Oh God, may Your spirit and guidance be in us as we work for the benefit of all our people, for peace and justice in our land and for constant recognition of the dignity and aspirations of those whom we serve. Amen.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Please be seated. Good afternoon. Item 2, Ministers' statements. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and good afternoon. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to announce that the government has decided to roll back the fuel price increase in the 16 communities served by the petroleum products division.

-- Applause

The division's mandate is to provide a secure supply of fuel products in communities where no private company sells fuel. Typically these communities are isolated and only accessible by barge and winter road.

We try to provide fuel on a break-even basis. Costs are recovered through the price charged for fuel. Last summer's fuel prices were higher than the previous year. This increase prompted the government to raise prices in communities by 4.5 cents per litre.

Mr. Speaker, the government made the decision to raise prices last December, but implemented the increase effective February 1, 2002, to avoid increasing people's costs during the Christmas season.

In January, however, the petroleum products division tendered for supply and delivery of petroleum products to communities on the winter road system. Prices received for this resupply reflect the current market price for fuel and are substantially lower than those of last summer. In recognition of these lower prices and in response to discussions with concerned communities and Members of the Assembly, the government took a second look at the situation and agreed to rescind the scheduled increase.

The communities that we serve are small and isolated. The cost of providing fuel is much higher compared to communities located on our highway system. In recognition of this, we will not be increasing fuel prices at this time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Minister Steen. Item 2, Ministers' statements. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as outlined by the Minister of Finance yesterday during the Budget Address, this government plans to reinvest $1.5 million into income support programs. I wanted to take some time today and review some of the details of the reinvestment.

Let me start by thanking the Standing Committee on Social Programs...

-- Applause

...for their recommendations on reinvesting this money. Based on our discussions with them, the following areas have been identified.

Increased economic activity throughout the NWT has made it increasingly difficult for single persons to find affordable housing. In response to this, we plan on increasing the single accommodation benefit by 50 percent, bringing the total amount to $750 per month. This will bring the benefit more in line with actual shelter costs while encouraging accommodation sharing and workforce participation.

A second area is the food benefit rate. It is our plan to increase the NWT food benefit rate by $580,000. This represents a 13 percent increase over previous years and provides assistance to those clients that need it the most.

Mr. Speaker, we will increase the disability allowance currently offered to low income, permanently disabled Northerners. The plan is to increase the overall monthly benefit by 33 percent from $225 to $300.

Finally, we plan on investing an additional $100,000 into the seniors' home heating subsidy. The intent of this reinvestment is to increase the income thresholds and thereby allow more seniors and elders in the NWT to become eligible for this popular program. In addition, it is the government's plan to adjust the amount of subsidy on a regional basis, taking into account regional differences of heating seasons.

Mr. Speaker, the changes envisioned here are designed to increase the basic level of assistance provided to low-income Northerners. Through this new investment, the government is sending a clear message that all Northerners will share in the NWT's current prosperity. In addition, we move one step closer towards balancing development and social impacts as envisioned in Towards A Better Tomorrow. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Item 2, Ministers' statements. The honourable Minister for Health, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On November 5, 2001, I made a commitment to the Assembly and the people of the NWT to have an action plan within 90 days, mapping out the actions necessary to implement reform of the health and social services system. The Health and Social Services Action Plan 2002-2005 was publicly released on January 16, 2002. Later today, I will be tabling the action plan that we are implementing to make sure that our health and social services continue to meet the needs of all Northerners now and in the future.

The action plan is based on the principles outlined in the department's strategic plan issued in 1998 and reflects the many reports, consultations and studies done over the past eight years. The action plan draws from those studies and clearly outlines what we will do as a system to implement the changes and enhancements identified as important many times over the past decade.

The plan ensures service delivery and decision making are as close to the people being served as possible. At the same time, we clearly realize the need for coordination and cooperation through shared leadership at the territorial level.

Central to the action plan is the development of a Joint Leadership Council comprised of the chairs of each health and social services authority, the deputy minister and myself to serve as stewards of the health and social services system. In our consensus system, this type of shared leadership and planning is critical. It will enable us to provide the clearest direction to the system we are responsible for and realize economies of scale in the many critical areas of health and social services that affect us all.

The action plan has 45 actions contained within five broad strategies to address these issues and develop a sustainable and healthy system:

• • improved services to people -- which recognizes our primary obligations to provide quality service to individuals and families;
• • improved support to staff;
• • improved system-wide management;
• • improved support to trustees;
• • improved system-wide accountability.

Since the action plan was completed ahead of schedule, we have been able to begin working very aggressively to implement the actions outlined in the plan in the five weeks since the plan was released.

• • The Joint Leadership Council has met to begin to prioritize and address the issues of system-wide coordination and collaboration, with the issue of recruitment and retention of staff being identified as the number one priority.
• • Authority and departmental staff have been working together extensively to develop implementation plans for each of the actions.
• • I have continued to meet with professional organizations to get their feedback and advice as to how to proceed with the action plan and how they may be directly involved.
• • I have met with the Hay River Community Health Board staff, and a working group has been established to address their concerns and interests related to the transition to becoming GNWT employees.
• • I have met with the leadership, community members and staff in Fort Resolution and Lutselk'e, and working groups have been established to develop plans to improve support and enhance services for the residents of these two communities.

This plan, for which we will be accountable on an ongoing basis, lays out a plan of action over the next three years with aggressive implementation time lines. Through this plan, it is our intention to make the long-term sustainability of our system a reality. I am committed to report on progress to this Assembly and to the public. I plan to bring forward updates on a regular basis to ensure that we are all aware of the status and the results of each action.

Since I became Minister, I have placed a priority on meeting with health and social services authorities, community leaders and professional associations to discuss how best to proceed. I really appreciate the response from those with whom I have met. They have provided excellent advice and I have committed to continue meeting and consulting with them as we move forward to implement the plan.

I would like to thank the Joint Leadership Council for their support in the development of this plan, members of the Standing Committee on Social Programs for their feedback, and professional associations and health and social services staff for their expertise and input.

In closing, I would like to say that I believe we have learned a valuable lesson over the past eight years of studying and consulting. That lesson for me is that we have a tremendous system of health and social service delivery across the North. It needs constant care, attention and renewal on an ongoing basis. What is being proposed here today will allow us to improve our system of service delivery for the people of the North in just that way. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Item 2, Ministers' statements. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As we begin this budget session, I wish to bring the government's attention to an opportunity for long-term savings through our capital construction program. People in the North are particularly concerned about energy and the environment. There is a need in the Northwest Territories for our own energy strategy. We know, as noted by the Minister of Finance in his budget address yesterday, that we will be seeing a strategy put forward by next summer.

Mr. Speaker, there are actions we can take now to save energy and be more environmentally friendly. Our government has major capital construction projects planned and underway and I want to ask the government to act now in reaping energy savings. As a positive example of this, I learned that the young offender's facility under construction in Inuvik now will incorporate a solar wall in its construction. This is a good start but much more can be done.

Savings can be achieved through the use of proven renewable energy technology. Things like wind, mini-hydro and solar are technologies that do not just save money, Mr. Speaker, they also help cut greenhouse gas emissions. That is something that this government is committed to reducing.

I think we are shortsighted in our project planning criteria. This is because when we tend to plan for the budgets to build these facilities, we do not plan for their long-term operational costs. Here is where the up-front cost of putting in the technology, while it may be high, will have those financial and environmental paybacks in the future.

I think our policy should be that proven renewable energy technologies will be designed into all construction, Mr. Speaker, and I am calling for all of these technologies to be included in the original cost framework of facilities we are planning. I will be asking the Minister to make this a mandatory requirement on all of our future GNWT construction contracts.

This government can and should be demonstrating leadership in the use of renewable energy technology and capital construction programs. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, you may recall that some time ago, I referred to Yellowknife as a giant vacuum cleaner and that this government was the motor that drove it. As an update, Mr. Speaker, it appears that the vacuum cleaner may be in trouble. The main container is full to capacity and the exhaust is practically plugged. Now the government is being called upon to become the repairman.

Mr. Speaker, I am sure that all residents of the Northwest Territories have been inundated with the news reports of the housing crisis and the zero vacancy rates in Yellowknife. I am quite sure, Mr. Speaker, that some of this is the result of this government's focus on staffing existing and new positions at the headquarters here in Yellowknife.

Mr. Speaker, this government has stated many times that regional capacity building is high on its list of priorities. I am sure that my fellow colleagues from outside of Yellowknife would agree with me when I say that it is difficult to see any instances of this when so many government jobs are being posted in Yellowknife.

I speak not only of the territorial government, Mr. Speaker, but the federal government is guilty of this practice also. On February 6th, CBC Radio reported that the federal government says it will be at least three months before it knows how many civil servants to hire in response to the increasing activity in the oil and gas sector.

Mr. Speaker, the news report goes on to state that the positions include regulatory monitoring and technical experts, an oil and gas advisor and the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs stated that the first phase of this increase would mean under 20 jobs. If the Mackenzie Valley pipeline is approved, as many as 50 jobs could be eventually created.

The federal government has stated that they are considering Yellowknife as the location for these jobs. Mr. Speaker, this gives me cause for great concern. If the pipeline is built, it will not be built anywhere remotely close to Yellowknife. I can think of no reason whatsoever why these jobs would need to be located in Yellowknife, other than to bolster the already overgrown number of public sector jobs located here in Yellowknife.

Mr. Speaker, I cannot stress enough that we as a government should continue to do more to consider alternatives to have the vast majority of government jobs located in Yellowknife. If you speak to anyone in the regions outside of Yellowknife, Mr. Speaker, the public perception is that the headquarters of government departments in Yellowknife are far too top-heavy.

Mr. Speaker, I intend to continue to fully address this issue with my colleagues. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Delorey. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Nitah.

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

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, recently the government announced that the NWT Housing Corporation would receive additional funding from the federal government to spend over the next five years to increase the amount of affordable housing in the Northwest Territories. In the media interview, NWT Housing Corporation representative explained that some money has already been set aside for Yellowknife, Hay River and Inuvik, where it is determined housing difficulties are most notable.

Furthermore, the representative from the Housing Corporation stated that private market enterprise has been working to identify housing solutions in Yellowknife for many years and it would be unfair for a government agency to jump into the market at precisely the time when the private sector can develop opportunities for expansion.

Mr. Speaker, this new funding should focus on the smaller or non-market communities. Market forces such as supply and demand can take care of our larger centres because in those communities there is a large private sector. These regional centres could stand on their own, especially when it comes to development or more affordable housing.

Walk down the street here in Yellowknife, Mr. Speaker, and you can find a number of developers ready to build. In most of our smaller communities, this is not possible. There, we have a shortage of private industry, housing, infrastructure, financial as well as human resources. It is there we must devote most of our attention.

Mr. Speaker, decent, affordable homes have a major impact on the quality of our lives -- not only in terms of improving health and education achievement, but also in strengthening our communities for everyone. On February 15, 2002, our Prime Minister, in his speech at the Team Canada luncheon in Moscow, stated:

"We will continue to make strategic investments that contribute to building our long-term economic strength, building an advanced infrastructure of knowledge and skills for our people."

I suggest, Mr. Speaker, that in order to have that advanced infrastructure that the Prime Minister referred to, we must first begin with the basics. One of these basics is affordable housing -- affordable housing for all of our smaller communities in the North, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to speak on an issue that is important to many residents of the Northwest Territories. It is in the area of traditional knowledge.

Mr. Speaker, it has been a while since this government has endorsed the idea of traditional knowledge and started to incorporate so-called traditional knowledge into programs and services delivered by this government.

Mr. Speaker, it is important that we recognize the history of the peoples in the North and incorporate some of those teachings into today's schools and younger children, and incorporate some of those practices of the past that would make sense today.

Mr. Speaker, it is also a concern of mine that within traditional knowledge, or the heading of traditional knowledge, we are now incorporating traditions that are from outside the aboriginal peoples of the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, I speak in particular about the community of Inuvik, where I have heard from a number of constituents that in fact, traditional knowledge is now being practiced in the community and they are bringing new ideas to the people.

New to them because, Mr. Speaker, when you talk with parents and grandparents of the Inuvialuit and the groups in the northern part of the Northwest Territories, some of these practices are foreign to them. They are not part of the teachings they grew up with and were raised to understand. In fact, in some cases, it opens a whole realm of spirituality that is again foreign to their idea of what traditional knowledge is, or healing, as it is being called in some cases.

Mr. Speaker, it is important that we leave doors open to those involved in the healing process to make choices -- those who need the services to be able to access services, that they can understand and feel that they are being helped by.

Mr. Speaker, I am also concerned that -- and in fact, it has been said that new facilities going up in the Northwest Territories are being somewhat restrictive in the area of healing that might be provided.

Mr. Speaker, it is time that this government learns from the past and does not make the same mistakes of trying to put on something that sounds good but does not quite fit, but make everybody take the program.

I think, Mr. Speaker, as we enter into this session, it is something I will be paying attention to and have a number of questions for the appropriate Ministers. Thank you.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I too have a major concern with the Social Assistance Act, especially with the clawbacks for benefit agreements, and also socio-economic agreements and land claim agreements.

We have obligations in land claim agreements. We have treaties that have been in place for over 100 years in the Territories. These agreements, for a lot of people, have a lot of significance. Yet, Mr. Speaker, we as a government seem to have a double-edged sword here.

On one hand, we are telling aboriginal groups, aboriginal organizations to negotiate, settle your land claims, get your agreements in place, allow for development to take place through socio-economic benefit agreements.

Then on the other hand, we are taking back the same benefits that we are telling them to go get to help their people thrive and take advantage of those developments.

Mr. Speaker, this act allows for exemptions to take place. There are two clauses -- one refers to treaty payments and another clause refers to the value of any goods received in accordance with the provisions of the Inuvialuit final agreement and any other land claim agreement.

I would like to see, is there a possibility of making an exemption to allow for those other types of agreements, similar to land claim agreements, such as the socio-economic benefit agreements that are being signed? Those are agreements between First Nations governments. First Nations governments have tax exempt status. They had the right to provide programs and services like this government here.

Why are we penalizing the same people they represent in their communities and in their regions for receiving benefits? Mr. Speaker, I for one have a real problem trying to understand this government. On one hand, we are talking to the First Nations governments on negotiating a Northern Accord to ensure that we receive royalties from Ottawa. Is that the next pot that we are going to be clawing back? Go out there and get the royalties to the Northwest Territories so this government can claw it back?

Is this the practice that we are putting in place, the precedents that we are setting through this type of bad legislation? I feel that this government, this Ministry should make some attempts to allow us to see the legal opinion that was received by this government.

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. You may conclude your statement, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as we heard from the Minister, he has a legal opinion on this matter. If it is at a point where we are receiving legal opinions which are being kept in-house by Cabinet, not released to the Members here in the House or to First Nations governments to judge for themselves and review that legal opinion and see where there are problems or loopholes in that legal agreement, which could either resolve this issue or ensure we find ways of making this agreement so that it is workable. Right now, it is not workable. I will be asking the Minister responsible for income support questions on this matter. Thank you.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.