This is page numbers 157 - 202 of the Hansard for the 14th 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 communities.

Topics

Members Present

Honourable Roger Allen, Honourable Jim Antoine, Mr. Bell, Mr. Dent, Mrs. Groenewegen, Honourable Joe Handley, Honourable Stephen Kakfwi, Mr. Krutko, Mr. Lafferty, Ms. Lee, Mr. McLeod, Honourable Michael Miltenberger, Mr. Nitah, Honourable Jake Ootes, Honourable Vince Steen, Honourable Tony Whitford.

-- Prayer

Item 1: Prayer
Item 1: Prayer

Page 157

The Speaker

The Speaker Tony Whitford

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Please be seated. Good afternoon. Item 2, Ministers' statements. The honourable Minister responsible for Aboriginal Affairs, Mr. Antoine.

Jim Antoine Nahendeh

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on January 22, 2002, I had the pleasure of signing the Salt River First Nation Treaty Settlement Agreement on behalf of the Government of the Northwest Territories.

After several years of negotiations, a Treaty Land Entitlement Agreement has been reached that represents the fulfillment of Canada's obligations to Salt River First Nation, based on Treaty 8, which was signed over 100 years ago. Finalizing this agreement was a historic event for members of the Salt River First Nation. We expect that this agreement will go to the Treasury Board in March, after which it is expected Canada will give its final approval.

Mr. Speaker, this agreement will benefit not only the members of Salt River First Nation but also the residents of Fort Smith and the entire Northwest Territories.

Under the terms of the agreement, Canada will pay Salt River First Nation $83,180,000 over five years and provide 166 square miles of reserve land at 20 locations in the Northwest Territories and Wood Buffalo National Park. This will enable Salt River First Nation to improve the standard of living for their members and to provide business and employment opportunities in the future.

I would ask Members to join me in congratulating the members of the Salt River First Nation on this historic agreement. I would also like to take this opportunity to recognize the hard work of the negotiating teams representing the Salt River First Nation and Canada. It is also important to publicly recognize the hard work of our negotiating team led by chief negotiator, Mr. Hugh Richardson, and the many GNWT officials who contributed to the successful completion of this agreement.

Mr. Speaker, I am looking forward to participating in the ceremonial signing and celebration of the treaty settlement agreement in Fort Smith later this summer. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

The Speaker

The Speaker Tony Whitford

Mahsi, Mr. Antoine. Item 2, Ministers' statements. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Jake Ootes

Jake Ootes Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. During our last session, my honourable colleague, Michael Miltenberger, told us of the outstanding accomplishments of Richard Van Camp. Mr. Van Camp is an award-winning writer who has been recognized internationally for his outstanding talent and literary accomplishments. A proud member of the Dogrib Nation, he was born and raised in Fort Smith. He is currently working toward his master's degree in creative writing at the University of Victoria.

I am happy to tell you that Mr. Van Camp has graciously agreed to give up his reading week to visit schools and libraries throughout the NWT.

Mr. Speaker, the students who will have the opportunity to meet Mr. Van Camp are very lucky and we are fortunate that we can introduce our young people to Northerners like Mr. Van Camp, whose writing often reflects the lives of young Northerners with honesty and compassion. An excellent role model, Mr. Van Camp is a Northerner who is a shining example of personal and professional success. In addition to winning a major literary award in Germany last fall, Mr. Van Camp will represent Canada at the European Association of Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, next month.

Throughout the month of February, Mr. Van Camp will visit numerous NWT communities, including Norman Wells, Inuvik, Fort Simpson, Wekweti, Rae-Edzo and Yellowknife.

Mr. Speaker, this tour is a remarkable opportunity to encourage young Northerners to embrace literacy and develop a lifelong passion for reading and writing. Mr. Van Camp's tour will wrap up just prior to the beginning of Education Week, which begins March 4th. The theme for this year's Education Week is Changing Land, Changing Peoples. I am certain you will agree that young Northerners like Mr. Van Camp are at the vanguard of those changes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

The Speaker

The Speaker Tony Whitford

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Item 2, Ministers' statements. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Steen.

Minister's Statement 16-14(5): NWT Outstanding Volunteer Awards
Item 2: Ministers' Statements

February 25th, 2002

Page 158

Vince Steen

Vince Steen Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to provide Members with information on the 2002 NWT Outstanding Volunteer Awards Program.

Municipal and Community Affairs began the Outstanding Volunteer Awards Program in 1991. The awards program recognizes the important contribution that volunteers make to our communities and the whole NWT. Since 1991, awards have been presented to individuals and organizations nominated by the public for their volunteer work. By drawing attention to these volunteers, the awards also highlight the role that all NWT volunteers play.

I am pleased to announce that the NWT Power Corporation joined the department as the corporate sponsor for the awards program this past year. With the assistance of the Power Corporation, we have been able to improve promotion of the NWT Outstanding Volunteer Awards Program and expand the recognition all volunteers receive.

Mr. Speaker, helping our friends and neighbours is a way of life for Northerners. Sometimes we help out by volunteering with a group or organization. Often we help out in more informal ways. Some examples may include shoveling snow for a neighbour or sharing food from a hunt. The NWT Volunteer Awards Program presents awards in several categories to highlight the many different ways that people may volunteer. These include:

  • • Respected Elder Award
  • • High Five Youth Award
  • • Good Neighbour Award
  • • Outstanding Volunteer Award
  • • Board Member Award
  • • Outstanding Community/Regional/Territorial Organization Award

Mr. Speaker, I am also pleased to advise Members that the department will be introducing a special volunteer recognition program later this spring. This program will recognize fire fighters and their fire departments for their service and dedication to community safety. We plan to present the first fire fighter awards during Fire Safety Week in October. I will have more information on this program for Members this spring.

In closing, Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind Members that nominations for the 2002 NWT Outstanding Volunteer Awards close on February 28th. Awards will be presented in the categories I mentioned at the territorial level and in each region. I would like to invite all Members and their constituents to nominate a volunteer from their communities for an award. Nomination forms are available from MACA and Power Corporation offices. I will announce award recipients in April during National Volunteer Week, when we will also hold events to recognize all NWT volunteers. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

The Speaker

The Speaker Tony Whitford

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Item 2, Ministers' statements. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development, Mr. Antoine.

Jim Antoine Nahendeh

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to update Members on my recent meeting with Canada's Environment and Energy Ministers on the Kyoto Protocol. This protocol is important to the Northwest Territories because it is an international agreement to slow climate change and to control greenhouse gases.

The meeting provided an opportunity to review the economic analysis on what the effect ratification of the Kyoto Protocol may have on the Canadian economy. We also had the opportunity to provide further direction on the measures this economic analysis should focus on.

There will be costs if Canada reduces greenhouse gases to the Kyoto target. There will also be costs if Canada does not proceed. All federal, provincial and territorial Environment and Energy Ministers want to ensure that when Canada adopts the Kyoto Protocol, we develop the most economical plan to meet the targets.

Canada's Environment and Energy Ministers will meet again in late May to continue discussions on measures to control climate change and when Canada should ratify the Kyoto Protocol.

Mr. Speaker, all territories, provinces and the federal government agree that climate change is an issue that needs to be addressed. The question is how to proceed. For some, the cost of reducing greenhouse gases will be an investment in new energy efficient equipment for industry, transportation, heating and producing electricity. For others, the cost will be a decline in their industry. This is especially true for the coal or heavy oil industry, which will lose customers when they turn to cleaner fuels. Some regions and some industries could experience greater costs. Federal, provincial and territorial Environment and Energy Ministers have initiated discussions on how this burden can be shared equally.

Mr. Speaker, climate change remains a very serious concern to this government. Scientists predict that the warming we are now experiencing will increase because greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere are rising rapidly. For this reason, the Government of the Northwest Territories supports international actions to reduce emissions, including the Kyoto Protocol.

The NWT Greenhouse Gas Strategy should be finalized before the May meeting. We need to develop our own actions to control greenhouse gases and to ensure these actions make economic sense while meeting our needs. We need to work with the federal, provincial and territorial governments to ensure that Canada's plan will allow us to meet our needs in the future.

Mr. Speaker, it is very important that northern territorial Ministers attend these meetings and make our northern views known to federal and provincial Ministers. We are already experiencing greater changes in our environment and weather than the rest of the country. I will continue to work with my colleagues from the Yukon and Nunavut to remind Ministers in the rest of the country that climate change is a major environmental problem that Canada and the rest of the world must address. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

The Speaker

The Speaker Tony Whitford

Mahsi, Mr. Minister. Item 2, Ministers' statements. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Metis Health Benefits Program
Item 3: Members' Statements

Page 159

David Krutko

David Krutko Mackenzie Delta

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to talk about a subject that has been raised in this House before and is now coming to a head in regard to Metis health benefits, the program and its administration.

We received different calls from local presidents in our different communities and heard there is a concern. There is a move in hand to allow the South Slave Metis Council to take over and administer the Metis Health Benefit Programs.

Again, Mr. Speaker, we talk about our relationship with First Nations governments. Metis locals are First Nations governments and the whole process for consultation, involvement and ensuring that anything that this government does, it does in conjunction with the aboriginal leaders.

Mr. Speaker, the previous Minister of Health, Mrs. Groenewegen, through a letter she wrote on August 28th, made it clear to the Metis organizations that she was not going to move on this matter. In the letter, it clearly states:

Please be assured that the NWT Metis Council will also be consulted if any changes to the Metis Health Benefits Programs are to be considered.

Yet, Mr. Speaker, through the new Minister of Health and Social Services, he seems to be taking this thing full speed ahead and no consultation whatsoever with our Metis locals and Metis organizations. Now there is talk that the Minister may be out taking advantage of his new portfolio and being the Member for Thebacha and who basically wants to -- and who, through his electorate who put him in office to deliver on some of those commitments, knowing this has a detrimental threat to the Metis Nations up and down the valley.

We have had a Metis organization, which was the Metis Nation...

Metis Health Benefits Program
Item 3: Members' Statements

Page 159

The Speaker

The Speaker Tony Whitford

Mr. Krutko, we have a point of order. Whose point of order? The honourable Member for Thebacha, Mr. Miltenberger.

Point of Order

Metis Health Benefits Program
Item 3: Members' Statements

Page 159

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My colleague, Mr. Krutko, I believe is imputing false motive, which I think is unacceptable and completely erroneous, that I am somehow using my position to benefit my constituency directly. Thank you.

Metis Health Benefits Program
Item 3: Members' Statements

Page 159

The Speaker

The Speaker Tony Whitford

Thank you. The honourable Member for Thebacha rose on a point of order that comments made by the honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta may or may not have been out of parliamentary language. I will reserve judgment on that until I have had a chance to review the unedited Hansard.

I would just ask the honourable Members to observe and to follow the rules, your rules, in the House as far as language is concerned and inference of what is being said. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta still has 23 seconds left in his statement if he wishes to continue. Mr. Krutko.

Metis Health Benefits Program
Item 3: Members' Statements

Page 159

David Krutko

David Krutko Mackenzie Delta

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the whole discussion is on process. I think the lack of process, in which sometimes going full speed ahead, can cause us to have collisions. In this case, there is a collision occurring between the Metis locals and this Minister. The conduct of the Minister has had an affect on the Metis locals with the concern of a major benefit they receive...

Metis Health Benefits Program
Item 3: Members' Statements

Page 159

The Speaker

The Speaker Tony Whitford

Your time for your Member's statement has ended, Mr. Krutko. Mr. Krutko.

Metis Health Benefits Program
Item 3: Members' Statements

Page 159

David Krutko

David Krutko Mackenzie Delta

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

Metis Health Benefits Program
Item 3: Members' Statements

Page 159

The Speaker

The Speaker Tony Whitford

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 conclude your statement.

Metis Health Benefits Program
Item 3: Members' Statements

Page 159

David Krutko

David Krutko Mackenzie Delta

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Metis health benefit program is very important to all Metis locals, especially the ones I represent. Up and down the valley, we cannot simply allow for one Metis organization to take over a program that includes all Metis up and down the Mackenzie Valley. I for one, Mr. Speaker, will be asking the Minister questions on this matter, knowing that his predecessor, in a letter that I have and will table in this House later, is to the contrary of what he is doing. Thank you.

-- Applause

Metis Health Benefits Program
Item 3: Members' Statements

Page 159

The Speaker

The Speaker Tony Whitford

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Mr. Dent.

Homelessness Coalition
Item 3: Members' Statements

Page 159

Charles Dent

Charles Dent Frame Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on February 11th, the Member of Parliament for the Northwest Territories, Ethel Blondin-Andrew, Minister responsible for Youth, was in Yellowknife to formally celebrate the signing of an agreement between the Homelessness Coalition and the federal government, which makes more than $790,000 available for projects aimed at the homeless. This is truly timely.

I would like to extend my congratulations to the Homelessness Coalition, which is now a partnership of more than 15 agencies, both non-government and government, on how they have moved the strategy along. This is only because of unprecedented cooperation among the non-government agencies in particular.

Our Member of Parliament commented on the partnership and reinforced that this organization is so effective because of the nature of their partnership. It is working effectively to address a problem that reaches across the mandate of all agencies involved.

Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories made a welcome move by agreeing to have the NWT Housing Corporation formally join the coalition. Having a senior official participate has been very helpful.

With the funding now in place, the coalition is now looking for a community housing coordinator. They will soon be ready to review proposals and put the money to work helping the homeless.

Mr. Speaker, homelessness remains a critical issue. The YWCA of Yellowknife currently operates the only transitional housing for families in Yellowknife and those 20 units are always full. There is a waiting list so homeless families are being turned away.

Mr. Speaker, one of the first initiatives that the coalition will undertake will see two coalition partners taking over houses that will be renovated and used for transitional housing to help people progress into the wage economy.

Mr. Speaker, in a Member's statement in a previous session, I asked Premier Kakfwi to appoint a Minister responsible for homelessness. In response to questions that day, he said he would commit to giving us a response before this session of the House began. I recognize that the Premier was travelling with Team Canada before this session and has been away for a while so he missed the opportunity to follow through on that promise.

Mr. Speaker, given the growing number of homeless people in the North, I hope he will commit today to name a Member of Cabinet responsible for the issue of homelessness. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will be following up on this issue in question period.

-- Applause

Homelessness Coalition
Item 3: Members' Statements

Page 160

The Speaker

The Speaker Tony Whitford

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

Resource Development Compensation For Harvesters
Item 3: Members' Statements

Page 160

Michael McLeod

Michael McLeod Deh Cho

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my statement today concerns consultation between resource development companies and communities and a role that this government plays in ensuring that traditional harvesters are adequately compensated for lost income.

Mr. Speaker, on December 3, 2001, the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board issued a report on the Cameron Hills gathering system of pipeline development as proposed by Paramount Resources Limited. Several of the conclusions of the report were directly linked in some way to the role of the GNWT. In addition to the environmental issues, the board also made comment upon several socio-economic matters, such as the development of a benefit plan and the usage of traditional knowledge in the project.

Item number 13 in the measures recommended by the review board recommends:

INAC ensures that Paramount discusses its proposed compensation plan for the affected communities and the GNWT. Paramount should widen the scope of the proposed benefits plan to ensure that reasonable and credible land and resource impacts caused by the development and identified by communities are eligible for compensation.

However, in the main body of its report, the review board noted that the GNWT does not have any resource harvesting compensation policy.

The review board pointed out that in the absence of any policy, regulation or requirement for compensation framework by either the territorial or federal government, the developer has no legal obligation to enter into such negotiations.

Mr. Speaker, the statement of principles upon which INAC bases its approval for benefits plans for first applicable territorial policies in respect of compensation. INAC obviously assumed that there would be some in place when they drafted their benefit plan criteria. Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, there is no such territorial government policy in place.

The review board is actually recommending that INAC remove this reference to territorial policies until such time as this government decides that there should be some.

Mr. Speaker, I find this to be a significant and disturbing gap in the GNWT regulations. This government must ensure that harvesting rights and traditional land users are treated fairly. What type of message is this lack of policy...

Resource Development Compensation For Harvesters
Item 3: Members' Statements

Page 160

The Speaker

The Speaker Tony Whitford

Mr. McLeod, the time for your Member's statement has ended. Mr. McLeod.