Orders of the day, Item 2, Ministers' statements. The honourable Minister responsible for Aboriginal Affairs, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Minister Antoine. Item 2, Ministers' statements. Item 3, Members' statements. Mr. Lafferty.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Déclaration des députés. Item 3 Members' statements. The honourable Member for Yellowknife South, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I rise to again make the case for the support of manufacturing in the North. I think it is a good time to be looking at this, considering our current review of the Business Incentive Policy. We know that the underlying philosophy behind BIP was to level the playing field between northern and southern businesses looking to do work in the North. I think it is obvious to all of us here that northern businesses provide both employment for Northerners and also make investments that stay here in the North, Mr. Speaker.

I know some people have asked why our government should be considering incentives for manufacturing or tourism, for example, when we have oil and gas or mining. I think it is important to realize that an additional job in mining is not the same as an additional job in tourism or manufacturing for a couple of reasons. The first reason, Mr. Speaker, is diversification. I think it is critical that we look to diversify our economy. We do not know what is going to happen with commodity prices and it makes a lot of sense not to have all our eggs in one basket and be too reliant on any sector in our economy.

The second is self-sufficiency, Mr. Speaker. We have to look to replace imports. We are not alone here. I think all countries strive to be self-sufficient. There are examples in the news continually. Some examples we may not agree with. In the United States, exploration for gas in Alaska is very controversial. They are looking to replace Saudi Arabian imports and I think this just highlights the fact that this is going on all over, Mr. Speaker. I think that if we can agree that diversification and self-sufficiency are important, then I think we have to agree that we need to support northern manufacturing, Mr. Speaker.

So now it is up to our government to work with the manufacturing sector to determine two things. Number one, what is our definition of northern manufactured products? We tend to think of things like auto manufacturing, but in the Northwest Territories, it can be anything from fibreglass power poles to tents and canvas bags or even clothing. I believe the Premier was sporting a moose hide vest made last week in the North. It was a beautiful vest and I believe even his mother did some value-added work in the form of embroidery on that vest. I have to say we were all very jealous of the vest on this side of the House, Mr. Speaker.

The second thing we have to ask is how we can best support our northern manufacturers. Can we do more than give preference on direct Government of the Northwest Territories contracts? What about employment subsidies or other tax credits? Mr. Speaker, I think it is very timely to consider this given that we are under...

Your time is up, Mr. Bell.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

Thank you. The honourable Member is seeking unanimous consent to conclude his statement. Are there any nays? There being no nays, Mr. Bell, you may continue.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think that northern manufacturing is very valuable, and I think it is very timely to be talking about this now considering our review of BIP underway. To ensure that we recognize the value of a diversified economy, I would like to urge all Members of this House to lobby the government for support for northern manufacturing. Thank you.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Hay River North, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address an area of great concern to many parents and educators in Hay River. Mr. Speaker, the issue I would like to address here today is the lack of a speech language pathologist for Hay River.

Hay River has been without a speech language pathologist since August of 2000. Mr. Speaker, I cannot stress enough that this time period is critical in the formative development of a child. Mr. Speaker, I think everyone in this House would agree with me that our children are our most valuable resource.

Mr. Speaker, prior to 1997, the delivery of speech language services was done through the Stanton Regional Hospital. At that time, the South Slave communities of Hay River, Hay River Dene Reserve, Enterprise, Kakisa, Fort Providence, Fort Resolution and Fort Smith only received a maximum of 30 days per year of service. In 1997, the Hay River Community Health Board initiated a speech language program. This program offered assessment and treatment services to the various South Slave communities. Mr. Speaker, there were a number of positive outcomes as a result of having a speech language pathologist. This program has dramatically improved the social and intellectual development of our children.

Mr. Speaker, the Hay River Community Health Board has determined that one speech language pathologist cannot handle the workload placed on them in servicing so many communities. Mr. Speaker, the normal caseload for a speech language pathologist is 35, and they can only adequately see 75 patients on a consultation level. Mr. Speaker, in the South Slave area, the case load was 191, of which five percent were adults and 95 percent were pre-school and school-aged children.

I submit to you, Mr. Speaker, that the demands placed on the speech language pathologist, coupled with the lack of funding, has led to the demise of the program in the South Slave region.

Mr. Speaker, at the proper time I will have further questions for the Minister responsible. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Delorey. Déclarations de députés. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak about the code of conduct that was announced in this House yesterday by the Honourable Joe Handley.

I would like to say that I believe that a code of conduct for our employees is a very good idea. I think that to codify the process for our employees so they understand what constitutes a conflict of interest and how they can avoid such a problem is a good idea. However, I would have to ask the question, did we get this one right?

Mr. Speaker, I believe the whole process started as a result of recommendations made by the Conflict of Interest Review Panel in April, 1999. The panel noted at that time that senior staff:

"Often have access to much of the same confidential information as Members of the Executive Council, and often have more information than other Members of the Legislative Assembly. Consequently, senior officials are often placed in situations akin to those that represent prohibited conduct for Ministers under the Act."

Mr. Speaker, the panel went on to say that there are some restrictions on senior staff. I quote again: "Many of these restrictions are policies which do not have the same legal force as legislation."

Obviously, Mr. Speaker, from that we would expect to see legislation, but I am afraid that all we get regarding deputy ministers in this code of conduct is paragraph 48, which really leaves everything just as it is right now. Mr. Speaker, in order to fully protect our most senior staff and to be seen to be protecting the public interest, we need legislation to be changed.

Mr. Speaker, the impetus for this code came from recommendations that we clarify the situation for our most senior staff. However, the code that we now have in front of us leaves things pretty much the same for deputies and creates a very detailed system for all employees. Again, it is a good idea to codify the situation, to wrap up all the rules in one place, but again, did we get it right? I do not know for sure, but I think maybe not.

I am concerned that perhaps our code does not make the grade. The administration of the code is too closely tied to the deputy ministers and to Cabinet. The contract for the ethics counsellor would be administered by the secretary to Cabinet.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

Thank you. The honourable Member is seeking unanimous consent to conclude his statement. Are there nays? There are no nays. Mr. Dent, you may continue.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker and honourable Members. Mr. Speaker, with the contract of the ethics counsellor being administered by the secretary to Cabinet, I think that this unfortunately leaves room for a perception problem. There is not enough separation from the deputies' table. The ethics counsellor prepares reports for deputy ministers.

I would like to remind members of government, Mr. Speaker, that the conflict panel report recommended legislation to protect whistleblowers, to ensure there were no reprisals in the work place that interfered with an employee's ethical obligation to report concerns about situations of conflict. Instead, again we have something that is covered only by a code under which an employee should report concerns about conflict to their deputy minister. How often will that happen if both employees work for the same deputy minister?

Mr. Speaker, a code does not accomplish the same thing as whistleblower legislation would. Mr. Speaker, our employees deserve independent advice on potential conflicts, and that means independent of government. Just as Members of this House can seek advice from an officer at arm's length from government, our employees deserve the same. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Déclarations de députés. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Thebacha, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I as well would like to speak briefly to the issue of this code of conduct that we received in this House yesterday.

I share the concerns raised by my colleague, Mr. Dent, that this has not quite done the job I think it was intended to. The idea in principle is a good one, but I have gone through this and to me it looks very onerous. As my colleague indicated, it was initially for senior staff, but it has also snared all the other employees in what could very possibly become an intrusive process. The degree of disclosure seems to be equivalent to what we have to go through as Members of this Legislature when you are just an ordinary employee of the government, and not under the same strictures or expectations.

It gives deputies tremendous authority to put employees on the spot, or to put them through a potential meat grinder. We assume they are going to do this all in good faith, but the possibility is there.

There are some very interesting references to the territorial political parties under the political activity section. There is a reference to an unregistered party functioning in the Territories to achieve political aims as one of the definitions of political parties. What does this mean? What groups could be ruled out under this definition? It is very ambiguous and is of concern to me.

I see no reference under deputy ministers or restricted employees to chief of staff, a subject that is still before this House in terms of what is acceptable behaviour for that level of position.

Mr. Speaker, I also took the liberty today of phoning the UNW to find out what they thought of this particular document. They said -- after they tracked their document down this morning -- that they do have concerns that they intend to address themselves, but they share some of the concerns about this. What does it do? The appeal process reports to the secretary to Cabinet, the Ethics Counsellor reports to the secretary to Cabinet. Justice will not be done, or be seen to be done, with that kind of closed, incestuous kind of relationship. It should be, as my colleague indicated, at arms-length so there is fairness to all employees. Thank you.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Members' statements. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, at this time I would like to send my congratulations out to the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, Inuvialuit Development Corporation, Akita Drilling and Petro Canada for the official opening of the first gas field drilling rig in the Mackenzie Delta since the early 1980s.

Mr. Speaker, it is a point in history for the Mackenzie Delta to be back in the oil and gas industry, which is now thriving in the Mackenzie Delta region. It has been quite some time since the residents of the Mackenzie Delta have waited for this day to happen. They look forward to the economic benefits and opportunities that will flow from the oil and gas sector in the Mackenzie Delta region along with the possible future pipeline down the Mackenzie Valley.

Mr. Speaker, we in the Mackenzie Delta and the Beaufort Sea region want to maximize the benefits, the economic opportunities and the jobs that can come from this development in our region, similar to other regions in the Northwest Territories, such as the ones for the diamond industry, where you can see that through planning, partnerships and development of economic sectors and looking at the secondary spin-offs that come from these developments, we have to look long term.

In order to look long term, we need to ensure we have the training capabilities in our regions and are taking advantage of the opportunities that come, ensuring we have adequate facilities in our region to take on this development, and also looking forward to the challenges ahead.

We as a government have to start doing more in regard to our responsibilities in the areas of the social and economic side. I am talking, Mr. Speaker, about training, ensuring the health and well-being of the people and residents of the Mackenzie Delta and the Beaufort Sea are met, and also to ensure that we have the resources to partake in the developments that are happening, and to maximize the benefits and the resources to stay in the regions and stay within the communities to assist us in improving our economies.

Mr. Speaker, I think it is also important to understand that there is also another development happening in our region in regard to the community of Tsiigehtchic, where Devlin Resources has concluded drilling one well and are now into the second phase of drilling the second well.

Mr. Krutko, your time for your Member's statement is concluded.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

Thank you. The honourable Member is seeking unanimous consent to conclude his statement. Are there any nays? There are no nays, Mr. Krutko. You may continue.