Good afternoon, colleagues. Welcome back to the Chamber. Orders of the Day. Item 2, Ministers’ statements. The honourable Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.

Mr. Speaker, the continued high cost of energy is an ongoing concern for people in the Northwest Territories. Many residents are making changes to reduce their energy use and costs. Many are taking advantage of our energy contribution programs to make these changes.

Last year our government paid out more than $165,000 in rebates through the Energy Efficiency Incentive program to residents who purchased energy efficient appliances and vehicles. The majority of 549 approved applications were for the purchase of new household or home heating appliances in communities in every region in the NWT.

We also provided rebates to ten successful applicants through our Small Renewable Energy Fund to install solar photovoltaic and wind turbine technologies in their homes, which are off the grid. This resulted in a total fuel savings of 20,772 litres, or 58,900 kilograms, of greenhouse gas emissions per year. All applications for this program came from the North Slave region.

The department is currently developing public information to promote the use of alternative energy technologies. One of the main purposes of this work is to help people learn about how they can use these technologies in their homes and communities.

Four applications were approved through the Community Renewable Energy Fund. These included the installation of solar hot water systems in seniors’ centres in Hay River and Fort Providence and support for the Remote Community Wind Energy Conference in Tuktoyaktuk last November. Support was also provided for the Con Mine Geothermal Study in Yellowknife.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources has reviewed the energy contribution programs to ensure they respond to the need to reduce energy use, particularly in the area of home heating costs.

The Energy Efficiency Incentive program has been refocused this year to assist homeowners in dealing with the high costs of home heating by increasing rebates for purchasing energy efficient models of home heating appliances.

As Members are aware, wood pellet heating appliances are becoming more popular. Advances in wood pellet technology have resulted in the production of new furnaces and boilers that are replacing or augmenting oil furnaces and boilers.

Rebates of $700 for wood pellet furnaces and $1,000 for boilers are now available to homeowners purchasing these appliances. Rebates are also available for the purchase of wood pellet stoves, wood stoves, high energy efficient oil furnaces, gas furnaces and boilers, hot water heating appliances and energy efficient home appliances.

Mr. Speaker, we all know that there’s a need to start using alternative energy technologies to reduce our dependence on oil and diesel fuel. To help business owners deal with these costs, we have updated the Alternative Energy Technologies program to include the new Medium Renewable Energy Fund. This fund will provide one-third of the costs, up to $15,000, of qualified alternative energy systems for businesses in the Northwest Territories.

Other changes to our energy contribution programs include making community and regional aboriginal land and development corporations eligible for funding for community projects through the Energy Conservation Program, and adding solar hot water

heating systems to the list of eligible systems under the Small Renewable Energy Fund.

Mr. Speaker, these program changes reflect the priorities of the 16th Legislative Assembly and help

residents, businesses, municipal and aboriginal government and non-profit groups address the high cost of energy.

By becoming more energy efficient, we will save money and reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. We will continue to review our energy contribution programs and make sure they are responsive to the needs of our residents.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bob McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, our government is tasked with balancing our efforts to address immediate energy challenges with the responsibility for investing in longer term energy solutions. Since its release last year the NWT energy plan has been the framework that has guided our work and investment to meet these two key challenges.

At the appropriate time this afternoon, as the Chair of the Ministerial Energy Coordinating Committee, I will be tabling the draft NWT Hydro Strategy. This is the next step in our government’s comprehensive and strategic approach to energy planning.

Mr. Speaker, the growing impacts of our use of fossil fuels on the environment underscore the importance of harnessing clean and renewable energy for the future. Meanwhile, rising and volatile prices emphasize the reality that we must find ways to reduce our reliance on imported diesel.

Our territory has some of the best undeveloped hydroelectric resources in Canada. It is critical that we fully explore and understand the true extent of this natural energy potential.

The actions of the Hydro Strategy are aimed at developing the environmental and technical baseline data that will enable us to make informed decisions. We will focus our actions on key strategic areas, including:

•

preparing for hydro development;

•

protecting our environment; and

•

financing

hydro

projects.

Once established, hydro facilities in the NWT will be able to provide clean, reliable energy, insulated from rising oil prices for 100 years or more.

In addition to producing clean and secure power for our communities, hydro power holds tremendous economic opportunities for our people. In fact, in the next ten to 15 years this strategy could result in over $1 billion of investment.

Developing our hydro potential, however, will require a great deal of time, effort and capital investment. This draft NWT Hydro Strategy looks forward and will allow us to consider a number of key initiatives to advance the long term development of our world class hydro potential.

I encourage all communities and residents to share in this work and to take time in the coming months to consider this draft strategy and provide us with input and comments.

Your timely insight will allow us to finalize our Hydro Strategy by April and to move forward with a concerted, long term approach to the development of our hydro resources reflective of the vision, principles and values of all NWT residents.

Together we will build on our existing hydro legacy to maximize the benefits and the promise of this sustainable energy source for future generations.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Among Canadian women breast cancer is the form of cancer most often diagnosed. It ranks second after lung cancer as the leading cause of cancer deaths. More than 21,200 Canadian women will be diagnosed with this disease each year, and more than 5,200 deaths will occur as a result. In the NWT about 20 new breast cancer cases are diagnosed each year, comprising 40 per cent of all cancers diagnosed in women. The incidence of breast cancer among NWT women is higher than the Canadian rate.

The evidence is strongly established that routine mammography screening reduces the number of deaths from breast cancer by detection at the early, most treatable stage. I am pleased to announce that as of September 2008 we have expanded the mammography breast cancer screening program to Hay River. This builds on the program we have at Stanton Territorial Hospital.

The implementation of this core service, made possible with assistance from federal funding, will improve wait times for women being tested in the area. The service will have a common database with the Stanton Territorial Health Authority screening program and will work in collaboration with the breast screening program in Yellowknife.

An estimated 450 to 500 women will be screened in the Hay River area each year.

This new mammography program is in addition to the mobile mammography services being provided through Screen Test Alberta to residents of Fort Smith and other South Slave communities. This service will enable women to take charge of their own breast health by providing them with results sooner, screening education, as well as recall letters when they are due for their next screening exam.

I applaud the collaborative work of the authorities and the NWT breast screening committee in making this project become a reality, and I encourage all women to get breast screened regularly to ensure early detection of this disease.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Item 3, Members’ statements. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’d like to pay tribute to the late George Blondin. George Blondin was an uncle to many people. He was an uncle to me. I have a statement here I want to make in the House.

George Blondin, a respected elder from the Sahtu, passed away October 12, 2008, from a heart attack and double stroke at the age of 87.

George was a traditional Indian and a skilled hunter and trapper who enjoyed living off the land and water. He’s best known as a storyteller for the Dene culture and tradition. He was an author of three books: When the World Was New, Yamoria and Trail of the Spirit. The Dene people will forever be grateful to him for preserving these stories and knowledge.

As a youth George spent four years in a residential school but went on to raise seven children whom he encouraged to get educated so they could continue to help with their people.

As he got older, he wrote regular articles for The Native Press and the News/North. He spoke at many universities and conferences to talk about his books and to accept various awards. He was a great storyteller with a powerful voice who captivated audiences with his humour and booming laughter.

His involvement in politics and Dene rights spanned 30 years. He was chief of Délînê, vice-president of the Indian Brotherhood of the Northwest Territories representing the Denedeh elders and Chair of the

Dene Culture Institute. The George Blondin scholarship was recently established, and he was the recipient of the Order of Canada in 2003 for preserving the heritage of his people.

George will be greatly missed by all his family and friends. He led a full life and left a legacy behind of many issues that were important to him and his people. God bless George Blondin and his family.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to quote five sentences and phrases from the North American Outlook, which is an economic activity newsletter prepared by Nesbitt Burns of the BMO. This edition of the newsletter was released last week.

Quote number 1: “The outlook for the North American economy is lowered in response to the watershed events that have reshaped Wall Street and roiled the global credit markets.” Number 2: “The near term growth outlook has worsened.” Number 3: “Minimal recovery in ’09.” Number 4: “The higher borrowing costs, tighter lending standards and equity sell-off will prolong the slump in consumer and business spending.” And number 5: “For Canada, the pullback in commodity prices will slow the Western provinces.”

I am not intending to be an alarmist here. I know that the Canadian banks are sound, with sufficient resources and better lending practices than many banks in other countries. I know that the Canadian mortgage system is strong and that our mortgages are a smaller percentage of our home values and our disposable income than averages in American mortgages.

However, I am very interested in the views of the Minister of Finance of how the change in the North American outlook has affected the short and long term fiscal outlook of this government. How is the Mackenzie Gas Project affected by lower natural gas prices and by reduced share prices for the producers? How are the diamond mines affected by the huge sell-off in equities that has occurred? Is the borrowing of the Government of the NWT affected by the freeze-up of bank to bank borrowing? Is the Minister of Finance now facing higher interest charges? How does the slowdown of the Canadian economy affect our fiscal forecast?

I listened to the CBC interview last Tuesday with a local mortgage broker who explained that there was a slowdown in Yellowknife housing sales which he had not seen since the ’90s. There was another

CBC interview last week about the sharply declining share prices of Aber Resources and MGM Energy. Both companies have seen an approximately 65 per cent decrease in share values in the last six months. MGM is an energy corporation working on exploration in the Mackenzie Delta. If companies we have counted on to lead economic development have been hit hard by the market decline, what is the effect on the GNWT?

The Minister of Finance advised Members of this House in his fiscal strategy statement that he was counting on economic growth and population growth for the longer term. How realistic is this now?

I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

Unanimous consent granted.

I would expect that the Minister of Finance has had to take some of these realities into consideration during the preparation of the government’s business plan. At the appropriate time I will be asking the Minister of Finance to share his views on the changed fiscal outlook of the GNWT.

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Some months ago I posed questions to the Minister of Public Works and Services about P3 projects and policies. As we now move into discussion of the 2009–2010 capital budget, I have to ask myself if my questions in February had any effect or created any action.

Most people will agree that the proposed 2009–2010 infrastructure plan is ambitious but that it still leaves many projects undone. This 16th Assembly

has several megaprojects on our wish list. Expansion of the Taltson hydro power plant and the building of the Mackenzie Valley Highway to Tuk are just two examples.

I think we all acknowledge the GNWT on its own cannot accomplish these projects, that we will need financial assistance from other partners, the federal government and/or private industry, to see these projects through to fruition. But are we prepared for these types of projects? Going by the answers to my questions in February and information received or not received to date, no, we are not.

There seem to be no consistent P3 policies in place. I was told in February that projects are dealt with on a case by case basis. Further, as found in

the Hansard record of February 14, 2008, the Minister stated:

“There have been very few projects brought forward to this government that are classified as P3…. As we move forward, there needs to be more analysis done as the federal government has, as part of the Building Canada plan, a funding initiative that’s referred to as the P3 model. We need to move forward if we’re going to access some of those dollars.”

I couldn’t agree more.

And from the same Hansard record, “We’ve agreed that we will all be as competitive as we can, and I’d be glad to bring the issue of the P3 forward to that committee for consideration.” I believe the committee referenced was the ministerial infrastructure committee. I appreciate that this committee has been busy, and I recognize and give credit to that committee for a lot of the work that’s been done; it’s been very good work. But I have yet to hear or see any report that references the development of P3 policies and procedures.

I said in February: “I urge the Minister to get a policy in place as soon as possible. These kinds of projects are somewhat unusual, and we need to have as much governance, as much of an umbrella for overseeing these projects, as possible.”

I hope repeating my words will have an impact on those across the floor who are hopefully listening. Not surprisingly, I will have questions for the Premier or the appropriate Minister later on.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. [English translation not provided.]

Today I’d like to talk about housing policies, the changes needed to housing policies and how the window for accessing housing policies is too narrow for non-market communities.

All too often my constituents fail to meet criteria for housing programs. The NWT Housing Corporation is trying to make people eligible for programs as opposed to making programs that fit the people. We have empty units now that are being sold on the open market. The NWT Housing Corporation has failed my constituents by putting houses in place for people in need, but nobody fits that program. Is it not incumbent upon the NWT Housing Corporation to use the sale proceeds to help people in need in communities such as Fort Resolution and Lutselk’e?

From what I understand, the federal affordable housing program is designed to remove the people from core need and to lower the overall need in the communities. I would guess that it’s not to build new houses in communities and then to sell the units on the private market. I don’t think it’s designed to circulate the money back into the system to address areas that are easy to resolve. This needs further exploration.

Mr. Speaker, the NWT Housing Corporation has not completed a needs survey since late 2003. It is vitally important the needs survey be current and that spending be put where the needs are highest. It should not be based on population.

I see houses being built in market communities, and people in need are moving into their units. They do not sit vacant for very long. The new homeowners get a unit that is worth more on the market than what they owe for their home. The system works well for those communities.

Mr. Speaker, I’ve said over and over to open up the program. Understand the difference between communities. Understand that one size does not fit all when it comes to delivering social programs. The NWT Housing Corporation must understand the difference between the communities with a market that is as strong as anywhere else in Canada and communities with a few hundred people, low incomes and no market in sight.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ll have questions for the Minister on this later on.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Over the Thanksgiving weekend something horrible happened. A young mother in her youthful prime had a stroke, and because of her condition level, she needed to be sent to an Edmonton hospital to meet her needs. So she was medevacked to Edmonton Monday night and arrived around 11 p.m. with her daughter and three month old nursing son in tow.

As anyone can imagine, this is a difficult situation, but what can be noted here at this specific point is that it has the appearance that the system may be working. That is, you get sick, and the publicly funded system, via taxpayer dollars, is there to care for you when you need it most.

However, this is where the system did not work, because when this mother needed it most, it seems to have fallen off the rails. When she got to the

Edmonton hospital, there was no room to forward her to. When she got there, she spent the remainder of that evening and most of the next day in emergency. In total, she sat there almost 19 hours in the emergency room — again, with two in tow.

I don’t know what the reasonable level of health care is and how it would be defined by our Health Minister, but, Mr. Speaker, I can tell you that if we stepped outside of this building, no one on these streets would tell you that waiting 19 hours in emergency is considered a reasonable level of care considering our taxpayer dollars are paying for something much better.

Why do I keep pointing to 19 hours? Well, that’s when an enclosure in the emergency room was found. I don’t know where it may have been. Maybe it had been lost. To be honest, Mr. Speaker, I don’t even know what an enclosure is. Is it a broom closet? Is it a coffee room? Is it a storeroom? I just don’t know. Again, this is not a reasonable level of care that I would normally define. I only wish the story ended there, Mr. Speaker.

So this woman with a stroke, two in tow, waited 15 more hours in the enclosure. But I’m pleased to say, that as of 9 o’clock this morning, after 34 hours of this whole ordeal, she finally received a room.

Now, this is very important. As I’ve come to understand the situation, a memo had been forwarded to the Health Minister almost two weeks ago saying that there were no rooms available. That’s two weeks ago. How can that be? How can we leave health care to chance? Mr. Speaker, this stresses me out just thinking about this statement. How do you think the husband felt? How do you think she felt? How do you think her children felt? No one should feel abandoned by our system, certainly not like this.

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

Unanimous consent granted.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, colleagues. So what happened? Why were there no rooms available? There is more than one hospital in Edmonton that I’m familiar with. Where is the assistance from our northern nurses who work down there to make sure our northern patients are taken care of? What about that great arrangement we have with Capital Health? We pay them. What are they doing? At this moment I’m not sure. It sounds like they’re not doing their job.

So what is the problem? What was the plan? Knowing full well that there might not be room, why did we send her? Why didn’t we send her to Calgary?

Mr. Speaker, I don’t want to have wait six to nine weeks for an answer from the Health Minister on this situation, but I can guarantee you that this family deserves a written apology and a public statement saying that this level of care will not be delivered to anyone and that this is not a reasonable level of service for anyone to receive in the future.

Mr. Speaker, I will have questions for the Health Minister later today. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have previously spoken about the distressing standard and condition of the Dettah road. The road presents a direct cost to the people of Dettah and those who work or visit there, and there are safety concerns that result from the state of the road. The government well recognizes the need for reconstruction to resolve this dilemma.

Despite their proximity to our capital and the seat of government, this situation has festered to the point where the people of the community are developing their own response to try and deal with it. It is my understanding that through the good work of some caring and can do people, a coalition of agencies and dedicated individuals is putting together a plan to get it done.

Mr. Speaker, where there is a will there is a way. With resourceful people and agencies like the chiefs of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation, the Mine Training Society, the Deton’Cho Corporation, and even the North Slave region and perhaps our Department of Transportation, partnerships can be made and results can happen. Reconstruction of the Dettah road can be prohibitively expensive as a one time hit for any one player, at least in the short term. However, a number of partners working cooperatively over a period of time on the same goal can actually yield many benefits. In this case, I am optimistic that such an approach can yield a reconstructed and safer road, a bunch of trained workers, enhanced efficiency of financial and human resources, more experienced aboriginal businesses and strengthened working relationships.

Mr. Speaker, as an aside I would like to acknowledge the NWT Aboriginal Business Conference establishing economic cooperation, a conference on northern business and workplace development that’s happening today, as we speak, in Yellowknife.

I am pleased to say that such a coalition of determined partners does indeed seem to be

coming together. I do not doubt that our government recognizes that when our people move, this government has a role in recognizing and supporting that commitment. I suspect our Minister of Transportation has such foresight, and I want to acknowledge the fundamental role, perhaps in a more behind the scenes fashion than is typical, his departmental staff may provide in being available to help the people move this project forward.

I have spoken before about what it says when we have a community of original inhabitants of this land living surrounded by expensive, well constructed and paved roads while they suffer with substandard access.

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

Unanimous consent granted.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to express my appreciation to all the partners who are working to put this initiative together, and I want to thank the Minister and staff of the Department of Transportation for whatever they can provide in assistance to help it come to a successful end. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Since this has already been referred to in the House, I am going to follow on the lead of my colleague from Frame Lake on this whole issue of refocusing government and reviewing our boards and agencies in the Northwest Territories. In the previous government I sat on a committee with Minister Miltenberger and Minister Lee as we looked at agencies, boards and commissions.

Mr. Speaker, when we are talking about refocusing government and looking at our governance structure here in the Northwest Territories, there are many, many considerations to be taken into account. I do not believe we should think that because something looks good on paper, it is the way to go. We can draw a fancy org chart with all kinds of ideas to consolidate things like housing, education and health service boards. The fact is that our regions and our communities are so extremely diverse that a cookie cutter, one size fits all approach will not work. The impetus for this reorganization should come with extensive consultation, and perhaps even the request for it should be from the ground up, as opposed to us dictating from this level of government down. We

have for many years in our government talked about the need to build capacity in our communities and in our regions. We need to keep that in mind with the self-government negotiations that will continue to take place.

I am personally fearful of what could happen: the destructive effect of taking a less than cautious approach to any consideration of consolidation of boards and agencies. I believe that a lot of good work has been done. A lot of money has been spent to develop some of these boards, and to take a kind of wholesale approach that’s not well thought out could result in considerable damage.

So I guess my caution to the Minister who will be heading up this review on refocusing government would be to proceed with caution and respect the work that has been done to develop these agencies in the communities and in the regions. Please bear in mind going forward, as perhaps more self-government and aboriginal government take on a greater role, that these boards may be needed to ensure local and very good quality input into the provision of these very important services. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Member for Nahendeh Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. [English translation not provided.]

Today I would like to express some concerns of my constituency about fair justice.

Mr. Speaker, we all know, unfortunately, that some of our young people get in trouble with the law. Some of those young people are first time offenders and fearful of the system. One of the biggest issues with encountering a new life situation, like trouble with the justice system, is that there may not be a clear understanding of the consequences of their behaviour.

Even though these young people may genuinely regret their actions and are motivated to better their lives, they may not have the skills or understanding to do so. This also poses challenges for the justice system itself, which aims at fairness and equal treatment. I believe that sentencing of our youth has to be clear and ensure that they do fully understand the consequences of not following out a conditional sentence.

One of the principles of fair justice is that trial and sentencing should happen without undue delay after charges have been laid. In the case of a conviction, the person must fully understand his or

her sentence. Every effort has to be made in the courts and by corrections to explain the details of a sentence and later the conditions of the release. Many of these young adults would gladly turn their life back onto the right track. There have been cases where youth thought they were released and did not know the consequences of breaching their conditions and as a result now suffer a continued or even harsher sentence.

Community justice groups and community corrections are tasked to help with their rehabilitation back into society. We have to strengthen the existing system to give clients more support in re-establishing their lives in our communities. We must recognize that they do need help to find the path to a positive life.

Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, our system does not always offer appropriate supports, particularly for young people who struggled through school and now are trying to understand our complicated legal system. Without adequate probation services and rehabilitation support, we fail these young persons, and they will end up back in the corrections system instead of leading a meaningful life in their communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Members’ statements, the honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Years ago an elder told me that taking care of our youth was like building or taking care of your hunting equipment. Without this, things continue to deteriorate quickly to a point where survival is impossible. The healthy survival of communities relies on our youth. These are an elder’s words of wisdom I try to promote whenever possible.

Mr. Speaker, the youth of Nunakput face the hardest challenges in the entire territory, possibly the entire country. Challenges such as few recreational sports, the high cost of supplies, the high cost of transportation and no adequate youth centres are just a few. Equality is all Nunakput is asking for.

Mr. Speaker, there are many students in Nunakput who have never played an official sporting game, such as basketball, hockey and the Super Soccer tournament here in Yellowknife. This is unacceptable. Another example is that if a group of youth travel to Inuvik, let alone Yellowknife, from my communities to a sporting tournament, the cost of an aircraft return flight would be $6,000, even before they left Inuvik.

Healthy youth results in a healthy community. That is why I am challenging the government to follow

through on promises and priorities established for our youth. Mr. Speaker, strengthening our communities through a wide range of youth enhancement initiatives must be a priority for the government, such as education, recreation, motivation, inspiration and edification. Making these commitments is not going to be easy and will require considerable resources to be assigned, but the alternative is more unhealthy youth, a higher dropout rate and possibly even more youth in the correctional system.

We have to be there for all youth in the Northwest Territories, not just where we live. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to speak today about board reform and initiatives of the government to move this large piece of refocusing government forward. During the life of the last government I was a big supporter of the agencies and boards review that began in 2004 but unfortunately was shelved in 2005 by the previous government.

Under the Refocusing Government Strategic Initiatives Committee the current government is moving ahead with board reform in our territory, and I still am a supporter of this being examined and analyzed.

There are currently 70 GNWT boards involved in governance for health, social services, education and housing. This is about half of all GNWT boards. Board reform supports the goal of the 16th Legislative Assembly of effective and efficient government and the priority to achieve greater effectiveness, efficiencies and a more client focused, service oriented approach through better planning, coordination and communication between GNWT departments. These are all lofty words and noble pursuits; however, this is a colossal undertaking. From what I am to understand, the GNWT is moving forward with a regional based boards approach whose responsibility would include Health and Social Services; Education, Culture, and Employment; and the NWT Housing Corporation.

I would like to thank the lead Minister, Michael Miltenberger, for meeting with committee recently to discuss this important initiative. I certainly do have a number of concerns as this moves forward. What I am seeking is reassurance from the Minister that once this is proposed to stakeholders, he shares all

the concerns with Regular Members before proceeding to the implementation phase.

I’m also concerned about the cookie cutter approach to board reform. Just because the Tlicho Community Services model seems to work effectively, will this model work in other regions? And, Mr. Speaker, what will this initiative mean in terms of legislation? We will require enabling legislation for regional boards and also changes to the Hospital Insurance and Health and Social Services Administration Act, the NWT Housing Corporation Act, the Education Act and even possibly the Public Service Act.

This is no small undertaking, Mr. Speaker, and again, we need to make sure that we get things right and that Regular Members have meaningful input before implementation of the reform takes place. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery.

Recognition of

Visitors in the Gallery

Colleagues, I’d like to draw your attention to the presence of our Conflict of Interest Commissioner, Mr. Gerald Gerrand, in the gallery. Welcome back to Yellowknife and to the House.

Item 6, acknowledgements. Item 7, oral questions. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Finance. As indicated in my Member’s statement, the outlook for the North American economy is lowered due to recent economic realities, yet this government is focused almost exclusively on the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline and diamond mining as our solutions for the future. Given that those industries we have counted on to lead economic development in the North have been hit hard, what is the effect on the GNWT, and how does this slowdown in the Canadian economy affect our fiscal framework or fiscal forecast?

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Minister of Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker. Clearly, the rapidly unfolding events that have been happening around the world have had

an impact in the country. I indicated to Minister Flaherty just last week when he called that overall we anticipated a chilling effect in terms of credit, cost, the pressure on companies and the dropping of resources on the stock market. There is a whole host of areas where we anticipate there is going to be an impact.

The one good sign, I suppose, is going to be that the price of oil drops, even though we have already purchased our oil for the small communities. The price of oil is now down to $75 a barrel, I think it was today. But overall we are not going to be immune.

I would like to thank the Minister for that. To me this is something we need to be concerned about: the drop in the market and whatnot. It worries me that we have put a lot of our direction into the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline and the diamond mines. I’m not suggesting that we stop; I think that if we can develop a pipeline in an environmentally responsible way and get the benefit such as hydro and roads out of that, that would be brilliant. But I noticed that we have not spent a lot of time focusing on other economic opportunities in the North, such as fishing, agriculture and tourism. These things are a lot more sustainable. I think that for our future we seriously need to look at those as ways to increase our economy and employ Northerners.

I was wondering if the Minister could tell me if we are going to be spending any more time focusing on those types of industries to create a more sustainable economy in the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, through the Strategic Initiatives committee there is an awareness and recognition that there is a need to expand our economic base so it is not totally reliant on the non-renewable resource sector. As we come forward with the initiatives and the business plans, it will be demonstrated that we are making an attempt to provide better support for those areas.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Members’ statement I talked about the work that is being undertaken to look at the review of boards and agencies in the Northwest Territories. My questions today are for Minister Miltenberger.

I would like to ask: how much consultation has already taken place? What’s the status of the work being done? This is something that people in the public are very interested in having input into. I’d

like to know where we are in terms of the consultation and the development of a plan.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There has been work underway now for the last eight months. We have briefed committee, as was noted. We’ve had some meetings and discussions recently with the DECs and the board chairs as well as the health folks. I will be coming into the House, hopefully this week, with a more detailed report to the House about what’s being proposed.

So there is work underway. There has been consultation, and there will continue to be consultation as we continue to carefully move forward with this large, complex undertaking.

We know that the North is small and people like to have input into how the services are provided in their communities and their regions. I would like to ask Minister Miltenberger if any of the actions undertaken by this government could be characterized as a centralization of that kind of either governance through input on an advisory basis or a management basis.

Mr. Speaker, the plan is to have an integration of service at the regional level to bring together and to tune up the legislative pieces that are needed to be there to allow things to function more appropriately, to bring together the administrative and finance systems, which are now scattered and often disjointed and unconnected. The intent is to keep the decision-making at the community and regional levels.

I wonder if the Minister could speak to the issue that was raised in my Member’s statement about the diversity of the different regions. Certainly some regions, like the Tlicho area…. There’s kind of an obvious way for that to work. That’s why the community service board is always held up as a prime example, and a good example, of how the integration of various social services — housing, education, health, social services — has worked in the past. That’s a very unique scenario.

When you look at communities in the South Slave, for example, you have two relatively large communities and a number of small communities. Some of the history we’ve seen with the governance of education, for example, with the District Education Council…. Has the Minister got anything he could share at this time on how the government is going to deal with that diversity issue?

Mr. Speaker, the Member raises a point that we’re very cognizant of

and sensitive to. That is that while recognizing there is a need to better plan, to do case management, to integrate these fundamental services of housing, education and health at the community level so we can be more effective in our planning and integrate service delivery, we need to tailor these to the specific regions.

In the South Slave, for example, it’s anticipated that we will have moved toward a regional board split between Fort Smith, Hay River and Fort Resolution. The services on the ground will still be there, so the decision-making can be made in a timely way. The board function and management oversight will be provided through that type of board.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There’s been reference made to the efficiency and effectiveness, but I’d like to ask: is there an underpinning to this exercise? Because this has to do with saving money.

The intent, clearly, is to put as much money as possible toward program delivery at the community level. We know the money we have currently as a government is insufficient. As we look at things like reductions and revenue options, we’re also looking at how we’re structured. Are we structured to best deliver the programs that are needed? If we’re more efficient and effective in terms of administration, would there be more money that could then go to the program delivery area? That’s the approach we’re taking.

The money that’s in the system will stay in the system, but we’ll try to put it as close to the community as we can to focus on programs if at all possible.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to follow up on the statement by the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources. I’d like to briefly start by saying that this is like a breath of fresh air. I think our public is totally ready for this sort of thing. I’ve had a lot of feedback that people do listen to us in the House. They’re interested in what we say. I’d like to pull a little bit more information from the Minister.

I notice in the second paragraph that there were almost 550 applications for new home heating appliances, mostly that they’re more efficient and so on. Has the Minister estimated what the greenhouse gas savings are from these 550? I notice he did that for the ten mentioned below.

What was the payback time for these appliances? I think the public would be interested in knowing that.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. All good questions of a fairly specific and technical nature. I will commit to the Member that I will get that information and share it with him and members of the committee that he’s a member of.

Thank you to the Minister for that commitment. I hope he shares it publicly in the House with us, because, again, I know the public would be very interested indeed.

Another question I had. One of the bottlenecks I think our public experiences is the installation and services for these new appliances. It’s often very difficult to find somebody in a timely way. We don’t have homegrown expertise here. Is the Minister working with Aurora College and other arms of government to try to get some progressive educational programs going to ensure that we have in all our communities expert renewable energy and energy efficiency technicians to help our public?

The Member is correct that there is an economic opportunity here as we look at moving to alternative energies. The whole support, installation and monitoring was raised in the House last week — the need, for example, for simple things like having qualified local people to be able to do inspections of pellet stoves and wood fired woodstoves.

Yes, there is an interest, as we move forward and start planning the value-added to this whole operation, in building the economy and being able to sustain, implement and repair and upgrade this whole type of new industry we’re going to be creating in the North.

Thank you again to the Minister for those comments. I think the Minister mentioned the economy. That’s an important part of what we’re about, I think, trying to build and strengthen our local economies. Having the local expertise available will really assist that.

A huge one for me is that we’ve started to see the light and moved into the new Medium Renewable Energy Fund. Now we’re starting to get into some of the bigger projects where some of the biggest gains are to be had. I’m wondering: is the Minister establishing the concomitant level of expertise within this department to enable us to be efficient with this? In this case I’m thinking we’re so far behind in North America. Europe and other countries are really the standard. Are we getting some European level expertise for staff to deal with this sort of situation?

We have some knowledgeable staff who are thoroughly engrossed and up to speed in this area. As well, we’re making use of local resources like Arctic Green Energy and the other folks who have developed their own expertise.

We recognize that there is a huge amount to be learned from Europe. As we move forward with the planning exercise, with the business plans, the need to go and take a look at what’s happening over there in terms of biomass — for example, to generate things like electricity — is what we’re committed to trying to pursue. We’re working, of course, very closely with the appropriate committees.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final supplementary, Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My final question, and thanks again to the Minister for those comments. I’m glad to see we’re being progressive here. Some of the technology out there is pretty new and perhaps a little bit untried in the North.

I think it’s great we’re starting to test those systems and so on, but an important aspect of that is establishing a monitoring program on them to make sure we know how much the gain is and what the full benefit is to us with our dollars and to the public. Is there a program to ensure that some monitoring, especially on the relatively new technologies out there, is paired with these projects?

First let me comment that the Government of the Northwest Territories, the Members of Cabinet — the Premier on down — are all fully supportive of this approach and the investments we are making. I know that Public Works and Services has done work to do the monitoring the Member speaks of on some of the larger schools across the North.

I picked up a copy of a document when I went to the wood pellet fair that was held here a couple weeks ago. Clearly, we are going to have to develop all those types of support services and expertise in our own government and across the North in the communities as we move into alternative energies in a very significant and serious way.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my statement today I talked about a woman who had to wait 34 hours in order to be let into a room and

suffered from a stroke. She was sent down to Edmonton, as I talked about in my Member’s statement. I felt that this was a disgusting way for government services and funding to show that the standard of health is completely unreasonable and unfair.

My questions will be focused on the Minister of Health and Social Services and specific only to this incident. I want to be very clear. I’d like to know what happened in this situation. I want to know what the Minister is doing about it. And will this Minister be willing to put a written apology in place and explain why it happened and why it won’t happen in the future?

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. A couple of questions there. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Member’s question. Yesterday we happened to be out of session, and I was in my office all day. I spent the better part of my day addressing this specific situation. I talked to the husband of the patient myself. I know my deputy minister has talked to the patient’s husband in Yellowknife. We had a nurse in the department mobilizing the key people in the department to move this patient along into a room as quickly as was possible.

This patient had a stroke. She had to be sent to Edmonton. It was a decision made by the doctor here. She had to be near cardiology and neurology services so that she could be monitored. Capital Health’s Edmonton Clinic hospital is right now under what’s called full capacity protocol. They are completely full, and they have waiting lists. They have 50 patients in emergency rooms. It was safer for that patient to stay in the emergency room until they got a bed and she was able to get that. There were a few neurology patients, and it was really important for her safety and for the best practice of health. The doctor here and the doctor there thought that she had to be close to that hospital.

It is really unfortunate that she was not able to get a bed, but for reasons of traffic and volume of work required at the Edmonton Royal Alexandra Hospital, that was what they had to do.

Waiting 34 hours for a room is completely unreasonable. I would not describe that as a reasonable level of care that we pay for with our tax dollars. Two weeks ago this Minister knew there were problems down there. The husband called me to say that they knew this in this department and they understood this in this department.

I want to know what the plan was, because there appears to be no plan if they sent her down there with no room. And is this Minister prepared to put

an apology in writing to this family that explains, “Sorry this happened, and it will not happen again”?

I’m not aware of this two week ago communication the Member is talking about. I did talk to the husband of the patient yesterday. I let him know that I was taking this issue very seriously and that I was using all of my powers and authority available to me to help this NWT resident who is being cared for in emergency without being able to find her own room.

We use Capital Health services because for services like neurology and cardiology, we don’t have those services here. The doctors here felt it was better for her to be sent there than to stay here. She was being taken care of and monitored, and I believe that I as the Minister and the department did everything we could. I was on the phone all day yesterday to do everything within our power to move her. I’m glad to know she has finally moved into a room of her own.

The Minister just doesn’t seem to understand the question. I’m not asking or stating that the problem was in sending her to Edmonton. That’s not the problem. The problem is that she had to wait in emergency 34 hours to get a room. There seems to be no concern about an apology to this family. There seems to be no concern or thought as to saying: well, maybe if this hospital is full and if there are no rooms in this hospital, why could we not have sent her somewhere else, be it in Edmonton or Calgary?

I asked that very question, and I was advised that the Capital Health authority decides where these patients go. Doctors consult with each other when we’re sending patients South and when they’re receiving. On the basis of what the doctors know, they decide what facility and what expertise this patient needs.

This patient needed neurology and cardiology treatment. Royal Alexandra is where she had to be. Before she could be placed in a room, she had to be in emergency. There were two other Alberta residents with neurology conditions. They were all being monitored. They had a bed; it’s just that they didn’t have a room.

We use the services in Alberta. We do not control the capacity issues at the hospital where she was being taken care of. We are all aware of NWT residents who go to Stanton hospital and wait for hours for service. Unfortunately, sometimes we have to wait for service, but I want to tell you that this patient was given the best service we were able to provide. I know it wasn’t the best, but I was on top of that all day long, and so was my department.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, the issue seems to elude the Minister. It’s not that she needs to go to Edmonton. It’s not that she needed to go to emergency. It’s that she spent 34 hours in emergency. That is ridiculous.

Mr. Speaker, why are we sending people to Edmonton if they have no rooms? I know the hospital care is the level that we’re concerned about, but why are we sending them to that hospital if they don’t have any rooms? Why did we send her there, and where is this apology that I think this family deserves?

The doctor here decided that she needed services we didn’t have here. Capital Health doctors decided that she had to go to the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton. We had inquired about other capacities, and I understand that the emergency units in Calgary, as well as in Grande Prairie, were also at full capacity.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Today in my Member’s statement I talked about Housing Corporation programs. I have questions for the Minister.

Can the Minister advise this House if he is willing to create or revitalize programs that are more congruent to smaller, non-market communities?

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Robert McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We just went through an exercise and review and a whole program change to look at our programs to see how well they are delivered and how well the communities understand the criteria and what is being provided. We reduced our programs to four programs. We think they’ve been targeted to a wide range of the population of the Northwest Territories.

The Member has indicated in his statement that one size certainly doesn’t fit all, and we agree. We’ve got programs that are targeted to low income families and communities. We have targeted programs for families who want to own their own homes. We’ve targeted programs so that we can assist people who are above the threshold and can’t receive financial support from us. We can work with them to work through the system to the financial institutions and help them with some of these designs.

Mr. Speaker, I’m not sure where the Member would like us to go with it. I believe and I think most communities would believe that our programs are geared toward all the population of the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister advise this House exactly when the next needs survey will be completed? When can we advise communities of the results of the next needs survey?

We’ve had a community needs survey completed and presented in 2004. That was shared with Members of this House and the general public. We also had in 2006 a housing data census. The next community housing needs will be done in 2009. Mr. Speaker, that’s the information we use to allocate our budget, based on this information.

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister advise this House if he’s willing to look at an allocation model that is based on percentage of need, and not on the number of people who need housing, community by community — in effect, allocating to communities most in need?

I’m pleased to sit down with the Member and discuss the concept he’s presenting. We do currently provide housing allocations and housing budgets based on core needs, and we look at the national average. We also look at what is the core need in each community. I fully recognize that the two communities that the Member represents are above the core need average, so I would be pleased to sit down and talk to him about it.

Thank you, Minister McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Beaulieu.

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement I mentioned that houses built under the current allocating system in the communities are now being sold in the private market, because there are no people in need in the community who fit the program. Can the Minister ensure that the allocation of money and proceeds from sales of any units, NWTHC units, anywhere in the Northwest Territories are allocated on a system that is agreed to on this side of the House — in other words, using the percentage system, the aforementioned system?

I would have to get more clarity on the Member’s comments on how we allocate the units. We certainly feel that our current system is fair. We base it on core need, and we try to balance the investment between public housing and home ownership. However, I would certainly need to have more discussion to fully understand where he would like us to embark with the new allocation.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister responsible for the Strategic Initiative Committee on Refocusing Government. That’s Minister Miltenberger.

In my Member’s statement from earlier I spoke of my support for this initiative if done properly and if thoroughly examined and analyzed. I think there is room for improvement. However, I do have some concerns about the process that is currently at play. I’m just wondering if the Minister could comment on the intent to use the one size fits all approach with boards across the territory.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Miltenberger.

First let me indicate in this House that I look forward to having the Chair of EDI and the Chair of Social Programs hopefully come on board as fully participating members on this very important committee so we can in fact do all of the work.

The issue that the Member raised of one size fits all. There are some fundamental principles we’re moving on, but we recognize that we’re going to have to tailor circumstances to each of the regions. For example, we recognize that the North Slave, which comprises mainly Yellowknife as well as Lutselk’e, has some unique challenges. They’re complex in a different way from most other regions. We’re recommending that we take a two track approach. We believe that we can look at most of these other regions and move ahead, but in Yellowknife we have to take the time to look at all the complexities that are there to make sure we are making the best and most informed decision, tailoring the requirements to those realities.

I thank the Minister for that. I do look forward to working with him on the Refocusing Government committee when the time does come. I guess what I’m seeking today is just reassurance. It sounds like the Minister is understanding the intricacies of the various regions across the territory.

I wanted to ask: before any implementation is undertaken on the board reform, will the Minister convey all the concerns that have been expressed to him and his staff? They’re going out and shopping this around. There are going to be concerns out there from stakeholders. Will those concerns in their entirety be shared with Regular Members, Mr. Speaker?

What is being proposed and worked on by the refocusing and the strategic initiatives committees will be, in my opinion, the single biggest piece of restructuring we’re going to do as an Assembly in terms of government and how we deliver services.

Clearly, with the Members and the Chairs coming on board as fully participating members, they’ll have access to all that information. We intend to fully brief committees as a matter of course as we proceed with the work that’s necessary as we move down the implementation path. There’s work we’re doing right now. While we have timelines, we have a lot more preparatory work to do, recognizing that this is a very complex undertaking.

Again, I thank the Minister for that. In the decision-making process, from a public standpoint, the public wants to have some reassurances as well that their concerns are going to be addressed — the board Chair in Yellowknife and even outside of Yellowknife. I just wanted to ask the Minister again: in the decision-making process, what is he doing to base a go/no-go decision on in terms of board reform, and are we going to be able to debate the pros and cons of such an initiative publicly, Mr. Speaker?

Mr. Speaker, we’re proceeding on the assumption, clearly, that we have hundreds of boards in the Northwest Territories in the area we’re talking about. Just between health, education and housing we have 70 boards. We’d like to streamline that down to be more efficient.

Over time we let things develop, often in an unplanned way. We intend to work closely with you folks in committee and all its members and committees of Regular Members to hopefully reach a consensus at the end of the day for a plan that’s going to allow us to rationalize, as the very first step towards boards and agencies across the Northwest Territories focusing on this social program area, and come to an agreement on an approach that will make sense and that we can hopefully implement during the life of this Assembly.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m glad that the Minister understands the intricacies and the complexity of this issue. It sounds like he will be willing to work with Regular Members to move this along.

I guess the last question I’d have, Mr. Speaker, is in terms of a timeline. Obviously, this is something we’re going to want to try to get done by the end of the life of this government. Can he share with us a timeline on the implementation of this?

Mr. Speaker, we anticipate that we’re on about a 12 to 18 month planning frame here, in addition to the work we’ve already done. To get us ready to have all the work done, as the Member’s indicated, there’s a whole host of things we have to look at in terms of assessment. There’s legislation. There are a whole number of things we’d have to be clear on, sort out, put in the proper sequence, do the appropriate costings and all the other impacts that we have to do. So it’s going to take some time. We’re going to be working through it through the life of this business planning process for ’09–10 and on, probably into the subsequent year.

That work is underway, and we look forward to the full briefing of all the committee members here in the next week or so.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I mentioned in my statement that I discussed P3 projects, and it is extremely important, in my view, that we be adequately prepared for P3 projects more and more as we go forward with our infrastructure plans. We’re going to need partners to provide us with the financial assistance in order to get these projects done. A perfect example is that cited by Mr. Bromley in his statement earlier today.

I’d like to ask the Premier

—

or he can refer it to

whichever Minister is the appropriate one; I’m not quite sure

—

to explain where a P3 policy sits on

the priority list for this government and for the Premier and Cabinet.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The Hon. Premier, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We place in a high priority area, as the Member has pointed out, the fact that we have to look at other avenues of dealing with some of the larger initiatives that we are looking at within the Northwest Territories. I committed to having the P3 policy review put in place. Deputies met a number of months ago. In fact, I’ve had meetings as well and invited a firm to come up North to sit down with us to begin looking at a P3 process.

I thank the Premier for that answer. I was going to ask him where we were at, but he’s already answered my question — and good for him.

I guess I would just like him to confirm that currently we do not have a document in place that outlines the process that would be followed for a P3. It

sounds to me as though it is in the works, so I’d like him just to confirm that.

Mr. Speaker, we do have a policy. It is a very old policy. We recognize that. We’re looking at other jurisdictions for policies they’ve put in place, and that’s why the review is going forward. We will have deputies meeting again on this later on this month. As I’ve stated, I’ve also invited a firm that has much experience in this area to sit down with us to look at development in this area.

Thank you to the Minister. I’d like to know if he can give me any kind of an idea of the timeline of when this process will be done and when we will have a revised, renewed and revitalized policy in place.

Mr. Speaker, we’re trying to, as I stated earlier, go through this initial process. Any policy work we would do we would bring to committee for review and testing if, in fact, we’re heading in the right direction. We’re hoping we’ll be able to bring something forward during this winter. I don’t know if we’d call it the winter session, but at that point, we’ll try to bring something forward to Members for review.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Final supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thanks for the answer. I think I heard the Minister say he’s going to look for input from Regular Members. I guess I would like to have him formally commit to or to formalize his answer that, yes, he will ask for input from Regular Members in terms of this particular policy for P3 projects.

Mr. Speaker, we will do that as we do with any policy work. If we’re to change it, we’ll work with the appropriate committee to have input and give us feedback. So we will be doing that, yes.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to address my question to the Minister of MACA with regard to community preparedness.

I was recently in Nahanni Butte, and I had a couple of constituents ask about their firebreak. It hasn’t been worked on for some time. I’d just like to ask the Minister: does that program still exist?

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Robert McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I haven’t been briefed on that particular issue yet, but I will let the Member know that I will get a briefing on it, and I will be in a better position to answer his question.

Thank you very much. I think it sounds like the Minister took that question on notice there, Mr. Speaker. But just some of the further questions I’d be interested in are: what is the process to access this program; is there still funding available for this year, and if there is, can we access it as soon as we can?

One of the things I do not intend to do very much is take questions on notice. I will commit to be briefed on a lot of the material that Members are bringing forward to me, including the questions brought forward by the Member for Nahendeh. I will get briefed on it, and like I said, I will be in a much better position to give a very good answer.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On October 8 I talked about the importance of traditional foods and how the high cost of living is impacting the practice of harvesting traditional foods. I would like to follow up my statement today with questions for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister tell this House what programs, if any, this department currently has in place to assist subsistence hunters, not trappers, with traditional harvesting activities?

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bob McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Government of the Northwest Territories has recognized the importance of traditional harvesting activities for some time now, and we do have a number of programs in place. Over the course of the past ten years or so we also had the Western Harvesters’ Assistance Program, which is a $15 million matching program that is available to every aboriginal government organization in the Northwest Territories. We do also have the Harvesters’ Assistance Program, a total of $1.5 million, which includes funding for local wildlife committees, Community Harvesters’ Assistance

Program and Harvesters’ Disaster Compensation. We also have the Genuine Mackenzie Valley Fur program, which provides assistance to trappers, and, of course, the Take a Kid Trapping program, which introduces youth to living off the land.