I accept your apology. To the point of order. Similar to my last ruling, I will again take this under advisement. I will review the debate in the House in regards to this point of order. I will come back with my ruling.

Again, orders of the day. Item 2, Ministers’ statements. The honourable Minister of Justice, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I am pleased to announce that the Corrections Northern Recruit Training Program is coming to Fort Smith.

This program supports the “Attraction and Recruitment” goal of the GNWT’s long-term strategic plan for the public service: “20/20: A Brilliant North.” The goal is to create a public service that reflects the diverse cultures of the NWT while promoting the development and advancement of our own people.

The six-week program provides the basic skills Northerners need to be eligible for entry-level jobs in our correctional facilities in Hay River, Yellowknife, Fort Smith and Inuvik. It is a targeted training program for Northerners to promote development and excellence. And it’s a big part of our long-term northern recruitment plan. We are looking for northern residents who care about their communities and want to make a difference in the lives of offenders. We plan to provide more opportunities to northern residents and encourage them to consider careers in our justice system. This maximizes opportunities and strengthens the role of communities in prevention and enforcement, especially in dealing with chronic offenders.

This training has already been delivered twice in Yellowknife. To date, 19 individuals have graduated from this program and 15 of them are employed with the Corrections Service. Many of the graduates are aboriginal and all are long-term residents of our Territory. They have more than just basic knowledge of how to work in corrections; they truly understand what it’s like to work in NWT communities. They’re uniquely qualified to support the reintegration of our offenders back into their communities.

But we’ve had trouble getting recruits from outside Yellowknife. It is important that our Corrections Service reflects our Territory in all of its diversity. So we are taking this program and reaching out into the communities.

Thirteen recruits from Fort Smith, Hay River and Yellowknife have been selected for the first program in Fort Smith. When the program ends, these Northerners will be ideally suited to work as corrections officers and youth officers. This training program, which is overlapping with one being run in Yellowknife, draws heavily upon our existing staff from Hay River, Fort Smith and Yellowknife to manage the program south of the lake and to deliver all the program training elements. We owe these staff a sincere bid of thanks as they help us

to meet our goals to train, recruit and retain northern staff.

Mr. Speaker, training and recruiting the right people from the North for the right jobs is critical in helping us continue to provide and maintain high quality programs in correctional services. Our recruitment approach is assessable, relevant and enhances our existing programming. It is truly made in the North for Northerners. I look forward to welcoming the new graduates to the Corrections Service after they finish their program. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

The honourable Minister of Transportation, Mr. Michael McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to provide information on the new and improved NWT licence plate that will be available to the public starting July 1st of this year.

The Department of Transportation has been working closely with groups across the NWT, and has consulted with the RCMP, Municipal Enforcement and the Royal Canadian Legion, NWT Tourism, commercial carriers, manufacturers and other Canadian jurisdictions to update our licence plate and bring it up to current design standards.

Our shift to a new licence plate began when the discussions with the manufacturer of our current plate indicated they would cease to produce licence plates and that any other option to continue with the old plates would come at a considerable increase in costs. This, Mr. Speaker, combined with the fact that the 25-year-old tools and dies used to manufacture our current licence plate no longer met industry standards. We identified this as an excellent opportunity to examine our new options for our licence plate.

The polar bear design was first used in the Northwest Territories in 1970 and has become recognizable across North America. It is unique in the world and for the last 40 years has created an important branding opportunity to promote the Northwest Territories. The new licence plate will maintain our unique polar bear shape. Also updated on the plate is the tourism slogan, which was previously “Explore Canada’s Arctic,” but has been changed to “Spectacular,” the new NWT Tourism slogan. The slogan on the plate has changed a number of times over the years and aligning it with the current tourism campaign will help in our marketing and our branding efforts.

Mr. Speaker, road safety is our top priority for the department and updating our licence plate is a key way of ensuring the safety of our road users. The new plate features a modern reflective coating, which improves night time vehicle visibility by up to 700 percent. This is valuable for law enforcement

as they will be able to identify and read the licence plate in low light conditions. Safety benefits will be seen by every road user as vehicles will become more visible, even if a vehicle is disabled without lights at the side of a road. Other jurisdictions across Canada have benefited from this improved visibility and now it is time for our drivers to receive this enhanced safety feature.

Beginning July 1st , when an individual enters or

renews an existing vehicle registration or registers a new vehicle, they will be issued a new plate. New licence plates have a nominal one-time fee of $10 to cover the increased costs of using these new licence plates. By introducing the licence plate fee, we will ensure that funding needed for other important programs is not diverted for the purpose of producing licence plates.

The full rollout of these new plates will take place over 18 months, so every NWT licensed vehicle in the Territory will have a new plate by December 31st

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Item 3, Members’ statements. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.

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

Today I once again wish to speak on the issue of housing programs for seniors in Tu Nedhe. Last year we lost three of our oldest residents, plus six or seven other elders who have passed. With each passing there is a tremendous loss of wisdom and experience. I feel I lost a part of history and community knowledge, as I visited regularly with six or seven of these seniors during my visits to Fort Resolution and Lutselk’e.

This presents a loss of 20 to 30 percent of our most respected elders and some of these elders have been waiting for homes to be upgraded when they passed away. Fortunately some of them have had much needed work completed on their homes prior to their passing.

For the elders in Tu Nedhe, housing is a top priority when it comes to support being provided by this government. I have raised the issue of seniors’ housing many times in the past. I know the corporation is working on this and today I wish to confirm things.

Seniors are a special sector of our population and sometimes they are overlooked because they don’t speak up. Many elders that I am talking about were raised in a different time and have strong feelings of personal pride and getting things done without asking for help. Also, we must realize that English is not their first language.

We need the NWT Housing Corporation to be more proactive in dealing with our seniors. In the past I’ve suggested putting a higher priority on seniors’ applications and I’m wondering if this is being done today.

In a few weeks I will again be meeting with the seniors in Fort Resolution and Lutselk’e and again these seniors will first tell me how they are feeling and then they will tell me about the problems they are having with their house. This is the norm and it says a lot about the state of the housing programs and our seniors. Our seniors need attention when it comes to housing issues.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today my Member’s statement is paying respect to the people who have passed away, and their families and friends, since the last sitting of this Assembly.

We lost a really important elder in our community of Tuktoyaktuk. Mr. Jimmy Komeak passed away April 2, 2010. Jimmy lost his parents at an early age and was raised by Peter Panaktalok. He married Jean and had seven children. He started with the RCMP in Cambridge Bay in 1941 and was a well-known reindeer herder in the Mackenzie Delta area. Jimmy will be sadly missed for his sense of humour and always teasing.

Out of Ulukhaktok we lost Mr. Philip Katoayak. He passed away February 14th . He was born to Simon

and Effie Katoayak. Simon is now deceased. Philip lived in Ulukhaktok, his daughter in Gjoa Haven. Philip Katoayak loved spending time on the land and he’ll be sadly missed by his mom, Effie, and his sister, Hannah.

This last week we lost a real piece of history in the Beaufort-Delta, Ms. Bertha Allen, nee Moses. She was born in Old Crow in the Yukon to Caroline and Steven Moses. She was well-grounded in the Vuntut Gwitchin culture and traditions of her grandmother, and had great plans for her to do the work that honoured her. The strengths of the Vuntut Gwitchin upbringing allowed her to experience All Saints Anglican Residential School from 11 to 16 years of age, with a few negative impacts that allowed her to help students that were struggling within the system.

Her many accomplishments included forming the leading of the NWT Native Women’s Association, holding leadership positions in the NWT Status of Women Council and the Native Women’s Association of Canada. Bertha was also inspirational in improving the health and social services, through participation in various boards and agencies. She received the Governor General’s Award for commemoration of a Person’s Case in the NWT.

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

---Unanimous consent granted

After, she had received the Governor General’s Award for the Commissioner Volunteer Award, the highest level of national health and welfare of Canadian volunteer award and the National Aboriginal Achievement Award. She was named to the Order of Canada and her last accolade was when she accepted the Governor General’s medal. When she accepted these awards she brought acknowledgement to all women who helped her along the way. She is survived by her son Gerry Kisoun, Shirley Kisoun, Yvonne Camsell, Judy Mahoney, Dennis Allen and Donna Kisoun.

Last April 5th , Ronald Storr passed away in Aklavik.

He was my uncle. He’s survived by his wife, my Auntie Marjorie; his son Ronald Storr Jr., and son Chris, and daughter Phyllis Kasook, and many grandchildren. Myself and Minister McLeod attended the funeral. It was a beautiful service and I put my uncle to rest.

To whoever lost family members these past few months, I pay my respects to you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Can I wait?

The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’d like to respond to yesterday’s fiscal and economic update which was provided to this House by the honourable Minister of Finance, Mr. Miltenberger. I listened very intently to the Minister’s statement, both for what he was saying and what he wasn’t saying.

It is my belief that our financial well-being is in grave danger. The Finance Minister does state that the economy shrank last year, as evidenced by a declining gross domestic product. What he fails to say is investment in our Territory was down 24 percent last year. We lost a net of 900 jobs and close to 500 people left the Territory, for a net decline in population.

I’m not an economist or an accountant, but when faced with these types of declines, doesn’t it stand to reason that our revenues would be adversely affected? These kinds of numbers will undoubtedly result in declines in personal income tax, payroll tax, corporate income tax, and not to mention eventually the grant we receive from Canada.

I don’t believe we can continue to, as the Finance Minister states, hold the course on spending. The Government of Canada has agreed to increase our borrowing limit by $75 million to accommodate the debt from the Deh Cho Bridge. However, we are skating very close to open water when it comes to our debt limit. We are still unsure of the disposition of the Opportunities Fund and how that money will eventually be booked.

Some very frightening items are on the horizon. Firstly, the Deh Cho Bridge, which has approximately $93 million left in construction costs and yet we have in place only a $3 million contingency. This is completely absurd. There’s little doubt that this bridge will cost millions of dollars more. As well, an early spring brings with it a heightened fear of a bad forest fire season, which would require additional millions of dollars. With the numerous capital projects underway around our Territory, like the Inuvik schools, any slippage is going to really hurt us.

I do have to give credit to the government for its capital plan and the fact that we have been getting projects underway, stimulating the economy at a time when it needed it the most. What we are not doing is being more productive in planning and preparing for the challenging times which, looking at the statistics, are going to hit us sooner rather than later.

I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

Like the last government did, we can’t leave a mess for the next government to clean up. My recommendation to government is we should not start any new initiatives. Finish what we started. We should look at reigning in expenditure growth. Instead of 3 percent, how about zero percent? We should get moving on the work conducted by the Program Review Office. Shelve the divisive changes to supplementary health. People will leave and we can’t afford to lose any more residents. Continue with vigour our marketing and promotion campaign to attract new residents to our Territory, and we need to get more investment dollars into our Territory, especially any opportunities for federal positions and investments should be thoroughly explored.

We have one budget and a little over a year left in the life of the 16th Legislative Assembly. The

opportunity will be there for each and every one of us to make a difference in what state we leave the Territory’s finances in for the next government.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today’s worries are focused on the Minister’s proposals on supplementary health, but we should not lose focus on the problems that devalue the quality of our current health services.

One such challenge is access to diagnostic services. Long waiting lists for essential testing and treatment is an issue familiar to every Member. Literally hundreds of patients are waiting as much as two years for audiometric testing, colonoscopies, bone density testing and other essential diagnostic services. Patients who get through the diagnostic line-up then join the line to see physicians. Wait times of one and even two years are not uncommon in such disciplines as internal medicine, oncology and orthopaedics. Prompt care in these cases is often critical to ease suffering and halt the advancement of the disease. Lack of specialists means more patient trips to the South, a terribly inefficient use of funds. Or we drop the service, such as access to pain clinics.

For our regional residents, the lack of specialists at Stanton Territorial Hospital means no services for visitors. Patients needing care that can’t wait, such as midwifery services and physiotherapy, are going without.

The inability to recruit and retain professionals is a chronic problem. Many patients simply can’t find a regular family doctor. The Territory has not had a resident psychiatrist for at least three years. Locum placements are an expensive band-aid on the lack

of resident physicians. While the Minister proudly announced the launch of the department’s $100,000 recruitment website recently, high turnover and lasting vacancies in critical positions persist.

Despite the government’s professed commitment to the preventive approach, limits to approve procedures have often prevented my constituents from getting treatments that will save the system thousands of dollars in the long run. The limp answer I get in these cases is it’s not on the list; of course, with unexplained exceptions.

Patients who do get care and are paying their own medication costs don’t get their money back on legitimate claims. On what should be a routine matter with the Inuvik office, one Weledeh senior is now on her fourth go-around with the same recurring months-long-no-refund problem corrected only through repeated recourse to the Minister of Health herself. No doubt we can take a lesson on the future of co-payments from this case.

I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

Health services are at the top of every Canadian’s list of priorities and Northerners are no different. Our residents receive many excellent services from our dedicated and often over-tasked health care professionals. My constituents still speak highly about the treatment they receive for emergency and catastrophic health issues. It is our preventative and diagnostic programs and access to specialists that are failing. Let’s see some real progress on these very real issues.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to speak to the issue of the supplementary health care coverage. Tommy Douglas was voted the greatest Canadian of all time by the CBC contest back in 2004. Why? Because he is considered to be the father of medicare for all Canadians.

I might vote for my mother as being the greatest Canadian. Why? Because she told me something that broke my heart when I was a young man. She told me how as a mother with eight kids she once had to go without food for herself for two days so she could feed us and still buy the medical care she needed for one of my brothers. We perhaps forgot today just how recently such decisions had to be made in Canada and in the North. The medicine chest in some treaties is still important today, but it

does not cover all aboriginal people. So they rely on the government’s extended health care too, just like half of our population that is non-aboriginal. Universal medical care is a Godsend.

Extended health care is of critical importance. We are told that 2,299 in the Northwest Territories go without access to the extended health care and that our Minister’s new plan will cover. That makes a lot of sense to me. I want to make sure no other mother faces that terrible decision like my mother, and no doubt that many others will have to make, to buy food or buy medicine. So for those 2,300 people, I support the Health Minister.

But I hear so many contrary arguments from both my fellow MLA and from the public that I have concerns, concerns that may impact my region in the future regarding health care.

Mr. Speaker, the Minister, if her current proposed plan is good policy, then please explain it to me. Help me understand it. What are the stakes here? We owe it to the 2,300 people who we are told will benefit and we owe it to those who may have to change the use of the current system. It’s about a basic principle, Mr. Speaker. It’s about bringing the 2,300 people into our health care coverage, plain and simple. First things first, Mr. Speaker, let’s get it right. Thank you.

The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to follow up today on my questions from yesterday. I want to speak to the unfair Supplementary Health Benefits Policy being implemented by the Minister of Health and Social Services.

The Minister has often mentioned the words “fair and equal” in relation to this policy, and no one disputes the need to put in place benefits for those who are currently left out. That we must do to make things fair. But I fail to understand how eliminating access to benefits for only some of our residents, which this policy will do, can be called fair. I fail to understand how making only some residents pay for their medical costs can be called equality.

Mr. Speaker, policy can be one of two things: good or bad. This Supplementary Health Benefits Policy is all bad. It is divisive and we’re seeing its effects already. NWT residents are breaking into camps and animosity is building.

For a very long time we in the NWT have all been Northerners, and by that I mean residents who happily lived, worked and played together, appreciative of our differences and respectful of each other no matter our ethnic origin. This policy

threatens to totally destroy that. Should we not be a Territory of many peoples living, working and playing together as equals? Certainly that is my vision. But I am hard pressed to believe that it will endure if this policy comes into effect.

I found a phrase yesterday that I want to share with you. It says our country is blessed by a very diverse cultural mosaic. That can easily be applied to our Territory, Mr. Speaker, but does the Cabinet across the House from me believe the NWT’s diverse cultural mosaic is a blessing? Their actions in relation to the Supp Health Benefits Policy force me to answer no.

In my conversations with constituents I’m often asked why is this policy being implemented, and I cannot answer them. I cannot determine the rationale for this divisive policy. My constituents ask me, why now? What is so pressing that this divisive policy must be put in place right now or even put in place at all? Why is this Cabinet adamant that this policy is so right? I cannot answer those questions, either. I can only conclude that our Executive Council has some nefarious purpose in mind and ask what are they trying to achieve. Is this the start of a regime of new taxes and fees called co-payments? I believe, as do many of my constituents, that the Minister and the Cabinet are solving one problem, the problem of the hard-done-by, desperately struggling families, as the Minister would say, who are currently left out.

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

---Unanimous consent granted

We are solving one problem but we are creating another problem by solving the first one. By implementing this policy, we will establish a class of residents who are medically bankrupted, a new class of working poor, except they’re only poor because their government believes in unfairness and inequality. What policy will Cabinet put in place, then, to help those families and individuals who are desperately struggling financially? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.