Good afternoon, colleagues.

Colleagues, it is with great sadness that I inform the House of the passing of a former Member, Speaker and Minister, Michael Ballantyne. Mike was first elected as the Member for Yellowknife North in the 10

Legislative Assembly in 1983. He was

subsequently re-elected by acclamation in 1987 to the 11

Assembly and re-elected to the 12

Assembly in 1991.

During his time as a Member of the Legislative Assembly he served as Government House Leader, Minister of Justice, Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation, Minister of Finance and Minister responsible for the Public Utilities Board. Mike also served as a member of several standing committees of the House and, as well, on the Special Committee on Aboriginal Languages in 1989 and 1990. He chaired the Special Committee on Constitutional Reform from 1990 to 1991.

On November 13, 1991, Mike was appointed the sixth Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. Speaker Ballantyne played a vital role in the establishment of a permanent home for our Legislature, and on November 17, 1993, he presided over the first sitting of the House in this impressive and symbolically important building.

On behalf of all current and former Members of the Legislative Assembly, I wish to express the sincere condolences of this House to the family and friends of Michael Ballantyne. Members, please stand and join me in observing a moment of silent reflection on the achievements and contributions of a northern leader.

The House observed one minute of silence.

Thank you, Members. Please be seated. Orders of the Day. Item 2, Ministers’ statements. The honourable Minister responsible for Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On June 21 the people across the Northwest Territories will once again be celebrating National Aboriginal Day. This is a day to celebrate aboriginal peoples’ rich and diverse cultural heritage and to also acknowledge the valuable contribution of aboriginal peoples to the healthy development of our communities, our territory and our country.

The Government of the Northwest Territories honours and respects the importance of aboriginal cultures and the vital role aboriginal people play in contributing to our economic, social and political development and in enhancing our traditional knowledge through learning and sharing.

Our commitment extends well beyond our annual statutory holiday. Our government continues to invest in aboriginal languages and cultural programs, increasing the number of aboriginal teachers, creating opportunity for aboriginal people to enter the trades and exploring alternative energy opportunities in our aboriginal communities.

Mr. Speaker, this June 21 I ask all Members to join me in encouraging the people of the Northwest Territories to get out and participate in National Aboriginal Day activities in their communities and to celebrate the wealth of traditions, lifestyles, languages and values that make up the fabric of the Northwest Territories.

Thank you, Mr.

Roland. The

honourable Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Michael McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, I’m pleased to advise the House that yesterday the Hon.

Lawrence Cannon, federal Minister of

Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, and I signed the Building Canada Infrastructure Plan Base Funding Agreement.

This agreement sets the stage for $185.8 million in new infrastructure funding to flow to the Government of the Northwest Territories over a seven-year period. It is notable that the Government of the Northwest Territories is the second jurisdiction in Canada to complete negotiations and sign the funding agreement.

A key feature of this agreement is the unique cost-sharing provisions, which provide for the Government of Canada to pay up to 75 per cent of the cost of eligible projects. This funding will provide a much-needed injection of almost $140 million for critical transportation infrastructure needs across the Northwest Territories.

As a first step Canada has approved the replacement of the Kakisa River Bridge. This funding will also allow the government to support priority projects like the city of Yellowknife’s bypass road, the access road to the Tuktoyaktuk gravel source at kilometre 177 and highway rehabilitation projects.

The government plans to make $6.5 million per year of this funding available to community governments to support their infrastructure needs. Our first priority is to address urgent water treatment plant needs in several communities. The balance of the funding will be made available to communities to address their own priority projects within eligible categories.

Over the life of the agreement a total of $1.8 million of the federal funding will be used to establish a climate change research and adaptation program within the Department of Transportation. The program will support research needs for both the Government of the Northwest Territories and community governments, ensuring that transportation infrastructure can cope with the impacts of climate change.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the Hon. Norman Yakeleya, Minister of Transportation, for his support during the negotiations. I would also like to acknowledge the support we received from the Northwest Territories Association of Communities in determining how to move forward with community government allocations.

Thank you, Mr.

McLeod. The

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

Mahsi, Mr.

Speaker.

[English translation not provided.]

Mr. Speaker, this summer one of our territory’s most important institutions will be celebrating its 50

anniversary. On August 1, 2 and 3 École Sir

John Franklin High School will be hosting a homecoming weekend to recognize the school’s 50 years of education.

Since 1958 Sir John has seen thousands of students pass through its doors. Many leaders of the modern North attended Sir John. At least five current Members of the Legislature attended Sir John Franklin Territorial High School, including myself, and at least one of us even taught there.

High school is a place of exploration and discovery, where people form their identities and begin to realize what they want to do with their lives. Sir John holds a special place in many of our hearts.

Quality education in the North is crucial to our success. It is important to recognize a place that has been so important in so many lives and to congratulate the staff and students who have helped to make it a success over the past 50 years. We can all look forward to many more, Mr. Speaker. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr.

Lafferty. The

Hon. Premier, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to take the opportunity today to inform the Assembly of an important national summit I am co-hosting with the president of the Native Women’s Association of Canada, Ms.

Beverley

Jacobs.

The National Aboriginal Women’s Summit will take place in Yellowknife from July 29 to 31. The summit will be attended by about 150 aboriginal women from across Canada, along with representatives from the federal, provincial and territorial governments and national aboriginal organizations. The summit will advance the ongoing work toward improving social and economic conditions of aboriginal women and their families.

The summit theme “Strong Women, Strong Communities” provides an opportunity to build on the recommendations created at last year’s gathering in Corner Brook, Newfoundland and

Labrador. Aboriginal women, through their wisdom and experience, contribute to the success of each of our communities. I am looking forward to the discussions on ways we can address issues of concern to aboriginal women and, hopefully, move forward with solutions.

The planning for the summit has been done by a national planning committee that is co-chaired by the Native Women’s Association of Canada and the Government of the Northwest Territories. The planning committee is comprised of representatives of national aboriginal organizations, the Native Women’s Association of the Northwest Territories, the Status of Women Council of the Northwest Territories, the Government of Canada and the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. Local planning for the summit has been coordinated by the Native Women’s Association of the Northwest Territories, Status of Women Council of the Northwest Territories and staff from the Department of Executive.

Minister Sandy Lee, Minister Responsible for the Status of Women, and I would like to thank all the people who are working hard to ensure a successful summit. I would also like to recognize the contribution of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada to support the summit. We look forward to welcoming participants of the National Aboriginal Women’s Summit to our beautiful territory. We will ensure they benefit from our famous northern hospitality, and I know it will be a successful event.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Item 3, Members’ statements. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today it gives me great pleasure to use my Member’s statement to do a special acknowledgement of the crew of the HMCS Yellowknife who are in our gallery today.

They’ve been here for a number of days, and I want to thank them for making the long trek all the way here to Yellowknife, to our community. I believe they are meeting with a number of veterans and seniors, and they’re getting to know folks on the ground one on one. I’m very grateful that they’ve taken this time.

I understand that several of them will be playing in the Midnight Golf Tournament, and I wish them good luck. It is a different course to play, and if you need any help with fixing scorecards, come talk to me. I’m very experienced around that.

The HMCS Yellowknife crew comes to Yellowknife from time to time, and I’d be remiss not to mention the role that former mayor Pat McMahon played. She was a very strong advocate for the establishment of the ship and making sure its crew did don its presence from time to time here in Yellowknife.

Mr. Speaker, I would encourage them to partake in every opportunity that Yellowknife has to offer. I certainly know they are here to meet the community, because they are contributing in their way. But I want to emphasize a special acknowledgement of the fact that they do defend our sovereignty and play a significant role in our Forces.

I want to close my statement by acknowledging each member quickly, and I apologize in advance if I say your names incorrectly. I’d like to acknowledge as follows: Lieutenant Commander Grant Bannister; Lieutenant Larry Moraal; Chief Petty Officer 2nd Class John Malysheff; Chief Petty Officer 2

Class Frank Vengels; Petty Officer 2

Class Scott Duguay; Petty Officer 2

Class Hugh

O'Neill; Master Seaman Amanda Dunphy; Master Seaman Kevin Andres; Master Corporal John Hodson; Master Seaman Kumar Ingam; Leading Seaman Erik Lindholm; Leading Seaman Jason Zerdin; Leading Seaman Jennifer Lawless, who I think also is a Yellowknifer; Leading Seaman Catherine Bouchard; Leading Seaman Matthew Houghtling; Leading Seaman Ray Crowder; Leading Seaman James Nauss; Leading Seaman Derrick Fedoryshyn; Able Seaman Amanda McCabe; and Leading Seaman Matthew Rexin.

Mr. Speaker, at this time I want to thank them for coming to Yellowknife. I certainly appreciate their representation here.

Thank you, Mr.

Hawkins. The

honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Support for the voluntary sector is a priority of this government, yet voluntary sector organizations that deliver key human services continue to struggle to find funding to help improve salaries, keep their staff, pay their utility bills and keep their doors open to those in need. Their only options seem to be to cut services or run a deficit.

Forced growth requests from NGOs throughout the NWT have met with limited success, and some agencies are not even offered this opportunity by the GNWT. Family violence shelters have been instructed that help is on the way in the form of a

GNWT review of sector financing. This would be most welcome to the sector.

Mr.

Speaker, late in the last Assembly the

government expressed dismay at how they could operate a shelter for the same amount they have previously allocated to an NGO to operate it, but little has been done to support these NGOs, which provide incredibly valuable services to the people of the NWT. As a note, the Action Plan on Family Violence includes some relief for staff retention in this fiscal year but not after that.

NGOs and other voluntary sector organizations would like some assurances that this review of the sector financing will be timely, produce tangible results and include their participation. Given that these, our stakeholders, are our best resource when discussing the challenges the sector faces, it would be unfortunate to not involve the sector in the review and identification of solutions.

The clock is ticking, and human service agencies do not want to be forced to reduce key services year after year. It’s not in the best interest of the people of the NWT for this happen.

At the appropriate time I’ll be asking the Premier some questions on this topic.

Thank you, Mr.

Abernethy. The

honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Drinking and driving remains a serious problem in the NWT. Despite the introduction of new rules and harsher penalties in 2004, impaired driving is still the number one cause of death or injury on our roads.

We do have a useful tool to deal with the NWT’s worst drunk drivers. It is called the ignition interlock device and prevents drivers from using their vehicles if they are not sober. This device requires the driver to provide a breath sample before the engine can be started. It also demands random breath samples while the vehicle is being driven. If the driver does not pass the breath test, the vehicle horn is then activated.

The Department of Transportation can impose conditions on drivers who wish to have their licences reinstated after being convicted on a drunk driving charge. One of those conditions is the installation of this ignition interlock device.

I believe we need to make these devices mandatory for any NWT residents who have been convicted of having twice the legal alcohol limit, who refused to give a breath sample or who are repeat offenders.

Being a licensed driver is a privilege that comes with responsibility. We need to get tough on those who repeatedly show contempt for the law and for the safety of their fellow citizens by driving while impaired

I urge the Minister to use the tools that are readily available in legislation and implement the mandatory ignition interlock program.

Thank you, Mr.

Menicoche. The

honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’d like to address the elders in my aboriginal language. [English translation not provided.]

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr.

Beaulieu. The

honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the last few months I’ve seen a number of important achievements for my Nunakput riding: the opening of the RCMP detachment in Sachs Harbour, the 24th anniversary of the signing of the Inuvialuit Final Agreement, the awarding of the new exploration bids in the Beaufort Sea, and at last, my access road 177 has made it into the government’s plans thanks to the Building Canada Fund and all 19 Members’ support. I thank you.

Although we have so much to celebrate, Mr. Speaker, life in the small communities, like those I represent, continues to be very difficult. The programs and standards are not up to the same standards as those in larger centres.

During the session I have spoken about run-down medical equipment in Tuktoyaktuk; the importance of funding the Aboriginal Sports Circles so the youth in the communities have access to the same opportunities as those in the larger centres; the unfairness of claw backs to the Inuvialuit beneficiary dividend cheques, though it is not income, through the Income Support program; the need to give elders’ cheques twice a month instead of once a month; the lower quality of education in small communities and the need for adequate housing for teachers; the legacy of residential schools; homelessness; shamefully rundown housing with problems such as black mould and elders not being able to open their doors in the winter months; and the high cost of everything, from

groceries to heating oil to power, which makes living in Nunakput communities so difficult.

Mr. Speaker, you and my colleagues can expect to hear me raise these issues again and again until I make some progress on them. I look forward to working with my fellow Regular Members and Ministers to address these concerns. We are now coming to the end of the budget session, and I’m pleased to say that our long debates resulted in some victories for the Northwest Territories and Nunakput.

Mr.

Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to

conclude my statement.

Unanimous consent granted.

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker. In

particular, the court worker and renewable resource officers positions, which were slated to be cut, were reinstated, thanks to the support of my colleagues. I’m very much looking forward to returning to Nunakput and visiting all my constituents in the near future. I would like to thank them for being a strong voice and coming forward with their issues and concerns. I want to assure them that I’ll be continuing to work hard on their behalf to improve life in our communities.

This is our last day of sitting. I’d like to take the opportunity to thank the hard-working staff of the Office of the Clerk, my colleagues and you, Mr. Speaker, for guidance and support during this long sitting. I would also like to wish everyone a happy Aboriginal Day and Canada Day. Have a safe and enjoyable summer.

Thank you, Mr.

Jacobson. The

honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’d like to talk about revenue leakage, the loss of dollars, just like with a bathtub drain, out of the Northwest Territories, out of our communities. Solutions to plugging this drain would be a huge contribution to a healthy economic stimulus for the Northwest Territories. The Government of Canada announced this morning that $40 million is the subsidy that they provide for food mail for the North. They started to suggest that we grow our own food. What a concept.

This government subsidizes almost $140 million to various forms of cost of living expenses. When I worked in the community of Whati, I noticed that during flights into the community the aircraft were filled with things that could have been made and produced locally. I studied local retail outlets to see how much money was being spent on water, believe it or not, and pop, which is coloured water

with sugar added. It was over $100,000 per year. Mr.

Speaker, these are opportunities for local

economic development. Commercial birch syrup is now happening in the Northwest Territories and could provide a source of fructose sweetener, which is a much better source of carbohydrates and nutrients than the refined sugars and artificial sweeteners we see in our pop.

Everybody knows what we’re spending on oil and gas and fuel. We’re shipping hundreds of millions of dollars from our communities to outside our Territories. With the export of dollars and the import of goods and services we send away our jobs, our skills, our opportunities and our local economies. With this go our health, our social supports, our self-sufficiency and our ability to make good local decisions on resource management.

Over the coming summer months our Cabinet will be developing the business plans for the 2009–2010 budget. They will be establishing a program review office, finally, to base the redirection and cuts on a sane and justified assessment of needs. They will develop new initiatives that establish a new approach with heightened efficiency and effectiveness. It is my hope that all of these good works will address our large and pressing challenges. In particular, I hope that the work, in a thoughtful and coordinated government-wide way, will plug our leaky economy, the flush of our dollars away from our communities and the loss of our basic skills, self-sufficiency and local development.

Mr.

Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to

conclude my statement.

Unanimous consent granted.

Mr. Speaker, I will be ready and demanding, when next we gather, to finally reverse some of these trends and truly do good work for the benefits of our residents, our land and our families.

Thank you, Mr.

Bromley. The

honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Mr. Speaker, June 21 is a special day to all Northerners, aboriginal people in the NWT and across Canada. The Northwest Territories is the first jurisdiction in Canada to make June 21

a

statutory holiday in recognition of National Aboriginal Day. It’s a day that’s there to recognize our First Nations peoples and the significant role they played in the history of Canada and the Northwest Territories and how the First Nations people of the land welcomed the newcomers to Canada and the Northwest Territories. The unique culture and history we have within the Northwest Territories is because of our First Nations people.

Mr. Speaker, June 21

is the day to celebrate not

only the uniqueness of our First Nations people but the history and culture of the Northwest Territories and the role our First Nations people have played in developing the North into what it is today. We cannot lose sight of the culture, history and values of the First Nations people in everything we do, and the protection of our land, protection of our waters and also the protection of our languages.

With that, I wish everyone in the Northwest Territories to celebrate June 21

with the aboriginal

people of the Northwest Territories in recognition of the contributions our First Nations people have made to the history and the uniqueness of the Northwest Territories. I wish everyone all the best for National Aboriginal Day. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr.

Krutko. The

honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, Mr. McLeod.

Mr.

Speaker, many years ago

Canada decided that a new town was going to be built in the Mackenzie Delta because Aklavik, the regional centre at the time, was sinking and would soon disappear. Well, we know now that Aklavik didn’t disappear. We saw it in the budget documents.

After a few locations were surveyed, Mr. Speaker, East Three was chosen as the new site for the proposed town. My grandfather Dan McLeod was part of the original survey team in 1954, and 1958 was the beginning of the community of Inuvik.

For such a young community Inuvik has a very colourful history. For many years we had the Canadian Forces base in Inuvik with 400 to 500 people. That closed down in the mid-’80s. Many families left, but a lot of the families, or a lot of the kids from the CFS, are still living in Inuvik and made Inuvik their home.

Mr. Speaker, despite all the negatives surrounding residential schools, Inuvik was the location of both Stringer Hall and Grollier Hall. We had an opportunity, growing up in Inuvik, to go to school with the CFS kids. We called them students from Grollier Hall and Stringer Hall. We made many good friends from the hostels and with CFS kids. We have many good friends to this day. That was one of very few positives that came out of the whole residential school experience.

In the mid-’70s there was an oil boom in Inuvik and the Beaufort-Delta that went on strong for a few years and then just stopped as quickly as it started. It’s starting to pick back up again, Mr. Speaker. We see that with the announcement of all the money spent on exploration. We expect it to pick up again

soon. We will be back to booming, and the residents of Beaufort-Delta will benefit greatly from this.

This summer, Mr.

Speaker, Inuvik will be

celebrating its 50

anniversary with two weeks of

celebrations. Many activities are planned for it. We have the Great Northern Arts Festival. We’ve got two weeks of events going on. We’d like to have a ball tournament, but our ball fields were torn down, so we can’t have that. It will all be on July 18. It’s the big day; it’s the 50

Anniversary civic holiday.

They’re planning a homecoming. We’ll have many past and former residents of Inuvik coming to Inuvik to take part in these celebrations.

I’d like to use this opportunity to congratulate the Town of Inuvik for all their perseverance over the years. I welcome all visitors from the NWT to come up this summer and join us in celebrating 50 years.

Thank you, Mr.

McLeod. The

honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s the last day of session, and I will be glad to be going home. When I first came here at the beginning of session I was one of the ones who said, “Let’s not waste our beautiful summer days in here.” I saw ice on the lake and buds on the trees when we got here, but we’ve gone through a change of season.

I was one of the ones who said, “Let’s not try to beat this untenable budget document to death here. Let’s just go back to the drawing board and come back.” But a number of Members wanted to persevere and press on, and they did. Between reinstatements, reinvestments, reassignments and the fact that we’re going to be revisiting some of the ’09–10 cuts when we come back to do our business plan, I think we ended up with something that we can go home and talk to our constituents about and be very proud of some of the advances and some of the accomplishments that will be entailed in that budget document. I do look forward to getting back to Hay River and debriefing with my constituents and dissecting some of the details of the budget further.

Mr. Speaker, this was an experience. It was an unusual experience, even for those of us who’ve been around here for awhile. I must say that I’ve gotten to know all the Members quite a bit better. I want to say how much I appreciate all their perspectives and what they bring to the table. I think there are many things that can be accomplished when we work together.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s been over ten years now since diamonds were first processed at the Ekati mine, north of Yellowknife. After ten years I do believe it is time to review our policies, our objectives and the strategy as it pertains to diamonds.

It was just over three years ago that the Department of ITI gutted the diamond division within the department. It was a decision by the former government that that happened. Given what is at stake with the development of mines across this country in jurisdictions such as Saskatchewan, Ontario and potentially Quebec, I believe that we need to move on the review of our diamond policy. Otherwise, we’re going to get lost in the crowd. I’d like to know who’s going to be doing the work on the strategy. Who’s going to be planning our objectives and the policy? We need to have some concrete plans, Mr. Speaker, because we can’t afford to wait. Other jurisdictions will pass us by.

There’s no reason we couldn’t set up a diamond exchange here in the Northwest Territories. If we’re reviewing the policy, let’s take the 10 per cent of the rough, keep them locked up here in Yellowknife or in another community, and we could disperse them to the world. If you have diamonds, people will come. There are examples of that around the world. We don’t need to be an Antwerp, a London or even, potentially, Toronto to have a diamond exchange. If we don’t get off of our backsides, Toronto is going to be the place that has a diamond exchange in this country — not Yellowknife, not the Northwest Territories, but Toronto. I think that would be a shame, Mr. Speaker, because I think there’s more we could do about that.

The fact is that we’re not making any progress, I believe. Not much progress has been made in the last 20 years on resource revenue sharing. I believe it’s time we start looking outside of the box and we start, as a government, putting some money in an equity position in resource development.

If you can’t beat them, let’s join them. Let’s get some tangible results and tangible return on our investments, so we can put money back into our communities. If the federal government is not going to give it to us, let’s get involved ourselves, and let’s do that. That has to be a part of the plan. I don’t think we should overlook equity positions in resource development, Mr. Speaker. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Item 4, reports of standing and special committees. Item 5, returns to oral questions. Item 6, recognition of

visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’d like to welcome to the House His Worship, Mayor Mervin Gruben, from Tuktoyaktuk. Welcome.

Also, Mr. Speaker, I’d like to welcome my wife, Jenny, and my children, Kristin, Mikayla, Matthew and Mitchell, and thank them for all their support in this last month.

Mr. Speaker, I’d like to welcome again all the visitors from Nunakput. It’s nice to see them in the crowd. I also would like to recognize my constituency assistant, Ms. Lynda Comerford. And with Lynda, visiting from Nova Scotia, is Ms. Vivian Schouteten. Welcome to Yellowknife and the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, I’d like to use this opportunity to acknowledge and recognize the two pages from Inuvik Twin Lakes, Tamara Voudrach and Paulina Burns. I think they’ve done a great job this week.

Mr.

Speaker, it gives me great

pleasure to recognize a few guests in the gallery. We have a group visiting from Lacombe, Red Deer, Alberta, visiting family and friends. Their names are Ken Morton, Norma Camman, Ben and Marg Linkletter, Everett and Marion Joselyn. As well, in the gallery, we have Ed and Joan King from Lloydminster. Welcome to the Northwest Territories.

Mr.

Speaker, I too would like to

recognize my two pages here: Denise Robert over there, and also Darcie Stewart. I’d like to thank them for coming down for the week to serve as pages in this House. Hopefully, they enjoyed themselves. Have a safe trip home. Mahsi.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize a page from Hay River who is a grade 8 student at Diamond Jenness Secondary School and thank him for serving us in the Assembly this week — Zachary Pangborn.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. If we’ve missed anyone in the gallery today, welcome to the House. Hope you’re enjoying the proceedings. It’s always nice to have an audience in here.

Item 7, acknowledgements. Item 8, oral questions. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I’d like to follow up with some oral questions regarding autism. This goes back to my Member’s statement yesterday; I talked about the concerns for children.

Now, in all fairness, while I had my Member’s statement yesterday, a letter was finally delivered to my office, so I want to make special acknowledgement because the Minister wants to be acknowledged when good work is done. The answer has finally arrived, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, reading the letter, I noticed that it talks about there being few choices for parents to access things like speech and OT, except there are some limited services here in Yellowknife that are private.

Yellowknife Health and Social Services provides money for parents with children with disabilities such as autism to access funding for aids. I’m wondering if this Minister would also allow them to access funding so they could get the extra support out there that’s provided in the private industry for the speech and OT therapy for their children.

Thank you, Mr.

Hawkins. The

honourable

Minister responsible for Health and

Social Services, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the Department of Health and Social Services, in cooperation with educational services that we provide, do assist families and children with varying types of disabilities, including autism. Those services are made available on a case-by-case basis.

Case by case is pretty thin, to be honest. A parent who has a child with autism can only receive a few hours a week for OT therapy as well as speech therapy. The problem is that the amount of time a week they receive for therapy here in the Northwest Territories is what is provided in Alberta for one single day.

My question once again is: would the Minister be able to look into the situation and develop a framework so these parents accessing money through Yellowknife Health and Social Services can use some of that money to access more — and private — speech and OT therapy that’s available?

Mr. Speaker, the department is working on a framework to address various issues of disabilities — not particular to autism, but

obviously the autism segment will be included in that.

The difficulties with providing all the services we need to for our children has to do with the fact that we have limited professionals available who can provide that service. For those children in need, we do what we can to provide them.

If the Member wants to talk about specific situations of a specific client, I’d be happy to work with the Member to see what we can make available to them.

I appreciate that gracious offer about trying to work for a specific constituent or parent or family, but I’m speaking broadly about all constituents and all people of the Northwest Territories accessing this.

I’m glad the Minister mentioned the limited professionals. As I’ve been made aware about the territorial services we provide in the area of speech and OT therapy, quite often parents miss out on the opportunity to put their kids into those things because those staff are busy in Nunavut providing speech and OT therapy to their citizens.

Do you have a question,

Mr. Hawkins?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to be clear: are the professionals employed by the Northwest Territories government putting our citizens first or the private contract that they’re providing to Nunavut?

All of our health care professionals employed by the GNWT or funded by the GNWT have to put their priority to the NWT residents.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A parent told me they had to miss a number of these appointments because our services were being provided…. Our technical experts were in Nunavut, in the Kitikmeot region, fulfilling the contract they have with them.

So, Mr. Speaker, I’m not clear, because this answer seems to be evading us. Who is on the list of priorities: the Northwest Territories’ citizens for speech and OT therapy, or the Nunavut contract? Who’s the priority?

That is the first time I have heard that our professionals would in any way limit services available to NWT residents in favour of Nunavut residents. I’m glad the Member brought this to my attention for the first time here. I’d be happy to look into that.

What we do have challenges with is the fact that while we have positions available for rehab services

and speech therapists and lots of other services our children need, we do have challenges in filling them, and we have to continue to work on those.

We will continue to work on expanding services for children, especially for children with disabilities of all kinds, not just autism. We don’t have a practice of separating different conditions, but we do have to step up to have more services available, not just in Yellowknife but in all of the communities where we are facing incredible shortages of professionals who could provide the service.

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

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker. My

question today is for the Premier, and it’s related to my Member’s statement on the voluntary sector. I’m curious: who is responsible for the review of the sector financing? And how will whoever is responsible for that review ensure that participation of this sector is included?

Thank you, Mr.

Abernethy. The

Hon. Premier, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Member is aware, there are a number of departments involved in different areas. The specific area of sector financing is being undertaken by the Financial Management Board Secretariat.

To the second part of that question, can we get commitment from the Premier that FMBS will include representatives from the sector in the review of sector financing?

Mr. Speaker, a lot of the work — for example, the third-party accountability framework — has been done, and we’re doing a review of it as well as going forward. A number of areas are going to be looked at further to get input from the sector and the NGO sector as well as the volunteer sector.

I’ll get back to the Member and provide information as to how this will be undertaken, and the timing of it as well.

If I can get the Premier to give me a bit of a sense of the timing of the review and when they expect that to be done. Specifically, I’m curious about whether there will be any additional supports or any sort of framework around supports that are going to be provided to the sector during the ’09–10 fiscal year.

Mr. Speaker, I’m hoping that as we get on with work now after the session’s over, we’ll be able to put the energy into getting some of the package together.

As I stated earlier, I’ll work with the Member to provide information as to the timing and the structure. We’ll look at getting the information. I don’t have that with me at this point, but I commit to get that to the Member.

Thank you, Mr.

Roland. Final

supplementary, Mr.

Abernethy. The honourable

Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. It’s in regard to his Minister’s statement, where he mentioned the signing of an agreement for $185 million with the federal government in regard to the Building Canada Fund.

Again, I see that they did mention the access road to the Tuktoyaktuk gravel source, but one thing I noticed is missing is the access road in Aklavik.

I’d like to ask the Minister: exactly what do we have to do to access this funding, by way of the Building Canada Fund, so we also can develop the access road to the Aklavik gravel source?

Thank you, Mr.

Krutko. The

honourable Minister responsible for Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Michael McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was very excited to be able to have the document in the plan for the funding agreement on the Building Canada Fund signed off before the end of our time here in the session. A number of projects are waiting to be brought forward. At this point the agreement consists of the funding criteria, and it describes what will be accepted.

As to what projects will be brought forward, so far there’s only been agreement on one project. We have had discussions on how we would flow money to the municipalities. We haven’t finalized that, but that is the next stage. The next stage will be to bring projects forward.

As to the Member’s question about how does he get projects into the Building Canada plan, that is something he would have to work out with the Department of Transportation, as they are responsible for bringing forward infrastructure projects that relate to transportation issues.

Mr. Speaker, as we all know, we do have $185 million now. There is a pot that we can access. Knowing that Tuk was able to develop their proposal, I believe they did receive some seed money from this government. I’d like to ask the Minister: is SEED money available to communities to develop their proposals and bring that forward so we can also get on the list for the Building Canada Fund?

Mr. Speaker,

the

community of Tuk had put together a small team to work toward developing a proposal and the general guidelines of how they would move forward. They did receive some money through our government — I believe it was around $50,000 — and I think we’ve already responded, through the Premier, that there would be a commitment to provide support in that area.

I’m sure the Department of Transportation has been listening very keenly.

Mr. Speaker, as we all know, time flies around here pretty quickly, and we are looking at getting into our business plans early this fall. In order to get anywhere with next year’s budget, we do have to have something in place by then.

I’d like to ask the Minister: is he willing to commit resources by way of manpower — either from his Department, Municipal and Community Affairs, or Transportation — to work with the community to develop this plan over the next couple of months so we can have something ready for this fall’s business plans review, so we can get something in it?

Again, it’s a question of urgency, so I’ll ask the Minister if he can commit to human resources along with a $50,000 contribution.

Mr. Speaker, it’s difficult for me as the MACA Minister to commit any money on behalf of my colleague for Transportation. However, I certainly expect that he’s listening and he would take it as notice.

Mr. Speaker, I think, first of all, we need to see a request from the community with a small indication of how they want to move forward. I think there’s been some discussion already in terms of what we need to have done to bring this project more into focus. We need to see some firmer plans, we need to see some price tags, and we need to see some more legwork done.

I will follow up on the Member’s question. However, as the MACA Minister, I can’t commit for another department. The money for Municipal and Community Affairs is already committed to go to community government, so I don’t have any room in that area.

Thank you, Mr.

McLeod. Final

supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker. In my

questions on this matter over the last number of days and weeks, I did request that the Minister of Transportation make an attempt to go into Aklavik along with me and meet with the community and

the general public on exactly where we can go next on this matter.

I’d like to put out a formal invitation to the Minister of MACA; he can also tag along with us. I’d just like to know, with your busy schedule, if we can maybe look at a date to go into Aklavik in the next couple of weeks — hopefully, sooner rather than later. I’d just like to formally ask the Minister here, to formally invite you, to the community of Aklavik and also to set a date when we can meet with the community on this matter.

I didn’t realize I was tagging along with the Minister of Transportation, but I’d be pleased to go into the community. In fact, we’ve had other invitations from community leaders in Aklavik.

We plan — or at least I plan — to be in Inuvik for some of the ceremony for the 50

anniversary.

The Minister of

Transportation indicates he’s going to tag along with me for that.

Laughter.

So at that time, while we’re in the area, I would be very pleased to come into the community to have discussions about gravel, infrastructure, water plants, sewer lagoons, dumps — whatever the community wishes to discuss with us, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr.

McLeod. The

honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Premier. We’re about to head out, here, for a while, and we’ve heard the Premier talk about a potential project to build a highway down the Mackenzie Valley. There have been proponents out there who have suggested this should be done on the basis of a P3 project. I’d just like to ask the Premier if he’ll assign any contracts for a highway down the Mackenzie Valley before we get back in September.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The Hon. Premier, Mr. Roland.

Interjections.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If we could just have a contract put on our desk, we would look at it.

Realistically, though, we know much work needs to be done on the Mackenzie Valley Highway process. I’ve had discussions with my Cabinet colleagues, as well as shared some of the vision of that with the Prime Minister at the Western Premiers’ Conference, and we’ll continue to build on that.

Hand in hand with that concept, I think the Deh Cho Bridge project gave us clear evidence that we need something more solid in our policy about P3 projects than references in the Financial Administration Act, which would also cover the leasing of photocopiers. I’d like to ask the Premier: where are we at in developing a policy that would allow us to enter into P3 projects on a more solid footing?

Mr. Speaker, we need to pay attention to that file. In fact, we need to renew it. I guess that is a way of putting it. At one point the Government of the Northwest Territories did venture into the P3 area. That first movement wasn’t very satisfactory, so we’ve agreed that FMBS would take charge in that area, as it relates to financial matters. Hopefully, as we come back together in the fall, we can show Members the work that’s being done on it and provide an update at that time.

Mr. Speaker, again, as we learned through the Deh Cho Bridge project, when you have a proponent that is a private corporation, transparency becomes an issue, as does our government’s ability to control some matters like procurement.

I would like to ask the Premier if any policy developed by this government that is related to public–private partnerships would include an element that would speak to the issue of northern participation.

Mr. Speaker, an interest we always have as the Government of the Northwest Territories is seeing a successful venture happen and the benefits staying in the North. As we develop this and bring this back to Members, we hope we can lay out how it’s coming together.

One of the issues with the P3 process — even the federal government and other jurisdictions have had to wrestle with this — is that a true P3 would put the majority of risk on the private sector. As a government we would have to see how far we go that way. One of our exercises in our last initial round in the late ’90s, I believe, was to try to pull some of that control back as a government, and that skewed the process a bit. Again, as we come forward with that, we’ll be glad to share with Members what work has been done and continue to work to revise it.

Thank you, Mr.

Roland. Final

supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would concur that with the P3 projects, whether it’s the Deh Cho Bridge or the Taltson hydro expansion or whatever it is we’re talking about, certainly our government has taken the majority of the risk. Therefore, I think we should be in a position to make up the rules. I’d like to ask the Premier if he would also agree to try and engage northern industry in any policy that’s developed, to ensure we have something very concrete when it comes to maximizing the benefits to Northerners through northern participation in any major capital infrastructure project.

Mr. Speaker, for any changes we’ll make or look at making, we’ll be sitting down with Members to look at what work has been done. At that point we’d be prepared to expand that further to our business community and people across the North. We need to sit down and come up with a bit of an action plan looking at where things are coming together, sharing that with Members and then discussing the next steps from there — much the same process we will be following with the Business Incentive Policy work.

Thank you, Mr.

Roland. The

honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker. My

questions today are for the Minister of ITI. It gets back to my Member’s statement where I spoke of the fact we have had diamond mining in the Northwest Territories now for over ten years. I feel it’s long overdue that we take a look at our policy, our objectives and a strategy to deal with diamond mining in the Northwest Territories. As we see other jurisdictions across the country — Saskatchewan, Ontario and perhaps Quebec — developing potential diamond mines, there’s a great risk that these other jurisdictions are going to pass us by.

The first question I’d have for the Minister is: why can’t the Government of the Northwest Territories get access to the 10 per cent of rough, and why does it need to be 10 per cent? Why can’t we look at even 15 per cent or 20 per cent and set up a diamond exchange here in Yellowknife instead of Antwerp or London?

Thank you, Mr.

Ramsay. The

honourable Minister responsible for Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bob McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With regard to access to diamonds, since the diamonds were first discovered the diamond industry has been one of the big success stories for the

Northwest Territories. We’re now third in the world in production of diamonds, behind Russia and Botswana. We’re even ahead of South Africa. Part of the issue is that we are a territory, so the federal government owns the resources.

The problem we had as a government was how to receive benefits from the diamond industry itself. The government of the day was able to successfully negotiate with the diamond companies, which was unprecedented at the time. Since then, we’ve seen that other sovereign countries have started to follow the process we’ve been taking.

The industry provides 10 per cent of the allocations for manufacturing in the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, my fear, again, is that we don’t have — and I know the previous government got rid of it — the Diamond Division at ITI. I’m not sure exactly why that happened. Here we are on the verge of other jurisdictions developing mines, and we need to review where we’re going with diamonds and with diamond mining in the Northwest Territories. Again, I don’t understand why we can’t get that 10 per cent and then divvy it up amongst local cut-and-polish plants here in Yellowknife, and we could also open up a diamond exchange.

Once you have the diamonds, people will come. There are examples of this across the world: New York, Tel Aviv, Antwerp, London. If we don’t do this, it’s going to end up in Toronto, and that would be a shame. If there is a diamond exchange in Canada, it belongs here in the Northwest Territories.

The Government of the Northwest Territories’ diamond policy framework was established in June of 1999. This policy facilitated the development of a diamond manufacturing industry in the Northwest Territories. Certainly, the policy needs to be reviewed and updated. As a government we will be reviewing the current strategy. We are quite prepared to look at the suggestions that have been made by the Member and work very closely with the standing committee so we can improve and update our diamond policy.

Mr.

Speaker, I look forward to

working with the Minister and the department on developing the strategy and reviewing the policies that are out there.

Yes, we are third in the world in terms of production. I was a city councillor here in Yellowknife in the late ’90s, when the gold mining was falling out and the diamond mines came in. Diamond mining does add a tremendous amount to the economy here in the Northwest Territories. We can’t underestimate that, but I do believe we should be getting and receiving more. The federal

government doesn’t want to come to the plate in terms of resource revenue sharing.

The next question I’d like to ask the Minister is: if the federal government isn’t going to address resource revenue sharing, will the government entertain an effort to take an equity position in resource development, specifically in diamond mining?

An equity position in a diamond facility is certainly something we’re prepared to look at. We know other provinces have done that in different sectors, and this is an area we can look at. I believe it would have to involve stakeholders in the diamond industry, but this is something we are prepared to look at.

We’re prepared to look at any options that would improve and increase the benefits to the Northwest Territories. One of our primary objectives is to see the allocation for the Northwest Territories being fully utilized in the Northwest Territories.

Thank you, Mr.

McLeod. Final

supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With other jurisdictions moving forward — and I mentioned Saskatchewan with Fort à la Corne and the Ontario Victor Diamond Project in northern Ontario — time is of the essence here. I don’t think we can wait another year before we develop a strategy and a plan and policies on where this government is going to go.

I’d like to ask the Minister: what is the strategy in terms of a timeline to address policy issues surrounding diamond mining in the Northwest Territories and the government’s role in that?

We will be working in the next few months or so to lay out our approach to how we will be undertaking this review and how we will be laying it out over the next year. My plan is to take this approach and discuss it further with the standing committee.

I should also point out that we’ve been working very closely with other jurisdictions that have diamonds, and we’ve been able to share the benefit of our expertise with our sister or brother diamond-producing provinces. I really think that with this review we will be able to take a very creative look at the way we deal with diamonds in the Northwest Territories.

Thank you, Mr.

McLeod. The

honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask some questions of the Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment.

I spoke yesterday in my Member’s statement about the difficulties encountered by regional boards in providing housing for their teachers or ensuring that their teachers have adequate housing. They have sent a letter to the Minister. It describes the need for available, adequate and affordable housing, and it talks about housing shortages, substandard and unsafe living conditions in housing and exorbitant rents.

I’d like to know if the Minister has any plans to tackle the housing problems these education boards encounter year after year.

Thank you, Ms.

Bisaro. The

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

Mahsi, Mr.

Speaker.

Certainly, this is one of the key areas we are focusing on as the Department of Education, Culture and Employment: to find suitable and affordable housing units for staff, especially for teachers coming to the North. We certainly want to welcome them with open arms. One way of doing that is working with the various organizations in the community, most specifically the LHOs, the NWT Housing Corporation at the community level and the Department of Human Resources.

We are developing a strategy. I myself, the chairs of the five regional boards, including Yellowknife, and the superintendents are putting a package together for us to look at options of moving forward on a long-term basis. I believe we are making good progress for short-term and long-term goals. Mahsi.

I was very glad to hear the Minister finally mention the education boards. He mentioned a lot of different organizations and finally mentioned the boards that he is consulting with as well. That’s a good thing.

The Minister has received a letter from the regional boards, and there are a number of recommendations in that letter for the Minister. On a similar vein, I’d like to know what action the Minister is planning to take to address these suggested options, apart from meeting with these board chairs.

Mr. Speaker, we did meet with the Deh Cho superintendent, who is coordinating for the superintendents, and also with the chairs of the respective regions’ education boards. We met a couple of weeks ago. They proposed three or four options for us to consider,

but we wanted to deal with the immediate issue at hand: the new recruits and the returning teachers coming to the North, especially in the isolated communities that may not have housing units.

We’re going to work closely with the Housing Corporation to identify vacant units that can be made available to the teaching staff. That is one area where we have found possible solutions. The superintendent also gave us the option of moving forward with the long-term plans. We are making progress in that area and working closely with the education boards and with the department as well. Mahsi.

I appreciate the information from the Minister that the short-term plan is going ahead. I would like to confirm with the Minister that the short-term plan is basically referencing August and September of 2008. Could he confirm that for me?

Mr. Speaker, we are wrapping up our process of recruiting teachers and principals for the North. We’re focussing on their arrival, whether it be August or September, possibly mostly in August, when they arrive before school starts. That’s a short-term solution we are identifying. The long-term solution will be in the next few years. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr.

Lafferty. Final

supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That’s good to hear, and I hope we can find a solution for housing in every community that currently has a problem. One of the options suggested by the boards in their letter was to allow regional boards to have the same authority as the local Yellowknife board and that they be given the authority to acquire and dispose of real property.

I’d like to know from the Minister whether or not this is something the department will or can consider and when we might expect to see a change in the legislation before this House.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. This option was just given to us recently, so we need to sit down as a department and go over the options. Certainly, it will be presented once we move forward. There’s still ongoing discussion within my department. It hasn’t moved forward because this will be a long-term solution. Once we’ve made a decision, we’ll certainly come back to the committee, possibly the Social Programs Committee, that deals with our ECE department. At that point in time we’ll certainly be sharing that information with the committee. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr.

Lafferty. The

honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Since it’s our last day before we sit again in October, I want to use this opportunity to question the Minister of Transportation on dust control, because in October we won’t have to worry about it.

The Minister has heard many times from myself and my colleague from Mackenzie Delta on the need for dust control on the Dempster Highway. I’d like to ask him if those decisions to apply dust control are made at the regional level or from headquarters.

Thank you, Mr.

McLeod. The

honourable Minister responsible for Transportation, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Regarding the issue of dust control and some of the issues on the highway transportation systems, certainly the regional offices have some say in terms of moving projects forward. They certainly come up to the headquarters level. At the headquarters level we have discussions in terms of funding allocations and priorities in the areas where we have to look at reconstruction. From there we make decisions, and we provide that back to the regional office in terms of the projects that go forward.