This is page numbers 4577 - 4596 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 need.

Topics

Secondary Diamond Industry
Members’ Statements

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m going to speak today about diamonds. Mr. Speaker, my involvement in this file dates back to the beginning of 1998 when, as a newly-elected city councillor, I was appointed to the task force on the development of a secondary diamond industry here in the city of Yellowknife. This task force, in conjunction with the territorial government, was successful at getting a secondary industry established here in Yellowknife.

Over the years, Mr. Speaker, I’ve watched this industry suffer. Mr. Speaker, factories are closing down, the government is losing millions of dollars, has lost millions of dollars, and this, to me, could have been avoided. I hold the Government of the Northwest Territories responsible for letting the industry regress. The last government seemed intent on letting it die, dismantling our diamond division, ignoring a possible sale of the Sirius plant costing us $10 million and, Mr. Speaker, this government, of which we have less than 18 months remaining, continues to neglect the secondary industry.

The policy surrounding the secondary industry has been in existence since 1999. Why is it taking so long to have this policy updated? What is our vision and our direction for our secondary industry? We have people still interested in cutting and polishing diamonds here in the Northwest Territories; they’ve

invested hundreds of thousands of dollars and are waiting and waiting some more to understand what the government’s policy is going to be and rules of engagement are going to be for the secondary industry here in the Northwest Territories. These investors can’t wait around forever, Mr. Speaker. Opportunities do exist in other jurisdictions. My fear is they will leave if we do not get our act together.

Mr. Speaker, I was reading an article recently about Botswana, the world’s largest producer of diamonds. Mr. Speaker, Botswana has mined diamonds for decades. They understand, as a government, that one day the mining will stop, that they must diversify their economy. Why is it that if Botswana can figure this out, why can’t our government understand this?

We need to grow our secondary industry. I still believe we should have a bourse here and not in Toronto. In Botswana they have established the Diamond Trading Company Botswana so that diamonds are sorted, mixed and traded in Botswana. Why doesn’t the Government of the Northwest Territories pursue this type of initiative?

Secondary Diamond Industry
Members’ Statements

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Secondary Diamond Industry
Members’ Statements

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

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

---Unanimous consent granted.

Secondary Diamond Industry
Members’ Statements

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

In my years of following this saga, one thing I’ve grown to understand fully is that if you have rough diamonds, you have a captive audience. Seeing as our producing mines have committed 10 percent of their production to local cut and polish production, why don’t we create a Diamond Trading Company Northwest Territories and take control once and for all of our own destiny when it comes to the diamond industry?

Mr. Speaker, we can do so much more. I struggle to understand why we remain, as a government, so complacent, unwilling to unleash the great potential that we have. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Secondary Diamond Industry
Members’ Statements

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I want to express my grave concerns about the actions of the Health Minister with her decision to release information to the public in the context of public consultation about the changes to supplementary health benefits.

Mr. Speaker, many of my constituents say it looks like it’s already a done deal. I have reviewed the material on the Health and Social Services website,

and I’ve had feedback from my constituents. If anyone has read the documents, you would know there seems to be many assumptions and leading information that relates to the direction of the supplementary health benefits and which way it will be going. Some of the pretty obvious statements are the department will implement an income test program; that the implementation will happen September 2010; that many Northerners will be able to access their supplementary health benefits from third-party providers. Mr. Speaker, not to mention the sad fact that Regular Members only had information on what would be happening just the day before this release started.

As we all know, the Minister will hold town meetings and talk to regional centres throughout the NWT in March and April with her new vision of the rollout of the program, which is coming in September. But, Mr. Speaker, is this consultation just for consultation sake? Is this a process just to shoehorn our seniors into a direction that the department has already made clear that they’re going in? Why do we need an implementation date as opposed to just a consultation framework process, and then let that process drive the implementation date? Does the Minister believe that the appearance of this consultation will drive true feedback or just simply apathy from its public?

I urge the Minister to be open to new ideas through this process. I also encourage the Minister not to hack away at the few benefits that we provide our northern seniors. I insist to the Minister to find a way to stop driving up the cost of living here in the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, I had one constituent tell me the other day, it’s starting to look like our Health Minister is taking a page out of the Alberta health model, the third way. Mr. Speaker, in closing I’m going to quote a line from Hamlet. It says something is rotten in Denmark. Well, Mr. Speaker, I certainly think something is wrong and certainly rotten with our supplementary health consultation process and it’s only just begun. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

[English translation not provided.]

Mr. Speaker, today I would like to speak on housing repairs in Tu Nedhe. First, I want to thank the Minister and the NWT Housing Corporation for increasing the budget from just under $800,000 in 2007 to over $8.5 million in 2010-11 for repairing and renovating homes.

Mr. Speaker, it is now in place and it’s now time for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation to

get into the communities to go see the homeowners that need repairs. A good strategy on preventing private homes from falling into complete disrepair and getting to the stage where the houses are no longer economical to repair is needed. Mr. Speaker, once a unit falls beyond economical repair, it has to be replaced. In Tu Nedhe most of the privately owned homes can still be saved.

Mr. Speaker, the NWT Housing Corporation must begin to focus on certain core need issues in order to decrease the core need numbers across the NWT. The NWT Housing Corporation now has a golden opportunity to plan, organize and deliver repair programs for senior homeowners that will actively reduce core need for this group.

Mr. Speaker, there are about 150 homeownership units in Tu Nedhe. About 60 to 70 of those are senior households, and perhaps as high as 50 of them need repairs immediately. Mr. Speaker, even at an average cost of about $40,000 for each of the units, it’s around $2 million over the next couple of years where core need in Tu Nedhe can be reduced by 15 to 20 percent.

An Hon. Member

Hear! Hear!

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

Plus, Mr. Speaker, while waiting for the repairs, our oldest residents, each of the oldest residents in both Fort Resolution and Lutselk’e passed away before receiving the assistance they were requesting.

Mr. Speaker, I will have questions for the Minister on their plan to address core need issues in the area of adequacy for seniors’ households at the appropriate time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

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

Mr. Speaker, today in Gameti there’s a gathering of elders from the four Tlicho communities to share their ideas, wisdom, experience and planning for future generations. Mr. Speaker, there are approximately 80 elders selected to talk about the culture preservation, the language preservation for the Tlicho region and with respect to the wildlife as well. They talk about the respect of the wildlife as well.

Mr. Speaker, these are the professors of this great land. We must hear them out and they teach us about the wisdom, the stories, the respect of each other and pass on the stories to the future. I look forward to the outcome of their report. There is also a youth conference happening the following

weekend. Even though I’m not there, I will be supporting them in their endeavours.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to recognize two very wise and certainly well-travelled Northerners. We have Mr. Ed Jeske and Mr. Mike Krutko, both constituents of Yellowknife Centre.

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

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. 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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize -- he’s actually my constituent -- Mike Krutko and Ed Jeske that were up in the audience. As well, I’d also like to recognize Mr. Josh Campbell who works for our MP’s office, Mr. Dennis Bevington. Thank you.

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 Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

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

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize Ms. Joanne Deneron, a constituent from Fort Liard. Welcome to the Legislative Assembly.

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

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. 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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize Joanne Deneron, a very determined entrepreneur and businesswoman from Fort Liard. She serves as the director of our Business Development and Investment Corporation and its subsidiary the Acho Dene Native Crafts and also she’s the president of the Deh Cho Regional Helicopters Limited. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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 Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

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

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Since we are recognizing ghostly visitors today, I’d like to recognize Amanda Peterson, a constituent of Weledeh and her mother Margaret Peterson, well-known and respected North Slave outfitters. In particular, I would like to recognize Kaitlyn Menard and Emily Smith, a couple of Pages, for their long service in the House. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Ms. Lee.

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

Sandy Lee

Sandy Lee Range Lake

I would like to recognize a long-term resident of Yellowknife and a friend that I went to school with, Laurie McLean. Thank you.

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

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Item 6, acknowledgements. Item 7, oral questions. The

honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.