Good afternoon, colleagues. Welcome back to the House. Orders of the Day. Item 2, Ministers’ statements. The honourable Minister responsible for Human Resources, Mr. Bob McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, June 15 to June 21, 2008, has been designated as National Public Service Week. As the Minister of Human Resources for the Northwest Territories public service, it is my honour to stand in the House today to recognize the significant contributions made by the approximately 5,700 Government of the Northwest Territories public service employees.

It is public service employees who make it possible for the government to deliver services to the residents of the Northwest Territories. These services range from front-line health care to maintaining our highways to educating our children. As you can appreciate, delivering these services requires a great variety of skills on the part of public service employees. We have a public service that exhibits a high degree of professionalism and commitment to providing quality services to all residents of the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, last Thursday we had an opportunity to recognize some of these exceptional employees at the annual Premier's awards. Staff were recognized for individual awards, and there was a team award for the Aurora College Northern Nursing Program. These awards also included collaborative awards with partners such as the Tlicho Healing Wind Project — Promoting Sexual Health Team; the New Deal Capital Planning Task Team and Administrator’s Working Group; the Aurora Research Institute; Mallik International Gas

Hydrate Research Program Team; and the Elders Wilderness Camp.

The Government of the Northwest Territories is currently undergoing some change in order to meet the vision and goals of this Assembly. Change is never easy or undertaken lightly, and we all recognize the work of the public service and wish to say “Thank you.” Please join me in expressing appreciation for the hard work and dedication of the public service and in celebrating National Public Service Week.

Thank you, Mr.

McLeod. The

honourable Minister responsible for Transportation, Mr. Yakeleya.

Mr. Speaker, someone once said that the North has two seasons. The first season lasts about nine months and is called the winter season. The second season is very short, lasting only about three months. This short season is called the road construction season.

This road construction season, reconstruction, drainage, surface and grade improvements are proposed across the entire surface-transportation system. This work is already underway to improve our aging infrastructure and maintain a safe and reliable system. In the North our construction season is very short, and to get things done we have to take full advantage of every day we have.

This afternoon, Mr. Speaker, I would like to go over the major projects the Department of Transportation has proposed for this construction season. It is a very ambitious construction plan, and we need the patience and the cooperation of the public to ensure we have a safe and successful construction season.

Mackenzie Highway No. 1 is our vital transportation link to Alberta and part of the core national highway system. One of the major improvements we are undertaking along this route is a new bridge across the Kakisa River. Safer approaches, improved vertical and horizontal alignments and a wider, full-

width two-lane bridge deck will improve safety. The structure capacity of this bridge will also be increased to accommodate the very large, heavy loads that travel north on this route.

Mr. Speaker, you will be pleased to hear that construction delays are expected to be minimal, as the traffic will continue travelling on the old bridge while the new bridge is under construction. Work will also continue on grades, drainage and safety improvements on Mackenzie Highway No. 1 route between kilometres 256 and 272. I urge the travelling public to be aware and cautious, as heavy equipment will be on the highway throughout the reconstruction season.

Reconstruction on Ingraham Trail, Highway No. 4, will be focused between kilometres 32 and 35. Widening and roadway improvements such as the installation of guardrails will improve the traffic flow for seasonal residents, recreational users, tourists and heavy industry traffic accessing the mineral-rich Slave geologic province.

Across the entire system rehabilitation work, including culvert replacement and bridge rehabilitation, and chipseal replacement will be ongoing throughout the construction season. The department also hopes to be crushing and stockpiling granular material in preparation for future chipsealing surfacing.

This year the department plans to chipseal over 170 kilometres of highway. This includes the 20 kilometres of Highway No. 2 leading to Hay River, 20 kilometres of Highway No. 5 leading to Fort Smith, and also planned this year is a new chipseal surface for the Hay River Reserve road.

The Liard Highway No. 7 is an important link to B.C. The department will continue to rebuild this highway over the next season between kilometres 14 and 20 south of Fort Liard. The highway generally is structurally weak and vulnerable to damage during the spring thaw. Due to lack of proper drainage, the subgrade becomes saturated during the time of increased rainfall, causing potholes, rutting and muddy sections. As we experienced this spring, the road deteriorated to the point of closure. The continuing reconstruction will help address these critical areas.

In the Mackenzie Delta the department will continue on the Dempster Highway No. 8 with reconstruction and widening between kilometres 34 and 40 and culvert replacements up to kilometre 60. Reconstruction to date has improved roadway geometrics and driving surfaces, contributing to a significant reduction in collisions.

Mr. Speaker, construction of the Deh Cho Bridge is also underway. The department has been working

with the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation and the contractor, Atcon Construction, to ensure that traffic flows through the construction site smoothly and that ferry operations are not disturbed. The general contractor for the construction of the Deh Cho Bridge is scheduled to make progress on four of the eight piers of the bridge structure during this construction season. Ferry passengers will have a front-row seat to watch the bridge progress.

In conclusion, Mr.

Speaker, these are the

Department of Transportation's construction season highlights for 2008. If they happen to be driving by these projects this summer, I would remind Members and their constituents to slow down and follow the signs and obey the flag people in the construction zones.

As reinforcement the department is also implementing the necessary regulatory amendments to double the speeding fines within these construction zones. Please help us to protect and maintain the safety of the crews and the contractors working on these important improvements. Remember that we can do our part to drive alive. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Item 3, Members’ statements. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

[English translation not provided.]

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker. We all know the

Northwest Territories has some of the highest energy costs in the country, and these high costs have a big impact on our cost of living. Community government leaders are struggling with these escalating costs, and there does not appear to be any relief in sight.

At the recent NWT Association of Communities annual general meeting in Fort Simpson, community government representatives passed two resolutions that raised concerns about the cost of electrical power and the management of the Northwest Territories Power Corporation. These resolutions are driven by the frustrations they have with our current system. They are looking for alternatives in order to obtain the best value for money for their residents.

Large non-hydro communities like Fort Simpson, Norman Wells and Inuvik are considering a number of options, including finding alternate energy suppliers. If these three communities withdraw from the NTPC, this could have a serious impact on the

remaining Northwest Territories Power Corporation customer base and the overall operations of the NTPC.

Mr. Speaker, community government leaders have met with the Premier, the Minister responsible for the Power Corporation and the Minister responsible for the Public Utilities Board and discussed two options they would like the government to consider. One would be to treat every resident in the territory the same and bring in the one-rate zone and bring Yellowknife and Hay River back under the Northwest Territories Power Corporation.

The second option would be to sell the Power Corporation to another energy supplier with the capacity to develop some of the vast hydro potential in our territory. This alternative would allow the GNWT to rid itself of the debt load associated with NTPC and could lead to a reduction of electrical costs in our communities.

The government will be reviewing electricity rates, regulations and the Power Subsidy Program over the next year. This is a real opportunity for the government to consider all the options and look for solutions that will provide all residents with affordable energy. Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr.

Menicoche. The

honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.

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

Mr. Speaker, last week I spoke about the cost of living and the impacts on our residents in the smaller communities. This is an everyday concern for my constituents, and today I would like to summarize this concern.

This issue is an everyday concern for many residents in smaller communities. Many are struggling to make ends meet. I talked about a young mother of three who has to pay $8 for two litres of milk and almost $90 for formula. If one of her children requires medical attention, this could mean leaving her home and her community to get this service, and that’s an additional cost.

Mr. Speaker, in addition to cost of living issues, I’ve talked about the gap between services available to residents in larger communities and those in smaller communities. For example, homes in smaller communities use a water and sewage tank system, while other larger communities have piped systems. They have to accept this by default. That is, where we live in smaller communities, our homes will have to be built differently. This is the

wrong approach. This is a basic but very important service we need to start thinking differently about. We should start thinking that every home should have basic services. Presently the infrastructure is not there to do this, and this clearly illustrates the real difference in infrastructure needs in larger and smaller communities.

It’s good to hear the Premier say he does agree there’s a difference in services between larger communities with a vibrant economic sector and those smaller communities that are traditionally based. I also agree with the Premier when he says it will take some work to address these issues.

Mr.

Speaker, I was very pleased to hear the

Premier say he will be establishing a joint committee of Ministers and Ordinary MLAs to specifically look at the cost of living issues and the gap in municipal infrastructure services between the smaller and larger communities. Today I may have a couple of questions for the Premier on this.

Thank you, Mr.

Beaulieu. The

honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’d like to follow up on a Member’s statement made by my colleague from Nahendeh on the Northwest Territories Power Corporation.

Mr. Speaker, we recognize that the cost of living across the Northwest Territories is very high. Even Cabinet recognizes that, because they have a cost of living committee. They need to look no further than the Northwest Territories Power Corp to help try to bring down the costs across the Northwest Territories.

As Mr.

Menicoche said, there are three large

communities on the grid that are seriously considering pulling off the grid, and that will affect the costs for the rest of the people across the NWT. They’d like to have the same price, or a fairly level price, as what they have to pay down here.

Mr. Speaker, when NTPC in Inuvik converted to gas, I really thought their power was going to go down, but that didn’t happen. If anything, it went up even further. We’ve got the gas 20 kilometres from town, yet the price still didn’t go down. I’m sure that if they piped that gas down to Alberta, they’d pay less for it down there than we do up here.

Taltson hydro project is another one I have a hard time selling in the Beaufort-Delta, Mr. Speaker, because they want to know who is to benefit from this other than the diamond mines. Who will pay? It’s hard to sell that back home. There are no

immediate benefits to the residents of the Beaufort-Delta, so they have a concern with that.

In April of 2008 the Beaufort-Delta Regional Council had a meeting up in Inuvik. They passed a motion that said the NTPC is a corporation that’s accountable to the government and the residents of the Northwest Territories. They’ve also asked that this Assembly strongly consider instructing the Auditor General of Canada to conduct an audit on the Northwest Territories Power Corporation and see what they can do to improve their services without giving themselves huge bonuses in the process.

These folks represent communities that have to live with extremely high costs of utilities. This Assembly should listen to these people, and we should act on their recommendations. It’s important to them, Mr. Speaker. It should be important to us. As residents of the Northwest Territories affected by a corporation that’s owned by the Northwest Territories, I think all of the Northwest Territories should benefit from this corporation.

I’ll have questions for the Minister of NTPC at the appropriate time.

Thank you, Mr.

McLeod. The

honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Over the last several weeks as we’ve discussed the budget, there have been many references and discussions about this Assembly’s priorities and youth being high on our list.

It’s a well-known fact there are positive effects from being physically active for anyone, no matter what their age. It’s also well known that involvement in sports and recreation activities can have a profound effect on a young person and that they benefit mentally, psychologically, physically and economically. Youth who are physically active are far healthier than those who are not. They generally live a healthier lifestyle, are less likely to abuse alcohol or drugs and often do better in school.

Many lessons can be learned through competitive physical activity, and these lessons have a positive impact on the developing character of a young person. Youth are usually looking for rules and guidelines to help them find their way as they grow up and mature. Sports and recreation activities often provide that for them.

This Assembly, through our goals and priorities set in December of last year, has identified both youth and healthy living as important to us all. We need to

ensure we put our money where our mouth is, as the saying goes, Mr. Speaker, and invest in our youth and the activities they need to develop their potential.

I was very pleased to hear that sport and recreation officers would be retained in our communities instead of considered as a budget reduction. That move is one in the right direction, and we need to continue to move in that direction over the life of this Assembly. Our budgets must commit significant funds to youth and youth activities such as sport and recreation.

GNWT is lucky to have several sports and recreation bodies committed to the advancement of a healthy, physically active population, particularly our youth. Organizations such as Sport North, the Council of Sport and Recreation Partners, NWT Parks and Recreation Association and the Aboriginal Sports Circle all work for us for the betterment of our residents. They’re successful in large part because of the efforts of volunteers who believe in the cause of youth, sport and recreation.

As an Assembly I urge us to take advantage of this unseen, valuable workforce, to allocate the dollars necessary for the operation of these organizations and thus ensure the continued, positive advancement of our young people. I look forward to seeing concrete evidence of that in next year’s budget.

Thank you, Ms.

Bisaro. The

honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to talk about the high cost of energy in our communities and the high cost of power, especially in diesel communities, and the continued rise in regard to diesel and in regard to the effect it will have on our power rates, home heating fuel and, more importantly, on this government’s ability to provide programs and services.

Mr. Speaker, we have a public application process for riders, yet we just saw a major increase in that last application process. It is costing the government something like $2 million every time we file an application through the PUB process. Also, our Territorial Power Support Program continues to rise and is in excess of almost $10 million and rising every day.

Mr. Speaker, the whole energy costs in the territory — where we pay for riders from residential energy cost riders to general energy rate riders to diesel riders to shortfall riders to water rate riders — are almost to a point where these riders are overtaking

people’s costs of maintaining their own homes and also the cost for businesses to sustain themselves.

Mr. Speaker, this effect has probably one of the biggest impacts we’re going to see in the 16th Assembly. We do have to react to it sooner rather than later. The cost of producing energy in our communities is related to diesel. We have no alternative means of generating power in a lot of our diesel communities. More importantly, this is having a major effect on our business communities, from the northern stores to the co-ops to any entrepreneur who wants to run a business in our communities but cannot keep the lights on. I hate to say that a few people may have to turn the lights off and move their businesses where it’s less expensive to operate and maintain them.

Mr. Speaker, this government has to take action on this matter. At the appropriate time I will be asking the Minister responsible for the Energy Corporation questions on exactly where we’re going with this matter.

Thank you, Mr.

Krutko. The

honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to support language diversity in the Northwest Territories.

There is so much that’s embodied in a language: ways of being, ways of knowing, incredible understanding, a whole framework for the way the world works.

Mr. Speaker, I was facilitating a workshop in Whati with elders and youth a number of years ago, and I finally realized they all spoke the Tlicho language, except for me. So I said, “Why don’t you guys go ahead?” and they did. But at the end the elders told me it was sad they didn’t speak strong Dogrib and didn’t understand the layers of communication that were happening.

Mr. Speaker, I’d like to start here by recognizing the speakers I hear frequently in this House: Mr. Lafferty, Mr. Beaulieu, Mr. Menicoche and now Mr. Yakeleya. When I used to tune in to this House in the old days, this facility would be ringing with all kinds of languages. I’m very happy to hear the ones that are being spoken now. I hope I’m going to hear more and more of them. But I’d like to really put in a plug. About three-quarters of the languages in the world are now extinct. We’ve got to really work to retain what we’ve got. There’s a huge key role for our Languages Commissioner.

I pay tribute back to our first one, Betty Harnum, who was multilingual in many respects. I think the commissioner needs to bring this to this facility, to

this position. She needs to be a huge champion, a fierce champion, to really bring the programs that we need throughout this government to support the culture that goes with the languages. That will then keep those languages going. The Languages Commissioner needs to speak out loudly, prominently, frequently, and she needs to be active in an awards program that especially recognizes youth and lets our youth know that we value this attribute, that we recognize all the things it can bring.

Let’s have a more aware process from this government, and let’s really call on our Languages Commissioners to be super fierce in leading this retention. Retaining is so much easier than recovering. Let’s hear it for our Language Commissioners.

Thank you, Mr.

Bromley. The

honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In recent years the subject of sexual health has been a growing concern across the country and, in particular, in the Northwest Territories. Sexual health consists of many aspects of health care, covering both emotional and physical well-being. This topic ranges from the detection and management of sexually transmitted diseases to family planning and contraceptives, breast and cervical cancer screening and the assessment, treatment and counselling of sexual health care. High-risk

behaviours also contribute to transmission

of HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C.

Many of these areas of health care are crucial for people of all ages, but our youth are particularly at risk with the increasing numbers of STDs that have been reported. Sexually transmitted infection reports have increased by 30 per cent in the 15-to-24 age group over the past five years.

The statistics on sexually transmitted diseases are alarming. The NWT has a sexually transmitted infections rate nine times higher than the national average. The NWT has consistently higher rates of some sexually transmitted diseases, and gonorrhea rates have increased by 300 per cent in the last two years in the Northwest Territories.

These increases are a cause for our concern and for implementation of immediate action against the incidence and further transmission of disease. We need to be proactive in providing intervention and prevention strategies to our health care workers and medical centres across the North. The present sexual health prevention and promotion programs in Hay River are not that effective. The incidence rate of STIs in Hay River from 2000 to 2006 shows

similar trends compared to the rest of the Northwest Territories. However, comparatively in Hay River, for both males and females combined, the data strongly suggests that a significant number of STIs are not reported. This also means they are not likely being treated.

There is no program designated to addressing the needs of Hay River in the education, early detection and prevention of STDs and other serious aspects of sexual health. It is important to address these needs, and this should be done immediately for the health and safety of our people.

We talk about priorities. I would like to suggest that this is not often talked about and not so nice to talk about but should be a high priority for our government to address.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’d like to talk a little bit about the environment and the consumer. There’s little to no question that global warming is a reality. Permafrost is melting, carbon emissions are up, greenhouse gases are all over the place. There’s a lot we’re doing in this government to help, but more can be done. I’d like to applaud ENR

for their support of the Arctic

Energy Alliance

rebates for vehicles and other high-

energy-use equipment and machines. But it’s time for us to think about other areas where we can really be working on reducing emissions.

I’ve been doing a little bit of research lately with my constituency assistant, and we’ve been looking at auto-registration rates in other jurisdictions around the country and around the world. It appears that many jurisdictions have actually gone into a tiered auto-registration rate that is based on different things. In some jurisdictions they’re using weights of vehicles to have different rates for registration. In other jurisdictions they’re using carbon emissions. In other jurisdictions they’re going based on mileage. I think it’s time for us in the Government of the Northwest Territories to change how we think about registration. In the Northwest Territories we have one rate. It’s about $87 a year regardless of the type of vehicle you’re using, whether it’s low emission or high emission.

As a government I think it’s one of our responsibilities to help encourage our consumers to make better, or more productive, environmentally responsible choices. As such, this afternoon I’ll have some questions on our registration system for the Minister responsible for Transportation. I understand we’re currently implementing a new

registration system for automobiles. Now would be the opportune time for the Department of Transportation to do greater research into a tiered registration system that could take into consideration things like mileage or carbon emissions, which would help the consumer make choices that are more environmentally responsible.

Thank you, Mr.

Abernethy. The

honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker. Last

week I listened to the Prime Minister’s apology to residential school survivors. I wanted to speak about the historic announcement but felt I needed a few days to digest the statement so I could properly address it on behalf of my family and Nunakput constituents.

Mr. Speaker, as many of my colleagues have talked about, this is a very tough day for a lot of people in my riding and in the ridings of Inuvik Twin Lakes, Inuvik Boot Lake, Mackenzie Delta, and even for the Member for Sahtu and the whole Northwest Territories. All our constituents have been affected tragically by the whole residential school experience.

As you know, there are many angles to this apology. Some benefited; others suffered. Did the apology go far enough? Is the apology what they were waiting for? I can say one thing, Mr. Speaker: the apology brought back old scars to survivors, and last Wednesday was very trying for them. Few people escaped the consequences of residential school. Families were torn apart. Even though residential schools in Inuvik closed in the early ’90s, we can still see effects of the experience as they also created a new generation of victims.

Mr. Speaker, individuals in the families have been dealing with their experiences in their own ways. Many are still grappling with the need to accept what happened and are only now beginning to deal directly with it. Last week’s historic announcement by the Government of Canada means a new beginning for many survivors and relatives of survivors in that we’ve had to look at it — a new beginning that needs to be addressed by strong, committed partnerships in resolving all the issues and working on them together.

Thank you, Mr.

Jacobson. The

honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I wanted to talk about the Infrastructure Acquisition Plan and its format. We’re all familiar with the format of the Infrastructure Acquisition Plan, which lists each project individually along with the specific amount budgeted for each item. Projects range from $50,000 for a new patrol truck to millions of dollars for major infrastructure like schools. I’m concerned that this practice of publishing the budget for individual items may be preventing us from getting the best deal on our capital projects.

Suppliers, armed with the knowledge of the government’s maximum budget for an item, might easily bid higher than they would for other customers’ projects. Businesses certainly don’t publish their bottom lines in public documents, because to do so would obviously jeopardize their negotiating position. Is it any more reasonable that the government would do this? I’ve spoken to constituents who are in the business community, and they say that what this document, our Main Estimates, talks about helps them maximize their bidding opportunities, so they don’t leave money on the table.

I would like to suggest that our government consider reformatting the Infrastructure Acquisition Plan so that only the combined dollar total amounts are shown for small capital in this public document form. In this way we still leave the details in its project but not attached with a dollar amount. Regular Members, of course, would still want to see these details on individual items, but this information could be provided to us, like so many other items, in confidence. I’ve heard about this problem from a number of people. It only gets worse when it gets to large capital projects like schools or buildings. With a few hundred thousand dollars of opportunity here and there, this would add up to a large opportunity to save money.

This is being treated as a reference guide by many constituents. They say that when they want to go bid on a building envelope project, they go to our budget. If they want to go bid on a jet boat, they go to our Main Estimates. It goes on and on and on.

If the government wants to maximize its potential for saving money when we budget projects, we might want to keep that part of the project undisclosed when we go out. I’ve seen recent examples where by not publicizing our amount, we’ve been able to maximize construction of a school. We’ve been able to get good value for good dollars and good investment in quality projects. We need to go forward with a better plan.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s my pleasure to introduce two former residents of Inuvik and, more importantly, Inuvik Twin Lakes, Anne and Bill Crossman, who are here in Yellowknife this weekend for their daughter’s wedding. Anne is also the editor of Permafrost Media, and Bill worked at the Aurora Research Institute in Inuvik. He totally agrees with me that the Arctic Institute belongs in Inuvik. Thank you.

It is my pleasure to recognize a constituent, Timothy Riviere. You can see he has shaved his head to raise money for cancer. He’s raised $2,500 dollars, and his hair was used to make wigs for those suffering from cancer.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. I’d like to welcome everyone in the gallery today. I hope you’re enjoying the proceedings. It’s always nice to have an audience in here.

Item 6, acknowledgements. The honourable Member for Yellowknife South, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is a great pleasure to acknowledge a constituent of mine. Jessica Hopkins, a graduate of Sir John Franklin High School, recently won the Canadian Millennium Scholarship for excellent academic performance, innovation and her exceptional community service. Jessica won this because she strives to nurture in others a love of reading and helped to implement the project that matched middle and elementary school students for one-on-one reading and word games.

She is also active in environment matters. She took on the responsibility of researching and implementing an alternative energy source for her school. She presented her findings on wind power to her school board and later attended a youth conference to talk about the issue. With her outstanding work and contributions to her community, Jessica has shown that our future leadership is secure and brighter than ever.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Item 7, oral questions. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to ask the Minister responsible for the NWT Power Corporation with reference to my Member’s statement. We’re struggling with electrical costs all through the Northwest Territories. In my Member’s statement I referenced that three of our larger non-hydro communities are looking for some alternative ways of providing power at a cheaper rate. In fact, I believe all communities should have the right and access to cheaper power rates through a one-rate power zone. I’d like to know how much work the ministry’s office has done in light of the many motions we have passed on this side of the House in moving toward a one-rate zone or levelized rate system.

Thank you, Mr.

Menicoche. The

honourable Minister responsible for the NWT Power Corporation, Mr. Yakeleya.

Mr. Speaker, I, too, was at the NWT annual meeting with the municipalities in Fort Simpson. I certainly heard several mayors — specifically the mayors from Norman Wells and Inuvik — talking about the one-rate zone issue.

We have a committee that’s being led by Mr. Bob McLeod in terms of the Ministers’ Energy Coordinating Committee. We’re looking at the motion that was put forward by this Assembly to look at the rate structure and the regulations. We’re looking at options and discussing with committee members what we can do to come to something that is satisfactory to people right across the Northwest Territories.

I’ve also noted in the past that the Public Utilities Board has looked at the one-rate zone system on several occasions. They certainly have information we can use in our discussions in looking at alternatives to bring down the rates for all people in the Northwest Territories that would be satisfactory to all Member in this House.

Once again I’d like to reiterate to the Minister that it’s a cry from our whole territory, as well as a request from this side of the House, that the ministry and the government look at a one-rate system or a

levelized rate system. I’ll just ask

again: what kind of work will this government be doing to work toward that?

I will also let the Member know that I also come from a community that has

high power rates, high energy issues. In terms of our communities, certainly the energy committee will be looking at the merits of a one-rate zone. We’ll be having discussions with Members from the House to look at the best options and what avenues we have available for us to implement whatever recommendation we agree would see a rate zone stabilized or a rate zone that would be satisfactory to the people in our communities.

I’ll ask it a different way. The Minister responsible for the NWT Power Corporation has been instructed by this side of the House, by several motions, to look at moving toward a one-rate zone or levelized rate zone. I’d like to ask: what work has been done to work toward this, to develop a proposal, to look at the different ways of providing that type of service?

Certainly, we have our marching orders from the motion that was passed in this House in terms of looking at the issue the Member’s talking about.

We have worked with the lead Minister, Hon. Bob McLeod, in terms of heading up the Ministers’ Energy Coordinating Committee. We have set down some terms of reference as to how we’re going to carry out our work. We have looked at this with our own Crown corporations in terms of our capital costs and how NWTPC does its capital costs. That will help with looking at the rate issue. We certainly are on our way. We’ll be eagerly waiting to sit with the Members to start looking at the process for, once and for all, making some announcements in terms of how we go about reducing our costs in the North.

That’s exactly the point. We are looking toward how we are going to implement a one-rate or levelized zone. It doesn’t mean the government has to do it, but the government should take a good, serious, hard look at it. I believe you do that by developing proposals and bird’s-eye view outlines of it. I’d like to know when this government will start that.

Mr.

Speaker, the

understanding from the lead Minister, the Hon. Bob McLeod.... The Ministers’ Energy Coordinating Committee will start as soon as possible. We do have the terms of reference and are ready to go to work. As soon as we are done here, we are ready to go to work taking action on the motion that was passed in terms of looking at the restructuring in the Northwest Territories.

Thank you, Mr.

Yakeleya. The

honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Mr. Speaker, I, too, have questions in regard to the high cost of energy in the Northwest Territories. My question is directed to the Minister of the energy committee, Mr. Bob McLeod. In light of the motions that have been passed in this house, and also realizing we have a major threat on our hands with the high energy costs and the effect they’re going to have — from governments to our residents to our business community — I’d like to ask the Minister: how soon will we be able to see some correspondence back from the ministerial committee in regard to acting and moving on some of these recommendations and motions passed in this House?

Thank you, Mr.

Krutko. The

honourable Minister responsible for energy initiatives, Hon. Bob McLeod.

We’ve undertaken this work, and we’ve submitted draft terms of reference. As soon as we get some feedback on the draft terms of reference, we’ll be able to start the process on the review of the rate. We’ll be looking at hopefully having something we could introduce in 2009.

Mr. Speaker, in regard to the 15th Assembly, I believe work was already undertaken by the Northwest Territories Power Corporation board, but it happened that they all got axed for doing that. I’d just like to ask the Minister: since the work has already been done, have you looked at reinstating the work that has been done in the 15th Assembly by the Northwest Territories Power Corporation?

It is our intention to resurrect all of the work that has been done in the past and utilize that in the review of the rates by the committee. It is also our intention to talk to the public and other stakeholders. Certainly the work that was done on the single rate would be very useful in determining the options we would be bringing forward for review.

Mr.

Speaker, just a verification: I

believe that was the 14th Assembly.

My question to the Minister is: what’s exactly the next step? We do have questions with energy costs. We have problems with our territorial power support program. I know it’s a large thing we are talking about with hydro expansions and whatnot, yet we can’t lose sight of the biggest cost we have, which is diesel costs. I’d like to ask the Minister: are you looking at the whole — diesel fuel for transportation, the logistics and, more importantly, the cost of where we can get cheaper diesel fuel to run our diesel communities?

There are quite a number of different aspects of the energy costs, and through the Energy Corp coordinating committee we are trying to ensure that all the Ministers who have responsibilities have input into the process. I guess the most urgent thing is to look at ways to reduce the cost of resupply for diesel fuel. I think we’re doing that through the Department of Public Works.

Also, as part of this rate review we’ll be looking at the cost of the regulatory process. We want to see if that’s adding to the cost of fuel for people in communities. We will also be looking at the way the Power Corporation establishes or recovers their costs and sets their rates. We would also be looking at how other jurisdictions do it to see if there are better ways of doing business.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final short supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister mentioned that they’re looking at having a report out in 2009. Is there a possibility that Members on this side of the House could see a draft report prior to that, say before this fall sitting, so we can have an idea of where you’re going with this and so we can also have input into the process?

It’s our intention to work very closely with the standing committees and any Member who is interested in the high cost of energy in the Northwest Territories. We’re starting the process with the draft terms of reference. We’re looking forward to receiving comments from the standing committee.

Thank you, Mr.

McLeod. The

honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement today I talked about the need for a sexual health program in Hay River. I wanted to ask the Minister if she was aware of a proposal that was submitted back in December of 2007 from the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority in this regard — I know we’re in a budget restraint time — and if there are any federal, or any, monies she may be aware of that could initiate this. In Hay River, as with many communities in Canada, we have a relatively unstable complement of physicians, and we have a high turnover in that area with locums. Building community capacity to deal with some of these health issues would be a great benefit.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am aware of the proposal submitted by Hay River Health Authority to give them funding to deliver community-specific programs. The last time I talked to my officials, I believe that was under active consideration in an effort to put it into the next business plan process. I could also advise the Member that we have been successful in getting some money from the Public Health Agency of Canada for a coordinator position for a three-year term. That position is starting this May. I don’t have a whole lot of details on that, but we are making some progress in that area.

With regard to this, I do applaud the efforts of the staff at the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority for coming up with some of these innovative programs. They have very good programs dealing with diabetes and some specialized areas that we see as emerging problems and issues.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister if I could advise the authority and the people of Hay River that there would be a very good opportunity for such a program to be funded and staffed in our community.

Mr. Speaker, I could tell the Member we are actively considering that proposal from Hay River. I can’t give the Member an answer as to what the outcome of that might be. We are looking at a territorially coordinated approach to address STI

concerns. We do have an STI strategy

the department’s working on, and that includes looking at specific programs not only in Hay River but in the Tlicho area as well, where there is an active proposal coming forward.

We’re looking to expand the Tele-Care program to include STI components. There is some work being done to do some social marketing in this area. There is a lot of work being done to address this in a territorially coordinated way. I will undertake to get information from the department again as to exactly where we are with the Hay River proposal, but there is a coordinated approach being taken.

I’d like to ask the Minister: is there any precedent for any units within any other health authorities that are dealing specifically with this challenge?

Yes, the department has funded different programs and proposals such as the conference that the Dene Nation sponsored on STI issues, and the Tlicho community has their own proposal. We do have quasi-independent authorities who are interested in addressing some specific issues that are of more interest to their area. The department does pay attention to those.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker. My

questions today are for the Minister responsible for Transportation. I understand the Department of Transportation is currently putting through a new vehicle registration system. I’m curious: is that new system capable of facilitating a tiered vehicle registration rate system?

Thank you, Mr.

Abernethy. The

honourable Minister responsible for Transportation, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The new vehicle system we’re about to implement into the department’s main office here to upgrade our system…. I’ll have to get back to the Member regarding the capabilities in terms of upgrading to a two-tier system.

I hear the Member’s comments on how we could benefit people in the North in terms of carbon emissions and vehicle registration. I will certainly take his comments into consideration and pass that on to the deputy to work with the Member regarding his suggestion as to our vehicle registration system.

I look forward to finding out whether that system is actually capable of doing a tiered system.

Obviously, the reason I ask is I think it’s time for us to re-examine how we do registration rates in the Northwest Territories. Currently we have one rate. All vehicles are the same. If you look at other jurisdictions, like I said in my Member’s statement, some jurisdictions use different systems such as carbon emissions, mileage or gross vehicle weight.

I was wondering if I can get the Minister responsible for Transportation to commit to exploring the possibilities and conducting some research into tiered vehicle registration systems to see which one would be the most appropriate for the Northwest Territories in order to help us help consumers make more productive, environmentally responsible, choices when it comes to purchasing and registering motor vehicles.

Mr.

Speaker, certainly

the Member raises some very interesting, good ideas in terms of our service and what we can do to help the consumers in terms of the carbon emissions in relation to their issue with the vehicle registration. I will be happy to sit down with the Member to talk with him and bring forth other ideas we could implement in our new system to help our consumers in the Northwest Territories with the vehicle registration system.

I look forward to sitting down with the Minister to talk about a tiered vehicle registration system.

I guess the one question I need to know before we move any further forward on that is: what is the timeline on implementing the new registration system for vehicles? Is it something that’s going to happen in the next two, three, six months, or is it something scheduled for a year or two down the road?

Mr. Speaker, if all things go according to plan, we hope that within less than two years we would have our system iron out the kinks, iron out the things we need to have a smooth transition of our new vehicle registration system.

Also, this will allow us some time to have some discussion. I have heard about the two-tier system for some time. I have talked to my deputy about it and asked if it’s possible. Anything is possible in terms of ideas that would enhance our program and certainly enhance the ability of our consumers to reduce some of the carbon emissions in the North here.

Thank you, Mr.

Yakeleya. The

honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Today I spoke about taking steps toward addressing the high cost of living, gaps in municipal services, infrastructure needs in small communities and a joint committee to address these issues.

I’d like to ask the Premier: when can the Members on this side of the House expect to receive notice of a meeting for this important joint committee?

Thank you, Mr.

Beaulieu. The

Hon. Premier, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

Since I made that commitment to Members, we’ve had staff pulling the items together to see how we would structure this and some of the initiatives in that area that could be looked at. I’m hoping we can have something for Members, at least a draft form, to review and get some input on, if not by the middle of the week, early next week.

Will the Premier commit to placing the cost of living item on the Cabinet agenda so his Cabinet representatives can keep the committee informed and keep the cost of living issue on the front burner?

Mr. Speaker, the issue of the cost of living in the Northwest Territories is one we

realize needs to be addressed. That’s why it forms one of our strategic initiatives. As we proceed forward, we will be dealing with that on an ongoing basis. Once we have this committee set up, we will be working with that committee on an ongoing basis to keep that forward.

Is it a type of situation where we actually have to have the item on Orders of the Day? I think as we deal with the initiatives that lead into the budget, working with the committee will help keep that going.

Can the Premier commit to assigning public service duties to a department that can support this important initiative?

If I understand the question right, assigning responsibilities for delivery in this area to a department…. All of our strategic initiatives involve a number of departments, so we would have a key Minister working with departments and then a committee.

I would be prepared, as well as committee, once we sit down with Members — and we’re hoping to have that before Members head off after session here — to look at how we can structure that. I’m prepared to add that to the list, to see how we can formulate and make this work.

Thank you, Mr.

Roland. Final

supplementary, Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to thank the Premier for his support in this important cost of living issue for the Member for Tu Nedhe.

No question there. This is question period.

.

The honourable Member for Inuvik Twin

Lakes, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I spoke about NTPC in my Member’s statement. I’d like to direct my questions today to the Minister responsible for NTPC, Mr. Yakeleya. I’d like to ask the Minister, first of all, if he has any indication of when the next general rate application is coming forward from NTPC.

Thank you, Mr.

McLeod. The

honourable Minister responsible for NWT Power Corporation, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are in phase 2 of the general rate application presently, and we’re just waiting to conclude that. We have our general rate applications every three years.

I’d like to ask the Minister if NTPC has to bring forward their request for a general rate application to the Minister’s office to justify it, and does he approve that?

Mr.

Speaker, the

question raised by the Member is very good. I'm being notified by the Crown corporation board of directors through the chairperson. The Crown has its own strict guidelines and legislation. When they go before the Public Utilities Board, they file the GRA. However, the Minister is aware and is in contact continuously with the chairperson of NTPC.

I’ll thank the Minister for that. I’d like to ask the Minister: because NTPC is a Crown corporation owned by the people of the Northwest Territories, would it not be possible for any applications for a general rate increase to be approved by the Legislative Assembly?

Mr.

Speaker, the

Member is certainly correct on that: the Crown corporation is owned by…. We are the shareholders. My one responsibility in the Cabinet is to work on behalf of the shareholders in trust in terms of the corporation. If the legislation was to change and how we do business within our Crown corporation changed, we certainly should be having the discussion with the House Members from this side and from the other side in terms of talking about how to restructure our corporation. Certainly, Mr. McLeod, under the Minister coordinating the Energy Committee, we are looking at all options of how we operate Crown corporations such as NTPC.

Thank you, Mr.

Yakeleya. Final

supplementary, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We, on this side of the House, have heard from the shareholders of this Crown corporation, which is why we continue to raise the issue of the high cost of utilities. They would like the Legislative Assembly to play a major role in approving general rate applications that NTPC wants to bring forward.

I’d like to ask the Minister my final question. There’s obviously a cost to delivering power. I would just like to know from the Minister if that’s the same cost that people pay? If it costs a dollar to deliver the power, are we paying exactly a dollar, are we paying $1.20, or are we paying less? The NTPC has a surplus, and my understanding is that half of that goes back into the power subsidy, which is a good thing. But I would propose putting all that money back into the power subsidy and just having whatever it costs to generate power — charge that to the people of the Northwest Territories. Is that possible?

For me, certainly along with the Ministers’ Energy Coordinating Committee, Members have a role. I look forward to some good discussions with Members of the House in terms of our rate structure, our power and the high costs of our communities. My understanding is that we request the dividends from our Crown corporation, and from there we top up the dividend in terms of the surplus. We requested that from NTPC.

We certainly look forward to having some further discussions in terms of the operations of NTPC and remind the people of the North that the Public Utilities Board scrutinizes every step we have in our operations, and every cent is accounted for in terms of us doing operations and having reliable service in the Northwest Territories for our communities. We look forward to having discussions about the operations of our Crown corporation.

Thank you, Mr.

Yakeleya. The

honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker. This

question is for the Minister of ENR. The last two years we had beluga whales stuck in Husky Lake, just east of Tuk. Can the Minister advise me what the department will do this summer to try to stop them from entering the lake and help avoid their suffering?

Thank you, Mr.

Jacobson. The

honourable Minister responsible for Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.

Mr.

Speaker,

fundamentally and initially, this is a federal responsibility, but ENR tries to be as responsive and as involved as possible. Of course, I would defer to the superior knowledge and expertise of my colleague. If he has any specific suggestions in anticipation of the coming fall, I’d be most happy to sit down and talk to him about that.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I look forward to that, Mr. Minister. I’m here for you. We must have lost about 300 to 400 beluga whales. Just hearing that the Minister has already committed to me in regard to working with me, I’d take that as a yes.

Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. I don’t know if there was a question there, but the honourable Minister Miltenberger.

Mr. Speaker, clearly, I appreciate knowing the Member is there for me. I look forward to maybe sitting down with him before the end of session to talk about some specifics we could move on collectively.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My final question. The department of ENR should really do something before these whales become Species at Risk and my people cannot hunt these. I look forward to working with the Minister.

No question there, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. During Member’s statements I raised the issue of the Infrastructure Acquisition Plan. It’s like an open book for businesses out there to bid, tender and whatnot because they have our clear reference guide as to what we’re willing to pay, not to say we don’t pay more at times. My questions really go to the Minister of Finance to find out what he would be willing to do to help update the process to ensure we don’t show all our cards when it comes to going out there for bidding opportunities. Is he willing to look at updating the infrastructure plan, as I had suggested earlier, where we list the details of the project but keep out the dollar amounts?

Thank you, Mr.

Hawkins. The

honourable Minister responsible for Finance, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The area of infrastructure acquisition has been one of concern for the Government of the Northwest Territories. We’ve initiated an Infrastructure Cabinet Committee led by the Hon. Michael McLeod, who’s been working with a number of other departments to come up with options, timing of when we release the Capital Acquisition Plan. As well, for example, the Member has raised the issue of having some of our smaller capital items in a grouping.

That is all under consideration at this point. We’d have to work with the committee to see if there’s an acceptable way of proceeding forward.

It’s really appropriate, although we’re not allowed to waive items here, that the colour of the Main Estimates is gold. I had a reference to it recently as “it’s the gold book for tendering,” and this provides a reference.

The issue really is: would he be willing to look at this and address this? I didn’t hear that clearly. It sort of was a wishy-washy answer. I want to hear that this government is willing to act, to operate in the best way for the people of the Northwest Territories, and giving the numbers out is not sound management. Will the Minister commit to including this item as an issue to deal with in their planning?

Mr. Speaker, obviously the Member is not hearing what I’m saying, or there’s something not connecting here because I believe I committed to working with the Members on the Infrastructure Acquisition Plan. In fact, it is a concern to us. That is why we’ve put an Infrastructure Cabinet Committee group together and are working with Members on the budget process, looking at timing, looking at how we bundle our projects together, and how they’re presented to the people of the Northwest Territories. We will work with committee on that. So yes, we are working with committee, and we’ll continue to do so.

Mr. Speaker, my humble apologies go to the Minister of Finance if he actually had a commitment in there. Usually, they’re so thinly veiled they’re hard to recognize. Well, they’re even worse from the Minister of ENR. But can we expect to see something in a timely way by this fall, before business plans, on this specific subject?

Obviously, our briefings are working because the Member is aware we’re planning to go to committee. We’re looking at the timing of the budget. We’re looking a number of issues around trying to come back with a way of limiting the forced growth in our Capital Acquisition Plan.

We’ll continue to work with Members on the timing of it. We’re hoping that in this budget, this fall, we should be able to present the Capital Acquisition Plan at a different time from what we’ve done and a different practice from what we’ve done in the past.

Thank you, Mr.

Roland. Final

supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker. I

appreciate the Capital Acquisition Plan. We’re going to look at a new schedule, and that’s good. That’s good. But my question really was: before the business plan starts, will the Minister be bringing forward a plan of how to address this? As he said already, it’s coming to committee, but will we see it before the business plan starts this fall?

We’ve made the offer to committee to work with committee closely on this process of how we proceed and come up with a common practice we can support going ahead. So yes, we’re going to be working with committee before a draft acquisition plan and before committee members. We have quite a number of issues to deal with in that time.

Thank you, Mr.

Roland. The

honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a question for the Minister of ECE on the Languages Commissioner. I’m wondering: given the report that we’ve seen, where budget wasn’t spent and communities weren’t visited, what kind of oversight does the Minister have? What sort of oversight role does he play in the performance of the commissioner’s duties?

Thank you, Mr.

Bromley. The

honourable Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. That commissioner has their own role, to implement the operations of the Languages Commissioner within the communities and regions. My understanding is that she is a statutory officer. With our ECE department we work closely with her as well. I believe there have been some recommendations brought forward, and we are working on those recommendations, so she is in that role. Mahsi.