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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to, in my last question to the Minister, ask how it is that the government can in a meaningful way evaluate what we are offering today in the area of addictions. How can we evaluate that in a meaningful way so that we can ensure that the money that we are spending in the area of addictions is being spent the right way and actually making a difference?

We could track, and we do track, the statistics in jails where the majority of the crimes are alcohol related, and the occupancies of our family violence shelters, of our group homes, of the number of children in care that indicate that most of those issues which have alcohol related somewhere in that process. In terms of those that actually go through the door of a treatment centre or make use of community services, there is some tracking done, but that’s more on an individual basis. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. We’ll keep him really busy today. I’d like to follow up on the process underway to develop a recreational land use framework in the Yellowknife block transfer area and to control squatting on all lands surrounding Yellowknife.

In July the Minister informed all the Yellowknife Members that the recreational lease planning study is underway to gather information for development of the framework, and I applaud this action. The Minister also said that stakeholder and public consultations are the next step. Can the Minister tell us what the current plan and schedule is for that work?

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Minister responsible for Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Robert McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The department will begin public consultation on the draft framework in October of 2011. We will be providing a briefing to various stakeholders including the City of Yellowknife and the Town of Inuvik because of the affected area up there. The Yellowknives Dene First Nation, the Gwich’in Tribal Council, and the Cassidy Point/Prosperous Lake, we’d be providing them with a briefing prior to the public release of the draft framework. Thank you.

That’s quite a bit of slippage, obviously, from what was previously the plan. I believe this work is intended to be completed by the end of December of this year, so that is clearly in jeopardy. I would ask the Minister to please keep us informed on that and perhaps explain that delay.

In the February session, Mr. Speaker, I also congratulated the Minister on the work underway to prosecute current block land transfer squatters and stop new squatting. I pointed out that squatting on Commissioner’s land is only part of the problem and that the federal government does nothing to help. I asked the Minister then to put pressure on the federal government to meet its responsibilities and he said, “I can assure the Member and all Members that it is our intent to constantly work and put pressure on the federal government, and I can assure the Members that I will continue to push that issue quite strongly.”

My question now is: could the Minister tell me what action he has taken since February to get the federal government moving on enforcement, and take action on the scores of illegal squatters on their lands? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, obviously, that is a problem, and I did commit to the Members that I would have some discussion. I have had the

opportunity. We had a FPT for Ministers of municipal government. I had the opportunity to discuss the situation with some of the members down there. Unfortunately, we didn’t get as much time with the federal Minister as we would have liked. We were very pressed for time. As I assured the Members, it is an issue that we have to continue to raise, and raise with the federal government to make them aware of their responsibility and the fact that there are a lot of people that are squatting on Crown land. Thank you.

Thanks to the Minister. I appreciate that action. I would ask the Minister, in recognition that he’s attempted to have conversations, will the Minister commit to me now that before the end of this government he will write to the federal Minister both to inform him of our diligent actions and to formally request that the DIAND regional office begin a program of prosecution and enforcement to clear and prevent squatting on federal Crown lands, lands that we may soon be responsible for? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I will commit to the Member and all Members that I will communicate very quickly here by way of written form to the federal Minister advising him of our concerns. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I very much appreciate that commitment from the Minister. I’d like to ask if the Minister has ensured, or this government has ensured that the cleanup costs of this situation are provided for in the agreement-in-principle on devolution that this government has signed, given that we know what the costs… Now, we have some experience at trying to clear the land of squatters. We know what the costs are, and there are many, many more on the federal lands that we may soon be responsible for. Are the costs of that accounted for in the agreement-in-principle and will the Minister be pushing for that to be accounted for in the negotiations towards a final agreement? Mahsi.

I’m not quite sure of what’s in the contents of the agreement-in-principle as far as that is, but I can assure the Member that when we communicate and when we start making progress with devolution, that we’ll do what we can to ensure that all costs to clean Crown land are included. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ve been sitting here trying to figure out a way to work my agricultural policy Member’s statement into a question to someone on the other side of the House. I think I’m going to direct it to the Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Mr. Speaker, I have listened to my colleague again today and many, many times in the past, Mr. Yakeleya, talk about the cost of living regarding food in the communities. I, first of all, have to thank the government for the initiatives they have taken. There is an employee in Hay River who works for ITI. His name is Gene Hachey. He is overseeing an NWT Community Gardening Program and this can be expanded. This is one little aspect of agriculture in the Northwest Territories.

But, Mr. Speaker, I have come across a letter that has been provided to me and I would like to just read a little excerpt from it. This is from a very well-known Northerner, Ruby Jumbo, and she’s saying that Somba Ke is developing a wellness plan, and during the first phase community members want to develop a three-year wellness program. As nutrition was identified as a priority, we are seeking help to investigate the possibilities of developing agriculture in our community. So I found that the Minister’s questions today in response to Mr. Yakeleya were very interesting, because we sit here on our high horse and say everybody should be making healthy choices, they should be buying nutritious food, they should stay away from junk food. But the reality of it is that in a lot of the communities that are off road and in remote regions, the cost of those nutritious foods can be prohibitive, and we have communities that are now reaching to this government and saying nutrition is a priority, we think we could grow some of our own food.

I’d like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services if there’s any correlation between the activities of his department to increase and encourage healthy eating and nutrition with the activities of ITI, for example, with regard to market gardening and growing food in the North for Northerners. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. They are, of course, related. The North has a very long history of agriculture throughout most of the Northwest Territories, up the valley where there is, as was indicated, rich land, and there is a resurgence of interest in many communities to take advantage of that opportunity to grow many, many crops. I was in Norman Wells

and saw the very impressive greenhouses that were up there and the variety of crops that were being grown, as well as flowers. There is a correlation between healthy living and being able to eat your produce out of a garden as a summer pastime, and root crops that you can put away that would take you far into the winter. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I would suggest that there is not a community in the Northwest Territories that could not benefit from community gardens and greenhouses, and some assistance and an overarching policy of this government to encourage communities to make an effort to grow some of their own food, some of their own nutritious food. I would suggest that we do not do enough about that initiative. We don’t do enough to encourage that. I’d like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services, although we are in the last days of this government, again, to look at those renewable resources that could go a long way towards assisting with the health and well-being of northern residents. Thank you.

The good news is, is that while this Legislature may be dissolved in the next few weeks, a lot of the good, all the good programs and all the good work that has been done by government and by this Assembly will continue on until the Assembly is elected, and that Assembly will decide if they are going to continue those initiatives or change them or supplement them.

I agree with the Member. We can always do more. Mr. Bromley has made many, many statements about the need for self-sufficiency. We all agree with that. That’s why we have invested so much money in alternate energy. We are looking at biomass strategies. We have community gardening programs in ITI. We are working with Education to make the right choices with active living, and with Transportation and MACA. So, yes, these will continue and, yes, we could do more. Thank you.

It always escapes me that we, as a government, can figure out how to levelize the cost of liquor so you can buy liquor in Inuvik for the same price as you can buy it in Yellowknife, but we can’t be proactive when it comes to assisting, encouraging, and aiding people in undertaking activities that would see them more ready and affordable access to healthy and nutritious food. But that’s another whole topic, Mr. Speaker.

I’d like to, I guess, just confirm again that going forward we will leave on the public record that as a government we can and will be more proactive about encouraging communities to be more self-reliant and to pursue the lifestyle of healthy choices and healthy food at affordable rates to address the cost of living in the North, that this will be, if not

accomplished by this government, a legacy of this government going forward. Thank you.

The Member and I have served now in four Assemblies together. This issue has been a dominate theme in every one of those and I would suggest will continue to be a dominant theme in the 17

Assembly going

forward. So we take the Member’s point and assure her that this issue will be there.

There are positive things we can do, many that don’t cost enormous amounts and aren’t requiring new technology, just simple decisions by people to make those choices and put in those gardens and such. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I spoke in my Member’s statement about a problem in my riding, a very large problem that’s over a year old. I will address my questions today to the Premier, as my problem, when it blows up, is going to involve more than just one department. As the leader of the government, I am addressing my questions to him.

You know the people in Northland are not looking to be bailed out. They are willing to bear their fair share of a project, but they really need help and they need help in an emergent way.

We don’t have any programs right now to address the situation. I have been told that in the past. But there are things we can do as a government. We invent programs all the time; we bend rules on programs all the time. So in the absence of any action by the federal government, I’d like to ask the Premier what this government will do to assist my constituents and NWT residents. Thank you.