This is page numbers 863 - 898 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 chairman.

Topics

Leon Lafferty North Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on Friday my colleague, Mr. McLeod, expressed his frustration with the capital planning process. I share those same frustrations. A gap exists between communities expressing their needs to MLAs and government officials, and the decisions being made by deputy ministers which do not reflect the input of Members and residents of the communities, despite Cabinet's assurances that the input of Members and the communities are taken into consideration. This input is not taken into account when dollars are actually spent on projects.

Mr. Speaker, on Friday the Minister of Finance said that as part of the government's long-term planning, a 20-year capital needs assessment is done. He said that this is a needs assessment, not a plan. He stated that it's not a capital plan that the government is committed to for the next 20 years, it's simply assessing what the long-term needs are. Although he says that it is not a plan, sometimes projects are selected and we are told that they are picked because they are in the 20-year plan. At other times, projects are removed from the books without any consultation, and the reasoning is because it is only in a 20-year assessment, not a plan.

I am sure that we can all sense how confusing, disappointing and frustrating this must be to the communities such as Gameti who are expecting an upgrade of their school. At the recent community meeting on capital planning, no one from MACA could explain why the plan for the school had changed. Neither the MLAs, nor the community, nor government staff were involved in the decision, nor do I know why it was no longer in the books.

Mr. Speaker, the current process of selecting capital projects needs to be clear. The input of the community members and the MLAs must be included in the plans, and also the Minister. Not only the deputy ministers should be involved in the selection of projects. This is what we have been elected to do, and by involving all parties in the decision-making process, the government will be both accountable and responsive to the needs of all Northerners. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

The Speaker

The Speaker Tony Whitford

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

Charles Dent

Charles Dent Frame Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as most Members in this House are aware, this week, June 9th to 15th, is Mining Week. Mr. Speaker, today is Miners' Day. I would like to salute the significant contribution that miners and the mining industry have made to the northern economy and to this country's economy in general.

Mr. Speaker, mining has a special importance in Yellowknife. Mining was what led to Yellowknife being established and what keeps it growing into the thriving place it is now. Mining has put us on the world map.

Mr. Speaker, mining will continue to play a role in creating jobs and helping to secure the economic wellbeing of Northerners. Not only do we have mining jobs, but mining is leading to spin-off jobs as well, like we see right now in the secondary diamond industry.

Mr. Speaker, the mining industry in Yellowknife alone feeds roughly 300 families, and there are many more Northerners in many communities who also support their families through mining. So you can see that both the social and economic impacts of the industry are very important to the survival and success of the North. Mr. Speaker, miners are also part of the social fabric. They are hockey coaches and community volunteers.

I have great respect for miners who risk their lives to drill for ore and diamonds. They work in sometimes unbelievably difficult conditions to provide for their families and, in the process, improve the economic stability of our communities. Miners make up a good portion of our community, and their dedication, skill and hard work has made life better for us all.

Mr. Speaker, this week there are many community events to acknowledge the huge contribution and importance of miners and mining to our community. There will be street displays, mall displays, rock walks, movies about mining, a picnic and tours of Con Mine. I would encourage everybody to take an opportunity this week to express their thanks and appreciation for the mining industry and the important role that it plays in the North.

Mr. Speaker, even though today is Miners' Day, most miners are at work on their regular shift. Let's hope that today they know that we are thinking of them, and that we recognize the importance of mining in Yellowknife and throughout the North. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

The Speaker

The Speaker Tony Whitford

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

Need For An Efficient Regulatory Regime
Item 3: Members' Statements

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Floyd Roland

Floyd Roland Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my Member's statement today is in the area of regulatory reform. Mr. Speaker, my colleague from Hay River North spoke about the regulatory issues that are affecting businesses in his community and will affect operations down the Mackenzie Valley. Mr. Speaker, we know that some time ago our government was involved with the federal government and other regulatory bodies in looking at streamlining the regulatory process used, for example, on the pipeline. We know there was some reporting back and forth, some work done, but I would like to know and will be asking questions later on during question period, what has become of that work and are they continuing to move forward, have they responded to the industry that had a look at that report and made comments back.

Mr. Speaker, in the Northwest Territories, being resource rich, we need to know and industry needs to know if we in fact have found a regulatory process that's going to be stable and that everybody can start looking at and counting on as being a final product. So during question period I will have questions for the appropriate Minister. Thank you.

---Applause

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The Speaker

The Speaker Tony Whitford

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

Bill Braden

Bill Braden Great Slave

Merci, Mr. Speaker. For several days, approaching weeks now, we've been hearing about the frustrations in the beef industry from Alberta, resulting from the discovery of a single animal with BSE -- I won't try to pronounce the full name -- or Mad Cow Disease and how it's affecting the lives of many, many people across the Canadian farming and meat processing industry. Like a number of other issues of a national and international nature, Mr. Speaker, this is now starting to have an impact here in the NWT. Specifically it refers to the situation that some of our big game outfitters are finding because of cancellations or potential cancellations of US hunters coming into Canada because they cannot bring their trophies or meat byproducts back to the United States.

Mr. Speaker, there is a ban now on the import of ruminant animals and their meat and products. This includes things like the cape and the horns of trophies. Of course, our caribou, musk ox and bison are among some of the coveted trophies that these hunters come up here to seek. The value of hunting to the NWT is something in the neighbourhood of $18 million, and fully 80 percent of the hunters who come here are from the United States, Mr. Speaker, so we have something that's of considerable importance to our tourism and our outfitting industry.

I'm told that as of today there's some confusion at the Agriculture Canada level with the American government's position and with our Canadian tourism agency as well, and I'm going to be asking the Minister of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development the status of this situation during question period. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

The Speaker

The Speaker Tony Whitford

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

Brendan Bell

Brendan Bell Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I wanted to talk a little bit about an issue that's starting to get quite a bit of attention and a lot of discussion both among members of the public and Members of this House, and that is the NWT recreation and sport board recommendations report, and specifically the recommendation to establish and create an NWT rec and sport board, to slot this extra layer of governance, if you will, Mr. Speaker, over and above some of the existing partner organizations like the Aboriginal Sports Circle and the Sport North Federation. It's getting a lot of debate. There seems to be a lot of concern. But one thing I will say, Mr. Speaker, is I think that intuitively all of us recognize that sports participation and opportunities in our smallest communities are not what they are in our larger communities.

We have to be very careful, and I think there's a danger here, that this issue can become very divisive. I think it's important for us to first look at the problems and try to identify and better quantify those problems. Do we have discrepancies in the areas of funding or program availability? Is it facilities, Mr. Speaker, or is it about the volunteer core and the volunteer base? I think it's important to fully document these issues.

Another question we have to ask is, are all small communities or large communities equal across the Territories, or are there pockets of participation, pockets of success, and possibly best practices that we can look at and build from? I think there are. I think if you look at something like the success that a community like Rae-Edzo has had in indoor soccer, obviously something is going right in that community and something is being very successful. I think we need to look at examples like that and build from them.

I think the real issue, Mr. Speaker, is not so much more governance, more bureaucracy; it's more money. I think what we've got is a small number of organizations fighting and scratching and clawing for the very few, meager dollars that they can get their hands on, and I think that's the real problem. The way in which we fund sport in the Northwest Territories, Mr. Speaker, pales in comparison to many of the other areas, many of the other files that we have, and I think it's time that was changed, Mr. Speaker.

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, Mr. Bell, you may conclude your statement.

Brendan Bell

Brendan Bell Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just as an example of what we expect from our organizations in the area of sport with very little dollars, I wanted to highlight the efforts of Esteem Team North, which was recently created. It takes high profile athletes, some of them former Olympians, and tours around the North and have them present clinics and such to children throughout communities. They've managed to visit a number of northern communities this year. A group of five athletes going around with some staff from Sport North who are in Yellowknife, Inuvik, spent quite a bit of time up in McPherson and I think the MLA...I should know if the MLA, Mr. Krutko, was there. I think he was, anyway I'll give him credit even if he wasn't. I think Mr. Krutko was in McPherson with this group. I think there were also some presentations in Tsiigehtchic and Aklavik, and I understand they were very well received. I think they met something like 1,400 students, Mr. Speaker, on something like a $9,000 budget. What's that; $6 or $7 a student? We don't do anything like that in government, Mr. Speaker.

I think there's a real danger that we jeopardize the efforts of some of these organizations if we decide that we're going to gut an organization like Sport North. So we have to be very careful, and I think it's important that we fully analyze the situation, look at where we have successes and failures, be honest about those and seek to deal with that, instead of just adding another level of bureaucracy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

The Speaker

The Speaker Tony Whitford

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

Achievements Of Nunakput Students
Item 3: Members' Statements

June 8th, 2003

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Vince Steen

Vince Steen Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good afternoon. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to bring to the attention of this House the achievements of some students from my riding of Nunakput. As the school year closes in some of my communities, or college programs come to an end for the year, graduation ceremonies were held and in some cases diplomas were awarded.

Mr. Speaker, graduation ceremonies were held at Helen Kalvak School in Holman on June 3rd for Lisa Alikamik and Jeanine Arey as they both completed their Grade 12.

In Paulatuk, graduation ceremonies were held at Angik School on May 22nd for Angus Dillon as he completed his Grade 12.

On May 9th, graduation ceremonies were held at Aurora College in Inuvik for John Lucas Jr. of Sachs Harbour who graduates with a diploma in natural resource technology.

Also, Annie Felix and Evelyn Cockney both completed their third year of the Aurora College teacher education program and can now look forward to entering their final year of training.

Mr. Speaker, as well, special graduation ceremonies were held at Angik School in Paulatuk on May 22nd for three Inuvialuit women who graduated from the early childhood development program, namely Irene Ruben, Mary Green and Molly Ruben. This was a four-year training program sponsored by Aurora and Yukon colleges and the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation.

Mr. Speaker, these Inuvialuit grads are some of the first graduates from this distance learning program. For the past four years, these three women have demonstrated strong Inuvialuit character while completing their distance learning assignments, attending to their individual family needs and working at the Paulatuk Child Development Centre on a daily basis. I wish to extend my congratulations and compliments to both the grads and the organizers for completion of a successful program. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to complete my statement.

Achievements Of Nunakput Students
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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, Mr. Steen.

Achievements Of Nunakput Students
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Vince Steen

Vince Steen Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues. Mr. Speaker, on a more personal note, I am proud to mention here that earlier this spring, my boy, Warren Gus, completed his four-year apprenticeship course at SAIT and NAIT and is now a licensed journeyman automotive mechanic working in Inuvik.

Finally, Mr. Speaker, convocation ceremonies were held at the University of Saskatchewan on May 31st where my wife and partner of 34 years, Betty Elias, obtained her bachelor of education degree.

---Applause

I know I speak for every one of our family when I say we are really proud of her and look forward to having her home again. Mr. Speaker, honourable colleagues, please join me in congratulating and wishing all these people a successful future. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

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The Speaker

The Speaker Tony Whitford

Thank you, Mr. Steen. From our most northerly riding to our most southerly riding, the honourable Member for Thebacha, Mr. Miltenberger, Item 3, Members' statements.

Aurora Open Charity Golf Tournament In Fort Smith
Item 3: Members' Statements

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Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this past weekend in Fort Smith saw the running of the 5th Annual Aurora Open, the main charity golf tournament for the community for the year. Mr. Speaker, this golf tournament has been a success because of the strong support of the community, but of equal importance has been the strong corporate support we've received over the years.

Mr. Speaker, I would just like to acknowledge in this House the support from Canadian North, Northwest Air Lease, Diavik, NorthwesTel, BHP, Enbridge, TransCanada PipeLines, NTPC, Kaeser's Store and the Slave River Journal. Mr. Speaker, this particular golf tournament saw 104 golfers play in a tournament, but the real benefit is first to the charity that they have chosen and that's a non-profit organization that we all know in this House and that's the Western Arctic Leadership Program. For the second year running, we have been able to donate $5,000 to the Western Arctic Leadership Program as a result of the contributions of the corporate sponsors to this tournament.

I would just like to recognize the work of the college and thank the corporate sponsors. I would like to acknowledge that my colleague Mr. Delorey came over and through a day of fairly intense rain on Saturday, but a nice sunny day on Sunday, he put in his time on the land with the rest of us.

So, Mr. Speaker, this is a very big tournament for us. We started planning for this in January and it was a great success. We are very happy to have the Western Arctic Leadership Program be able to benefit. Thank you.

---Applause

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The Speaker

The Speaker Tony Whitford

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

Thomas Simpson School Graduates In Fort Simpson
Item 3: Members' Statements

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Jim Antoine Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to make a statement today with regard to graduation. Mr. Speaker, I was in Fort Simpson, my hometown, on the weekend and attended the graduation ceremony for the Thomas Simpson School. Today I would like to congratulate the Grade 12 graduates of the Thomson Simpson School in Fort Simpson. It was a great honour for me and I was also privileged to attend the ceremony on Saturday, June 7, 2003, in Fort Simpson. I also, once again, today, although I made a speech there, would like to congratulate once again the nine graduates: Danita Allaire, Vanessa Gerlock, Jessica Jumbo, Jennifer McInnis-Wharton, Joy Rodh, Michael Rowe, Christopher Stipdonk, Brendan Tsetso and Lisa Williams.

I would also like to say congratulations to the parents. As a parent, like many of you out here, you know once your child reaches Grade 12, you give a sigh of relief and there's a lot of joy and happiness in it, but at the same time, you know they have to take the next step of going on to college or university. They are still not out of your hair yet. There is still a continuation of your role as a parent. Up to this point, there was lots of hope for the young people who graduated there, and there is also encouragement to the students who see this and want to pursue that role as well.

I would also like to thank the organizers of the graduation for making the ceremony a very memorable experience for all the participants. They are finished high school. I told them there is a new bunch of people that they have to be very aware of, the ECE group there, Mr. Jacobson and his crew, the band and the Metis. If all else fails, you can come and see the MLA to straighten things out if things don't work out.

So it was a very good occasion in Fort Simpson and I just wanted to recognize the students. Mahsi. Thank you.

---Applause

Thomas Simpson School Graduates In Fort Simpson
Item 3: Members' Statements

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The Speaker

The Speaker Tony Whitford

Item 3, Members' statements. No further Members' statements. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Steen.

Item 5: Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery
Item 5: Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

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Vince Steen

Vince Steen Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize Blake Lyons, president of the Northwest Territories Association of Communities.

---Applause

Item 5: Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery
Item 5: Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

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The Speaker

The Speaker Tony Whitford

Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Ootes.

Item 5: Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery
Item 5: Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

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Jake Ootes

Jake Ootes Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it's a great pleasure for me today to have you help me welcome my wonderful wife, Marg, in the gallery today.

---Applause

Item 5: Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery
Item 5: Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

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The Speaker

The Speaker Tony Whitford

Is there any other kind?

---Laughter

Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. I would like to say a special welcome to everyone who is here today. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Mr. Dent.

Item 5: Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery
Item 5: Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

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Charles Dent

Charles Dent Frame Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I said in my Member's statement that most miners would be at work even though it's Miners' Day, but in the gallery today we have a constituent of mine who is also a miner, Mr. Dave Taylor. Along with him is my constituency assistant Allison McCambridge who will be leaving fairly soon for Sudbury. Taking her place is Sahara Pawluk who is also in the gallery. She will be joining my office as a constituency assistant for the summer. She is a student and will be going back to Victoria at the end of the summer. Thank you.

---Applause