This is page numbers 1271 - 1335 of the Hansard for the 15th Assembly, 5th Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was chairman.

Topics

Members Present

Honourable Brendan Bell, Mr. Braden, Honourable Paul Delorey, Honourable Charles Dent, Mrs. Groenewegen, Honourable Joe Handley, Mr. Hawkins, Honourable David Krutko, Mr. Lafferty, Ms. Lee, Hon. Michael McLeod, Mr. McLeod, Hon. Kevin Menicoche, Mr. Miltenberger, Mr. Pokiak, Mr. Ramsay, Honourable Floyd Roland, Mr. Villeneuve, Mr. Yakeleya

---Prayer

Item 1: Prayer
Item 1: Prayer

Page 1271

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Good morning, colleagues. Welcome back to the House. Orders of the day. Ministers' statements. The honourable Minister of Youth, Mr. Dent.

Minister's Statement 80-15(5): Northern Youth Abroad
Item 2: Ministers' Statements

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Charles Dent

Charles Dent Frame Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good morning. Northern Youth Abroad, or NYA, is a non-profit, non-government organization founded in Nunavut in 1997. The NYA program encourages the development of northern leaders through an extensive program of activities and challenges that help young people from the NWT and Nunavut to grow. Participants learn in a supportive environment, both in their home communities and while on volunteer job placements in southern Canada or Africa.

The Department of Education, Culture and Employment has been a supporter of the NYA program since it began in Nunavut. The first pilot project was held in the NWT in 2005. The Department of Municipal and Community Affairs has also been a significant partner.

Mr. Speaker, some of the challenges participants face include learning to live in a different environment with a host family. Another challenge is learning to deliver public presentations on topics related to their community and territory.

To date, in both Nunavut and the Northwest Territories, participants have mainly come from smaller aboriginal communities. Some of the successes of the program are that very high percentages of past participants begin to contribute as volunteers when they return to their home communities. Also, there is a secondary school graduation rate of over 90 percent of our northern youth who have completed the NYA program.

---Applause

Mr. Speaker, many alumni have gone on to post-secondary education.

In 2006, nine youth from the Northwest Territories were placed in the Canadian phase summer placements with host families in southern Canada. Five youth were involved in the international phase in Botswana, Africa.

This year, more than 60 applications have been received for the Canadian and international phase spaces reserved for NWT youth. For the first time, applicants come from every region of the Northwest Territories, but still mainly

from smaller communities. Mr. Speaker, this represents a record level of interest.

Every applicant to the NYA program is interviewed. For many, this is the first interview they have ever had to prepare for. It is a great opportunity for applicants to develop new skills even before they begin the program. Final selections have been made and I was pleased to note those chosen come from 13 different communities representing all regions of the Northwest Territories. I will write to Members to share the names and success of program participants over the next year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Minister's Statement 80-15(5): Northern Youth Abroad
Item 2: Ministers' Statements

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The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Dent. My apologies for recognizing you as the Minister of Youth. The Minister of Youth is actually Mr. McLeod. Ministers' statements. Members' statements. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Rcmp Presence In Colville Lake
Item 3: Members' Statements

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Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my Member's statement is about the community of Colville Lake. Residents of Colville Lake believe the time is right to start looking after the interest of its residents by having accessible RCMP presence in the community.

RCMP bring a sense of safety and comfort for the people they serve. Communities across the Northwest Territories should have access to this service, so we can all feel safe knowing there is law enforcement present who will not tolerate the types of behaviours that plague small communities without RCMP officers. This is why RCMP is needed to have a distinct presence within our communities, especially those that are isolated.

Mr. Speaker, having an RCMP detachment in Colville Lake would prove beneficial to this community providing this essential service, help decrease crime rates, and help address safety concerns people in my constituency have voiced. Mr. Speaker, since crime and criminal activity already negatively affect our smaller communities, it's fair to say with increased resource development crimes would be worse from a result of increased alcohol and drug use and other family problems.

Mr. Speaker, recently the community of Sachs Harbour was given a detachment to address the needs that this community has voiced, just like the Member for Monfwi expressed the need for an RCMP detachment in Gameti during this session.

Today, Mr. Speaker, I am voicing the same concerns for my constituents in Colville Lake. There is a need for the same amount of protection and safety in all communities of the Northwest Territories. The people in Colville Lake deserve those types of services like any other community the Northwest Territories has just like RCMP, nursing and other issues that I have brought up over the life of this government. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Rcmp Presence In Colville Lake
Item 3: Members' Statements

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The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty North Slave

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. (English not provided)

Mr. Speaker, today I would like to talk about the state of sexually transmitted infection, including HIV/AIDS in the Northwest Territories. As Members know, the Northwest Territories has the highest rates of sexually transmitted infections in Canada. This is particularly troublesome, not only because of HIV infection, but if an HIV/AIDS virus is introduced into small communities where the rate of STIs is already high, there is a good probability that this deadly disease, for which there is no cure, Mr. Speaker, could become a major heath and social problem; this at a time when our health care suffers from frequent gaps in staffing at our health centres, with the number of nurses and doctors that we need.

Mr. Speaker, I understand that the Department of Health and Social Services has developed a strategy to deal with STIs and has significantly increased resources to regional health authorities to establish public health units. For this, the department and GNWT is to be highly commended, Mr. Speaker. However, despite all of these new resources and dedicated work of our health care professionals across Northwest Territories who have been trying to lower the rates of STIs in communities, the rates have continued to remain very high compared to a decade ago. I believe that this is because STIs are not just health care issues, but a community issue as well, Mr. Speaker. This is a community dimension to a problem that cannot be addressed by traditional medicine approach to STI prevention and treatment. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement. Mahsi.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty North Slave

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mahsi, colleagues. In my region, the Tlicho Community Services Agency has been trying for the past year to address this community dimension as well as providing traditional medical approaches to prevention and treatment, Mr. Speaker. Groups of elders and youth have been trained by health care professions in our region to carry the message of STI prevention to every household and to work with the families to help change the social behaviour that leads to such infection and illnesses. The agency is currently working with the university-based researchers from the University of Ottawa to implement a community-based research process which is intended to help understand why our communities have high rates of infection. Mr. Speaker, I will have questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services at the appropriate time. Mahsi.

---Applause

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Relocation Of Fort Smith Fire Centre
Item 3: Members' Statements

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Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to raise the constituency issue that has very many of the characteristics of the discussion of the courthouse in Yellowknife. Mr. Speaker, in my constituency for the last 11 and a half years, there has been a lobby intent to relocate the Fire Centre that is currently residing in the federal building in Fort Smith into its own northern-built, northern-owned operation.

Mr. Speaker, we have been spending, and we continue to spend, over $300,000 a year to the federal government for lease and rent in this office. It is a key piece of our government infrastructure. I know the department has supported this over the years too, but unsuccessfully to date.

As we look at the rationale for the courthouse where they are already spending money on leases that they want to convert to a building, the same rationale should apply to those projects outside of Yellowknife and specifically, in this case, relocating the Fire Centre out of the federal building into a northern-owned and operated building. This would also give us the added benefit, Mr. Speaker, of freeing up federal office space in our community that would be filled by the federal government either through Parks or other federal positions. I know that we made the case and it is somewhere on the capital plan, but in this House, I want to raise the issue. I want to give notice that it is still a fundamental unfinished piece of business in my constituency and we look forward to seeing this project advance as fast, if not faster, than the courthouse as we proceed in the coming years with the 16th Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Relocation Of Fort Smith Fire Centre
Item 3: Members' Statements

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The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

WCB Claimant Ivan Valic
Item 3: Members' Statements

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Bill Braden

Bill Braden Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have spoken often in this Assembly on the plight of injured workers in the Northwest Territories. One of them, Mr. Ivan Valic, came to this country as an immigrant and 19 years ago suffered an injury while working on a construction project here in Yellowknife and has been, up until recently, Mr. Speaker, battling our WCB in an effort to secure fair treatment and compensation for his injury.

Within the ranks of injured workers in the North, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Valic is an inspiration because of his enduring fight for proper treatment with the WCB and for compensation for his chronic pain condition. He persevered even though he lost everything except for his belief in his cause against an organization with

tremendous financial and legal resources, unlike his own. It was a tremendously unequal battle against a bureaucracy that trampled his rights and denied him justice, as shown last December when Justice Virginia Schuler of the Supreme Court of the NWT ruled that, indeed, Mr. Valic's Charter of Rights had been violated and his right to natural justice denied.

Mr. Speaker, part of Justice Schuler's ruling was that Mr. Valic should have a new Appeal Tribunal hearing. Ten months was taken to put that together for him. In early December, Mr. Valic invited me to attend this tribunal hearing, but the following day I was told that the issue was concluded. I can only take from this that a settlement was reached with Mr. Valic and I am pleased for him that his case had finally been resolved.

I understand that there is a confidentiality agreement in place. Of course, I will respect this agreement. However, other injured workers continue to have cases before the WCB and, in fact, before the Human Rights Commission in the NWT. I am very interested and concerned, Mr. Speaker, to see just what we have learned in the case and the example that Mr. Valic has set for us and how are we applying this to the case of other injured workers. There must be accountability, Mr. Speaker, for the actions of the WCB in pursuing these cases for those injured workers whose lives continue to be affected by their injuries. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

WCB Claimant Ivan Valic
Item 3: Members' Statements

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The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Members' statements. The honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, Mr. McLeod.

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I stand today again to speak of an issue that I have become quite passionate about in the last little bit as the more research I have done and the more that I have seen with the royalties from our resources leaving the NWT. The Northwest Territories, Mr. Speaker, is rich in resources. We have it all. Mr. Speaker, what is next? Is it our water? Are they going to build a pipeline for our water next? We have resources like caribou. We have resources like the oil and gas, diamonds. We have it all, Mr. Speaker. I think many will agree with me that the main beneficiaries of these resources should be the people of the Northwest Territories. Yet, the Government of Canada continues to make decisions on our behalf and they reap the rewards of our resources. Mr. Speaker, enough is enough.

Some Hon. Members

Hear! Hear!

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

This government is going to have to dig their heels in and tell Ottawa that they will not tolerate this injustice any longer.

---Applause

So much of the money that could be used could be used to benefit the people of the Northwest Territories. That is my problem, Mr. Speaker. The people of the Northwest Territories are not the main beneficiaries of the resources, the royalty from the resources. It has even come to a point, Mr. Speaker, where I have almost thrown up my hands and said enough is enough. What am I doing here? Time to throw in the towel. But I can't do that because I want to be here to remind this government, to remind Ottawa, that the main beneficiaries of those resources...Even Steven Harper said it and I hope it wasn't just talk because we are tired of talk. We have to have some action. We have to have it done soon because they will continue to negotiate for the next 50 years. In the meantime, they will continue to drain the Northwest Territories of all our valuable resources for the benefit of everybody else except the residents of the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

---Applause

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I will again stand in this House to discuss the issue of government spending as it pertains to the growth of our public service and the contracted services which we enter into as a government. I want to start with the public service, Mr. Speaker.

Since 1999, our public service has grown from 2,750 to approximately 4,700 in 2006. There are another 101 new positions included in this upcoming budget. Mr. Speaker, I will not debate the growth in areas where we desperately need help such as social workers, teachers, nurses, health care professionals. However, our growth is occurring in the absence of any long-range human resource plan. With the settlement and implementation of aboriginal self-governments here in the Northwest Territories, we will need to look at how our public service will fit into what will ultimately become a new political landscape here in the Northwest Territories.

I have been asking questions about this growth and lack of a plan since I walked through the doors three and a half years ago. It hasn't been addressed and it has plainly been ignored. If we continue to operate as a government without a human resource plan for the future, we are failing those who we represent. Let me be clear, Mr. Speaker, the level of growth is not sustainable.

Mr. Speaker, contracted services and growth in the use of consultants and the prevalence of reports, studies that just end up collecting dust has to be addressed. It has been my observation, Mr. Speaker, that not only are we paying over $500 million for the 4,700 employees that we have, but some of these employees are becoming contract administrators, hiring consultants or contractors to do the work that should be done by the various departments. Why do we sole source so many contracts? Why do these mostly end up in the hands of southern firms?

A case in point, Mr. Speaker, is the recent budget address delivered recently by Minister Roland. Why is it that his office had to contract via sole source contract to an Alberta communications company to write his budget address? The cost for this work was $15,000. Between FMBS and the Department of Finance, they have 111 employees. Why wasn't somebody there tasked with doing this budget address, Mr. Speaker? Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last summer, the Department of Human Resources sole sourced a contract for $550,000 to an American company. They were brought in to help straighten out the business processes at Human Resources. Mr. Speaker, what did Human Resources get for that money? The issues are still there. Things really don't seem to be improving any. Why can't our people in that department figure out how best to address the issues? Is that not what we pay the management at Human Resources to do?

Mr. Speaker, this government must develop a human resource plan for the future. What we require is a zero-based review of each and every position government-wide and a thorough analysis of our operation from top to bottom. Mahsi.

---Applause

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Robert Villeneuve

Robert Villeneuve Tu Nedhe

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to use my Member's statement to talk about some issues of due diligence, respect and adherence to addressing concerns raised by First Nations organizations, groups or elders and many northerners when southern corporations or individuals come north looking for minerals or claims for their own benefits.

Mr. Speaker, we hear about southern exploration companies poking around in the North here every day, many times without the knowledge of locals or First Nations groups simply due to the fact that no one requires First Nations approval before being issued staking permits. The respect issue first lies with the federal government's hands, Mr. Speaker. Part of Indian and Northern Affairs' responsibility is to inform the First Nations groups of who they have issued staking permits to and why. How hard can this be? The second lies with the southern companies or the individuals who are coming snooping around on our First Nations lands without our knowledge or approval, whether they may be looking for minerals, wildlife or a place to put a tent frame, perhaps, or even plotting just a nature trail. It only makes sense to inform and inform and then inform.

By informing First Nations people who use this land and know this land better than any one else, Mr. Speaker, many of these people and companies will realize what is acceptable and unacceptable and the reasons why prior to moving ahead on these projects. The adherence to recommendations received by the people who will be affected will avoid any confrontations or rejections by the First Nations people or the locals in many areas of development or exploration.

In closing, Mr. Speaker, I would just like to edify all of the potential exploration companies or the individuals who want to venture north and stake their claim and possibly make their fortune or misfortune. You need to consult the First Nations first and foremost. If you are unsure what the First Nations consultation is, it is whatever the First Nations say it is, Mr. Speaker, nothing less. Mahsi.

---Applause

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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