This is page numbers 929 - 964 of the Hansard for the 14th 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 communities.

Topics

Concerns With The NWT Sport And Recreation Board
Item 3: Members' Statements

Page 934

Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this could be a direct result of the proposed implementation of a new sports and recreation board. Mr. Speaker, another argument that I have heard in favour of a new board is the impression that smaller communities are under-represented on territorial sports bodies. I am aware that Sport North is comprised of 27 territorial sports organizations and their membership is representative of all people in all of the various communities. Mr. Speaker, if communities are not represented I would suggest that maybe certain communities are not producing enough volunteers. Mr. Speaker, a new sports and recreation board will not change that fact. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Concerns With The NWT Sport And Recreation Board
Item 3: Members' Statements

Page 934

The Speaker

The Speaker Tony Whitford

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

Property Taxes Levied On First Nations Peoples
Item 3: Members' Statements

Page 934

Michael McLeod

Michael McLeod Deh Cho

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have a serious issue in the communities with respect to the property taxes being levied against aboriginal peoples and the negative impact it is causing to those First Nations people who are refusing to pay. Mr. Speaker, many of these First Nations people are refusing to pay because of the fact that land ownership is in question on non-settled claim areas. As we are all aware, the Government of Canada recognizes and acknowledges that First Nations people have rights distinct from the non-aboriginal population of this country. This is confirmed through various historical treaties signed by Canada through the land claims agreements entered into and through Section 35 of the Constitution which provides protection of treaty rights.

Mr. Speaker, although the federal government recognizes First Nations rights, there is continued disagreement on what those rights are. Taxation is one of them. What I am attempting to convey here is that many First Nations people residing in the communities are being forced into making a decision on whether or not to exercise their rights as a First Nations person. These very people are being forced into a very difficult situation while at the same time trying to earn a living in order to provide for life's necessities. They have to decide to exercise the rights of the First Nations people such as not paying property taxes. They are then penalized and stopped from accessing various government programs.

Mr. Speaker, with ongoing negotiations between the federal government and First Nations, which include negotiations with respect to land ownership and taxation matters, this government should consider the position of those First Nations people. We must keep in mind that significant agreements have been signed by the Deh Cho, such as the interim land withdrawal and interim resource management agreement, and such agreements are taken seriously by First Nations and viewed as an important step towards resolving outstanding issues within Canada.

Mr. Speaker, considering the complexity of issues facing First Nations people in our communities, I would recommend that this government consider a moratorium on the imposition of property taxes until such issues between First Nations and Canada are finalized or, as an alternative, set aside in trust, any property taxes paid until issues are dealt with. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Property Taxes Levied On First Nations Peoples
Item 3: Members' Statements

Page 934

The Speaker

The Speaker Tony Whitford

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

Official Languages Act Review
Item 3: Members' Statements

Page 935

Steven Nitah Tu Nedhe

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wonder sometimes where this government gets its direction. We spent $1.2 million on an Official Languages Act review. The taxpayers of this territory and this country paid for it. One of the things we found out is that the Government of the Northwest Territories has failed and continues to fail in the implementation and meaning of the Official Languages Act of the Northwest Territories. As far as I am concerned, the amendments to the new act that they are going to be introducing are not worth the paper they are written on. What they are doing is crossing the t's and dotting the i's: capitalizing territorial government, Premier or other wording; identifying the Minister responsible who has apparently been the Minister responsible for years and years. There is no accountability of the Department of Health and Social Services to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. There is no accountability of the Department of Justice to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment when he is responsible for the Official Languages Act.

The people of the Northwest Territories put great faith in the special committee when we went to almost every community, met with every regional aboriginal government, met with the francophone communities. We made some solid recommendations, 65 recommendations with a management plan and a budget for implementation so that we could make it as easy as possible for this government to introduce this. What they have introduced, Mr. Speaker, is not worth the paper it is written on, as far as I am concerned.

We are losing aboriginal languages, we are losing our languages at one percent a year in some regions. As far north as the Inuvialuit, Inuinnaqtun and the Gwich'in languages they are losing faster than that. But there is the political and social will in those communities to reinvest their time, energy and knowledge in listening so the languages can be brought back to be used in the communities, in their homes, in the educational system. This goes nowhere near helping these individuals, these political organizations, these cultural organizations and these language communities to do so.

How can we, with a straight face, go to Ottawa and say, devolve responsibility of this government, when we are failing miserably in implementing one act that we agreed to take on, Mr. Speaker? How could I have faith in this government when they do not even listen to their own constituents? Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement. Thank you.

Official Languages Act Review
Item 3: Members' Statements

Page 935

The Speaker

The Speaker Tony Whitford

Thank you. The honourable Member is seeking unanimous consent to conclude his Member's statement. Are there any nays? There are no nays. Mr. Nitah, you may conclude your statement.

Official Languages Act Review
Item 3: Members' Statements

Page 935

Steven Nitah Tu Nedhe

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when I chaired this special committee -- this special committee that is no longer there, we dissolved the committee when we finalized and submitted a report in this House -- we told community members that we will fight for their language rights. At the same time I said that they have to fight for their rights, as well, if the government is not willing to introduce legislation or an act that amends and incorporates all the recommendations; all very reasonable recommendations, Mr. Speaker. Nothing about those recommendations was unreasonable.

I know for a fact there has been some political interference from the Languages Commissioner. I have seen the letters. But, Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the people of the Northwest Territories at this point to let their MLAs and to let this government know that you are serious about your language, that you need help from this government in preserving and revitalizing your language. Do not let this government get away. Just do not depend on this side of the House to do that for you because, at the end of the day, the strongest point in that report was that we all have to work together to revitalize the languages. If the Dogrib languages go, that is it. With this territory that is it. That is the only language base of that language group. Same with the Inuinnaqtun. Same with North Slavey. Same with South Slavey. The Gwich'in.

Languages are important to express our world view, and under the administration of the Official Languages Act this government agreed to work with the aboriginal languages communities to preserve their languages, to make it a working language. Through the last 10 years of our review we have demonstrated that every department has failed in that responsibility. Languages have been lost by about 20 percent over the last 10 years under this government's administration of the Official Languages Act.

When you just cross the t's and dot the i's and say that is an amendment to the Official Languages Act, I think that is a pretty poor response by government to a $1.2 million report that a lot of people put a lot of hard work and faith into. As far as I am concerned, this government failed at the official languages and the language community of the Northwest Territories. I would like to ask the people of the Northwest Territories to make this government aware of your disapproval of this reaction of government to the report. Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Official Languages Act Review
Item 3: Members' Statements

Page 935

The Speaker

The Speaker Tony Whitford

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

David Krutko

David Krutko Mackenzie Delta

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in light of all the development out there on the pipeline, oil and gas, mining and the diamond industry, one of the biggest challenges that we face in our communities is to ensure that we have the capacity to take advantage of these business opportunities by ensuring that the majority of the wealth that comes from these projects and activities arrives at the doors of the small communities. Mr. Speaker, the Norman Wells oilfield is a good example of what we have seen happen in the past. There is a pipeline which runs from Norman Wells to Zama, Alberta. Mr. Speaker, there are 33,000 barrels of oil flowing through that pipe every day, in excess of $300 million a year. Yet, Mr. Speaker, few benefits have flowed from that pipeline to the people of the Northwest Territories. It is the federal government that benefits most.

I feel that when we talk of a pipeline down the Mackenzie Valley, we cannot use the excuse that we are not ready. We as a government have a responsibility to ensure that we assist in building capacity in our communities through education and skills training programs, and that the communities are involved in the flood of information and land use permits and activities that are happening around them. What we find in the small communities is they do not even have the capacity to take on the meaningful role of hiring enough people in their offices to look at land use permits. We must respond to the environmental challenges that are out there and build the human resources to ensure that the jobs that will come from this major development are going to be filled with people from the Northwest Territories and not elsewhere.

I know that a lot of people, especially in my riding, would like to work in the diamond mines during the months of the year when there are no activities in the Mackenzie Delta/Beaufort Sea area, but because of social and economic agreements with other parties there is a reluctance to hire people from the North. Instead we are importing people from the south to fill those positions, even though people in the North who want to go to work elsewhere...

The Speaker

The Speaker Tony Whitford

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

David Krutko

David Krutko Mackenzie Delta

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

The Speaker

The Speaker Tony Whitford

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

David Krutko

David Krutko Mackenzie Delta

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues. Mr. Speaker, one of the biggest challenges we face in our communities is the cost of transportation from our remote communities to where the activities and developments are taking place so that we can get people from the workplace back to their homes and ensure that we as a government are able to assist there. One thing that I am very annoyed about is that this government seems to be off there talking with people in Ottawa, talking to the provincial leaders. But when it comes down to the people in our communities they are the ones that at the end of the day are going to feel the social and economic impacts that come with this. Where are they in this picture? For some reason, in talking to people in the communities I have heard that they feel they are being left out. These decisions are made at the top and whatever decision is going to be made, the people at the bottom will be the ones impacted.

I think as a government we have a responsibility to ensure that we maximize the benefits of these major developments. We have to do more to ensure that the residents of the Northwest Territories and people in our small communities are a part of it.

With that, I will be asking the Minister of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development questions on this matter later. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Tony Whitford

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

Alcohol And Drug Treatment In The Dogrib Region
Item 3: Members' Statements

Page 936

Leon Lafferty North Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. One of my first actions in this legislature was to table a petition asking for alcohol and drug treatment services in the Dogrib region. The petition contained over 600 signatures. I have continued to bring up this issue for over three years. Throughout the North addictions are known as the number one social problem. Mr. Bell pointed out in his statement on Friday that here in Yellowknife 90 percent of the RCMP workload on call-outs is alcohol related.

Mr. Speaker, Yellowknife has been called a magnet community because many people from the communities are relocating here in hope of finding work or homes, as there is little to none in some of the communities.

The high cost of living and lack of affordable housing is creating a growing group of people who are either homeless or highly stressed because of the difficulty in finding accommodations. This is not a healthy situation, Mr. Speaker. As well, it is not unusual for people who have left the communities to attend a 28-day treatment program, to wind up on the streets because there are no support programs or structures in place in the communities.

Despite clear signals that addictions are our most chronic and prevalent social problem, the government's response has been at best minimal. There is still little to no funding. But as we see, this does not make the problem or the need to address it go away.

Mr. Speaker, the problem is growing. Hard drugs, such as crack cocaine, are becoming easier to access than pot. I've also heard tragic stories of youth addiction and of marriages being destroyed. I know that there are people who say that addicts have to take responsibility for their own actions. I agree. But I also think that as a government we need to ensure that services are available for people who want to address their addictions and create a healthy life.

---Applause

Mr. Speaker, I will have questions on this matter.

---Applause

Alcohol And Drug Treatment In The Dogrib Region
Item 3: Members' Statements

Page 936

The Speaker

The Speaker Tony Whitford

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

Brendan Bell

Brendan Bell Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Now that hockey season has once again come and gone, I wanted to take this opportunity to recognize the efforts of a group of volunteers here in Yellowknife. Each year, the Yellowknife Oldtimer Hockey Association hosts a tournament called the Canadian North Balsillie Cup. The tournament is held here in town and it's starting to be considered one of the North's premier sporting events. This year's, Mr. Speaker, was one of the largest ever. I think there were 21 teams that came to participate, and 11 of the teams came from such far away points as Iqaluit and Inuvik. I understand, Mr. Speaker, our own -- I believe he's a defenseman -- our own flying defenseman Floyd Roland participated in the tournament for one of the Inuvik teams.

---Applause

---Interjection

Brendan Bell

Brendan Bell Yellowknife South

That's right, good Members. It is almost a month later, Mr. Speaker, and I think he's now just starting to recover from all the ice time.

---Laughter

Mr. Speaker, I'd like to commend a major sponsor of this event -- Canadian North -- and there were another 40 local businesses that contributed toward the tournament either through money, promotional material, equipment or other prizes. A major reason, as I said, for the success of this tournament is the countless hours of work the volunteers put in and dedicate to this fine event.

So I'd like to take this opportunity, Mr. Speaker, to thank the many sponsors and the volunteers for supporting the tournament and making it the successful event that it has become. Thank you.

---Applause

The Speaker

The Speaker Tony Whitford

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Ms. Lee.

Sandy Lee

Sandy Lee Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yesterday I spoke about the urgent need to bring the government and the specialists' negotiators back to the negotiating table. Today I would like to speak about the cost of not settling this issue, and the important obligation of this government and this legislature to closely examine and understand the overall cost.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate that the salary figures floating around are so big it's beyond what ordinary folk can comprehend. If anyone goes to the Web site on health information -- www.hisa.com -- we see a range of salary figures for specialists across the country in any given field, and in it we can find something as low as $10,000 or over $1 million a year. It only speaks to the complexity of this issue.

While this might make an interesting debate outside, I believe we have to do more of an in-depth cost benefit analysis in this House. Mr. Speaker, in the end, if we as a legislature decide that we no longer can afford specialist services north of 60, I'm prepared to accept the will of the House. But, Mr. Speaker, in order to get there, we need to have a lot more information, and my constituents want more information as well, Mr. Speaker, because so far the math doesn't look very good.

For example, we need to know how much we expect to pay for the locums we'll have up here to fill in for specialists, how much for flying patients from all of the NWT to south of 60 instead of to Yellowknife, all of the money we'll lose for not taking in Nunavut patients, all of the premium fee-for-service costs we'll pay to hospitals in Edmonton, High Level and Grande Prairie, the cost of operating Stanton Hospital that doesn't run at full capacity, any potential job losses at the hospital arising from it, just to name a few, Mr. Speaker, and the list goes on and on. Are we ready to pass supplementary after supplementary to make up for this cost, Mr. Speaker?

Mr. Speaker, I did some more math on the impact of 12 specialists leaving the North. Assuming each of them is a family of four, we will lose the local income spending and the tax dollars from them. Furthermore, we will lose $17,000 a year federal transfer payments for 48 northern residents, which my elementary math tells me amounts to $816,000 in just the first year.

May I please end this statement, Mr. Speaker, by suggesting to the Minister of Finance that he starts calculating the financial cost of losing these valued northern residents from our government's coffers? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

The Speaker

The Speaker Tony Whitford

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Item 3, Members' statements'. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Steen.

Vince Steen

Vince Steen Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, News/North describes them as the Edison twins of Tuk. Travis Anderson and Ryland Anderson, two of our school students, won honourable mention at the National Science Fair held in Calgary. These cousins, both in Grade 7, came out ahead of almost 500 young, amateur scientists with their project. The boys decided on this particular project after coming across a model of Edison's Reproducer in a science book. With some help from their teacher, Sharon Dyck, and materials they managed to scrounge at home, they created a sound system out of matchboxes, a needle and juice cans. Connecting all this and an old record player, they created their own set of crude, homemade speakers.

Mr. Speaker, everyone at Mangilaluk School is very proud of the boys' achievements. Their principal, Steve Moseychuck, says that Travis and Ryland are real role models for the rest of the children, as they have demonstrated how you can obtain great recognition and rewards in return for hard work and determination. Mr. Speaker, no doubt the proudest people of all are the parents of these bright students, David Anderson and Lynn Julian and Francis Anderson and Dolly Felix of Tuktoyaktuk.

Mr. Speaker, thanks to these two young scientists, good news no longer has to rely on the moccasin telegraph to travel fast to Tuktoyaktuk. Mr. Speaker, on behalf of my constituents, I wish to congratulate Travis and Ryland and thank them and their parents and the staff of the Mangilaluk School for such a great effort to bring recognition to the Mangilaluk School at a national level. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

The Speaker

The Speaker Tony Whitford

Thank you, Mr. Steen. Item 3, Members' statement. The honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, Mr. Allen.

Roger Allen

Roger Allen Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is with great pleasure today that I stand in this House to acknowledge achievements of the graduating class of 2003 from the Samuel Hearne Secondary School in Inuvik.

Mr. Speaker, the graduates from the riding of Inuvik Twin Lakes make me stand proud in this Assembly today. They have fulfilled the initial step in the lifelong learning process, and are much deserving of praise in doing so.

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of my people in the riding of Inuvik Twin Lakes, I want to congratulate the following students who made such an impression on us over the last year. They are Mandy Day, Angus Dillon, Christiana Elias, Allison Lennie, Chris Lennie, Melody Kimikisana, Corine Lindsay, Jan Otto, Brian Wood, Crystal Debastien, Nellie Elanik, Philip Jacobson, Ashley Lennie, Amanda Jones, Leah Kuptana, Nigit'stil Norbert, Candace Smith, and they also had Stephen McKay as an honourary graduate.

Mr. Speaker, these young adults definitely have a bright future ahead of them, so please join me in wishing them every success in their post-secondary education pursuit. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

The Speaker

The Speaker Tony Whitford

Thank you, Mr. Allen. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Antoine.