Good afternoon, colleagues. Welcome back to the Chamber.

Orders of the day. Item 2, Ministers’ statements. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, for the first time, teachers from across the NWT will be gathering to learn and share together at the ‘Our Students, Our North, Our Success’ educator’s conference in Yellowknife.

This three-day event has been organized by the NWT Teachers’ Association with assistance and support from all district education councils and authorities as well as schools across the NWT.

Northern educators are a very special group of people. Though schools within the Northwest Territories vary from region to region, in terms of size, grades taught, culture and languages spoken, educators deal with many of the same challenges and successes across the North, and this conference gives them the opportunity to discuss, share and learn together.

Major topic areas include a focus on K to 12 literacy, building children’s confidence, the use of technology in the classroom, and strategies for working with children with FASD. A highlight of the conference will be a discussion panel titled “Our Students, Our North, Our Success,” which will include representatives from the Canadian Teachers’ Federation, the NWT Teachers’ Association, Education, Culture and Employment and a few well-known and respected northern principals.

This event will only be three days long, but it is the hope that our educators and schools will experience the benefits long afterwards, in new perspectives to teaching or new approaches to dealing with differentiated instruction of all students.

This conference is a very large event, Mr. Speaker, with over 800 participants. The NWTTA has worked long and hard with many different partners to make this event possible, and I would particularly like to recognize the work that they have done to make this an exciting learning opportunity for the northern educators.

Mr. Speaker, this year, Education Week happens to fall on the same week as the conference and we are choosing to celebrate the role of teachers through a reception on the evening of Monday, February 16th . Mr. Speaker, I hope that you and all

Members will be able to join me in celebrating the teachers that do so much in our communities. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I had an opportunity this morning, along with my colleagues from the Nunakput riding and the Sahtu, to have an update from Richard Nerysoo who just got back from Ottawa meeting with the federal Minister and Privy Council, Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs Chuck Strahl and the Minister of Natural Resources. They are pushed to try to get the Mackenzie Highway built up the Mackenzie Valley. Mr. Speaker, they are looking at a partnership with all the First Nations governments up and down the valley to build a road which we’ve been waiting for some time to see constructed.

In his discussions, it seemed like the federal Ministers were asking where the Government of the Northwest Territories is on this major project for the

Mackenzie Valley, of which we are talking about $1.8 billion.

Mr. Speaker, I think it’s important that we continue to work together with our partners, the aboriginal groups, the Mackenzie Valley Construction, to ensure that we have a system in place that we can move this major project forward. It’s not going to be easy, but I think through the partnership arrangement that’s been considered by the First Nation governments from the Deh Cho all the way to Nunakput, the Sahtu and the Gwich’in settlement areas, that we have to move this project forward.

Mr. Speaker, I think it’s important that this capital investment happen right now with regard to the natural and fiscal restraints we are under, but more importantly putting people to work, investing in our infrastructure and making sure this capital project moves. Yes, it’s a major project, but like any major project we do have to have the incentive to move forward, get the support from all our partners and, more importantly, convince the federal government that the Government of the Northwest Territories is onside with the coalition which consists of groups from up and down the valley to move the Mackenzie Valley Highway forward.

I think it’s important that this government or this House show we support this major initiative by way of a capital project. I think we should have a debate in this House and I believe we will be later on next week.

I will be asking the Minister of Transportation about this issue with regard to the transportation infrastructure for the Northwest Territories and the Mackenzie Valley Highway.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There have been several animal neglect and abuse instances in the NWT over the past year that have garnered much public attention and criticism. We need to be doing more to prevent incidents like this from occurring by developing a public awareness and education program and stronger animal rights legislation.

I want to be clear that I’m talking about pets, agricultural, and working animals here. I think the Wildlife Act has good protections written into it for wildlife and we don’t want to affect hunting and trapping in the NWT, which I strongly support.

Several months ago the Animal Legal Defence Fund published a report which ranked provinces

and territories on the relative strength and comprehensiveness of their animal protection laws. The NWT ranked in the bottom tier. This poor ranking is due mainly to the fact that the NWT doesn’t have a specific animal rights act. What we do have is the Dog Act, which is a start, but, as its name suggests, it only applies to dogs.

The report makes some suggestions as to how the NWT could improve their legislation, including a broader range of protections that apply to all animals, not just dogs; better definitions of standards of basic care; harsher penalties for repeat offenders; and provisions that allow a judge to prevent offenders from owning animals in the future, to list a few of the suggestions. To my mind this needs to be complemented by a program that profiles the responsibilities of a pet or working animal owner in the NWT.

There is much room for improvement here and a model that could be used is Manitoba, whose legislation ranked first in the Animal Legal Defence Fund report. Manitoba, like the NWT, highly values hunting and trapping; yet they have managed to draft progressive animal rights legislation of the highest standard.

The NWT is a place where animals play a fundamental role in people’s lives. Incidence of pet ownership is high in the North, and dog mushing and other such activities are good for tourism and part of our cherished traditional heritage. The vast majority of people recognize the important relationship these animals play in our lives and treat them with the respect they deserve. However, from time to time an appalling violation of the terms of human decency will occur; typically one that could be prevented with the development of appropriate legislation and implementation of enforcement provisions.

With good education and the implementation of an animal rights act, we can ensure the proper and responsible treatment of our pets and working animals.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In pretty much every session since I was elected into the 16th Assembly I have asked questions on

performance bonuses paid to deputy ministers, senior managers, and excluded employees within the GNWT. Every time I ask, I get generally the same response from the Premier that, yes, bonuses

are paid. In fact, around $1.65 million is paid out annually, give or take a couple hundred thousand.

I’ve heard from the Premier and the Minister of Human Resources that bonuses are a necessity. I couldn’t agree more. When bonuses are earned they should absolutely be provided. However, it’s clear that pretty much every deputy minister and every senior manager who is eligible for bonuses receives them on an annual basis. Once a bonus becomes expected, they lose their effectiveness. They stop becoming about increasing results or output and become a part of an employee’s base salary.

I know many of our deputy ministers and senior managers and I know that many of them work really, really hard, often above and beyond normal expectations. These individuals deserve bonuses. Unfortunately it’s also clear that there are no official processes to determine when a bonus should be paid; no mechanism to determine and assess when somebody has taken that extra step.

Last year the federal government developed a rigorous assessment process for their performance pay. With their plan and process in place fewer than 20 percent of the senior executives received bonuses. Under the federal program senior managers are assessed based on performance targets and a 360 degree review which includes input from fellow senior managers, colleagues, Ministers and others.

We must ensure that staff are rewarded for outstanding performance; performance that is above and beyond expectation; for thinking outside of the box; for streamlining government through increased efficiencies and better use of resources, not paid bonuses because we always have and that staff receiving them expect it.

Last year I asked the Premier to review and implement a process similar to the federal government’s to ensure that when bonuses are earned, they will be paid and when they aren’t, they won’t be paid. Processes like this will ensure that we remain competitive with the private sector by providing high-quality performers with financial incentives which encourage their continued commitment to the GNWT as opposed to jumping ship and seeking employment in the private sector. Unfortunately, I never received confirmation that this was done and it appears once again that virtually every eligible deputy minister and senior manager received performance bonuses for the 2007-2008 fiscal year.

At the appropriate time I will be asking the Premier some questions concerning bonuses in the NWT.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We continue to speak of supporting our children and ensuring that they receive high quality education beginning with the primary and elementary levels. Studies show that paying attention to young children’s learning needs pays off. These children develop into more enthusiastic students and are more likely to succeed in higher education.

Learning starts in the home community. When the children begin school they need a healthy, safe, nurturing environment. They need the necessary space to play and work together in groups. Our children require a safe and enjoyable place to learn.

In my riding of Nahendeh, the community of Trout Lake has outgrown its school. The Charles Tetcho School is a one-room classroom built 20 years ago for a small population of 50. At that time there were very few children.

I am proud to say that Trout Lake is now a growing community. Now the students in the classroom have both primary and middle school age. The community needs a building where there can be some separation of grade levels to allow for different activities to be going on at once.

In order to satisfy the needs of children and youth in grades kindergarten to 9, Trout Lake needs two or more classrooms. I ask the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment to recognize the needs of the students of the Charles Tetcho School and ensure that a budget for a new school is in the next capital plan. I will be asking the Minister questions during question period.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I`d like to speak today about my constituency meeting that I had last night at N.J. Macpherson School, which is located in my riding. It was the most well-attended constituency meeting that I`ve had in my five years representing the Kam Lake riding. Twenty-seven constituents showed up to voice their concerns over how this government is being run.

There is an anger and anxiety amongst the public that I have not witnessed before. For the first time, some constituents even brought demonstration signs and placards with them to my meeting. They

are very unhappy with the way this government is operating. They are upset with the handling of the proposed changes to the supp health benefits, the Opportunities Fund and the loan to Discovery Air, sky-high power rates, and as if that wasn`t enough, board reform is now front and centre and, it appears, being shoved down their throats.

I spoke yesterday about the GNWT`s pathetic effort at consultation and engaging the public in a meaningful way. The government just does not seem like they want to listen to our people. Rather they seem intent on force feeding a plan on board reform that does nothing for anyone except make a Minister’s job easier; less accountability and less oversight and more bureaucracy. The plan has not articulated what is wrong. The government line should be: if it’s not broke, don’t worry, we’ll break it.

My constituents want the government to keep their hands off of education in our community.

They want health and social services and housing to be managed and run by professionals in that field. Parents want to have a say in electing school boards, not whoever the Minister’s buddies happen to be that day.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’d like to talk about consensus government. I was reflecting on the comments of a former colleague, Mr. Dent, during a CBC interview this week. When extolling the virtues of consensus government he was raising the Regular Members’ input into the budget process and how we see it before it’s delivered and we should feel honoured to have such a privilege to be that involved. That is one that constantly gets brought up: Well, people in other jurisdictions don’t even see the budget before it comes to the floor and you all do.

There are some really good things about consensus government versus the party system. When it comes to our legislative process it’s pretty clearly defined and seemingly works quite well. So what is it that goes wrong with consensus government that allows initiatives like supplementary health benefits reform, board reform, revenue option, consultations, the ATCO proposal, the Deh Cho Bridge initiative, to get so far down the road and to absorb so much of our

resources only to find out that it is untenable and has no public support and causes the kind of acrimony and stress that we have had to experience recently as legislators?

I am no political scientist, Mr. Speaker, but consensus government fails at some point. You can say that we expect leadership to lead, but that doesn’t mean doing things without support of the Regular Members. I understand the frustration of Cabinet Ministers and the Premier while we expect things to happen, but consensus and building consensus is a lot of work.

We all come here as Regular Members, equal and elected by the people we represent. That election qualifies us to fill any role in this government. So what is lost in the translation when then on bended knee Regular Members have to prod, beg, threaten, question the Executive Council to hear the voice of our people? Often in response to initiatives that they can’t even convince us the merits of, never mind the public. Consensus government to really work does require that effort and leadership. Mr. Speaker, it reminds me that I would like to seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement. Thank you.

---Unanimous consent granted

Mr. Speaker, I don’t have a solution to where we go on consensus government, but I must tell you I did have a mental image, while I was driving to work this morning when I was thinking about consensus government, of that little centaur on the Hercules cartoon named Newton who has the head and torso of a human and has the backside of an ass. Mr. Speaker, that is the hybrid that I kind of feel like we are trying to work with here. I won’t lead to any speculation about which side we are. Thank you.

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

It is a tough one to follow up on, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to talk about the importance of the northern manufacturing sector and what it does to the northern economy and how this government can help.

Manufacturing is a small but important growth sector in our economy which is a vital pillar to our North and the growth for the future. There are approximately 100 businesses and at least 400 people that are employed in our northern manufacturing. This includes lumber mills, doors, windows, water tanks, cabinets, and log homes. There are furniture, boats, homes and don’t forget

about those canvas bags made in Fort McPherson. Even in Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Speaker, we have jewellery made by Hau Huynh at Arctic Jewellers and even publishing done down at CanArctic Graphics. So let us not forget about the other people such as artisans. They create crafts, tanned furs and make leather goods and don’t forget about food.

So, Mr. Speaker, as you can see, the list really does go on. What is obvious here is whether you live in Yellowknife or Fort McPherson, manufacturing is not just important to the economy but it is important to Northerners as a whole. We should all find ways to take pride in our northern manufacturers who help our economy and produce products here in the North. However, in some cases we know not everyone knows about these amazing products, these innovative products that are created in our own backyard. These businesses sometimes are facing serious challenges relating to finding and retaining their employees, controlling their costs of the supplies including their power and utility costs. One way or another, most of these businesses are facing substantial marketing challenges. This government can lend that helping hand. That is all they are really looking for. There are more efficient ways that we could work to help connect them with their customers. We could use what I have called the “made in the NWT” promo campaign which I have suggested to past ITI Ministers.

Mr. Speaker, I raised this on several occasions. It wouldn’t take much to design a logo and help develop a marketing campaign that could help support this, our manufacturing industry. Mr. Speaker, it wouldn’t take much more than a simple tag and a certain small promo session. It wouldn’t be complicated but sometimes if you give it to government, they will make it complicated. Mr. Speaker, we hear time and again how the United States talks about “buy America”. Well where is “buy NWT”? Mr. Speaker, promoting northern business is not just a job that we need to do, it is a right we have to make sure we instil so Northerners understand what is important to their economy.

Mr. Speaker, may I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement?

---Unanimous consent granted

Thank you, colleagues. Mr. Speaker, we understand the error of free trade and how it imposes purchasing rules and requirements, but this is not about isolating those products and saying we can’t buy. I want to talk about promoting them and fostering that growth. Mr. Speaker, a lot of people work very hard to promote their products. Where is this government standing behind them? Because promoting home grown manufacturing is

not about protectionism; it is about taking pride in what Northerners do. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mr. Speaker, today I would like to bring up the… it is IRC Cup weekend in the Beaufort-Delta and it is the biggest tournament in the Northwest Territories for senior men’s hockey, Mr. Speaker. Just to let you know, I heard it last week on the radio that Simpson said they were the biggest, but they are not. We are.

---Laughter

Mr. Speaker, to all the players and fans, I hope you have a safe drive in from the communities or a plane ride in. This weekend will be good to see everyone from all of the regions and spend time with our family and friends and to let the House know I will be a little bit late on Monday. Good luck, have fun and I hope to see everyone in Inuvik this weekend. Happy Valentine’s Day to my wife. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mr. Speaker, these days with our economy and commodity prices in the poor state that they are in, unemployment numbers are, unfortunately, increasing. As 2009 progresses, I expect we will see more people in the North lose their jobs. That will force more people to apply for unemployment insurance for the financial assistance they need and deserve. But things do not always work out the way they should, Mr. Speaker, and sometimes a worker’s application for employment insurance is denied. In such a case, it is the right of the worker to appeal that decision to an employment insurance board of referees. Most provinces and territories have at least one board to hear appeals, but I was surprised to learn recently that the closest appeal board for the NWT is in either Alberta or the Yukon. These boards don’t travel to the appellant’s home for their hearings; the claimant must come to them.

The NWT is only one of two jurisdictions in Canada without its own employment insurance board. Consider the plight of a worker in Inuvik, for instance, who has had an employment insurance application denied. Although they have the right to

appeal that decision, it is highly unlikely that he or she would bother, knowing that they would have to travel to Edmonton for a hearing at their own expense. If they do launch an appeal, days of travel are required, again at large expense. This is for someone who has just lost their only source of income. The end result is an unfair situation for our residents at a very tough time in their life. Our workers deserve better, Mr. Speaker. They deserve the same access to an appeal as the rest of Canada. I know I am talking about a federal responsibility, but the NWT government, through the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, can request of the federal government that a board of referees be established for the NWT. The best part of that is that there is no cost to us, Mr. Speaker, because the employment insurance board costs are covered by the federal government. So I strongly encourage the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment to look into this situation post-haste and then contact his federal counterpart to see if we can’t get an NWT board of referees established as soon as possible. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will have some questions for the Minister of ECE during question period.

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