Good afternoon, colleagues. Welcome back to the House. Item 2, Ministers’ statement., Hon. Bob McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, the new Tourism Product Diversification and Marketing Program was officially launched by the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment on January 7, 2008.

This program will provide N.W.T. operators with the knowledge and means to reinvent or expand their tourism products and operations, to capitalize on changing markets, and to better meet the trends and demands that we anticipate will provide growth for our tourism industry in the future.

As part of the investment outlined in the Tourism 2010 strategy, Industry, Tourism and Investment and Northwest Territories Tourism have been engaged for two years in gathering research and analysis on tourism trends, product development, potential markets, and the capacity of our own tourism industry.

We have learned there is a large and growing market among high-income baby boomers in Canada and around the world for authentic travel experiences that will put them in touch with nature. The rugged, pristine and isolated nature of the Northwest Territories is a perfect fit for these travellers — our wilderness, wildlife, aboriginal culture, fresh air and country food all appeal to this targeted audience.

The new Tourism Product Diversification and Marketing Program will provide N.W.T. tourism operators with funding for business planning, product and product package development as well

as marketing support, to position their businesses to meet this future market.

This program has been developed in close consultation with the entire N.W.T. tourism industry and reflects our Assembly’s commitment to a diversified economy and to the development of sustainable local economies through the development of small businesses.

More importantly, Mr. Speaker, it is a real take-it-to-the-bank example of our government’s ongoing commitment to the men and women who make up the tourism sector in the N.W.T. and who are the face of N.W.T. tourism to the world.

Mr. Speaker, in keeping with my commitment to provide regular updates to Members of the House on Human Resources matters, I’m pleased to speak today about a couple of areas where we have made progress in and about services in place as we move forward.

Since the summer of 2006, we have been implementing e-tools to improve the quality and accuracy of pay and information for employees and managers. In December 2007 Aurora College and the divisional education employees started using the self-service Human Resources information system. All government employees of the Northwest Territories are now on self-service, with the exception of fieldworker employees in areas such as firefighters. Employees can now enter their time and leave as they earn or use it and can keep their own personal information up to date.

This program also includes a feature which allows pay to be divided between more than one bank account. Approved overtime is now paid in the period it is earned rather than being weeks behind. This provides both quicker payment for employees and more accurate expenditure information for managers.

Through the Employee and Family Assistance Program, the Government of the Northwest Territories offers employees and their immediate family members access to a confidential

counselling and support service to assist with a number of issues in people’s lives.

Over the past year one of the priorities was to increase active services for G.N.W.T. employees in all communities. The most recent quarterly report from the Employee and Family Assistance Program provider shows a marked increase in the number of employees accessing services from outside Yellowknife. Employees are also taking full advantage of the variety of service options, from personal counselling to online assistance.

Over the past five years the Northern Student and Graduate programs have proven to be very successful in bringing Northern post-secondary students and graduates into the G.N.W.T. workforce. The programs for 2008 and 2009 are already in the application and review stages, with applications being received from many students interested in summer work. In the Intern Program, departments are now interviewing potential graduates for placement beginning in the summer, and work is currently underway with planning for placements of nursing graduates.

This week all G.N.W.T. employees will be invited to once again participate in an employee engagement and satisfaction survey. This survey is part of a national initiative by all territorial and provincial jurisdictions which began three years ago. The G.N.W.T. is committed to doing this survey every two years. The survey results are then compared to the results from all other jurisdictions, allowing us to determine what areas we are stronger in and which areas need additional work. Survey results will be available and shared with Members in June 2008.

As we look forward to the weeks ahead and the difficult decisions that will take place around priorities, the Department of Human Resources is prepared to help mitigate the impact on G.N.W.T. employees. This government has made a clear commitment to the retention of staff through the Staff Retention policy, where the emphasis is on keeping the knowledge, skills and abilities that employees have gained during their time with the G.N.W.T.

We will work with deputy ministers to ensure we maximize opportunities for affected employees to find alternative work within the G.N.W.T. As well, individuals have been designated within Human Resources to support employees through changes that are affecting them or their workplace. As I’ve previously noted, employees have access to the Employee and Family Assistance Program, which offers a range of services related to personal and professional change.

Mr. Speaker, we are constantly working to improve human resource management programs and services. My door is always open to Members

about issues and ideas so we can improve services, address concerns and develop programs that support the recruitment and retention of a strong public service.

Item 3, Members’ statements. Mr. Abernethy.

As a government we need policies and procedures to ensure the consistent delivery of services. However, we need to remember the human element and allow for flexibility. We need to empower employees and allow them some level of latitude so they can use common sense in providing services to clients. We need to be less bureaucratic and more human.

At the appropriate time I will be asking the Minister Responsible for the Department of Transportation questions concerning customer relations within DOT.

I would like to bring to the attention of this House an inequality that exists in the N.W.T. public service. For quite a few years now, we’ve had an Affirmative Action Policy in place to enable the hiring of certain target groups of Northerners as G.N.W.T. employees. This policy is not working for a specific, disadvantaged group of N.W.T. residents who need to be recognized.

Persons with disabilities in the G.N.W.T. public service make up a paltry 0.4 per cent of the total number of employees. The percentage of persons with disabilities in the general population of the N.W.T., however, is 13 per cent — hardly an equal representation.

Statistics from October 31, 2007, show a total of 4,688 employees in the G.N.W.T. and only 19 persons with disabilities employed by the G.N.W.T. By comparison, the civil service in several other provinces have per cent employment for persons with disabilities at rates seven to ten times higher than ours. In this instance, the G.N.W.T. is at the bottom of barrel.

“But you can’t compare provinces to the N.W.T.,” they say. “We’re not like them.” How about the statistics for the federal public service in the N.W.T. then? That’s a fair comparison. Persons with disabilities working for the federal public service in the N.W.T. are 4.3 per cent of the workforce. That’s 11 times our rate.

The argument is often made that persons with disabilities must self-identify, so we really don’t know the true numbers. All the jurisdictions I used for comparison also use self-identification, so I think it’s fair.

The G.N.W.T. Affirmative Action Policy states, in part: “…committed to a public service that is representative of the population that it serves.” We can’t be that committed to equal representation when persons with disabilities are only 0.4 per cent of our public service.

The policy also references target groups and identifies persons with disabilities as one of those groups who should receive preferential hiring, but persons with disabilities are listed as P2, second on the priority list of three groups and in the same category as indigenous non-aboriginals, a rather large group.

Persons with disabilities are the most disadvantaged affirmative action group in Canada in terms of education, employment, income and so on. We need to remedy this situation as soon as possible.

I seek unanimous approval to conclude my statement.

Unanimous consent granted.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues.

We need to remedy this situation as soon as possible and can do that by removing barriers to hiring persons with disabilities. We must: (1) change the Affirmative Action Policy to show persons with disabilities as P1 priority — a no-cost budget item, and (2) establish a career assistance program for persons with disabilities. I can provide information on that to the Minister of Human Resources for whom I will have questions later on.

[The Member spoke in another language.]

I just wanted to translate what I just said. It doesn’t reflect here in the Member’s statement, but just the fact that people are coming here and exploiting our

available lands and resources and gas and oil, yet our government is in trouble financially.

As well, for the most part, for our population, our unemployment rate is not that high, especially in the regions and communities. Why are we in this situation?

People expect all of us as MLAs and our government to put us in power to act and govern our Territory, yet we don’t seem to have the strength or the political will to continue with our resource-revenue sharing discussions. Today I’d like to let the government know. I know that Mr. Premier was down in Ottawa early in our term, and he says he was stonewalled by our federal government when he requested royalty resource revenue discussions as well as devolution discussions.

I think it’s still up to us to provide the willpower to begin those discussions, to have an office here in the North, to talk with our other political organizations. We’ve got other aboriginal jurisdictions that we need support from, and I would urge our government to continue those discussions.

One of the ways, too, that I believe we can make headway is if we do pursue this heritage fund idea. Stop the flow from going to Ottawa. Put it in a trust fund until we as political organizations can agree how to spend those resource revenues that are leaving the North. I believe that’s another priority that our government should concentrate on and pursue. Mahsi cho.

Mr. Speaker, we’ve been hearing a lot about the Deh Cho Bridge. But today I want to talk about the Peel River Bridge.

It’s a bridge that’s been around for some time. The Inuvik Chamber of Commerce was looking at the Peel River Bridge back in 1981. They contacted an engineering firm to look at the viability of building a bridge across the Peel River. They were looking in regard to finding ways to improve the transportation to the oil and gas industry in the Beaufort Sea, which was booming back in the early ‘80s and into the middle of the ‘80s.

Yet very little has been done by way of work from this government in regard to looking at other bridges, other potential transportation that links us across the Northwest Territories such as the Peel River, the Liard River, the Mackenzie River up around Tsiigehtchic. I think that as a government we’re spending a lot of money on one bridge. But I’m wondering what are we doing to other bridges throughout the Northwest Territories. We had to cancel the bridge in regard to the Bear River because of cost overruns.

I’m wondering, as a government, what are we doing universally to ensure that we’re looking at all our infrastructure throughout the Northwest Territories to see exactly what the real cost at the end of the day is going to be to improve our infrastructure, to put permanent bridges in all across where the ferry operations are? That’s an issue where we’re basically having to look at alternative ways of crossing our river systems.

Again, going back to my point about the Peel River, which has been in the works for some 26 years, the Chamber of Commerce in Inuvik was looking at this item along with the community of Fort McPherson. For some time we’ve been talking about it, talking about it and talking about it. Yet as a government I’d just like to know how much resources have been spent on the Peel River Bridge, considering that we’ve spent in excess of $9 million on the Deh Cho Bridge.

I think it’s important as a government that if we’re making these types of investments, we look at the total picture of the Northwest Territories, see what exactly the total infrastructure costs are in regard to our infrastructure from highways, bridges, roads, airports and whatnot. In that way we know what the long-term financial implications are going to be to this government.

I think it’s important in this government that we do have this debate and that we do look at the possibility of the implications in regard to financial implications and how we’re going to get the work done.

I will have some questions to the Minister of Transportation on this matter. Thank you.

[English translation not provided.] Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, back on November 28 I spoke about infrastructure needs for the youth in Tu Nedhe, the Tu Nedhe riding. On Monday I talked about providing support to communities to allow them to hire qualified recreation staff. Today I would like to talk about input that I have received to date on the issues from the communities.

In Lutselk’e they have a new arena, but they do not have the staff to properly maintain the facility. As well, the community is not fully prepared for the high O&M costs of running a community arena. And they still have no Zamboni.

Keep in mind that Lutselk’e is an isolated community of under 400 people. You can put the entire community population in the multiplex arena here and still have room to spare. It’s clear that a

community of this size will have a lot of difficulty to operate such an essential piece of infrastructure. They simply do not have the human or financial resources to do so. They need help from our government.

If run and maintained by properly trained staff, sport, recreation and youth facilities can have a positive impact on the community. In Fort Resolution an example of this is from April to December ’06. When the arena was closed, the local RCMP reported a total of 26 youths that had been charged with various crimes. When the arena was opened from December to April’07, a total of only four youth were charged. Unfortunately, the arena was closed again from April to December the following year, and 18 more youth were charged with various crimes.

The difference is significant, and it sends a message that is loud and clear. Adequate recreation for youth facilities run by properly trained staff can produce immediate results. In my October 19 Member’s statement I briefly talked about resources, tools, expertise needed for communities to effectively address and deliver youth and recreation programs and services. Today I would once again reiterate the urgency to provide these supports.

Mr. Speaker, on the MACA website it states that MACA recognizes that sport, recreation and physical activity are essential to the health and well-being of citizens and the community. The department provides support by assisting the community to provide local support, recreation, physical activities and programs and services.

I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

Unanimous consent granted.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues.

Mr. Speaker, the department’s mandate is clear: to provide support to communities, to provide local sport and recreation programs. According to my communities the support being provided is insufficient. The department needs to re-examine its priorities and provide efforts where the communities can see immediate, positive results.

Later on I will follow up my statement with questions to the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.

Mr. Speaker, youth are our future and a clear priority of this Assembly. I rise to report

on a highly successful program, that of the Northern Youth Abroad charitable organization. Through the considerable hard work of many, many volunteers, this dedicated group promotes leadership, cross-cultural awareness, individual career goals and international citizenship to our youth across the Northwest Territories.

Northern Youth Abroad helps youth aged 15 to 21 to understand themselves and their personal cultural strengths and context within the Canadian and global societies. It provides a life-changing experience that’s designed specifically to address the needs and aspirations of Northern youth.

NYA’s unique model of education through work and travel is highly effective, stimulates increased education and contributes to a new generation of leaders for northern communities. Over 90 per cent of Northern Youth Abroad alumni have graduated from high school, with many in post-secondary education and some already leaders in their home community.

In 2005, its first year in the N.W.T., Northern Youth Abroad was 100 per cent funded by this government. However, it is on track to reducing the need for government support up to 25 per cent by 2009. This year they are counting on only 33 per cent funding from the G.N.W.T., this while increasing the number of youth participants.

I commend the Ministers of Education, Culture and Employment and Municipal and Community Affairs for their wise investment in the Northern Youth Abroad program. The organization has proven worthy, attracting support from industry, the non-profit sector, local businesses and aboriginal governments. Our key support provides the leverage needed for ongoing support from these partners. This year over 50 youths from throughout the N.W.T. applied for 16 spaces in the Northern Youth Abroad program, reflecting both the need for and response to their innovative and relevant work.

So let’s ensure that this government continues to support the participation of our youth in this highly successful and territorial-wide program. The need is clear, and the return to our communities is huge. Mahsi.

Mr. Speaker, I’d like to continue with the topic I raised yesterday in the House when I spoke about the need to address the 3,300 migrant workers and the $350 million they take with them every year. I’ve recently been advised that De Beers Canada is, as of January 1, 2008, providing a $600 per month allowance to employees living

more than 500 kilometres from Edmonton, which they consider as the point of pickup.

I can appreciate that De Beers does have a business to run and does need to have some flexibility. However, when they are making things that much easier for employees to reside in southern Canada, then we as a government have to say something.

Ten years ago when I would travel home from the south and board a plane in Edmonton, I would know close to half the people on that plane. Today I’d be lucky to know three or four people, and I am in the business of knowing people. The planes flying into Yellowknife today are filled with migrant workers.

I’d like to say again today that something needs to happen to mitigate this practice. How closely are the socio-economic agreements being monitored? We still have high pockets of unemployment in our small communities, and opportunities need to be given to those who need them. I receive calls and e-mails from people, even here in Yellowknife, who can’t get a foot in the door of the big three diamond mines.

We need to look at speaking to the mining companies to look outside the current catchment areas. Contracts with companies doing work for them should include workers from the Northwest Territories, whether they’re from Inuvik, Fort Smith or Fort Simpson. If we need to look at community registries, let’s do that. Training and opportunities are passing Northerners by in favour of relatives and friends from southern Canada. It is imperative that we identify those workers in our communities who require opportunities.

As a government we should also be trying to help communities like Hay River, Fort Smith, Fort Simpson, Inuvik and Yellowknife get a coordinated campaign together to attract workers to live in our Territory. We need to find ways to roll out the welcome mat to migrant workers. Our communities have lots to offer, Mr. Speaker. Let’s help them get that message into the hands of the migrant workers.

Mr. Speaker, I’ll have questions for the Minister of ITI at the appropriate time. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, as we all are aware, there are many appointments to boards, agencies and commission positions that are either the responsibility of the G.N.W.T. or are done through statutory appointments by this Assembly. I believe that, except for cases where either specialized knowledge, circumstances or skills are required,

every effort should be made to appoint Northern residents to these positions and that a condition of such an appointment require ongoing residency in the N.W.T. If a person moves outside of the Northwest Territories, as we’ve recently seen using the example of one of our legislative commission appointments, he or she should be deemed to have resigned their appointment immediately.

Furthermore, there are no real mechanisms to review a person in these positions until the term expires. If there are concerns with their effectiveness, ability or quality of work, we should be able to re-evaluate the position with justifiable reasons to overlook that concern.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to say that every year an increasing number of Northerners are furthering their education and developing skill sets that enhance their ability to serve the N.W.T. residents.

I strongly encourage this government and this Assembly to develop and adopt protocols to ensure that persons appointed to statutory positions or boards are residents of the N.W.T. for the term of their appointment. The boards and agencies review gives us a great opportunity to look at this and deal with this problem.

The residency issue has become an increasingly important element to the N.W.T. and has even been applied to MLAs, with the recent adjustment to the eligibility to be a representative. It isn’t a stretch to require two more conditions to persons appointed by this House.

Mr. Speaker, today I want to tell you how completely disappointed — and disappointed is not a strong enough word — I am with the leadership of our past and present government that would have allowed a process such as that associated with the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation to be entered into. As the details, which were so often withheld, now slowly come to light, the financial harm that our government has been exposed to is unbelievable.

The Deh Cho Bridge will be the most costly piece of capital infrastructure ever embarked upon by our government. And lest you doubt that it is our government — and our government alone — that will underwrite all costs and liabilities associated with this project, let me assure you that the walls between this project and full transparency and accountability under the guise of a private corporation is a farce.

The confidentiality of the details around this project for everything from the concession agreement to the expenditure of the $9 million to date that the

government guaranteed has been nothing short of a licence for representatives of our government to enter into a deal that has ramifications for immeasurable financial harm to our government. But I’m sure the Finance Minister is already aware of all that.

This is absolutely wrong and flies in the face of everything that democracy and public accountable government stands for. The terms and conditions of this agreement have been secretive, and I’m just beginning to learn why.

Mr. Speaker, today I want to assure the public that I have become privy to agreements entered into by your government that will be exposed to the full light of public scrutiny. Some people may think this is a laughing matter. In view of the real, serious, basic needs of the people we represent and the fiscal pressures our Premier talks about, this is a matter of very serious concern.

Today I’ll have questions for the Premier. Tomorrow morning, Mr. Speaker, I will be on a panel on the CBC radio phone-in show from 7:15 ’til 8 a.m., when members of our constituencies can phone in and ask questions about this project. I’m sorry to report CBC has told me that our government has declined to have anyone on that panel to answer any of these questions. I would suggest they probably don’t want to answer to the public for this.

Mr. Speaker, I want a full disclosure of everything that has transpired around this deal, and that is what I will pursue.

Mr. Speaker, I listened to the Premier’s Sessional Statement with some interest. I’d like to propose today my partial solution as to how we can realize these five initiatives that the Premier mentioned with one project Andthat project, Mr. Speaker, is the construction of the Mackenzie Valley Highway.

We could build our future by giving our residents training opportunities. We may end up with a trained workforce that could go to work in Fort McMurray because the mines don’t seem to want them. We could reduce the cost of living, Mr. Speaker — and that’s a given — by allowing products to be trucked in to all the communities.

By being part of the decision-making process and lending our support to this project, we could manage our land. We could maximize opportunities by giving businesses and individuals an opportunity to benefit from the construction of the highway with equipment and services and all the other related work that would come.

Ottawa speaks about Arctic sovereignty all the time, Mr. Speaker. This would give them an opportunity to put their money where their mouth is and have a road from right up to Tuktoyaktuk because residents of the Northwest Territories are a little tired of lip service.

Mr. Speaker, the Premier mentioned in his Sessional Statement that these five initiatives would provide a road map for our future. I’m saying, let’s give them a road that they can use the map on.

This project makes sense, Mr. Speaker. It makes more sense than a proposed Deh Cho Bridge. Let’s do a project that would benefit all the Northwest Territories, instead of one project that would benefit just a few.

Mr. Speaker, give me the opportunity, and I will vote no to the Deh Cho Bridge, and I will vote yes to the Mackenzie Valley Highway.

Today I would like to talk about the lack of adequate housing for teachers in Paulatuk and Sachs Harbour.

As you know, attracting and keeping good teachers is a challenge in many of our smaller isolated communities. Housing for teachers is a major factor in the communities’ ability to attract and keep good teachers. Some have been fortunate enough to effectively address this problem, and Tuktoyaktuk and Ulukhaktok are two such communities. Unfortunately, Sachs Harbour and Paulatuk are on the other side of the issue and in desperate need of adequate housing for teachers.

In both communities, at one time or another, teachers have been forced to look for housing in local housing organizations. In Paulatuk some teachers have rented privately, and the rent levels in the community contributed to short tenures in the community.

In Sachs Harbour some of the teachers found accommodations by renting spare rooms from the local Co-op. And when the situation was no longer viable, the teachers moved into the health centre with the nursing staff.

There are a number of units in the community that could be made available for teachers’ housing. However, this could negatively impact the local housing market and then that organization would be facing similar problems.

The most viable option would be to have a teachers-only housing unit, such as a fourplex, in each of those communities facing teacher housing

issues, such as Paulatuk and Sachs Harbour. As we all know, teachers are a valuable resource for our communities, and they should not have to worry about housing issues.

Later today I'll be asking questions to the appropriate minister.

Item 4, reports of standing and special committees. Item 5, returns to oral questions. Item 6, recognition of visitors in the gallery, Hon. Norman Yakeleya.

It gives me great pleasure to recognize four elders from Sahtu, specifically Deline Elder Andrew-John Kenny, Mr. Baton, Mr. Modeste, Mr. Alfred Taniton — four of the wise men of the Sahtu Dene.

Item 7, acknowledgements, Mr. Beaulieu.

Today I wish to acknowledge a young athlete and role model, 16-year-old Amber Mandeville of Fort Resolution.

Amber enjoys being out on the land, helping others, giving meat to elders, and taking visitors up the Talston River and Jean River. Last year, Amber was chosen as top junior ranger and was also a recipient of the Youth Award for Akaitcho Territory Government. She volunteers as a gym supervisor, coaching younger children in badminton and soccer. Amber is the only youth from Fort Resolution in this year’s Arctic Winter Games.

Please join me in acknowledging and congratulating this young role model and dedicated athlete, Amber Mandeville of Fort Resolution. Good luck, Amber.

Item 8, oral questions. Mr. Abernethy.