Please be seated. Good afternoon, colleagues. Welcome back to the House. Ministers' statements. The honourable Deputy Premier, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Ministers' statements.

The health of our residents and our environment depend on the effective management and protection of our natural resources such as our water. Communities, non-government agencies and all levels of government must work together to ensure that a safe drinking water system is in place and operating effectively.

The Government of the Northwest Territories' Drinking Water Quality Framework and Strategy has been developed collaboratively by the departments of Municipal and Community Affairs, Public Works and Services, Environment and Natural Resources and Health and Social Services, with a mandate to protect drinking water quality in Northwest Territories communities.

Key goals contained within the framework include enhancing community capacity and providing effective monitoring and assessments of local water systems. To address this objective, the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, in partnership with the Department of Public Works and Services, has initiated a Northwest Territories Circuit Rider Training Program to support water treatment plant operators.

The Circuit Rider Training Program provides an experienced water system operator, or circuit rider, onsite in the community to support the water treatment plant operator. The circuit rider works with the local community operator to improve the operational efficiency of the water system by providing assessment and ongoing training to help build knowledge, skills and competencies.

The ultimate goal of the Circuit Rider Training Program is to work with communities to provide safe drinking water by improving operational efficiency of water treatment plants and water supply systems, as well as enhancing the skills of water treatment plant operators. The Circuit Rider Training Program will result in community-specific operational and maintenance plans as well as customized training plans in participating communities.

In 2006-2007, the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs is working with eight communities who will benefit from the first year of this Northwest Territories customized plan. The eight communities are Whati, Gameti, Wekweeti, Wrigley, Trout Lake, Lutselk'e, Deline and Paulatuk.

Initial assessments will be completed with the communities to identify operational issues and competency levels of local operators, after which a plan for support will be developed and implemented.

The Circuit Rider Program will result in Improved operations at community water treatment plants and increased skills among operators.

We look forward to continued success in our partnerships with communities to help ensure the health of our communities and safe drinking water for all residents of the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good afternoon. Mr. Speaker, this week, October 29th to November 4th, is Canada Career Week. The theme of Canada Career Week this year is: "Find the Work You Love...Build the Life You Want." The career each of us chooses determines how we spend much of our lives. That is one reason it is important to develop a career that is rewarding and fulfilling. A rewarding career takes careful planning. The Department of Education, Culture and Employment has a role to play in helping NWT residents to realize their career goals.

In the NWT, we celebrate Career Week with a series of events taking place in communities throughout the NWT that are designed to increase awareness about the range of programs available to support NWT residents in their efforts to find and keep work, to make career changes or to acquire additional skills.

This week is an opportunity to showcase the valuable work being done in our career centres across the Northwest Territories, which provide career planning programs and services. These centres have a wealth of information to help people plan and pursue a career. I encourage everyone to drop into their local career centre and check out Canada Career Week activities.

As we celebrate Canada Career Week, I would also like to draw attention to several new initiatives to promote and improve the career and skills development of our people.

As this House is aware, the NWT economy and other hot Western Canadian economies have resulted in significant skilled labour shortages.

As part of the response to this challenge, this government works with industry to assist in meaningful and relevant training. The Building Trades Helper Program has been designed to meet industry needs in one of the largest and busiest sectors of our economy, the construction industry. This program provides individuals with construction-specific knowledge and skills to become occupationally certified as a building trades helper.

Collaborative partnerships were integral to this initiative. The Department of Education, Culture and Employment worked with the NWT Construction Association and over 50 industry experts who volunteered their time and expertise in the development of standards that provided the foundation for the design of this program. I would like to take this opportunity to commend their efforts.

The standards, curriculum and resource materials have been designed and packaged so that the program can be delivered in a variety of venues and communities with ease. Mr. Speaker, over the next year, these resources are also being offered to schools throughout the NWT in support of trades awareness and career and technology studies programming. This program serves as an example of how we are preparing and developing our workforce.

Further, in order to serve northerners and our changing economy, the NWT Apprenticeship and Occupational Certification Program must provide a responsive system, supported by appropriate legislation, able to meet the needs of northerners and the demands of industry. To this end, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment has commissioned a comprehensive review, that will include regional consultations, to examine the efficiency and effectiveness of NWT apprenticeship and occupational certification. The review will define the benchmarks that will allow for continuous program evaluation and delivery, ensuring our program meets both the needs of northerners and national standards.

One of the main challenges our government faces is to transform this tremendous economic boom we are experiencing into real sustainability. By using this unprecedented economic growth to invest in the career and skills development of our people, we are promoting self-reliance and securing long-term benefits for our people and communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Ministers' statements. Members' statements. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, sadly the Northwest Territories has one of the highest rates of persons with addictions related to drug and alcohol in this country. We have only one Territorial Treatment Centre for adults who are looking for help with recovery from alcohol and drug addictions. That is the Nats'ejee K'eh Treatment Centre on the Hay River Reserve. The centre is operated under a third-party contract with the Deh Cho Health and Social Services Authority. Recently we were saddened to hear that the clients attending Nats'ejee K'eh had to be transferred to a treatment centre in northern Alberta. All 22 workers at the centre were locked out by their employer.

The workers at Nats'ejee K'eh Treatment Centre are northerners, many of them indigenous aboriginal northerners. The treatment at the centre incorporates cultural and traditional values and has been operating for 13 years. The workers have been without a contract for the past three and half years. The conditions of their employment follow a previous contract. However, when negotiation or ratification of a new contract or any question of clarification of existing terms are questioned the employer uses the opportunity to, in essence, threaten the continuation of the benefits that they now have.

Without a contract in place for the past three and a half years there have been no pay increases. When inflation is factored in, we all know that the effect of this is a decrease in pay. The credentials of many of the workers are directly comparable to employees in the public service. The comparison of the wages clearly indicates that the workers at Nats'ejee K'eh are not at wage parity with their counterparts in the public service.

Quite apart from economic issues, though, Mr. Speaker, is the fact that this is an institution funded through a GNWT contract. It is a very necessary and needed service for northerners. The alternative for treatment is to ship our residents to placements in Alberta and pay even more for the services. We have long discussed the desire for the Members of this House to be repatriating northerners who now have to seek specialized treatment in the South and I could go on at length about the benefits of providing this treatment in the North. We talk about building capacity for northerners to deal with northern issues and challenges, yet we have a group of 22 workers, a unique and necessary service with a proven track record for helping those most in need, and as a government we lack the power or the will to deal with a labour issue which would see our workers locked out and our northern clients shipped to Alberta.

Of course I am not privy to all the details of what has taken place to date and I don't hold myself up as an expert in labour relations, however, Mr. Speaker, I do know that there is an obligation on the part of the employer to act in good faith. I know that workers deserve a collective agreement that is current, fair and equitable.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

The 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, colleagues, and thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also know that even though this is a third-party contract, the GNWT has an obligation to be involved. They need to ensure that this service that we have invested in, the treatment that the workers have invested in, the help that northern clients desperately need, is not tossed away because of unfair labour practices. The GNWT cannot hide behind third-party contract status. On behalf of Nats'ejee K'eh workers, I request that the GNWT do anything in its power to see the situation resolved. Mr. Speaker, later today I will be asking the Minister of Health and Social Services questions about the contract for the operation of Nats'ejee K'eh and I will be tabling a petition asking the GNWT to do anything that they can to bring about a resolution of the circumstances which have lead to this lockout. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Members' statements. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as an immigrant to this great city of Yellowknife, from the beginning I was blessed with great teachers at the school and great family friends we met through church and other activities who helped us a lot and made it possible to get on with our life here and become contributing members of our society. Over the last 30 years I have seen Yellowknife change and become not only the biggest aboriginal community in the North, but one of the most multi-cultural cities in Canada. The vibrant aurora tourism and diamond industry and other economic opportunities have brought more and more newcomers to the city from every corner of the globe. We have welcomed them, but I have to tell you that the programs and services necessary to help them adapt and integrate into the mainstream society have not kept pace with these influxes at all. In fact, the services are about the same as what it was back in 1978 when there were very few immigrants in the city.

The English as a Second Language Program available at Aurora College serves the needs of only a part of this population, but there is no other English language assistance program, and anyone who has helped with or gone through immigration experience knows there is a million things that individuals and families need to know and get help with to settle in Canada; everything from how to shop in our stores, get a job, fill out government forms, learn different cultures and ways of life. For most families, they rely on their families and friends and their church groups.

But there is a volunteer group in Yellowknife operating out of the Centre for Northern Families who applied for funding to set up an immigration settlement program in Yellowknife and I was so disappointed, Mr. Speaker, to learn that the federal government has rejected this proposal. Shame on them, Mr. Speaker, because I have to tell you that the needs are enormous and the federal government has to recognize that it has an obligation to help provinces and territories look after and integrate the immigrant population it brings in, especially if it wants to see the immigrants settle in places away from the main cities of Vancouver and Toronto. There are currently no programs and services available at the municipal and territorial government level, but it is not our mandate to be the significant provider of these kinds of programs. This is completely within the mandate of Citizenship and Immigration Canada and I call upon the federal government to once again step up to the plate and do the right thing by these immigrants. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Members' statements. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I was home for the weekend and I was talking to some of the people in my community. I ran into a young little girl in Northern Store and I waved to her so she'll know it's me waving to her. Said she sees me on TV and all the other Members and she was quite happy. When I was home and had a constituent meeting with some of the people from Deline and people from Tulita and they were talking about the Nats'ejee K'eh healing, alcohol and drug treatment centre and what was going on with the centre being closed and what was happening. People didn't quite understand what the rationale was for having that treatment centre closed down. They said it was our only treatment centre in the Northwest Territories, now where are we going to send our people? One of the elders said if we had to send them to High Level or other centres outside the Northwest Territories in Alberta, how are the families going to visit them now? They have to drive farther and they have to see them and it's far away. They were quite concerned about the only treatment centre in the Northwest Territories, as you heard and Members have heard, Fort McPherson, Ulukhaktok, are also looking at dealing with issues of alcohol in the communities. They're asking for certain conditions to be put on the communities to look at alcohol. Alcohol is the number one issue in our communities under development, resource, impacts on our communities that the social issues of alcoholism has always come up very strong. We have to really seriously look at this one treatment centre and keep it open. It's our only lighthouse in the Northwest Territories in terms of treatment centres, and having clients come there.

Mr. Speaker, the Nats'ejee K'eh was built on northern values and aboriginal values in terms of it being a unique treatment centre for people in the Northwest Territories and that these counsellors that work there work very hard. They put a lot of value and effort and work into their life and to give clients out there the hope that they will stay sober. We all want that in our communities. So it's the clients and counsellors that are all suffering by having Nats'ejee K'eh closed. So, Mr. Speaker, I wanted to say that we need to have this government open the doors. We have to pay the counsellors what they're worth, because what they're getting right now is not very much. So I want to say, open the doors for Nats'ejee K'eh. Let's do it for our clients. Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Members' statements. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Braden.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Unchecked global warming will devastate the global economy on the scale of the world wars and the Great Depression, according to a major British report released today that seeks to quantify the costs and benefits of action as well as inaction. British Prime Minister Tony Blair said of the report, it is not in doubt that if the science is right that consequences for our planet are literally disastrous. This disaster is not set to happen in some science fiction future many years ahead, but in our lifetime. Unless we act now, these consequences, disastrous as they are, will be irreversible.

Mr. Speaker, closer to home the proposed Mackenzie gas project will mean a huge boom in the oil and gas industry throughout the Mackenzie Valley. We've all talked about the jobs and opportunities that we anticipate will come with this boom, but we have to keep firmly before us the costs that will be imposed from this project on our communities and our environment.

Mr. Speaker, the NWT needs a comprehensive environmental regulatory regime before the Mackenzie gas pipeline is built. Recent Joint Review Panel hearings on greenhouse gas emissions and air quality reveal, Mr. Speaker, that no one agency will be responsible for regulating the oil and gas industry in the NWT. We have federal lands, Commissioner's lands, aboriginal lands, municipal lands, and, Mr. Speaker, monitoring and enforcing air quality standards on these lands is going to be a regulatory jumble.

Environment Canada, in a recent report to the joint technical panel on air quality, stated that provincial, territorial and municipal regulations generally do not apply to federal operations and activities on federal and aboriginal lands. As a result, there is a regulatory gap for managing air emissions on federal lands in the NWT. Mr. Speaker, Environment Canada and the National Energy Board will be conferring to do this.

But what about those jurisdictions on other levels of our lands, Mr. Speaker? Air quality in the NWT is going to be a regulatory football, with agencies passing responsibilities back and forth and blaming each other when the football is dropped. When all are responsible, Mr. Speaker, no one is responsible or accountable. We need a clearly defined regulatory authority for the enforcement of air quality standards in the NWT, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Members' statements. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Pokiak.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Over the last three years I have been pursuing funding in the budget to construct an access road from Tuktoyaktuk granular source No. 177. Mr. Speaker, I have indicated on numerous occasions, source 177 is only 22 kilometres southeast of town and it is the closest source that will address the gravel needs for Tuktoyaktuk.

Mr. Speaker, the Tuk Highway Working Group met with Premier Handley and the Minister of Transportation and the working group was able to receive $25,000 to conduct a survey of the access route. I appreciate the funding from the Department of Transportation. In order to gain access to source 177, this government needs to identify funds in the 2007-2008 budget. I believe this can be addressed through the access road funding under MACA.

Mr. Speaker, by allowing funding to build an access road to source 177 it will bring economic employment and business opportunities to the Beaufort-Delta. Many small business in the Beaufort-Delta will benefit if this access road can be constructed this winter.

Mr. Speaker, I understand the Premier met with the mayor, the deputy mayor and businessmen from Tuktoyaktuk on October 19th, 2006, in Norman Wells. My understanding from this meeting there was a commitment from the previous Minister of Transportation, Michael McLeod, to have someone from the department assist the Hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk in preparing an application for source 177. Has this been done to date?

I understand, also, that the Department of Transportation is organizing an Inuvik to Tuk road committee stakeholders meeting in the near future. When will this meeting take place?

At the same time, at the same meeting, the Premier indicated he would set up a meeting with Minister Prentice to discuss the further funding source for 177. Mr. Speaker, in closing, I would like the Minister of Transportation to work with the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs and identify funding in the budget to include an access road to source 177 so that granular requirements of Tuktoyaktuk can be accessed for long-term use. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Pokiak. Members' statements. The honourable Member for Thebacha, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the affirmative action policy was developed in the late '80s to help the Government of the Northwest Territories develop a representative workforce that is representative of the people that is serves.

Mr. Speaker, that program has had its detractors and supporters from the very start. It has been studied excessively for the last 10 years by the government. In fact, in the 13th Assembly I was part of a committee of MLAs that did a report to government suggesting changes to the affirmative action policy, one of them being a change of name to employment equity. We now, as well, have our own human rights legislation.

We're in the 21st Century and the statistics have shown us very clearly that the affirmative action policy is one that needs work; that it hasn't been able to achieve the goals

that were set out for it; that it's too broad; that it doesn't allow you to focus on those areas of our occupations and professions where there is a true shortage. It has been very successful at the entry-level positions with the officer and clerical positions, but with limited success elsewhere. Some geographical areas like Yellowknife continue to have a very poor representative workforce compared to the rest of the Northwest Territories.

I know that this Assembly of this Legislature and this government have been looking at that for this particular program now for the last three years and I believe it's high time to do the overhaul that's required. I know that there's going to be discussion on what are the roles of P1s, P2s and P3s, especially in light of mobility legislation, our own human rights legislation. But it is a discussion that has to be undertaken. This is a very important program and one that we cannot keep studying and avoid dealing with.

Finally, Mr. Speaker, as we look at this, I would like to point out to everybody and the people of the Northwest Territories, that truly the best affirmative action program is a good education. You can show by our statistics that everybody who gets a diploma or a degree or post-graduate studies or a trade are highly employable -- in the 90 percentile range -- and we have to continue to invest in that particular part of this process. But the actual affirmative action program is ready to be overhauled and I fully support and will have questions later today for the Minister of Human Resources. I fully support moving the employment equity program forward into the discussion stage at the very least with the public. Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Members' statements. The honourable Member for Monfwi, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker... (English not provided)

Mr. Speaker, today I would like to talk on an issue that's very important to the continued survival of the Tlicho and other First Nation languages and cultures. That is the proper funding of a full-time Aboriginal Language and Culture Instructor Program, also known as the ALCIP program, to be delivered through Aurora College.

Mr. Speaker, as it stands right now, the ALCIP program is delivered on a piecemeal basis through either distance learning or individual courses being taught by instructors in the communities. In other cases the students taking the courses are not eligible for student financial assistance to help defray the cost of living expenses because it is not offered as a full-time program, Mr. Speaker.

This is an important program, coupled with the fact that the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment has clearly clarified through the ministerial directive the importance of using funds provided for aboriginal language and cultural programs properly, I believe there is a clear need to ensure there are qualified aboriginal language and cultural instructors in every school of the Northwest Territories. I know of many people who are interested in taking this program and learning how to share their traditional knowledge and language in the classrooms for the next generation of northerners, but these same people are not able to take time away from their employment and their families, take a part-time course delivered on an intermittent basis, Mr. Speaker.

However, Mr. Speaker, I do know these people would be prepared to attend a full-time program at a college and work towards their diploma if they were able to access benefits under the Student Financial Assistance Program and support their families.

Mr. Speaker, I will have questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment at the appropriate time. Mahsi.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Members' statements. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Villeneuve.