Mr. Bromley, your time for your Member’s statement has expired.

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

---Unanimous consent granted.

Thank you, colleagues. Despite our amazing economic growth over the past decade, our poverty issues remain flat-lined or worse now. Evidence clearly shows that economic growth alone does not resolve poverty. Over the next week, I will be asking Ministers questions on this issue. Mahsi.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to talk a little about the secondary diamond industry in the Northwest Territories, specifically the cutting and polishing plants.

The Northwest Territories is a leader in the diamond industry within Canada. The North was the first jurisdiction to bring cutting and polishing of Canadian diamonds to Canada. Bringing the

industry here wasn’t without significant challenges, many of which the Territory and the company cutting and polishing diamonds overcame. Others are still posing challenges.

As a government, we provided funding, facilitated training, conducted marketing, arranged for branding. The list can go on and on and on. We have done a lot. Unfortunately, the local industry is still struggling. Fortunately, there are still cutting and polishing plants in the NWT. They are still trying to make a go of it in these difficult economic times. They are still working to employ more workers. Arslanian Diamonds in Yellowknife recently announced that they are starting to rebuild their workforce after layoffs late last year.

You would think that as a Territory, the first area of Canada to pursue and support this secondary industry, we would have adapted and learned from the challenges that we faced. That this Territory would be the strongest secondary diamond industry in the country.

Unfortunately, recent evidence suggests that we are falling behind rapidly. It looks like other jurisdictions have learned from the challenges we faced and have found ways to make the secondary diamond industry work within their provinces, places like Saskatchewan and Ontario. We have forged the way and they have learned from our reactions and responses to the challenges that we faced.

Recently a new polishing plant has opened in Saskatchewan, Embee Diamond Technologies Inc. What is interesting is that they found a way to open a new facility in the same market conditions which almost completely shut down the NWT cutting and polishing industry. Even more interesting is that Embee’s president, Mike Botha, is finding a way to make it work in Saskatchewan. Some of you might actually remember this name. Mike Botha worked as an occupational certification officer for the diamond industry in the Northwest Territories under the Department of Education, Culture and Employment and was also a technical consultant for the Department of ITI for the government Diamond Certification Program.

Mr. Speaker, it appears to me that our former employees learned enough about the industry to make secondary diamond industries work in different Canadian jurisdictions, yet we continue to struggle here. What is this government going to do to reverse that trend and put the NWT back on top as a Canadian leader in this secondary diamond industry? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It has been over a week since municipal Election Day. As with any competition, there were some winners and there were some losers. I offer my hearty congratulations to the newly elected mayors and councils and a sincere thank you to all of those who ran, winners or not.

In my Member’s statement prior to the elections, I encouraged residents to get out and vote, and to get out and vote in large numbers. Well, that didn’t quite happen, but we did have an increased voter turnout in at least three of the six communities where elections were held. Previous years' election data couldn’t be confirmed for three of the communities, so that number could be higher. The percentage of voter turnout on October 19th ranged

from 42 percent in Fort Simpson -- the highest they had ever seen, apparently -- to 67 percent in Norman Wells. That is not fantastic, but on average one of every two registered voters in the NWT came out to vote and that is pretty good.

Those results got me thinking about how we could increase interest in municipal elections and in community affairs. A very real impediment is the residency requirement for voters. Our eligibility requirement states that a voter must, and I quote, “...at least 12 consecutive months immediately preceding the day on which the person votes, been a resident of the electoral district.” In municipal elections, that electoral district is not the Territory but the community. All Canadian provinces only require six months residency in the province, many with no residency restriction in the community at all. Ontario has absolutely no residency requirement except that a voter has to be a resident in the community on the day on which they vote.

Our 12-month requirement eliminates many residents on voting in municipal elections. And we are a fairly transient population. People move into the Territory on a regular basis and people frequently move from community to community within the Territory. Much more interest would be generated in our elections if the residency requirement was shortened. I suggest six months. That residency should apply to the Territory, not the community. If we must keep a 12-month residency requirement, make it apply to the Territory with a six-month community residency requirement. We will attract more voters, many of them young, and we will get greater interest in local politics, not just at election time but all year long.

Amendments to the Local Authorities Elections Act were contemplated earlier this year. MACA produced…

Ms. Bisaro, your time for your Member’s statement has expired.

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

---Unanimous consent granted.

Thank you to my colleagues. Amendments to the Local Authorities Elections Act were contemplated earlier this year. MACA produced a discussion paper and held consultations. I hope that the residency requirement was addressed through that process. I look forward to seeing the results. I will have questions for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs later on. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Item 4, reports of standing and special committees. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Therefore, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, that Committee Report 3-16(4) be received and adopted. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The motion is on the floor. The motion is in order.

Question has been called.

---Carried

The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Standing Committee on Government Operations is pleased to provide its Report on the Review of the 2007-2008 Annual Report of the Languages Commissioner and commends it to the House.

Introduction

The Standing Committee on Government Operations met on September 28, 2009, to review the 2007-2008 Annual Report of the Languages Commissioner and the special report Speaking of Health: Official Languages as part of Quality Health Care in the Northwest Territories. The committee would like to thank the former Languages Commissioner, Ms. Shannon Gullberg, for presenting these reports. The committee would also like to thank the recently appointed Languages Commissioner, Ms. Sarah Jerome, for attending.

In 2008, the committee urged the Languages Commissioner to conduct more outreach and visit

more communities in order to promote her role and office. In her 2007-2008 Annual Report, the Commissioner noted that she had completed a number of radio interviews; however, she personally visited only Behchoko. The committee was disappointed with this limited amount of travel and is pleased to see that the current Languages Commissioner has already begun attending public functions and offering presentations in communities.

The committee looks forward to hearing more about her activities in future annual reports. The committee is concerned that members of the minority language groups may not be aware of the Commissioner and her role. Her responsibility is to ensure that the rights, status and privileges of the speakers of each of the 11 official languages in the Northwest Territories are protected within government institutions. One of the mandated activities of the Languages Commissioner is to investigate complaints from NWT residents on language issues. The Commissioner received only two complaints in the past two years and relatively few inquiries: 11 inquiries in 2006-2007 and 21 in 2007-2008. One committee member observed that, in his role as MLA, he had received five or six complaints on language issues in 2007-2008. The committee would like to see the Commissioner promote her role so that people with language concerns would bring inquiries and complaints directly to the Languages Commissioner.

I will now turn the floor over to my colleague, Mr. Glen Abernethy, to finish reading the rest of the report. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Menicoche.

Recommendations

In her 2007-2008 Annual Report, the Commissioner made 13 recommendations, six of which were raised in previous reports. Nine of her recommendations were addressed by the Standing Committee on Government Operations in its Final Report on the Review of the Official Languages Act. This report, Reality Check: Securing A Future for the Official Languages of the Northwest Territories, was presented to the House in May of 2009. The response to this report was tabled in the House on October 15, 2009, by the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. The Minister is committed to providing a follow-up response in the fall of 2010. Given this ongoing process, some recommendations in the Language Commissioner’s 2007-2008 Annual Report did not fall strictly within her mandate. The committee has limited its recommendations to the following:

Since 2004-2005, the committee has advocated for the training and certification for interpreters in all language groups. In recent years, Ms. Gullberg and the Special Committee on the Review of the Official Languages Act spoke to the need for capacity building through the development of translation standards as well as training and certification standards for interpreters and translators.

Recommendation 1

The Standing Committee on Government Operations recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories make planning for the implementation of the training and certification of interpreters and translators a priority, and further that the government report back on the status of this initiative.

The ability to provide language services and revitalize official languages requires a cadre of qualified interpreters and translators.

Recommendation 2

The Standing Committee on Government Operations recommends that the GNWT establish a registry of interpreters and translators for every official language.

Websites can be an excellent means of providing general information. The committee recognizes the need to clarify when two or more official languages should be included on government websites.

Recommendation 3

The Standing Committee on Government Operations recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories conduct a review of its website policies and report back on whether they are in compliance with official languages policies, guidelines and legislation.

The committee was pleased to see the Commissioner’s report Speaking of Health: Official Languages as part of the Quality Health Care in the Northwest Territories. The report, tabled in June of 2008, includes 15 recommendations regarding improving language services throughout health care centres and hospitals.

Recommendation 4

The Standing Committee on Government Operations recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories provide a formal response to Speaking of Health: Official Languages as part of Quality Health Care in the Territories within 120 days.

Conclusion

The Standing Committee on Government Operations acknowledges the work that Ms. Shannon Gullberg has done over the last four years. The committee also appreciates Ms. Gullberg’s continued support of Ms. Sarah Jerome as she begins her new term. The committee looks

forward to working with Ms. Jerome and to her active participation in publicizing and promoting the role of the Languages Commissioner. During her tenure to date, the committee is pleased with her approach to fulfilling her mandate. Ms. Jerome has embarked on many community visits, and the committee supports her initiative at attending assemblies and other community events and her willingness to make presentations on language rights.

Recommendation 5

The Standing Committee on Government Operations recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories provide a comprehensive response to this report within 120 days.

Mr. Speaker, that concludes the Report of the Standing Committee on Government Operations on the Review of the 2007-2008 Annual Report of the Languages Commissioner.

Therefore, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, that Committee Report 4-16(4) be received by the Assembly and moved into Committee of the Whole for consideration. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. There is a motion on the floor. The motion is in order. To the motion.

Question has been called.

---Carried

Committee Report 4-16(4) will be moved into Committee of the Whole for consideration. Item 5, returns to oral questions. Item 6, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.