This is page numbers 429 - 457 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 ---agreed.

Topics

Members Present

Mr. Allooloo, Mr. Antoine, Hon. Silas Arngna'naaq, Mr. Ballantyne, Hon. Nellie Cournoyea, Mr. Dent, Mr. Gargan, Mr. Lewis, Hon. Jeannie Marie-Jewell, Hon. Rebecca Mike, Hon. Don Morin, Hon. Richard Nerysoo, Mr. Ng, Mr. Ningark, Mr. Patterson, Hon. John Pollard, Mr. Pudlat, Mr. Pudluk, Mr. Whitford, Mr. Zoe

---Prayer

Item 1: Prayer
Item 1: Prayer

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The Speaker Jeannie Marie-Jewell

Good morning, item 2, Ministers' statements. Madam Premier.

Nellie Cournoyea Nunakput

Madam Speaker, I would like to advise Members that the Honourable Stephen Kakfwi will be absent from the House today to attend a constituency meeting in Fort Good Hope. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

The Speaker Jeannie Marie-Jewell

Thank you. Item 2, Ministers' statements. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Nerysoo.

Richard Nerysoo Mackenzie Delta

Thank you, Madam Speaker. As Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, I am pleased to advise you that this week and next week, we celebrate two important annual events, Arctic College Week and Science and Technology Week. I am happy to inform Members of the Legislative Assembly that many new initiatives to promote cooperation among educators, scientists and our northern communities have already begun.

Arctic College staff and students throughout the Northwest Territories are celebrating Arctic College week from October 17th to October 21st. Arctic College Week is held to promote post-secondary education and to inform people of the services provided by the campuses and community learning centres in their areas. It is also intended to emphasize the achievements of Arctic College and its cooperative relationship with the communities it serves. The theme of this year's Arctic College Week, "building community partnerships," celebrates that relationship.

To acknowledge the importance of partnership, the campuses and community learning centres of Arctic College have planned a number of public awareness activities that highlight programs produced in cooperation with municipal and tribal councils and industry.

Community teacher education programs are one example of programs produced in partnership. The Yellowknife teacher education program is sponsored by the Yellowknives Dene Band, Yellowknife's two school boards, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment and Arctic College.

Overlapping with Arctic College Week is National Science and Technology Week, which runs from October 14th to October 23rd. We celebrate this event to recognize the contribution of science and technology to northern development. This year, the Science Institute of the Northwest Territories is promoting activities at the community level.

The Science Institute's newly implemented research support programs are providing new opportunities for northerners to become involved in scientific research. We want to recognize the contribution of northerners in science and technology. Education, Culture and Employment, in conjunction with Renewable Resources, has submitted two nominations for the 1994 northern science award sponsored by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada.

The Science Institute also continues to introduce community projects demonstrating new technology. A northern wind farm has been established in Cambridge Bay as the first privately-funded alternate energy project. Also, from an educational perspective, the innovators in the schools program have been very successful this past year and have given many young northerners the opportunity to learn more about science and technology in an interactive manner.

Madam Speaker, at this time, I would like to thank all the communities, organizations and individuals who support Arctic College programs and science and technology initiatives. I invite the Members of the Legislative Assembly and residents of Yellowknife to participate in Science Sunday at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre at 2:00 pm on October 23rd.

I encourage northerners to contact the Science Institute here in Yellowknife or the research centres in Inuvik, Fort Smith, Igloolik and Iqaluit for information about science and technology programs in your area. As well, I invite you to contact community learning centres or Arctic College Campuses for information about college programs being offered this year. Thank you.

The Speaker Jeannie Marie-Jewell

Thank you. Item 2, Ministers' statements. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Natilikmiot, Mr. Ningark.

Elders' Residence In Gjoa Haven
Item 3: Members' Statements

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John Ningark Natilikmiot

Thank you, Madam Speaker. As you know, the Kitikmeot is the only region in the NWT without an elders' residence. The elders in the region, especially the elders from Natilikmiot, have been expecting and looking forward to an elders' residence being built in Gjoa Haven since I first was elected to the House in 1989.

For mysterious reasons, every year, the elders' residence project has been postponed and not built. We were told that all elders' residence funding was put on hold because federal money for social housing was cut back.

This fall, my honourable colleague Mr. Kelvin Ng and I discovered the funding for the Gjoa Haven elders' residence was deleted from the capital plans.

Elders' Residence In Gjoa Haven
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An Hon. Member

Shame.

Elders' Residence In Gjoa Haven
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John Ningark Natilikmiot

Thank you. Being concerned, Madam Speaker, about this matter, I contacted Mayor Uriash Puqiqnak of Gjoa Haven to discuss it further. He was as surprised as I was to learn of the deletion of the elders' residence project. I have met with Madam Premier, who is also the Minister of Health and Social Services; the Honourable John Pollard, the Minister of Finance; and the Honourable Don Morin, Minister of Public Works and Services. They have all agreed to reconsider addressing the needs in Kitikmeot, as my colleague, Mr. Ng, and I continue to pursue this matter on behalf of our elders.

Elders' Residence In Gjoa Haven
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An Hon. Member

Good.

Elders' Residence In Gjoa Haven
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John Ningark Natilikmiot

I ask the government to seriously revisit this very important issue of elders' residences for the Kitikmeot by reinstating the funding for the Gjoa Haven residence and by addressing the needs in the western Kitikmeot. Thank you.

---Applause

Elders' Residence In Gjoa Haven
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The Speaker Jeannie Marie-Jewell

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

High Cost Of Water In Summer
Item 3: Members' Statements

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Brian Lewis Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Madam Speaker. This summer has been one of the driest summers on record, with very low rainfall levels. The natural course of events when you get very little rain is that the land gets dry, you get fires, and where you get fires, you get smoke, and because of the smoke, the mosquitoes die. They don't live very long.

People can understand that. People are happy with that. But, there is a certain lack of logic for many of my constituents who can't understand why, living by one of the biggest lakes in the world -- one of the top ten, which is pretty clean, compared with most of the others; even though we have some pollution, it is still pretty clean -- with so much water around us, that we have such high summer water rates. It is so easy to get water in the summer. Many of our dried out properties are causing

consternation among many of our citizens who enjoy gardening...

High Cost Of Water In Summer
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An Hon. Member

Hear, hear.

High Cost Of Water In Summer
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Brian Lewis Yellowknife Centre

...and would like to have a nice place, with nice flowers and nice vegetables and so on. This can be compared with the small towns in the desert around Kelowna where the water rates are still very, very low compared to ours. The $160 a month for water is an awful lot. The city of Yellowknife has this responsibility that we cannot really interfere with.

High Cost Of Water In Summer
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An Hon. Member

Hear, hear.

---Applause

High Cost Of Water In Summer
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The Speaker Jeannie Marie-Jewell

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

Timing Of Municipal Elections In Nwt
Item 3: Members' Statements

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Samuel Gargan Deh Cho

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I rise in this House today to offer my congratulations on behalf of my constituents to all the recently-elected officials in all the tax-based municipalities. It was very nice to see the seeds of democracy again take root in Iqaluit.

Timing Of Municipal Elections In Nwt
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An Hon. Member

Hear, hear.

Timing Of Municipal Elections In Nwt
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Samuel Gargan Deh Cho

As an aboriginal, it was very gratifying to see Mr. Joe Kunuk, an Inuk, elected as a mayor in one of the Northwest Territories largest tax-based municipalities.

I, too, would have liked to have been able to have risen as the same time as my honourable colleagues, full of praise and good will, and congratulate the people elected in town and educational councils in my own constituencies. But that was not to be. For this reason, Madam Speaker, as usual, I am a bit confused. Why do the tax-based communities get to have their election in the fall or, at least, what passes for fall in the Northwest Territories?

Maybe the residents of the tax-based communities can't handle the cold. Maybe they are afraid to go out in the dark. Why do smaller hamlets or charter communities get to have their election in December, which is definitely the dead of winter in the Northwest Territories? Is it because everyone works in a tax-based community and their officials want to make sure there is no daylight or no raging snowstorm on election day?

I think that whoever decided that community elections in the north should be held in December was a little addled. Maybe they thought that the residents in the smaller communities are more likely to be pursuing traditional lifestyles, such as hunting and fishing, so they would have nothing better to do in December than to fight their way through a blinding snowstorm to exercise their right to vote.

Indeed, Madam Speaker, in the high Arctic, there is total darkness during the election, which may or may not be appropriate.

---Laughter

I don't think, Madam Speaker, there is an appropriate time for an election in the Northwest Territories. The spring is no good in some areas because of ratting season. The summer is no good in other areas because...

Timing Of Municipal Elections In Nwt
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The Speaker Jeannie Marie-Jewell

Mr. Gargan.

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Samuel Gargan Deh Cho

Madam Speaker, I would like to have unanimous consent to continue my statement.

Timing Of Municipal Elections In Nwt
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The Speaker Jeannie Marie-Jewell

The honourable Member is seeking unanimous consent. Are there any nays? There are no nays. Please proceed, Mr. Gargan.

Timing Of Municipal Elections In Nwt
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Samuel Gargan Deh Cho

Thank you, Madam Speaker and honourable Members. The summer is no good in other areas because of fishing and hunting. Fall and winter are no good because people go hunting for moose and caribou. Fall is also open season on ducks and, I guess, municipal politicians in tax-based municipalities. Summer is no good in a lot of smaller communities because that is when the construction and tourism employment occurs. It is also no good in Yellowknife because half of the government employees take off on holidays.

I don't know, Madam Speaker. Maybe the dead of winter with no sunlight and the chance of a blizzard is the best time to hold an election in the smaller, mostly aboriginal, communities in the Northwest Territories. Like I said, Madam Speaker, I am confused.

---Applause