Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, over the next few days NWT youth, their coaches and chaperones will be packing their bags, gathering their sports equipment and boarding

planes to travel to Grande Prairie, Alberta, for the 2010 Winter Games. This event, held every two years in the circumpolar region, is the Olympics of the North and the opening ceremonies will be held this Sunday evening.

For the last several years, thousands of NWT young people have been learning new skills, training hard to get and stay in shape and practising their sport diligently in preparation for next week’s competitions.

Involvement in sports and recreation activities can have a profound effect on young people and it’s well known that they benefit mentally, psychologically, physically and economically from being physically active. Youth who are physically active are far healthier than those who are not. They generally live a healthier lifestyle and are less likely to abuse alcohol or drugs and often do better in school. Lessons are learned through competitive physical activity; lessons which have a positive impact on the developing character of a young person. I have no doubt that every one of our Arctic Winter Games team have benefited from their involvement in sport.

I consider myself a jock, Mr. Speaker. I will never shed my love of, or for, sports. It’s given me many opportunities I would otherwise not have had and it’s enriched my life through relationships and unique experiences.

Many of our young people who have participated in the Arctic Winter Games experience to date have experienced local trials and team selections, regional competitions and territorial competitions. They have already benefited from this year’s Arctic Winter Games. For those who were not successful in making Team NWT this year, I say stay in shape, keep training and try again for 2012. It’s only two years away.

To the members of our 2010 Arctic Winter Games Team NWT, athletes, coaches, mission staff, chaperones, parents and other supporters who will be cheering, enjoy your week with old and new friends. Do your best, that’s all we can ask of you. Win or lose, you will have gained tremendously and we will be proud of you. So play hard but fair and do your Territory proud over the next week both on the sports field and off. Go, NWT, go!

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I want to follow up on a statement and lend my support to a statement made by my colleague from Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro, yesterday about the situation presently at play with Northland Trailer

Park located in her riding of Frame Lake here in the city of Yellowknife.

Northland Trailer Park is home to close to 1,000 residents, Mr. Speaker. They are sitting on top of infrastructure that should have been replaced well over 15 years ago. Just last week a section of sewer line failed and 300 feet of aboveground line was put in as an interim measure. Make no mistake, Mr. Speaker, the water and sewer lines located beneath these homes is a potential disaster in the making. The infrastructure needs to be replaced as soon as possible. Has our government got any plans to house these families and individuals should the worst-case scenario present itself?

Mr. Speaker, we need to help facilitate the replacement of this infrastructure, to work with the residents, the City of Yellowknife and help find funding sources to complete the $18 million worth of work that’s required.

Mr. Speaker, our government needs to be there for our residents when emergencies arise, and in life, Mr. Speaker, emergencies do happen, whether that’s in Fort Smith, Inuvik, Tulita or here in Yellowknife. As government, Mr. Speaker, we need to be watching the situation with Northland very closely. Planning has to be undertaken on how to deal with the potential emergency of health and social issues that a collapse of these pipes would cause. Mr. Speaker, I’m not trying to scare anyone. The reality is that this is an emergency and we, as a government, need to get to the table to help in whatever way we can.

To add to the complication of this situation, Mr. Speaker, the trailer park is not owned by the City of Yellowknife but the Yellowknife Condominium Corporation No. 8. The residents obviously can’t take on the costs themselves and, Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Mayor Gord Van Tighem, Councillor Brooks and other councillors as well as the administration at city hall for advancing this issue on behalf of the residents of Northland Trailer Park, and Mr. Wade Friesen, as well, for his help.

We will need to step up to the plate, Mr. Speaker, and I’ll be asking the Minister of MACA how the government plans on addressing this very real and urgent situation. Thank you.

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

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It gives me great pleasure to recognize some 45 athletes who will be travelling to the Arctic Winter Games from my riding...

---Applause

...Mr. Speaker. That includes cultural events such as dancers, such as the Gwich’in Dancers from Aklavik who are led by Annie Buckle, as well as the people who are participating in the Dene Games. We also have Stephanie Charlie who is going to be participating in hockey, which is again breaking the ice to get the athletes from the smaller communities to be involved in the larger teams.

One of the big achievements we had this year was with snowshoeing, biathlon and cross-country skiing where the Hanthorn family, which consists of six individuals, made the NWT Ski Team. Again, it shows that dedication, commitment and also hard work pays off. It shows that small communities can compete in these large events.

The majority of the athletes that are going are in snowshoeing. Mr. Speaker, it shows where there is commitment, volunteering of their parents, the community, their support and the individual who takes the time to put in the effort, make the team and help each other through this challenge.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to pass on my support to all the athletes, wish them well and make us proud, realizing that some 45 people representing the Northwest Territories at the Arctic Winter Games are from two of the communities in my riding, Aklavik and Fort McPherson. I am not leaving out Tsiigehtchic where they do have one athlete going for Dene Games.

With that, I would like to wish them all the best and I look forward to seeing all of them in Grande Prairie at the Arctic Winter Games.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Welcome everyone in the gallery today. I hope you’re enjoying the proceedings. It’s nice to have an audience in here. Item 6, acknowledgements. Item 7, oral questions. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As outlined in my Member’s statement, as a government we must place greater focus and attention on small, sustainable and local economies. The NWT film industry would support

employment, cultural promotion, highlight the NWT as a potential place to work, visit and live, yet there’s little or no GNWT support for this industry. Clearly ITI doesn’t recognize the value of this industry. Filmmakers in the NWT would like an opportunity to demonstrate the value that this industry does have to the NWT.

As such, they would like the GNWT to facilitate an independent review of the film industry to highlight the potential advantages here in the Northwest Territories. Would the Minister commit to facilitating such an independent review? I believe that if he did, the Minister will be very surprised at how many benefits this industry will bring to the Northwest Territories.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member will be pleased to know that I have already committed to do an independent review of providing support to the NWT film industry. Your fellow colleagues have already indicated the need for that and we’re very pleased to be able to undertake an independent review.

That is very good news. Building upon this review, some of the NWT-based filmmakers would also like an opportunity to meet with the Minister himself to help him understand the impact this industry could have on the Northwest Territories. Would the Minister also commit to meeting with a small delegation of these NWT-based filmmakers, myself and my colleague Mr. Bromley, to discuss the industry in hopes of helping the Minister better understand the industry as a whole?

Recognizing that most Members don’t like us to use consultants, we’ll be doing this review in house. We’ll be pleased to meet with the independent filmmakers and MLAs Bromley and Abernethy. I’d also like to inform the Member that, and of course your colleague MLA Hawkins, we are having NWT Film Week at Northern House I believe next week.

I’m sorry, I forgot to include my colleague Mr. Hawkins. Obviously he should be there as well. Lastly, I’m glad you’re going to be doing the review, but I think it’s very important that we get outside-of-the-government input as well, not just the filmmakers, but other industries and people that would benefit from the industry. I was hoping I could get the Minister to commit to going well beyond just the filmmakers themselves.

I’ll be pleased to accept any suggestions that the Member may have. We were intending to look at what other jurisdictions were doing, as well, to see what we could incorporate.

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I just wanted to follow up on the demands of my constituents in Nahendeh and my Member’s statement with regard to the residents coming up with a petition and public showing of the need by the constituents of Nahendeh to establish a dentist office or a dentist in the community of Fort Simpson to serve the region. I’d like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services how my constituents and myself can work towards establishing such an office in Fort Simpson.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I understand the concerns of the people from Nahendeh as I have heard a lot of that when I did a regional tour with the Member. The fact is that dental service is not a service provided by the GNWT. It is one that is administered by the non-insured health benefits. Our health authority there does provide assistance in this regard, but we have had very difficult times attracting dentists. Whenever we put out interests in contracts, we just are not getting enough interest. None of the northern dentists have applied to practice there. I believe Deh Cho Health was able to get a contractor from Quebec. With the contractor in place, with a dentist in place I’m hoping that they can catch up and do more visits into the Nahendeh.

That’s exactly the issue that the constituents have shared with me, is that there are just lengthy delays in travel to and fro to get their needs met and often they have to wait several days. Especially when someone has a toothache, it’s not a very good situation. However, in terms of medical travel to get to Yellowknife or Hay River in the case of Fort Simpson, who covers that cost?

Dental services are the responsibility of the federal government under NIHB Program, as it is the federal responsibility to provide dental care to our aboriginal residents all across Canada, including the NWT. Where there are medical emergencies, if it’s medical it could come under GNWT responsibility. We do respond to medical emergencies and we do cover for medical travel. I think part of it is billed to NIHB and part of it is covered by GNWT.

I think, if anything, the cost of the medical travel... I don’t know if there can be some research done. Perhaps the Minister can work with the office of the federal Minister with

regard to health and social services and NIHB. Will the cost of the medical travel balance off with establishing a full-time dentist in the community of Fort Simpson?

I believe this issue is not just about cost, it’s about shortage of dentists. Their services are at a high premium. They mostly work in the private sector. They choose where they’re going to work. Having said that, I am willing to undertake this issue and see what we can do. I’d be happy to discuss it with my federal counterpart to at least stress the point of the importance of dental services that NIHB provides in our small communities and what room there is for us to see if they can step it up a bit.