This is page numbers 4527 - 4554 of the Hansard for the 16th Assembly, 4th 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

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Along with my colleague, I, too, rise to recognize Education Week. I’d like to speak about the contribution and dedication of the teachers in small and remote communities in Nahendeh and other communities throughout the Northwest Territories.

In comments about Education Week, the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment stated that education is a collective responsibility, and rightly so. Parents, volunteers, the community, the media, education authorities, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment and many others contribute to the success of our students.

However, I also think that there’s a special place in heaven for teachers in small communities…

---Laughter

…who dedicate themselves to providing the best education they can to their students, with limited facilities and resources. These teachers can be isolated and do not always have opportunities to share and exchange curriculum ideas with other teachers on a day-to-day basis. Although computers and Internet access has contributed to many resources to small communities, a small school does not have specialized music or physical education and program staff like larger schools. The teacher’s job is broader and demands a

personality who can see possibilities and takes advantage of opportunities.

There are many activities in the school in Nahendeh that help students to learn how to fiddle, how to hunt and trap. Contributions to the community are also supported. For example, Bompas Elementary held a skate-a-thon for charity. As well, students raise money to go on interesting trips that broaden their knowledge of the world. These opportunities increase students’ confidence and help them develop organizational skills. Everyone is pleased to hear about the initiatives students show; however, the teachers are there in the background encouraging and empowering their students, giving them the opportunity to shine.

I would be remiss if I did not mention the Mackenzie Regional Youth Conference in Fort Simpson this week. Students and teachers from our small communities got together to learn and experience new things from arts to sports and academics. Good luck and I hope they had a great week.

This statement recognizes the teachers in our small and remote communities...

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Mr. Menicoche, your time for your Member’s statement has expired. Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.

Colon Cancer Screening
Members’ Statements

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On Tuesday I made a Member’s statement and asked some questions concerning colon cancer screening in the Northwest Territories. I am frustrated that the Minister seems unwilling to meet with the Stanton Foundation to work towards real partnerships and potential solutions. However, as I indicated at the time, I am supportive of the Department of Health and Social Services’ direction to encourage residents over 50 to get screened every one or two years. Given the high rate of colon cancer in the Northwest Territories, this is the right thing to do.

Given that the health system is going to be doing this anyway, we need to make sure that it is ready for the increased demand on the system and that residents are regularly updated on their progress through the system and its current delays.

I have talked with a number of residents who have indicated that they are frustrated with the follow-up related to booked or potentially booked colon cancer screening. There are many people who are not intimidated by the health care system and will actively pursue their screenings. These people don’t get missed, as they make sure that they don’t get missed.

Unfortunately, there are a large number of people who are intimidated by the health care system and don’t follow up as rigorously as others; they rely on

the system. Often these people can be overlooked or continually dropped or deferred from their screening exams. The individuals I talked with indicate that they aren’t contacted for extensive periods of time and receive no updates with respect to bookings. They are frustrated.

Missed appointments cost the system money. As a system we need to be proactive and conduct regular follow-up calls and provide reminders and updates to residents in line for colon cancer screening. I strongly encourage the Minister to have her department and Stanton review their processes for keeping clients informed, updated, and reminded about their screening appointments. As a system, we must own some responsibility for patients missing their appointments to do everything we can to ensure that appointments aren’t unnecessarily missed or forgotten. As indicated earlier, missed appointments are expensive on the system and a little bit of regular contact would go a long way to reducing the number of missed appointments.

At the appropriate time I will have questions for the Minister responsible for Health and Social Services.

Colon Cancer Screening
Members’ Statements

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m happy to see all the green in the House today. Everybody knows I’m a green guy on the inside too. Go, Brendan, go!

A Weledeh business that has provided local food security through responsible harvesting of sustainable resources and years of local employment is passing into environmentally responsible hands. The story about new owners taking over the business of Archie Buckley selling our top quality Great Slave Lake whitefish and other fish to the community and, they hope, the world is spreading.

I met with Brian Abbott, one of the new owners, in the fall when he proudly shared his plans to make a green business even greener in every way. Mr. Abbott will continue fishing the rich stocks for dockside and in-town sales. He’s upgraded with high-efficiency propane refrigeration, a biomass boiler for heat, added some solar power, and will be harvesting ice in the winter, drawing down his ice lockers as he processes his summer fish. He’s upgraded his systems for purification of water used in fish processing and plans to use every bit of the fish: the best parts for people, scraps for dog and cat food, and the rest for organic agriculture-quality fertilizer.

As Mr. Abbott has reported to have said: “This is an opportunity you don’t get anywhere else in the world. A fishery like this with great quality and it’s dormant? We’re going to create a world-class product.”

Mr. Abbott has some hurdles to cross, including getting adequate harvest quotas and government inspection service for export markets. I hope our ITI officials are knocking on his door to offer their help.

I understand the Fishermen’s Federation has voted in favour of the Northwest Territories opting out of the federal Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation. Fishers have complained for years that the FFMC is their biggest obstacle to prosperity. I commend the Minister of ITI for any enabling action he may have taken to facilitate this discussion and for taking the next steps.

This business and a revitalized fisheries industry is the kind of business that will see us through the years as megaprojects boom and bust. I applaud Mr. Abbott and the Fishermen’s Federation for taking the future into their hands. They deserve every bit of support that we can give.

I will be asking the Minister of ITI questions with respect to these topics.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

David Krutko

David Krutko Mackenzie Delta

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Modern land claim agreements are the main instrument to deal with land, water, management, and to ensure that the wildlife management is managed through a system of land and water that is regulated under the Mackenzie Valley Resources Management Act, federal legislation. These management arrangements were established through the land claims agreements to give First Nations people an opportunity not only to have a say in the management of the herd, but have an opportunity to manage the herd internally. Through the wildlife management boards and the land claims agreements, we have established the Inuvialuit Games Council, the Gwich’in Renewable Resources Board, the Sahtu Renewable Resources Board and the Wek’eezhii Renewable Resources Board, and they are the fundamental instruments to ensure that management of wildlife in their geographical areas. Included in that is a joint arrangement for the conservation boards to work in conjunction with each other to deal with herds that travel outside their boundaries, whether it’s the Bluenose herd, the Porcupine caribou herd, or the barren-ground caribou herds in the Northwest Territories and elsewhere.

One of the main reasons for the establishment of these boards was to ensure the residents and the harvesters in those areas have a system of consultation to be informed on any decision-making process so they are not left out of the system. They are part of the system, they have systems in place for how decisions will be made and they have a format for public consultation. They have a system to make decisions.

The system that was used between the Gwich’in, Inuvialuit and Sahtu regarding the Bluenose caribou herd, a species questioned about its declining numbers, they worked together between the three land claims organizations to formulate a conservation plan on how they were going to be able to deal with the restrictions in certain areas for harvesting the herds, look at measures such as the number of caribou that can be harvested, using a tag system, and allowing their harvesters to carry out their responsibilities.

I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted.

David Krutko

David Krutko Mackenzie Delta

These conservation measures for the Bluenose-West herd were achieved through consultation, dialogue with the harvesters and dialogue with communities where they took the time and made an attempt to find a resolution to this problem coming to an agreement by all parties.

With regard to the situation we see here in the North Slave, it looks like that system is not in place or hasn’t even been considered. For some reason the Minister made a decision which overrode the political structure and the process of the Tlicho Land Claim Agreement to use that instrument, which is the fundamental instrument to deal with wildlife management in the Tlicho area and for a herd that has implications for other people.

At the appropriate time I will be asking the Minister of ENR questions about the conservation of caribou.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery.

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

February 25th, 2010

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Colleagues, I would like to draw the attention of Members to the presence of Ms. Elaine Keenan-Bengts, the Information and Privacy Commissioner of the Northwest Territories. Please join me in welcoming Ms. Keenan-Bengts to the House today. The honourable Member for Yellowknife South, Mr. Bob McLeod.

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

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

Mr. Speaker, I’d like to recognize some very important people here in the gallery today. First, Jenni Bruce, the president of

Northwest Territories Tourism and general manager of the Chateau Nova; Larry Jacquard, secretary, Northwest Territories Tourism and director of sales for the Yellowknife Inn; Ms. Kelly Kaylo, principal of K2 Communications and Consulting, co-chair of the Tourism Marketing Advisory Committee; as well as my wife, Melody, and my youngest grandson, Cooper McLeod.

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

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Monfwi, Mr. Lafferty.

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

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I’d like to recognize two of the hardest-working Pages among the other Pages, as well, from Whati: Janita Bishop and Tracella Romie, and their chaperone Theresa Romie, for coming down here and working for us. Mahsi.

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

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Michael McLeod.

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

Michael McLeod

Michael McLeod Deh Cho

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it’s good to see the visitors in the gallery all wearing green. Today I wanted to recognize my sister-in-law Melody, and my little bundle of joy up there that can’t sit still and I don’t think is really interested in what we’re saying, Cooper McLeod. Welcome.

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

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

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

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize two of the Pages here today from Fort Smith: Crystal Andersen and Kiana MacDonald, who’s just coming in with a glass of water, and Ms. Charlotte Andersen, the mother of Crystal, who has been here all week with her two charges. Thank you.

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

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Item 6, acknowledgements. Item 7, oral questions. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My first question to the Minister of ITI is related to my Member’s statement earlier today. Mr. Abbott reports that Fisheries and Oceans Canada has told him he cannot get a licence to export fish out of the NWT until he can prove that the NWT market is saturated and there is excess for export. Obviously, this is an overly onerous request for a single provider that would require considerable time and expense. It’s difficult to understand how the market saturation could be realistically demonstrated.

Here’s an instance where the Industry, Tourism and Investment department could go to bat for Mr. Abbott and all fishers to eliminate an unrealistic, almost silly barrier to prosperity. Will the Minister commit to having this investigated and including the results in their promised report to committee on the FFMC and fisheries file? Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are investigating that and we are supporting the fishermen who have voted to withdraw from the FFMC. So we are doing all of the legal work. We will be undertaking consultation so that we can begin to move forthwith to proceed with withdrawing from the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation. Thank you.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you. I appreciate that commitment to assist Mr. Abbott in demonstrating that the local market has been saturated so he can export fish.

My second question is about the implications of opting out of the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation. What are the liabilities and what’s the process in getting this done? What are the implications we should know about? Thank you.

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

Essentially, the process is we have to consult with other aboriginal governments and also make opportunity for interested public to have input into the process. We would have to advise the federal government or the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation of our intention to withdraw. We would have to enter into a negotiations process, because there are liabilities, financial and otherwise, that we have to deal with. We have to come back to this Legislative Assembly to withdraw or eliminate the applicable legislation. My understanding is the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation has deficiencies somewhere in the neighbourhood of $11 million. They have working capital deficiencies and so on, so we would have to negotiate our withdrawal from that process. Thank you.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

I appreciate that. The Minister is obviously on top of this and working on it. Sort of related is: would the Minister consider starting our own fish marketing corporation or some formalized program to assist in the export of fish as well as the local sale of fish from Great Slave Lake and other sources? Thank you.

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

I guess our immediate intention, assuming our budgets are approved, is we were going to work on developing a domestic fishery so that we could have Northwest Territories fish processed and sold in the Northwest Territories. Until such time as we are officially withdrawn from FFMC, we are faced with

restrictions, as Mr. Abbott is presently facing for export. As far as setting up something similar as FFMC or so on of FFMC provided for the by GNWT, I think that’s a discussion we would have to have with the fishermen. They just voted to remove themselves from FFMC, so one would wonder if they would want to enter into a similar arrangement so soon. Thank you.