Good afternoon, colleagues. Welcome back to the Chamber. Item 2, Ministers’ statements. The honourable Minister responsible for Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.

Mr. Speaker, the last year has seen more global economic turmoil than the world has experienced in many decades. We have seen stock market values collapse and international financial institutions fold. Industrial giants have needed government support to survive the crises. With the exception of gold, commodity prices are a fraction of their 2008 highs.

In the NWT, we have seen an 80 percent drop in mineral exploration spending and we expect diamond production to drop in 2009. The employment rate has fallen by 7 percentage points from last September to this, by far the biggest decline of any province or territory over this period.

However, the news is brightening. Diamond prices are showing some improvement. Diavik and DeBeers have both announced the cancellation of their planned December shutdowns. Avalon Rare Metals’ Nechalacho project is emerging as one of the largest undeveloped rare earth element resources in the world. High gold prices are buoying prospects for several gold projects in the NWT. On the traditional economy side, we are continuing to see both strong prices for our NWT furs as well as an increase in the number of people participating in this sector.

Although the global economic downturn appears to be slowing and the national economy is showing signs of recovery, most forecasters agree that the recovery, when it comes, will be slow and weak. Furthermore, we expect that employment, corporate profits, and government revenues will recover more slowly than other economic activity.

None of this comes as a surprise. We developed and implemented our fiscal plans in light of this economic downturn. Because we entered the downturn in relatively sound fiscal shape we were able to take measures in our 2009 budget that would support our economy and our residents through this period of economic uncertainty. We reduced our plans for spending cuts and deferred decisions about major tax increases.

Last May I advised Members that government revenues, corporate income tax collections in particular, would be negatively affected by the economic slowdown, but that we would not know the actual impact until this fall. Based on information from 2008 corporate tax assessments completed as of the end of August, the Department of Finance estimates that 2009-2010 corporate income tax revenues will be $50 million, $32 million less than projected in our February budget. In addition, we expect declines in other taxes of $3.7 million from our budget forecast. Although these numbers are subject to change as new assessment information is made available they give us a preliminary estimate of our tax revenues for 2009-2010.

Despite the prospect of lower corporate income tax revenues in 2009-2010, we made the decision early into the current fiscal year to stay the course on spending and investment. This fiscal year we will invest a record $484 million in infrastructure, including the stimulus funding received from Canada. This includes $426 million for government and community infrastructure projects and $58 million for housing projects. Approximately 75 percent of the projects in the 2009-10 Capital Plan are currently underway, with the Department of Public Works and Services leading the way, having awarded 95 percent of the projects they are managing. Our increased capital spending will be responsible for about 1,000 person-years of employment over this year and next.

This session we will be bringing forward a request for supplementary appropriations that will include $18 million to implement recently completed collective agreements. While compensation and benefits is a major portion of our expenditures and we need to manage this responsibly, the public service is critical to meeting the goals we have as the 16th Legislative Assembly.

Our revenue outlook for 2010 continues to be uncertain. We will not know the full extent of the impact of the 2009 downturn on our corporate income tax collections until this time next year. This means that we must continue to make budgeting decisions based on our best estimates of our revenues and be prepared to make adjustments should reality prove substantially different. However, we must also make these decisions based on what is in the best interests of NWT residents given that our fiscal situation is reasonably sound and that we have some latitude for risk.

This July, Moody’s Investors Services reviewed our fiscal plans, and last month they confirmed that there would be no change to our favourable AA1 credit rating. According to Moody’s, the rating reflects the GNWT’s prudent fiscal policies that have, over the past several years, limited our debt accumulation. They stated that adhering to our Fiscal Responsibility Policy should help to ensure that our debt burden remains low and affordable.

In fact, Mr. Speaker, despite lower forecast revenues for 2009-10, accelerated cash flows from Canada under the Economic Action Plan mean that we anticipate our short-term borrowing needs will be only $38 million this year, substantially less than the $81 million anticipated in February’s budget.

This session, Members will also review the government’s 2010-11 Capital Budget. Although smaller than this year’s record levels, the capital plan will continue to support our economy and our residents with investments in badly needed infrastructure.

Standing committees have concluded their reviews of the government’s 2010-11 Business Plans and we will now consider the advice that has been given and finalize our 2010-11 O and M Budget for presentation early in 2010. The budget will continue to advance initiatives that support this Assembly’s vision of strong individuals, families and communities sharing the benefits and responsibilities of a unified, environmentally sustainable and prosperous Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, last February I committed to convene a second roundtable to take a closer look at how we raise revenues in the NWT to see if there are changes to our tax system that might further our economic, social and environmental objectives, without necessarily increasing the total amount of revenue collected. In early October, therefore, I invited representatives from a number of key business, social, labour and environmental organizations to discuss these issues. The input I received was extremely useful and I want to thank those who participated for their work. I encourage NWT residents to review the discussion document and provide their comments. The document can be accessed on the Department of Finance website.

This work on our revenues looks beyond next year’s budget. We want to take a longer-term view of our tax policies that will help the GNWT align our tax structure with our vision and goals. Changing the tax mix can create winners and losers. We need to be sure we have done our research and discussed the options with NWT residents before making any changes. The Department of Finance will be undertaking more research, based on what we hear from this year’s consultations, with a view to developing more detailed options for NWT residents to consider.

The 2010-11 budget will also incorporate the second year of our four-year plan to invest $60 million in key energy initiatives. These continued investments in wind, hydro, and biomass generation will demonstrate both the technology and the fact that our government is serious about reducing the NWT’s reliance on diesel fuel. These investments, by providing infrastructure for communities currently dependent on fossil fuels, will make a critical difference in the cost of living and sustainability of our smaller communities and form a lasting legacy of the work of the 16th Legislative Assembly.

Mr. Speaker, as we develop our fiscal plans for 2010-11 and beyond, we will proceed with caution, but we will continue to move forward, advancing the goals and priorities we have set as the 16th Legislative Assembly. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.

Mr. Speaker, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment has undertaken the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative to address the achievement gap between aboriginal and non-aboriginal students in the Northwest Territories. This initiative is a long-term commitment that will see a multi-layered plan developed and implemented with aboriginal, education, government and corporate partners. There is no magic solution to improving student achievement. The work ahead of us will be difficult and will take the commitment of many people.

Several things have been initiated this year, Mr. Speaker. To engage regions, Education, Culture and Employment is funding a pilot project in each education district that focuses on improving school attendance as a means to improve aboriginal student achievement. The department is providing $25,000 per region, with matching in-kind contributions from the education boards or their regional partners. The department has received a pilot project application from each education board

for projects such as after-school programming like arts and crafts classes and on-the-land activities, counselling and intervention services for parents and students, mentorship and community liaison worker, and student produced promotional videos on attendance.

Increasing literacy rates is a key ingredient in the success of aboriginal students. The department has instituted several initiatives to support literacy efforts in schools. Education, Culture and Employment has dedicated approximately $400,000 towards the purchase of reading materials for school libraries. To ensure equitable funding, the department allocated monies based on cost index and freight costs for outlying community schools. The reading material purchased will reach every school and will be grade level appropriate and culturally suitable.

Accessibility to the right tools and resources is another major part of academic success. Due to staffing or financial problems, small community schools are often limited in the optional courses they can offer high school students. To address this, the department is providing quality laptops for Grade 12 students in all small community high schools. Students will be allowed to take their laptops home to use for both academic and personal use. The laptops will be returned to the school when students complete their high school diploma or meet their individual education program objectives. The department and the school boards are working to make the laptops available to students as soon as possible.

An education system based on aboriginal languages and cultures leads to greater academic success for aboriginal students. The Aboriginal Student Achievement Working Group is currently working with the Northwest Territories Teachers’ Association to develop culturally sensitive orientation for all new teachers to help meet this goal. This orientation will be partially on the land and will be mandated beginning next year.

The Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative also includes an extensive public awareness campaign that promotes the importance of school attendance and provides valuable information on the Northwest Territories education system and parental responsibilities within it. The public awareness campaign was kicked off this summer with staff passing out brochures and speaking to people on National Aboriginal Day in Yellowknife.

The aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative is an exciting groundbreaking project and the department looks forward to reporting on the long-term achievements of the pilot projects, literacy research, public campaign and culturally appropriate teacher orientation. I mentioned earlier that there is no magic solution. However, I believe that by working together with all our partners, our

communities, our students, and everyone interested in student achievement, we will be successful in achieving our goal of improving the education outcomes of our aboriginal students. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the Sahtu our elders often tell us to go out on the land because the land will take care of you. I’ve often wondered what this meant. So this past spring and summer I paid extra close attention to this saying and noticed and realized how the land shows you how to live life. It does take care of you if you listen and are willing to learn.

Mr. Speaker, it’s little wonder that over the past six years I’ve been pushing for on-the-land treatment programs in the Sahtu, as instructed by our elders.

Mr. Speaker, aside from the Nats'ejee K'eh Treatment Centre, there are no other treatment centres in the Northwest Territories that treat alcohol and drug addiction. Addictions are the biggest causes of social breakdowns in the Northwest Territories and we spend millions of dollars every year treating addiction-related behaviours.

I understand the Department of Health and Social Services and the Department of Justice are reviewing their mental health and addictions programs. The territorial government spends close to $2 million every year on the Nats'ejee K'eh Treatment Centre, and we are soon to close the Arctic Tern facility and spend nearly $40 million to build new corrections centres in the South Slave. The Department of Justice spends $135,000 on wilderness camps in the South Slave.

A wilderness camp was piloted in the Sahtu some years ago and it was very successful. Mr. Speaker, I encourage the Minister of Health to look at this wilderness camp initiative, the one like with the Department of Justice, and do one in the Northwest Territories. We need to understand and implement our aboriginal values and beliefs in wellness and healing camps if we are to win this battle with addictions, and the successes are greater if we do it on the land.

On-the-land treatment programs support the department’s goal to promote healthy choices and responsible self care, and establish culturally appropriate treatment programs, and it supports the GNWT’s vision of healthy, educated people who

must act on what our elders keep telling us, as there is much wisdom in their saying as it might save our nation one day. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to follow up today on my colleague Mr. Bromley’s statement from Friday in regard to the involvement of Regular Members in the development of policy and/or government positions.

In his sessional statement last week, the Premier stated the Strategic Initiatives committees that we established have allowed Members of the 16th Legislative Assembly to be directly involved in formulating and guiding the initiatives of government, and I agree with that, but there is a gap between what is allowed for and what actually occurs. Regular Members should have input, but that doesn’t seem to happen.

Regular Members are well aware, and the public may know, that MLAs spent most of September reviewing departmental business plans for next year. It became very evident to me, as we reviewed the plans, that departments and Ministers too, I suppose by association, have developed, are developing or will develop any number of policies, strategies and frameworks, most of which were unfamiliar to me, documents which guide departments’ program delivery in a particular budget year.

In answer to my question, I learned that many are not distributed or are not yet developed, but they do guide a department’s work. Would Regular Members be able to get copies or be involved in the development or be able to provide feedback on these policies, strategic strategies and frameworks, I asked? The answer was generally yes, but the situation points to the need for this Assembly to rethink how we develop our policies.

We must be proactive in our policy discussions and in policy development, instead of reacting when something leaks out. We need a mechanism that allows input by Regular Members early on in the process and allows for feedback at several points along the way.

Our policies, strategies and frameworks should underpin the whole of the government’s operation and should encompass the visions, goals and priorities of the 16th Assembly. I’m in total

agreement with the Member for Weledeh, that development of policy in isolation without the involvement of Regular Members contravenes one of our recently agreed upon principles of consensus government. The one that says, in part, the

opportunity for all Members to have meaningful input into important decisions is fundamental.

To me, policy decisions are important decisions. I hope that a desire to include Regular Members in policy development exists in the hearts and minds of the executive, that we as an Assembly can evaluate our current process and get the consultative, cooperative, consensual information sharing that we need. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today my Member’s statement is about a multi-purpose facility O and M funding in the community of Tuktoyaktuk.

Mr. Speaker, northern communities like Tuk suffer from overcrowding, limited housing units, very few places to interact socially. The winter season sees an increase in domestic disturbances and depression. In the recent spring, the NWT Housing Corporation transferred a building to the community so that it could be developed into a library. Since then the community has looked into funding sources for start-up operations and maintenance costs of the building, with very little success. Also, the community has expanded the function of the house from a library and where community members could go and get a hot meal or someplace where people can talk to a counsellor for a wide range of issues, especially during the winter.

Many people in our communities go from one business to another, usually hanging around the entrance ways or hanging around the storage shed just speaking to each other. These are not appropriate places to go, Mr. Speaker. We must do more. We must help our communities in initiatives such as these to develop a safe, comfortable and reliable place to go.

This multi-purpose facility would be used for a drug and alcohol resources centre for people who have recently finished a treatment program. Too many times after a person finishes substance abuse treatment programs they return to the community with little or no support structure, workshops, counselling sessions or just a place where people can go read a book, talk to a friend or get a warm meal. This facility would offer these services.

I have recently been made aware of the O and M funding for a counsellors facility in Inuvik, which is supposed to be servicing satellite communities. Wouldn’t the money be used best in the community for the community? Capacity building progress with serious social supports, this is very critical that the

government commits to deliver the support required, not just deliver the rhetoric.

Mr. Speaker, I’ll have questions for the Ministers of Health and Social Services and Public Works at the appropriate time. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When deciding today about which matter to raise in the House, one particular issue jumped off the page more than others. It’s one that I’d been informed about by a constituent who is very concerned about an issue that needs to be addressed by this House.

I would like to paint a picture. In the U.S., a year ago when the “Obamabuck” started to roll out to industry, government first failed to ensure that their stimulus was going to protect the machinery and jobs out there rather than the big, deep pockets of those in charge of those companies. They did manage to claw some of it back and then they worked very hard to ensure that they didn't make that mistake again.

Within the last year the government of New Brunswick backed ATCON with $50 million to ensure their business kept working, kept afloat, and certainly people in place in those jobs. One of the many conditions they attached was to ensure that ATCON, if they owed any money to any New Brunswick business, that they had to be paid first. In other words, if they had any large amounts of money, government money, going to support their company, they had to make sure it was going to protect the employees of those businesses and certainly the other companies that were working together in New Brunswick. A very clever position, I would say.

Which now brings me to the issue of today: what is the government doing for the North? Almost a year ago the Opportunities Fund was tapped into. As many will recall, it was $34 million accessed by Discovery Air. Which brings me even further. In recent days I have heard that there have been layoffs. One of their subsidiary companies, Great Slave Helicopters, has let a bunch of people go. I don’t know the details of the layoffs, because I’m an MLA; I don’t work within the company and I don’t know the details of those particular cases. What did the government do to protect and ensure these northern jobs would stay and be supported?

Other governments have shown wise choices about ensuring that when they’re giving out good money that it helps protect their local jobs. I think this is an important thing. Government money backed by this

government’s House needs to be ensured that it’s working for northern businesses. If we can’t protect our employees and our northern economy, who will? The issue really comes down to this: the Opportunities Fund needs to be working for all Northerners and there needs to be a clear message that says if we’re serious about stimulating our northern economy, we have to ensure that we’re protecting people.

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

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

Today I would like to talk about the need for industrial arts and home economics in the schools in Fort Resolution and Lutselk’e. We all know the benefits of these programs. I am sure many of us here had the opportunity to take one of these classes and learn the skills that we’re able to apply in situations today. Unfortunately, students and residents of Fort Resolution and Lutselk’e do not have this opportunity. If we were able to get these programs into the communities I think we could provide a service that could benefit the whole community, both young and old.

Both communities would like to see an industrial arts and home economics program that serves all members of the community. Not only will the students from each of the schools have these programs as part of their schooling, but community residents can also access these programs after school hours, which will benefit them as homeowners, to mention one benefit.

I have spoken with members in the communities and they have provided some creative solutions for this problem. One way of achieving this would take a collaborative effort between the community, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, and Public Works and Services, and possibly even the NWT Housing Corporation.

In smaller communities with limited resources and limited facilities, we need to look at all possible options for addressing needs of the communities and its residents, and this is one such option. I’ve even spoken to some elders who have indicated they would like to pursue some traditional practices such as food preparation and tanning hides. Even this may create an opportunity for youth in these communities and they will learn such traditions.

Later today I will have questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment on this matter.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’ve been talking a lot in this House about the cost of living. A big part of the cost of living is the cost of food. We have on our doorstep a huge renewable resource of very healthy food in the form of the fish in the Great Slave Lake. Every year there is a quota on that lake to harvest, and it is sustainable: 1.2 million pounds of fish. That’s way more than we need to feed all the people in the Northwest Territories. But we bring our fish that we eat most of the time, if we admit it, in some box with Captain Highliner on it from some faraway fish processing plant, maybe even on the East Coast. There is something seriously wrong with this picture.

As long as I have been an MLA I have been talking about the challenges of the commercial fishery on Great Slave Lake. Honestly, I am getting so tired of talking about it that after I’m finished as MLA I might just go buy a boat and go fish it myself, because I cannot seem to get this government’s attention on this.

We have been saddled with the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation for too long. This government has taken a sideline approach to that and said, well, if the fishermen want us to pull out of freshwater, we will. But the fact of the matter is the fishermen are very busy doing other things. The fishermen are called upon to be employers, they have to be accountants, they have to do payroll for their men, they have to be mechanics to maintain their boats, and they have to go out and do that very, very hard task of actually doing the commercial fishing. They are expected to do a lot of things and I don’t really think we can ask them to also go out and look for the market for their fish, although I take my hat off to those private vendors who park their trucks with fresh fish on the parking lots of our grocery stores in downtown Yellowknife and sell fish to us.

But when do I eat fish out of Great Slave Lake? Do you know when I eat it? When I have company and I want to show off. Put the beautiful white fish on the barbeque and show off. The rest of the time we don’t take advantage of this extremely high quality, nutritious food. So when we talk about the cost of living, I think it’s a win-win situation if we could do more as a government to come up with an NWT marketing corporation for the fish. The government should step in on this and go in on it whole hog. Wrong expression.

---Laughter

That’s another whole story. But the government needs to become more proactive in helping to create the jobs from this fishery, create the food, the access to good food, quality food for northern people. I’ll have questions for the Minister of ITI on this today.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m going to speak again today about Stanton Territorial Hospital. On Friday I had the opportunity to make a statement and ask questions to the Minister of Health and Social Services about the condition of the hospital. Today I’d like to follow up on that.

I believe that the government and Minister have some explaining to do. On Friday, page 17 of unedited Hansard, the Minister states that the 2004 technical assessment had a price tag of upwards of $250 million. If this was indeed correct, then why did subsequent capital plans every year peg the cost of the Stanton Master Development Plan at roughly $30 million?

The Stanton Master Development Plan, over the past five years, has gone from important enough to put in every capital plan up until 2008-2009. In the last year’s capital plan the project’s name had even changed from Stanton Master Development Plan to Stanton Territorial Hospital Technical Upgrades, at a total value of $28 million. Now it would appear that neither the Stanton Master Development Plan nor any substantial money for technical upgrades is included in the government’s most recent capital plan.

On Friday I spoke of the 2004 report, calling into question the state of several building components that had to be upgraded within five years to ensure the asset life of the facility. The report also identified areas of non-compliance with current codes and issues of health care delivery standards. Here we are five years later and where is the money and the Stanton Master Development Plan? According to the Minister, it’s still in the planning stages.

I believe that it is completely ridiculous that after the work began in 2002, the report came out in 2004, that all the Minister and department can say is sorry, it’s not in the capital plan, we’re still working on it. It’s no wonder the Department of Health and Social Services gets the label of the Department of Perpetual Planning, and now here we are on the verge of approving capital expenditures that again do not include Stanton Territorial Hospital, even though the department has had over seven years to

do it. If the Department of Health and Social Services can’t get the planning right, then, please, let’s get somebody in there who can.

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

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Once again I’m here to talk about the holdup of scheduled projects in Nahendeh. Last spring I spoke in the House about the delay of completion of renovations to homes in Nahanni Butte. Today I wish to speak about the delay of improvements to the Nahanni Butte winter road access.

The work was to be completed this summer; however, due to scheduling, the government waited until September to begin, which was particularly rainy and prevented any progress on the project. During a recent constituency visit to the community, residents told me the weather in the months of July and August were excellent, yet they waited until September to begin the work.

Timing on government projects do not make sense to them or to me. The government publicizes government projects to demonstrate what it’s doing for NWT residents, however, there are often problems with the follow-through. It must cause troubles for the Minister in terms of revisions to budgets and rescheduling that may, in turn, affect other projects.

My concern is for the communities. The delay of improvements on the Nahanni Butte access road is an inconvenience to those driving to Nahanni Butte this winter and may jeopardize their safety. However, this construction year for the road is done, with the onset of winter. Today I would urge the Minister of Transportation to advise his officials to ensure that the Nahanni Butte access road is completed early in the 2010 construction season.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to go on the record today and applaud BHP Billiton, the City of Yellowknife and the Department of Health and Social Services for their support of the homeless people in Yellowknife.

I and many others have expressed concerns about some of the challenges facing the homeless in Yellowknife, especially with the onset of winter. Some of these challenges include the lack of public washroom facilities and the lack of a warm, safe

place for the homeless people to utilize during daytime hours. Fortunately, BHP Billiton, the City of Yellowknife and the Department of Health and Social Services have recognized the severity of these problems in downtown Yellowknife and have partnered together to make a difference.

Through this partnership, the John Howard Society will be opening and operating a day shelter in Yellowknife starting in November. The John Howard Society, based in Yellowknife, is a volunteer organization that promotes just, effective and humane responses to the causes and consequences of crime. Homelessness and desperation are a leading cause of crime, so the John Howard Society is a logical choice for the operation of the new day shelter.

Initially this initiative was just a pilot scheduled to last three years. I believe the evidence will be there to suggest an ongoing need and I hope that the partners continue to work together with the John Howard Society to make this success ongoing.

Once again, in closing, I would like to applaud BHP Billiton, the City of Yellowknife, the Department of Health and Social Services and the John Howard Society for their vision and commitment to Yellowknife and the people of the Northwest Territories.

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