Good afternoon, colleagues, and welcome back to the continuation of the Third Session of the 15th Legislative Assembly. Also a warm welcome to our visitors in the gallery. I trust that you all enjoyed the short break during the holiday season, a well-deserved break from the rigors of public life.

I would like to offer my personal best wishes for a happy and healthy New Year for you, your loved ones and all of your constituents. I would also like to extend a very warm welcome, on behalf of all Members of this House, to our newest Member, Mr. Robert McLeod.

---Applause

Welcome, Mr. McLeod. On behalf of this House, I would also like to express my sincere condolences to all those who have lost loved ones since we were last together. As we embark on this budget session, I would like to acknowledge, on behalf of the Legislative Assembly, the tireless efforts of the government employees, officials, Ministers, Assembly staff and standing committee members in contributing to the budget development process. I know the last month-and-a-half or so has been a very busy time for all of you. I look forward to a very busy session over the next few weeks. I hope to hear some very good debates on issues that are important to all the people of the Northwest Territories and discussions that lead to positive, informed decisions. I ask only that you conduct yourselves within the rules that you have set down for this House and continue to respect the dignity of the House and all its Members.

Now it is my duty to advise the House that I have received the following message from the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories. It reads: "Dear, Mr. Speaker, I wish to advise that I recommend to the Legislative Assembly, the passage of the Appropriation Act, 2005-2006 and the Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 3, 2004-2005 during the Third Session of the 15th Legislative Assembly. Yours truly, Glenna F. Hansen, Commissioner."

Thank you, colleagues. Orders of the day, item 2, Ministers' statements. The Minister of Finance, the Honourable Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I give notice that I will deliver the Budget Address on Thursday, February 10, 2005. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this week is Apprenticeship Week and on Thursday, apprentices and occupational candidates from all regions of the Northwest Territories will be given awards of excellence. These awards are given to the individuals with the highest marks in each specific working area.

Mr. Speaker, developing trades people and certifying occupations is essential to ensuring that future developments in the Northwest Territories benefit northerners first. For our people to get the most out of the diamond mines, oil and gas development, and other projects, they need to have the training to do the work. The jobs surrounding these projects require highly skilled labour, and we need to have certified northern journeypersons ready to fill them. The Department of Education, Culture and Employment is addressing this need by continuing to strengthen its commitment to the Apprenticeship Program.

Mr. Speaker, there are currently over 300 northerners registered as apprentices in the NWT. Forty percent of these apprentices are aboriginal. During the 2003-04 school year, 54 apprentices completed their apprenticeships and 49 of those were awarded the Interprovincial Red Seal certification. This means that they have qualified to work in any province or territory in Canada. Another 37 northerners have been certified in designated occupations. All those receiving certification will be an important part of our territory's future.

In the upcoming year, we are introducing a new certified occupation in environmental monitoring. Certified occupations are a formal recognition of training and evaluation in a specific field of work, determined by NWT occupational standards. Planning is also underway to increase the profile of occupational certification. Employers working in the NWT need to be made even more aware of the benefits of workers with proven skills and knowledge.

In addition, Education, Culture and Employment and Aurora College are working together to find ways to increase enrolment in trades programs and improve delivery of these programs.

Mr. Speaker, providing training in the North for as many apprentices and occupations as possible is important to

us. Towards this end, we will also work with the Apprenticeship, Trades and Occupational Certification Board to discuss new initiatives to increase trades training. The important role and contribution of employers will continue to be vital for our own ongoing and future success.

Mr. Speaker, I hope all Members will join me in the Great Hall for the annual Apprenticeship and Occupational Certification Awards of Excellence luncheon on Thursday, February 10th, to celebrate successes of apprentices and occupational candidates from across the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Item 2, Ministers' statements. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. For my inaugural Member's statement, Mr. Speaker, I would like to speak on being a Member of this Assembly. First of all, I would like to thank my family for their support and encouragement when I have another one of my brilliant ideas.

---Laughter

Me being here would not be possible without the support of my campaign team and the constituents of Inuvik Twin Lakes. For that, I thank them.

It is important to acknowledge the support that I received from the Clerk and his staff. They have helped me to make the transition to being an MLA a little easier.

I would like to thank my colleagues in the Legislative Assembly for their support. They have done their best to reassure me that this would be painless. More importantly, I have to thank the Premier and all the MLAs for making my family feel welcome when they were here for the swearing in.

I would also like to thank Mr. Roland for his advice and sharing his experience with me. It is my intent to become a productive MLA and represent Inuvik Twin Lakes and the NWT with dignity and passion. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (English not provided) Mr. Speaker, my Member's statement today concerns a serious issue in my riding, the reinstatement of the 1995 rent scale increase scheduled for April 1, 2005.

Mr. Speaker, I am not opposed to the rent increase; however, I am opposed to the current rent scale increase to the 90 percent mark for this year and the 100 percent mark for next year. I believe this is set too high and does not allow people to adapt to the policy and the new financial obligations.

I propose the rent increase be phased in at the 75 percent mark this year and the 100 percent mark next year. This is more of an appropriate increase.

Mr. Speaker, I am also concerned with available housing programs tied into the rent scale policy. People have been given notice of increased rents and alternatives accessible to them. However, I believe the corporation is trying to push people into their programs and is not providing adequate and thorough information to make effective decisions. Although there is a current counselling campaign in place, it appears ineffective in communicating the necessary information to their clients. Clients are confused and scared and do require effective counselling in order to make an appropriate decision that will affect the rest of their lives.

Mr. Speaker, as it stands now, people who will be paying higher rent and are not used to it may find themselves quickly in arrears. People who have high income and who are no longer entitled to subsidized housing will have to find alternative housing. However, if they owe any arrears, they are not entitled to any Housing Corporation programs.

Mr. Speaker, I hope the Minister can understand the implications of this situation to my constituents and will consider a more phased-in approach to the rental scale increases and deliver a more effective counselling campaign. It seems ludicrous to implement a policy on such short notice expecting people to pay higher rents, purchase their homes, or pay up all of their arrears within a few months without any serious impacts to social housing clients. Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin today also by extending a very special welcome to Mr. Robert McLeod. I must say, Mr. Speaker, I have really enjoyed watching him watch us over the last few months. He certainly has given me a new perspective to have a fresh set of eyes and many ideas he has brought to us already. Also, Mr. Speaker, I don't know if everybody knows, but today is New Year's Day under the lunar calendar. I know you have wished us a Happy New Year from the regular calendar, but I would like to extend a Happy New Year to everyone here and around the communities in this Year of the Rooster.

Speaking of roosters, Mr. Speaker, I believe one of the most important jobs we have as MLAs is to crow out loud like roosters about all the issues that are important to our constituents, especially on behalf of those who are most vulnerable and voiceless. At this point, I think we would be hard pressed to find too many who are as voiceless and powerless as our canine friends. Over the last few months, Mr. Speaker, we have really been subject to stories filled with harrowing and inhumane treatment of four-legged residents in our community. In January, Mr. Speaker, we read in The Hub about a puppy being

rescued lying on top of his dead sister puppy after they were both thrown into the dumpster and left to freeze to death in sub-arctic temperatures. Most recently, we have been hearing about the six sled dogs shot in the mouth and face; not shot in a way to euthanize them quickly and humanely, but left to die by bleeding to death or by choking in their own blood inside their broken jaws.

Mr. Speaker, I feel compelled to state this in a very descriptive and dramatic way because I believe this government has an obligation to say something about how this is not acceptable and stand by and give some teeth to the NWT Dog Act that is already in place as well as enforcing the criminal court provisions that speaks to inhumane and cruel treatment of animals. Mr. Speaker, many studies have shown that those who exercise violence against their family, spouses, and children, also show tendencies to be violent towards animals or treat them in an inhumane way. I believe it all speaks to the behaviour of those who are not able to empathize with the pain and suffering of others. In the days and weeks ahead, I will be pursuing these issues. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Seeing as we are on the first day of session, I will be a little lenient, but I heard about four topics there, Ms. Lee. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise in the House today to speak about an important issue of internal audits and to assure that our system is accountable, ethical and efficient in a public service. The unit responsible for internal audits for the GNWT is the Audit Bureau. It is my understanding, Mr. Speaker, that a significant number of important positions in the Audit Bureau are currently vacant. This has been the situation for quite some time. This is a real problem, Mr. Speaker, and something should be done about this concern because it affects all NWT residents.

Mr. Speaker, this issue should be an outrage to all residents when I further explain what is going on. Audits, Mr. Speaker, are more than simply a review of financial statements. Audits are a critical tool for objective reviews of internal government operations. The Audit Bureau is responsible for undertaking critical audits to ensure the government is spending public money in the most efficient way possible. It is about spending tax money as well or better than we would spend our own hard-earned cash. Mr. Speaker, it is no secret that this government has gone through a process of financial belt tightening. It is a painful process that all of us would much rather avoid. But, Mr. Speaker, the more we increase our internal efficiencies by putting good practices and procedures in place, the less likely it will be where we will have to find ourselves in a position to avoid ugly cuts such as layoffs and whatnot.

Mr. Speaker, the job of an auditor is to ensure the proper checks and balances are in place and to keep things running efficiently. There are standards that need to be looked at. An auditor is responsible for recommendations on how to increase efficiencies with our government money. This is all great in theory, but what is happening is for the last fiscal year, Mr. Speaker, approximately 25 percent of the Audit Bureau has not been staffed. Through some tracking records, the last five years are even worse; it is more abominable. Mr. Speaker, the capacity has been falling around 50 percent of staff in that area of government.

Mr. Speaker, it is absolutely shameful that this would be happening and nothing is being done. As elected officials, we are accountable for public money. The Minister responsible for the Financial Management Board is responsible to make sure the GNWT has the capacity to conduct audits of this type to make sure nothing is going wrong. They are critical to putting a stop to unacceptable drains on public resources. In my view, Mr. Speaker, this should be a priority of this government. Mr. Speaker, at this time, may I ask for unanimous consent to finish my statement? Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues. Mr. Speaker, I am not ringing the bell to say something is wrong. I am not ringing the bell to suggest something horrible is going on in our public service that we need to catch up to. What I am saying is that we need to do something before something goes wrong, before it is way too late.

We have all heard about the sponsorship scandal and the types of things that are going on at present. Mr. Speaker, last month, we learned about a case in Saskatchewan where over a million dollars of government funding intended for those most in need had been taken out of the provincial treasury and taken by a provincial employee. This has been going on for 10 years. Closer to home, there have been a number of court cases reported in the news as of late about residents embezzling school funds. This is absolutely wrong and shameful, Mr. Speaker, and we need a system that addresses this.

My point, Mr. Speaker, is that auditors do a very important function. They play a role in our government. It is important that they do this. For one, Mr. Speaker, I cannot, in good conscience, sit here as an elected, accountable official for public funds knowing that we could be doing more. The Audit Bureau in the government is a unit that is responsible for the checks and balances. It is my opinion that these balances are not being done. I am going to have questions for the Minister responsible later today, but my concern is, is the Minister asleep at the wheel? I don't want to hear about process. I don't want to hear about effort. I want to hear that he is rolling up his sleeves and finding solutions to this grave problem. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. I will remind Members that Member's statements are to be two-and-a-half minutes long. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am going to take a note from my colleague Ms. Lee's book here, and hopefully do some loud crowing and roostering about the housing situation here in the Northwest Territories.

---Laughter

You know, since we last met here a few weeks ago, Mr. Speaker, there have been a number of signals that show that it is getting and it is going to get even more expensive to keep a roof over your head and that of your family. Mr. Speaker, thinking of buying a house, the average here in the Northwest Territories, we learned last week, for a three-bedroom unit is now $246,000, the second highest in Canada. Mr. Speaker, a house that listed for $200,000 four years ago now costs $315,000 dollars. That is a 58 percent increase, Mr. Speaker, in four years.

Do you want to rent an apartment? How about a two-bedroom here in Yellowknife? That is $1,282 dollars and that may not include utilities, Mr. Speaker. Compare this with Calgary and Edmonton where there is apparently lots of money, too. In Calgary a two-bedroom unit costs you $806; in Edmonton, $730. If you are working in Edmonton and you want to come north to Yellowknife to work or perhaps you are a northern student who wants to come back home, you are going to pay 70 percent more to move to Yellowknife, Mr. Speaker.

In March of 2003, I tabled a petition here with about 500 signatures from Yellowknife renters and landlords, seeking better ways of resolving disputes about rent increases and ways to better manage our landlord-tenant situation. We now learn that in Inuvik, even more residents are going to take this even further and I anticipate that their petition actually seeking rent control will be tabled here in the next few days. I look forward to that debate, Mr. Speaker.

I have been ringing the bell here continuously for our government to become more aggressive and innovative and show leadership in ways to deliver more affordable housing. We could be doing things with land development and tax breaks and cash incentives, but we continuously fail to do so. What are we going to do to reverse this trend, Mr. Speaker? Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Braden is ringing a bell and Ms. Lee is crowing and...

---Laughter

...I just want to stand up and sing a good song. Mr. Speaker, I want to take the first available opportunity today at the reconvening of session to thank a number of people.

Leading up to the Christmas break, we had the Minister of Justice, the Honourable Charles Dent, come to Hay River to meet with community leaders with respect to plans for changes in justice services in Hay River.

Subsequent to that, Premier Joe Handley also came to Hay River to meet about numerous items; the most pressing ones being the impact of justice changes in Hay River.

From those meetings, a plan emerged and presentations were developed with respect to proposed changes. The work that went into these presentations was the culmination of many hours behind the scenes by the Hay River MLAs, a group of stakeholders, and affected parties in Hay River. I want to thank them for the immense amount of time that these people dedicated to pull questions and information together that ultimately affected a positive outcome. I want to thank the very capable research staff of the Legislative Assembly and the people in the Department of Justice who responded to our many questions. I want to thank the tireless efforts of my constituency assistant, Wendy Morgan, for pulling all that information together in an easily accessible format. I want to thank my colleague, Mr. Villeneuve from Tu Nedhe, for his initial visit to staff and facilities in Hay River and his subsequent attendance with our colleague, Mr. Menicoche from Nahendeh, during the week of the Dene leaders' meeting.

After what seemed like a long wait over the holidays, I had the opportunity to meet with all the Regular Members of the Assembly, as well. I would also like to thank the UNW for their support, and for the many letters that came in from other communities and regions from across the Territories.

The results of these deliberations are now publicly known through the announcement of Minister Dent, that the planned court registries closure in Hay River has been withdrawn. These valuable services and jobs will remain south of the lake at the Hay River courthouse. For this I would like to thank all my colleagues for their support -- Premier Handley, Minister Dent and the Cabinet -- for listening and responding to our arguments.

However, Mr. Speaker, I would like to characterize this good news as round one, and I look forward to the forum this session will provide for dialogue that will reveal and probe the good news and allow for debate on other issues which will remain outstanding in our community for now. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to bring up the topic that Members of this House will hear me speak a great deal about over the next few weeks. That topic, Mr. Speaker, is diamonds, and today specifically how they relate to our secondary industry here in the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, in 1997, as a city councillor, I was honoured to be a member of the City of Yellowknife's Diamond Task Force on the development of a secondary industry here in

the Northwest Territories. That committee, with the help of the GNWT, made it possible that we could move forward with a cut and polish industry here in the Northwest Territories.

As time went on, many people became sceptical of what the GNWT was doing with loan guarantees and support to this industry, and even whether or not the industry itself was viable here in the Northwest Territories. I must add that I, too, was becoming sceptical of the GNWT's involvement. In July of last year I had the opportunity to stand in for the Minister of RWED at an International Diamond Conference in Tel Aviv, Israel. While I was at this conference I was amazed at the reception and respect the Northwest Territories received. I suppose when you are from an area of the world that produces 14 percent of the world's total production of diamonds by value, you get that respect.

The NWT and Yellowknife are on the radar of the world diamond community. Make no mistake about that. The City of Yellowknife's motto as diamond capital of North America has taken firm hold. In Israel, where they do not mine any diamonds, they have established an entire section of the city of Tel Aviv devoted to diamonds: cut/polish, jewellery, an exchange and even a museum, Mr. Speaker.

I left there with a rejuvenated spirit of what we can do in the Northwest Territories. While I was in Israel, I met with Mr. Lev Leviev who, as many know, is one of the world leaders in the cut and polish industry. He was very interested in coming to Canada to set up a factory, and, shortly after the conference, submitted a proposal to take over the Sirius factory here in Yellowknife. I was very excited at the possibility of having a company like Leviev's here in the Northwest Territories to help grow and secure our secondary industry. It is public knowledge that negotiations with the receiver and the Leviev Group broke off two weeks ago. I would like to know why. I would like to know what happened to the understandings and the agreements that this government had in place with the producers. What did we do or not do as a government to ensure successful completion of these negotiations? As a government...

Mr. Ramsay, your time for your Member's statement is expired.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. 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. Ramsay.