Good day. Welcome to the House. At this time I would like to recognize a former Speaker of the House and also Premier, Minister, Mr. Richard Nerysoo. Welcome to the House.

---Applause

Item 2, Ministers’ statements. Mr. Premier, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Two weeks from today the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games will begin and Canada will be front and centre on the world stage. Shortly after that, Vancouver will play host to the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games. More than 80 countries will be participating in these games and they will attract over 10,000 journalists and three billion television viewers from around the world. With so many visitors coming to Vancouver and so much attention focussed on Canada, the 2010 Olympic Winter Games represent an ideal opportunity to let the world know about the tremendous potential that exists in the Northwest Territories. An opportunity like this doesn’t happen very often. Mr. Speaker, it has been 22 years since Canada last hosted the games and it makes it all the more important that the NWT is represented in Vancouver.

Our priorities as a Legislative Assembly include promoting a strong and diversified economy and increasing awareness of our unique northern identity. NWT residents know that our Territory is rich in resources and economic opportunity. We know that the NWT has some of the finest tourist attractions in the world. We also know that our Territory is home to a diverse mixture of cultures and many talented artists and performers. Our plan is to make sure that the rest of the world knows about it too, and we are taking full advantage of the profile created by the games to promote the NWT as a place to live, visit and invest.

Members may have already heard some of the activities the Government of the Northwest Territories is undertaking to promote the NWT and showcase our art and culture at the Olympic Games. We have already begun a northern marketing campaign in partnership with the governments of the Yukon and Nunavut to attract attention to Canada’s North. Members will also probably be aware of Canada’s Northern House, another joint initiative of the governments of the NWT, Nunavut and with participation of the Government of Yukon. By working together, the GNWT has been able to leverage its investment in promoting the NWT and will be able to extend the reach of our marketing campaign beyond what each territory could have done on their own.

The Government of the Northwest Territories will also be actively promoting our northern art and culture at the games. We have assembled delegations of traditional and contemporary performers and artists who will be travelling to Vancouver to showcase northern talent. A team of Dene and Inuit games athletes will be on hand to show off our traditional games and activities to southern and international audiences.

From the beginning, the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee, VANOC, has worked hard to make these Canada’s games. Part of that effort has been a commitment to showcase each province and territory. NWT Day on February 19th will be the highlight of the GNWT’s effort to promote the NWT at the games. On that night, performers will take the stage at the B.C. Place stadium to deliver a performance that will showcase the best of NWT culture, including traditional drumming, dancing and fiddling as well as contemporary performances.

We are also taking advantage of the opportunity presented by the games to promote leadership development of our youth of the NWT. We have selected a group of 34 youth ambassadors from across the NWT who will be in Vancouver promoting the NWT to visitors and media as they work at Northern House and venues around the city. Similar programs the GNWT has offered in the past have shown that an experience like this can have a major influence on the lives of our youth and help them develop important leadership skills.

Taking advantage of the high profile of the winter Olympic Games to encourage our children and youth to lead healthy, active lives is another part of our Olympic effort. We are doing this through our Right to Dream Program, which is being delivered on our behalf by the Aboriginal Sports Circle of the NWT. Through the Right to Dream, Olympic-related activities and events held in communities across the NWT will help teach our youth about the benefits of participation in sport.

Mr. Speaker, these are the highlights of some of the activities the Government of the Northwest Territories has undertaken as part of our involvement in the 2010 Winter Games. The departments of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Municipal and Community Affairs, Education, Culture and Employment and Executive have been working together for more than a year to make sure that we are prepared to take full advantage of the opportunities the games present to us. Over the next few weeks, I’m sure you’ll hear more about our plans and activities from the individual Ministers as they highlight the activities of their own departments. We are confident that our efforts will help create investment and economic development in the NWT, encourage tourism and open up new markets for our artists and performers.

In closing, Mr. Speaker, Members may have heard yesterday that Hay River athlete Brendan Green was named to Canada’s Olympic Biathlon Team.

---Applause

Brendan continues a tradition of representing the NWT that began in the 1972 Olympics in Sapporo, Japan. He is one of several talented NWT athletes poised to make their mark on the international scene. We should be proud of all our NWT athletes and I would like to invite Members to join me in wishing Brendan the best of luck on behalf of all the people in the Northwest Territories as he competes during the Olympics. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

The honourable Minister of Education, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Literacy skills are the foundation of a happy and successful life. On Wednesday, January 27th , families from across the Northwest Territories

celebrated Family Literacy Day.

Throughout the Territory, there are many people who are dedicated to helping others in all areas of literacy from numeracy to computer skills. I want to thank the NWT Literacy Council and all the literacy coordinators, aboriginal language instructors, teachers, mentors across the Territory for their commitment. These people make every day a

literacy day and I encourage all Northerners to follow their example.

Mr. Speaker, literacy is an essential life skill. People who can read and write are better prepared to live fulfilled lives and contribute to society as a whole. Literacy opens all kinds of doors for a range of opportunities in all aspects of life and connects people with each other. Whatever makes up your family, Family Literacy Day is a perfect opportunity to lead by example and engage the people closest to you in a great activity. You are spending quality time with loves ones and bettering yourself in the process.

Mr. Speaker, one of the best things about literacy is that people do not only have to go to textbooks to improve their skills. There are many simple things everybody can do each day. A parent can read to their kids a bedtime story, which helps both parents and kids improve their skills and develop a love for reading. Sharing traditional stories is another good activity, which not only supports good literacy but also helps us to connect to our culture and heritage. If you are looking for something to do on a weekend, consider taking a trip to the library where books are free if you have a library card.

In closing, Mr. Speaker, I want to thank everybody who participated in National Family Literacy Day activities. We are lucky. There are so many people committed to improving literacy in our Territory and I encourage all Northerners to make family literacy a priority every day. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Item 3, Members’ statements. Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I will offer general remarks outlining the approach I will take to our debate on the report of the Joint Review Panel. First I want to thank and congratulate the members of the panel for their thorough and dedicated work and thoughtful reflection of the mass of information and views presented.

Mr. Speaker, this huge report and its 176 recommendations reflect the many economic, social, cultural and environmental elements of this massive project. But for all its complexities, the result can really be summarized very simply. The report recommendations are summed up with a straightforward statement that if the project is to proceed on a basis of sustainable development, all of the 176 recommendations must be carried out. Put another way, Mr. Speaker, the panel has said

that unless all the recommendations are met, the project shouldn’t be done.

We are now at the point where governments and interveners are reviewing those recommendations and will offer individual views on their merits to the National Energy Board. The regulatory approach of a Joint Review Panel is unique and, at this point in the process, prompts a very major concern for me. Interveners must make their final comments and make them before the major comments of governments are known. Furthermore, the process does not now require that the comments of governments be made public before they are forwarded to the NEB.

In order for the process to proceed in a transparent and public manner, the comments of governments must be made public as soon as they are ready so that all interested people will have an opportunity to comment on the positions of government.

My other major concern is costs. Of the 176 recommendations, 52 involved huge responsibility to fall upon this government. In order to comment on the recommendations, the huge costs of meeting these recommendations must be known. The cost of meeting these responsibilities will be huge and it is certain that this government will not be able to carry out recommendations without major new resources. This puts the issues of increased resource revenues, increased territorial government revenues and a very large increase in territorial government capacity at the forefront. Without the money and capacity, we will never be able to do the work involved. It is essential that our Minister now begin getting confirmed commitments from the federal government for the revenues needed to meet these responsibilities.

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

---Unanimous consent granted.

As the panel said, if you can’t do it all, don’t do it. Without the money, we can’t do it. I am calling on the government to ensure that if this project is to go ahead, we are able to meet the key recommendations and we must meet all of the responsibilities and get the revenue deal we need to do it. As I have said, we must carry out on the process in an open and transparent manner to involve our public and share in their ideas. I will be asking the Minister of ENR questions as the lead agency. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to start off by thanking Premier Roland and Minister Bob McLeod in particular for all their work on

Canada’s Northern House and the work that they have put into that. I had an opportunity to attend the grand opening of Canada’s Northern House on Thursday, January 14th . I would like to advise my

colleagues here in the House how impressed I was with this effort. It certainly goes to show how working with our neighbours in the Yukon and Nunavut can lead to many great things. Certainly if medals were handed out for entertainment that day, our own Ms. Leela Gilday certainly would have won the gold medal for her great performance.

Canada’s Northern House is located at 602 West Hastings, a prime location in downtown Vancouver. It houses an interactive northern experience that people can come and enjoy. Mr. Speaker, I don’t want to steal all of the Minister’s of ITI thunder, but the NWT team that is involved in this project should be commended. I was very impressed by the work done by Lynn Feasey from Yellowknife, who is the creative director, curator and gallery retail manager. Whether it is arts and crafts, information about our tourism products, oil, gas or diamonds, or the ability to look at an on-line job bank to find work in the NWT, Canada’s Northern House is, quite frankly, spectacular.

One of the other highlights in Canada’s Northern House is the interactive video where people can send video postcards of themselves to family and friends from around the world. This was extremely popular with the visitors that I saw when I was there. I believe Canada’s Northern House will really attract thousands of tourists, media and athletes that are going to be in Vancouver for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Mr. Speaker, I also wanted to thank the team working, greeting and educating visitors to Canada’s Northern House. I’d like to thank Michelle Smith who is handling the day-to-day operations at Canada’s Northern House on behalf of the three territories, and the staff from the NWT who are helping out: Judy Nadon, Abbey Boyd, Marty Brown, Brenda Dragon, Jackie Challis, as well as Joanna Thiemmesen, who worked with Lynn Feasey on the exhibits and their content. Mr. Speaker, if I missed anybody, I’d like to apologize.

Mr. Speaker, It was great to hear the news that officially our own Brendan Green from…

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

---Unanimous consent granted.

Once again, I just wanted to say how great it was to hear the news that our own Brendan Green from Hay River was selected to the Olympic team yesterday. Again, I just wanted to share how impressive Canada’s Northern House is, and I urge any Member, member of the public or anybody that happens to be in Vancouver, to check out Canada’s Northern House, or check it out on

the Facebook page, Twitter or the website at Canadasnorth.ca. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I stand today probably as the only voice for common sense to express my concern and opposition for the administration of the public housing where they’re going to switch it back from income support to the LHOs.

As we all know, there are challenges with any program, and when the government decided to switch the program over, the administration from Housing to ECE, it caused quite an uproar. Mr. Speaker, it also cost in the range of $1.5 million at that date to undertake that project. Mr. Speaker, now the government has announced, on page 14 of the budget address, that it will now be switching that back.

I can only imagine what that will now cost.

---Applause

As you can see, the confusion continues. Mr. Speaker, we don’t have an endless pot of money, and I still think that the program initiative had foresight for the future as to what should really be going on. Mr. Speaker, ultimately our government should be supporting self-sufficiency and self-reliance, and having people go to one centre, a service centre of excellence to help people move forward on the initiatives that they need to get on their own feet was the best idea possible. It’s unusual for government to come up with a clear and simple idea that makes sense, and now they’re reversing it. That’s probably what happens here.

Mr. Speaker, communication, implementation and policy and programs became a confusing factor during this process, Mr. Speaker, I’ll tell you that happens in any program delivery of our system. Mr. Speaker, I can’t tell you about how much biasness I had heard at the start when people said that if they go to income support they’re getting welfare, but if they go to housing programs, it’s just assistance.

Mr. Speaker, a social subsidy program is simply a social subsidy program. It’s the label people chose to put on it, so there was a negative stigma at the very start. Mr. Speaker, I can appreciate the pain that it probably caused a lot of people by filling out one extra form and stopping in the program office to get their help but, Mr. Speaker, that wasn’t confusing. A one-stop-shop centre was the right way to go.

Mr. Speaker, as you can tell from the enthusiasm on this side of the House, that I’m the one voice in this regard, but, Mr. Speaker, I think this is a step backward and it’s going to cost this government more money wasted by switching it back. It had the right vision and the right direction at the time when they did this back in the last government. Thank you, Mr. Speaker

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The Member from Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Mr. Speaker, I wasn’t ready to make a Member’s statement before until I heard Mr. Hawkins Member’s statement. Now I’m ready to make a Member’s statement.

---Laughter

I’m sure he was deafened by the sound of his own applause there, but…

---Laughter

...Mr. Speaker, he was the only one applauding, because I would like to thank the government for responding to the many requests…

...that were put forth by the Members on this side of the House in response to our constituents who told us of their concerns and their problems when this new practice came into place of having ECE manage the housing subsidy. There were problems. They were logistical problems, in some instances, where ECE and the housing authorities were not co-located and information needed to pass back and forth. We caused some great stress to seniors who were living in subsidized accommodation who, all of a sudden, got letters saying what the economic rent was going to be for their unit and they didn’t understand that they would continue to receive the subsidy. But I think we did the right thing as announced in the budget yesterday by Minister Miltenberger. I applaud the government for that, but we did do the wrong thing in transferring it over and I hope that any of the harm that was caused can be now reversed and mitigated by this decision to go back to the way that things were being done. I think that the LHOs did an excellent job of managing the housing subsidy.

When you have small northern communities where there is no market, people don’t have a choice to just go down the street like they would in Yellowknife or Hay River or Fort Smith and rent a place on the private market; it is not available. So, therefore, people are compelled to rent government units and their rent is assessed based on their income, and that is a very useful role that this government plays in those communities where we

still do not have a private housing market. So to take all of those people who had no choice but to rent from the government and put them all, essentially, on income support and have their housing subsidy, which has been a traditional way of finding accommodation for them, putting them in that situation I think was not, I don’t want to overplay it, but I do not think it was a good way to approach things.

The realities in the North are different. The housing authorities, the NWT Housing Corporation did a very good job of managing that money. I know that Minister Dent at the time went off to some conference and thought this was a great idea to harmonize subsidies. However, it was not -- sorry, Mr. Dent, still talking about you – but, anyway, congratulations to the government, a good move. Thank you.

The Member from Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday in the House the Minister of Finance announced a transfer of public housing back to the NWT Housing Corporation and ultimately back to the local housing organizations. I feel this was an excellent move. However, Mr. Speaker, the Income Support Program being administered by ECE still has its challenges.

In one of the two communities I represent, we do not have a community services officer. This makes it difficult for people to get assistance in a timely manner, but timely response is not the only issue, Mr. Speaker. The program is a computer program that has no creativity, no feeling and it’s being delivered in communities where employment rates are about 40 percent.

Mr. Speaker, I want to talk about how clients were assessed, are assessed and how decisions are made with respect to their situation. At one time, many of these decisions were made by social workers and in many of these communities these social workers were well known, well liked and they knew the people and the community knew them and in many cases they knew the circumstances behind why the individual or the family was coming for assistance. The system seemed to work well.

Then things changed. The Income Support Program went through a number of changes. Today the program starts off with a six-page application form and we have a program that many of our constituents in smaller isolated communities, the community service officer only comes in once a month or so and the program is very computer-

based and decisions on people’s lives are beside it on the computer screen. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The honourable Member from Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, recently I’ve spoken with constituents of mine who are paying over $1,000 a month per bedroom in their respective communities. Mr. Speaker, that’s unacceptable. I cannot imagine a family of four, how can they afford a housing unit like that or having to provide healthy foods for their family; another contentious issue on how the NWT Housing Corporation and the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment calculate the tenant’s income when determining rent.

Even though the settlement allowance and northern living allowance may seem the same, Mr. Speaker, they are not. They are very different. Northern living allowance is exempt on the Public Housing Rental Subsidy from ECE. According to my constituents, Public Housing Rental Subsidy, some people in the same housing unit are assessed differently. In fact, there have even been assessments made on the same person, Mr. Speaker.

Settlement allowances are provided by community governments and northern allowances provided by territorial and federal governments. Constituents are getting penalized for who they work for, Mr. Speaker. Constituents who work for the hamlets should be equal to those that work for the GNWT.

When you work in small communities, there are many challenges such as little or no room for advancement. This is unfair and is another unnecessary challenge to people who are committed to their jobs, but aren’t even given equal rights as employees.

As I expressed in previous sessions, I have been receiving a lot of comments in the Nunakput communities regarding this issue. Many people in small, isolated communities live in NWT housing units because there’s no other option.

Mr. Speaker, although northern allowances and settlement allowances are non-assessable income, evaluation is a complicated formula. There is an enormous inconsistency in these policies in how the staff in regions are expected to use them.

All tenants under the Public Housing Rental Policy, regardless of employment or circumstances, should be treated with consistency, unless for reasonable circumstances such as our elders.

Northern allowance and settlement allowance is given to people in small, remote communities all over this great Territory.

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

---Unanimous consent granted.

Northern allowance and settlement allowance is given to people in small, remote communities all over this great Territory because of the high cost of living. Even with those allowances, people in my riding are paying 80 percent more for basic necessities than people living in the major centres.

Mr. Speaker, I will have questions for the appropriate Minister in question period. Thank you.

The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, we’ve heard the Minister’s 2010 budget address and the main estimates have been tabled in the House. As I listened yesterday, I was struck by a particular statement in the Finance Minister’s address. He said that we’ll have to return to, “a sustainable path,” and, “maintain a tight rein on spending in the fiscal year following this new budget.”

I support our current level of spending and I support the same level of spending for the 2010-11 year as it’s laid out in the budget. But I recognize, as does the Minister, that we will have to reduce or cut back our spending in the fiscal year 2011-12.

It might be a bit premature, but I am already concerned about two things in regards to that 2011-12 budget. First of all, how will we reduce our expenditures and, secondly, what will we do in anticipation of shrinking revenues? The Minister stated yesterday that expenditures will be capped at a 3 percent growth for 2011-12. It’s likely to be a difficult target considering that this proposed budget for 2010-11 is 7.5 percent bigger than the current budget year we are in now.

But there is a knight in shining armour, so to speak, to solve our expenditure dilemma. Two years ago, we established, under the Department of Executive, a new entity called the program review office. It exists to evaluate the business of government to find efficiencies within our bureaucracy and presumably savings, but we’ve heard little about the workings of this office. Granted the program review office did undertake a study of GNWT office space requirements and produced a very comprehensive and useful report, but what else has the office done? Members know about a couple of projects, but are not privy to the results of those projects. It’s

quite likely that the results of these projects, undertaken since the office was established, helped to shape the main estimates that we are about to debate. Members have no report to consider and have not been briefed on most of the program review office projects.

I, for one, would like to be able to review the work of this office and be able to know if any savings were realized and I think the public deserves access to these results as well. If we really mean it when we say we are a transparent, accountable government, as we so often hear, then this kind of information must be shared.

Looking ahead a year, what of the 2011-12 budget and the impending cap on our expenditures? What will the program review office be doing over the next fiscal year? Does the Minister of the Executive already know these areas that will be targeted?

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

----Unanimous consent granted.

Does the Minister of the Executive already know the areas that will be targeted for the 2011 budget? If so, will he let Regular Members and the public know? I say again, for the sake of transparency, this kind of information must be shared and I will have some of these questions for the Minister of the Executive at the appropriate time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this morning I was thinking about the issue of the caribou and how important that issue is going to be in the coming months or days in terms of our relationship, this government’s relationship with the aboriginal governments down the Mackenzie Valley. Mr. Speaker, this type of issue has been heard in court, decisions have been made across Canada. There are several cases that can be cited in terms of aboriginal rights to hunt, fish and trap; treaty rights to hunt, fish and trap. Even the Constitution of 1982 has affirmed the aboriginal rights in terms of their way of life.

Mr. Speaker, we even had a court case here about a duck, a famous duck that was shot out of season. We had another issue on hunting caribou in the corridor here in Yellowknife was heard in terms of these type of issues that have a direct impact on an aboriginal nation, people who demonstrate and practice their way of life.

Mr. Speaker, I, for one, wanted to look at this issue. I have not yet concluded my assessment, but I believe that this process here will be a legal

process. I believe that our legal beagles around the Northwest Territories and probably Canada have started doing some research as to what rights have been infringed upon, what rights have been violated. Has there been a process of consultation by this government with the affected parties in terms of this issue of banning specific hunts in specific areas in the Northwest Territories?

I believe that politics has greatly played into it, Mr. Speaker. When we heard it in the communities in terms of the interpretation of consultation and telling a nation of people that that is something they aren’t able to do, that doesn’t sit right with a lot of people in the communities.

Mr. Speaker, I believe that issue will have a great impact on our future relationships with aboriginal governments in terms of going forward as a nation on resource development and devolution. I believe we really need to do our work on how we protect our people, but at the same time work with them. Thank you.

The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

[English translation not provided.]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to convey my deepest condolences to my elder and my friend, Mr. Joe Punch, who lost his wife, Mrs. Julie Punch, this week. I extend, also, my prayers and my heartfelt sympathies to the whole family for the sudden loss of their mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. Her passing is also a loss to the community of Trout Lake and to the communities in my riding. Joe Punch and his late wife were married for 40 years, had 11 children, 10 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

On behalf of myself, and if I may, Mr. Speaker, express our deepest condolences to Mr. Joe Punch and his family on behalf of the whole of this Assembly. Mahsi cho.

The honourable Member for Monfwi, Mr. Lafferty.

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

With the recent tragedy in Haiti, the country that is in great need of help and assistance, to start developing their country over again, a small community in the Northwest Territories has the intention to help. The community of Behchoko, under the spearhead of Michael Botermans and the

youth, came up with an idea of how to fully utilize a penny to start developing the country of Haiti over again.

The community initiated a penny drive where kids, community members, elders, leaders, and everyone picked pennies up from the ground, dug into their treasure chests, savings, and their homes. The community pitched in and gave pennies to the worthwhile cause. They saved approximately $2,585 in pennies for Haiti relief and donated it to the Development of Peace, a Canadian non-profit organization.

A penny will certainly go a long way to put food on the table, shelter, put clothes on their backs, rebuild the country, nation, and change the world forever.

Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s an honour today to introduce His Worship, Mayor of Tuktoyaktuk, Mr. Mervin Gruben in the gallery today.

Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, Mr. Robert McLeod.

I would like to recognize His Worship, the newly elected mayor of Inuvik, Mr. Denny Rogers. Welcome to the Assembly, Denny.

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

I would like to recognize two individuals in the gallery. First, the president of the Gwich’in Tribal Council, Mr. Richard Nerysoo, as well as the president of the Northwest Territories Métis, Ms. Betty Villebrun.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Member for Yellowknife South, Mr. Bob McLeod.

I would like to recognize my wife and partner of 40-plus years, Melody McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Thebacha, Mr. Miltenberger.

I as well would like to take this opportunity to recognize some constituents: Mr. Ken Hudson, the president of the Métis Local in Fort Smith; hunter and carpenter, Louise Fraser, as well part of the Métis and a respected elder; and of course Betty Villebrun, President of the Northwest Territories Métis. Welcome.

I’d like to welcome everyone to the House.

Item 6, acknowledgements. Item 7, oral questions. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My oral questions today will be following my Member’s statement: the issue with the fact that income support is now transferring back the administration of the housing to the LHO.

I appreciate my colleague from Hay River South who stood up to speak against it. She clearly announced this morning that she would, so I knew she’d let my statement go before hers. But one thing she didn’t talk about is the fact that we’ve got 14 positions out there that were in this original transfer and the fact that it cost $1.5 million to carry this on. So she must be in favour of the fact that these 14 positions are now in flux and we don’t know, and we’re going to get some clarity, hopefully, on this as well as the cost to switch it back.

My question to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment would be: in this transfer of administration back to the LHO, how much will it cost and what will happen to those 14 employees that were brought on board to help with this program?

I’d just like to remind Members to keep your oral questions to a particular matter and not to a particular person. With that, the honourable Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Just for the record, it’s not 14 positions that were transferred. When the transfer occurred in 2006 it was $1.3 million, not $1.5 million. That consisted within that of 10.75 PYs, not 14 positions. I just want to make that clear. But this is still in the planning stages. We just announced within the budget announcement that these programs would be transferred back to the Housing Corporation. Those logistics, the details of it need to be worked out still. We’re in the planning stages. We will be consulting with the standing committees on a going forward basis. We need to identify the detailed information and as we speak we’re going through it in a more detailed fashion.

I consider that a very small error that really tries to find holes in the facts. The facts are that it cost a lot of money to create this transfer and it did create a lot of positions to support this

transfer. That’s really the moral of the story. What’s going to happen with that?

To enable this transfer, some study or direction or consultant was hired and I’d like to know what that cost to do this review as well as what was the question they were considering. Was it to fix the program in its existing state or to find a way to return the program to the way it was before?

When we first hired the consultants to do a thorough review of the program that we delivered since the transfer of the program in 2006 we just wanted to capture what we’ve done to date and where we can go from here, what worked, what didn’t work, the causes of it. That is the review that has been undertaken. The report is finalized. The actual cost itself I will need to get back to the Member or Members on that. We’re still working out the logistics of it and there is an error in the report itself. So we’ve gone back to the consultant to provide more detailed information in that respect.

I’ll agree with the Minister that there was an error in the report and that was the decision to transfer it back. I heard from LHO people that this was starting to straighten out. I heard from people on income support who were going through their housing application process that it made sense after a while. I heard from people administering the program that it was really at the end of the day an administration and communication problem was to make sure that the little boxes that got checked at income support fed on through to the folks at LHOs. Was the administration problem and communication problem addressed in this review as one of the things that they could have cleaned up and fixed to streamline the process?

There were no problems. There were challenges that were before us. We worked with those challenges. We continued to improve the program where we met some challenges and we continued to improve in those areas. Right now we’re talking about transferring. I think we’re at that stage where we will be providing more information to the standing committee on a going forward basis on the detailed information. But we faced some challenges. We resolved those challenges, and we continue to improve our program. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Final supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, would the Minister agree that one-stop-shopping is more efficient and more cost effective to this government, on its ambition to make people more self-reliant and independent, than two stops? Thank you.

I think the importance is the service delivery, that we do provide subsidies to all Northwest Territories, whether it be one-stop, two-stop, three-stop shop. It’s a core service delivery that we deliver to the communities. So whether the Member is talking about all these shops, we do have a GNWT shop that we have to provide subsidies to the Northwest Territories on core delivery. Mahsi.

The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have questions for the Minister of Housing. Given the constituents of mine are now paying over $1,000 for a bedroom in the respective communities, will the government finally conduct a thorough, comprehensive evaluation of how rent is calculated in our small, remote communities? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Minister of Housing, Mr. McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, we’ve already begun the process of reviewing the rent scale and how rents are calculated. We’re hoping to have that work… It’s always an ongoing process. We’re reviewing the policies and the rent scales to see how we can best serve the tenants of the NWT Housing Corp. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Will the government recognize the enormous challenges of living in our small, remote communities and provide the policy and evaluate various programs and services, such as the Public Housing Rental Subsidy, accordingly? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the challenge that is faced by tenants is one that’s also faced by the LHOs in the cost of delivering some of the programs and the maintenance and that to the communities. As we heard yesterday, some of our responses were we recognize the fact that our money is declining from CMHC, so we’re taking steps to try and address a lot of the challenges we face. So we’re aware of the ongoing challenges faced by the tenants and the LHOs, and we’re doing what we can to try and alleviate some of the challenges so our programs can be delivered a lot smoother and there won’t be such a burden on the LHOs and the tenants. Thank you.

Will the government review all policies when calculating the tenants’ income with the monthly rental assessment for the NWT Housing unit, and ensure fairness and consistency regardless of who is the employer or the situation?

Mr. Speaker, as I said, reviewing of the policies is an ongoing process and

it’s something that we’re always very aware of, some of the changes that need to be made and situations change. So we are always looking at ways that we can improve our policies to best suit the tenants and the local housing organizations. Thank you.

Final supplementary, Mr. Jacobson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, will the government review all northern and settlement allowance implications of tenants living in small, remote communities with the high cost of living? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

That would be part of the review of the policy is to review all of what’s calculated into the rent and see if there are ways that we can improve. However, we have to recognize that our LHOs have a job to do and we’re trying to do what we can; a good balance for the LHOs and the tenants. But it is an ongoing process and we are reviewing the rent scale and how rent is calculated. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I spoke in my Member’s statement about the program review office, which sits under the Department of the Executive. That office has been up and running for some 18 months to two years, and I know that office is doing good work. We’ve seen the results, some of the results. But as I stated in my Member’s statement, there is a distinct lack of sharing of the activities of this office. So I’d like to ask the Minister what projects has this office undertaken since it was established approximately two years ago. Thank you.

Mr. Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the area of the program review office was established in late 2008-09, to, as the Member had stated, look at the way we expend our dollars and the efficiency and the effectiveness of our programs. The work that’s being done is in conjunction with the Refocusing Committee that is led by Minister Miltenberger. My understanding is he has worked on setting up a meeting with the standing committee in early February to go over the information that has been gathered in the area the Member mentioned in her Member’s statement, the area of the general office space review. That’s an area that Minister Miltenberger highlighted in his budget address. There are other areas that the office has begun to do work on and do an inventory of, and that’s looking at some of our fastest growing areas of expenditures across government, and he’ll

be prepared to come forward with that in early February as to the work that they have undertaken. Thank you.

I thank the Minister for that response. Unfortunately, I am aware of the results of the office study and, as I mentioned, I felt it was very well done. It’s hard for me to believe that in the last year, if it’s only been a year-- it seems like it’s a lot longer than that -- but in the last year to 18 months the office hasn’t been able to produce some other finite project. So I’d like to ask the Minister, once a project is finished, does the office produce a report on the project that it has undertaken and completed, and who receives that report? Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. I heard two questions there. Mr. Premier you can answer one question or both of them.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the work that the program review office has identified and will feed through our system, and our system being that of our planning and financial work that we do in preparation for budgets, our program review and development as we look at those areas. So that work will be used by us as Members of the Legislative Assembly to look at how we can, and make sure that the dollars we used are being used most efficiently. The areas, the inventory that was being done have been our health care provisions, looking at our education, adult education and training, as well as our K to 12 system has been inventoried; the work that will be presented to committee. So there’s been a lot of work done. The reports, in a sense, will be provided first to the Refocusing committee, Cabinet will then review that information, it will go to standing committee and will be incorporated as we go forward in our business planning processes in the years to come. Thank you.

The Minister has mentioned the Refocusing Government committee. He also mentioned that the results of the inventory that this office is doing is going to Members. Again, I have to state that very little of that information is getting to Members. I appreciate that a review is coming, that a briefing is coming. I only learned about that this morning. So I’m having a little difficulty that in a year or more we’ve only had one firm report on what this office has been doing. I’d like to know from the Minister why the information is not available to Members on a regular basis and whether or not… Oh, I guess I better ask one question since you kind of cut me off the first time. But I will change my question and ask the Minister why the results of these reports cannot be made available to the public. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the process we engaged in was more inclusive for sharing information. We contacted committee at their

request to have involvement from the Regular Members on our Strategic Initiative committees, and this Refocusing Government committee did have Members involved in that process. Then subsequent to that, we were informed that they did not want to continue that process. So we have gone back to the more traditional way of doing it. Once we have got enough information to present that will help us in our decision-making process as we go forward. We would share that with standing committee. The available time for that has been set up in early February. We share that information to look at areas that we can then decide on how we go forward, what areas should we review further on and help us as we go forward in the decision making around budget cycles as we go forward. Thank you.

As well, again, our process of keeping it open, those two seats are still open for Members to be a part of. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Final supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister mentioned a couple of areas. I can’t remember them both but he mentioned education. I would like to know whether or not, particularly in the area of education, whether the work of the program review office had a direct impact on the budget which we heard about yesterday. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the program review office has not had an impact on this budget that the Finance Minister introduced yesterday. The work that the program review office is doing needs to go through the regular system. That is, once Refocusing Government committee has done their work, it will come to Cabinet. It will go to members of the standing committee. We will have some dialogue on that work and pick areas where we think we can get best results and do a finer focus so to say, Mr. Speaker. The one piece of work that has had an effect has been the general office space review and that work has gone far enough along. It has been shared in this committee. The Minister highlighted that in his statement yesterday. Thank you.

The honourable Member for the Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs in regard to the caribou issue that is happening right now. I want to ask the Minister in his role as the Affairs Minister, has he had any type of discussion with the Minister of Indian Affairs on the situation that is happening in the Northwest Territories?

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On the specific issue we are dealing with around caribou, we work with the aboriginal leadership across the Northwest Territories, depending on the specific herds and which aboriginal groups directly harvest from those herds and been involved in that. There is much to see in the discussions that have been held on some of the restrictions in place, working with co-management boards. I have not had direct discussions with Minister Strahl in this area. There are times when we will have opportunity to speak on a number of concerns. This, I am sure, will be one of those areas that we will touch base on in the possible meeting that I may have with him on his trip up here. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, in terms of the possibility of future discussions with Minister Strahl, with our aboriginal Minister in terms of the contentious issues and the future of our relationships with the aboriginal governments, would the Minister then commit to having these discussions with Minister Strahl in terms of how we deal with this possibly very volatile issue in terms of future relationships with the aboriginal governments of the North here? Would the Minister commit to reporting to the House if he is going to have some type of discussions with the Minister?

Mr. Speaker, we have these discussions as we go forward as the Government of the Northwest Territories in the 16th Legislative Assembly. We have shown, and I can show Members, the amount of times we have gone and met with aboriginal leadership across the Northwest Territories.

On the issue of caribou, we have agreements of co-management boards with the aboriginal leadership across the Territories that have settled areas that have co-management boards in place. The one place we don’t have is the area of the Akaitcho. That is an area where the Minister and the department have met with their leadership. In fact, at the last regional leaders’ meeting, this issue was discussed to talk about the importance of caribou and what steps needed to be taken. Meetings were upcoming following that as well. Minister Miltenberger and the staff had consequential meetings to that in those areas. There will be a number of items to be discussed that I will have discussions with Minister Strahl on this area, because it is an issue that has arisen. We will touch base on this as well. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, several weeks ago there was a leadership meeting in Fort Simpson convened by the Dene Nation where all the chiefs had some discussions on this issue. From discussion I heard on the radio, it seems like we are still at an impasse in terms of this issue here with

the chief and this government in terms of the ban on caribou and there must be some form of miscommunication somewhere along the line. Would the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs see if there is a possibility of seeing if we could work with the leadership down the Mackenzie Valley in terms of how do we deal with this issue here? I think if this is not resolved in a good way, this will damage our relationship with the aboriginal community for a long, long time.

Mr. Speaker, let the record show that we have worked with the leadership up and down the valley. In fact, we have from the NWT Metis, we have from the Tlicho, we have co-management boards set up for regime and accepted some harvest allocations. This is the one area that this issue has arisen and was raised at the Dene leadership. We continue to work with the leadership on a whole number of issues. The caribou will be one of them. Ultimately, I think when you talk to all of the leadership up and down the valley, it is the fact that we want to ensure that we have caribou herds for our future generations. So it is the conservation of caribou that must be first and foremost and work towards how we achieve that. That is something that we will continue to work on as the Government of the Northwest Territories with our aboriginal partnership across the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

Final supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Mr. Speaker, conservation is an issue. It is being cited in the actual resource transfer agreement act but also there are treaty and aboriginal rights also, so there are two sides to a story here, Mr. Speaker. I guess I am trying to find which will prevail for the day after this issue has been heard and discussed. I want to ask the Premier, if he has the chance, will the Premier commit to reporting results of discussions with Minister Strahl immediately to the House and to the Members?

Mr. Speaker, I am always prepared to update meetings we have had with federal Ministers on a whole number of issues that we have discussions on. As I said, this will be one of the areas. There is not much time to talk about it, but it is informing him of the steps we have taken. When we talk about what we have tried to do as the Government of the Northwest Territories through the Minister of ENR, his staff, it is to, again, put the conservation of the caribou first and foremost that we have caribou for the first generation. Let’s not lose sight of that. It is important we set up a process amongst the leadership across the Northwest Territories and understand that caribou don’t play politics. They don’t get involved in who has the final right, who wants to be known as the last person. We made debate on who had the final

authority, but what is the debate worth about who has final authority if the last caribou gets shot and we talk about what was and not what is. So we are going to continue to work together as a leadership across the Northwest Territories and come out with the best picture possible and the best solution. That is to ensure that our future generations have caribou to harvest. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are intended to try and bring as much transparency as possible to the GNWT’s role in responding to the Joint Review Panel report. My first question is to the lead Minister of Environment and Natural Resources. Could he describe the process that the GNWT will use to respond to the Joint Review Panel report and recommendations? Mahsi.

Minister Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The process is underway. It was underway prior to the release of the report when we were certain that it was coming. We have staff with ENR in the lead from across departments. We’re working with the Mackenzie Gas Pipeline office in Hay River and we’re working through committee systems with deputies to pull together the response and the work on the responses for the JRP with a goal to hitting the timelines so we can make sure there’s no further delays that we can get our responses in to the National Energy Board.

I think the public certainly would appreciate more details on how the GNWT intends to proceed on this so that they can have their participation and input and at least be aware of what’s going on. Does the GNWT intend to invoke the consult to modify process with the Joint Review Panel regarding the modification or rejection of any recommendations? You know, the public would like to know if that’s happening. If we intend to modify, will we be using that mechanism? Thank you.

We will be taking all the appropriate steps using all the appropriate mechanisms that are determined to be necessary to possibly be invoked as we look at the recommendations one by one. I have not seen the work to date. I know that the officials are at it. We know that we have some tight timelines and we know we want it to be clear, comprehensive and be able to stand scrutiny and be shown to have followed due process. Thank you.

I would appreciate it if the Minister would find out whether we are intending to invoke

the consult to modify process and if we do, will the Minister commit to making such proposed changes public at the time that they may be transmitted to the Joint Review Panel so that our public can participate meaningfully in the review process? Thank you.

We have committed to work with committee to brief them when we have sufficient work done and we have our communication plan that involves the release of the work going forward and we will be, at the appropriate times, making sure the public is aware of the work that we have done. Thank you.

Final supplementary, Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m not asking about committees here; I’m asking for transparency to the public. There is the potential for this consult to modify process to be completely in confidence and thus remove the ability of the public to participate meaningfully. So I’m asking for a commitment from the Minister to ensure that if they are submitting to the Joint Review Panel in this consult to modify process, that those documents be put on the public registry with all the other documents that have had to be put on the public registry to date so that the public can be informed. Mahsi.

I have seen nothing, nor am I aware currently of any plan to do any of this work, consult to modify or any other work required in secret. We know that we have to be accountable and we will definitely be keeping the issue of making sure the public are fully informed in mind as we go forward. Thank you.

The Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I just wanted to follow up on the CBC special report this morning about the test results that show reading and math levels are still low in the NWT communities. I’d like to ask the Minister of Education some questions on the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative that we have going. I know that it started last year. So if he could tell me just a bit about the program and what initiatives are slated for this coming year, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

The Minister of Education, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to thank the Member for asking that question. I think it’s important to highlight that initiative that we’ve undertaken, the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative. We were given

indication last year sometime that enrolment was down and there were challenges with identifying students, where they’re at with their grades and so forth. So, Mr. Speaker, that area has been identified and we have a committee that’s in place that had several meetings already and they’ve made recommendations to our department.

On providing additional funding to the school boards themselves to deal with the enrolment issues, we’ve conducted that; a laptop for the grade 12 students. So those are the areas that we’ve improved so far. These are just bits of it and there will be more packages that will be coming out this year and I’m looking forward to it and providing recommendations on what we can move forward on. We will certainly be dealing with the student enrolment and attendance and also their grade levels as well. Mahsi.

Some of the reporting from this morning spoke about low attendance in smaller communities. I have a riding with many small communities, six in fact, and it didn’t say in the report, but I’ve got some factual information that aboriginal students are missing up to 41 days per year. I’m glad that the Minister has the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative.

What processes are currently in place to address this and what are some of the initiatives the department will be undertaking? Thank you.

Mahsi. The process itself is working closely with the school boards, the school board council and the district level as well, because we provide funding to the organization to provide the operation and maintenance of the school and to deal with the students. Enrolment issues are becoming an issue, but at the same time we have provided funding just in the last several months, now we’re seeing some results, but it’s going to take some time, but we are progressing on the enrolment issue.

So, Mr. Speaker, that’s great news. Even though it’s just a short period since September, we are seeing positive results and with that there are other initiatives that will be underway. There is a lot of discussion happening at that table, at that level, and there are representatives in all jurisdictions. The five regions are involved and we have representatives from the Member’s riding as well and it’s valuable to have their input into making a difference for the schools, making a difference in the students’ lives, because every one of us would like to have our students succeed in school and in life. Mahsi.

As I indicated, the aboriginal students in our smaller communities are missing 41 days of school per year with the equivalence up to about two years of schooling by the time they reach grade 9. I know that the Education department and our school boards consider this very seriously and I

think they coupled some of the monitoring stats, like the Alberta Achievement Test, which shows that our use of English is being impacted because they’re missing a lot of that. So what kind of projects are being undertaken this fiscal year and planned for the next year, in terms of addressing this concern?

The overall plan will be in these coming months. What I’ve highlighted is we’re currently working closely with the school boards themselves, the literacy councils in the communities. Also just dealing with the enrolment issue. The Member is right; that is one of the top priorities within our Education department. If a student misses one day a week, it adds up to almost a year by the time they reach grade 10. A year of schooling is a lot. So those are the topics of discussion that we’re having with the experts around the table, the committee members. They’re the ones that are the experts at the community level and we’d like to get their advice and recommendations on a going forward basis. So when the package is available I will be sitting down with the standing committee to provide or highlight the key findings. We will certainly move forward from there.

Final supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.

As a Regular Member, I certainly would like to see some of the measurable results. I know there’s only been one semester this year, but certainly if the Minister can commit to continuing to keep us informed of the progress. If the Minister has any information with regard to my particular riding and with the Dehcho Divisional Board and some of the progress or initiatives they have planned, if he could share that with me.

Yes, I definitely will commit to the Member to provide the information. As we move forward, we’re seeing some progress already that I will certainly share with the Members and we’re starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel. We’ve dealt with the enrolment issue and now we’re seeing progress. So we’ll certainly share more as they become available.

The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have some more questions today for the Minister of Transportation. It gets back to the subject of the Deh Cho Bridge Project. Yesterday I had mentioned the fact that the project was sold to Members of the last government on the basis of a fixed-price contract. It was also sold to Members of the last government on the basis that benefits on

the return on investment to the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation would accrue to the community of Fort Providence. At the 11th hour the Deh Cho Bridge

Corporation didn’t have the $5 million in equity when the concession agreement was signed and in fact had to go to the contractor and another company the contractor owned, Atcon Holdings, to supplement that $5 million in equity. Now that Atcon is out of the equation, I’m just wondering what the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation is going to do to ensure that they have the $5 million in equity so that the benefits do accrue to the community of Fort Providence in the future.

The honourable Minister responsible for Transportation, Mr. Michael McLeod.