Good afternoon, colleagues. Welcome back to the Chamber. Orders of the day. Item 2, Ministers’ statements. The honourable Premier, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, next Thursday, June 11th , will mark

the one year anniversary of the Government of Canada’s apology to aboriginal victims of the Indian residential school system.

The Assembly of First Nations has called on provincial, territorial and national governments to celebrate this day annually, as ‘the National Day of Reconciliation’. This reconciliation is currently honoured and recognized across our country on a variety of dates between May 26th , as recognized

by the 15th Assembly, and June 21st , National

Aboriginal Day.

The residential school experience is an indelible part of our history and our culture In the Northwest Territories. As Northerners, we continue to work together to heal the many ills that were created during this chapter of our society.

As a government, we are working to support this healing, through our work with the Residential Schools Interagency Committee.

Through the Department of Health and Social Services, we continue to provide trauma support, counselling and referral to advanced psychological services. The Department of Justice funds community programs that support and encourage healing. Meanwhile, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment continues to work with former students to provide records related to their school years and the topic is now covered at age-appropriate levels at several points in the NWT’s Social Studies and Northern Studies curriculum.

Mr. Speaker, as we reconcile the history of residential schools, it is important that our children understand the full legacy of these schools in the

Northwest Territories. As communities, families and educators, we must not shy from discussions of this topic.

We need to work together to ensure that the children of tomorrow are confident and empowered, and that the cycle of misfortune that was created from the residential school experience is now over.

Bishop Murray Chatlain’s apology to NWT Dene last week and the appointment of new individuals to lead the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for residential schools are other important steps that have recently been taken in this journey.

This anniversary is an opportunity for us all to consider this part of our history and the much more positive future that we can build from the closure that was begun by the Prime Minister’s apology, one year ago.

It will represent an opportunity for all Canadians, political and aboriginal leaders, to join together and declare their broad commitment to acknowledge the past and work together for a better future. I encourage all NWT residents to recognize and embrace the National Day of Reconciliation as part of the journey of healing that we must all take together.

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

Mr. Speaker, many small businesses in the Northwest Territories are now experiencing the impacts of the economic downturn and commercial credit crunch. As a government we recognize that one of the roles that we must fill in an economic downturn is to take steps to encourage and assist the business sector to maintain employment levels and expenditures so as to sustain economic activity levels.

I am pleased today to advise Members of this House that the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment and the Northwest Territories Business Development and Investment Corporation have introduced new initiatives to assist Northwest

Territories small businesses, while encouraging investments and expenditures in our economy.

The sector support initiative under the department’s Support for Entrepreneurs and Economic Development Program provides an interest incentive of up to $15,000 per year for a maximum of two years for businesses in designated sectors that borrow money to establish or expand. Given the economic challenges that Northwest Territories businesses face, I have designated all sectors as being eligible for this assistance for the current year.

The Business Development and Investment Corporation has also launched some new lending initiatives including variable interest rate financing, a Working Capital Guarantee Program, winter/summer resupply financing, and BDIC seasonal production financing. Each of these initiatives is designed to bring greater flexibility in tailoring business credit to meet the needs of northern businesses.

In addition to these programs, I am very pleased to announce today that the Business Development and Investment Corporation will offer to all borrowers an interest rate renewal option to renew their loans at the current base rate of prime plus 2 percent, subject to some conditions. This is another important measure that will assist our northern business community during challenging economic times.

We have stated as an Assembly that we are committed to developing a diversified economy that provides all communities and regions with opportunities and choices.

I would like to thank the members of the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Infrastructure for their suggestions and ongoing support. These new tools are designed to enable us to better support small businesses in all of our communities and regions. I encourage all small businesses to take advantage of the programs and services that are in place to help them manage through the challenging times and position themselves for the future.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation, Mr. Michael McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to provide details on the federal and territorial investments in social housing over the next two years.

On May 22nd , 2009, I, along with my fellow housing

Ministers the Honourable Jim Kenyon of Yukon and the Honourable Hunter Tootoo of Nunavut, and the Member of Parliament for Prince Albert,

Saskatchewan, Randy Hoback, attended an announcement and signing ceremony here at the Legislative Assembly. On that date the governments of Canada and the Northwest Territories announced in excess of $117 million in investments in housing in the Northwest Territories over the next two years. These investments are intended to be an economic stimulus and job creation initiative, as well as an important investment in social housing.

As Members may be aware, the bulk of the federal investment comes through funding dedicated to northern housing. The NWT will receive $50 million of the $200 million provided to the three territories.

In addition to the Northern Housing Fund, the NWT will receive allocations under four other housing initiatives. The NWT will receive $520,000 over two years specifically for low income seniors and a further $100,000 will be provided for housing solutions for persons with disabilities.

In addition, the federal government’s extension of housing construction and renovation programs originally scheduled to lapse on March 31, 2009, will provide another additional $3.68 million over two years. I am also pleased to inform the House that the NWT will receive a $4.68 million contribution to complete renovations and energy retrofits on existing public housing. These investments recognize that the unique housing needs of the Northwest Territories cannot be solved through per capita funding arrangements.

All dwellings constructed or repaired with federal funding must be built to a high standard of energy efficiency. The NWT Housing Corporation’s new EnerGuide 80 housing designs will exceed the minimum standards being asked for by Canada. Our new construction standards, together with the energy audits and retrofits we will complete this year, are an important part of the Housing Corporation’s contribution to achieving the 16th Assembly’s goal of an environment that will sustain present and future generations.

Our government is also making a substantial investment in housing over the next two years. The Government of the Northwest Territories will provide in excess of $55 million in new construction and repairs in order to make substantial improvements in the quality of our housing stock. Every community in our Territory will see investments in housing. We will build units through the Public Housing Program, as well as our Housing Choices Home Ownership Program. The NWT Housing Corporation has recently announced improvements to these programs. The income levels used to determine eligibility have increased to include more of our households and the subsidy levels have been increased to better reflect the true cost to operate a home. Our programs are now even more flexible and will help provide home

ownership and repair assistance to households, while helping to reduce the cost of living for our residents.

Our investments in housing over the next two years will go a long way in achieving the goals we have set out as the 16th Assembly to improve the lives of

our residents now and into the future. Housing is a key contributor to the goals of sustainable, vibrant, and safe communities, environmental sustainability, improved health and education rates, as well as being a key economic contributor in every community in our Territory. Our housing investments, together with the other initiatives of our government, are the right approach for these times of economic challenge.

I would also like to extend thanks to this Assembly for the role that you played in this effort. In May of 2008, this Assembly unanimously passed a motion calling for the federal government investments in housing to be extended beyond March 31, 2009. In the months since this motion, Members have actively raised this issue of federal housing funding both in public and during Legislative Assembly proceedings, and have been supportive of our efforts to lobby for renewed investment. It is clear evidence of the successes we can achieve when we speak with a common voice to bring more focus to the issues facing our Territory.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister responsible for the Worker's Safety and Compensation Commission, Mr. Robert McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This month we celebrate our rich northern history. Alongside the many events planned to mark Yellowknife’s 75th birthday, the Mine Rescue

Competition of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut commemorates the North’s 52 years of mining safety success.

The Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission will host the Mine Rescue Competition on Friday, June 12, and Saturday, June 13, in Yellowknife. The competition is an excellent venue to evaluate and compare the quality and effectiveness of mine rescue training programs in the NWT and Nunavut. It is an open event and all mines operating in the NWT and Nunavut are welcome to compete for the surface and underground Commissioner’s trophies.

The Mine Rescue Competition is part of Mining Week, which runs from June 8 to 13. Mining Week recognizes the many contributions our leading industry makes to building and sustaining a sound northern economy. Friday’s events take place at the Giant Mine site and are closed to the public.

Saturday’s competition runs from 9:00 in the morning to 3:30 in the afternoon at the Yellowknife Community Arena. The public is welcome to attend and support our northern miners. Over the lunch hour the NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines will host its annual miner’s picnic, a free community barbeque.

In closing, I encourage your participation in Mining Week events and the Mine Rescue Competition on Saturday, June 13th . Join the WSCC in celebrating

the many safety achievements of our fellow Northerners.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Item 3, Members’ statements. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. This is the time of year for our graduations. The Thomas Simpson School in Fort Simpson is holding theirs this weekend and I’m proud to be attending, to wish our students well into the future. There will be 14 students attending graduation ceremonies in Fort Simpson and in the community of Fort Liard, six.

These students are to be congratulated because they have worked very hard to complete their high school requirements. This can be especially challenging in a small community with few library resources and fewer teachers and students to study and share learning. I think today, however, the Internet has given students in remote communities a leg up in this learning.

More than the Internet, though, it is the teachers, principals, superintendents, and other school staff who deserve recognition for the work they have done to teach and support these students. In last week’s Deh Cho Drum there was a report on two activities, one at the Thomas Simpson School, a motivational presentation called Turtle Camp and talks about careers with Aurora College in mining, oil, and gas, by volunteers Mr. Wilbert Antoine and Mr. Bob Norwegian.

I also have to commend the community for all the activities it has been involved in to give the young people opportunities. They have had the opportunity to participate, gain confidence, and learn new skills in many school and community events. I’m referring to activities like learning to play an instrument at the Kole Crook Fiddle Camp and fun competitions at the Beavertail Jamboree.

And, of course, we cannot forget the support from families. It is time for parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles to be proud of their graduates.

Finally, I’d like again to congratulate every student. This is just the beginning. I look forward to seeing their future accomplishments in education and at the workplace. I wish them well and hope they enjoy their lives in whatever path of lifelong learning they take.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to follow up on the proposed Bill 13, An Act to Amend the Commissioner’s Land Act. Following committee review of the bill, including a public hearing with submissions, the bill was sent back for further amendment to correct a crucial deficiency. The issue was specific: the act must be amended to include a requirement for financial security adequate to cover the cost of abandonment and remediation of industrial and commercial sites throughout the full phases of development, operation, and closure.

Any one of us could rattle off a list of the cases that have taught us this harsh lesson: Giant Mine, Rayrock, DEW line sites, Colomac. The list goes on and on. On lands under territorial control, examples include the $23 million and annual ongoing liability left to the GNWT for the Giant Mine remediation; up to a million dollars to clean up the abandoned Treminco Ptarmigan Mine property on the Ingraham Trail; and the potential for millions more dollars for the Norman Wells project and pipeline cleanup.

The taxpayers have had enough of this and the environment can’t take it. The solution is simple and can be easily achieved. As a priority in the next session, we need to approve a legislative amendment that lays out the specific conditions for the posting of financial security, together with amendments providing for the mandatory writing of regulations.

The delay is frustrating and possibly costly. The committee has been working on this since the legislative proposal a year ago. However, we need to get this done and I have to say that I am pleased by the Minister’s commitment to incorporate this essential feature beginning this fall.

When use of the NWT land is granted, the government is acting in trust. In carrying out this trust, government’s decision must be based upon sound risk management, environmental stewardship, and full cost accounting. The taxpayers and environment have had enough of the resources of tomorrow paying for the mistakes of today.

Again, I am very pleased with the Minister’s commitment to address this crucial need. I urge prompt action to bring this forward in the fall so that we can close this gap as soon as possible.

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

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. [Translation] Today what I’m working with with all the people working here, the Tu Nedhe people, I would like to thank everybody for that. [Translation ends]

Today I would like to take the opportunity to let my constituents know what I have planned for the coming months. From June 17th to 19th I will be in

Fort Resolution to meet with constituents and hold a public meeting to update the community. On June 23rd to the 25th I hope to attend the Akaitcho

General Assembly. On June 30th I’ll be visiting

Lutselk’e with the honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Sandy Lee.

In August from the 17th to the 19th I’ll be in Lutselk’e

to meet with constituents, hold a public meeting, and from the 25th to the 28th I’ll be in Fort

Resolution to visit with constituents and community leaders.

On behalf of the important committee work that we do as Members of the Legislative Assembly, I’ll be travelling to various communities over the next few months. I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge those Ministers that were able to make it to my riding to meet directly with my constituents and I look forward to continuing this important working relationship with Ministers and the constituents of Tu Nedhe.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the hardworking staff here at the Legislative Assembly. There are many people behind the scenes that make our jobs much easier.

Finally, I’d like to thank the many constituents that have brought forward important issues to my attention and I encourage them to keep doing so. I am working on all issues and together we’ll make Tu Nedhe a better place to live.

With that, I would like to wish you and the rest of the hardworking colleagues here in the House a safe, productive, active summer break until we see you again in October.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I got a call from a rate contractor out of Inuvik, Mr. Mike Baxter, in regards to his business. He provides welding services out of Inuvik. He was in business for 25 years, yet he is nowhere closer to getting any benefit from a $100 million school which is presently being constructed out of Inuvik. After being told or getting the run around, he was told to call Jim Carter out of Whitehorse. Apparently Mr. Carter is managing the project now from Whitehorse. This individual was told, well, we’ll hire you for $25 an hour as a welder. Excuse me, he said his labourer makes more than $25 an hour in Inuvik.

At the same time, the contract to this company is $100 million in Inuvik. The same company has two contracts with the one they just completed in Tulita for $22 million and now they have another negotiated contracted for $24 million in Fort Good Hope. This company has negotiated contracts of $146 million, yet they are not hiring Northerners, contractors, and people who basically have made their life’s work in the Northwest Territories, established their businesses. They basically are trying to find whatever they can.

There was a $6 million contract that was let to do the foundation work. Again, the majority of that work was done by southern companies. Again Mr. Baxter received 24 hours of work on that jobsite, yet there were welders there from Newfoundland who were working in excess of 200 hours. Again I have to ask, what is this government thinking when they think they can get away with a $100 million contract, telling us that it is a negotiated contract, it’s going to benefit the North, it’s going to benefit the community and, more importantly, benefit the contractors who make it their business to take advantage of these opportunities and not being heard.

I believe Mr. Baxter has spoken to the Premier and Mr. McLeod on this issue, yet he is getting nowhere. I think as a government we have a duty to consult on any of these large-scale projects in excess of $100 million. Yet when the little dinky curling rink in my riding was reamed over by the media, the Construction Association of the Northwest Territories from $900,000…

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

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

---Unanimous consent granted.

In regards to the contract that was let in my riding for a curling rink, as I stated, was scrutinized by the NWT Construction Association

and the media. Yet with regard to a $100 million contract and a company that has a $146 million in negotiated contracts with this government and nothing is being said, yet they continue to break our rules in regard to preferential treatment and ensuring those benefits flow to Northerners.

With that, I will be asking the Minister of Public Works questions on this matter later.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wasn’t planning to make a statement today, but this is the beauty of politics in the North. I also received a call from Mr. Baxter in Inuvik. I don’t know the details of the contract. I don’t live there and it’s not my constituency, but there are some basic questions that could be asked about this, because there is a principle involved here. We recently had a situation in Hay River where there was a large contract that looked like it was going to go outside of the Territories, but due to some complications with the Alberta bidder, the work stayed in the North and we were very happy to hear that. And I really appreciate the Minister of Public Works and Services understanding, as he does, of these kinds of issues.

We do fight to ensure that maximum opportunities for northern residents and businesses do accrue. If the processes are not in place to ensure that contracts are benefiting Northerners, then we need to ask questions about it.

As I said, although this is not my constituency, we have all agreed to a process with respect to the Inuvik school on the premise and commitment that this work and these contracts would benefit NWT companies and that the content would be northern. The phone call that I received alleges that components of the work related to the Inuvik school was not even tendered and that the contract for the work that Mr. Krutko speaks of actually is being provided through a company in the Yukon. I really hope that this is not the case and, as I said, of course, I don’t know all the details, but there are a few questions that can be asked which are very straightforward and should have straightforward answers. I will be asking those questions to the Minister of Public Works and Services today.

The relevant questions are: Was this work contracted? Was this work put out to tender as per the specifications of the northern content which lead this to be a negotiated contract with the general contractor? I’ll be asking those questions. If the answer’s no then we do have an issue.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to draw attention today to the positive impacts of the Yellowknife Association of Community Living’s Family Project has on our Territory. Over the last 10 years, work of the federally funded Family Project has resulted in increased services for people with intellectual disabilities and their families.

Some of its recent initiatives offer families of persons with disabilities opportunities to learn from each other, share information about resources available to them, and help families better address their children’s special needs in the K to 12 school system.

Publications such as the Social and Recreational Inclusion Guide help businesses and service providers include people with disabilities. Through Family Project funding, the Yellowknife Association for Community Living can hold workshops for people with disabilities, parents, professionals, and the general public. Family Project publications are available for free and are an excellent resource for the implementation of programs for inclusive living.

Two Family Project services, the Employability and respite services, are being expanded across the Northwest Territories. The Employability service provides a full range of employment possibilities for persons with disabilities and their employers. Respite services offer social respite for families caring for disabled individuals.

The Yellowknife Association for Community Living is committed to providing quality programming for persons with disabilities and their families. The goals of the Family Project are in keeping with our strategic vision for a healthy, educated people and to work with families, communities, and schools to improve the physical and mental well-being of our youth. That includes persons with disabilities.

In the past, GNWT support for the Yellowknife Association for Community Living’s family activities has created much greater positive impact on individuals with disabilities and their families. The support we provide has a ripple effect across our Territories. It has resulted in the expansion of services throughout the Northwest Territories. It has helped us work towards being truly inclusive people.

At the appropriate time I will have questions for the Minister on funding for the Yellowknife Association of Community Living’s family initiative.