Good afternoon, colleagues. Welcome back to the House. Orders of the day, item 2, Ministers' statements. The honourable Minister of Justice, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is an honour today, on behalf of the government and people of the Northwest Territories, to congratulate the RCMP on their actions to fight drug trafficking in our communities.

---Applause

Since April 2004, "G" division's federal drug enforcement section has been investigating high level drug supply and distribution in the Northwest Territories. This project, code named "Gunship," culminated in a series of arrests late last week. These arrests mark the end of the covert phase of the project, but are not the end of the investigation, which is ongoing. This is a major step forward for the RCMP in reducing the main supply lines that bring drugs and their destructive effects into our communities.

I'm pleased to join with the RCMP in announcing a one-year pilot project to reallocate existing resources to form a street level drug enforcement team.

---Applause

This four-member team will target street level distributors, couriers and dealers in all communities across the NWT. This project, developed in cooperation with the Department of Justice, is a direct response to public concerns regarding the drug trade.

However, Mr. Speaker, while we applaud the work of the RCMP, we must remember that the drug problem is not simply a policing issue. Mr. Speaker, the police play a role in reducing the supply of drugs, but communities can help reduce the demand for them. Each of us must contribute to the fight against drugs. This means reporting illegal activity you become aware of, and being prepared to testify in court if necessary. It may also mean supporting friends or family members in their efforts to get off drugs. Most importantly, we must ensure our children know the dangers of drugs and help them find safe, healthy activities that reduce their exposure to drugs and alcohol.

As with any social issue, the fight against drugs requires us to work together and, Mr. Speaker, this government is taking a lead role. A number of departments, including Health and Social Services; Education, Culture and Employment; Justice; the Workers' Compensation Board; the RCMP, and industry will hold a strategic planning workshop in November to develop a comprehensive and coordinated drug awareness campaign for the NWT.

Mr. Speaker, in closing, I congratulate the RCMP on the success of a long and demanding operation, and thank them for their commitment to making our communities safer for all of us. Our government will continue to support and work closely with the RCMP to make sure those who would supply illegal drugs to our communities are not welcome in the NWT, and their activities are not tolerated. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Bell. Item 2, Ministers' statements. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good afternoon. Mr. Speaker. Over the past few weeks, the students attending high school programs in Inuvik were given a clear demonstration from the community that their education ranks high in their town's priorities. In just one week, following the closure of the secondary school, alternate facilities were set up in order to create classroom spaces and provide for the continuation of learning opportunities for all high school students.

Samuel Hearne Secondary School was closed temporarily due to possible risk factors related to the facility's wood pile foundations. This closure created a problem: where to house the over 350 students and how to make sure that students would continue their studies and meet the curriculum requirements.

To address this challenge, and through collaboration and cooperation between the Inuvik District Education Authority, the Town of Inuvik, Aurora College and several GNWT departments, classes have been set up in three locations. For students in grades 7 and 8, classes have been organized in the Sir Alexander Mackenzie School. Students in grades 9 to 12 are being housed at Aurora Campus and in the Town of Inuvik's recreation centre. In the rec centre, temporary classrooms have been built on the curling rink, and students have been given access to the wide range of activities that are housed in this facility.

I recently visited the community and each of the learning sites. I was very impressed by the work that has been

done by all involved to make the very best of a difficult situation.

I would like to recognize and extend our thanks to the students for taking a positive approach to the change in venue for their classrooms; to the DEC, DEA and education staff for taking on the challenge with great professionalism; and to the Town of Inuvik and the members of the Inuvik community for pulling together and working quickly and effectively to address the needs of the children of Inuvik. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Item 2, Ministers' statements. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My statement today will be about wilderness corrections camps. We, in the Northwest Territories, especially the aboriginal population, are overrepresented in the justice system. It would be good to say that we have too many lawyers, judges and administrators in the Justice department; however, this is not the case. We are overrepresented in the corrections system. The big building with the big dollars. My communities ask why we don't have our own method of dealing with our own people. The justice system, at least the corrections system, isn't working in the Northwest Territories. More and more youth and adults, even school children, have entered the world of lock and key. I had research look up some stats, and this is what they showed me.

Stats in the Northwest Territories show they are failing the aboriginal people. From 2001 to 2003, the last year for which the NWT's crime stats are available, crime had increased territory-wide by almost 25 percent, and crimes in the Northwest Territories are well over four times the national average. Aboriginal people comprise three percent of the population, yet make up 20 percent of the population in custody.

In 2002-2003, 83 percent of total sentence admissions in the Northwest Territories were aboriginal. The year before that was 90 percent. We need northern solutions. We need culturally appropriate justice systems in the Northwest Territories. Restorative justice focuses on healing rather than incarceration and punishment. There are a number of aboriginal communities that have led the way for restorative justice. One of the communities is Hollow Water, where traditional culture is the vehicle for healing, and the importance of an elder in that system where they undertake traditional roles, beliefs and cultural ceremonies have become very crucial to participants.

The Northwest Territories is supposed to be a leader in the area of leadership and healing in this government. During the pre-budget consultations, people across the Northwest Territories were willing to support the wilderness camps for people with lesser crimes. The government can, and should, do more to set programs in place.

Mr. Speaker, in closing, I would like to quote the legendary George Jones in my statement.

---Laughter

The right/left hand. This is the time you got this right. We need the right hand talking to the left hand. We need wilderness camps in the Northwest Territories, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member's statement today, I want to talk about funding for NGOs. Like my colleagues, Mr. Speaker, I found the pre-budget process to be very valuable. Of course, I hear from my constituents on a daily basis, but to hear the same message repeated again and again from many groups from practically every community really brings the message home.

The message, Mr. Speaker, is that NGOs need better funding arrangements so that they can do what they do best, which is provide social support and services to the communities that they serve.

For years, Mr. Speaker, NGOs have been kept on a very short funding tether. Although this government recognizes the crucial work they do in the communities, indeed depends on them as a service delivery vehicle within the integrated services delivery model -- despite this, funding is doled out so that the NGOs have their hands tied.

One of the major problems, Mr. Speaker, is the challenge NGOs face hiring staff. Key positions in important agencies sometimes remain empty. How can they compete, Mr. Speaker? How can they compete with the big players when the big players can offer so much more to employees? The reality is that they can't compete. Staff turnover is a problem. It is a frequent occurrence that staff are trained for a position only to see them leave for better pay and benefits elsewhere, and this understandably so.

Recently, the UNW and the GNWT signed a new Collective Agreement that provides a three percent salary increase over four years. NGOs have not seen this kind of increase to their funding arrangements to reflect increased pay levels in other sectors.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to see this government set up a funding arrangement for NGOs to provide services on behalf of the GNWT that includes automatic escalators that respond to increases and reflects the increases that are paid to the UNW under their Collective Agreement. An automatic escalator would enable NGOs to provide a salary increase for their staff to be somewhat competitive with the GNWT and other employers. This would be a valuable tool to recruit and retain the staff that they need to provide the services that they provide so well.

Mr. Speaker, if the GNWT truly stands behind the integrated service delivery model, they should step up to the plate and provide adequate and fair funding for their partners, our NGOs. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

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

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Earlier this fall, the Regular Members from all committees joined together on, really, an historic initiative for this Assembly. It was the first time that we have seriously gone out to our communities, to our regions, to ask their opinions for our upcoming budget process and the three-year business planning cycle that our government has operated under for so long.

This really was a fascinating exercise. One that was very well understood too, Mr. Speaker, because when we were first looking at how to go about this, we were concerned that our message or what we wanted to hear out of this might turn into something like a very long wish list or a loud round of complaints. You know, it didn't turn out that way at all. It was something that was wonderfully constructive, very informative. It was candid, it was fresh, it was on the record. It is something that this Assembly and departments are certain to hear more about in the future. It is the consensus government that we operate under here. We are proud of this style of government, and we have to make efforts to make it work, and giving regular people, non-government organizations and professional organizations a chance to come before us and tell us what their expectations are is very much in keeping with our job and why we should be here.

A scan of what other jurisdictions in Canada do, Mr. Speaker, shows that up until this year, we were one of only three jurisdictions in Canada that did not have some kind of public consultation process going on. I am very pleased that we have changed that, and I really look forward to more of this kind of thing in the future and the annual visits to the communities and the regions that will really help us advance our style of government and the way we do our business. Thanks, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As my colleagues said, earlier this fall we did go on a pre-budget consultation tour. This tour allowed us to visit communities in the northern and southern parts of the NWT, to hear what people had to say about what they think of where the government should be going.

I won't repeat, Mr. Speaker, where some thought we should go.

---Laughter

This was the first time that this was attempted, and we did not know what to expect. What we found, Mr. Speaker, was an informed and articulate public who pay very close attention to what we do in this Assembly...

...and hold us accountable for our actions, or lack of actions in some cases. Mr. Speaker, this was an excellent opportunity for Regular Members to see many of the issues facing the other MLAs in the ridings they represent.

The issues, Mr. Speaker, are the same across the NWT. Every community has concerns with housing, with health, with the road system, and education.

---Laughter

Many think that this is nothing new, but hearing it over and over again, proved that to the residents of the NWT, the government is still lacking in many important areas. Once the people realized that we were just Regular Members, and we sometimes share the same frustrations in trying to get commitments from the government, they began to speak of all the issues in their communities, hoping that a united voice will help their cause.

Mr. Speaker, the northern group, chaired by Chief Hawkeye, heard from residents in Inuvik, Paulatuk, Fort Good Hope and Whati. We listened to residents speak on the lack of progress on the pipeline, the need for regional treatment centres, transparency from the Housing Corporation on their programs, the location of an income support office in one school. One young lady said that people should work for what they get.

Mr. Speaker, we visited a senior's home in Fort Good Hope and met with an 84-year-old lady who, despite the warm weather, had to have a heater going to keep warm. All she wanted, and deserves, was a new window and main doors to help keep the cold out so she could stay warm. My colleagues and I left her residence quite upset that Housing and this government would allow this elder to live in these conditions.

They plan on building a $41 million court house, and all Rosie wanted was new windows to keep warm. Shame on this government.

Mr. Speaker, while it is up to each community...I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

The honourable Member is seeking unanimous consent. Are there any nays? There are no nays. You may conclude your statement, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, colleagues. Mr. Speaker, while it is up to each community to look after their residents, this government should equip them with the resources they require.

I want to thank the residents of Inuvik and Paulatuk, Fort Good Hope and Whati for their hospitality and input into the consultation, and hope that we can spend more time in each community. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

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

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. (Translation) Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House today to speak about the benefit of our way of life, and the on-the-land program as part of the initiative in the rehabilitation process for offenders.

Mr. Speaker, during the pre-budget consultation this summer, the Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight gave the GNWT definite direction, from the community perspective, on spending priorities. With each consultation, I was struck by the frequency and intensity of the support of the on-the-land correction program.

The Department of Justice establishment policy clearly states that their mandate is to administer justice, including policing and corrections in the Northwest Territories, in a manner which respects aboriginal values, and encourages the communities in increasing responsibility. In the community of Behchoko, for 2002-03 fiscal year, over $1.8 million was spent on corrections and policing services, Mr. Speaker. For the same period, only $53,000 was spent on the Community Justice Program, representing less than three percent of the funding spent on corrections.

Mr. Speaker, as part of the restorative process of aboriginal offenders, we need to look at implementing traditional healing programs; on-the-land programs, which have aboriginal offenders making retribution to their crimes through hunting and providing for their communities.

On-the-land programs, or wilderness correction camps, have had difficulty in the past; but like many important projects, they require nurturing. Funding is needed for this. I am not talking about a huge $40 million infrastructure, Mr. Speaker, I am talking about allocating funding to run camps. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Villeneuve.