This is page numbers 5493 - 5530 of the Hansard for the 16th Assembly, 5th Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was territories.

Topics

The House met at 1:40 p.m.

---Prayer

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Good afternoon, colleagues. Welcome back to the Chamber. I welcome our guests to the gallery today. Orders of the day. Item 2, Ministers’ statements. The honourable Premier, Mr. Roland.

Floyd Roland

Floyd Roland Premier

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The transfer of authority for public lands and resources to the Government of the Northwest Territories will create major benefits and opportunities for our people.

Approval of the proposed AIP will be a critical step in our negotiations with Canada, but it is just another step. It is not the final agreement and it will not be legally binding.

Throughout our negotiations, there have been other times when the parties have signed agreements confirming their plans and intentions. We saw this when Canada, the GNWT and aboriginal governments endorsed the Memorandum of Intent in 2001. We saw it again when the Devolution Framework Agreement was signed in 2004. These earlier agreements confirmed the intentions of the parties to work towards a final devolution agreement, set out a process and timeline for negotiations and identified the subjects to be negotiated. Entering into these agreements helped keep negotiations moving forward.

Like earlier agreements, the proposed AIP confirms the intentions of the parties to negotiate a final agreement, sets out the subjects for negotiations and describes the process. It does not answer all the questions or settle all the outstanding issues, but it isn’t supposed to. We are in the process of negotiations and many of the issues that have yet to be decided are precisely the things we will negotiate before reaching a final agreement. The AIP is the roadmap for future negotiations. It was never meant to be the final deal. But we will not

even get to begin these future negotiations if we don’t agree to an AIP first.

Mr. Speaker, aboriginal governments are major land and resource owners in the Northwest Territories and have an important interest in devolution. The GNWT and Canada have funded their participation in negotiations and there has always been a seat for them at the table. We have heard the issues and concerns expressed by aboriginal governments at the negotiating table and we have made every effort to accommodate them.

I know that they still have concerns and I respect that. Some of those concerns can be solved through further devolution negotiations, but some of them are well beyond the scope of devolution. Devolution is about transferring the administration and control of public lands and resources to the GNWT. It is a program transfer between public governments like the ones we have seen before involving health, highways, airports and forestry management.

Mr. Speaker, several leaders have asked for a meeting before we make any decisions on the AIP. I would like to advise Members that tonight I will be meeting with leadership from all the regional aboriginal governments to discuss their issues and concerns with the proposed agreement. I don’t know that we will be able to resolve all those issues this evening, but I do hope that we are able to arrive at an understanding about a way forward that will allow us to keep talking and working together toward devolution.

Mr. Speaker, devolution and resource revenue sharing has been a goal for the NWT for nearly as long as I can remember and it is one of the priorities of this Assembly. For too long, decisions about our public lands and resources have been made in Ottawa. Over the past five years we have missed out an estimated $208 million in resource revenues and we will continue to miss out until we have devolution. It is time that we brought that decision-making power and those revenues home to the GNWT. Getting control over our lands and resources -- and the revenues associated with them -- will be a key to unlocking a prosperous new future for all NWT residents; a more prosperous future that should be shared by all NWT governments.

Northern leaders have an historic decision to make over the coming weeks. A final devolution agreement will put the people of the Northwest Territories in charge of their land and resources and will create real economic and political benefits for us all. But it starts with this AIP. Without it, we cannot move forward.

Northerners know that we are stronger when we work together. As we consider the AIP that is before us, I call on all Northerners to find the common ground we need to carry on with this process. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The honourable Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

Mr. Speaker, a significant priority of the 16th Assembly is an

environment that will sustain present and future generations. Climate change remains a serious issue for the people of the Northwest Territories.

The warming of our climate as a result of the release of greenhouse gases has broad implications to our environment and the potential to impact the social, cultural and economic well-being of NWT residents. Our government has taken broad action to support, investigate and implement initiatives to help residents, communities, industry and government departments reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and their reliance on imported fossil fuels.

These actions were laid out in the NWT Greenhouse Gas Strategy released in 2007. The 2007 strategy outlines 39 actions aimed at controlling greenhouse gas emissions and included the goal of reducing emissions from GNWT operations by 10 percent below 2001 levels, by 2011. Actions were shared between Environment and Natural Resources, the Arctic Energy Alliance and other government departments and agencies. Working with our partners, progress has been made on all 39 actions and we are on track to meet, or better, the GNWT emissions reduction target.

Mr. Speaker, it is now time to build upon this success. We must maintain the long-term commitment to reduce our carbon footprint, to reduce our reliance on imported fossil fuels and to expand the use of alternative energy sources. To map the route forward to a low-carbon future, Environment and Natural Resources is leading an initiative to prepare a revised Greenhouse Gas Strategy for 2011 to 2015.

This government is committed to broadening the application of greenhouse gas reduction measures on a territory-wide basis which includes government, business, industry and communities.

The strategy will include a complete assessment of current activities and identify new actions we need to take to move forward in our efforts towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Based on this assessment, the strategy will set targets for greenhouse gas emissions reductions across the NWT.

The preparation of a broad strategy requires discussion and input from a range of stakeholders including other departments, communities, residents, businesses, industry and aboriginal governments.

We will be seeking input on the goals, objectives and principles that drive the strategy, on how to improve existing actions so they work better for residents, communities, businesses and industry and on new actions we should be taking.

Initial input has already been obtained from the Joint Climate Change Committee, GNWT departments and the Finance roundtable.

Between now and February, meetings will be arranged across the NWT to coincide with meetings of regional and community boards and councils and business and industry associations. I will provide standing committee with an update on progress on these consultations in February. Once stakeholder input has been received, a draft strategy will be developed and circulated for broad stakeholder and public review. It is our intention to have a revised Greenhouse Gas Strategy available for Executive Council and standing committee review in May 2011 and to release the revised strategy by next summer.

Mr. Speaker, the issue of climate change and greenhouse gases is a complex issue requiring smart, efficient and affordable solutions to help protect our environment for future generations. It is important we continue to demonstrate to our residents and all Canadians that we are taking this threat seriously. Mahsi.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Item 3, Members’ statements. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The possibility of this government signing an agreement-in-principle on land and resource devolution with the federal government is indeed exciting, but for the Premier to sign without the support of our aboriginal government partners would not bode well. Surely he realizes we will require willing and collaborative partners for our

future success and that to proceed without them risks starting a long and contentious road indeed.

The Premier has assured us that this agreement completely addresses aboriginal concerns, that it will not affect existing or future arrangements, negotiations and agreements. If true, the Premier should be able to demonstrate the support of a majority of our aboriginal partners. I await that confirmation and so should he. Time apparently permits good discussion towards this end.

The Premier complains about having talked about devolution for his whole political career. Northerners have high standards, including cooperation and collaboration and a commitment to truly sustainable development. It would serve this government well to adhere to these principles in this process.

Northerners are also patient, but they don’t stand around in the meantime. We have waited for the Mackenzie Gas Project for 35 years, with another decade to go. Let’s look at what has happened in the intervening 35 years: Inuvialuit, Gwich’in, Sahtu and Tlicho land claims have been settled, with significant progress on others. With those settlements have come co-management processes, legislation and environmental review processes that benefit all residents of the Northwest Territories. A new commitment to integrated resource management, although not yet perfect, has raised the bar considerably in how and when resources are developed and to what degree they benefit our residents. We have new economic engines that have developed resulting from these settlements, including aboriginal corporations that are significant on a national scale. And today we enjoy a territorial GNWT budget of more than $1.3 billion for 41,000 people. The cost of waiting may be portrayed as huge by the Premier, but I suggest that cost has been small and perhaps even a net gain.

I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Equally important is that we have not finished building our unique northern vision for a land and resource management regime that reflects our values, our aspirations and our potential. I’m excited about an AIP, yes, but only if it brings our aboriginal partners to the table and if it is accompanied by a serious, comprehensive, timely and inclusive public consultation on how we want to cooperatively manage our lands and resources in an economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable way.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to give some public profile to a nationwide campaign recently re-established here in Yellowknife. Viewers and visitors in the gallery may have noticed that some of us today are wearing a white ribbon on our lapel. The White Ribbon Campaign began in Canada in 1991 when a handful of men decided that they have the responsibility to urge men to speak out about violence against women. They used a white ribbon to symbolize men’s opposition to violence against women.

In its first year, 100,000 men across Canada wore a white ribbon while countless others were drawn into discussions and debate. The White Ribbon Campaign now operates in over 50 countries across the globe.

We all know that our Territory struggles with a significant amount of family violence, one aspect of which is violence against women. It exists in every one of our communities. We hear far too many news stories about women who have been injured or killed due to violence. The NWT is lucky to have a number of shelters for women and families fleeing violence, but the preference would be that we don’t have to have any.

A promotional campaign such as the White Ribbon Campaign can only add to the public awareness and education that is so necessary to fight violence against women in the Northwest Territories. Recently a group of courageous men formed a White Ribbon Campaign here in Yellowknife, focusing on educating young men, raising awareness, opening discussion and attempting to redefine men’s values. The campaign is set to run between November 25th , which is the International

Day for the Eradication of Violence Against Women, and December 6th , Canada’s National Day

of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.

I urge men everywhere to take the White Ribbon Pledge to never commit, condone, or remain silent about violence against women.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to address the Government of the Northwest Territories’ maturation process and its borrowing limit.

First, I must say that I’m surprised that our Member of Parliament for the Western Arctic is down in

Ottawa trumpeting Bill C-530, which would see our Territory’s debt limit raised to 70 percent of our expenditures, which last year, at just over $1.3 billion, would result in a corresponding debt limit of somewhere in the neighbourhood of $900 million.

The big question, Mr. Speaker, is does our Member of Parliament have the blessing of this Cabinet? How about the Finance Minister or the government? The residents of this Territory would like to know who gave him his marching orders or, Mr. Speaker, is he marching to the beat of his own drummer? Certainly meetings would have taken place where the proposed Bill C-530 would have to have been discussed with this government. To my knowledge, our government has never talked about a percentage of expenditures as a debt limit. Perhaps in Mr. Bevington’s and the NDP’s world, money really does grow on trees, Mr. Speaker.

Let’s be honest with ourselves. We have so much on our plate with the AIP on devolution and resource revenue sharing that we need to stay focused. I firmly believe that this Territory should continue to pursue the AIP with our partners, the aboriginal governments.

Mr. Speaker, the federal government is currently analyzing and reviewing the debt limits of all three northern territories. Please, let’s let them do that work. Mr. Speaker, should the AIP advance, we will still be two to three years away while we work out a final agreement. At this present juncture, it would seem to me to be premature and irresponsible to add to our debt limit.

Mr. Speaker, we still do not know what the Deh Cho Bridge will end up costing this government, but, Mr. Speaker, you can mark my words again today, it will be much more than $182 million. Why are we in such a rush to get more credit when reality would indicate this government only has 10 months left to go before residents elect another government? It would only stand to reason the larger the debt, the larger the debt servicing, which, Mr. Speaker, would drastically reduce our ability to fund programs and services for our residents.

Mr. Speaker, I will have questions for the Minister of Finance at the appropriate time.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the late Colleen Sayine-Burke of Fort Resolution. She was born on September 30, 1968, and passed away on October 25, 2010.

Colleen was a loving mother and daughter, who lived in Fort Resolution most of her life with the

exception of the last 10 years during which she lived in Alberta with her husband, Tom Burke.

Mr. Speaker, Colleen was the only daughter of Mae and Robert Sayine, a former MLA in this Legislative Assembly. She was the mother of three: Stephanie, Raymond and Cameron. She was a loving grandmother to her grandchildren: Dakota, Emerence and Sarah. Family always came first for Colleen. Her way was to put others before herself.

Mr. Speaker, Colleen was an active volunteer with many community events and she held many jobs in the community, even working in her father’s water truck service. It was there that she dreamt one day of becoming a truck driver. She worked in the kitchen at BHP and recently achieved her lifelong dream when she became a triple 7 rock truck driver at the diamond mine.

Mr. Speaker, Colleen was raised in a traditional manner. She was kind, honest and respectful, and had a strong work ethic. I was honoured to be asked to do the eulogy in Chipewyan in Fort Resolution at her funeral. People arrived to Fort Resolution from all over the NWT and Alberta to show their respect and love for her. Colleen was only 42 years old but will live on in the hearts of her husband, father, mother, brothers, children, grandchildren, many relatives and friends.

I’d like to thank the family for allowing me to do this. Colleen will be dearly missed but will never be forgotten. Her legacy lives on in the many lives that she’s touched. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Recently, Canada has terminated the protection of the ecologically sensitive Edhezhie/Horn Plateau area. Those lands had protection from development since 2002 under an interim agreement between Canada, the Dehcho First Nations and other partners. That agreement is a critical step in the Dehcho First Nations’ negotiations towards resolving the Dehcho land claim.

The Dehcho lands have been blessed by great national resources and the Dehcho First Nations would like to see them preserved as long as the grass grows and the water runs. They work long and hard on the Dehcho Land Use Plan which includes the protection of the Edhezhie area. As a concession to the expansion of the Nahanni National Park Reserve, they were aware that the Edhezhie area would be reduced in size and that also the remaining area would be established as a national wildlife area to give permanent protection from mining and exploration. The Dehcho First

Nations learned last Friday that INAC has decided to terminate the interim protection of the subsurface rights in the Edhezhie and grant only a one-year extension, opening the sensitive cultural and environmental area to mineral exploration and development. The Dehcho First Nations were never consulted on this matter. This issue is so important to the Dehcho, they are willing to risk ceasing further negotiations by launching a court case with Canada. They feel backed into a corner. The Dehcho First Nations have always been solid in their resolve to honour the directives of the elders and their people. They want to protect their traditional lands and waters for the well-being of future generations.

As an MLA from the Deh Cho, I have to question where is our government on this important issue. How is the government going to defend the rights and interests of my constituents, Mr. Speaker? Why has this government not spoken up and demanded answers from the federal government?

We are talking about an AIP and devolution, which means we are grown up enough to decide for ourselves. Here is a good opportunity for us to show how independent we are. It is time this government stood up, spoke up and defended the people of the Deh Cho. All stakeholders in the NWT are befuddled by Ottawa’s decision, so this is a win-win situation where our government has nothing to lose by backing the Dehcho First Nations on the issue of Edhezhie.

I urge the Premier and our Cabinet demand that Canada alter the Order-in-Council to include...

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Mr. Menicoche. Your time for your Member’s statement has expired.

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

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

---Unanimous consent granted

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

Mr. Speaker, all stakeholders in the NWT are befuddled by Ottawa’s decision, so this is a win-win situation wherein our government has nothing to lose by backing the Dehcho First Nations on the issue of Edhezhie.

Mr. Speaker, I urge the Premier and our Cabinet demand that Canada alter the Order-in-Council to include subsurface protection in the proposed Edhezhie protected area. Mahsi cho.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Jane Groenewegen

Jane Groenewegen Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My colleagues tell me I have been far too nice to the Cabinet Ministers lately.

---Laughter

I would like to respond to Minister Miltenberger’s Minister’s statement here today.

Mr. Speaker, are we growing strategies or are we doing something about greenhouse gas emissions? Mr. Speaker, I had a chance to just go over this document here and circle every place where it says, “has taken broad action to implement initiatives,” “these actions,” “the greenhouse gas strategy,” “2007 strategy,” “outlining 39 actions.” Mr. Speaker, it goes on and on. I circled them all. There are only four sentences left in the whole Minister’s statement. By the time you take out every reference to an action or a strategy or implementation or consultation, there is nothing left. There is no meat in this strategy, Mr. Speaker.

I would like to suggest to the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources that, yes, the warming of our climate as a result of the release of greenhouse gases has brought implications to our environment and the potential to impact the social, cultural and economic well-being of NWT residents. Mr. Speaker, if the Minister wants to burn up good air time and use good paper to put out Minister’s statements, I suggest he tell us what those actions are. Where’s the meat? Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The people of Paulatuk are sick and tired of problems they are having with the Housing Corporation. I am really wondering if the Minister is going to get to the bottom of it. Come to the community with the housing officials and get the job done.

Right now things are simply a mess. People make payments, but those payments get reported on the rent statements that come from Inuvik. People complain about it, they’re treated poorly by Housing staff or get no answers at all. There’s no excuse for this, Mr. Speaker.

Most of the problems started at Education, Culture and Employment when they took over housing. Rent income assessments are slow to get done, people are getting the rent shock of their lives when the rent was set to the maximum. They could only fall behind and in a few months they’re thousands of dollars in arrears. So what happened? People tried to correct the problem, they’d get nowhere. Next they got discouraged and now they ignore the problem. Eventually some of them had to turn to income support, where the system forced people to go to income support who had never had income support in their lives. No wonder they’re upset, Mr. Speaker.

Now the assessments and record collection are controlled by the Housing Corporation. I expected to see things change for the better. I thought the LHOs would be able to straighten out the arrears and I hoped the Housing Corporation would reach the tenants and do the right thing. So far nothing has happened, Mr. Speaker.

I want the Minister to come back to Paulatuk with his staff and get down to work and get the answers from our last visit. They need to be answered, Mr. Speaker. All the questions that the community asked have to get answered.

Mr. Speaker, I’ll be asking the Minister questions at the appropriate time. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise on the ground on the faith of my people. For the last three weeks my mind and heart have been gone from time to time as to the fate of how we will be shaping our land and our relationships with aboriginal governments. We are beginning to see what it may look like. There’s an interesting saying in the Chinese culture that goes something like this: May you live in interesting times. Certainly we’re in those times with the draft devolution agreement-in-principle. Advice I’m getting from my elders and the leaders in the Sahtu give me strength to carry on with my voice on this draft document before us.

I want to go back to three years ago at the beginning of this Assembly. The Premier, earlier on, said devolution is on the backburner. I recall we pretty much all agreed with that sentiment. However, later on we asked that devolution be put back on the table with all the aboriginal governments as equal owners of this land and as governments. We had important things to do and one thing was how we would work with each other and break away from dependency on the federal government and become unique partners in the Constitution of Canada. We want to dance to our own drum, be it Dene, Metis, Inuvialuit or as Northerners.

Three weeks ago, out of the blue, we found out a draft AIP had been reached between the GNWT and the feds on devolution; only between the two governments and not the aboriginal governments. Would you want all governments to sign this document? Besides, aren’t our communities negotiating their styles of governments? The draft AIP did not come before this House or the people of the Northwest Territories whom we work for. Months earlier we said we need to discuss

devolution openly with the public. This is the basis of democracy.

Mr. Speaker, the feds are trying to download costs. That’s what I firmly believe is happening here in the Northwest Territories. Nothing more, nothing less. We’ve all received copies of letters from the vast majority of aboriginal leaders saying they’re not on side. These leaders represent 29 communities in the Northwest Territories. That is a significant number that are telling us we’re not in the place for the things that are proceeding. This thing is like a runaway freight train.

We need a meaningful consultation process. We need to understand why the feds want this to happen. They’re not doing this because they’re nice guys. We need to know their agenda. We need to know what our agenda is. What is the agenda of the Northwest Territories? Is it money? Is it control? Is it fear? Is the world ending tomorrow?

Last week in the House the Premier said there was no impact from devolution on land claims and self-government agreements.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Mr. Yakeleya. Your time for your Member’s statement has expired.

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

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

---Unanimous consent granted

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Then why are the aboriginal leaders not standing side by side with our Premier saying this is a good thing? Why are we trying to force the deal?

We need to do this right and we need to take the time to do it right. Our elders know very well how agreements like this will have an impact on us and our lives and the fallout interpretations between governments. Just look up the amount of court cases that we’ve had to deal with in our time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

David Krutko

David Krutko Mackenzie Delta

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m glad that the Premier has finally seen the light to meet with the aboriginal leaders and for those groups that have been raising issues for some six or seven months regarding a letter he received from the Gwich’in Tribal Council on areas they had concerns about on the devolution process with no response to date.

Under the Northern Accord Agreement it’s clear that aboriginal rights are clearly defined in the agreement. It says none of the agreements that

abrogate, derogate from any of the provisions included in the aboriginal land claims settlement, including the following: land use plans, environmental assessments, land and water responsibilities, wildlife management, surface rights, subsurface rights, benefit agreements, establishment of national parks, territorial parks, conservation areas, and the last thing on the list is resource royalty sharing.

I was totally amazed to hear the Premier make reference that the Gwich’in gave up that right in their land claim and they’re not going to get any more rights. The land claims agreements are not concluded. The land claims agreements have areas that still need to be negotiated, the surface rights provisions, the royalties provisions and our opportunity to negotiate and participate in agreements which are already in existing land claims agreements with respect to the Inuvialuit and agreements over in Nunavut. Those arrangements were not going to be part of the Dene-Metis claim and the Dene-Metis made it clear that they were going to have a share of royalties throughout the Mackenzie Valley for the Dene-Metis people.

It’s very important to realize that these agreements are pretty clear. The agreement also clearly stipulates that, for greater certainty, oil and gas management requirements established pursuant to the agreements shall be compatible with wildlife, environment and land management requirements established through settlement of land claims agreements.

It also clearly states that in the event of inconsistency between legislative establishment pursuant to the agreement, that the aboriginal land claims agreements and treaties in the Northwest Territories shall basically have paramountcy or precedence over other legislation.

I think the agreement speaks for itself with regard to where this government stands. For the government to assume they can go ahead and negotiate without the aboriginal people at the table is totally unaccommodating in regard to constitutional land claims rights that presently exist.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

David Krutko

David Krutko Mackenzie Delta

I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

David Krutko

David Krutko Mackenzie Delta

There are constitutional cases under Section 35 rights in the Constitution where there are land claims agreements that are settled in the Northwest Territories which specifically state that the Government of the Northwest Territories shall negotiate with those organizations. It’s in our land claims agreements. Yet this government is totally missing the boat when they figure they can sign an agreement between themselves and the

federal government and not have aboriginal involvement. That for me is the problem with this agreement. The way it’s being handled is the lack of aboriginal involvement in negotiating a devolution accord for the Northwest Territories and then go to the federal government in regard to that agreement. That was the understanding we had through the Dene-Metis process and the settlement of our land claims agreements.

With that, I will have questions for the Premier on this matter later.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I rise in the House to discuss in a similar form the House of Commons Bill C-530, which is a bill to discuss the borrowing limit of the Northwest Territories. Slightly different approach than my colleague Mr. Ramsay has. I respect the spirit and intent that our Member of Parliament has on this particular issue. I believe that the internalistic approach that Ottawa has continued to enforce on the Government of the Northwest Territories and its people needs to end.

I do not necessarily fear the approach the Member of Parliament has been taking, however, I do think there are a number of concerns that need to be aired and answered at the same time. The concerns are certainly made up as perhaps my colleague put it: Who had given the Member of Parliament marching orders to act on our behalf?

The direction of the bill states that 70 percent of revenues should be our borrowing limit. That is up to $950 million, as approximated. My issue with that particular case is: Who has he talked to in this particular government? My concern is, of course, he has not talked to me and I’ve looked around and only heard of one person he has specifically spoken to, and I’m not sure if that was any more than water-cooler talk at the time.

This is a serious trek forward to change the borrowing limit of the Government of the Northwest Territories without a Cabinet directive. Has the Member of Parliament spoken with this Cabinet? Has he spoken with the Assembly in any form? I’m certainly not aware of that. Does he have a Cabinet position that reflects the Finance Minister’s hard work in discussing this issue with his colleagues? Again, I speak with caution and concern. I’m not against the proposal provided by the Member of Parliament, but I do want to exercise concern as to whether he’s doing this alone or if he’s doing it without support.

I agree with many of the comments in yesterday’s discussion in the House of Parliament that emphasized one size does not fit all three territories. Mr. Larry Bagnell, the MP for the Yukon, spoke quite strongly about the Northwest Territories and its abilities. I also want to acknowledge the Bloc, who actually spoke, as well, and said that there was great fiscal management of this Territory and the fact that they can certainly support the direction it’s presently proceeding on.

During question period I will have questions for the Minister of Finance to seek clarity on who gave our MP direction on this endeavour and if it has the support of this government.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Item 4, reports of standing and special committees. Item 5, returns to oral questions. Item 6, recognition of visitors in the gallery.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Colleagues, I would like to draw your attention to the presence of two very special people in the gallery today. Verna Currimbhoy and Gay Kennedy will soon be retiring from the public service. Today marks the last sitting day of the House that these two valued employees will serve this institution.

Verna began her career in the public service in 1993 and has served as the Members’ secretary/receptionist since 1995.

Gay Kennedy began her public service career in 1980 and has served the departments of Economic Development, Energy and Resources Development, Public Works, Municipal and Community Affairs, and Health and Social Services. In 2008 she accepted a two-year appointment as the Assembly’s director of research and library services.

All in all these two employees take 47 years of experience and service with them when they retire. These two individuals have worked closely with all Members of the House and have earned their trust and their respect. To say they will be missed is an understatement.

I know I speak on behalf of all Members past and present when I offer my heartfelt best wishes to Verna and Gay as they move on to the next exciting stage of their lives. Good luck to both of you and please keep in touch with us.

The honourable Member for Monfwi, Mr. Lafferty.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

I’d like to acknowledge my constituency assistant up in the gallery: Madelaine Pasquayak.

Also Verna for her hard work over the years since I came on board as a rookie.

I’d also like to acknowledge a couple of Pages here, acknowledging all the Pages who have been

doing great work. Most importantly are my Pages: Magdalene Steinwand and Sharon Lafferty, who are here with us doing awesome work.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

I don’t know if I can put it better than you did. You spoke very nicely about Gay Kennedy and Verna Currimbhoy.

I’d like to recognize Gay Kennedy for her hard work here for the last two years. I’ve gotten to know her very well and I respect the work that she’s done in this government, as well as the fact that she’ll be a stalwart force who is missed. She’s done a lot of work over the years and I know that her works and efforts can’t be replaced.

Verna Currimbhoy, as you’ve mentioned as well, is leaving us and, as I understand it, she’ll soon be moving to Saskatoon where her granddaughter is now located and will be back into grandmother duties full time. She will be sadly missed by many of us and certainly by myself and I appreciate all the hard work that she’s provided.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

The honourable Member for Thebacha, Mr. Miltenberger.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

I would like to, as well, recognize Verna Currimbhoy. Our time together -- myself, Premier Roland, the Member for Mackenzie Delta and the Member for Hay River South -- goes back to the last century.

---Laughter

Pre-division. We’ve all had the opportunity to work with Verna during some very interesting times in this Assembly. I’d like to wish her all the best, and as well best wishes to Gay Kennedy.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

Jane Groenewegen

Jane Groenewegen Hay River South

I’d like to take this opportunity to recognize Verna Currimbhoy. She has been a wonderful assistant to us as Regular Members, especially those from out of town as we come here often without our assistants and she’s there to back us up.

I would also like to thank, particularly for this last couple of years, Gay Kennedy, who stepped into the role of director of research and attended all of our Priorities and Planning meetings of the Regular Members. After many of the dialogues we would just look at her and say, you know, did you get that? Can you do something with that? And she just works her magic. She was a wonderful asset to our committee. Thank you to her.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

It gives me great pleasure to recognize in the gallery my wife, Judy, my daughter Kimberly, and two of my three jewels,

my grandchildren, Rylan and Reese Wainman. Welcome.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

I’d like to take this opportunity to recognize a couple of the Pages that have been working for us over the last couple of weeks from the Great Slave riding: Alison Buckland and Desiree Brown. Pages do important work for us and we all appreciate what they do.

I’d also like to take this opportunity to recognize Verna and Gay, as well, and thank them so much for all they’ve done for us over the last two years for Gay and three years for Verna. That’s how long I’ve been here. Thank you both so very much.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

I, too, would like to recognize Ms. Verna Currimbhoy. As one of the MLAs from the region who comes here to work 50 percent of the time, I might add.

The amount of work that she does on my behalf is invaluable. She will be sorely missed and she just makes my office run very smoothly.

As well, special recognition to Gay Kennedy. It’s a pleasure to serve with her on our committees, and all the work that she does on our behalf as well.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

I’d like to recognize the leadership from Deline. I’ll go through the list here: Mr. Peter Menacho, president of the Deline Land Corporation; Morris Neyelle; Paul Modeste, who’s from Russell Bay; elder Alfred Taniton; former Chief Dolphus Baton; band manager, if she’s there, Pauline Roach; Chief Raymond Tutcho; elder John Yukon; member from Deline, Russell Kenny and Danny Gaudet.

Also I’d like to recognize two of the Pages from Tulita’s Chief Albert Wright School: Jordan Lennie and Erica MacCauley.

I’d also like to say thank you to Verna and Gay for all their hard work for the Members who come from out of town to the Leg. here.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

I also want to recognize the hard work and dedication of the two employees who are being recognized today. Ms. Currimbhoy, we’ll miss your smiling face around the second floor of the building, that’s for sure. I wish her all the best in her retirement.

And to Gay Kennedy, I think the last two years have been a well-run ship with Ms. Kennedy at the helm of our research department, and I want to wish her

every success and all the best, too, in her retirement.

As well, I want to recognize all the visitors in the gallery: Chief Raymond Tutcho from Deline, and also my friends, Danny Gaudet and Peter Menacho. Welcome.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to stand up today and thank Ms. Gay Kennedy for all the hard work that she’s done with myself and working on our Member’s statements and making sure they’re concise and to the point. Then for Ms. Verna Currimbhoy for the last three years here. As soon as you walk in the door, she’s right there, did you get this, did you get that, just like having my mother.

---Laughter

She’s done a lot of hard work for us, a lot of hard work for Nunakput, and the people of Nunakput want to thank you, Verna. I hope you enjoy your retirement.

I’d also like to recognize Mr. Peter Menacho and Danny Gaudet, good friends. Thank you.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also would like to recognize a couple of individuals in the House. Verna certainly has been great as the first person I get a cheery good morning from every day. I also want to recognize her as an amazing citizen. I see her working in Bailey House at the swap shop, and she’s a major recycler in town and involved in all kinds of volunteer activities. Gay Kennedy, I think Gay knows that all the Members are really great people here, but I have to admit, at times we must be challenging to work with. I really appreciate the two solid years she’s put in on our behalf. Thank you.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. If we’ve missed anyone in the gallery today, welcome to the Chamber. I hope you’re enjoying the proceedings. It’s always nice to have an audience in here. Item 7, acknowledgements. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I want to congratulate Thomas Manuel Sr. He is 73 years old and a well-respected elder in Fort Good Hope. His bravery was recently celebrated by the Governor General of Canada, David Johnson. It was a great honour and the people of the Sahtu

region are proud of Mr. Manuel. He received a Medal of Bravery for protecting his wife and three grandchildren from an armed intruder three years ago. People across the Northwest Territories remember this incident well. It was widely covered in the media. A young man broke into Mr. Manuel’s house. He had a shotgun and he used it. Mr. Manuel was actually shot in the face, neck and stomach. He was badly hurt and spent weeks in the hospital in Edmonton. It took weeks of surgery to remove 23 pellets of buckshot from Mr. Manuel’s body, including two that damaged his left eye. Mr. Manuel also received a letter from this Premier on behalf of this government. This elder truly deserves this Medal of Bravery and we honour your name in this House. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Item 8, oral questions. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to follow up on my questions earlier today and ask questions of the Premier as the Minister responsible for Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations.

The proceeding on with the AIP with the agreement of our aboriginal government partners is not a good start to the process nor a desired start, I know. The decision by the Premier to proceed without agreement and in the face of clear condemnation from aboriginal governments not only sours these beginnings, it could seriously damage the long-term prospects of ever reaching an amicable partnership.

To complete this work we need a respective, collaborative relationship with willing and engaged aboriginal partners. Does the Premier realize the long-term and future consequences should he take this unilateral, much criticized action? Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Minister responsible for Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations, Mr. Roland.

Floyd Roland

Floyd Roland Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No doubt, as the Premier of the Northwest Territories, as the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations, yes, I know just exactly how important this agreement is to the Northwest Territories, to the GNWT, to aboriginal governments and to the people of the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

I was speaking about the consequences to the future, and I’m sure that’s what the Premier was responding to.

The Premier claims the AIP is a good deal for the NWT and for aboriginal government partners who may eventually sign on, and it looks good to me. I have to wonder why, though, if this is such a good deal, our aboriginal partners are not already signed on and moving towards the strength in numbers that the partnership could bring to this. Obviously, we’re not there yet. I realize there are meetings scheduled for this evening and I hope that’s not the only step that the Premier is going to take towards really dealing with this. Recognizing that we really need the willingness and approval of our aboriginal partners, will the Premier listen to the criticism, pull back from his with-or-without-you stance, and take the time necessary to do the groundwork for a good deal on the agreement so we can go forward with this AIP? Mahsi.

Floyd Roland

Floyd Roland Inuvik Boot Lake

Let’s put the full context on the table. As we’ve been trying to say and as I’ve said in many of my statements today, this process has been nine years in the making, that has involved aboriginal governments and will continue to do so if they want to move with us. We have to yet make a decision if we proceed with this or not. But let’s be clear. If a decision is not to proceed, there are no more discussions to be had, because the AIP has been signed off by the negotiators who have reached their mandate. So it is time for decisions of the North. Thank you.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Premier. Of course, I would say that’s sort of illogical. That’s simply a negotiating position. I’m all for getting this AIP through, but it has to meet these conditions. I won’t say that the Minister is absolutely false there, but clearly his logic is lacking, perhaps, in the conclusion.

Respecting northern values requires that those affected by a new regime, which is every citizen of the NWT, has an opportunity to comment and participate in developing our political future. Assuming resource management power is the single biggest political issue at this stage of our movement towards provincehood, will the Premier commit to a timely, comprehensive and inclusive consultation process involving all NWT governments and citizens in identifying our unique values as the basis for a northern management regime? Mahsi.

Floyd Roland

Floyd Roland Inuvik Boot Lake

Now, I guess -- and I’ll have to tread carefully here -- that the Member’s logic sometimes might be well placed, but I wonder where it goes at times. If we want to play that game, we can. But the simple fact is, in this forum where we are nine years-plus working… The Member for Mackenzie Delta raises the Northern Accord, raises the Dene-Metis comprehensive

process. Years in working together in trying to move authority from Ottawa to the North. This is the time for a still, stable approach as we try to progress on and allow aboriginal governments to have their time to look at the deal as it was penned by the two chief negotiators. We’ve been doing the same and now we get to have a meeting, at least to start the direct discussion about some of the issues and concerns that have been raised publicly between the leadership, and we will continue to be working and incorporating that approach as we look to the future. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Your final, short supplementary, Mr. Bromley.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will give up on the logic bit here, but I’ll just say that the many years the Premier talks about has been the time during which, thanks to our aboriginal partners, we have made considerable and great progress towards benefits that accrue to all residents of the Northwest Territories. Our history shows that Northerners have high standards for the way our government should cooperate with all citizens in building a sustainable future. We are patient and we make progress towards our goals one step at a time, regardless of barriers to the obvious and big steps we would like to see happen. We have learned that we must take the time needed…

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Do you have a question, Mr. Bromley?

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Mr. Speaker, will the Premier commit to our demonstrated principles of inclusion and patient perseverance and take the time needed to build the consensus needed on this motion for an issue before us today, the AIP? Mahsi.

Floyd Roland

Floyd Roland Inuvik Boot Lake

Mr. Speaker, I believe, during the life of the 16th Legislative Assembly we

have shown that patience. We have shown a commitment for inclusion; in fact, establishing the regional leaders’ table which will be meeting later on today to discuss the AIP issue. The fact that as this government took over, announced, to the displeasure of some, that we were prepared to put it on the backburner -- it being the devolution resource revenue sharing process -- put it on the backburner until we as Northerners can talk about a common ground and working together. In the meantime, during those talks, during those meetings, the leadership asked for that issue to be brought back to the table. That has been done. The federal government has engaged.

This process is not new. We have to come to a place where we need to make a decision together. I have followed through on my commitment as I told Members here when we first brought the AIP forward. There is a process. We are going to honour that process and only standing up to put factual information on the table about that process. In the spirit of working together in the Northwest

Territories, we are continuing on with an example of that by this evening’s meeting. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Jane Groenewegen

Jane Groenewegen Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On the same thought of the AIP and the draft agreement that has been put forward for consideration by us as Members, by leadership out there in our regions, by aboriginal governments, Mr. Speaker, the AIP, the agreement-in-principle that the Premier and Deputy Premier will travel to Edmonton to discuss with aboriginal leaders and regional leaders tonight. When we leave here, they will go down there. Mr. Speaker, will the signing of that agreement conclude our negotiations or is this just the beginning? Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Premier, Mr. Roland.

Floyd Roland

Floyd Roland Premier

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It will not conclude the discussions. In fact, I believe it will be the place for those future discussions and concerns that are being raised since the airing by CBC of the draft agreement-in-principle that it allows, in fact, to bring closure to those concerns that are being raised.

It is a continuation process. It is not the final step in decision-making. In fact, I believe the future Government of the Northwest Territories and the future aboriginal governments within a number of years will have to make a final decision as to that final agreement that would have to come forward. Thank you.

Jane Groenewegen

Jane Groenewegen Hay River South

Mr. Speaker, by the signing of the agreement-in-principle -- which is exactly what it is called, as the Premier has described -- put us as Northerners in a better position to put some detail and some real parameters to what we will have as a government when devolution and resource revenue... We can talk about it now at this stage. We can talk about it after the agreement-in-principle is signed. What is the advantage of the agreement-in-principle in terms of our relationship with Ottawa and seeing some advancement on this agreement? Thank you.

Floyd Roland

Floyd Roland Premier

Mr. Speaker, I think the history would show that there are a number of times in the history of the Northwest Territories that we knew and grew up with that the governments, aboriginal and public government, have come to a place -- sometimes it has been just aboriginal governments -- of a decision needing to be made. There has been much reference at times to the Dene-Metis comprehensive process, the Northern

Accord. Those got to the place, I believe, where the AIP is now, but never got the ratification to go the next step. They were referred to many times, but there was no vote to say yes, we will go forward on this basis. There were discussions. There were memorandums of intent, but never got beyond that. That is the place we are today with this AIP. It is the process we would go to the final set of negotiations and then a final decision being made by the governments of the North, aboriginal and public. Thank you.

Jane Groenewegen

Jane Groenewegen Hay River South

Mr. Speaker, embarking on a regime and on an agreement with Ottawa of this magnitude, of this significance, of this importance to the people of the Northwest Territories, Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Premier if, when he attends this meeting tonight, he will extend to all leaders of governments of the Northwest Territories the sentiment and respect of this House that we are concerned about moving forward together with a unified voice and extend to them the message that we are mature enough that we should trust each other enough to be able to embark on this thing that has been sought for so long. Thank you.

Floyd Roland

Floyd Roland Premier

Mr. Speaker, absolutely. As I meet with the aboriginal leadership this evening, we will express the fact that we want to continue to work together with an approach that is focused from the North for Northerners. Right now there are many examples, even in a statement earlier today, about decisions being made in Ottawa that have a direct impact on Northerners; the work on regulatory reform by the special negotiator named by a Minister in Ottawa. Those things are ongoing today and will affect land claims as they are written. We are working on a process together to say, let’s go hand in hand, arm in arm and move forward on this agreement-in-principle where, for example, Chapter 6 was jointly written by aboriginal governments and the Government of the Northwest Territories.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

David Krutko

David Krutko Mackenzie Delta

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I noted in the devolution process, there is also, I believe it is Section 12 of that agreement which clearly identified that this government could not remove itself from federal obligations in which the obligations the federal government has under ensuring that those commitments they make under land claims agreements have to be fulfilled and that they are not going to be basically simply diminished. I think that is the concern of a lot of the

aboriginal groups that do have land claims. We have economic measures. We have surface resource sections. We have protected areas. We have things in agreement that this government has an obligation to implement, but refuses to. I think that is the issue that aboriginal people have. How can we trust the government, yet on the existing land claim agreements where obligations are clearly spelled out in black and white, they are not being fulfilled? I would like to ask the Premier, in light of his comments that the aboriginal groups aren’t going to get anything more than what they have in their land claims agreement, is that the position of this government?

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Floyd Roland

Floyd Roland Premier

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s interesting the Member would take comments I said in discussing this draft agreement and twist them to match what he would like to present to the public of the Northwest Territories. Let’s be factual here. The fact is I stated to Members, and I will state here for the public, the land claims that have been signed are protected. The language of the AIP will continue to honour that protection. In fact, the AIP has it on the table. The aboriginal governments helped write the one very important chapter that will create the ongoing government-to-government relationship in the future with aboriginal governments. The existing claims in place -- and the Member is well aware of it because he was at those tables when they were put in place -- the fact is that there is a resource revenue sharing component to those land claims, and they are signed, and they are being honoured, and they are receiving resource throughout that agreement. The AIP would bring additional monies to the tables not only for the GNWT but for the aboriginal governments as well.

David Krutko

David Krutko Mackenzie Delta

Mr. Speaker, the whole intention of the land claim agreements, the devolution of process is to enhance the land claim agreements to give the aboriginal response in regards to lands and resource responsibility of the Northwest Territories, but ownership of those resources of the Northwest Territories and to take part of the political and social development in the Northwest Territories. Without those enhancements, the Dene-Metis would have never signed the agreements that we have today, because we have settled for arrangement that we will take a share of resource revenue sharing throughout the Mackenzie Valley over and above what is in the land claim agreements and negotiate through the devolution process. That wording is not in the existing agreement. It makes reference to the Inuvialuit to be able to negotiate with government for resource arrangements in the Beaufort Sea. It doesn’t say that about the Dene-Metis. Why is that not in the agreement?

Floyd Roland

Floyd Roland Premier

The fact of the matter is -- and I can repeat almost word for word as the Member just spoke -- that the land claims have written in them resource revenue sharing arrangements with the federal government. The fact that what the Northern Accord may have stated is one thing that they never got ratified. It hit a certain point and there it sits. The land claims now hold the legal status of that. The agreement-in-principle now takes it to the next step where in fact if we were to sign this and go forward and agree, the governments-of-the-day, sign an agreement, a final agreement, there would be further sharing of the resource revenues that now go to Ottawa. Thank you.

David Krutko

David Krutko Mackenzie Delta

Again, wording -- what’s in the agreement, what’s not in the agreement -- in the 1988 agreement, the devolution process was the enabling agreement signed between the federal government and the Government of the Northwest Territories to spell out exactly how the aboriginal obligations were going to be transferred. Again, that wording is not in this agreement. So why is that wording, which was used in the Dene-Metis claim and the land claims agreement to date, not entrenched in this agreement that you’re trying to sign off with the federal government?

Floyd Roland

Floyd Roland Premier

The fact that we used the land claims agreements that are signed today, we used the Tlicho Agreement that is signed and today they’re protected, Section 35, we have sat down with aboriginal, technical negotiators as well to come up with the language that sees the further protection of those rights going forward in a government-to-government relationship. Today’s environment, we use those terms rather loosely of government-to-government. This agreement-in-principle and a final agreement would in fact make that an absolute reality.

I think, as we listen to the history of the North, to the people today, and to the aboriginal leadership of today, and to the Government of the Northwest Territories, we all want to do the same thing, and that is bring control and the rewards from development to Northerners. That’s what we’re talking about. This is not take land away from anybody else or the controls. This is to respect those, and the places where there is Crown land now administered by the federal government, in a day where a final agreement is in place, would be administered by northern governments. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Your final supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

David Krutko

David Krutko Mackenzie Delta

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, I’d like to ask the Premier why in the land claim agreements we specifically state that the Government of the Northwest Territories shall consult the aboriginal groups in regard to oil and gas and devolution in the Northwest Territories and

why aboriginal groups have written letters to the Minister, which have been sitting on his desk for seven months? Is that the way that we deal with aboriginal governments when we make reference that this government shall consult and we’ve put the letters on the side table and, what, wait for the time to run out? Thank you.

Floyd Roland

Floyd Roland Premier

We could use up the rest of this time period and go over in fine detail all of the meetings held, all the information shared and the actual face-to-face meetings. The letter the Member is talking about, and he’s raised already on a number of occasions, we’re showing Members our responses. The responses will go out. Meetings have been held and will continue to be held. The fact is, consultation is happening, has happened, and will continue to happen. What is the fear that is really there or is it really a monetary issue that needs to be discussed? All of these things, I believe, the majority of those things can be dealt with as we decide to take the next step. That is go forward in a final set of negotiations and clear up the air and take authority back to where it belongs, and that is home to the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

---Applause

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Finance Minister and it gets back to my Member’s statement where I was talking about our Member of Parliament, Mr. Dennis Bevington, who this week is trumpeting his borrowing limit Bill C-530 to his counterparts in Ottawa in the House of Commons. It got me to thinking, Mr. Speaker -- and the rest of the residents here in the Northwest Territories are giving this a lot of thought today as well -- does this Cabinet endorse Bill C-530 in its current form? Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister responsible for Finance, Mr. Michael Miltenberger.

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Minister of Finance

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I read the news clips with interest this morning and the comments from the Member of Parliament as he looks to the future in the Northwest Territories as a maturing political jurisdiction. On the other hand, I noticed the comment from the Member for Kam Lake that said this government is not ready, we’re not old enough, we’re not mature enough, we’re not wise enough to handle any more money, let’s throw out an anchor

and let’s throw this whole process down, which is an unfortunate comment.

The Member of Parliament is elected by the people of the Northwest Territories in a general election. He doesn’t answer to this Assembly, he answers to the people of the Northwest Territories. He has tools at his disposal to advance causes that he sees as important to the development of the Northwest Territories, some that we share in common with him. The Member of Parliament had the good grace to contact us, to consult with us, to indicate to us what he was doing, ask for our feedback and our thoughts, which we gave him. But it should be very clear here in this House, he doesn’t answer to us, we don’t answer to him, and he’s doing what he thinks is necessary as a Member of Parliament. We have the common goal in mind to advance the interests of the Northwest Territories to be treated as a mature, evolving political jurisdiction and I hope that all Members would be supportive of that. We’re engaged in a process with the federal government in terms of reviewing our borrowing limits that we’re committed to, and we’ve indicated that to the Member. Thank you.

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

Yes, that’s right. I remember Parliament does answer to the people of the Northwest Territories. This Minister and this Cabinet answer to us, we represent the people here in the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, I support moving forward with the AIP; I’ve said that unequivocally. I support that. What I don’t support is us seeking more ways to spend money. Mr. Speaker, I’ve gone on record as saying this before and I’ll say it again for the Minister: I’m not sure exactly what it costs to service a debt of around $500 million in a Territory of 42,000 people, but my estimate, Mr. Speaker, is around $35 million to $40 million. If you double that, almost double that to over $900 million, that’s going to take money away from programs and services that we provide to the people of the Northwest Territories.

I’d like to ask the Finance Minister if his department has done any analysis on what having a debt in the neighbourhood of $900 million would do to the finances of this Territory. Thank you.

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Minister of Finance

We’ve informed Members of what’s happening with the borrowing limit, that there’s a review underway with federal Finance and the three territories to review the borrowing limits that are currently in place, which are different between the three territories. It’s a common issue for the three territories. Our borrowing limit is currently $575 million. About $450 million of that is self-liquidating, because it’s being paid down through the Power Corp and the Housing Corporation, and the Deh Cho Bridge will be generating its own revenues. We have to recognize that. We’re looking for a review that

recognizes that we have those extenuating circumstances.

We have not spent any time, nor do we intend to, to analyze the content of the Member of Parliament’s bill. We’ve indicated to him that while we appreciate what he is trying to achieve in advancing the cause of the North, we as a government have already started a process with the federal government and the other two territories that we are fully engaged in and intend to see to completion. Thank you.

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

If Bill C-530 does pass, within two months that would increase the borrowing limit of the Government of the Northwest Territories to somewhere in the neighbourhood of $900 million and if the Minister of Finance hasn’t done the work, the analysis of what our spending would get us, the $900 million, what that would do to our finances going forward, then again, I think we’re missing something here. I’d like to ask the Minister if he could share with the Members of this House any official correspondence he’s had with the Member of Parliament on Bill C-530.

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Minister of Finance

I’m not a federal parliamentary expert but my understanding of the Private Member’s Bill process is that this process will take years. It will take until sometime in the new year to even get back before the House for further discussion before there’s even any decision made.

I can indicate to this House that there was correspondence from the Premier to the Member of Parliament on October 20th confirming what I’ve

stated to this House, that we thank them for contacting us, but indicating that we have a process that we are engaged in with the federal government and the other territories to review our borrowing limits and that we will fully engage in that process to its conclusion.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for that. I guess for me the bottom line is whether or not -- and I said this earlier -- we’ve never discussed in any meeting I’ve been in during the seven years that I’ve been here, a percentage on our expenditures as a borrowing limit. It is the first I’ve heard of it and I’d like to again ask the Minister if this Cabinet endorses 70 percent of our expenditures as a borrowing limit for this government.

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Minister of Finance

Let me state once again for the Member and the general public, that we have indicated to the Member of Parliament for the Western Arctic that it’s his right to pursue a Private Member’s Bill. He has our interests in mind and in his opinion he’s using the processes he has. But we have made it clear that we have embarked upon a process with the federal Finance

department and the other two territories to review our borrowing limit. That’s the process we’re engaged in. That’s the process we are committed to. That’s what we are paying attention to. That’s where we see the issues with our concern of the borrowing limit being addressed and it’s the one we’re fully engaged in.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement today I was talking about the housing problems and issues that we have in Paulatuk. I would like to ask the Minister of Housing what is holding up the Housing Corporation’s work to solve the problem of unfair arrears in the community of Paulatuk.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We had a good trip into Paulatuk and we had a good public meeting. There were a lot of concerns raised by the residents of Paulatuk. We received a great number of correspondences as to some of the problems that we’re facing. I did commit to them that we would have a look at the question of arrears. There was some question there as to the amount of arrears and the time it was taking to get assessed. I did commit to them that we would work with them.

As it stands right now, the LHOs are starting to do the assessments again. For the assessments that were done prior to Housing Corporation getting the responsibility for assessments back from ECE, tenants have the ability to go into their LHO, provide the proper documentation, and the LHO will then work with ECE and if there’s a need to, the reassessments will be done. The onus is again on the tenants to bring in the verification of income and we’re hoping to do that across the Territories. We have heard the question that there has been a lot of arrears accumulated during that time. This is a process that is going to take awhile. We are working with it and will continue to work with it with the residents in Paulatuk.

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

What has the Minister done about the arrears problem in Paulatuk since our last visit?

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

I just explained to the Member the process that we are undertaking right now in helping deal with the arrears. There was a question of extremely high arrears in Paulatuk and we heard some of the stories from some of the residents there. We are undertaking the process again. The LHOs are doing the assessments

currently, since the transfer back as of June 1st , for

the assessments prior. Tenants have the opportunity to bring in their verification of income into Housing and they will then work with ECE to try to do the reassessments if it’s needed.

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

It is a big mess that ECE left behind in the communities and all across the Territories. Has the Minister told the LHOs how to resolve the problem? Will the Minister try to come back into the community? We had about 65 people in attendance at the meeting for the questions that we did have. Is the Minister, with the correspondence he does have, how is the department making out with regard to answering the community and myself?

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

We just recently, or this fall, I believe, we were up in Paulatuk and I made a commitment to the people of Paulatuk that were at the meeting. It was a well-attended meeting. I did make a commitment to deal with a lot of the issues that they were bringing forward. There were a lot of individual issues that were brought forward by way of letter to myself and we are responding to those individually. If time permits, sometime this spring, having been given an opportunity to try to work out some of the issues that they raised in Paulatuk, as time permits I’d be glad to go back in.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I hope it’s before April. I’d like him to come before Christmas or let one of his staff come to the community with me to meet with the community. When you’re getting the mayor of the community calling me regarding the issues and the way things are being handled over there, it’s a great concern to myself that these issues are not being done, because it’s a satellite-run community out of Inuvik. So nothing is being passed in regard to the paper. Why did NWT Housing Corporation not go back to the program before ECE?

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

There were some issues that came out of the whole transfer that we heard of. We are working to try to address some of the concerns that were raised. Paulatuk is just another good example. We have many communities across the Northwest Territories I still have to go into and visit and continue to get the message out there that this is not something that can be done overnight. There has been a challenge as far as the assessments go. We’ve heard that. I can tell you that Paulatuk is not a satellite-run community anymore. We have a management team in place in Paulatuk that is dealing with the situation there. Unfortunately, there was a time when a lot of the operations of the community were run out of the Inuvik office because we were unable to get staff in there. The assessments were being faxed to the Inuvik office and the assessments weren’t being

done in a timely manner. We recognize all that. Now we’re taking steps to try to deal with it. If the opportunity arises and I make it into Paulatuk again, hopefully by then all outstanding issues would have been dealt with and people will understand exactly where they are in the community as far as arrears and assessments and everything else go.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I have questions for the Minister of ITI on the Community Harvesters Assistance Program. Trapping season nears and I have questions for that Minister. Can the Minister tell me what the total CHAP allocation for the NWT is?

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Supporting the traditional economy in the Northwest Territories is a very important priority for our government. As a government we spend approximately $2.25 million to support harvesters. Specifically for Community Harvester Assistance programming we have $593,000.

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

Can the Minister tell me if there will be an increase in CHAP funding overall for this trapping season that we’re into right now?

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

CHAP funding is only one of many programs that we have in place to assist harvesters. A large part of the funding that harvesters receive is based on their activity and how successful they are in harvesting and trapping. With regard specifically to the CHAP program, the budget for 2010-2011 has been set and the budget has remained the same. I should also point out that through the Growing Forward Agreement that we have with the federal government, we’ve also negotiated provisions in there to assist harvesters as well. On an overall basis, the amount of funding available for support to the traditional economy has increased.

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

I understand that the department provides CHAP funding through local wildlife committees. Can the Minister tell me how the allocations are done from community to community?

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

We have 33 communities in the Northwest Territories. Some regions have land claims while others don’t. Some communities have committees that have been negotiated through the land claim and they have responsibility for wildlife harvesting. Other communities that don’t have those arrangements, we recognize those that apply

and it’s based on the number of harvesters, the number of general hunting licence holders. They have to apply to our department and if we recognize them, then we fund them on that basis. For those communities that have no harvesting association or they can’t reach agreement on how the harvesters’ assistance money should be spent, then in some cases the department allocates the funding on behalf of the harvesters.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It was interesting to me to go and talk to the trappers who were saying that they can’t afford to go trapping. That must be an issue. With the price of furs being unstable and low, will this government look at reviewing this program in the sense of looking at the subsidies for the program?

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

As a government we’re always reviewing our programs so that we can improve upon them and make them better. As I said, we have a number of different programs to assist harvesters. CHAP funding is one part of it. The other part of it is the Genuine Mackenzie Valley Fur Program where we guarantee prices for furs. For those active trappers that go out and trap and sell at least 20 pelts a year, we also provide a Grubstake Program so that they can get a grubstake before the next season starts. We review our guaranteed prices every year based on the auctions and results of the auctions. Before a trapper goes out he knows how much he’s going to get for a pelt that’s been well maintained and has been cured properly. Every opportunity is there for a trapper to maximize their returns.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In a similar vein as my colleague Mr. Ramsay who was raising concerns about what’s been decided or discussed about this bill presented by our Member of Parliament, which is C-530. I’m not concerned about the autonomy of the Member of Parliament’s issue of being able to advocate things he thinks are important. That’s not the issue at hand. My concern is, although I agree with his spirit and intent, what has he done to communicate this particular issue with this particular government, which is accountable to the Members of this House and to the members of the public. Mr. Speaker, in short, has the Finance Minister received any official correspondence from the Member of Parliament on this particular issue, and has he taken it to Cabinet for any official decision and direction, and how has

he communicated that to the Members of this House? Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister responsible for Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Minister of Finance

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member of Parliament indicated to us what his intention was, and as I indicated to the Member for Kam Lake, on the 20th of October

the Premier wrote to the Member indicating to him that we had our own process underway with the federal government that we were fully engaged in and on a government-to-government basis with ourselves and the federal government as well as the other two territories to sort out our borrowing limit. Thank you.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Mr. Speaker, again, clearly I want to say I’m not against the spirit and the intent, but it seems to be a real communication problem here. Mr. Speaker, I can’t imagine such a significant change in the way the government can operate its business to the people of the Northwest Territories. I can’t imagine such a significant change in the way we can borrow money and put risk at hand here, that this government wouldn’t communicate some of these intentions, either the Premier’s position, interest or whatnot, to the Member of Parliament, and he wouldn’t reach out to Members of this House and express that this is happening. So, Mr. Speaker, it’s a bit of a surprise.

Would the Minister of Finance agree to table the Premier’s letter before this House or leave it up to us to access it through an ATIP request? Thank you.

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Minister of Finance

Mr. Speaker, we have indicated to the Member of Parliament that the processes we are involved in as a government with the federal government, which is basically the status quo that the Members are aware of, is the position of this government. The Member of Parliament’s intent to proceed how he sees fit through a process that they control may take years is his business. We have stated clearly what the position of the Government of the Northwest Territories is. I will check to see if we can forward the Premier’s letter to committee for their perusal. Thank you.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Mr. Speaker, my frustration is not directed at the Finance Minister, but the fact is this does not represent a unified voice of this Assembly. We hear how hard that this government wants to work together on a devolution agreement, bring everybody together, work together on the same page. Well, this bill seems to derail that. Again, I know it’s the Member of Parliament’s business to do what he feels fit, but you would think that the communications works… If you know something so important, why didn’t you tell this side of the House, because it makes everyone over here look bad that

we don’t know what’s happening, and does the government support it? Mr. Speaker, has this Cabinet taken an official position on this particular case and why have they not spoken to the Members of this House such as Regular Members? Thank you.

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Minister of Finance

We have taken an official position on this. We’ve indicated to the Member in writing that we are committed to the process that’s underway with the federal Department of Finance and the other two territories. It’s clear for us. Now, if the Members are suggesting somehow that we should be out doing some kind of legwork for the Member of Parliament, then we can have that discussion. We were clear that the issue was dealt with. The Member of Parliament has a track that he’s on but we’re not involved in that. We have a process with the federal government and the other two territories. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Your final, short supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The fact is we have a lot of infrastructure issues and we could go on at length about highway needs, hydro needs. We could go on about a lot of things that are very important to the future of the Northwest Territories. Yes, the spirit and the intent may work to accomplish this, which I’m not against. The fact is it seems like there’s a huge gap in the communication, Mr. Speaker. Clearly, to the Minister of Finance, I think this should be a Finance Ministers’ discussion or Premier to Prime Minister discussion in Ottawa, but not an MP forcing this issue to be discussed.

Mr. Speaker, does the Minister of Finance see risk taken to our negotiations to this government trying to increase our borrowing limit to what’s considered a responsible level? Does he see that this is now going to cause problems? Thank you.

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Minister of Finance

Mr. Speaker, we have a clear process with the federal government that we, collectively, have agreed on, and we are confident that that will allow us to achieve the goals to look at our circumstances as it pertains to our borrowing limit, come up with a result, hopefully, in the next few months to resolve those issues for the three territories. I don’t know the exact timing and sequence of events for Private Member’s Bills, but what little I know tells me that you have almost as much of a chance of winning the lottery as you do getting a Private Member’s Bill through the House of Parliament in Ottawa. The Member of Parliament has chosen a course of action, trying to advance what he thinks are northern interests, but we have our process and we’ve taken our position and it’s clear. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Premier in terms of his meeting with the aboriginal leaders later on this afternoon or this evening in Edmonton. I want to ask the Premier in terms of his discussion and in light of any type of documentation or indication from the aboriginal governments, in terms of their support to sign on with the territorial government to begin the next steps in terms of this draft agreement-in-principle. Can the Premier inform the House and the people of the North in terms of what type of reaction he has from the aboriginal governments so far?

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Floyd Roland

Floyd Roland Premier

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the process that has been laid out, the chief negotiator sent a letter to the aboriginal groups to seek their input and gave a response time of the 31st . We’ve been sticking to the process of waiting

until they have had a chance to look at it and make response. We’ve started receiving those responses and looking at those areas where there seems to be movement to move forward, but there are issues and concerns raised. There are also some pretty straightforward comments that have been made publicly that they are not interested in sitting at that table. What the meeting is tonight is to see, in fact, where the regional leaders sit on this and to see if we can find a way forward together. Thank you.

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Mr. Speaker, I was carbon copied a letter by the Sahtu Secretariat certainly indicating their position on the draft AIP. I want to ask the Premier, in terms of my regional position here from the leaders, the chiefs and the Metis presidents, in terms of the attitude or the position of the federal government and the territorial government on the government-to-government relationship, and they certainly didn’t feel that they were participating as much as they wanted to and several issues from the Sahtu were not left to be discussed and they certainly don’t feel that it can be discussed any further when they start, if they do start the next process for the AIP. Can the Premier indicate to me in the House as to how concerns like this that are in the Sahtu can be addressed so we can feel comfortable enough to put our hand to the pen to sign this deal?

Floyd Roland

Floyd Roland Premier

Mr. Speaker, the process and the communications between the aboriginal groups and ourselves and aboriginal governments on what we need to do going forward and some of those concerns, we’ve been tracking those. Again, with respect to the process, I’d like to sit down with the aboriginal leaders and have the discussion specifically about the points they’ve raised. Some have put it quite publicly, their emotions, and, in

fact, naming of negotiators to go forward with concerns about a process going forward. I hope that as we have our meeting this evening, that we will be able to put certain concerns to rest and address the other concerns as we go forward through final negotiations. That’s the hope and we’ll have to see where that goes. Thank you.

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Mr. Speaker, I certainly hope that the Premier has much success in terms of the negotiations or discussions that are going to happen in Edmonton this evening. Certainly the issues of the Sahtu are very important to us, to a point where it stated clearly in my letter from our chairperson, carbon copied to me, that we are not prepared to advance the territorial agenda until some very basic concerns of the Sahtu are addressed. I would like to ask the Premier in terms of what type of indications that would weigh, I guess, in terms of this Cabinet decision to say, yes, these are the basic issues of the Sahtu that can be addressed in terms of our self-government negotiations in our communities that we feel that we are developing our own level of government, and certainly that weighs heavily on the minds of our leaders.

Floyd Roland

Floyd Roland Premier

Mr. Speaker, I think the Member is probing to see if I will give him information as to what might become a response to a question, or an issue that may get raised this evening or as we go forward into making a decision on this AIP as the GNWT. The simple fact, again, of honouring the process, wanting to sit down with the regional leadership and hear from them directly on some of the major issues, what can we address through an AIP and what is more important, I guess, addressed through the self-government process. Again, the AIP is a devolution of authorities over public lands. It is Crown lands that remain being administered by the federal government at this time. That is where we are at this process. I, as I have committed to Members and have followed up regularly with updates, will continue to do that as we progress on this file. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Final supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In terms of this whole draft AIP, it comes down to one issue. It comes down to trust with our aboriginal governments and this government here. So far we have not seen that in terms of how this process comes out to play in terms of we have to post this agreement on CBC for everybody to read. Mr. Speaker, our leaders here are saying that we need more than just having a government-to-government. We need a third government. I am not too sure when this decision was made to have a territorial government and federal government come to a deal and then turn around to say to the

aboriginal governments, sign if you want or like this deal. We need to have a government-to-government relationship. That is a basic fundamental question. When was the decision made to have a government-to-government and not include the aboriginal governments on the same table with the negotiators? My negotiators are saying they were just standing by and watching the process happen.

Floyd Roland

Floyd Roland Premier

Mr. Speaker, I think the Member, as well, has past experience in negotiations. As they go to an AIP, once the initialling happens, at that point, then, you have your technical briefings, have the discussion about what it means as you enter into then the final set of negotiations. We haven’t even entered in. We haven’t even initialled an agreement-in-principle. In fact, as I said earlier, aboriginal governments have been part of this negotiation, informing of this AIP, especially in the Chapter 6 portion of that. The decision made was expressed at a number of meetings by the federal negotiator in the position that has been taken that is put forward in the AIP process. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just want to follow up on my Member’s statement asking the honourable Premier and in his capacity as well as Aboriginal Affairs Minister. The Dehcho First Nations are really quite upset about the Order-in-Council by the federal government. I would like to ask at what stage was our government involved or notified of the decision to remove the subsurface rights aspect of the protection of the Edhezhie area, Mr. Speaker. Thank you very much.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Floyd Roland

Floyd Roland Premier

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This government has worked alongside of aboriginal groups when it comes to the Protected Areas Strategy, the interim measures agreements that are put in place and working towards bringing those to successful conclusion. It came as quite a surprise, a shock, that it was announced that the measures were being withdrawn and, in fact, it was shortly after that that the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger, was directed to write a letter to the Minister of INAC in the response and concern to extend that agreement so that it would remain in place. Thank you.

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

Mr. Speaker, the Dehcho First Nations felt that our government did not speak on behalf of the residents of our constituency and

demanded that kind of action. Can the Minister provide me a copy of that letter? I would like to see the content, because that is something that is of benefit of all the people of the Northwest Territories, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Floyd Roland

Floyd Roland Premier

Mr. Speaker, as soon as this news came out, we were on the situation and a letter was drafted and then sent in. We will be able to share that with Members. Thank you.

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

Mr. Speaker, the Dehcho First Nations are looking for that kind of action by our government to stand behind them on this one particular issue. It is a win-win situation, because all the stakeholders are looking for this type of action by our government. What can the Premier do? What other actions can he take in order to get the federal government to change their Order-in-Council? Thank you.

Floyd Roland

Floyd Roland Premier

Mr. Speaker, I think this is a prime example of what happens when the authorities for decisions of land and environment and resources are made in other capitals across this country and being the capital of Canada. This is a prime example of what happens when you don’t have authority to make decisions. In fact, through this process for 12 years, the GNWT has been working alongside our aboriginal partners. In fact, it put resources on the table to help with these areas. Again, it came as quite a surprise to us that the announcement was made that they are withdrawing from them. The letter has gone in to ask them to extend it.

For going forward with this letter, like in many files, we write these letters. We make phone calls and we ask for meetings to urge a resolution in favour of people of the Northwest Territories, but then we are ultimately waiting for a decision to be made by the so-called other authority in this land. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Final supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Dehcho First Nations’ position is that they are looking for more leadership by our government. Is there more that they can do? I know that the Minister of ENR did send a letter, but can our government speak out loud, take a Cabinet position and advise Ottawa that the Edhezhie issue is important on behalf of the Government of the Northwest Territories and the people and the Dehcho people? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Floyd Roland

Floyd Roland Premier

Mr. Speaker, as we heard the information, the letter went in is a Cabinet position, that in fact this agreement should have been extended as it was originally laid out as there was much work that was done and a number of these files are close to bringing to conclusion. We have taken a position on this. In fact, the opportunity is there. I don’t know if the grand chief

of the Dehcho will be one of the partners at the table. I will happily talk to him about the process and the letter that has gone and carry that message forward as well. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Time for question period has expired. Item 9, written questions. Item 10, returns to written questions. Mr. Clerk.

Tim Mercer Clerk Of The House

Mr. Speaker, I have a return to written question asked by Mr. Tom Beaulieu on October 15, 2010, regarding core need breakdown for housing.

Later today, at the appropriate time, I will table:

Senior Households in Core Need by

Community, 2009

Core Need for Single Member Households

(Less than 60 Years of Age), 2009

Core Need by Size of Household, 2009

With respect to the request for information on core need among couples, it should be noted that the questionnaire format used in the survey combined two and three-person households, therefore, it is not possible to distinguish couples and families.

The methodology used in the 2009 NWT Community Survey has been reviewed by CMHC and is viewed to be highly valid. However, as the survey utilized random sampling in larger communities, and given the small sample sizes in the smallest communities, data provided on seniors for certain communities should be used and interpreted with some caution given the sample variance. These communities are denoted with an asterisk in the document Senior Households in Core Need by Community, 2009.

The NWTHC continues to work with the Bureau of Statics and the Department of Executive to further refine our methodology for future collection of housing data in the Northwest Territories

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Tim Mercer Clerk Of The House

Mr. Speaker, I have a return to written question asked by Mr. Krutko on October 25, 2010, regarding cost of devolution negotiations.

The Member had three parts to his written question and I shall answer each part individually.

1. What is the total cost of the negotiations?

The total cost of the work of the Office of Devolution over the last nine years has been approximately

$8.2 million. It is important to note that this total includes the funds paid to regional aboriginal governments and the Aboriginal Summit. It is also important to note that the Office of Devolution has had a broader scope of work, most recently being involved in regulatory improvement initiatives including the release of the GNWT’s Approach to Regulatory Improvement.

2. What is the cost for the work of the chief

negotiator?

Over the past nine years, the total cost of the GNWT chief negotiator’s contract with regard to negotiations at all tables (Main Table and bilateral negotiations with Finance Canada) has totalled $655,000.

3. What is the cost of third parties involved in

negotiations?

Mr. Speaker, at the appropriate time later today I will be tabling a spreadsheet which shows that the GNWT has provided approximately $3.9 million to both the Aboriginal Summit, initially through the Intergovernmental Forum, and then directly to participating regional aboriginal governments to help support and offset their costs of preparation for and participation in devolution-related activities.

It should be noted that the federal government provided an equivalent amount of funding to participating regional aboriginal governments during this same period.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Clerk. Item 11, replies to opening address. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to return to item 8 on the Order Paper.

---Unanimous consent granted

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister responsible for Environment and Natural Resources. Yesterday the Minister came out with a Minister’s statement indicating, or outlining the caribou numbers in the Northwest Territories, and in those numbers there was an indication that the Bluenose caribou herd seems to be rebuilding a little bit, to the point where our number is at about 98,000 caribou. I’m sure the Minister won’t be surprised to hear that when I got

to work this morning I had a number of e-mails from outfitters who indicated that there are at least three outfitting organizations located out of Yellowknife who primarily hunt the Bluenose caribou herd. So they’re wondering what processes are in place to talk about giving those outfitters some tags so that they can have a season for 2011. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Minister responsible for Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Wek’eezhii Renewable Resources Board came out with their report and recommendations, which we’re responding to, and they were very clear in terms of what they’re recommending in terms of harvesting and who should harvest and how much should be harvested out of the Bathurst. They made a reference as well to the Bluenose-East. So the new numbers, I’m sure, will be considered by the Wek’eezhii Renewable Resources Board, but at this point, those recommendations are being reviewed and will be responded to by the territorial government, as well as the Tlicho Government, and we’ll have that done by December. So at this juncture, given the processes that we’re involved in and the authorities that are there with the Tlicho Government and their regulatory process, I anticipate this will take some time over the course of this winter.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

I thank the Minister for that response. In light of these numbers that have now come out, I think some of these outfitters who can demonstrate that they primarily hunt the Bluenose... I mean, there’s certainly an opportunity here for discussion, and my question was more specific to what is the process that these outfitters who primarily hunt the Bluenose caribou, what’s the process that they can use to go back to the review board, the Wek’eezhii, to see if there are any opportunities for these particular outfitters to get some tags so that we can start to rebuild this industry, which, for all intents and purposes, is now currently dead. Thank you.

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

We have a process that has just barely run its course and we’re still in the process of reviewing the recommendations from the Wek’eezhii Renewable Resources Board. The new numbers will be revisited by the board as it’s being revisited by Environment and Natural Resources as well as the Tlicho Government. Whether it will have any impact on any recommendation changes, it’s too early to say. Thank you.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Given the numbers, there certainly appears to be an opportunity here to help this industry and I suppose I could ask the Minister for ITI, but since I’m asking the Minister for ENR I’m

wondering if he could tell us if they’d be willing to provide some sort of support to the outfitters who are primarily hunting the Bluenose. This is a lot of money in the Northwest Territories that has disappeared and if these numbers are solid again, why would we not stand behind this industry or help them out?

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

I think it’s too early to say the worst is over. We have one herd that has shown something of a rebound. The other herds have plummeted and have bottomed out. Some big ones we’re still not sure what happened to them and we’re waiting to see what’s happened with the Porcupine. There has been some stabilization we think because of the measures that have been wisely taken by the co-management boards and the territorial government.

The issue of compensation has been, I believe, asked and answered a number of times by the Minister of ITI. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final supplementary, Mr. Abernethy.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good response. I’m not sure it was a response to the question that I was asking. The outfitters primarily take very small numbers and they primarily take adult males, which has a smaller impact on the decline. So my question is: Given what the outfitters take, given the money that comes in, can we count on this Cabinet and this Minister to find a way to support this industry and if the Bluenose numbers are solid, as indicated yesterday, why would we not stand behind this industry? Thank you.

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

What we’re standing behind first and foremost, of course, is the protection of the caribou herds across the Northwest Territories and we’ve had to make very many difficult decisions as we’ve dealt with a significant, often precipitous decline of the herds. So there’s a process. It takes time, as the Member is well aware.

In this part of the country, the Wek’eezhii Board has a very clear, mandated role to play. There’s overlap into the Sahtu with the Sahtu Renewable Resources Board and the co-management boards as well as up into the Inuvialuit, there’s involvement by the Dehcho. Also the herd is used sometimes from the Northwest Territories Metis. So we have a very complex area and there’s been some very clear direction given through a process that has taken a significant amount of time to complete and we have to respond to that. Our current system is clear; the decisions have been made and if they’re going to be revisited, that’s a process that’s going to take some time, keeping in mind that the numbers are, for all intents and purposes, hot off the presses. Is it going to be an ongoing trend or is it just a blip up? I mean, we have to assess all those things before we make any changes and that

would have to be done through the full process that we’re all a part of. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to follow up on the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources’ statement earlier today and my colleague Mrs. Groenewegen’s statement on the content of the Minister’s statement.

I guess first of all I’d like to know, the Minister stated greenhouse gas emissions had broad implications to our environment and potential impact to the social, cultural and economic well-being of NWT residents. Just to confirm, does the Minister mean impacts like the anticipated loss of hundreds of species of arctic wildlife and plants important to our diverse cultures? Like hundreds, likely billions of dollars of damage to the infrastructure we have in our communities. Like the huge implications to our people throughout the NWT for the health of our people, especially our seniors. If so, would the Minister consider putting those sorts of specifics in his statement so that they actually have some content? Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Minister responsible for Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Member telling me what I need, it’s very helpful. This issue has been before this House since the inception of this Assembly. I think it’s clear; it speaks to the process, not the content of what we’re going to do. There’s going to be information going out, there’s going to be consultation undertaken. What I did in this House today was to give an update on a significant process that’s a shift from the government looking at itself to looking at the Territory, looking at our carbon footprint, consulting with communities, business, industry, aboriginal governments about this very complex critical issue, and the Member has listed off some of the impacts that we are dealing with and we’re going to continue to deal with. So this is a process update and there will be much more information to come. Thank you.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to assure the Speaker that these are posed as questions. The recent reports released during this session, reports from across the globe, have all highlighted the accelerating and deepening consequences of climate change. Would the Minister agree that this sort of information is relevant and for inclusion in his statement such as he gave earlier today, especially when the

relevance is directly applying to the Arctic and our jurisdiction?

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

The issue of biodiversity and loss of species is a big global issue. I will indicate that, yes, when I stand up to speak to the content of the process and the strategy and the questions that we’re asking and the points that we’d like to be considered, that type of detail will be there to set the stage and the context and try to map out how we move forward. We’ve taken a tack and a path as a government that’s allowed us to do a whole host of things. We’re now turning our attention to how do we do that not only for the government but as a Territory. There are many things in place. We’ve invested $60 million to start to shift to alternative energies. Significant commitment all across the board with alternative energies. So, yes, that kind of detail is going to be critical to set the stage, the content, as we move forward.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

The Minister mentioned targets for greenhouse gas emissions and reductions. Our current target is clearly one that’s so modest it’s almost negligible, albeit it’s an important start. Will we be considering meaningful targets in line, for example, with scientific analysis and the urgency of the situation?

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

The point of the consultation and going across the land to talk about the Greenhouse Gas Strategy is to see what kind of consensus we can reach on the seriousness of the issue. The issue of targets will be there, clearly. We’ve set one, as the Member has indicated, as a government and if we’re going to set one for ourselves as a Territory, what will it be? Is it one target fits all or is it a target that looks at large emitters, small emitters, communities? It’s a complex issue, as I’ve indicated. It’s going to take a lot of creative hard work to come up with a consensus, but it is a journey we are committed to embarking on and completing.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final supplementary, Mr. Bromley.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you again to the Minister. Again just referencing the statement, I note the reference to broad implications that we’re taking. We have taken broad action and, in fact, we are contemplating broadening the application of our reduction measures. I’m wondering if we will commit to seriously going after effective new actions that demonstrate significant net reductions in NWT emissions, especially relative to 1990 levels, and putting this government back into a leadership position. Just looking around the Territory, I see municipalities, the NWTAC and so on providing much more effective leadership in actual reductions.

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

This Assembly, I think, can take great pride in the steps that we’ve taken to deal with greenhouse gas emissions as a government. The money that we’ve put into the system to work with communities, to work with individuals, through our community energy plans, our retrofits, our mini-hydro, our rebate programs, our retrofitting our own buildings to reduce our greenhouse gases and the Members have been fully apprised of that, and we look forward to working with all the stakeholders, aboriginal governments, communities, business and industry on this issue to see how we better apply ourselves in a more coordinated way. We’ve done it as a government for ourselves. Now, how do we do it as a territory? That will be our challenge.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In Tu Nedhe we have many housing issues but we also have income support issues. The constituents are trying to make ends meet on income support. Today I have questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Can the Minister tell me when the last time the Income Support Program was evaluated and reviewed in the sense of the effectiveness and delivery of the program?

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The last time we had an overall review of our income security framework was in 2007. This included new incidental benefits. Benefits were increased and also employment incentives were added. Those are just some of the key topics that were changed. As we go along, our program does change over time. It was back in 2007, three years ago.

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

I think the Minister will agree that there are less viable options for income in the small communities. Will the Minister review the Income Support Program and its delivery and look at the issues that are specific to the rural and remote communities?

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

I agree there are limited opportunities in the small and isolated communities. We do what we can to make programs more effective in the communities. The review the Member is referring to is ongoing. There are always changes happening, but it has to meet the vision and guiding principles that are fair, equitable, and needs of the communities. We have

changed the programming and this was an area that we could certainly look at as well.

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

Low employment means less money in the communities. Less money in the communities means that more people are relying on things like income support and pensions and so on, which is spread out among more people. Does the department consider that factor when they’re reviewing the program?

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Yes, that does play a role in our program deliverance. Also, when we review the programming, it does take it into consideration as well. The income security area, when we review the programming, we also take into consideration the high cost of living in the community. Food, clothing, and incidental benefits are adjusted by community and family size as well. Those are the discussions that we’ve been having over the years and we’ll continue to have that.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was going to ask the Minister whether or not the department took high cost of living into account. I guess the Minister answered that question. I wonder if the Minister takes into account the remoteness or isolation of the community when they’re doing the review.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Yes, those are the information that we take into consideration. The Members share a lot of information with us and we do seriously take them into consideration. We have made some changes to the Senior Fuel Subsidy on the threshold based on the recommendations from the Members as well. The income security framework we made some changes in 2007 and that does reflect on the high cost of living, especially those remote communities that are limited with job opportunities. We do what we can with the program in the enhancement of the communities.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have questions for the Minister of ITI. I know my colleague Mr. Abernethy was speaking about barren-ground caribou outfitting in the Northwest Territories earlier. It’s good news that you look at the numbers of the Bluenose-East; numbers are coming back and the Bluenose-West in Cape Bathurst are getting somewhere near stable. I think that’s good news. The problem is, from where I see it, I believe the Department of ENR is intent on just letting the outfitting businesses that were there just wither away and go away. Then you’ve got the

Minister of ITI that has done something to try to help the outfitters here in the Northwest Territories by providing some of this tourism diversification money, product diversification money. But somewhere along the line we’ve got to ensure that when the caribou numbers come back, those businesses are viable. I’d like to ask the Minister, outside of the current programs, is the government intent on developing any further programs that would see the current outfitting businesses for barren-ground caribou in the Northwest Territories be around when the numbers do come back?

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member has already referenced the Tourism Diversification Marketing Program and I guess for some time we’ve realized that the trends with regard to tourism have been changing and the demand for consumptive tourism has been moving more into the areas of ecotourism and adventure tourism. We developed a marketing program that we spent about $5 million over the past four years so that existing operators can develop new products and look at other opportunities. We have met with the barren-ground outfitters and they said that basically they couldn’t really use that program, although some of them had applied for it. We found more funding and developed a program specifically for the Sport Outfitter Marketing Program so that we can deal with them and their declining populations.

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

The barren-ground caribou outfitters pumped millions and millions of dollars into the economy over the years here in the Northwest Territories. It would be an absolute shame to see that industry disappear with the caribou. The numbers are encouraging. The numbers are coming back. I hope and pray that those numbers do continue to trend upward. Those businesses need to be there when those numbers come back so that we can continue to inject the millions of dollars into our economy here in the Northwest Territories. I’d like to ask the Minister again if it is the intent of the government to provide any help and programming to the current outfitters that would see them bridge the gap between right now, where they don’t have tags, and sometime in the future when tags will become available once again.

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

This year we have $600,000 in the Sport Outfitter Marketing Program. We are using that money to assist not only the barren-ground outfitters but also the polar bear outfitters. We’ve allocated $300,000 for the barren-ground outfitters and there are seven barren-ground outfitters that are eligible to access the program. Four of the seven have accessed that program and are using the funds to put their lodges

into care and maintenance so that they can make sure they can still operate them at some future point. It is our intention to seek additional funds in the upcoming business plan and we will continue to go forward on that basis.

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

The bottom line is I think the barren-ground caribou outfitters need a support. They need a champion on Cabinet. I would look to the Minister of ITI to be that champion and to bring forward a program that, like I said, is going to ensure that the businesses that we have here today, that pump millions of dollars, are going to be there. Hopefully the numbers trend the right way and we’ll get tags for them and continue to inject those dollars into our economy.

Again I would like to ask the Minister, I know he mentioned next year’s business plan, but it might be too late for some of the businesses that we have here. I think we need to get to work on this immediately. I’d like to ask the Minister if he’s willing to put some minds around the table and try to come up with a program that’s going to ensure that this happens.

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

We do have an existing program, the Sport Outfitter Marketing Program. We do also have other business programs. The majority of those programs are based on viability, so it would be something that probably wouldn’t occur unless they develop alternative tourism products that could be marketed. Depending on our government’s fiscal situation on a go-forward basis, we will continue to try to expand this program. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Your final, short supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate all the work that the Minister has done in this regard, but my belief is that it falls short of what is needed. Like I said, we need to find a program that’s going to bridge the businesses between right now and when they can get some tags. I don’t think the current program allows us to do that. I don’t think anybody at ENR is going to be standing up fighting for the outfitting industry here in the Northwest Territories. There needs to be a balance and, again, I think the Minister of ITI can provide that balance and get a program in here that is going to see the likelihood that this industry will continue to flourish here in the Northwest Territories at some point in time. Thank you.

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

As the department, we meet with the barren-ground outfitters on a regular basis to determine how the funds should be spent and we expect that other outfitters will be accessing this fund. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the past I’ve brought this issue forward to the House. It’s an issue of contracting where our Public Works and Government Services has allowed someone to help them develop a tender, but at the same time they subsequently allow them to bid on the tender, and on a few occasions they have won the tender. The first one I’m going to note is when the water treatment program up in the North here had issued five contracts for water treatment. I had felt at the time that that was an unfair process that wasn’t open and honest. I’m concerned that another issue has come before me on my desk regarding another tender where a business in Yellowknife is concerned that somebody the government has used to help develop the tender process then went on and bid on the tender, and they won it.

Mr. Speaker, what’s becoming clear here is there’s a sort of unfair advantage being proposed by allowing the person who helps develop the tender and then to certainly turn around and bid on the tender. That may be perfectly legal, but it certainly doesn’t pass the smell test of what is perceived as fair.

Mr. Speaker, my question for the Minister of Public Works is: What is he prepared to do to ensure that we have clear guidelines for anybody who helps prepare a tender to ensure that they’re shown and treated in the same way, in a fair manner, than somebody who wasn’t involved in the development of that tender so there’s no unfair advantage?

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister of Public Works and Services, Mr. Michael McLeod.

Michael McLeod

Michael McLeod Minister of Public Works and Services

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have to assume that the Member is referring only to the contracts that fall under Public Works and Services and not the other departments. Mr. Speaker, it’s common practice across the government to confer and hire different companies that specialize in different sectors, different areas, different industries, to provide advice to help with the scoping and drafting of the project. The information shared is restricted to that process, especially if it’s a specific type of need, and there are really pretty rigid rules around how we do that. I don’t think that’s something that has been a big issue up to now. It’s been going on for many years and we had no real intent to change that. However, if the Member has some concerns, I’d be glad to hear from him. Thank you.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Mr. Speaker, I would like to hear from the Minister, because Public Works is simply seen as the safeguard for...(inaudible)...policy in the Government of the Northwest Territories. The Minister would be correct that individual

departments do have their own individual policies, but Public Works is seen as the centre of excellence when it comes to the area of recruitment and the rules to be followed by.

Mr. Speaker, the issue comes down to unfair advantage. You can’t tell the right side of the brain don’t talk to the left side of the brain when you go bid on a tender even though you tried to develop it. It’s a crazy way of saying please forget everything we did over the last month. Mr. Speaker, what safeguards does the Minister have in place, whether it’s rules or complaint processes, that should be established or are established, such as the Agreement on Internal Trade? What safeguards does the Minister have to protect those consumers who are in this type of problem? Thank you.

Michael McLeod

Michael McLeod Minister of Public Works and Services

Maybe the Member can’t tell his right side of the brain to talk to the left side of the brain, Mr. Speaker. There is a fairly sensitive process that we follow to ensure that the information that is shared with a company that is hired by us to help us draft the contract specifications is only relevant to what we need from them. We don’t ask them to provide dollar amounts. We don’t ask them for a lot of different things. There is an appeal mechanism. If there are concerns, I would like to hear from industry. The Member is raising a concern and I’d certainly like to hear more of what he’s hearing or what he’s concerned about. There is myself, our staff, who are more than willing to respond to any type of complaint. Thank you.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

As politicians we know that the power of perception, when something is seen or heard or certainly told, Mr. Speaker. My point being is that the power of perception here does not meet the “perceived to be fair” when it comes to the contract and tendering process, because we have no clear guidelines and appeal mechanisms. The Minister says they could appeal to the system, but that’s back to the finance director or, of course, go to the comptroller general, which shows no independence of our process. That was even highlighted by our Auditor General in her recent report regarding contracting, Mr. Speaker. One of the requests that committee supported was the development of an appeal process recognizing the Agreement on Internal Trade.

Mr. Speaker, where is this in the development of the government through its process to ensure that these contracts are seen as fair and are fair? Thank you.

Michael McLeod

Michael McLeod Minister of Public Works and Services

Mr. Speaker, the Member has raised concerns by the Auditor General that have been responded to. That information is public. That can be drawn down by the Member if he so wishes. I’m not really sure what the Member is concerned about. If it’s optics, well, I don’t know what we would do to change that

besides not allowing anybody that works for us, that helps us prepare a document or works for us a resource, to bid on these contracts. That’s really going to lock out a lot of good quality companies and that would be a concern. That would certainly increase our costs. I’d need to see more of the specifics that the Member is referring to. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Your final, short supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister didn’t answer the question, probably because he’s not aware of the answer. The fact is that I’ve had another business come to me and complain about government process and they’re concerned about if they raise it to the next level, that they’ll be treated in a biased way coming forward. I can give the Minister the example, but what process exists in today’s context that shows that there will be some independent evaluation that there is no nepotism when someone works to develop a tender and then subsequently wins it? We have nothing to show that we have clear demonstration of a process. Thank you.

Michael McLeod

Michael McLeod Deh Cho

I’m not going to respond to a document that he’s holding right in his hand and reading from and asks me to clarify what he’s reading. Mr. Speaker, the simple answer is we have not engaged in a process to review the system. If there are concerns, if there is a desire by a Member of this House for us to do that, we’ll certainly take that as recommendation. Up to now, it’s been an issue raised by the Member and we can continue that discussion if he so wishes. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to ask the questions to the Housing Minister. I know the Housing Minister made some statements about the program reviews and things that are going to see, hopefully, some changes for the good for people in the communities, especially with purchasing, renovating and housing and such. I want to ask the Minister in terms of speed of the process. However, I am still receiving a lot of inquiries and concerns about people purchasing houses in my region. As a matter of fact, there is one lady right now that wants to purchase her house; however, it is going to take longer than she anticipated. I am not too sure if there is any way that she could purchase this house without the support of the Housing Corporation in terms of financial dollars. Can the Minister help with this

situation so it could be rectified as soon as possible?

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If she is going to purchase a house without the assistance of the Housing Corporation, then she would be able to do that on her own. I am not sure where it’s coming from. If you go to the bank for financing, then you really have no dealing with the Housing Corporation unless it is a Housing Corporation unit that she is looking to buy. I need to get the information clarified with the Member before I can respond properly to it. Thank you.

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Mr. Speaker, clarification I will give the Minister is that this lady wants to purchase a house; however, due to some complexities, I guess, within the policies of the Housing Corporation, it will take months to purchase this house. She is doing it all on her own, yet it seems like the Housing Corporation has a whole bunch of policies that speak of more frustrating for her in terms of purchasing this unit. Get it off their inventory so that they can build another unit that they would allocate to other people in the community. It is just very tiring for this person.

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

Mr. Speaker, if I am to understand the Member, he is talking that this lady wants to buy a house on their own and it sounds like it is a public housing unit that she is looking to buy. Okay, that has something to do with the Housing Corporation. I would have to follow up with the Member and get particular details. I know we do have a policy where we are trying to rid ourselves of some public housing units. As we bring replacement units on, we are trying to reduce our stock. If we can have people out there that are looking to buy their public housing units, then it is something that we will look at. I will get the particulars from the Member and I will assure him that I will follow up on it. Thank you.

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister advise the Members in this House what he is going to do to ensure that the sale of public housing units can occur in a timely manner within the communities?

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

Mr. Speaker, as I said before, we are always willing to look at the option of selling public housing units. However, we have to be sure that we are not depleting our stock in that community where we are unable to provide public housing to those that are in need. If there is an excess of public housing units or we are bringing in replacement units, then this is something that we will look at. If we are doing that, then sales should go through as quickly as possible. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I had been working with the Minister’s office on this particular subject. There are probably other ones that fall into this category. I want to ask the Minister in terms of speeding up the process. It seems like this person, in the eyes of the community, is very simple. You have a public unit house. They want to buy it. The Minister has encouraged people. How quickly can this person buy this unit? It certainly would save a lot of grief for the family and I think this could be done as quickly as possible. I will work with the Minister. I want to ask the Minister if we could do this within a month or so.

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

Mr. Speaker, I will follow up with the Member and we will see how... I will get the particular details of the situation and we will see if we are in a position to speed it up, because it is our goal to get folks out of public housing and into their own units. If this is one way we can do it, I will commit to working with the Member to see if we can make this happen. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

David Krutko

David Krutko Mackenzie Delta

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are directed to the Minister of Health and Social Services. I know I have raised this issue in the House before in regards to the area of orthodontic services in the Inuvik region. There was supposed to be a contract let, yet, Mr. Speaker, I am still receiving phone calls from parents in regards to the amount of time it is taking for their children to be seen in regards to this important service. I would like to ask the Minister exactly why is it taking so long to get this position filled and, more importantly, why are parents having to wait months on end and nothing seems to be happening? Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Sandy Lee

Sandy Lee Minister of Health and Social Services

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Member for the question. The Member is right; we have had some delayed services in the Beaufort-Delta region due to a lack of contract; well, the provider. The Beaufort-Delta authority was able to sign the contract in August but the contractor was not able to begin work until November. There is a backlog list of patients that need to be seen. I will undertake to look at where we are with this and I hope to be able to report that they are going to

begin delivering the services now that it is November. Thank you.

David Krutko

David Krutko Mackenzie Delta

Mr. Speaker, again, there is a very long backlog in regards to this. There are a lot of people waiting. I heard from a lot of constituents in the three communities I represent. There have been people waiting for almost a year and a half and still haven’t received this service. Is there a possibility that different health authorities, whoever can assist the Inuvik region through this transition and get some of these patients into the system either in Yellowknife or elsewhere so that we can try to bring some remedy to the situation and shorten the waiting list that people are waiting for the service?

Sandy Lee

Sandy Lee Minister of Health and Social Services

Mr. Speaker, this is a service being provided by the federal government under NIHB. We assist in the process in terms of providing space and helping them with the administrative procedure. I agree that this is an important service. I will get a complete update on when the service will start, how many people are on the waiting list and what options they are looking at to speed up the process, including what the Member has suggested. Thank you.

David Krutko

David Krutko Mackenzie Delta

Mr. Speaker, again, it will be nice if the Department of Health and Social Services, the Inuvik Regional Health Board could maybe put out a public advisory letting the people know what the status of the situation is so that they can stop calling our MLAs and also get the information to the people that require that. I would like to ask the Minister if they can also notify the public on the status of the situation and also work with those families and parents to deal with this matter. Thank you.

Sandy Lee

Sandy Lee Minister of Health and Social Services

Mr. Speaker, yes, I would ask them to publicly advertise and update the public as to where that program is. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier this year I was working with the Municipality of Fort Liard. Unfortunately, they had lost a member in the river and they had quite a few expenses for search and rescue. I understand it is under the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs. We do have a fund to assist with search and rescues. I would like to ask the Minister to tell me a little bit about the program. Thank you very much.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Robert McLeod.

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member is correct; we have a contribution for community-organized searches that may provide contributions to support community-organized search for missing persons. If we go into the definitions -- and I am going to share this with the Member -- it talks about a public search that needs to be conducted by the RCMP and this has to fit into that area. So I’d be willing to provide some of this information to the Member.

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

In this case, the municipality, actually the Acho Dene Koe of Fort Liard did actually put in a request to access these funds because they expended quite a bit of money, and I certainly supported that. I sent in a memo to the Minister and it was denied. I’d like to know how does a community access that fund that’s sorely needed, especially when it calls on the resources of communities, families, friends, et cetera. Thank you.

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

The contribution funding is typically provided for a community-organized search of a prolonged length and duration, and the public search by the RCMP has concluded and the community government has incurred expenses related to the community-organized search. However, we did have, I believe, a couple of requests. I’m not quite sure of the amount of the expenses. I don’t think I’ve seen that number personally yet. So I think it was one of the reasons that it was declined, because we had had a couple of requests come from the community of Fort Liard. Thank you.

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

I certainly support the cause of the ADK Band membership to submit their bills of $10,000. Is the Minister willing to review this particular request once again? Thank you.

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

I’ll commit to the Member that I’d be willing to have a look at this. Again, I mentioned, and maybe it’s a discussion that he and I need to have, but we did receive a couple of requests from the community of Fort Liard. But I will commit to the Member that I’ll look at the expenses that they may have incurred there, if they can substantiate them and if it’s something that we need to sit down and discuss. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Your final, short supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I understand that some of the parameters are that the contributions are to the officially recognized municipalities, the hamlet or whatever, but we have had instances in the past three or four years where we did provide contributions over to the band councils, because they’re the ones, it’s their membership, they’re the ones that expend the most money there, Mr. Speaker, and I’d like to ask the Minister if that will be considered as well. Thank you.

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

We will consider that. We also have to be sure that as far as community searches go, if we get a couple of applications for reimbursement from the community, then it’s unfair to one group or the other if we approve one or the other. So I would have to review the whole situation and see exactly what happened in the situation in Fort Liard and I’ll communicate with the Member and then hopefully we can get a resolution out of this. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Item 12, petitions. Item 13, reports of committees on the review of bills. Item 14, tabling of documents. The honourable Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation, Mr. Robert McLeod.

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Further to my Return to Written Question 15-16(5), I wish to table the following three documents entitled Core Need by Size of Household, Winter 2009; Senior Households in Core Need by Community, 2009; Core Need for Single Member Households Less than 60 Years of Age, Winter 2009. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister, Mr. Michael McLeod.

Michael McLeod

Michael McLeod Deh Cho

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Further to the Premier’s Return to Written Question 16-16(5), I wish to table the following document entitled Cost of Devolution Negotiations, Actual Expenditures.

Also, I would like to table the following document entitled Reports Respecting Benefits Paid to Ministers under the Ministerial Benefits Policy for

the Fiscal Year Ending March 31, 2010. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister responsible for Human Resources, Mr. Bob McLeod.

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Minister of Human Resources

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document entitled 2009 Public Service Annual Report. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Pursuant to Section 40.23.(2) of the Public Service Act, I wish to table the Annual Report of the Equal Pay Commissioner for the Northwest Territories for the period July 1, 2009, to June 30, 2010.

Item 15, notices of motion. Item 16, notices of motion for first reading of bills. Item 17, motions. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

WHEREAS people with post-secondary education are six times more likely to have employment, and completing post-secondary education dramatically increases the lifetime prospects of having well-paid, stable employment;

AND WHEREAS post-secondary education programs require secondary school graduates to have earned specific course credits for entry to programs;

AND WHEREAS students may not learn or realize early enough that they are not taking the courses needed for specific post-secondary programs;

AND WHEREAS students who are lacking courses required for entry to specific education programs must take upgrading courses if they are to be accepted into their chosen programs;

AND WHEREAS student financial assistance is available to attend post-secondary educational programs and for certain intake programs providing upgrading for entry to a limited number of post-secondary programs;

AND WHEREAS some students in some programs are able to access other territorial and federal

funding programs to support their upgrading, such as Income Support and Employment Insurance;

AND WHEREAS the lack of student financial assistance to take secondary school upgrading programs is preventing students who want to pursue higher education from earning required credits;

NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Sahtu, that this Legislative Assembly recommends that eligibility for the Student Financial Assistance Program be expanded to include students taking full-time secondary school upgrading programs in preparation for post-secondary education.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Motion is on the floor, motion is in order. To the motion. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This motion is partly in response to the results of our educational programs, which have created a situation where we have students graduating with a diploma which does not prepare them for the post-secondary education that they wish to take on. Unfortunately, when I went to school we had vocational and matriculation diplomas and it was very clear what they prepared you for in terms of post-secondary. Today we don’t have that.

I know the Minister is aware of this and is working with committees and others, his staff, to make sure that we plug that hole, but in the meantime we have created a bolus of people of various ages now that have these deficient Grade 12 diplomas. There is a federal program UCEP, which is available for students to help with their upgrading, but it’s insufficient for the demand that has been created, and it’s only applicable to status Indians and Inuit under the DIAND program.

There is overwhelming evidence, Mr. Speaker, that investing in education pays big dividends. We’re facing issues of poverty and unemployment and participation in society. These will all be benefited and resolved through this action. I look forward to any other comments, but I will be supporting this motion, obviously, and will be requesting a recorded vote.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. To the motion. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, will be supporting this motion. I’d like to thank Mr. Bromley for bringing it to the floor.

The statistics show, the numbers show that students who take on a career by advancing their educational knowledge, greatly contribute to the Northwest Territories and the communities. These educational programs that we offer in secondary

institutions will certainly be busier if we had the proper funding for students to take advantage of upgrading their skills and educational knowledge by having them being supported through Student Financial Assistance.

As Mr. Bromley has indicated, there is a federal program under the UCEP program that’s only geared for Dene Treaty Indians or Inuit and certainly cuts out the aboriginal people. Sorry; the Metis people who have to once again fight and scrape and ask for equal rights as any other aboriginal people in Canada.

The upgrading courses that are now being chosen in the communities, a lot of our Grade 12 students who are leaving high school have to take upgrading programs. Right now they are not being funded or supported. The only program I know of that has support is called the Access Program, which there are four programs in the North that students can take funding.

I wanted to ask the Minister in terms of this motion here to see that there is a strong emphasis to the student financial services to support Grade 12 and give the students a chance in their career, let them know we are there for them, and when we have students graduating from Grade 12, we know that for certain they can go to a post-secondary institution. Right now the joke is that once you’re finished Grade 12, make room for Aurora College because you’re going to do your two years to get into an access program.

We are severely lacking any type of quality standards of education in the North and it’s certainly shown by having a motion like this on the table to support our students. This is an indication as to where our education in the Northwest Territories is.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. To the motion. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I will be supporting this motion today and as a result of Mr. Bromley’s and Mr. Yakeleya’s interest in this topic, it certainly identifies a gap that we must address.

Throughout the last couple of weeks we’ve talked about poverty and helping our people, and giving them access to education by filling this one gap is one of the most positive and beneficial ways that our government can give our people the hand-up and not a handout.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. To the motion. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s a pleasure to speak to this motion, but, unfortunately,

I can’t support the motion the way it is written. I’ll explain why.

I certainly believe strongly that the path of independence is sought through education. I think independent people who are self-sufficient through their education and that gives them the strength to go on and take care of themselves and their family and their future. I feel very strongly that the benefits of education help people in every generation. Education does not hold a single person back once you get that.

As the program is designed now, post-secondary education funding is for post-secondary education. It’s not to replace high school. People who decide not to complete high school, people who do not decide to complete high school in the right way -- and that means the upper level courses to qualify for university. This motion says that we should be funding high school, in essence, in another location through the post-secondary process. I disagree with that.

I would ask the mover if he has done any work in the Social Programs committee. He has told me no. If he wants to change his answer today, I’m curious if his answer is new today. I recently asked him this question not two days ago. I’d like to know what the demand is of this particular case that people, whether they’re aged 25, 30, 35, 40, have decided that they want to go to university at this stage and that they need high school upgrading.

There are options out there. I’ll tell you the options and I’ll start with the free ones. If somebody wants to go back and do upgrading, they can go to the high school; the local high school that this government and past governments have worked very hard to ensure are in every community. I believe they exist. Why aren’t we taking up that option first? Someone may say that they may be too old. Okay. I’ll buy that. If they’re aged 21 or older perhaps and they feel uncomfortable going back to Grade 12 in their home town. I’ll respect that. There’s an age factor there. What about using one of our 33 learning centres in the Northwest Territories? What about accessing one of our three campuses in our major communities? You can go back there to take high school upgrading so you can pursue those post-secondary education dreams, which I support. Right now with the existing pillars we have right here is a fantastic Aurora College that provides us access to anybody who wants to proceed.

Now, is the cost burden too heavy to go to Aurora College? Well, I’m glad I put that question out there, because I went to the Aurora College program and I noticed the heavy burden of the cost to pursue Aurora College programming is $40 for an application fee -- that seems overwhelming -- $25 for student fees, $40 for computer lab, and the $20 fee for recreation; $125 is not considered a

burdensome levy that somebody now has to create a new program through Student Financial Assistance that we have to create to provide high school.

I feel very strongly about our Aurora College. I feel, clearly and unequivocally, that they are going in the right direction providing opportunities for our northern students. Certainly the ones that come along a little later can be defined as mature students. They are the pillars of our education and they are an access point.

There are a couple of other options. If a person happens to be down on their luck and working through the income support system, income support will support them as a productive choice going back to the learning centre and accessing it that way. Amazingly, that’s not all.

A person can access the distance education system while they’re at home here in the Northwest Territories. Yet again more options for these people. And they’re not very expensive, because I’ve pursued to find out the cost of some of these things.

Lastly, but not least, is if a person is of the age that they feel a little uncomfortable again approaching the schools... And by the way, the schools do welcome students who want to return to high school to do upgrading. As a matter of fact, I’ve helped constituents in my riding in this school year to consider those options and look at those options. But you know, someone of an older age may feel uncomfortable pursuing that option, which I respect. They could apply as a mature student at a college. That opportunity exists for them.

I don’t think this motion has been well thought out. I’m not convinced in any manner that the work has been done to consider options that exist on the table. I think if we pursue this option, what this is, is creating an incentive to either drop out of school early and know that the system will pick you up through distance education later or not provide motivation to focus in on the right courses.

I feel very strongly about the existing process we have. I feel strongly that our school systems are good. They provide good education and good guidance to students. I believe Aurora College is a strength that we should be continuing to embrace. Certainly in every single community we have here there’s an access point.

The motion, again, speaks to education. I support the concept but I don’t think it’s well thought out. I’m very disappointed that we’re not treating our Aurora College...

Mr. Jacobson has a note for me here. Perhaps I’ll table it. Thank you, Mr. Jacobson.

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

You’re welcome.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

So we have enough access points in this system that exist today that anybody who wants to increase their education can access them without any sort of denial.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. To the motion. The honourable Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I’m not going to repeat what the Member for Yellowknife Centre had to say. There are a lot of things that he touched on that are working in the Northwest Territories; the facilities we have in the Northwest Territories and the benefits of living in the Northwest Territories, the amount of benefits that we have here in the Northwest Territories.

Just touching on something that Mr. Bromley alluded to, the UCEP, the INAC funding is there. The free horse, the programming that’s there for the Northwest Territories that do not qualify for Student Financial Assistance. They are there to assist as well when they’re down south. There are a number of different programs outside SFA programming.

At the same time, there are certain programs such as the NWT Labour Market Agreement that provide incentive and assistance to NWT residents. I think we really need to be careful in dealing with this particular subject. We are currently dealing with the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative, as you know. We have been to the Sahtu region already. We heard over and over about the students that are upgrading. We are dealing with that right now.

I don’t know why this motion is before us as we pursue a new initiative that will come out with a solution at the end of the discussion that we’ll be having. It will be addressed here in the House, as well, as we move forward.

I’m afraid that there will be a number of students out there that are just waiting for us to say yes to sponsor SFA on upgrading. We’re not talking about 10 or 20 students. We could be talking about over 100 students. Students that are down south currently already.

There is also a disincentive where school boards will lose their money as well. The money that’s been provided to them, the funding and investment is based on enrolment. Those students, once they leave school they lose the funding as well. If the students return to the schools or the community learning centres that are there as well in the communities that can provide various programs. Once you leave the Northwest Territories, there are cost factors. Where you live, tuition, you have to eat. Here in the Northwest Territories we have that advantage.

I just want to reiterate that there is a new initiative that’s underway. I think we just need to be patient with that. We are currently reviewing our SFA program as well. That will reflect on what we’ve

heard from the students, the parents and the community members. There are other things that are on the way within the Northwest Territories that we are pursuing and reviewing different perspectives.

With the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative we are going to cover all regions. We’re going to share with all people, people of the Northwest Territories giving us solutions, guidance and suggestions as we move forward. This is the very topic of discussion that we’ve had in the Sahtu and that we will have in other regions as well.

With this as a direction to our government, Cabinet will abstain on the motion.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. I’ll go to the mover of the motion for some closing comments. Mr. Bromley.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the comments of all my colleagues who chose to speak today. Of course I think it’s well established that UCEP does exist out there, but it runs out early every year and is insufficient to meet the need.

Mr. Speaker, I realize that because of our failed educational system and our lack of adequate counselling so even parents don’t realize that their students are getting an inadequate education or diploma until long after they graduate, this situation where we have been responsible creates a responsibility for dealing with it. The Minister has made some reference to upcoming action, which I think we all look forward as a solution and in response to this motion, but there are clearly gaps out there. As those of us that listen closely to our constituents have heard repeatedly, Mr. Speaker, I assure the Minister and all in the House that we have not picked this motion out of the air.

We have slowly achieved greater graduation rates. We are now up to 55 percent in the Northwest Territories, and I think that shows that we are working hard on this. We still have a long ways to go. However, if our students are graduating with certificates or diplomas that are hollow in terms of their potential to pursue post-secondary, it’s not getting them where we want them to be able to go. That’s exactly what this motion is attempting to address.

We need an extra effort and a fund specifically to address this. I’m not expecting that we’re going to be able to fund all those 100 students in the first year, Mr. Speaker. What I’m saying is we have a gap here. We do not have sufficient funding for the demand that’s out there. Let’s improve that. We have this bolus of people… I’m hoping that the department will actually deal with this problem so we don’t have it any longer. In the meantime, we do have this situation where we have perhaps half a

generation of graduates with inadequacies in terms of their ability to pursue their goals.

As the motion recognizes, there are some options out there, as we’ve heard and as the motion points out, but these are insufficient options for a number of reasons: financial capacity issues, barriers to accessing programs, young people who are starting out with their families and facing unique problems associated with that. Those that would speak out against this motion show a lack of insight into the issue that people in our small communities are facing and are bringing to our attention. This motion is specifically to respond to that.

Mr. Speaker, this is particularly good timing in recognition of the Minister’s comments that he’s conducting a review of student financial assistance, so I appreciate his mentioning that fact. I would expect that solutions will be included in that review to this situation. I look forward to those solutions.

Once again, Mr. Speaker, this motion is all about giving people the opportunity to pursue their goals in terms of learning and the opportunities to fulfill their potential as human beings and members of our communities. I appreciate the support of the House. Mr. Speaker, I do request a recorded vote. Mahsi.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Mr. Clerk, the Member is requesting a recorded vote. Will those all in favour of the motion please stand.

Doug Schauerte Deputy Clerk Of The House

Mr. Bromley, Mr. Abernethy, Mr. Menicoche, Mr. Ramsay, Mr. Beaulieu, Mr. Jacobson, Mr. Yakeleya, Mr. Krutko.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you. All those opposed to the motion, please stand.

Doug Schauerte Deputy Clerk Of The House

Mr. Hawkins.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

All those abstaining from the motion, please stand.

Doug Schauerte Deputy Clerk Of The House

Mr. Lafferty; Ms. Lee; Mr. McLeod, Deh Cho; Mr. McLeod, Inuvik Twin Lakes; Mr. McLeod, Yellowknife South.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Clerk. Results of the motion: In favour of the motion, 8; opposed, 1; abstaining 5. The motion is carried.

---Carried

The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Deh Cho, that,

notwithstanding Rule 4, when this House adjourns on Thursday, November 4, 2010, it shall be adjourned until Wednesday, February 2, 2011.

AND FURTHER, that any time prior to February 2, 2011, if the Speaker is satisfied, after consultation with the Executive Council and Members of the Legislative Assembly, that the public interest requires that the House should meet at an earlier time during the adjournment, the Speaker may give notice and thereupon the House shall meet at the time stated in such notice and shall transact its business as it has been duly adjourned to that time.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. To the motion.

Some Hon. Members

Question.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Question has been called.

---Carried

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

WHEREAS the people of the Northwest Territories share common values and aspirations, including the belief that the authority to govern stems from the people to their institutions of government;

AND WHEREAS aboriginal governments are intrinsically linked as partners in designing, implementing and participating in the development of government institutions;

AND WHEREAS respect for the Northwest Territories’ diverse cultures and the desire to live in balance with the land are cornerstones of our future and those of our governments;

AND WHEREAS the recent draft Agreement-in-Principle on Devolution of Lands and Resources underscores the need for public and inclusive consultation on a northern management regime for lands and resources;

AND WHEREAS the early establishment of a northern management regime for lands and resources is integral for a seamless transition when the final devolution agreement is ultimately implemented;

AND WHEREAS this would be an important step toward constitutional development in a united Northwest Territories;

NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, that this Legislative Assembly strongly recommends that the Premier immediately commence a public consultation process, in partnership with the Standing Committee on Priorities and Planning, to

determine the shape of a northern management regime for land and resources;

AND FURTHER, that recommendations on the proposed implementation of this regime be included in transition documents and planning for the 17th Legislative Assembly.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. To the motion. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The people of the Northwest Territories, from my stories from the elders, have traditionally been self-reliant and have governed themselves for thousands of years. More recent arrivals in the Territories have been fiercely independent also. All of us believe that our government should be of the people and who can work out things together. Our system of government has grown, Mr. Speaker, and it has taken on more authority over the last 50 years. Aboriginal peoples have settled land claims and have actually set up their own governments based on both tradition and the needs of today’s world. The various levels of governments in the Northwest Territories are now partnerships working together on unique systems built in the North for all northern people.

Mr. Speaker, we have always lived in balance with this land. People from many cultures have been drawn to the Territories, have fallen in love with our pristine land, largely unscarred and free of pollution. People of the various cultures in the Northwest Territories have had differences from time to time, but we learn to respect each other and take the best of all and forge on with our future together.

The draft agreement-in-principle on land and resources could be a very serious step towards becoming masters in our own land. We all want to take the authority that is rightfully ours that has long rested with the federal government in Ottawa. It is an issue that concerns every person in the Northwest Territories and every level of government. The people must be informed about this process. The people must have a say in how we manage our land and resources. So far there has been no real process to consult with the people of the Northwest Territories on this and this needs to be done.

We know that the AIP calls for the existing system of managing lands and resources to simply be moved from the federal government to the Territories under similar legislation. This is the first step so things run smoothly. But in the long run, Mr. Speaker, we want better management of lands and resources. We want a system that is made in the North, taking the best parts of the old system and improving on it. If there is a final agreement on devolution of lands and resources, we should know where we’re going. We should have the plans of our own for a better system of management that

works at all levels, including the aboriginal governments.

Unfortunately, this work could be a big step towards constitution development in the Northwest Territories. Many of us in this room remember the work done in the past decades by the Western Constitutional Forum, the Constitution Alliance and the Bourque Commission for constitution development. There have been a lot of good ideas but very little has been done to implement them. I hope we will now start the process of building on the best work in the past. We can, and should, work on the system in which aboriginal governments and public governments can work together.

These are some of the reasons, Mr. Speaker, I am asking the Premier to start a public consultation process working with all Regular Members through the Standing Committee on Priorities and Planning. The goal is to determine the shape of our future management regime for land and resources. Mr. Speaker, we need to do this if this AIP is to produce an acceptable final agreement that works for all Northerners.

Mr. Speaker, all Members of the next Legislative Assembly will have to work hard on these issues. That is why we need to get started and make recommendations for the next Assembly. Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. To the motion. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to speak briefly to this motion. I think, first of all, I want to thank my colleagues for bringing this forward. I think the House knows that I have spoken a number of times on this issue, so I will be voting in support.

Mr. Speaker, this is really all about values and capturing those values as we go forward in our development as a jurisdiction. We need a comprehensive process, a process that is of the people, for the people and by the people and that strives to get at those values and capture them in a way that shows how they will be incorporated into our management regimes in the future.

Hopefully this can be done in a process once the AIP is signed and before final agreement. That is what we are calling for here. If not, if we don’t sign an AIP now, then this should be the basis for a new AIP as negotiations proceed.

I think we need to subscribe to the principles that we already established in the North, perseverance, patience and high standards as we go forward in our development, and particularly inclusivity. That is everybody at the table and in support. Mahsi.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. To the motion. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I clearly support this motion and I think it is a good thing. I believe strongly that the public inclusion and collaboration on future development of land and resources and our management regime are critical.

Mr. Speaker, I think the public needs to be involved and we need to find a way that does involve them in the appropriate way that we do business. Mr. Speaker, that does not mean we advocate or I should say I advocate that we negotiate in public with our devolution agreements through our AIP being posted on the web or who knows how they get there, but the reality is that public consultation and collaboration needs to be done and enshrined in our process that we show and demonstrate that we are working towards a final outcome someday, representing their values and aspirations. That is what needs to be done. It can’t be soon, but it needs to be clearly demonstrated.

This motion speaks to the process of working towards a method that includes our public and showing that we don’t just care for them, we also hear their concerns. We are working with their dreams.

Mr. Speaker, again, I will be supporting the motion. I am not sure if the seconder usually asks for a recorded vote, but in case it gets missed at this time, I will make sure I request it this time. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. To the motion. The honourable Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bob McLeod.

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

Mr. Speaker, we all want to make a better land and resource management regime for the people of the Northwest Territories. This is one of the reasons we support devolution efforts. This motion runs counter to the intent of the draft agreement-in-principle which proposes a Government of the Northwest Territories to aboriginal government relationship that contemplates a political forum related to resource management and its regulatory regime in the Northwest Territories that respects all governments’ authorities. It would be disingenuous of this government and the Assembly to launch out on a separate initiative. Further, the land claim agreements already provide for land use plans to be developed for claimant regions that will reflect the values and principles of the citizens of that region. In fact, as Members are aware, a number of plans are already in various stages of development and approval. We find the motion to be well intentioned but fails to consider the current negotiations and existing mechanisms related to land management.

The motion would also require an investment of significant resources that are simply not available. However, resources will become available as a result of devolution, which will lead to the overall review and renewal of the land and resource management regime in the Northwest Territories within the context of a government-to-government relationship.

We must also recognize that the transition of regimes under a federal system to a territorial system will have to be carefully managed to allow for as smooth a transition as possible. The fact that mirror legislation may be put in place as an initial step should not discourage anyone. Such a process would allow the Government of the Northwest Territories and aboriginal governments to collaborate with all stakeholders, and future legislators will be able to manage the necessary legislative changes as they deem best. The Member’s motion, inasmuch as it supports the goals of devolution, is positive; however, it is our view that it is not practical in this point in time. For this reason, Cabinet will be abstaining from the motion. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. I will go to the mover of the motion for his closing comment. Mr. Yakeleya.

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thought about this motion and due to the sudden developments of the draft AIP, I said there is something missing here. There is something seriously flawed with this process here. That is why I asked to have this motion come to the House for some discussion.

We need to look at a public consultation process. Mr. Speaker, I have been in the negotiations business for a bit before I became the MLA for Sahtu. Any type of drastic changes to our communities or the way we will run our communities, when we come to a process of putting an agreement together and having the people look at it and discuss it, we make sure that we have public consultation either be the Sahtu Dene-Metis claim or the Tulita Yamoria Secretariat self-government agreement. We do it in an open fashion. We talk about our values and how do we incorporate aboriginal community values, traditional values, Dene-Metis values into a government. We have our discussions with the parties, be it the federal government, territorial government that is there, and we come to an agreement. Then we have the public consultation that we go house to house to say, do you agree or not?

This is the farthest we have gone. This I did not see in this process here. We have to do that. I want to see this government here look at it. The AIP is also a constitution process, a process that we could have discussions with people in the Northwest Territories. People are going to be affected by it

and get ready for the 17th and have the discussion

also on the 17th .

Mr. Speaker, I want to know that this motion did not say no to the AIP. It says how do we go about going forward. Right now we’re kicking and screaming. Some of the aboriginal groups are kicking and screaming and saying come on, we’ve got something good for you. We’ve got to have some serious discussions on consultation and the process, because right now that is not happening. There are some significant changes that need to happen, significant changes that need to be discussed and, really, we need to talk about the values of working together in the Northwest Territories. If we cannot have this discussion, then really we’re truly fooling ourselves to say that we can work together on some issues.

This one is the big one. This one is the framework of the type of house we’re going to have in the Northwest Territories, and it’s going to be built by all people in the Northwest Territories, aboriginal and public government. We’ve got to have that.

This negotiation, certainly this draft AIP does not speak to that. There are some key components that are not in there in the framework. So I wanted to say that to the Premier and to Cabinet, that we really need to look at what we mean by partnership, and not to use that word very lightly in terms of developing the North together.

The majority of the aboriginal governments right now are not willing to sign onto this deal and we need to look at that seriously. We need to look at the constitutional process here. This process that I see in the draft AIP is a backdoor to a constitutional development-like provincial-type powers and it’s not the way to go. That is not transparent, that is not open and that’s not a fair and just way to look at constitutional development in the Northwest Territories. Let’s put it on the table and let’s have a discussion and let’s move into the next Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The Member has requested a recorded vote. All those in favour of the motion please stand.

Tim Mercer Clerk Of The House

Mr. Yakeleya, Mr. Krutko, Mr. Bromley, Mr. Abernethy, Mr Ramsay, Mr. Beaulieu, Mr. Hawkins.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

All those opposed to the motion please stand. All those abstaining from the motion, please stand.

Tim Mercer Clerk Of The House

Mr. Lafferty; Ms. Lee; Mr. McLeod, Deh Cho; Mr. McLeod, Inuvik Twin Lakes; Mr. McLeod, Yellowknife South; Mr. Jacobson.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

The results of the recorded vote: all those in favour, 7; those opposed, 0; those abstaining, 6.

---Carried

---Applause

Item 18, first reading of bills. Item 19, second reading of bills. Item 20, consideration in Committee of the Whole of bills and other matters: Tabled Document 4-16(5), Executive Summary of the Report of the Joint Review Panel for the Mackenzie Gas Project; Tabled Document 30-16(5), 2010 Review of Members’ Compensation and Benefits; Tabled Document 38-16(5), Supplementary Health Benefits – What We Heard; Tabled Document 62-16(5), Northwest Territories Water Stewardship Strategy; Tabled Document 75-16(5), Response to the Joint Review Panel for the Mackenzie Gas Project on the Federal and Territorial Governments’ Interim Response to “Foundation for a Sustainable Northern Future;” Table Document 103-16(5), GNWT Contracts Over $5,000 Report, Year Ending March 31, 2010; Bill 4, An Act to Amend the Social Assistance Act; and Minister’s Statement 65-16(5), Devolution Agreement-in-Principle, Impact on Land Claims and Protection of Aboriginal Rights, with Mr. Krutko in the chair.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair David Krutko

I’d like to call Committee of the Whole to order. What is the wish of the committee? Mr. Beaulieu.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

Mr. Chairman, I move to report progress.

---Carried

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair David Krutko

I’ll rise and report progress.

Report of Committee of the Whole
Report of Committee of the Whole

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Can I have the report of Committee of the Whole, please, Mr. Krutko.

Report of Committee of the Whole
Report of Committee of the Whole

David Krutko

David Krutko Mackenzie Delta

Mr. Speaker, your committee would like to report progress. Mr. Speaker, I move that the report of Committee of the Whole be concurred with.

Report of Committee of the Whole
Report of Committee of the Whole

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. A motion is on the floor. Do we have a seconder? The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.

---Carried

Item 22, third reading of bills. Mr. Clerk, would you ascertain if the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories, the Honourable George Tuccaro, is prepared to enter the Chamber to assent to bills.

Assent To Bills
Report of Committee of the Whole

George Tuccaro Commissioner Of The Northwest Territories

Mr. Speaker and Members of the Legislative Assembly, good afternoon.

To our friends in Gwich’in country: Good afternoon. To our francophone friends: Good day, bonjour. For our friends in Chipewyan country: Good day. To my Cree friends and relations: How are you today? To my friends in the Slavey communities: Good day. To our friends in the Beaufort-Delta who speak Inuvialuktun: How are you today? And last, but not least, to our Tlicho friends: Greetings.

---Applause

Although I was sworn in as Commissioner of the Northwest Territories just over five months ago, I feel very honoured to be here in the House in an official capacity for the very first time. I will work very hard to serve all Northerners with pride, courage and dignity.

I was invited to the high school graduation ceremony in Behchoko -- the day after I was sworn in -- followed by the Sport North Annual Awards Banquet the same evening. You could say that “I hit the ground running!”

At the end of June I attended an event in Ottawa, where I had the privilege of meeting Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, and His Royal Highness, Prince Phillip, the Duke of Edinburgh, when they visited Canada on their Royal Tour. I was a proud Northerner and a proud Canadian that day.

On October 1st I had the pleasure of representing the people of the Northwest Territories at the installation ceremony for our new Governor General, His Excellence, the Right Honourable David Johnston. I had a brief conversation with him and his wife, Sharon, and have written to him with an open invitation for them to visit the Northwest Territories.

During my term as Commissioner I hope to visit every community in the Territory at least once, and to attend as many cultural events and school graduations as possible. Of course I would welcome invitations to accompany the Members of this House in visiting their communities and constituents in my role as Commissioner. Over the next five years I look forward to working with each and every one of you, keeping in mind there is an election on the horizon.

Now, as Commissioner of the Northwest Territories I am pleased to asset to the following bills:

• Bill 8, Social Work Profession Act

• Bill 9, An Act to Amend the Tourism Act

• Bill 12, An Act to Amend the Liquor Act

• Bill 13, Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures) 2011-2012

• Bill 21, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), No. 4, 2009-2010

• Bill 22, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 5, 2009-2010

• Bill 23, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2010-2011

• Bill 24, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 4, 2010-2011

Thank you, merci beaucoup, mahsi cho, quanami.

Assent To Bills
Report of Committee of the Whole

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Colleagues, before we proceed with orders of the day I would like to thank the Pages who have served us during this sitting of the Assembly.

---Applause

We have had the pleasure of seeing in our Assembly youth from Tu Nedhe, Inuvik, Inuvik Twin Lakes, Hay River North, Nunakput, Monfwi, Sahtu and Yellowknife. I would like to extend the appreciation of the House to the Pages and to their chaperones, supervisors and teachers who make this program such a meaningful experience for our territorial youth.

Although this House will adjourn until February, I know that Ministers continue to do their duties, committees are scheduled to meet in December and January, and we are all very eager to return to our constituencies and catch up with the work that continues while we are here in the capital.

I would like to remind Members that November 11th is one week from today and I urge you all to take the opportunity to acknowledge the courage and sacrifice of those who have served and are continuing to serve both at home and abroad. There will be services in communities throughout the Territories and I hope that you and all northern residents will attend in support of those men and women in our Armed Forces.

As we will not meet again in this Chamber until the New Year, I would also like to take this opportunity to be the very first to extend my best wishes to you and your families for a safe and happy holiday season. As always, I wish you safe travels as we disperse today and I look forward to seeing you all in this Chamber in the New Year.

Mr. Clerk, orders of the day.

Orders of the Day
Orders of the Day

Tim Mercer Clerk Of The House

Orders of the day for Wednesday, February 2, 2011, at 1:30 p.m.:

1. Prayer

2. Ministers’

Statements

3. Members’

Statements

4. Returns to Oral Questions

5. Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

6. Acknowledgements

7. Oral

Questions

8. Written

Questions

9. Returns to Written Questions

10. Replies to Opening Address

11. Petitions

12. Reports of Standing and Special Committees

13. Reports of Committees on the Review of Bills

14. Tabling of Documents

15. Notices of Motion

16. Notices of Motion for First Reading of Bills

17. Motions

18. First Reading of Bills

19. Second Reading of Bills

20. Consideration in Committee of the Whole of

Bills and Other Matters

- Tabled Document 4-16(5), Executive

Summary of the Report of the Joint Review Panel for the Mackenzie Gas Project

- Tabled Document 30-16(5), 2010 Review of Members’ Compensation and Benefits

- Tabled Document 38-16(5), Supplementary Health Benefits - What We Heard

- Tabled Document 62-16(5), Northern

Voices, Northern Waters: NWT Water Stewardship Strategy

- Tabled Document 75-16(5), Response to the Joint Review Panel for the Mackenzie Gas Project on the Federal and Territorial Governments’ Interim Response to “Foundation for a Sustainable Northern Future”

- Tabled Document 103-16(5), GNWT

Contracts over $5,000 Report, Year Ending March 31, 2010

- Bill 4, An Act to Amend the Social

Assistance Act

- Minister’s Statement 65-16(5), Devolution Agreement-in-Principle, Impact on Land Claims and Protection of Aboriginal Rights

21. Report of Committee of the Whole

22. Third Reading of Bills

23. Orders of the Day

Orders of the Day
Orders of the Day

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Clerk. Accordingly, this House stands adjourned until Wednesday, February 2, 2011, at 1:30 p.m.

---ADJOURNMENT

The House adjourned at 5:15 p.m.