This is page numbers 275 - 301 of the Hansard for the 12th Assembly, 5th 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 federal.

Topics

Members Present

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

---Prayer

Item 1: Prayer
Item 1: Prayer

Page 275

The Speaker

Thank you. Good afternoon. Item 2, Ministers' statements. The honourable Member for Hay River, Mr. Pollard.

John Pollard Hay River

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Good afternoon. Madam Speaker, I am announcing today measures that will hopefully protect government revenues and reinforce our government's commitment to promoting healthy lifestyles in the Northwest Territories.

The federal tobacco tax reduction of $5 per carton of cigarettes and 2.5 cents per gram of loose tobacco, announced last week, has reduced the selling prices of cigarettes and loose tobacco in the Northwest Territories. Since the territorial tobacco tax is based on taxable price, as determined in a quarterly survey of tobacco prices in Yellowknife, tobacco prices would fall again, by about $3 per carton of cigarettes, on April 1, under our existing tobacco tax legislation. That would result in Northwest Territories cigarette prices being more than $8 per carton lower than what they were before the federal tax cut. For our government, this tax reduction of $3 per carton would represent a significant amount of foregone revenues -- an estimated loss of $2 million in 1994-95.

Lower tobacco prices would lead to increased tobacco consumption by Northwest Territories residents. It is well established that tobacco products are a major cause of lung cancer, heart disease, emphysema and many other diseases. In the Northwest Territories, this is a major health concern because our per capita tobacco consumption is generally higher than in the rest of Canada. Nonetheless, over the past few years, progress has been made in reducing tobacco consumption. By imposing relatively high tobacco tax rates together with health awareness programs carried out by the Department of Health, per capita consumption of cigarettes in the Northwest Territories has fallen by over 20 per cent over the past five years. We cannot allow the progress we have made to be reversed.

I am, therefore, proposing to bring forward legislation in this House that will:

-increase the tax on cigarettes; and,

-increase the tax on loose tobacco products by a corresponding amount.

Because this measure will increase the differentials between Northwest Territories tobacco prices and those in Quebec, Ontario and New Brunswick, it is necessary that we take additional actions in the area of enforcement.

Under the existing Northwest Territories Tobacco Tax Act, individuals importing tobacco products into the Northwest Territories from other jurisdictions, whether for personal use or resale, must report to the Department of Finance and pay the territorial tax. I have been meeting with the RCMP to discuss ways of ensuring maximum compliance with this provision of the act.

As a further measure to prevent smuggling, I intend to bring forward legislation to this House to assist in the enforcement of the Tobacco Tax Act. This legislation will include increased penalties for non-compliance with the act.

Madam Speaker, in conjunction with the federal anti-smuggling awareness campaign, the Department of Health will be enhancing its own health awareness programs warning residents of the dangers of smoking. It is a well-known fact that individuals who become smokers usually acquire the habit and become addicted as teenagers or as young adults. Our campaign will therefore be aimed primarily at the youth population of the Northwest Territories.

The federal government has announced certain legislative measures regarding the sale of tobacco to young persons. It has outlawed the sale of small "kiddy" packs of cigarettes and it has raised the minimum age for purchasing tobacco products from 16 to 18 years. Madam Speaker, I am proposing that we go one step further and bring forward legislation to this House that will raise the minimum age for purchasing tobacco products in the Northwest Territories from 18 to 19 years. Five Canadian provinces have already raised the minimum age to 19 years. It would also be the same minimum age at which persons can be served liquor at bars and other licensed premises in the Northwest Territories.

I also wish to consider bringing forward legislation that would enable us to withdraw the tobacco vendor's license of any retailer convicted of selling tobacco to minors. Under current legislation, we can withdraw the licenses of retailers convicted for tax-related offenses under the Tobacco Tax Act.

Madam Speaker, we will also be joining forces with the Yukon and the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia in controlling smuggling. We will prepare a coordinated strategy which will include a review of the following options:

- increased investigations and audit activity;

- increased cooperation between provincial/territorial officials, police forces and the RCMP;

- legislation to require tobacco manufacturers to mark tobacco products;

- increased information sharing in areas such as tobacco imports and exports in order to ensure proper accounting to tobacco movements;

- sharing of resources;

- ensuring that the federal government allocate a fair share of incremental federal audit and enforcement resources to the territories and the western provinces; and,

- increased dissemination of information to retailers and consumers on the requirement that they pay tax on their tobacco imports.

Madam Speaker, the measures I have announced today will protect government revenues and discourage contraband in tobacco products. Above all, they represent a significant enhancement of our government's health awareness program. I am confident that residents will be responsive to this program and that the successes we have had in reducing tobacco consumption will continue. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

---Applause

The Speaker

Thank you, Mr. Pollard. Item 2, Ministers' statements. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Amittuq, Mr. Allooloo.

Michif Conference
Item 3: Members' Statements

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Titus Allooloo Amittuq

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I will finish my Member's statement that I started yesterday. Madam Speaker, Michif is not bad French, as many of the speakers have been made to believe and have felt for many years. It is a real language, rather a group of languages that are spoken by large groups of people in Canada and in the USA. Michif is a truly born Canadian language, actually born before confederation. It is the result of friendly relations between aboriginal people and the French and English.

Michif is taught in some schools and there are some dictionaries and grammar written on it, but it has never been documented in the Northwest Territories before. I would like to thank the resource people who came from Manitoba, especially Guy Lavalee and Audreen Hourie and also those from North Dakota, especially Ida Rose Allard who speaks and teaches Michif Cree.

Madam Speaker, the reason why I am making a Member's statement on this is because I see my language, Inuktitut, evolving everyday, borrowing words from English and French. For example, we borrowed the word "oui," French for "yes." We use the word "Ouibill." And we borrow the word sugar, as "sukaq" and also the word flour "palaugaq." There are so many examples. I believe if I'm speaking to an Inuk mechanic, he would have names for every part of the truck, including pistons, ball bearings and manifolds, in Inuktitut, which have been created since that product has come to our life. We have many examples.

The reason why we are adopting these words is so that our language will survive. It is one of the strongest aboriginal languages in Canada. So many aboriginal languages are endangered and there are only three languages that aren't. One of them is Inuktitut and it will survive because it adapts to all the languages it encounters. Thank you.

---Applause

Michif Conference
Item 3: Members' Statements

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The Speaker

Thank you. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Yellowknife South, Mr. Whitford.

Tony Whitford

Tony Whitford Yellowknife South

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Today I rise to congratulate our Minister of Finance, also the Minister of Health, on his position to hold fast on the tobacco tax. I had no idea he was going to make those announcements, but it deals with what is happening across Canada. While the bigger provinces, Madam Speaker, are caving in to the smugglers and the criminal element, the rest are standing ground.

Madam Speaker, yesterday, Ontario lowered its cigarette tax by $9.68 per carton, bringing it to $28 per carton in Quebec and New Brunswick. The stand that the western provinces and the territories -- while very commendable from the health point -- have raised fears among the provincial Health Ministers that there will be a dramatic increase in young smokers and a decline in quitters now that the cost of cigarettes are lower. The fear may be well founded, based on the vast quantities of cigarettes that are coming back into Canada from the United States and elsewhere. If the news can be believed, Madam Speaker, there is a much higher cigarette production occurring now in Canada. Someone has to be smoking those cigarettes.

The stand against the lowering of the tax, however, can be likened to the little Dutch boy that stuck his thumb into the dyke and saved the country from flooding. It may well be that there are not enough thumbs left and even then, I fear that the flood will breach the dam before summer is out and that the smugglers will again win and the health of our people will lose. As a matter of fact, we will all lose if that happens.

So congratulations, Minister of Health.

---Applause

The Speaker

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

Construction Of Wharf In Lake Harbour
Item 3: Members' Statements

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Kenoayoak Pudlat Baffin South

(Translation) Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, the community of Lake Harbour has been asking the Government of the Northwest Territories, for many years, to construct a wharf in Lake Harbour. The harbour is very heavily used by local hunters during the summer and fall. Each year it seems there is at least one boat that capsizes in the harbour due to high winds.

The harbour is also affected by very strong currents due to some of the highest tides in the world. The community has instructed me to pursue this matter with the government. I will be asking the Minister of Transportation about what specific future plans it has on constructing a wharf for Lake Harbour. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

---Applause

Construction Of Wharf In Lake Harbour
Item 3: Members' Statements

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The Speaker

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

Transportation Corridor For The North
Item 3: Members' Statements

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Brian Lewis Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Madam Speaker. The fact that the Izok Lake deposit is no longer on the agenda to be mined in the near future makes me think that people will now talk about no longer having a need for infrastructure, because one of the dreams of Yellowknifers was to have a road that would eventually go to Izok Lake and then to the coast. Many people in Yellowknife, in the mining community, knew as much as a year ago, Madam Speaker, that there were many deposits in the world that could be mined a lot cheaper than the one at Izok Lake. There was some degree of scepticism that this project would proceed, only to find out that the road to Yellowknife and beyond, along the Ingraham Trail was built at a time when there was a vision of a road to resources. I was very happy this summer when Mr. Todd asked us to contribute to a revision of his transportation strategy. Yellowknife MLAs agreed that one priority that would certainly deserve to be considered and included in this strategy was a continuation of that trail to McKay Lake, which is in the vicinity of many deposits, approximate to the diamond fields and would be an advantage to our economy and to an eventual transportation corridor for the north.

So, Madam Speaker, it remains a priority for Yellowknifers to have a corridor which would make those resources around the Lac de Gras area more accessible so other places in the Northwest Territories could take some economic advantage of that development. Thank you very much.

---Applause

Transportation Corridor For The North
Item 3: Members' Statements

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The Speaker

Thank you. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Aivilik, Mr. Arvaluk.

James Arvaluk Aivilik

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I would like to first congratulate the Coral Harbour senior men's hockey team for coming in second place in the territorial trials.

---Applause

Considering the fact that they have only had an arena for a few years, they have certainly excelled in that short time. I must say, Madam Speaker, I am very proud of them. Unfortunately, not one of these players from the Coral Harbour team were selected for the senior men's hockey team...

Some Hon. Members

Nay, nay.

James Arvaluk Aivilik

...to represent the NWT at the Arctic Winter Games at Slave Lake, Alberta, next week. In fact, not one player from the Keewatin region was selected for this team.

Some Hon. Members

Nay, nay.

James Arvaluk Aivilik

A lone player from Iqaluit represents the Nunavut area and the territorial team, as indicated in the Arctic Winter Games calendar. The NWT team is made up of six players from the Yellowknife team, which placed first in the trials. I am informed that, according to guidelines for team selection in hockey, there is room for approximately 16 players. Obviously, there is some discretion for the selection of players from these teams which did not place first. It makes me wonder why there was not one player selected from the Coral Harbour team.

Madam Speaker, the Arctic Winter Games were started in the early 1970s as an alternative to national competition for circumpolar athletes, an opportunity to make friends and have fun in the atmosphere of good sportsmanship at somewhat less pressure than that of national competitions. I would like to remind the organizers of the Arctic Winter Games that they have to keep in mind that the spirit and intent of these games -- part of which is to represent all residents of the NWT and, in my view, the spirit and intent of the games -- were not followed when many of the players from the team that came in second place were not selected for the territorial team. I will be pursuing this matter with the Minister responsible...(Microphone turned off)...during question period.

---Applause

The Speaker

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

Mineral Exploration And Development In The Nwt
Item 3: Members' Statements

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Samuel Gargan Deh Cho

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Much of the focus in the last few months has been on mineral exploration and development in the Northwest Territories. Everyone is concerned about getting their fair share of the pie. The territorial government is concerned that the mineral royalty money will go to the federal coffers. Everyone is concerned that there will not be economic opportunities for northerners

.

Native organizations are concerned about the environment and how mineral exploration will affect land claims negotiations.

None of us -- aboriginal or white northerners -- can afford to miss these opportunities. But on the other hand, Madam Speaker, we cannot run bluntly into mineral development agreements.

Madam Speaker, in Australia's Northern Territory, there have been some fantastic joint venture agreements between mining companies and aborigines. In return for a percentage of the company and the profits, aborigines work hand in hand with developers to bring new economic opportunities to their regions. Having a percentage of the company gives them some control in the direction that the company takes. This control is essential. It gives the aborigines a say in what happens, a voice that minimizes the environmental impact of projects and ensures that aborigines reap the economic benefits.

Madam Speaker, in my own region over the past few months, we have been in negotiation with oil and gas companies over exploration and development in the Cameron Hills. These companies have taken a step to involve us in the process, and that is appreciated. However, Madam Speaker, I somehow get the impression that the reasons these negotiations haven't progressed is that DIAND has chosen to ignore these companies that have made an attempt to involve the Dene and Metis in the process. We must become owners and partners like the aborigines in northern Australia to make our involvement in non-renewable resources development legitimate, as we, as people, must have the power to make decisions that affect future generations participating in resource development. Madam Speaker, I would like to get unanimous consent to continue my statement.

Mineral Exploration And Development In The Nwt
Item 3: Members' Statements

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The Speaker

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

Mineral Exploration And Development In The Nwt
Item 3: Members' Statements

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Samuel Gargan Deh Cho

Madam Speaker, token payments for the use of Dene lands and a few unskilled labour jobs are no longer enough. These concessions are nothing more than a modern version of glass beads. We must have the opportunity to participate. This participation, Madam Speaker, does not mean that we will forget our first responsibility to the environment. A lot of us have concerns about open-pit mining and its effect upon the land. These minerals are not going to go anywhere. Trading the environment off for short-term economic gains is not acceptable. We must know what is going on for our sake and that of our next generation. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

---Applause

Mineral Exploration And Development In The Nwt
Item 3: Members' Statements

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The Speaker

Thank you. Members' statements. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Antoine.

Additional Financial Assistance For Tep Students
Item 3: Members' Statements

February 21st, 1994

Page 278

Jim Antoine Nahendeh

Mahsi, Madam Speaker. Today I would like to express my concern with regard to the educational post-secondary incentive, consolidated and emergency loans. This has to do with the amendment to the policy that happened last year. It gives additional funds to students in the north who are attending the teacher education program at Arctic College.

We have some students in the south -- specifically in the University of Saskatchewan -- who are working towards obtaining their Bachelor of Education degrees. This policy does not apply to them. There is a feeling here that they are discriminated against.

The idea for this policy is to try to achieve 50 per cent of all teachers in the north to be northern or aboriginal by the year 2000, which is a good policy, Madam Speaker, and I totally support it. However, the aim of this policy is misdirected by applying it only to students who are attending Arctic College. In Arctic College, if we develop teachers, they receive a certificate, but at a university, there are northern students, specifically aboriginal students, who are trying to obtain Bachelor of Education degrees and the focus should also be placed on them. It is a lot of work to go back to school, in Arctic College, and especially in universities where you have to be able to do exceptionally well in your studies to obtain that degree after four years.

I would like to say that this Department of Education incentive policy should be aimed at the development of teachers, whether they receive a certificate at Arctic College or a Bachelor of Education degree at a university in the south, such as the University of Saskatchewan. Mahsi, Madam Speaker.

---Applause

Additional Financial Assistance For Tep Students
Item 3: Members' Statements

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The Speaker

Thank you. Members' statements. Item 4, returns to oral questions. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Kakfwi.