Good afternoon, colleagues. For the information of Members, languages in the House today are Inuktitut and Tlicho. Orders of the day, item 2, Ministers' statements. The honourable Member for Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in honour of National Foster Family Week, I would like to take this opportunity to recognize the enormous contributions of foster families toward the healthy growth and development of our most precious resource: our children and youth.

---Applause

Foster families are an important part of the system of services that care for our children. Their work goes beyond providing children with food and shelter. These families give children a safe and nurturing home environment while also caring for their educational, medical and developmental needs.

Today's foster parent is a key member of a team of people dedicated to helping children and youth. Working with child protection workers, mental health professionals, teachers and the community as a whole, foster parents provide children and youth with a safe and healthy environment designed to meet their health, developmental, emotional, cultural and spiritual needs.

The NWT has a proud and committed group of foster families who open their hearts and homes to children and youth. Last year, there were approximately 450 foster homes in the Northwest Territories. This includes approximately 190 regular foster homes, 170 extended family foster homes, and 90 provisional foster homes. These homes provided much needed services to 1,035 children during the course of the year.

However, Mr. Speaker, we continue to need more foster families in our communities. Having enough homes is crucial to matching children and youth with families based on the child's needs and cultural identity. We need to recruit new families, as there are still some children who need a caring and supportive home environment.

In an effort to continually improve the system, and to improve the ability to recruit and retain qualified foster care homes, the Department of Health and Social Services, in consultation with the regional authority directors of social programs, will be conducting two major reviews in the upcoming months. An in-depth review of the current foster care and adoption practice standards will be completed by March 2006. As well, review and recommendations with respect to standardization of foster care rates will be completed by December 2005.

On behalf of the Government of the Northwest Territories, I wish to thank all the foster families in the NWT for their continued support, strength and, most importantly, willingness to care for the children and youth. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Item 2, Ministers' statements. The honourable Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, this past July, I was pleased to announce an agreement with the Northwest Territories Recreation and Parks Association to provide financial support for a new Recreation Trail Building Program for our communities.

The Government of the Northwest Territories has committed $500,000 over the next five years to this program. This investment will then be combined with $160,000 in funding from the Trans Canada Trail Foundation to create a fund of $660,000.

Local trails in communities provide many benefits. For the residents, trails provide low cost recreation facilities that all residents can use for a variety of activities, including walking, biking, skiing and running. They are attractive to residents of all ages and can be used year round. Trails also help to support the tourism industry by providing an attraction to visitors. For communities, trails are a great facility option since they are less expensive to maintain than other types of recreation facilities.

Mr. Speaker, we share a vision with the NWT Recreation and Parks Association that all communities in the Northwest Territories will soon have attractive, multi-use trails for their residents.

It is important that we provide this type of infrastructure. This past year, the government launched a very successful Get Active NWT campaign that saw more than 15 percent of the territory's population take up the challenge to increase their physical activity. By supporting the development of safe, accessible facilities, we hope to encourage more people to get active.

In the coming years, as more trails are developed, we expect that campaigns like Get Active NWT will indicate higher rates of physical activity.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take a moment to recognize our partner in this program, the NWT Recreation and Parks Association, the official organization of the Trans Canada Trail in the Northwest Territories. This past year, they launched an ambitious new initiative that saw a local author, Mr. Jamie Bastedo, travel the entire length of the Trans Canada Trail in the Northwest Territories. The purpose of his trip was to conduct research for a guidebook that he is writing on the NWT portion of the Trans Canada Trail.

When this resource is complete, it will be an aid for any person traveling the trail, and help promote tourism by providing information about the amenities available in our communities.

The NWT Recreation and Parks Association has also been an active supporter of the Get Active NWT campaign, and is a leader and champion of active living in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Item 2, Ministers' statements. The honourable Minister of Finance, Mr. Roland.

Mr. Speaker, the NWT Liquor Act has been in place since the early 1980s and has not seen a substantive review in over a decade. The NWT has seen many changes since then, including division in 1999, a rapidly growing economy, and the advent of aboriginal self-government, among others. There have been numerous calls, including in this House, for a review that will identify ways to improve our liquor legislation by making it more flexible and adaptable to the needs and priorities of NWT residents.

This review began earlier this year. The public consultation process began this summer, and I am pleased to report, Mr. Speaker, that it has gone well. We have developed a discussion guide that summarizes the issues in the review, which also has been used as the basis for our consultation. The guide was mailed out this summer across the NWT to community governments, non-government organizations, and other stakeholders and interested groups with requests for comments. A web site was developed to provide a forum for distributing information, and for individuals to use to provide input and comment. In addition, meetings were held with the Liquor Licensing Board, the RCMP, liquor inspectors, and other government institutions responsible for enforcing the Liquor Act. Separate meetings were held with liquor licensees in some NWT communities.

Community meetings were held in September in nine communities across the NWT. These were: Hay River, Inuvik, Fort McPherson, Tuktoyaktuk, Fort Good Hope, Norman Wells, Fort Simpson, Yellowknife, and Behchoko. In order to ensure that the process allowed for input from all communities, following a suggestion from the Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight, funding was provided to bring two representatives from other communities to attend the public meeting in the nearest community. Although the public meetings are now complete, NWT residents have until October 31, 2005, to submit their comments on the Liquor Act in writing to the Department of Finance, or online at the Department of Finance web site, by following the link to the Liquor Act review.

Mr. Speaker, we expect to receive the consultant's report in December, which will be made public. We are targeting introduction of the bill in the Legislative Assembly by late 2006.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Members of the Legislative Assembly, and their staff, for the invaluable help they provided in coordinating the consultation visits. I would also like to thank those NWT residents who have provided their comments so far on changes to the Liquor Act, and I encourage everyone who has an interest in this matter to provide their input. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Item 2, Ministers' statements. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I want to talk about something that I have brought up in this House many times before. That is the fair distribution of government jobs, capital infrastructure, and programs and services.

The NWT has a very heated economy at this time, and most of this is manifested here in the capital, Yellowknife. Most of this activity is driven by the private sector, and much of it is related to resource development. Yellowknife has been able to capitalize greatly on the addition of diamond minds, and I say good for them.

What I am concerned about is the growth related to government activity. When Hay River and Fort Smith worked hard for a little support from the GNWT, with the leverage that they had with loan guarantees, training dollars and their international jet-setting diamond secretariat, to see some of the cutting and polishing in our communities, we got nothing. When Hay River proved that we could easily accommodate the expansion of Correction Services at a cost much lower than that being proposed in Yellowknife, we got nothing. The $50 million jail came to Yellowknife, so it follows now that we need to build a $41 million courthouse to go with that jail.

When other communities put forward proposals for the new Business Development Investment Corporation headquarters, we got nothing. When the new human rights office was planned, communities like Fort Simpson, Hay River, Fort Smith and Inuvik put forward proposals, and we got nothing.

There have been good economic arguments put forward for years from other communities to absorb some of the expansion created by new and improved government

infrastructure and services, but decisions were obviously made on the basis of politics. When the Dene K'onia Young Offender Facility was shut down last year, sending our long-term, highly qualified staff in all directions in search of jobs, sending our youth from the South Slave to Yellowknife, we got nothing. Sure, the numbers were temporarily down, but everyone in Justice knew that those numbers were going to climb back up again, under the new Youth Justice Act.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to recite the number of political decisions that have resulted in lost opportunities for our regions, outside of Yellowknife, to become more viable, but a Member's statement wouldn't allow enough time for that long list. We need more political decisions that will show a government and Ministers with enough backbone to say that we have a responsibility where possible and where efficiently we need to locate government infrastructure and services in the communities.

If the WCB headquarters is looking for waterfront property for a new corporate office, Hay River has beautiful waterfront property available right downtown. If the NWT Housing Corporation is going to be reprofiled and downsized, I am sure that Fort Smith or Inuvik would be happy to step up to the plate. Let's...

Mrs. Groenewegen, your time for your Members' statement has expired.

I would like to seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement. Thank you.

The honourable Member is seeking unanimous consent to conclude her statement. Are there any nays? There are no nays. You may conclude your statement, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, colleagues. Let's get back to the kind of thinking that saw things like Arctic College campuses in Inuvik and Fort Smith, and NWT Library Services and the Power Corporation in Hay River, to name a few examples. This is a government of the Northwest Territories, not the government of Yellowknife, and it is time that the regions got together and said enough is enough. We are politicians, so let's get political. Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last spring the Minister of Health and Social Services stoically stood up in this House and defended the government's decision to relocate the Territorial Treatment Centre from Yellowknife to Hay River. The Yellowknife MLAs, and other Regular Members, waited patiently while the department scrambled to cobble together whatever information they had to base this decision on. What we received from the Minister was information that, in my opinion, Mr. Speaker, was either never read by Cabinet, or was completely disregarded in favour of moving this program out of Yellowknife.

The government also did not appreciate the fact that I was questioning them on whether or not they had even followed their own rules, as set out in the Financial Administration Manual. No consultation took place with Regular Members; we didn't see any business case. All we saw were capital dollars being funnelled out of this TTC program in Yellowknife to a completely different community. Of course, the government was adamant that every rule in the book was followed, Mr. Speaker, and that they did not violate the spirit and intent of their duty and obligation to consult Regular Members.

Mr. Speaker, I find it very ironic that this government is now proposing substantive provisions to that same FAM directive that was the focal point of my concerns back in June. Coincidence? I don't think so, Mr. Speaker.

I have come across a piece of correspondence, yesterday, between the deputy minister of Health and the Minister's office, dated May of last year, wherein the DM states, quite obviously, that the decision to move the TTC from Yellowknife to Hay River was one solely for political motives, not bureaucratic ones. Mr. Speaker, this is the smoking gun that has finally been unearthed.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to table that document at the appropriate time today. Why would the government take a program which has been highly successful, and rip its heart out solely for political gain? The government did not stop for a second and listen to its own departmental staff, experts, employees, MLAs, or anyone that could easily prove to them that this was not a good decision. Even the Minister's deputy could not defend the decision with any semblance of a proper business case.

How are we, as Regular Members, and the public, going to be able to trust Cabinet decisions now, knowing that they really do not need to have any rhyme nor reason before they make a decision? They just go ahead and do it. Who pays the price, Mr. Speaker? In this instance, it's the employees, support networks and the children that utilize the TTC.

Mr. Speaker, I cannot begin to tell this House enough, how disappointed and dismayed I am over the actions of the Minister and this government on the issue of the relocation of the TTC. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

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. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this Cabinet should be absolutely ashamed of themselves, and I will be asking the government today to finally stand up and admit that this decision was based solely on political motives, and to put an immediate stop to the transfer of this vital piece of service and programming here in Yellowknife, out of the capital city. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

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

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to raise more public awareness, and the government's awareness, on some of the hiring practices of the three diamond mines operating in the Akaitcho Territory: BHP, Diavik and De Beers.

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to say that there has been a rise in local aboriginal employment levels in my constituency, but, unfortunately, there are still many northerners that are not being considered for employment in the mines, because of age, low education levels, or past criminal records.

Mr. Speaker, I can understand the reasons to not hire because of age or educational levels, but to not hire someone who is qualified based solely on their past criminal records should have some limitations.

For example, I have constituents who were employed in the mining industry for extended periods of time; three to four years, Mr. Speaker. They have not missed work, were never late, and were considered good, reliable workers, only to be informed that they can no longer be employed because the company managed to dig up some old criminal records. I say "old," because some of these records are dating back 10, 15, even 20 years, Mr. Speaker.

Many infractions are not even related to criminal actively one might find in a mine, such as theft, forgery or fraud. The mines are directing these persons to apply for pardons from the federal government, to have their criminal records cleared, and then they will be reconsidered for employment, with no guarantees.

Mr. Speaker, the process of applying and receiving, or not receiving, a federal pardon on long past criminal records in order to clear one's name, takes 18 to 24 months at best, with no guarantees of having their slates wiped clean. Mr. Speaker, I would like to see some other mechanisms, like an independent body, supported by this government, to review these and other personnel issues, and to ensure people who are being laid off or let go for reasons beyond their comprehension have been treated in a fair and equitable manner; a body that will monitor and oversee that the socioeconomic agreements that we have with the mining industries are actually being adhered to and strengthened to provide northerners, all northerners, Mr. Speaker, from the Delta to the South Slave, with the confidence that they are on the top of the list for the potential employment opportunities in the mines, before the companies look south. Sadly, Mr. Speaker, this is not the case today. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

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

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. (Translation) Mr. Speaker, today I speak to the question that was raised this week by my colleague from the Sahtu regarding the numbers associated with the decline of the caribou herds.

Mr. Speaker, I do not want to speak specifically about the results of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources survey, but I will address the issue around expecting restrictions that are to be imposed next year on these herds, and the need to involve the Tlicho.

Mr. Speaker, although the Tlicho chiefs think that the numbers in the survey are reasonable, they strongly disagree with the department putting any restriction or birth terms of reference that will impose on any action against the aboriginal harvesters. I am sure the sentiment is echoed among all the Dene, the Metis, the Inuvialuit, and subsistence harvesters in the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, although it is understood that the caribou declines are due to natural population cycles, the department is saying that they will be meeting with the co-management boards for the Inuvialuit, Gwich'in and the Sahtu areas to discuss what implications there are for harvesters. However, the Tlicho has not been drawn into this process.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate that the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources has confirmed that his department is committed to working with the co-management boards, and traditional knowledge and resources, getting the numbers of these caribou herds, even though the process will calculate the caribou population is in decline, and using the satellite collars to get the information as correct as possible. The Tlicho leaders are insisting on the recount, and they want to be involved as part of this process. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I wish to discuss an issue that Nahendeh is currently going through. That is the Liard ferry dispute on the Liard River crossing at Fort Simpson. I would like to take this time to thank all the residents and businesses that have taken the time to express their concerns and complaints with me in writing. I recognize that this is a tense and emotionally charged time, and we all want the ferry dispute resolved as soon as possible.

Throughout the past 10 days, I have addressed the Nahendeh concerns about the ferry situation with our government and the respective Ministers. I have also researched similar situations in other regions and provinces. Although every situation is different, in general, a negotiated solution is the best solution, one that does not involve government intervention. Our government is taking an arm's length approach. This is a decision that is not easily understood by the residents of Nahendeh. I also regret that the new mediator has not yet had an opportunity to meet with both parties. In the meantime, I continue to press with our respective Ministers, and to appeal to the Canadian industrial board, the decision that the ferry is not an essential service.

In our small and remote communities, transportation links such as the ferry are very essential. The situation is affecting all of the residents of Fort Simpson; the workers

and employers are struggling with all aspects financially, personally and socially. Some people had to cross the picket lines, even though they are in support of the workers. These decisions cause tension and are polarizing the community.

During the last week of August, the Accountability and Oversight committee, for the first time, travelled to several communities to hear what people had to say about community concerns and government spending. Accessibility and affordability of living costs recurred over and over. This disruption is compounding these concerns, if not resolved quickly. Above all, Mr. Speaker, I would urge all parties involved to remain calm during this especially challenging time.

Once again, the best solution in this very difficult time is a negotiated solution. We must be supportive, and yet patient. We must also ensure that the safety of all is important and foremost in our...

Mr. Menicoche, your time for your Member's statement has expired.