This is page numbers 365 - 396 of the Hansard for the 12th Assembly, 6th Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was chairman.

Topics

Tony Whitford

Tony Whitford Yellowknife South

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Good news from Yellowknife as well.

Some Hon. Members

Yea.

---Applause

Tony Whitford

Tony Whitford Yellowknife South

Good news for the whole Northwest Territories, as a matter of fact. Madam Speaker, last Friday, Madam Premier made an announcement that I would like to respond to. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Tony Chang, a businessman from the city of Yellowknife, on his new appointment as chairman of the board of management for the Stanton Territorial Hospital. I would like to wish him and his board every success and support in the years to come.

Madam Speaker, we are well aware of all of the health issues that dominate this House and dominate the interests of the people of the Northwest Territories. We are certainly not immune to them here at Stanton. There are going to be big challenges in the coming years for the board and the new chairman, given the changing times, fiscal restraint, public expectation for service, new technologies, et cetera.

I know Mr. Chang is an experienced businessman and a community-minded individual. He has been in the north for a long time and the experiences he has will make him well-suited for the position. That said, Madam Speaker, I would also like to take the opportunity to say thank you to the outgoing chairman, Mr. Yamkowy for his years of dedicated service to the Board of Management and the people the territorial hospital serves across the north. I think his contribution and commitment certainly will have an impact on us for quite some time, and will be reflected in the operation of the hospital and health services for the people of the north for some time to come.

So, to both, congratulations. Thank you.

---Applause

The Speaker Jeannie Marie-Jewell

Thank you. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Baffin South, Mr. Pudlat.

Music Festival In Sanikiluaq
Item 3: Members' Statements

Page 367

Kenoayoak Pudlat Baffin South

(Translation) Thank you, Madam Speaker. I rise today to express my appreciation and gratitude. Madam

Speaker, last spring in Sanikiluaq in my constituency, there was a music festival. Quite a few people came in from other communities from Nunavut. It was even better when the boat came in. Madam Speaker, such festivals can help a lot in our lives. Because of that, I am grateful and appreciate the people who attended the festival. The Ministers were able to put money together to fund it.

To the people who were at the festival, and the people who were not there, I would like to express my appreciation and my gratitude. Thank you.

---Applause

Music Festival In Sanikiluaq
Item 3: Members' Statements

Page 368

The Speaker Jeannie Marie-Jewell

Thank you. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Yellowknife North, Mr. Ballantyne.

Michael Ballantyne Yellowknife North

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I, today, join others in wanting to congratulate the participants in the recent municipal election in Yellowknife. I would like to congratulate the mayor-elect, Dave Lovell, who was born and bred in Yellowknife. He will bring to bear, I think, a very practical point of view as the new mayor.

To the other mayoralty candidates who lost, I again offer my congratulations for a very strong race this year. They all brought their ideas to the table. Unfortunately, in politics only one of the six could win. But all of them deserve a lot of credit for the quality of the campaign.

To the candidates for alderman, to Blake Lyons, Trevor Kasteel, Jo MacQuarrie, John Dalton, Vi Beck, Ruth Spence, Dick Peplow and Merlyn Williams, my congratulations. Again, it was a huge field; 24 people ran. The new council is a good mix of experience and of newcomers. I think seven of the eight are long-term northerners.

I would like to give special recognition to Trevor Kasteel who is the youngest candidate -- 25 years old. He came second in the polls. I worked with his father. His father was a very strong city councillor back in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He was deputy mayor when I was mayor of Yellowknife. I know if Trevor's father was here, he would be very, very proud of his son.

Again, to the candidates who ran and lost, I think they've made the democratic process work. A lot of great ideas came out of the campaign. I know a lot of the people who didn't win this year will run again, and I'm sure, will have their chance to serve.

I'd like to conclude, Madam Speaker, with a thank you to Mayor McMahon and to the outgoing city council. Mayor McMahon served three terms, and was a strong mayor of the city of Yellowknife. I think although I didn't always agree with what she did, the fact is the voters of Yellowknife voted her in for three terms...

The Speaker Jeannie Marie-Jewell

Sorry, Mr. Ballantyne.

---Applause

Michael Ballantyne Yellowknife North

I request unanimous consent to get my last statement on the record.

The Speaker Jeannie Marie-Jewell

Thank you. The honourable Member is seeking unanimous consent to continue with his statement. Are there any nays? There are no nays. Continue, Mr. Ballantyne.

Michael Ballantyne Yellowknife North

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I would like to conclude with a vote of gratitude to Mayor McMahon. She served in a very, very difficult position for many years. She was elected as mayor three times. I think only one other mayor in history who was elected more than that was Fred Henne. So she goes down in history as our second-most elected mayor.

An Hon. Member

(Microphone turned off)

---Laughter

Michael Ballantyne Yellowknife North

I have a memory lapse after that. So, Madam Speaker, to the former mayor and to the former council, our thank you. Being mayor or being a city councillor are two of the toughest jobs in politics. Municipal politics is an area where everybody in town is an expert. Municipal councillors are not very well-paid. It really is a labour of love, certainly it is not a labour of happiness. I think we owe all our former and present municipal councillors our thanks, and our thanks to Mr. Patterson for supporting the statement.

---Laughter

---Applause

The Speaker Jeannie Marie-Jewell

Thank you. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Gargan.

Quebec Political Situation
Item 3: Members' Statements

Page 368

Samuel Gargan Deh Cho

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I rise today to offer my thoughts and opinion on the present political situation in Quebec. Madam Speaker, as you know, the Parti Quebecois with its separatist agenda was recently elected. This does not bode well with the territories, Madam Speaker.

With the creation of Nunavut and the necessity of formulating a valid and workable constitution here in the western Arctic, we as politicians have enough on our plates without the federal government being distracted during the upcoming sovereignty vote in Quebec. I guess what I am saying, Madam Speaker, is that I am concerned that the federal government will put the needs and aspirations of northern Canadians on hold while they deal with the Quebec situation.

Also, Madam Speaker, as an aboriginal person, I am very concerned about the horrible record the Parti Quebecois has in dealing with Quebec natives. Madam Speaker, what will happen if Quebec does decide to separate? We will still be required, by law, to provide services in French. Or can we concentrate our efforts on providing services in aboriginal languages? How would separation affect our language funding from Ottawa? Would we lose the money? Would there ever be any money available?

Madam Speaker, as everyone here knows, I have long advocated the responsibility of aboriginal languages, particularly the teaching of one's mother tongue should be the responsibility of aboriginal organizations and not the government. With no funding from any level of government, it would be impossible for my people to attain our goal. A tough question indeed, Madam Speaker.

Madam Speaker, in the coming years there is much to be done politically in the Northwest Territories. It would be the job of the Premier to ensure that the political goals and aspirations of the residents of the Northwest Territories do not end up on the back burner while Ottawa deals with the Quebec situation. Mahsi cho.

---Applause

Quebec Political Situation
Item 3: Members' Statements

Page 369

The Speaker Jeannie Marie-Jewell

Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Lewis.

Highway System In Nwt
Item 3: Members' Statements

Page 369

Brian Lewis Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Madam Speaker. When I moved from the eastern Arctic to the west 20 years ago, I looked forward to being able to have a vehicle to drive on a highway. I thought that would be something nice to do. But I soon realized what a nightmare it could be, because more people who tried using the highway south in those days were very often pulled through large tracks of that highway by tractors because of the amount of work that was going on, on a road that was built really for the mining industry.

When I ran in 1987, Madam Speaker, I had a list of things that I thought were important for us to achieve, and I used the word "accountability." In the T in accountability, I had put truckers and a paved road to Yellowknife. That was a plank, if you like, in the platform.

I would like to congratulate the current Minister of Transportation and previous ones who have committed themselves to that vision of a road which, in fact, would link up a road to all kinds of places and people throughout the Northwest Territories, eventually. I'm happy to report that this road now is no longer the subject of complaint that it used to be. I used to meet dozens and dozens of people every summer who had nothing very good to say about their trip north because of the terrible experiences they had had along the road. But now things have changed, and people can see that that was an investment that really was a worthwhile one because people now talk about coming back and inviting their friends to come back. Having a road that makes so many places in the north more accessible to families who can't afford to fly and so on, is a boon to all the people in the Northwest Territories, not only to those people who live along the highway. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

---Applause

Highway System In Nwt
Item 3: Members' Statements

Page 369

The Speaker Jeannie Marie-Jewell

Thank you. Item 3, Members' statements. Item 4, returns to oral questions. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Morin.

Further Return To Question 119-12(6): Renovation Project At Nunatta Campus
Item 4: Returns To Oral Questions
Item 4: Returns To Oral Questions

Page 369

Don Morin Tu Nedhe

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I have a return to an oral question asked by Mr. Dennis Patterson on October 13th.

I have reviewed the concern about the type of windows installed at the Nunatta Campus married students' residence.

The original windows were replaced with crank-operated windows in order to improve the ventilation. The windows open to the outside to a range of about one foot. The windows are about three feet from the floor. The department has reported that during an interim inspection of the installation, one of the residence supervisory staff was concerned about the windows. The project officer has advised that he did not make the statement attributed to him. However, at the meeting, it was agreed that the windows were standard installation and were not a safety risk to the children. To the best of my knowledge, the department has not heard any complaints about the windows from other representatives of Arctic College. Thank you.

Further Return To Question 119-12(6): Renovation Project At Nunatta Campus
Item 4: Returns To Oral Questions
Item 4: Returns To Oral Questions

Page 369

The Speaker Jeannie Marie-Jewell

Thank you. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Iqaluit, Mr. Patterson.

Item 5: Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery
Item 5: Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

Page 369

Dennis Patterson Iqaluit

I'd like to recognize Mr. Ben McDonald of the Union of Northern Workers.

---Applause

Item 5: Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery
Item 5: Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

Page 369

The Speaker Jeannie Marie-Jewell

Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Kitikmeot, Mr. Ng.

Kelvin Ng Kitikmeot

Thank you, Madam Speaker. My question is to the Minister of the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation and Department of Public Works and Services. It is with respect to the business incentive policy which has contractors disclosing what benefits they are going to provide locally and to northerners as far as subcontracts, employment, commercial accommodation and those types of things. I would like to ask the Minister, how are these local northern benefits, as disclosed on these forms, monitored by his departments to make sure that they are being met? Thank you.

The Speaker Jeannie Marie-Jewell

Thank you. Minister of Public Works and Services, Mr. Morin.

Return To Question 176-12(6): Monitoring Of Benefits Under Bip
Question 176-12(6): Monitoring Of Benefits Under Bip
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 369

Don Morin Tu Nedhe

Thank you, Madam Speaker. We do monitor the contracts to ensure that local people are being hired. The contractors themselves have to fill out the forms to

express how many local people they are hiring as well as how many northern people they are going to have on the job site.

In the past, we have accepted the Northwest Territories health care card to prove northern residency, but we have found that there are loopholes in that process so we are moving to fix that. In order to be a Northwest Territories resident, you have to be in the Northwest Territories for one year, and in order to get local preference, you have to be in the community for six months.

I have instructed my department to make amendments to all contracts in the Housing Corporation as well as DPWS to clarify their northern component on the job site. It will now be the contractor's responsibility to supply not only health care numbers but also drivers' licences, where applicable, and the addresses of employees so that can be followed up, as well as T-222 tax forms which are proof of income tax paid in the Northwest Territories.

Due to the amount of concern raised by communities, we are going to put this in our contracts so we have some sort of hammer to come down on contractors with. In addition, we will be including a penalty in all contracts for next year if contractors continue to make false claims that they are hiring in the north and they really bring in southerners. We will be removing their business incentive policy -- we'll have that option in place, as well as immediate termination of contracts which will then be taken back into the government's hands, and that will be the penalty. Thank you.

---Applause