Mr. Clerk, would you ascertain if the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories, the Honourable Anthony W. J. Whitford, is prepared to enter the Chamber to open the Sixth Session of the 15th Legislative Assembly.

Good afternoon, colleagues. Welcome back to the Chamber to begin our Sixth Session of the 15th Legislative Assembly. Certainly it does seem like we never left. I know you are all eager to get back to the business at hand, so I will make my comments brief.

I wish to extend thanks, on behalf of all Members, to the Honourable Anthony Whitford, Commissioner of the Northwest Territories, for opening the Sixth Session of this 15th Assembly.

As we continue our work here, I look forward to a productive and fruitful session. I wish you wisdom and strength in your continued deliberations on behalf of all the residents of the Northwest Territories.

Finally, colleagues, I would like to remind you once again of the important role you have assumed: to uphold the integrity and the dignity of this institution in both word and deed.

On a happy note, before we begin the orders of the day, I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge a very special day for one of our Members, the honourable Member for the Sahtu, Mr. Norman Yakeleya. It's his birthday today.

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Orders of the day. Ministers' statements. The honourable Minister of Transportation, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to draw attention today to a recent, positive development within the Department of Transportation that is already benefiting many NWT residents and visitors alike.

I am referring to the new department website which provides online access to a wider range of useful and important information on travel within the NWT, as well as services and programs offered by the department. Department staff devoted many hours to design and develop a user-friendly website that would be easy to navigate through features and content that inform and assist users.

For example, Mr. Speaker, the site now provides detailed reports on road and ferry conditions across our public highway system. Previously, that information was only available from the department's toll-free highway and ferry information line. There is also a link to weather information across the territory. With that kind of information now only a mouse click away 24 hours a day, travelers can make more informed decisions when planning a trip. It's all about safety.

There is better information too for air travelers and those with an interest in aviation. In addition to timely bulletins and travel tips, and external links to aviation-related organizations, the site is connected to the flight information display system at Yellowknife Airport. Now, from the comfort of your home or office, you can check flight arrival and departure times in Yellowknife, the same as if you were in the airport looking at the screens.

Mr. Speaker, the new site also provides a wealth of information for drivers like you and me and for commercial carriers. It tells you what you need and where to get a new driver's licence and what it will cost. You can also download a driver's manual to study before writing a test. Being able to access those types of documents over the Internet will certainly be appreciated in some of the smaller communities where getting a hard copy of a manual wasn't as easy as it was in other communities.

Manuals for prospective commercial truckers and downloadable forms truckers and their companies need to do business with the department are also available on the site.

Another significant new feature on the site is an e-mail subscription service. When you sign up for the service, you can customize your choice of website sections that interest you the most. When new information or new documents are posted to those sections, you automatically receive an e-mail that tells you about it. Depending on how important that information is to you, you can also choose how frequently you get those updates.

I believe it's worth noting, Mr. Speaker, that the site also has biographical information on the Minister of Transportation and how to reach him...

...or department staff with compliments about the new website. Surely, the site wouldn't be complete without that.

I could go on, Mr. Speaker, and point to many more new and improved features of this website, however I believe I have given Members a sufficient overview of this new site and how it will benefit those who visit it, as well as my department.

I also want to acknowledge the role of the federal Department of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities in making this site possible. Funding my department obtained through the intelligent transportation systems component of the Strategic Highway Infrastructure Program was used to cover part of the cost of developing the site.

I invite Members of this House and the media to join me and department staff in the media room at the break today for a demonstration about what this new website has to offer. I would also encourage the public to visit the website if they haven't done so yet. New features and content are continually being added. The address is www.dot.gov.nt.ca. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good afternoon. Support for and improvement of post-secondary education in the Northwest Territories is an important part of the foundation for some of the GNWT's key priorities. For example, our priority that northerners have the skills to take advantage of economic opportunities requires more education for residents. Our priority that the GNWT help people to help themselves clearly relies on improving levels of education.

"Building on our Success," the Department of Education, Culture and Employment's strategic plan, sets out our objectives, priorities and actions in the area of adult and post-secondary education from 2005 to 2015.

One important activity of Education, Culture and Employment is to regularly monitor major accomplishments and trends so we can improve program effectiveness. Later today, I will table Towards Excellence '05 - A Report on Post-Secondary Education in the NWT. This publication provides a profile of post-secondary education from 2001 to 2005. By reporting publicly on results in post-secondary education, this document provides key indicators of where our system is working and where it may need to be improved.

Highlights outlined in Towards Excellence include increases in the number of aboriginal students attending post-secondary institutions. Aboriginal students are also increasing their educational attainment overall. Population surveys of NWT residents show aboriginal representation has increased middle management, health, education, social sciences, sales and service and in skilled trades. As well, enrollments at Aurora College have increased in recent years, indicating that northerners are choosing to further their education and training.

Mr. Speaker, while the results found in this publication show promising developments and improvement in post-secondary education levels, the northern labour market is booming and we still have not caught up to the overall educational attainment levels of Canada. For northerners to succeed, we need a strong system of post-secondary education and training to ready them for the work that is becoming available. Monitoring and reporting on the indicators set out in Towards Excellence are part of what we need to do to see continued improvement of our college and apprenticeship programs.

Mr. Speaker, the North has a very promising future. Our government has made significant investments in our education system. We all look forward to seeing a return on those investments in the form of increased education and skills leading to more employment and improvement in the quality of life of our residents. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would also like to provide an update on the Northwest Territories participation in the 2007 Canada Winter Games which ended in Whitehorse on March 10th.

As Members are aware, these are the first Canada Games held north of 60 and the first to feature a cooperative partnership between the territories to support this national celebration of sport, youth and culture.

I can report, without hesitation, that our pan-north approach to the games was a huge success and we have demonstrated to the rest of Canada that the North is a vibrant and dynamic part of the country. Team NWT sent over 250 athletes, coaches, youth ambassadors, traditional game athletes and mission staff from 27 communities, making the 2007 team our largest contingent ever.

During the two weeks of the games, our athletes tested their strengths against the best the country has to offer. Some, like Brendan Green of Hay River, triumphed and came away with a gold medal in cross-country skiing.

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Others, like our women's hockey team, thrilled the North in their games against Yukon and Prince Edward Island.

And still others went home knowing that although victory eluded them, they had given it their all and that they could feel proud of their accomplishments.

Our Dene and Inuit games athletes also thrilled spectators from across Canada and the North with their strength and agility in competing against their northern neighbours in the traditional games that are such an important part of our heritage.

Our youth ambassadors were fabulous representatives of the Northwest Territories. They volunteered with the host society in a wide range of activities and each and every area demonstrated that the youth from across the North have great strength, great character and will be strong leaders in the future.

Mr. Speaker, as Members may recall, our participation in the Canada Games program began nearly a year ago, on April 10, 2006, when representatives from the three territories lit their individual torches to begin the Canada Games Torch Relay at the Canadian forces base Alert, Nunavut.

From that date to February 15, 2007, when the Northwest Territories torch was featured at the opening of the NWT Games in Fort Simpson, the torch relay passed through every single community in the Northwest Territories on its way to Whitehorse.

Mr. Speaker, our participation in the Canada games also featured some of the best Northwest Territories artists and performers available. I would like to congratulate my colleagues, the Ministers of Industry, Tourism and Investment and Education, Culture and Employment, for their support of this program.

The unprecedented television coverage of the games meant that many of these individuals received national

exposure and played to audiences across Canada. I was particularly impressed by the Paulatuk drummers who rose at 2:30 in the morning on March 6th to play live on CTV's Canada AM.

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Finally, Mr. Speaker, I want to note the success of the NWT House. This was a suggestion made by the Members of the Legislative Assembly during our fall 2006 briefings on the games.

The NWT House was a drop-in centre, entertainment venue, tourism and business information outlet and all-around great place to be during the games. It was a great success and one that will, I am sure, will be talked about by visitors and residents for a long time to come.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to extend my thanks to the volunteers and the staff who made these games a good success. You have demonstrated to Canada that the North is a great place to live and a great place to work. Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker.

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Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Ministers' statements. Colleagues, I would like to draw your attention to the visitors gallery. Joining us here today are Members from the House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage. Please join me in welcoming Gary Schellenberger, Member of Parliament for Perth-Wellington, Ontario...

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...Diane Bourgeois, Member of Parliament for Terrebonne-Blaineville, Quebec...

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...Larry Bagnell, Member of Parliament for the Yukon...

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...Dennis Bevington, Member of Parliament for the Western Arctic...

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...Jacques Lahaie, Clerk of Committees...

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...and please welcome the staff of the standing committee, Kate Bourke, Marion Menard, Matthiew Carnaghan, Helene Couture-MacTavish, Rene Plante, Cecilia Shea, Micheline Egan, and Christine Detoni.

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Welcome to the opening of the Sixth Session of the 15th Legislative Assembly. I hope you are enjoying the proceedings. Also in the visitors gallery, we have a teacher from St. Pat's High School. Coleen McDonald is a teacher of the Social Studies program at that school. With her are two students, Barbara Drybones and Colin Robinson. These students are very interested in the Legislative Assembly.

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Welcome to the gallery. Orders of the day. Members' statements. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the revised numbers on the cost of the Mackenzie gas project have recently been announced. The projected grand total amounts to $16.2 billion and the proposed start of product movement has been pushed back to 2014. I want to list the published bottom lines for some of the players for the fourth quarter for 2006. Now, remember, this is just for the fourth quarter of 2006: Imperial Oil, total earnings, $749 million; Exxon Mobil Corporation, total earnings, $10.250 billion; Shell Canada, total earnings, $223 million; ConocoPhillips, total earnings just for the fourth quarter, $3.197 billion.

Mr. Speaker, we have heard off and on that this project is economically marginal. We are just one of many projects that, worldwide, any of these companies could be pursuing at this time. We have also occasionally heard of the notion that these proponents may seek financial subsidy or incentive from the federal government to jumpstart this project. So let's just paint a picture of where we fit into this program.

Without devolution or resource revenue sharing with Ottawa, the Government of Canada is going to be the big winners when it comes to royalty revenues. Right now, Ottawa has control of our resources. They appoint all members to the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board and the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Review Board. They are the stewards, guardians and trustees of our northern resources and our future. They have already clearly said that they support the Mackenzie gas project. The Prime Minister, on his visit to Yellowknife, said, and I quote, "We are committed to renewing and strengthening territorial formula financing and equalization. A New Deal on resource revenue sharing is inseparable from those negotiations. It won't happen unless the North builds an open competitive market economy where the resource industry can flourish. It won't happen unless you make sure projects like the Mackenzie gas pipeline come to fruition because, without them, no amount of transfer payments will give the North the future that they deserve."

Mr. Speaker, when Alaskans wanted to beat us to the punch in building their pipeline, we strongly protested about the fairness of any kind of subsidy or floor price that would propel their project to the front of the line. So, Mr. Speaker, I ask, what is missing in this picture when it comes to the interests of northerners? Later today, I will have questions for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment as to our government's position on federal taxpayers' money being used to sweeten the terms for multi-national, multi-billion dollar corporations that need help from our government...

Mrs. Groenewegen, your time for Member's statement has expired.

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

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, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues. ...our government providing money that will be used to sweeten the terms for multi-national, multi-billion dollar corporations that need help to extract northern non-renewable resources and all this while we have no resource revenue sharing deals. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, often in this House we speak about unequal access and availability of health care services between the large centres like Yellowknife and the small communities, and the unfairness associated with that. I want to make that exact point with respect to the breast health programs in the NWT.

Mr. Speaker, much to the credit of the excellent and committed actions on fundraising and awareness campaigns taken by the NWT Breast Cancer Action Group and the incremental steps taken by this government, we now have excellent on-demand breast screening programs for women in Yellowknife, Detah and Ndilo at the Stanton Territorial Hospital. Women in these areas no longer need to get a referral from a doctor to go and get a regular mammogram at Stanton. Once a woman voluntarily enrols into this program, there is a regular follow-up and monitoring for all women. There is also what is called a Patient Navigator Program for those who are diagnosed with breast cancer to help them through the treatment and all the ups and downs the patients and their families have to go through.

Mr. Speaker, we are all very aware that early detection and treatment is critical to any cancer treatment, and breast cancer is no exception. In fact, all women over the age of 30 are encouraged to get a regular mammogram and all women over 40 are strongly encouraged to do so.

Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, this on-demand service is not accessible to women in areas outside of Yellowknife, Detah or Ndilo as easily. In fact, in Inuvik, the program that has been in place since 1999 is still a clinical program, which means that women still need to be referred by a doctor to get a mammogram. There is no separate funding for this either and the Inuvik Health Board has to eat that cost.

For women in Hay River, Fort Resolution and Fort Providence, they go through a service in Hay River, but they get it through Alberta programs. Mr. Speaker, the situation is much worse in communities where there are no mammogram services at all. They must rely on services in Yellowknife and Inuvik. They often go through diagnostic imaging, which is different from the breast health program, which means that they have no monitoring and follow-ups. I would like to ask the Minister. There has been a proposal before the government since last June to make this program available for all of the NWT. I urge the government to approve that so that all women of the Northwest Territories have equal access to mammograms and other breast health services that they deserve. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Thank you, Ms. Lee. Members' statements. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I want to discuss the issue of the New Deal for communities and whether or not the New Deal is, in fact, a fair deal for the larger communities. My colleague for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen, has questioned the Minister extensively why the Town of Hay River has been negatively impacted by the water and sewer subsidy. Today I want to address the fact that the City of Yellowknife is also getting the short end of the stick when it comes to funding it receives from MACA. Across the board, the city will receive $600,000 less based on changes that occurred in how the funding is distributed. Let me be clear in my message today that all communities, both big and small, should be treated fairly.

When developing a funding formula, the department should recognize that, by adjusting the base, they are negatively impacting tax-based communities. There has been a steady increase in base funding from 1 percent plus per capita in gas tax monies to 1.5 percent plus percent capita on MRIF dollars to now 2 percent plus per capita on capital. This just is not fair to everyone, Mr. Speaker. What the department should be striving for is consistency in funding allocations so that when dollars do become available, there is surety on the formula being used.

Mr. Speaker, having spent five years as a municipal councillor, I know first hand how difficult a task it is to raise revenues. I believe MACA is putting too much on the backs of tax-based communities to raise these revenues. If MACA continues to insist on raising base levels, it will have a very serious impact on the tax-based communities.

The New Deal has to be a fair deal, Mr. Speaker. The department just can't keep taking money away from communities that are counting on it. The higher the base, the more penalized the tax-based communities become. Consistency and fairness should not be too much to ask. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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