Good afternoon, colleagues. Welcome back to the Chamber. Orders of the day. Colleagues, before we begin, I would like to draw your attention to the gallery to former Members of this House, former Speaker Mr. Sam Gargan and a former Minister and Premier, Mr. Jim Antoine are in the gallery.

---Applause

I would also like to welcome all our other guests in the gallery today. Orders of the day. Item 2, Ministers' statements. The honourable Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Caribou herds in the Northwest Territories (NWT) and across the circumpolar Arctic are declining. A recent global survey by researchers at the University of Alberta found that 34 of 43 herds being monitored worldwide are in decline.

Barren Ground caribou herds in the Northwest Territories are experiencing the same downward trend. Recent surveys and trend information show declines in almost all these herds.

The Porcupine caribou herd, which we share with the Yukon and Alaska, has dropped from a high of 178,000 in 1989 to 123,000 animals in 2001. Biologists who study this herd have not been able to do a population survey since 2001 for weather-related reasons, but indicators and recent monitoring efforts show that the decline in this herd is continuing.

The only bright spots in the surveys completed this year were the Cape Bathurst and Bluenose-West herds. After post-calving surveys of both herds this July, the Cape Bathurst has remained stable at

1,800 animals while the Bluenose-West herd has remained stable at just under 18,000 animals. This can be attributed in large part to harvesting restrictions put in place by recommendations of the co-management boards in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region and the Gwich'in and Sahtu regions. In the Cape Bathurst range there has been no harvesting allowed since 2007 and in the Bluenose-West range commercial and resident hunting was closed and recommended harvest for aboriginal hunters was a maximum 4 percent harvest with at least 80 percent bulls.

Unfortunately, the post-calving survey of the Bluenose-East herd could not be conducted due to poor weather. Like the post-calving survey used for the Porcupine herd, this survey depends on the caribou bunching up in tight groups in response to insects and suitable for photography. If the weather is cool or wet and windy the caribou don't group up enough for photos.

Mr. Speaker, the most dramatic declines in the last three years was been in the Bathurst and Beverly caribou herds. In 1994 survey results indicated that the Beverly population was estimated at 276,000 animals. Systematic reconnaissance surveys on the Beverly calving ground in 2007, 2008, and 2009 indicate that the Beverly herd has all but disappeared. Limited collar information suggests that some of the last Beverly cows have shifted to the range of the much larger Ahiak herd. The Bathurst herd has dropped from a little over 100,000 animals in 2006 to 32,000 this summer. Because the Bathurst herd is so important to NWT communities tough management actions will be required to give the herd a chance to recover.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources is working with the Tlicho Government to develop a joint proposal on recovery options for the Bathurst herd that will go to the Wek'eezhii Renewable Resources Board. This joint proposal and a technical report are expected to be submitted to the board at the end of October. We have also held a number of information-sharing workshops and there have been meetings in all the communities that value the Bathurst herd. The Tlicho are holding their own workshops and meetings as well. I anticipate the board will hold a public hearing on the proposal in December. During November the Department of Environment and Natural Resources will be consulting with other aboriginal governments, harvesters, and stakeholders on the recovery options in the joint proposal since the Wek'eezhii Renewable Resources Board management is restricted to the Tlicho region.

The GNWT is responsible to all communities and aboriginal governments that hunt the Bathurst herd, such as the Akaitcho communities, the Metis Nation and other communities south of Great Slave Lake.

It has been very encouraging to hear the chief of the Yellowknives Dene, Edward Sangris, speaking out about cancelling a fall hunt of the Bathurst herd this year. They are not waiting for our management proposal. When we announced the Bathurst survey results a few weeks ago all the Tlicho chiefs and Dene Nation Chief Bill Erasmus were there and pledged to work with us on making difficult decisions for the sake of future generations.

All partners involved in the management of this herd want to have management actions agreed to and ready to be implemented by the end of December before the winter hunting season starts. As we have seen from the Cape Bathurst and Bluenose-West herd, tough measures are making a difference in helping the herds stabilize and hopefully in the next couple of years start gradually increasing.

There is no easy answer to the problem of declining herds. We can only deal with those impacts we have direct control over and hunting and access to herds are the main ones we can control.

Mr. Speaker, some people may believe the Ahiak herd is immune to this decline or even increased. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Ongoing reconnaissance surveys of the herd's calving grounds indicate a substantial but declining herd. Additional data on caribou condition and pregnancy rate indicate that this herd is not doing well. We are currently planning the first calving ground survey of this herd with the Government of Nunavut. The area is remote and the calving ground is large and has chronically bad weather, so the survey will be challenging.

We are developing another five-year Barren Ground Caribou Management Strategy to cover 2011 to 2015. This strategy and future management actions to conserve our herds will be developed with our co-management partners and aboriginal governments over the coming winter. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Premier, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to advise Members that the honourable Michael McLeod will be absent from the House today and tomorrow to attend meetings with the Council of Ministers responsible for Transportation and Highway Safety in Vancouver. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Item 3, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to recognize a very remarkable constituent of mine, Mr. Robert Alexie Sr. who has been nominated for the Jim Bourque Award from the National Fur Institute of Canada.

This summer Rob would learn that he was a recipient of that award. Robert accepted the award earlier this summer on his commitment in preserving the traditional knowledge and passing it on to the young people. Robert has received this knowledge from his father, in which his young boy Robert would walk ahead of his dad's dog team with snowshoes and clear the way for his dad. Robert credits all his father's learnings have been passed on to him today in which he is now passing on to the younger generations.

The 75-year old gentleman from Fort McPherson has been hunting and trapping along the Peel River since he was a young man. Robert has contributed extensively to the Government of the Northwest Territories Environment and Natural Resources trappers program for young people. He brings them out to his cabin at the mouth of Trail River in the Yukon and shows them the traditional territory that his father and grandfather and his great-great-grandparents harvested in and also the importance of that territory to the Gwich'in people. He shows them the traditional ways to sustain yourself on the land, but, more importantly, how things were prior to the 1960s when people lived there year-round.

He makes the time to attend meetings, workshops and continues to strive for the protection of our land, the Peel River watershed, animals and, more importantly, our environment. He emphasized to the young generations, during the Trapper Training Program, how much of a challenge it is to trap these days and never to forget the importance of education.

Robert Alexie Sr. is a highly respected elder who passes on his traditional knowledge and willingness to all people. With that, I would like to congratulate Robert Alexie Sr. Mahsi.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Working against the odds, our resident filmmakers have achieved world acclaim, publicity and tourism promotion through films produced in the NWT with examples like Mad Trapper, Ice Road Truckers and Buffalo Airways series, Aurora Borealis and One River, Two Shores.

Unfortunately, however, productions about the NWT are infrequent and predominantly produced by southern-based firms. The Time Keeper, the story of the Great Slave Railway in the 1960s, was shot in Quebec. Richard Van Camp's the Lesser Blessed will largely be filmed outside the NWT. Producers say production is too expensive here and there is little government support. CBC's North of 60 was shot entirely in Alberta.

Unlike us, Yukon provides a comprehensive web of programs to support local production, attract southern productions and market films. Nunavut's film art is known worldwide, thanks to a full film development corporation providing incentives and support including the development of animation.

Mr. Speaker, the recent economic review of the Northwest Territories does not even include a section quantifying the value of NWT film performance and fine art industries, giving figures only for the value of arts and crafts production. We need to begin gathering this data.

Data elsewhere shows we will find that spending a dollar in the film industry multiplies its spending far more than spending on large resource developments. To develop our industry, we need to understand it and work with NWT filmmakers to design programs of support. A market study, assessment of the resident industry and a development plan are first basic steps. Ms. France Benoit, a local filmmaker, reports that the NWT is the only jurisdiction in Canada that does not offer financial incentives to producers.

In summary, Mr. Speaker, the NWT needs to take a much more aggressive approach to supporting our resident filmmakers and attracting southern partners to enjoy the benefits we currently forego. I will be asking the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment questions later during this session. Mahsi.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I'd like to talk about the performing artists in the Northwest Territories. Performing artists fall into a number of categories including actors, musicians, dancers, and the list goes on and on.

To begin, I believe the 16^th Legislative Assembly has done a good thing in increasing our support to the arts in the NWT. Our budget in this area has increased by almost $2 million since we began in October 2007. This is a positive step and acknowledges the value that arts play within the Northwest Territories.

However, with respect to performing artists such as musicians I don't believe that we are taking advantage of the good work that is being done. We haven't taken steps required to form partnerships with our northern musicians to promote themselves and the Northwest Territories at the same time. Through ECE we provide money to northern musicians who apply to help them produce their music. Once produced, this government is done with the artists. There is no follow-up. There is no further cooperation or partnering. This is a missed opportunity. I believe that the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment should work with Education, Culture and Employment to identify these musicians and see if they can find ways to work with them in a mutually beneficial way to promote the NWT as a tourist destination.

I have looked through the GNWT Arts Strategy as presented by ITI. There is one brief mention of performing artists. The majority of the focus is on commodities such as crafts. Northern musicians produce a product and are a commodity in and of themselves. ITI should pay greater attention to performing artists as part of their Arts Strategy.

I have also spent a lot of time reviewing our Spectacular NWT campaign. Once again, I'm sad to report that there is very little reference to the arts, including performing artists, as a reason for people to come and experience the Northwest Territories. When people consider coming to a place like the Northwest Territories, they want options and a wide variety of things to do. Attending arts festivals and other music related events is a definite draw.

Mr. Speaker, later this afternoon I'll be asking the Minister responsible for ITI some questions on this topic and seeking commitment of this government to work with performing artists from the Northwest Territories to promote the Northwest Territories and the artists themselves. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I'm rising once more on the subject of the John Tsetso Memorial Library in Fort Simpson. In February I spoke in the Assembly about my concern that the library needs a home. In May I spoke about the value of the community's library as a place to pick up reading materials and for many literacy programs it has offered over the years. Yesterday my colleague Mr. Abernethy spoke about the limitations of the Fort Simpson library. The facility is currently too small and the foundation cannot support the library's collection of books. Currently, due to the relocation from the old Deh Cho Hall, we are now a resource centre and a virtual library there, Mr. Speaker.

The John Tsetso Memorial Library is a designated public library and the residents of Fort Simpson deserve to have one restored. In fact, I think a region of our size, about 4,200 residents, should have a regional library located centrally in Fort Simpson. I support and recommend upgrading and designating a regional library for Nahendeh. Such a library could house a larger collection of books, and books could be circulated to our smaller communities.

The Department of Public Works and Services is currently sending in an engineer to determine where to locate the library. I support a facility that could be a regional library. This library will not only include computer access for patrons but also a book collection and resources that could be accessed by the entire region.

Mr. Speaker, the government has made a firm commitment to promoting and fostering literacy. A library that provides a welcoming space and a good selection of books in Fort Simpson will contribute to literacy. Once again, I support a regional library that will provide additional service throughout Nahendeh. Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Ecole Allain St-Cyr is a French-first school located on Taylor Road here in Yellowknife. It is one of two schools administered by the Commission Scolaire Francophone, the other being the Ecole Boreale in Hay River. This school has been at its current location on Taylor Road since 2000, when the then $4 million school was built with support from both Heritage Canada and the Government of the Northwest Territories. The Department of Public Works and Services was responsible for the overall project management on the federal government's behalf.

The school is named after Mr. Allain St-Cyr, a former French teacher at both J.H. Sissons and William McDonald School here in Yellowknife and I actually had the honour of having Mr. St-Cyr as my Grade 9 French teacher. He was very well-respected both as an educator and as a promoter of French schooling.

Today the school is home to 110 students. It also houses a daycare centre for up to 30 students and acts as a cultural centre for Yellowknife's French-speaking community.

Mr. Speaker, in the past few months Members and Ministers alike have received letters from parents of students at that school disagreeing with the government's decision to postpone the funding of phase two of the expansion, which would include a gymnasium that was left out of the original design of the school until 2012-2013.

Mr. Speaker, I'm aware that discussions are currently underway with Heritage Canada on securing funding for the expansion and I want to state again today that it is my belief that this government must immediately enact a policy when it comes to the construction of any new school in any one of our 33 communities across the Territory that the new school has got to have a gymnasium incorporated into the facility.

The statistics don't lie, Mr. Speaker. Youth today are not as active as they were in years past, so why would any government build a school or help build a school, where children spend eight hours a day, without a gymnasium? It defies any logic, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I'd like to call on the government to do everything they possibly can to expedite the discussions with Heritage Canada and finally get a gymnasium for the students, the parents and the staff at Ecole Allain St-Cyr. Merci beaucoup.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As Members will have noticed, I'm trying to focus my attention and my comments and Member's statements during this session on the principle that this government says that they embrace, and that is for self-reliant, sustainable communities and people in the Northwest Territories. Mr. Speaker, I think part of that is to examine the resources we have on our own doorstep which we do not partake of for whatever reason. I talked about the commercial fishery the other day and what a valuable and big resource that is, but we can't figure out how to take advantage of it.

The one I want to talk about today, though, and I'm sure there will be pushback on this, is that anyone who has travelled on the road, Highway No. 3, the famous Highway No. 3 between Yellowknife and Fort Providence, would have noticed that there are these large herds of big beasts close to the road. These are our bison. This is a bison sanctuary. It has been there for many years. I don't know what the herd number is today, but anybody who likes bison meat, how many people import bison meat from Alberta so they can eat it here in the Northwest Territories?

Mr. Speaker, this must be ludicrous. Again, anybody looking at us from another planet would wonder why we say we can't afford food, we can't afford the cost of living in the Northwest Territories and yet we have resources like this standing literally at our door.

Now, I understand that the caribou herds are in decline and we're not sure of all the reasons for that and the caribou are certainly easier to hunt than a bison. Most people could handle a caribou. After they've killed it and butchered it, they could handle it themselves. Bison are a little bit more challenging, no doubt, but they are still a very nutritious food source and unless they are sacred or endangered or something else, for the life of me, I cannot understand why a herd that is healthy, disease-free and numbering in the thousands cannot be harvested at a greater rate than about, I think, 12 tags a year.

So, Mr. Speaker, I would have questions today for the Minister of ENR about this. We have a very successful commercial muskox harvest higher up in the Arctic. We have meat and we've even processed the hides from those muskox and it works. So, Mr. Speaker, I'll have questions today for the Minister of ENR. Why can't we eat those bison? Thank you.

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

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to once again talk about the youth in Lutselk'e. The youth know what they want and what they need. Without proper facilities, the community is challenged to deliver much needed programming for them. Lutselk'e needs a youth centre.

I know this government is doing something in this area and the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs has the Youth Centres Initiative program where communities can apply for up to $25,000 to support the operation of a youth centre. This is all fine if you have a youth centre. This year Lutselk'e received $17,241 under this program. Unfortunately, this is nowhere near enough to deliver a comprehensive youth program. We need to do more. The youth of Lutselk'e are faced with a number of social challenges and are in desperate need of a youth centre.

With yet another recent youth suicide in the community, I consider this a very serious matter and we can no longer sit back and keep up with giving the community the minimum when much, much more is needed. The youth are currently using an old government house as a youth centre. This location is okay for our youth work and to develop programs, however, the home itself is far from ideal for a youth centre.

I realize the construction of a youth centre falls within the responsibility of the community as per the New Deal. However, a community the size of Lutselk'e does not get enough capital through the formula. I feel this government must add some more money into the capital requirements of Lutselk'e in order for the community to build a youth centre.

I strongly believe that as a minimum each community should have a place for the youth in the community to get together, a place to access positive programming. Each community should have a youth centre. A well-run youth centre can have many positive benefits for the youth, the community and the whole NWT.

Lately I've been talking about the need for this government to get creative in finding solutions. This is another situation that needs such a creative solution, an immediate solution.

I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted.

Let's get some kind of commitment from this government for this project before this community has to experience yet another youth tragedy. Today I will have questions on this very important issue for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Midwives in Canada are trained specialists who care for women throughout pregnancy and birth, and further, they offer aftercare to mothers and babies in the first weeks after birth. Midwives believe that pregnancies and birth are a part of a woman's natural lifecycle. Midwives recognize most pregnancies and births are healthy and normal. They are skilled to know what to do if complications or difficulties arrive. Midwives are primary health care providers who help women to have healthy pregnancies and babies. They are a fundamental part of the health care team and can refer patients to doctors, specialists, public health nurses and other health care providers, as well as to the community resources.

In Fort Smith there are two midwives providing these services. We hear nothing but rave reviews of these services in a community where resident physicians are sometimes difficult and hard to find. In Yellowknife there is one midwife and she is willing to accept the challenges of a huge demand for these services. This is an option that many women and many parents want to make, yet no additional midwives are being recruited in Yellowknife. That seems to be the fact of the plan: that there is none.

Here is one example where health care reform makes sense. It has a huge community support, it is a well-established and respected service throughout Canada and the health care system, but, to my dismay, here is an example of health reform in the NWT that no one is considering moving on.

Our one midwife in Yellowknife has to turn away many, many patients. She can only manage a small patient workload because she is only one midwife in Yellowknife. As I understand it, the department doesn't seem to be out recruiting for these types of health care professionals. On the website practicenorth.ca, which the government uses as a big recruitment tool, this website does not even mention midwives. They mention things like EMTs and paramedics, which are not even licensed in the NWT. Where is the call to arms to get more midwives in our health reform system? Many people would like to know, and certainly I would like to know, what the plan is for the Ministers meeting those objectives of providing a much better service?

In closing, expanding the Midwifery Program makes a sensible decision, an economic decision, and it's certainly one that delivers health care reform to the Northwest Territories.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My Member's statement today is on the Income Support Program and Productive Choices Policy. During the summer, Tuktoyaktuk hamlet council sent a letter to the regional superintendent of the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment regarding limited numbers of productive choices for small and remote communities. These productive choices programs are something all clients must partake of in order to receive their income assistance.

I agree with the objective of the productive choices polices, but I question how practical they are in small and remote communities such as all the communities in the Nunakput riding. Our small communities have many challenges. Limited jobs and programs often contribute to the cycle of dependency. Adjusting these concerns can hopefully improve our unfortunate cycle.

The Minister did respond, indicating they would wait for a list of the productive choices provided by the Hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk, but I think the Minister should have gone the next step given that the community governments are overstretched and overworked, and given that the community governments that are most knowledgeable in how various programs should be administered. The Minister should have provided resources for the community to review these concerns adequately, to provide the report.

In the letter to the community it had some suggestions, such as the suggestion that certain counselling and wellness services could be carried about by a group of elders identified by themselves. I believe all government assistance must be administered with respect to regional cultural sensitivity. Currently many income assistance recipients in small, remote communities feel a serious disconnect with their client services officer, the programs and activities they must complete and the way it's administered. These concerns are: one, programs should be administered with respect; two, establish clear and productive policies for staff to follow and provide adequate options for unique challenges in the small and remote communities.

I'll have questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment at the appropriate time. Quanami.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. About 18 months ago the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment proposed two things: increases to the fees for NWT camping sites and the elimination of full-season camping sites. Not surprisingly, a roar of protest followed. Nobody likes changes and especially not our hard-core, dedicated campers.

In what I considered a good judgment decision, made using common sense, the department put the proposed changes on hold for the 2008 season in order to do some surveying of users and to get some facts, so to speak. The resulting report was comprehensive and recommended that the department proceed with the changes, and that they did this past camping season.

Now that we are, unfortunately, well beyond summer -- look outside -- it's time to assess the impact of these changes. Last week our local paper published an article titled Campground Use Down. The article indicated that the number of camping visitors was relatively close to last year's number, but the number of camping permits was down significantly. There's no doubt that some of this decrease was due to the very poor weather that the Yellowknife area experienced for almost six weeks at the start of our summer, but the decrease in campers must also be attributed to the shortened seasonal site permits -- two months' duration instead of four -- and also to the increase in site fees, a fee increase with no corresponding increase in services.

As I mentioned in a statement on this subject last spring, in order to avoid paying the higher fees, many campers planned to squat for free along the side of the road instead of using our campgrounds. How many campers actually did that during the summer of 2009? Did ITI monitor the situation over the summer? Was the Ingraham Trail inundated with squatters camped out along the shoulders of the road? Were any of these squatters given tickets, warnings or eviction notices?

In June the Minister committed to an evaluation to determine the success or lack of success of the new half-season-only campsite permits and the new fee structure. Has that evaluation taken place? Have campers been surveyed for their input after this season?

The information presented by the paper indicated or suggested that the department may be considering some changes for next year, possibly returning some full-season campsites to the inventory. Is that information correct?

I will have these and other questions for the Minister of ITI at the appropriate time.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was giving some thought in terms of my Member's statement today and I was thinking about what the MLA for Hay River, Mrs. Groenewegen, was talking about in terms of how the North could be independent, strong and free in terms of self-sufficiency regarding fish. She was talking about the fish the other day. I thought about this and I talked to my wife about this. Wouldn't it be wonderful to walk into our stores in our small communities and have fish that was from the Northwest Territories, either Great Slave Lake or Great Bear Lake? Lake trout from up in the Beaufort-Delta where there are some wonderful fishing lakes up there. All down the whole Mackenzie River. Have people go out on the land and fish. That's part of their life, being self-reliant, independent and healthy. Teach about the importance of our food here.

How is it today that when we walk into our stores we get fish from outside of the Northwest Territories? We don't even look in our own backyard. I'm just wondering that this government here, in terms of really taking the bull by the horns to shake things up and say this is what we're going to do for the Northwest Territories and for our people. Start looking at how to invest in our own resources, ourselves as people, our communities. The wonderful food that this land has to offer is out there. Caribou, buffalo, moose, even the sheep and all the fish. Even the berries for making jam, making wonderful jam. We have a wealth and it seems that we still need to go out and purchase these things outside of the Northwest Territories.

This is something that we need to think about in terms of how we're going to pass this on to our children, tell them the importance of our own resources in our land, the importance of having fish brought in from our fish lakes. They can get back to the land. People in the South Slave can certainly have some wonderful fish shipped up into the valley and we can do the same as down the Mackenzie Valley here in terms of having food in our local grocery stores by our people. These things should be part of our life here.

I look forward to a day that we can have this discussion as to how we can depend on ourselves.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Monfwi, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. It gives me great pleasure to recognize the Aurora College fourth-year Nursing Program that is here with us. First of all, the nursing instructor, Matthew Smith, is with us; Rielle Nakehk'o from Hinton, Alberta; Jeri Cooper, Hay River; Shannon Laframboise, Manitoba; Bonnie Lynch, Yellowknife; Jenna Menard, Yellowknife; Cristi Mercado, Philippines; Elise O'Connor, Fort Smith; LeeAnn Laraway, Whitehorse, Yukon; Jane Robertson, Vancouver, B.C.; Megan Russell, Yellowknife; Fion Shing, Hong Kong; Betty Strbac, Croatia; Kristin Tarrant, Lawn, Newfoundland; Charlene Teddy, Tuktoyaktuk; and Becky White, Yellowknife. Mahsi for being here.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would also like to recognize Jeri Cooper in the visitor's gallery today from Hay River, a nursing student. And I'd like to recognize Vince McKay, a resident of Hay River South and recently departed from local politics in Hay River. It is very good to see Sam Gargan and Jim Antoine in here, proof that there is life after the Legislative Assembly.

---Laughter

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is indeed a pleasure to welcome back the previous Speaker of this Assembly and now Grand Chief of Deh Cho, Mr. Sam Gargan, as well as Jim Antoine, the previous Premier and Minister of this government and Member for it would have been Nahendeh at the time, and now chief of the band in Fort Simpson. Welcome.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It gives me great pleasure to recognize a couple of constituents who happen to be in the gallery today. One is Barb Wyness, who is the research and PR officer with the Union of Northern Workers, and with her is Jackie Walsh, who is a brand new assistant to the president of the UNW. Welcome to them both.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Someone once asked me how many times can you be recognized in the Legislature, but I will continue to add a special welcome to Chief Jim Antoine of Liidlii Kue First Nations, as well as to grand chief of Deh Cho First Nations, Mr. Samuel Gargan, who spends a lot of time in Fort Simpson now. Welcome. As well, a special greeting to my niece, Miss Erica Menicoche and her mother, Cheryl Yakeleya. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize my lovely, lovely wife, Cheryl, and our daughter Erica.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is my pleasure today to have people from Nunakput here. First of all, I would like to welcome Ms. Bessie Hagen and my sister-in-law from Tuktoyaktuk, Ms. Donna Ruben from Paulatuk, Charlene Elias and His Worship Mayor Merven Gruben, welcome. I would like to welcome Miss Charlene Teddy as well, Mr. Speaker, for coming down here to continue her education in nursing, and all the best. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. If we missed anyone in the gallery today, welcome to the Chamber. Welcome to the House. It is always nice to have an audience. I hope you are enjoying the proceedings. Item 6, acknowledgements. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I wish to acknowledge a resident of Wrigley, Mr. Charlie Tale. Charlie has been awarded the Top Trapper Award for 2008-2009. Charlie has had the highest sales and the highest number of pelts of any trapper in the Deh Cho and, as well, many times in the past years.

Miss Renalyn Pascau-Matte, trade and investment manager for the Deh Cho region, presented Charlie with a drum of gas in time to use when he goes out to his trap line this fall. He will also be awarded the muskrat board plaque and a certificate from the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.

I am honoured to acknowledge Charlie Tale and his legendary success. I wish him another great trapping season this year. Mahsi cho.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Item 7, oral questions. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member's statement today I talked about that very handsome resource that we have. We have bison and buffalo in various locations around the Northwest Territories and in the south part of the Territory. We know the ones in the Wood Buffalo National Park are protected, but there are also issues with them in terms of disease, a history of disease. We have a herd around Fort Liard. We certainly have a herd close by here in Yellowknife that we are very proud to say is disease-free and has multiplied and now exists in very high numbers.

Mr. Speaker, my question for the Minister of ENR is: what is the population of that herd now? Is it protected in some way? How many tags per year are issued for that herd? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. There are three questions there. The Minister may answer one or all of them. The Minister responsible for ENR, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are in the neighbourhood, I believe, of about 1,600 bison on this side of the river. I will point out that the range is expanding north towards Behchoko. There is interest now not only from the people from Fort Providence but in Behchoko and the Tlicho, as well, now closer to Yellowknife they get in terms of having access to the herd. I believe they hand out several dozen tags over the course of the year for outfitting. That is usually done, of course, in the coldest and darkest days of winter to make it a challenge as opposed to opening the door of your hotel room and shooting them in the parking lot as they rub against your truck. They are considered threatened. The numbers are down somewhat, which is also a source of some concern. Thank you.

That is very interesting information; not very concise, though. We don't know exactly how many we have. We don't know exactly how many tags we issue every year.

Mr. Speaker, the Minister indicated that there is interest from various communities and various regions in the Northwest Territories. I mentioned we do a commercial harvest of the muskox. What is preventing a commercial harvest assisted by this government in some way of this resource for meat? We figure out a way to ship liquor all over the Northwest Territories, subsidized or cross-subsidized for everybody to get it at the same price. Why can't we ship some bison around? Thank you.

There is clear information there. I just don't have the exact number of tags at my fingertips, but I can find that for the Member. I indicated that we estimated during the last count in the neighbourhood of about 1,600 animals in the Mackenzie sanctuary. They are considered threatened under the federal Species at Risk Act. There are restrictions and limitations on what can be done when animals are under that category. There is not a great number of them. Whatever we do has to be done very carefully. The idea of a commercial harvest is not one that has been contemplated, given those considerations. Thank you.

It doesn't seem that there would be that many natural predators of an animal of that size. Mr. Speaker, what would it take for this government to put in place the kind of -- I hate to say it -- study or review to determine if there would be a sustainable harvest that would not affect the numbers of the bison?

Mr. Speaker, they are a renewable resource. The cows theoretically have a calf every spring. It seems like it is something that could be managed. The Minister talks about the federal legislation. We are embarking on our own species at risk legislation. What does that say about whether or not the bison are protected? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the bison are going to continue to be considered threatened. Work is being done with the federal government on that issue. Given the numbers at this point, I don't think that there is going to be any change in the classification coming.

I can commit to the Member that I can get her information about what may be feasible or not in terms of making use of the herd and who has access, what hunting rights are now currently in place for those aboriginal harvesters that are in there in terms of the subsistence hunt. I can get something more technical on the issue of what is the sustainability in regards to commercial harvest. Thank you.

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

Who would we, as a government, need to consult? Who would the stakeholders be who we would need to get some buy-in from if we were going to begin to harvest these animals on a grander scale? Would it be the decision of this government or who all would need to be included in such a decision? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, we would be dealing with the people of Fort Providence. We would be dealing with the Tlicho, given that the range is now expanding into the Tlicho region, with, as well, probably the Wekeezhii board, the renewable resource board, the territorial government and we would also probably be working with the federal government as well. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today in my Member's statement I talked about the desperate need for a youth centre in Lutselk'e. I have questions for the Minister of MACA. Mr. Speaker, in June of this year the Minister committed to, and I quote, “getting the wheels in motion for a proper, adequate youth centre for the community.” I would like to know the status of this. Are we any closer to getting a youth centre in Lutselk'e than we were in June? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Member pointed out in his Member's statement, the community of Lutselk'e does have access to funding to build a dedicated youth centre should they decide to do so. There are some issues that MACA is working with the band council related to the ownership of assets by the band council. The community is funded for their own capital projects. If the community of Lutselk'e decides that they do want to build a youth centre, then they do have the funds available to them to proceed with that project. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, also as mentioned in my Member's statement, communities the size of Lutselk'e do not get enough capital funding in order to complete a youth centre. I would like to know if the Minister can commit to working with the community to get a youth centre into a capital plan somewhere in the immediate future. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, we will work with the community to get a youth centre into the capital plan, but it will be the community's capital plan; it will not be the corporate capital plan that the government has. We will commit to working with the community, as we have with many communities across the Northwest Territories. We will work with them on their capital plans and assist them with financing and any other help they need from the department. Thank you.

I still feel that there is more need for a capital plan other than what is in the formula in order for some of these smaller communities that don't have the infrastructure that larger communities are able to get in their plan. Will the Minister commit to making sure that the MACA staff go into the community with maybe the idea of moving some capital allotment within the department in developing some sort of funding plan to building a youth centre in Lutselk'e? Thank you.

MACA is more than willing to work with the communities. The communities have to make the request to come forward to MACA to ask for assistance with their community capital plan, then we will sit down with them. We can't dictate to them. We are trying to get away from dictating to the communities what they should be building, but we will assist them in any way possible. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Minister commit to visit the community to meet with the leaders to discuss this important project? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I am always interested in visiting the communities, especially one that relates to youth issues, and hear from the grassroots some of their issues with youth. If scheduling permits, I will be more than pleased to go into the community with the Member to meet with the residents there. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just want to follow up on my Member's statement when I spoke about the lack of a community library in the community of Fort Simpson. It has been almost a year now that we are trying to get some resolution around that. I would like to ask the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment what the current plans the department has to assist the community of Fort Simpson in restoring the library to a full library. Thank you.

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

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Certainly PWS has made some arrangement, through talk with the two schools, on the structural engineering -- both Thomas Simpson and Bompas elementary schools -- if they could have a library situated in one of those schools. So those are the discussions that the community will be having with PWS. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

I look forward to be continually updated on the assessment when it happens. Another approach that I would like to take there, Mr. Speaker, in my Member's statement I spoke of making the John Tsetso Memorial Library in Fort Simpson a regional library. Will the Minister work with me to establish this and call it a regional library?

Mr. Speaker, I certainly can sit down with the Member to discuss this issue. I think we also need to involve other parties as well, the local district education authority and also the divisional education council as well, because those are the decision-makers at the community level. I'm willing to commit to work with those organizations and also the Member to proceed with this initiative. If that's the interest of the communities, then we can certainly work towards that.

As I had stated, we are now only a resource centre and I think even the correct term might be like a virtual library where if you want books, you just go on the computer. The previous facility was more of a gathering centre for youth, visitors, et cetera, so that's what we'd like to work towards. Can I ask this Minister if he's willing to come to Fort Simpson to meet with the residents and meet with the education councils and the newly elected village council to talk about a plan and a strategy to work towards setting up the library once again and/or even designating it as a regional library?

Mr. Speaker, certainly, that's one of the goals of my department, to visit the community. I think there has been some plan arranged for sometime next month to visit the community, to visit the MLA as well and the community leaders to discuss these initiatives that are underway.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today in my Member's statement I was speaking about the Income Support Program. Mr. Speaker considering the community governments that are most knowledgeable with how the programs are administered and considering that the Minister recognizes that the community-based and supported programs options are often more effective, will the Minister provide the necessary resources for the communities to adequately review the program and policies to provide the report? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I'm willing to commit the resources that are necessary to review what the Member is asking for. Within our programming there is always a review on the way and if there is a concern or issue that's been brought forward, we can certainly look at it and see what we can do within the region. So, certainly, I'm willing to work the Member on this particular item. Mahsi.

In response to the letter that was sent to the Beaufort-Delta regional superintendent of Education, Culture and Employment regarding how the department administers the Income Support Program and considering many people feel disconnected with the programs and the way it's administered to the communities' limitations and unique challenges, will the government work with the communities to review the following three concerns: administer the programs with respect and regional sensitivity; establish clear, productive policies for the staff to follow; and provide adequate program options to the unique challenges in small, remote communities?

Mr. Speaker, this is one area that we need to clearly improve our communication and working relations with the communities. Those are expertise we need to hear from, having a clear communication dialogue between client service officers and clientele. Certainly that's been recognized in the past and that we are currently working towards as a progression period. So those are the areas that we're focusing on right now as we speak.

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister look into the income support to see if we could give an increase on the amount for the communities so that what support that we do give them lasts the whole month and not just two weeks due to the high cost of the groceries that they are buying and the families that they're trying to feed?

Mr. Speaker, there has been some increase in 2005 and going forward, 2007. So we have been increasing our subsidy program, but certainly we can look at what kind of subsidy we provide currently and where we can improve in those programs. As long as it meets the demands of the clientele, certainly, we can work towards that.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final supplementary, Mr. Jacobson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, Mr. Speaker, I look forward to the 2009-2010 increases for the communities in income support on the program that they're providing. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. I didn't hear a question there. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Some of the information that I have from parents of students at Ecole Allain St-Cyr would suggest that the government has put off funding of phase two, which would include a new gymnasium at that facility, until 2012-2013. I'm also of the understanding that discussions are currently underway with Heritage Canada on securing funding, so I'm just wondering how a decision could be made to postpone funding until 2012-2013 when discussions are obviously underway. Thank you.

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

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Those discussions with the federal Heritage Minister, they are ongoing negotiations that are currently happening. We've sent letters to the Minister of Heritage and we haven't had a response back from them yet. We're still waiting for them. Certainly this is an area we are focussed to move forward on, so we're just waiting for the federal response. Mahsi.

Was there then a decision by Education, Culture and Employment to delay or postpone any funding for phase two, the expansion at Ecole Allain St-Cyr to 2012-2013? Thank you.

Currently the second phase is, like I said, we're waiting for the federal government to commit the funding. So once the funding is in place, then we can certainly put it towards the capital. As we speak, we're just currently at a standstill until we get confirmation. We have our staff currently negotiating with the federal government on expediting the process as we speak.

Mr. Speaker, according to the information that I have, it looks like we're going to be looking at a two to three-year wait for the federal government to come back to us on whether or not they're going to fund this project. Mr. Speaker, I think that's a bit ludicrous. I'd like to ask the Minister again: has the government given any consideration to a policy that would see any new construction of a school in the Northwest Territories be mandated to include a gymnasium in the original design of that school?

Mr. Speaker, those are the areas that we definitely need to discuss with the other departments as well, my department and also Public Works and Services. If we need to include the gymnasium as part of the ongoing new schools, then that needs to be discussed at that level with other departments as well. So those are discussions that we'll certainly have on a going forward basis.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Given the high childhood obesity rates, the inactivity of our youth, wouldn't the Minister and the government think that, you know, they don't need to talk to their government officials. I mean, that's a decision, I think, the government should be making and we as legislators should be making here in the Northwest Territories. If we say that every school that's going to be constructed here in the Northwest Territories should include a gymnasium, that's a decision I think that politicians need to make, Mr. Speaker, not bureaucrats. I'd like to ask the Minister that question. Thank you.

When I said the departments, it was myself and Minister McLeod making those kinds of decisions, not the bureaucrats. At the same time, we have to work together with the MLAs around the table as well. As long as it meets the needs of the North, the people, then we can certainly work towards that. We do have alternative arrangements in the past where we built schools for the gymnasiums, with partnerships with the Sahtu, the Tlicho region and the other communities that pursued other alternatives in the schools. So we continue to strive towards that as interim measures, but for the long term we'll certainly discuss those initiatives. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In today's Member's statement I talked about the important role midwives play in our health care system and, if I may say, they certainly deliver results in our health care system. Mr. Speaker, knowing that very well and also hearing the voices of Yellowknife Centre constituents who have written me to applaud the services that are being provided by this government through our Midwife Program, they'd like to know what is being done to expand this program to continue to help deliver an accountable health care policy, certainly in a way that makes good sense and in a compassionate way. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Department of Health and myself, as Minister, support the expansion of midwifery services in the Territories. That principle is reflected in the Foundation for Change Action Plan and I look forward to working with the Members in the House through that plan to find ways to expand this program. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I know the Minister supports the Midwife Program and I don't think that's at doubt in any way in this particular case. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to know what the Minister is doing to deliver more services that are much needed in this Territory, specifically Yellowknife where we have one overworked midwife at this time. Certainly the demands are out there to help grow in this area. So, Mr. Speaker, what is the Minister doing to help deliver more midwives to our health care system? Thank you.

I do understand the pressure the midwifery service is in in Yellowknife, as well the challenge of expanding services within our system which is already currently under enormous financial pressure. The only way for us to expand programs such as that is to make some real bending-the-trend changes that changes the trajectory of where we are going with the health and social system where we can focus on prevention, focus on community care, and midwifery fits into that. In order for us to resource it in a way that we would like to see, not only in Yellowknife but across the Territories, we need to make some profound changes, and the Foundation for Change, which I'm going to be tabling next week, will speak to that. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, some people will even say that delivering babies is almost as old as time, and it's certainly a natural process. As we all know, most pregnancies go without any complication and I'm certainly grateful to know that that is certainly the trend. But, Mr. Speaker, midwives play an essential part in our health care reform and, Mr. Speaker, will this delivery for change or the expansion for change demonstrate and, certainly, say we are going to add more services in the Midwife Program? Thank you.

Certainly midwifery is something that is not only good on its own merit, it's something that we would like to see especially in communities where there is no permanent, reliable physician services, which is all of the communities outside of Yellowknife and Inuvik. I do appreciate, I think it does a great job in Smith and I know it really fills a void in a community like Fort Smith where we don't have a resident doctor.

Yellowknife, I know that the program is really popular and we need to make some major investments to expand these programs, especially in places where physicians are not available. But in order to do that, we need to make some changes within our system and I think the committee has already seen our Foundation for Change plan and we need to work together and work hard to see how we focus our resources on places like midwifery throughout the Territories, not just Yellowknife, but of course including Yellowknife. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Your final supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We all know that an obstetrician costs a lot more than a midwife and in many cases a midwife can offer the same types of services that an obstetrician would offer. Of course, as I said in my statement and as the Minister knows very well, that if there's a problem, the midwife will refer the patient back to the system of specialists. Mr. Speaker, that obstetrician costs a lot more than a midwife and, furthermore, our doctors, as we all know, are extremely overworked as is. So, Mr. Speaker, everybody knows, as well, that midwives can deliver this in a compassionate and an affordable way.

So, Mr. Speaker, would the Minister update her website that talks about attracting more health care professionals and also will she inform this House as to potentially maybe how many more midwives we can be offering not just in Yellowknife but throughout the Territory as a whole? I think we could all benefit from the expansion of these services, not just here but everywhere in the North. Thank you.

In our discussion I think it's important to note that midwives or the midwifery service does not in any way replace or reduce, really, doctors' work. They work in partnership and I guess in the long run and in provinces like Ontario where there are a large number of midwives, they are beginning to get into reducing a doctor's workload, but we have a long way to go. We couldn't do that with the one or two or three or four midwives and certainly I think that is the way that we should be heading for the Territories for the next 10 or 20 years.

In terms of advertising on the website for a midwife position, it's hard to advertise for a position when we do not have, right now, positions open for midwifery. I think we should strengthen training of midwives. I would love to see midwives, local women or men, being trained out of the Sahtu. I think that would be very good there. Inuvik, Beaufort-Delta and extra midwives be trained for Yellowknife and Hay River. So we need to train our own midwives and then to expand the services, but we need to do a lot of work, because we can't continue to add on services without looking at how we can move our resources around at the same time, because everybody here knows the pressure that the system is under. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister responsible for Industry, Tourism and Investment and they're in follow-up to my Member's statement from earlier today. In reviewing the NWT Arts Strategy I find very little reference to performing artists. These performing artists provide a product that is as tangible as any piece of fine art or traditional craft. Why is there not greater attention placed on them by the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Minister responsible for Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bob McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The NWT Arts Strategy is a document that is prepared with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment and the Department of ITI. We do it jointly and we update it every few years. Our government is a very active supporter of the performing arts. I'm very pleased to advise the Member that in this 2009-10 ECE budget, $700,000 was added to the 2008-09 investment of $500,000 for artists and cultural organizations in this important sector. Also, every year in all five of our regions ITI recognizes the performing arts through funding of various initiatives and activities held in their communities. Also we provide direct and financial support to NACC for the Northern Performance Promotional Materials Program and I know of at least one performer that took advantage of that this year. Thank you.

I'd like to thank the Minister for that. Just as a reference or as a note, I did mention the increased money that we have been putting into arts and I applauded the Department of Education, Culture and Employment and ITI for doing that.

My Member's statement was more along the lines of taking that next step. I know that we support these artists and we help them develop product, but then there's nothing. There's no encouragement of these artists or partnerships of these artists to work together with the Government of the Northwest Territories to have them go out and champion the Northwest Territories. The Arts Strategy itself -- and I'm glad it's updated on a regular basis -- only has a small reference to the performing artists and I don't see a tie with ITI specifically, them working with the performing artists as a means of promoting the Northwest Territories as a whole, which in fact promotes the artists themselves. So I wonder if I could get the Minister to talk a little bit more about that specific aspect of it and tell me what his department is going to do to work with these artists to have them work together to promote the Northwest Territories and themselves.

Certainly I feel we promote northern artists here in the Northwest Territories very well and one area the Member mentioned was using NWT artists to promote tourism in southern Canada and certainly we're quite prepared to do that. It's all dependent on the level of resources that we have for tourism. It's a struggle every year to get funding to promote tourism. In the past we've tried hotel tax to try to get more money for tourism, but certainly the more resources we have dedicated for tourism, the more we can do to promote tourism using northern performers. Thank you.

Promoting and supporting I think are slightly different things. In a related topic, in reviewing the Spectacular NWT campaign supported by ITI, I find very little reference other than basic ads to performing artists and events held throughout the Northwest Territories. These events themselves are tourism draws and our northern performers could, and would, be willing to be our champions in this area, promoters of the Northwest Territories like Susan Aglukark was for Nunavut. She basically did a lot to put Nunavut on the map and it also helped her career as well. We're missing a great opportunity to work with people like Pat Braden of Yellowknife, Diga of Behchoko, Leanne Goose of Beaufort-Delta and Leela Gilday of the Sahtu and many, many others from across the Northwest Territories. Would the Minister commit to working with Education, Culture and Employment to identify northern performing artists and find ways to incorporate these northern performers into our Tourism Strategy and our tourism campaign? Thank you.