Good afternoon, Members. Welcome back to the House. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Ms. Lee.

Point Of Privilege

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I notified your office earlier, in accordance with Rule 20, I rise today on a point of privilege, to clarify an impression that might have been created from listening to or reading reports in the media, that I am somehow opposing the government initiative on Novel housing because they are trailers.

Mr. Speaker, that could not be further from the truth. The latest report is in today's News/North on page A21, in which I am quoted as saying, "She said many residents do not want to live in trailers." Last week, on CBC North, I was quoted as saying, "My nightmare is that when they come and go, we are going to have 1,400 trailers scattered all over the territory that nobody wants."

Mr. Speaker, if read in the context of all the statements and questions I raised in this House, I believe it's quite clear that my objections are not because these are trailers, but because of the fact the government is proposing to spend $200 million plus in public housing for 1,400 trailer units without asking if anybody wants to live in them or knowing if anybody wants to live in them.

I can tell you that more than Range Lake constituents live in trailers, better known as mobile homes. They are beautiful and they are expensive to buy. The big difference is they have bought them, and rent them, with their own money, because they want them of their own choosing, not because the government made them do it without asking them first.

Mr. Speaker, I hope with this statement I can clarify the misinformation and misinterpretation that might be going on out there, and I wish to advise this House that I intend to release a press statement to further clarify my position on this issue. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Orders of the day. Item 2, Ministers' statements. The honourable Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak of an exciting initiative in place at the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation. This initiative is designed to address the shortage of skilled tradespeople working in house construction, and to provide much-needed housing to individuals in need.

Mr. Speaker, Housing Corporation officials devised a pilot project in 2001 to construct modest housing units through a community partnership approach. The Construction Trades Access Program is designed to introduce high school students to construction trades, to provide a structured work experience, and to encourage students to consider trades as a career. The program also involves college students and provides an outlet to apply classroom instruction to fieldwork.

The pilot projects for this program are being offered at high schools in Hay River and Fort Providence, and at Aurora College in Fort Smith. Students in the Construction Trades Access Program build one-bedroom self-contained homes designed for a couple or a single person. The homes are permanent, and are built to maximize energy efficiency.

Students have the opportunity to develop the skills to build homes and to learn about apprenticeship opportunities. The program exposes students to various trades, including carpentry, plumbing, heating and electrical. In addition, students learn to read blueprints, do layout work, and calculate material quantities.

Mr. Speaker, this initiative has proven to be an overwhelming success on many fronts. A total of four houses have been completed under this initiative, and two more are being constructed, as we speak. Although the concept is still referred to as a pilot project, it provides the optimum opportunity for learning and an affordable attractive home for clients. Homes have been located for clients in Fort Providence, Fort Resolution and on the Hay River Reserve.

Most importantly, Mr. Speaker, it provides an incentive for students to stay in school, and has even allowed students to find employment in skilled trades upon graduation. The corporation has recently committed to offering this program in the community of Fort Simpson, and, given the program's success, the corporation hopes to expand this program to other schools in the NWT. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Item 2, Ministers' statements. The honourable Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to report on the recent forest industry workshop held in Fort Providence earlier this month. The workshop on community-based forest industry development in the Northwest Territories was hosted by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Experts on small-scale forest industry met with community leaders, forest industry entrepreneurs and GNWT staff. Participants learned there are many small-scale opportunities that can work well within community development needs and can be sound economic initiatives.

The workshop focussed on community-based forest development and covered activities from planning and harvesting, to processing and product marketing.

The workshop was led by Environment and Natural Resources, and involved the participation of Industry, Tourism and Investment; the Forest Engineering Research Institute of Canada; Forintek Canada; and the First Nations Forestry Program. Mr. Speaker, more than 40 participants from 12 communities attended the workshop, one of the largest gatherings since the mid '90s, to discuss forest industry development in the Northwest Territories.

Response from workshop participants was positive and supportive of the approach being taken by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Participation in discussions and working groups was enthusiastic, and there was definite interest in future workshops.

Topics of interest include both the details of long-term business plans and the broadening of the area to include gathering and marketing aspects of non-timber forest products such as birch bark and sap, country foods and florals. The department will work to develop a better understanding of the role of cottage industries for local use. We will continue to work with communities to develop sustainable local economies based on marketable forest use. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today a delegation consisting of all the sitting members of the Hay River District Education Authority, their executive director, and two consultants that have been engaged to work with them, met with Minister Dent and his deputy minister.

By way of a little background, Hay River is currently a part of the South Slave Divisional Education Council. This council encompasses the communities of Fort Smith, Lutselk'e, Fort Resolution, Hay River Reserve and Hay River. The South Slave region is a bit of an anomaly, in terms of regional organization, as there are two communities of significant and similar size, Hay River and Fort Smith, and three much smaller in culturally diverse communities.

The purpose of the meeting today was to petition the Minister to again consider an alternative governance and administrative model for education in Hay River. The proposed model would see the Hay River DEA have an expanded role in addressing the education, goals, objectives and delivery on behalf of Hay River students.

There are many challenges for Hay River associated with the current system, which I won't go into a great deal of detail on, Mr. Speaker, but, just briefly, I will provide a couple of examples.

Recently, the South Slave DEC developed a literacy initiative with a price tag of over $500,000. This money would fund a campaign and purchase promotional items like backpacks and fridge magnets. The Hay River DEA representative would much rather see those kinds of dollars spent to bring front line help into the classroom. That amount of money would pay for a full-time assistant in all five communities. But with only one vote on the council of five, Hay River's priorities were not reflected in the decision.

Another issue, Mr. Speaker, is the amount of time the school principals and teachers are required to be away from their primary responsibilities to participate in meetings and committees, which often result in little, if any, direct benefit to their students. The time away, the cost of backfilling the responsibility for their duties while they are gone, adds up to the expenditure of a lot of time and energy. Suffice it to say, Mr. Speaker, that we have a very dedicated and capable group of locally elected DEA members who have put careful consideration into a governance and administration model which they feel would enhance the education of Hay River students. This is in accordance with their mandate and what they are elected to oversee. They have sought and received local support. Now it will be up to the Minister, and his department, to determine if the proposal is something he can politically, and legislatively, support. The proposal is comprehensive and reasonable. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to provide a very short conclusion to 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. Mr. Speaker, I applaud the Hay River DEA on their dedication to the delivery of the best possible education opportunities for Hay River students, and I look forward to a very timely response from the Minister on their petition. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, with the onset of winter, I rise today to speak on the favourite winter activity of many young people in the NWT. That activity, Mr. Speaker, is stealing snowmobiles.

Many residents who work, trying to earn an honest living, continue to have their snowmobiles stolen from outside their residence, where they probably pay mortgages and taxes. There seems to be absolutely no consequence for anyone who steals snow machines, or anything else, for that matter.

Residents from across the NWT are getting frustrated and angry with the lack of punishment for the offenders. Many residents feel that they should dish out some frontier justice to prevent this from happening again. This is not the way we are told things should be handled, but it speaks to the fact that the system is not working. Too many young people today have absolutely no respect for the law and people's possessions.

Mr. Speaker, many calls made to the local RCMP are forwarded to Yellowknife, and, sometimes, are not answered. Many of my colleagues have spoken to this issue before. All calls should be answered locally and acted on right away.

This, along with regular patrols around communities, would serve as a deterrent to potential crimes. The police have to be proactive instead of reacting to the crime, then having to do an investigation. We do not appreciate being interrogated while reporting a crime, and having the offenders long gone by the time the police arrive. The police do have a difficult job, but calls have to be taken in the community and responded to quickly. This has been a concern of Regular Members for a long time.

Mr. Speaker, I urge this government, and the Department of Justice, to come down hard on offenders, and let there be consequence for committing crimes like this. Until we quit slapping them on the wrist, they will continue to commit all these crimes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to speak today about government procurement, and how it relates specifically to office space. With 4,400 employees, the GNWT is the largest customer for office space in the Territories.

First, Mr. Speaker, I would like to paint a picture. The total of all purchased goods and services by the Government of the Northwest Territories is in the neighbourhood of $200 million per year. Of this, Mr. Speaker, 40 percent, or about $75 million, is spent in what I would deem to be a non-competitive nature.

How could this be allowed to happen, when the Government of the Northwest Territories says that it is an open, honest and accountable government? Sole source contracts, negotiated contracts, and standing offer agreements continue to make up far too much of our spending as a government. When it comes to office space, the government's use of anti-competitive secret procurement practices discourages private investment in our communities, as well as reducing the confidence the business community has in open, transparent and honest government, at the regional and territorial levels, Mr. Speaker.

Secret procurement and deals done without a competitive process are usually the worst kind and often the most expensive, and, ultimately, lead to fewer funds being available for other needed services provided by government. The government has been vocal about rising energy costs and supporting the environment, but how are they putting this into action when it comes to procuring office space?

When an RFP is issued on an older, less energy-efficient building, as compared to a newer, energy-efficient building, it is like comparing apples to oranges. In looking at a recent RFP from Public Works and Services, the evaluation criteria consisted of cost, management, facility requirements and northern preference. There is no evaluation of how green or energy-efficient a building is.

In light of the current times, and increases to fuel and rising energy costs, it is time that the Government of the Northwest Territories starts to practice what it preaches in terms of evaluating office space with energy efficiency in mind, and to go to an open and competitive process whenever possible. Mr. Speaker, I will have questions regarding procurement practices for office space for the Minister of Public Works and Services, at the appropriate time. Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Pokiak.

Thank you, Mr. Pokiak. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this month is Halloween month, and my statement maybe should be trick or treat on the day care programs in the Northwest Territories.