This is page numbers 825 - 862 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

Government's Misguided Priorities
Item 3: Members' Statements

Page 829

Fred Koe Inuvik

So, Madam Speaker, not only do these people get free room and board, they also get a paycheque when they leave prison.

Madam Speaker, I thought I would make this statement just to make people think about where and how we spend our money, and how we set government priorities and deliver our programs and services. Mahsi.

---Applause

Government's Misguided Priorities
Item 3: Members' Statements

Page 829

The Speaker Jeannie Marie-Jewell

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

Custom Adoption
Item 3: Members' Statements

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Samuel Gargan Deh Cho

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I rise today to raise a number of points and concerns I have about the whole issue of custom adoption. Madam Speaker, I feel that over the last 20 years, the entire concept of custom adoption has changed. Natives all across Canada have lost sight of the traditional reasons for the practice of custom adoption. Custom adoption, in the past, was for survival as a people. Children were adopted to ensure that they would live and grow strong. When people couldn't look after their children or they had too many children to feed or a parent died, the practice of custom adoption existed as an option for the well being of the children.

Madam Speaker, I feel that custom adoption is a collective right and not an individual one. When I say this, I mean that the practice of custom adoption has become a matter of convenience for a lot of people. It has become a way, in some cases, for people to circumvent taking responsibility for their actions. Teen pregnancies and unwed mothers are a fact of life in the Northwest Territories and, indeed, the rest of Canada. Where are the fathers of these children? Why do they not take responsibilities? I know why, Madam Speaker, it is because they know that someone in the family will take the child. I know of grandparents who believe in the traditional custom, living on a fixed income, who adopt their grandchildren's children. They might be fine when a child is an infant, when they are small and do not require as much room. But, Madam Speaker, children grow. They need room and invariably people age. The grandparents can keep up to an infant or toddler, but cannot keep up with a 10 year old.

I also have concerns, Madam Speaker, that when these children reach their teens that they sometimes end up being the prime care givers to their aging adoptive parents. This, I fear, is not...(Microphone turned off)...upon any teenagers.

Madam Speaker, I would like to get unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

Custom Adoption
Item 3: Members' Statements

Page 829

The Speaker Jeannie Marie-Jewell

The honourable Member is seeking unanimous consent to continue. Are there any nays? There are no nays. Proceed, Mr. Gargan.

Custom Adoption
Item 3: Members' Statements

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Samuel Gargan Deh Cho

Thank you, Madam Speaker, honourable Members. This, I fear, is an unfair responsibility to place upon any teenager. Where are all the other members of the family? Why don't they take responsibility for the elders of their own family? A teenager has enough problems growing up without those added responsibilities.

So, in essence, Madam Speaker, custom adoption has become, in some cases, a quick fix for the social ills that effect aboriginal people. Madam Speaker, this was not the reasoning that lead to the tradition of custom adoption, so how do we as a people and a government change this? As I said before, people have to take responsibility for their actions. We, as a government, must provide people with the infrastructure necessary to make changes and take charge of their lives.

Concerns have been raised in the past about the inappropriateness of some custom adoption placement. I agree, Madam Speaker, with the majority of the comments made recently on the radio by the president of the Pauktuutit Women's Association. However, I do not agree with her assertion that the government has a role in the placements of custom adoptions. I do believe there has to be a group that monitors those placements, but I am of firm belief that it should be done by the community itself.

Custom adoption has been recognized by the courts of Canada as a legitimate practice. Let us, as legislators, not over-regulate the process. The people most affected by this legislation must be able to contribute to the entire process of custom adoption. Mahsi cho.

Custom Adoption
Item 3: Members' Statements

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The Speaker Jeannie Marie-Jewell

Thank you. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Kivallivik, Mr. Arngna'naaq.

Development Workshop For Carvers In Baker Lake
Item 3: Members' Statements

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Silas Arngna'naaq Kivallivik

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I would like to take this opportunity to point out to the honourable Members of the House, the November 7th issue of News/North which has no less than five large photographs of the carvers from Baker Lake. Baker Lake has always been renowned for the creativity and skill of its artisans. When the artists started in the early 1960s, most of the Inuit in the area were still living on the land. A couple by the name of Jack and Sheila Butler, moved up to Baker Lake from London, Ontario. They worked with a number of Inuit who were creators of their own design; a people who are masters of their own crafts, with the abilities to building their own mobility, their homes, their own unique style of living in a harsh environment.

In this group was a person with the ability to carve and to be able to work with some of the carvers. He has had the opportunity to exhibit his skills in places such as the United States, Japan and many times over within Canada. A gentleman by the name of Paul Toolooktook was just that person who, in the last year, was able to bring carvers together and form the Ujaraqtatit Society. As the president of the society, he has been active in Baker Lake to acquire soapstone for the carvers and other such activities.

He recently succeeded in bringing a carver, one Mr. Iyaituk, for a two-week development workshop in Baker Lake. This workshop provided instruction on carving techniques with power tools. A number of the 19 course participants were first-time carvers. Workshops like this are invaluable in ensuring that the art making skills of Inuit are passed on to the next generation.

My congratulations and thanks to the sponsors of this workshop; the Department of Economic Development and Tourism, Keewatin division, First Air and Air Inuit, who had the foresight to encourage the artisans of Baker Lake and I would like to add my own words of encouragement for the 19 carvers, who invested two weeks in improving their considerable artistic skills. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Development Workshop For Carvers In Baker Lake
Item 3: Members' Statements

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The Speaker Jeannie Marie-Jewell

Thank you. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for North Slave, Mr. Zoe.

Henry Zoe

Henry Zoe North Slave

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, today is the day that the Chief Jimmy Bruneau School performers leave the country on their way to the second healing our spirits worldwide conference in Sydney, Australia. Madam Speaker, the Chief Jimmy Bruneau School performers are a group of students accompanied by two elders and two supervisors from the community of Rae-Edzo. They will be attending the four-day conference as youth delegates and to perform as representatives of the Dogrib and the Northwest Territories. They will be meeting and talking with aboriginal youth from around the world about issues relevant to their own peer group.

Madam Speaker, the conference will address aboriginal health issues such as the prevention and treatment of alcohol and drug abuse, with a focus on family and youth. Their performance includes traditional drumming and dancing, and a dramatic performance depicting the tradition and culture of the Dogrib people. Madam Speaker, I would just like to wish them all the best and look forward to talking with them about their experience when they return. Thank you.

---Applause

The Speaker Jeannie Marie-Jewell

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

Reassignment Of News/north Reporter
Item 3: Members' Statements

November 7th, 1994

Page 830

Brian Lewis Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Madam Speaker. The Northern News Services staff reporter, who has covered the Legislative Assembly beat for the last several years, is being assigned to another part of the Northwest Territories. She is the striking blond lady, who sits in the crowded press gallery. I hope I won't be accused of using politically incorrect words to describe her because we have such great crowds here sometimes that you really have to use words like that, so that you know exactly who I am talking about.

Madam Speaker, it isn't unknown that Rankin Inlet, in some ways, is the middle of the Nunavut empire and there are expectations about the creation of lots of news because of its geographical location. I would like to remind Members that this is also the home constituency of a man who is being called, by various Members of the press, the Minister of Everything. It is to be expected that if you are the Minister of Everything, there is going to be all kinds of news that you are going to be able to report on.

Also, Madam Speaker, if you were a very high-profile Minister and there is lots of activity, there is also lots of work to be done by a very productive investigative reporter. Although this assignment, as I understand it, is only until the end of the summer, if there is lots of work there and there are lots of things going on, maybe even Mr. Sigvaldason would let her stay there for a longer period of time.

However, Madam Speaker, the point of my statement today is although from time to time members of the press annoy us and sometimes the public, members of the press also annoy their employer. So you end up getting it from both directions. However, I have found the lady to be, for the most part, on most occasions, fair. I know that when she settles in Rankin Inlet, that she will have no axe to grind and that she will report fairly on all the activities in that part of the world.

I would like to wish her well because we don't have a press club here and we don't get to talk to people that often, except when things of a nasty nature arise. I do wish her well in her new assignment.

---Applause

Reassignment Of News/north Reporter
Item 3: Members' Statements

Page 830

The Speaker Jeannie Marie-Jewell

Thank you. Item 3, Members' statements. 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

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Dennis Patterson Iqaluit

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I would like to recognize Mr. Allan Kingdon from Iqaluit. He is the shop steward for the Northwest Territories Power Commission, Baffin region.

---Applause

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

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The Speaker Jeannie Marie-Jewell

Thank you. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Inuvik, Mr. Koe.

Fred Koe Inuvik

Mahsi, Madam Speaker. I have a question for the acting Premier. A motion was passed in this Assembly requesting that Minister Irwin from Indian and Northern Affairs come to the north to address northerners through this Legislative Assembly. Has the Minister responded to our request to come to the north to speak to northerners?

The Speaker Jeannie Marie-Jewell

Acting Premier, Mr. Pollard.

Return To Question 369-12(6): Response Re Appearance Of Minister Irwin
Question 369-12(6): Response Re Appearance Of Minister Irwin
Item 6: Oral Questions

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John Pollard Hay River

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Good afternoon. Madam Speaker, my understanding is that Mr. Irwin is unable to attend the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly because of time schedules and because he is fairly well booked, Madam Speaker. Thank you.

Return To Question 369-12(6): Response Re Appearance Of Minister Irwin
Question 369-12(6): Response Re Appearance Of Minister Irwin
Item 6: Oral Questions

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The Speaker Jeannie Marie-Jewell

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Koe.

Supplementary To Question 369-12(6): Response Re Appearance Of Minister Irwin
Question 369-12(6): Response Re Appearance Of Minister Irwin
Item 6: Oral Questions

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Fred Koe Inuvik

Thank you for that information. I was going to ask, other than his time schedule, did he give any other significant reason for not coming to speak to us in the north?

Supplementary To Question 369-12(6): Response Re Appearance Of Minister Irwin
Question 369-12(6): Response Re Appearance Of Minister Irwin
Item 6: Oral Questions

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The Speaker Jeannie Marie-Jewell

Thank you. Acting Premier, Mr. Pollard.

Further Return To Question 369-12(6): Response Re Appearance Of Minister Irwin
Question 369-12(6): Response Re Appearance Of Minister Irwin
Item 6: Oral Questions

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John Pollard Hay River

Madam Speaker, I am not aware of any other significant reasons that he would not attend the Legislative Assembly. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Further Return To Question 369-12(6): Response Re Appearance Of Minister Irwin
Question 369-12(6): Response Re Appearance Of Minister Irwin
Item 6: Oral Questions

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The Speaker Jeannie Marie-Jewell

Thank you. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Gargan.

Samuel Gargan Deh Cho

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I would like to direct my question to the acting Premier. Madam Speaker, many aboriginal groups in the Northwest Territories, particularly in the west, signed treaties with the federal government over the past 100 years. Does the government of the Northwest Territories acknowledge and recognize the treaties between the aboriginal groups in the Northwest Territories and the federal government?

The Speaker Jeannie Marie-Jewell

Thank you. Acting Premier, Mr. Pollard.

Return To Question 370-12(6): GNWT Acknowledgement Of Treaties
Question 370-12(6): GNWT Acknowledgement Of Treaties
Item 6: Oral Questions

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John Pollard Hay River

Madam Speaker, yes, we are aware of those treaties. Thank you, Madam Speaker.