Kakfwi.

Supplementary, Ms. Mike.

Can the Minister assure the House that the hard work and commitment that has already gone into the Nunavut land claim will not be wiped out in the event of a "No" vote?

Mr. Kakfwi.

Oral questions. Mr. Nerysoo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As Members probably have read, decisions in this House yesterday have somehow challenged the ability of government to make reductions in the Housing Corporation. I want to ask the Minister if he is prepared to guarantee that in the restructuring of the Housing Corporation, as was proposed yesterday by the bill, whether or not he can guarantee to the House that the net savings to government would amount to $1.3 million or more.

Minister of Housing, Mr. Morin.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We will not save one cent because there is no change.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Nerysoo.

Mr. Speaker, the honourable Member is willing to indicate that Members here are not prepared to find net savings in government. He said that there would be savings. Could he guarantee to me, as a Member who opposed any changes in the Housing Corporation, that net savings would be $1.3 million?

Mr. Morin.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Once again, there are going to be no savings because the bill is dead.

Oral questions. Mr. Pudlat.

(Translation) Mr. Speaker, my question is to the Minister of the Housing Corporation. Before we go into the capital estimates, I would like to ask a question to the Minister of the Housing Corporation. Cape Dorset has applied for renovations to be made to the elders' facility. Can the Minister tell me if he has received the application regarding this elders' facility in Cape Dorset? Apparently there was an error in this application. I would like the Minister to respond to this as soon as he can. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Morin.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think the Member is asking about a senior citizens' facility. All I am aware of, right now is that there are a total of 14 units going into Cape Dorset and a total of five units going into Lake Harbour. Thank you.

Oral questions. Oral questions. Mr. Gargan.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to direct my question to the Minister of Education. Last week, Mr. Speaker, I gave him a copy of a letter written to me by a member of the Akaitcho Hall board. Mr. Speaker, there are a large number of students from all over the North who come to Akaitcho Hall, and Akaitcho Hall has an advisory board. However, there was a movement by this advisory board to create a management board, and it was done with regard to a board development officer from the Department of Education. That position has since been resolved and there has not been any kind of movement with regard to a direction the advisory board is going would be met. I would like to ask the Minister if there is support for this advisory board to accomplish this management board status.

Minister of Education, Mr. Allooloo.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will have to take the question as notice. Thank you.

The question has been taken as notice. Oral questions. Mr. Zoe.

Minister of MACA, Mr. Patterson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, those proposed funding policies which have been under discussion for a couple of years, under the auspices of the NWT Association of Municipalities, are before cabinet at this moment. Thank you.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Zoe.

Mr. Patterson.

Soon, Mr. Speaker.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Zoe.

Mr. Patterson.

The Member is correct, it could be tomorrow. Thank you.

---Laughter

Oral questions. Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier this morning one of my elder colleagues said, "When government says 'soon' it might mean 10 years." So we changed the word to "immediately" and he said, "That might mean five years."

---Laughter

Mr. Speaker, earlier I quoted the former Minister of Transportation on the need to develop a transportation access beyond our frontiers. I would also like to remind the House of what the honourable Member for Hay River said about building highways to our resources. According to Hansard of October 29, 1990, he referred to the new NWT transportation strategy and stated that: "I think that once you take the inventory of what is in the NWT and what the potentials are, and then you start working around with where your best roads would lie or best transportation corridors would lie, I think that makes good economic and good developmental sense."

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Economic Development and Tourism. Would the Minister agree with me that one of the main barriers to developing economic potential of the Mackenzie Valley is the inadequate and incomplete transportation corridor throughout the region? Mahsi.

Minister responsible for Economic Development and Tourism, Mr. Pollard.

Mr. Speaker, not only is it a barrier in the Mackenzie Valley, but it is a barrier on Baffin Island, the Kitikmeot, the Keewatin and all the way across this territory and in the northern parts of the provinces. That has been expressed by the Government Leader to the Prime Minister. I agree, not only in the Mackenzie Valley, but all across the Territories, yes, sir. Thank you.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Would the Minister agree that the Northwest Territories will, over the long term, continue to encounter financial problems unless we begin to develop some of the resource potential that we cannot reach with our current highway system? Mahsi.

Mr. Pollard.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there is no question that if we were able to take some of those resources, whether they were renewable or non-renewable, from the Northwest Territories and get them to market in an economic fashion, that it would improve the finances of everybody in the Northwest Territories. There is no question about it. Thank you.

Second supplementary, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to get the specifics. Is the Minister willing to direct his department to complete a comprehensive study of the economic development potential that could be realized through the extension of the Mackenzie Highway? Mahsi.

Mr. Pollard.

Yes, Mr. Speaker. We will take a look at it. Thank you.

Oral questions. Mr. Arngna'naaq.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of the Housing Corporation. The bill that was sponsored by the Minister of the Housing Corporation was to remove the board, and in place of the board would be the Minister. Does this mean that if this goes through, it would remain a corporation? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation, Mr. Morin.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It would still be called a corporation but would be run like a department, if the bill had been passed. It was not passed.

Supplementary, Mr. Arngna'naaq.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is where I am a bit confused. In removing the board and replacing the board with the Minister, it would technically still be a corporation. The statement he made over the last week was that if the board was removed, we would save the goods and services tax. If it remains technically as a corporation, how, then, are we going to save on GST when a corporation still has to pay GST? Thank you.

Mr. Morin.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is really a dead issue because the bill did not get second reading, and I do not plan to re-introduce it in the near future. For the Member's information, a certain number of steps are involved. The first is to amend the legislation. Then it would go through first and second reading through this House, and then it goes to the legislation committee so that it can go through public consultation. The legislation committee reviews it; the public, the housing authorities, agencies, boards and commissions, or whoever wants input at that time could do so. That is the process. But, it did not get that far. If it had gone that far and had been passed, then you could have eliminated the board and saved $300,000 direct costs and $300,000 indirect costs, which would have made it available to negotiate with the feds to take it off the GST because it would have been under the government's arm, it would have been a department. You would have to keep the shell of the corporation in order to get CMHC funding. Thank you.

I would like to bring to the attention of the Assembly that our rules state that a Member can be called to order by the Speaker if he reflects upon any previous vote of the Assembly except for the purpose of moving that it be rescinded. We are getting into an area of some debate as to a decision that was previously made by this Legislative Assembly. I would ask Members to respect that. Oral questions. Mrs. Marie-Jewell.