Good morning, colleagues. Welcome back to the Chamber. Orders of the day. Item 2, Ministers’ statements. The honourable Minister responsible for the Status of Women, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise in the House today to mark an important event that occurred 80 years ago this Sunday, October 18th .

Emily Murphy’s nomination to sit in the Canadian Senate was challenged on the grounds that she was a female and therefore not a person under the British North America Act, the Constitution of Canada at the time.

“Women are persons in matters of pain and penalties, but are not persons in matters of rights and privileges,” an earlier ruling had determined.

Thankfully, Emily and four other women, who together have since become known as the Famous Five, appealed the decision to the British Privy Council, the highest level of appeal for Canada at the time. When the judicial committee of the Privy Council rendered its decision it stated, “Yes, women are persons...and eligible to be summoned and may become Members of the Senate of Canada.” It went further to say, “that the exclusion of women from all public offices is a relic of days more barbarous than ours. And to those who would ask why the word “persons” should include females, the obvious answer is, why should it not?”

As the Minister responsible for the Status of Women, on the 80th anniversary of the Persons

Case I would like to honour the work and tenacity of Emily Murphy, Henrietta Muir Edwards, Nellie McClung, Louise McKinney and Irene Parlby, the Famous Five who changed the political and legal landscape of Canada.

This important action made it possible for all the Sandys, Janes, and Wendys, and all our sisters all

across the NWT and Canada to run for office, hold office, and represent our communities and our great Territory.

I’m happy to note that last week the Senate voted to name each of the Famous Five women honorary Senators, the first such move by the Upper House of Parliament.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Item 3, Members’ statements. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Since we last sat, a number of my constituents have passed on and I would like to take this opportunity to say a few words about them and pass on my condolences to their families.

From Lutselk’e, Bernadette Lockhart, a well-known entrepreneur in Lutselk’e who ran Bernadette’s Bed and Breakfast. Raised by her grandparents, Bernadette maintained a traditional lifestyle throughout her life, going out on the land regularly with her husband, Joe. At public meetings, Bernadette always spoke up for the people of Lutselk’e and always talked about investing in the future. She was always willing to help others and always had a smile for everyone. Bernadette is survived by her husband, Joe, two daughters, a son, and many other relatives.

There was also Joe Michel of Lutselk’e, who was a father to Bernadette. He was born and raised at the Artillery Lake area on the Barren Lands. Joe hunted and trapped all his life. He was born in 1925. He and his late wife, Alice, had 17 children and raised 11 of them. Joe was working with various boards, for preserving the land for hunting and trapping, when he passed away. He was active in land and culture activities.

There was also Bruce Beaulieu of Fort Resolution, son of Lizzy Beaulieu and the late August Beaulieu. Bruce had six brothers, two sisters, and he was predeceased by two of his brothers and a sister. Bruce spent most of his life in the hospital and

passed away at age 40. That was actually quite a miracle, because Bruce was only expected to live for 15 years.

There was Holly Martin, daughter of Alex Rabesca and Therese Martin of Lutselk’e. Holly was only 14 years old and leaves behind four brothers and two sisters. She was the granddaughter of well-known elder J.B. Rabesca from Lutselk’e.

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to recognize these individuals today. They will all be missed. My heartfelt condolences and prayers go out to the families and friends of Bernadette, Joe, Holly, and Bruce. Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m very concerned about this government’s stance in federal/provincial/territorial discussions on the Agreement on Internal Trade, or the AIT, and the mandate our government has to make commitments at these negotiations. As a complex and developing agreement, dealing generally with the establishment of free trade between provinces and territories and the elimination of controls on that trade, our input is required. The AIT puts in place many commitments that limit the ability of this Territory to maximize the benefits of economic development for Northerners. For example, while it provides an exemption for the Business Incentive Policy, it forbids the ability to require the establishment of head offices in the NWT through socio-economic agreements. The consequences for a loss of corporate taxes are obvious. Many other measures now in place are of concern, such as the prohibition on procurement preference policies by municipalities created under the authority of provincial or territorial governments.

The Premier and Minister of ITI, responsible for trade, have continued discussions on expanding the AIT with several meetings last summer through to yesterday. Recent negotiations have included an energy chapter directly related to the NWT’s resource revenue regime. This may be news to some Members, as it was to me. The basis of my concern is where does the government get its mandate to bind this Territory to sweeping and limiting measures without discussion or debate of negotiating positions through committee or here in the Assembly? From what I have seen, I do not find the positions taken by the government to be at all comforting. It boils down to governments making treaties among themselves that tie their own hands when it comes to regulating the economy of business to make cross-border decisions on matters vital to the health of our economy.

Mr. Speaker, I have to ask, what are the benefits of these measures, where is the critical analysis and what mandate does Cabinet have to carry on negotiations without the knowledge and consent of Regular Members?

One of our principles of consensus government agreed to by Caucus says except under extraordinary circumstances, Members of the Legislative Assembly should be made aware of and have opportunity to discuss significant announcements, changes, consultations or initiatives before they are released to the public or introduced in the Legislative Assembly. l suggest we put any decision on hold until my colleagues and I have been apprised and consulted on this fundamental economic policy and its acknowledgement of our unique northern conditions. Mahsi.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This past weekend was Thanksgiving and we have now convened the House and I’d like to take the opportunity to draw to everyone’s attention to the vast resources and wealth of the Northwest Territories that we should be extremely thankful for.

As we listen to the news every day, we hear of countries that are inundated with natural disasters, typhoons, mud slides, with horrendous results. When you look at a map of Canada or a map of the world, you see that we are subject to very little in the way of those kinds of disasters that could potentially affect us.

Mr. Speaker, when I think of the resources of our land, I can’t help but think that there is more that we should be able to do to sustain ourselves from those resources. Yesterday I made mention of our vast non-renewable resources by way of oil and gas.

Today, and maybe for the rest of this session, I want to talk a little bit about some of the renewable resources that we have that we seem incapable of really benefitting from in any kind of significant way. In a time when the world contemplates things like the availability of fresh water, we have the Great Slave Lake and the Great Bear Lake, vast bodies of clean, fresh water on our doorstep. In those waters are fish resources. I know the Great Slave Lake better in that regard and I know what the sustainable harvest is available from the Great Slave Lake, and yet we do not seem to be able to harvest that in a meaningful way to even support and feed our own people this very healthy and

nutritious food source. Instead, we import things from far away.

When we look at the downturn in the caribou, but yet if you drive south of here, you know, you can see the bison standing on the highway, thousands and thousands of them. What a wonderful food source and yet we seem to, again, overlook that and think that we should import our food from some faraway place.

Our forests, our long summer days, the light, ideal for growing conditions and agriculture, the sustainable harvest of product for biomass.

Mr. Speaker, this is just a brief touching on some of these things, but over the next days of session here I want to zero in on some of these things and we need to ask ourselves why can we not benefit more greatly from these things on our doorstep. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to talk about the improvement of telecommunications in the Northwest Territories. I know there was a major debate yesterday in the House about 911 service for six communities. I think as a government we have to realize that we represent 33 communities in the Northwest Territories and we must improve the telecommunications, Internet service and uplinks to all our communities in the Northwest Territories. If this government is going to make any capital investment, it should be to the benefit of all Northerners. I think it’s important that this government seriously weigh in on this decision.

There was a decision made by the Yukon government to provide cell phone services to all communities in the Yukon. They made a political decision, they made a capital investment and now any community you go to in the Yukon you can use your cell phone service. You can drive down any major road system in the Yukon between Dawson, Mayo, Whitehorse, and receive cell phone calls on the highway system. I think it’s that type of communication that will benefit all Northerners in the Northwest Territories and not just 911 services for six communities. I think it’s important to realize that as a government and as a territory we have to represent all of the Territory in any political decision that we make.

Mr. Speaker, I know it’s important that this government reaches out to Research Canada in regard to finding the federal investment, but more importantly, to improve the telecommunications in

the Northwest Territories. Yes, we have some political challenges in regard to telecommunications in our smaller communities, but there are efforts out there such as Falcon Communications and SSI Micro. We have a lot of companies that have basically established themselves in regard to ICE Wireless. You can receive Bell service here in Yellowknife and other communities. I think the systems are there. We have to make that capital investment.

So, Mr. Speaker, at the appropriate time I will be asking the Minister or the Premier if this government will seriously consider making a capital investment to benefit the 33 communities in the Northwest Territories in regard to improving our telecommunications and Internet systems throughout the Northwest Territories. Mahsi cho.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Monday is a very important day for a number of our NWT communities. This Monday, October 19th , is Election Day for the NWT’s cities,

towns and villages. In the communities of Fort Simpson, Fort Smith, Hay River, Inuvik, Norman Wells and Yellowknife, voters will be electing mayors, councillors and in some cases school trustees.

Canadians have not always had the right to vote. Some segments of our population, women and indigenous peoples for instance, have had the right to vote for less time than others, but voting is a right for each and every one of us and it is a right that must not be taken for granted. I believe it’s our duty to exercise our right to vote at every opportunity.

Municipalities and community councils make decisions that affect us, as residents of our communities, on a very personal level. It’s said that municipal government is the government that’s closest to the people, and I believe that. They make decisions about how we live, what services we can expect for our day-to-day activities and what our community will look like.

Mayors and councils can affect us for the better or for the worse if we choose poorly or if we don’t choose at all. Monday is the chance we have to influence the future of our communities, a chance to shape our government, that only comes once every three years.

As well as being a right, voting is a privilege, and a privilege that should not be abused, in my mind. When we don’t take advantage of a privilege that is offered to us, I feel we’re abusing it and it cannot be said strongly enough: get out and vote on Monday if

you live in a city -- that would be Yellowknife -- a town -- Fort Smith, Hay River, Inuvik or Norman Wells -- or a village, and that would be Fort Simpson. We all know what we want in our community, we all have ideas and thoughts about whether things are well run or not and we like to communicate those thoughts and ideas and, yes, complaints to our community leaders. But if you have no hand in the selection of your mayor or your council, you have no right to complain.

If you don’t vote, don’t expect to be heard. I wish all candidates the best of luck in their run for office. I urge all residents to make voting on Monday a priority; priority one.

I am hopeful that the results of Monday’s elections will show off high voter turnout and it will show that our residents know the importance of voting. I look forward to seeing the results from Monday’s elections. I also look forward to working with the six new councils to continue to make NWT a great place to live. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The recent health facility studies conducted by the GNWT show a clear picture of the health facilities in the Northwest Territories. That picture shows that the Sahtu region urgently needs a Sahtu regional wellness centre such as other regions have today.

The Tlicho, Beaufort-Delta and Sahtu regions all have to fly patients to regional hospitals. Sahtu residents are flown to Inuvik or Yellowknife to receive much of their care. The dedicated staff at the nursing stations in the Sahtu provide primary care and services such as X-rays and blood tests. In our smaller communities, the nurse provides the primary care and often refers patients to out-of-town physicians on medevacs, but the physician schedule sometimes means that people have to wait a long time before they see a doctor.

Many Sahtu babies are born in Inuvik and Yellowknife. Many Sahtu people have to relocate to Yellowknife or Inuvik temporarily to receive specialized treatment. I urge this government to find ways to expand the service provided by the Sahtu Health and Social Services Authority. The Sahtu people need a Sahtu regional wellness centre that can provide acute care. There is a great demand for increased midwifery services across the Northwest Territories. The Sahtu regional wellness centre can be an ideal location for such a service in our region.

We need to be able to take care of our people while they are dying. It is very sad when our people have

to pass away far away from their homes at times, without their families with them. We need a health care professional based in the Sahtu, who can administrate the medication frequently required for the type of care. A specialized treatment that must be performed regularly, such as dialysis, if it were available in the Sahtu, would decrease the transportation costs and allow people to stay closer to home with their families, eliminating the struggle to find long-term accommodations in Yellowknife or Inuvik while they receive their treatment.

Our population is aging and that requires increased health care services. We need a Sahtu regional wellness centre that can provide a wide range of health care now. Let us show people that we care for them close to home and the loved ones that do support them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We all have experienced a loved one in need of care. We also know that in the coming years there will be more elders that will need to be looked after. Someone will be ill and someone will be frail. Their supports and needs can become very complicated and require training and specialized skills.

Hospital care is not what these elders need. Their needs are usually better looked after in the caring environment of their home communities. There they can have visits from their family, who also help them with their care. They can eat traditional foods and enjoy a familiar environment. The philosophy of our elders care home in Fort Simpson includes meeting the mental, physical, spiritual and emotional needs of the residents. This facility is a true community-based caring facility that encourages family and friends to visit and participate in the care of their loved ones.

Mr. Speaker, the elders care home in Fort Simpson unfortunately has only 20 permanent beds. This is not enough for a population that serves over 3,000 that is spread out into many of the communities. Just recently a constituent of mine had to endure a lot of hardship over many months before her husband was finally returned home to the Fort Simpson long-term care facility. This family had to travel far to see their sick family member, only because there was no bed available in Fort Simpson.

I want to remind the Minister of Health and Social Services that it is important to my people in the communities that they can look after their elders close to home. For that reason, I encourage the Minister of Health and Social Services to come

forward with supports to increase the long-term care beds available. This is urgent and this is a priority for our smaller communities. Mahsi cho.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’d like to talk about the Food Rescue Program and highlight some of what it’s accomplished over the last 15 months.

The Donation of Food Act that was passed in 2008 ensures that those who donate food and distribute donated food are not liable for possible harm unless it was a result of intent to harm or reckless behaviour. This act has allowed the Food Rescue Program to increase, as it serves a pressing need within our community.

I would like to highlight the work of Ruby Trudel, a champion and facilitator of the program, and all of the volunteers who have helped her since the beginning of the program. They have done a lot of work and are a great resource for individuals in other communities who are interested in doing the same thing.

From the end of June 2008 until September 2009 the Food Rescue Program has rescued 125,000 pounds of food. Of that they have donated around 119,000 pounds of various food products. A breakdown of this includes some 7,000 pounds of meat, 16,000 litres of dairy product, 3,000 litres of juice, 876 dozen eggs, and over 1,700 sandwiches. Food banks across North America value each pound of food at around $2. This means that within 15 months of operations, Food Rescue, along with those people and companies supporting it, has donated and delivered around $238,000 worth of food to the community that would otherwise have been unavailable or ended up in a landfill.

---Applause

The Food Rescue Program is performing a valuable service to the community and is seeking to expand even further. The program is on the verge of moving into a larger but temporary facility on Old Airport Road. I would like to acknowledge the partners who have helped make this possible. First, Central Mechanical for providing the location and the power; Matrix Aviation for providing the shelter itself; Ryfan Electric for wiring and getting the facility operational. This is an important step for the longevity of food rescue in Yellowknife.

Ultimately, the Food Rescue Program’s long-term goal is to establish itself somewhere on a permanent basis. This would allow easier access to clients the program serves. Over the long term,

being within walking distance around public transportation routes is an important advantage the program is working towards. Achieving this goal would allow Food Rescue to begin limited daily distribution to selected groups within the community on a weekly rotation, operating like a mini food bank. Due to this, the Food Rescue Program requires continued support from various levels of government and larger communities.

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In small communities across the Territories, the schools are a focal point of the community. They are places where the community gathers for feasts, dances, and even weddings. More importantly, they are a place where our youth can learn and get their education. This is why I’m very concerned and the recent letter I received from Karen Kitekudlak, the chairperson of the district education authority of Ulukhaktok, regarding the worsening conditions of Helen Kalvak Elihakvik School.

This school is designed beautifully. The school is a large, self-sufficient facility all under one roof, joining classrooms, recreational section, and an industrial shop. In the letter, Karen describes a serious maintenance problem that should have been resolved years ago. This summer was a perfect time for the repairs and upgrades and projects; however, the staff returned this fall and no work has been done to the school.

The boiler system has not been monitored and set properly, resulting in insufficient boiler circulation in the system. The heater was supposed to be inspected and fixed over the summer, but nothing was done. Now the heater cannot be turned down and in some areas of the school the children are so hot they’re starting to fall asleep, while in other areas of the school it’s so cold that the kids are getting sick.

There are windows all over the school that have been broken for years, that the Department of Public Works and Services has been trying to fix. These windows allow air to come through the windows. At one point two workers from PWS travelled to Ulukhaktok for weeks for nothing, because the windows that are supposed to be replaced did not arrive.

The local contractors wait for months for parts and material, resulting in huge, unacceptable delays for the simplest repair jobs. There are many school authorities in the South that are now turning to other material for windows, such as unbreakable glass. The education of the students is not just providing teachers and books, it is also providing a

safe, comfortable environment for students and teachers and community members to enjoy going to.

I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted.

One of this government’s pledges was to provide good, equal education for all residents of the Northwest Territories, but when one of the smaller community’s schools are far below large centres standards, such as Yellowknife and Inuvik, I wonder when this government will fulfill their commitments.

I demand this government develop and implement a strategy that provides equal resources to all communities for schools for quality education and maintenance. Thank you.