Good morning everybody. Item 2, Ministers’ statements. The honourable Premier, Mr. Bob McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today, on behalf of all members of Cabinet, to once again congratulate and thank all Members of this House. We are grateful for and humbled by your support, and we pledge to work hard, in cooperation with all Members, in the service of all the people and communities of the Northwest Territories.

Each of us elected to this Assembly recognizes that our territory is one of immense potential and that realizing even a share of that potential can mean a vibrant and prosperous future for our people.

Beyond the immediate challenges of housing, infrastructure, the economy and health care, we must identify a path of action by which we can realize our great future.

Our territory is too large, too diverse for one region or people to determine the right path for our territory’s future.

But our territory is also too small to be fragmented by issues that divide us. If we are to move forward, we will need to do it together, building on the good work done by the 16th Assembly.

We know, from experience, that our challenges will be significant, but our collective will to make things better for our people is strong. This Assembly must be the forum in which we find and reach consensus for the good of our territory.

I am encouraged by the goodwill shown by Members and Aboriginal leaders to find better ways of working together. I have spoken with many regional Aboriginal leaders in the past few days to assure them that we are serious about improving our relationships. This will be an important priority of our government.

As the Prime Minister has already indicated, Canada also realized our great potential. This was echoed during my call with the Honourable John Duncan, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, yesterday. The federal government looks forward to continuing to work with us toward our shared objectives for a strong, healthy NWT.

All of our relationships with other governments are important, but our progress will be directly linked to how well we work together in this House.

Mr. Speaker, we have much to do. My first priority is to get our government up and running. Ministerial portfolios will be assigned by the middle of next week.

We look forward to working with all Members to set the strategic priorities for the 17th Legislative

Assembly and to working with you over the next four years. I am confident that together we will build the consensus it will take to move our territory forward. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Premier, Mr. Bob McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to advise Members that the Honourable Tom Beaulieu will be absent from the House today to attend a funeral in Fort Resolution. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Premier. Colleagues, I’d like to welcome Mr. Sam Gargan, former Speaker, former MLA for Deh Cho. Welcome to the House.

---Applause

Item 3, Members’ statements. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Just to pick up again on that last specific recommendation, I would like to see us include an arts demonstration, exhibit and sales space on the ground floor of the GNWT office

building being planned for construction where the ARCC now stands.

Finally, let’s direct Aurora College to establish an arts program, perhaps in conjunction with the Emily Carr University of Art and Design, during the life of our term. Such activities have a proven record for strengthening our communities' identity and our economy.

Mr. Speaker, I look forward to seeing this done. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want Members and the public to know the basic state of affairs in Deh Cho communities as we start our term in office.

Poor housing is a major problem. There are tremendous needs and they vary from community to community. Almost 42 percent of households in Fort Providence and on the Hay River Reserve are having serious problems with their homes. This is much worse than the Northwest Territories average. Many of these houses are under the control of our government, particularly in Fort Providence, so we should be able to do something about it.

It is worth noting that in Kakisa and Enterprise, where most residents own their own homes, housing problems are close to the territorial average of 32 percent. Even that is a higher number. We have to tackle our housing problems across the Northwest Territories.

The population is rising in most Deh Cho communities, particularly in Enterprise. The population has grown 44 percent since 2001. Only in Fort Providence has there been a slight decline.

So let’s move on to education and jobs. On the Hay River Reserve only 39 percent of residents have completed high school and the number isn’t much better in Fort Providence. Compare that to the Northwest Territories average of almost 70 percent.

In my riding, only Enterprise is close, and the employment rate there is above the Northwest Territories average.

We must educate all our young people, and provide upgrading and training for people who do not complete high school. Where education is failing, many people are without jobs. Only 36 percent of people aged 15 or older are working in Fort Providence. It is 41 percent in Kakisa and 44 percent on the reserve, still not very good. Compare that to 71 percent in the town of Hay River.

We have got to create more jobs in our smaller communities. All the issues I’ve mentioned, among others, are root causes of crime. In my riding, statistics are only available for Fort Providence. The crime rate in my community is double the Northwest Territories, which is itself seven times the national average. We can’t solve these problems overnight, but we have lots of capable people and lots of opportunities. The potential in the forestry industry is largely untapped. We could build log homes and manufacture wood pellets.

Tourism is another sector we should focus on in the entire Deh Cho region, which includes Nahanni National Park. Tourists spend about $1.7 million a year. There are only nine licensed tourism operators. By comparison, there are 16 in the Sahtu.

I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted.

In my riding we have Great Slave Lake. We have great rivers and spectacular waterfalls. We will have the new Deh Cho Bridge. Highway traffic is expected to increase over the next five years. We have people with strong skills in traditional crafts and art who can both produce goods and teach. I look forward to making progress in all these areas.

Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Today I just want to speak a bit about health care in my riding. It was an issue that was brought to my attention as I campaigned. People in my riding are losing confidence in the delivery of health care. I would like to urge our government to help work with me to restore the confidence of the people in the health care system.

There were several instances over the past six months that people really questioned what happened. Great credit goes out to the staff on the front lines, but still people really want to believe that their needs are being taken care of. In the December sitting I will further detail those needs, but I just wanted to let the government know, the new Minister of Health, whoever that may be, that will be one of my primary objectives as I move along here representing my people of Nahendeh.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. At this time I would like to thank Mr. David Krutko, former MLA for the Mackenzie Delta, who has served 16 years as our MLA in the Mackenzie Delta.

I’d also like to take this time to reassure the constituents of the Mackenzie Delta that I am working on the important issues that we are faced with in our communities.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. During the election campaign, going door to door talking with my constituents, one particular concern came up again and again. They expressed their desire for this government to provide assistance to solve that concern.

I speak, of course, about the extreme and urgent water and sewer infrastructure situation in the Northland Mobile Home Park in my riding. Concern was expressed to me by park residents but also by many other Frame Lake constituents. This is a problem that all Yellowknifers are concerned about and a problem that Yellowknifers expect the GNWT to help with.

Community government is firmly onside to help the residents of Northland. The City of Yellowknife has provided in-kind assistance to the park for at least 10 years. By recent city council motion they have committed to continue that assistance and to try to find financing for the infrastructure replacement project.

This government, on the other hand, has refused to provide any assistance to the park residents or the city, apart from a brief mention of support for the project in two letters to the Minister of Infrastructure for Canada. The GNWT has refused to accept any responsibility for the current plight of the Condo Corporation No. 8, even though I feel they should bear at least some moral responsibility.

Recently the City of Yellowknife, acting on behalf of the condo corporation board, wrote to the GNWT with a proposal; a proposal for a no-interest loan from the GNWT to the City of Yellowknife, a loan which would significantly reduce the repayment costs to the residents. The cost of interest over 35 years is about $13 million, almost the same as the cost of the project. The monthly repayment costs, if they include interest, are out of the reach of most park residents. Eliminate the interest, and the

monthly condo payments are reduced to an amount that condo corp residents can afford to pay.

The Premier, in his remarks Wednesday, stated that the GNWT could provide a loan guarantee. That won’t do it. It won’t reduce the repayment costs to the point where it is affordable for residents.

We’re not giving money away here. The proposal is for a loan, not a grant. The cost to this government on an annual basis is minimal, but to my constituents, with their limited budgets, it’s huge.

The trailer park is home to about 1,100 residents, over 2 percent of the population of the NWT. Were it a stand-alone community it would be the seventh largest community in the NWT. It’s time for this government to do the right thing: to provide the help my constituents need.

I will have questions for the Premier at the appropriate time. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Also during my campaign tour in the Sahtu region I spoke to many people in Fort Good Hope, and actually spent extra time there because of the amount of related cancer deaths in Fort Good Hope. When I left, there were people that were being diagnosed. As of yesterday, somebody else was diagnosed with cancer in Fort Good Hope. That’s about eight people. About nine people died in Fort Good Hope of cancer.

People are afraid of the water they are drinking. People are afraid of the water quality in the Mackenzie River and eating the fish that they have every winter, every fall and summer. People are scared because there were old federal government buildings that were condemned because of asbestos and people working in those buildings at a time when they were taken down and they weren’t using proper safety precautions. There are a lot of questions in Fort Good Hope. Why are there so many deaths related to cancer?

We need to give the people in Fort Good Hope, and any other community, some answers. Some time ago they did a study in Aklavik on the cancer. That study stopped. There is research for circumpolar on cancer. The Dene Nation has done some surveys. There are some groups out there that need to be supported and funded to bring the answers to my people.

When I was in Good Hope, not a very good picture to see a loved one die with children around them looking at their father on the bed and dying. We need to get some answers from this government.

Whoever the Health Minister is, I’m going to hold them to account, that the people in my region need not suffer anymore, and to get down to the bottom of why people are getting cancer so much in Good Hope. Is it the water? Is it the federal government building that’s condemned? Is it the water in the Mackenzie River? We need to help each other and stop dying. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the Premier and the Executive Council members on officially being sworn in on October 27, 2011.

I would also like to congratulate you, Mr. Speaker, on being elected as the first-ever Inuvialuit Speaker in the Legislative Assembly.

I would like to take this time to thank the Honourable Mr. Miltenberger and Deputy Speaker Mrs. Groenewegen on being elected to their fifth terms in the Legislative Assembly. Their wisdom, knowledge and leadership will be a benefit to us new Members, coined the Fab-Five, over the next four years.

I would also like to congratulate the Honourable Mr. Tom Beaulieu on his Cabinet position and becoming the first-ever acclaimed MLA for Tu Nedhe.

In the brief time that I’ve been an MLA and being here in the Legislative Assembly, I have witnessed a lot of history and some change within the 17th Legislative Assembly. Proof is with the meeting that we had with the Aboriginal governments prior to the selection of the Territorial Leadership Committee.

I am confident that the Members of the Legislative Assembly, the Executive Council, with support and direction from our Premier, will continue to make history and make change that will benefit the people of the Northwest Territories.

I would also like to give a special thank you to all the staff of the Legislative Assembly, who have committed long hours and endless support to make the transition for us new Members a comfortable one and with our new jobs and our new roles. As stated yesterday, I look forward to working with all Members and staff to carry out our jobs in the best interests of people in the Northwest Territories. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Moses. Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I indicated yesterday, I look forward to working with my fellow Members in the Legislative Assembly. As the government moves forward, we also need to look back and thank some of the people that have been here before.

It’s been a privilege to replace the Honourable Paul Delorey as the representative for Hay River North. Mr. Delorey was first elected in the 14th Assembly in

1999 and he has served three terms, a total of 12 years, for Hay River. During the 15th and 16th Assembly Mr. Delorey sat as the Speaker of this House. He has represented Hay River in the Northwest Territories very well.

I am using today’s Member’s statement to thank him for his hard work and I wish him well in his future endeavours. I know Mr. Delorey will continue to represent Hay River. He has already committed to helping junior curling in Hay River. I am sure he will be working on his own to-do lists, and I would like, also, to thank his wife and his family for their commitments during his time served.

As a new MLA, I will be using him as a source of information and direction. Good luck, Mr. Delorey, and thank you very much.

The Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to speak a little bit about consensus government, which always seems to come into sharper focus around election time.

I believe that we do not have to make a choice between consensus government or party politics. Sometimes if we find the things that we don’t like about consensus government, we think the only alternative is party politics. I don’t agree with that, but we have a consensus government that can be improved upon and can become more consensus.

The Cabinet that we have selected and have now been sworn in are the front line as we advance on tackling the issues and the challenges facing the Northwest Territories. I would like to see us as the Regular Members being that next line behind them, like a rear guard to support them in their role and to help in more ways than what we have in the past.

I spoke with the Premier, Mr. McLeod, when we walked into the Assembly the other day. We come in here as 19 Members. We’re all equally qualified to take on any of these roles. Some have more experience, they’re from different regions, have

different backgrounds and perspectives, and that’s why we choose people to take on various areas of leadership within this group of 19. But I think there’s more opportunity for the Cabinet Ministers and even yourself, Mr. Speaker, to turn to the Regular Members on this side of the House to assist you in doing the duties of a Cabinet Minister.

Oftentimes it’s a hectic and busy time. There are functions to attend, there are conferences to speak at, there are all kinds of activities, and in this next four years going forward I would like to see this Cabinet consider the skills and experience and talents on this side of the House and allow us to help you in the performing of your duties both in formal and informal ways.

Mr. Speaker, during the last few days we’ve heard from people on the matter of consensus government. We read an editorial in the paper from a long-time news person, Mr. Jack Sigvaldson. We saw an interesting letter from Lois Little. We saw interesting commentary being put forward by Charles Furlong. These are all, I think, comments and expressions of interest, in how our government is run, by the public that we need to take seriously and we need to listen to, because I don’t think that the way we do things now…

Mrs. Groenewegen, you have now exceeded your time for your Member’s statement.

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

---Unanimous consent granted.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, colleagues. Consensus is not clearly defined in the NWT Act. There is room for improvement. We have discretion, and we have the latitude to change the way we do things and to improve them, and I look forward to working with Members of this House to accomplish that in the next four years. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The other day we’d heard from Mr. Miltenberger that there was a report coming forward to this particular Cabinet regarding recommendations for addictions. I’d like this government to be known as a government that took action on the addictions problem.

Before the Premier hands out the portfolios, I’d like him to seriously consider giving whoever takes the Department of Health and Social Services a clear

and precise mandate that they must finally take up arms and deal with the addictions problems.

I don’t need to lecture this House about how closely homelessness is related to addictions, but I’ll tell you that they are interrelated in a way that affects poverty, that affects employment, that hurts people in the sense that they may lose their jobs, it may lead to crime, it has serious impacts on family. The list is endless.

The attitude of the past government has been that there are one or two places to serve or deal with addictions problems. I will tell you that we have very little results to show from it that we’ve proven anything that we’ve done it right.

Stanton is not a treatment facility for addictions. With all great respect, Nats’ejee K’eh is not a treatment centre for dealing with crack or meth. We must take up arms against this cause. Even if we only move this file inches forward, we must never surrender to these types of demons, because they are stealing the souls of good people and they are destroying the lives of families.

As I understand it, as I said, this issue will be coming to the Cabinet table. If this Cabinet wants to do something on this particular file, they can. They need to have a clear instruction from the Premier and a mandate to do so. They will have my support if they wish to do this, but I wish they not sit on their particular hands as they have in the past.

Finally, the downtown has a day shelter, and it was meant to help people who have homeless problems and to give them somewhere to go during the day. Critical to that function is it gives them some options of what to do next. We need to look at building interrelationships with other NGOs, but how to fight the (a) homeless problem, but (b) also give people options for their particular addictions. This government should not, and I hope will not, lose their partnership that they have with the City of Yellowknife, BHP and, of course, the Department of Health. It would be a sorry state of affairs if we did nothing yet another term on the fight against addictions.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, Mr. Robert McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize Mr. Grant Hood, who is the SAO for the Town of Inuvik and a constituent of Inuvik Twin Lakes. Welcome.

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

Thank you so much, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize Dehcho Grand Chief Sam Gargan in the gallery, as well as a former resident of Fort Simpson Mr. Denezeh Nakehko. Welcome.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize two members of the Enterprise Hamlet Council: Mr. Craig McMaster and Mr. Dean Maher. Hopefully I got their names right.

Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize the grand chief of the Dehcho First Nation, Mr. Sam Gargan. We had a very good meeting this morning and we were both senior boys at Lapointe Hall at one time.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. I’d like to welcome everybody to this morning’s proceedings. Welcome to the House.

Item 6, acknowledgements. Item 7, oral questions. Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement today I talked a little bit about consensus government. The headline in today’s Yellowknifer is “McLeod Reigns Supreme,” with a picture of Premier McLeod above the headline. I think we need to maybe inform the media a little bit about how consensus government works, because we elect people to that side of the House and I don’t think that they are reigning. I think we have honoured them with the role of leadership in our government and we want to be there to help meet the needs of our people together, together with them.

I’d like to ask Premier McLeod if he has a theory or a way that he could see that we could do more to work together as 19 Members of a consensus government and how that might be reflected in his communication to his new Cabinet in the way that we do things – for example, when there are events to attend, there’s travel that Ministers undertake – so that we can incorporate more of the expertise and the skills and the knowledge of the Members on this side of the House.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I recognize that the newspapers have to sell papers, and that wasn’t a quote of mine.

My approach always has been to involve as many Members as possible. Whenever I travelled as a Minister, I always invited some of the Members along. A lot of times when we went to the United States, I’d bring at least two Members along. On several occasions where I was invited for speaking engagements, if I couldn’t go, I would ask a Member to cover for me. On trips I couldn’t go, I’d also ask Members to attend on my behalf.

This is an item that we put on our agenda for the Cabinet retreat, where we’ll all agree how we will be able to work together with all of you, and how to communicate with each other and how to work together to get things done. A lot of it is sharing of information, listening, responding quickly to questions and queries, and providing information as requested. So we’ll be discussing all those things. As well, we’ll be talking about attendance at federal/provincial/territorial conferences.

I think that wherever possible, it would be helpful to bring, perhaps, chairs of committees along, if time is available and we can do it. Those are the type of things we’ll be discussing.

Those are all good ideas. Not only does it give Members on this side a chance to participate and support Cabinet Ministers and the Premier in the fulfillment of their roles, but it also gives a valuable insight to Members on this side. Many of these young Members will eventually be on that side. It’s a shadowing that I think benefits everybody.

When we arrive here and we do choose our leadership, seven of 19 go to the Cabinet room and 11 of the 19 go to the Regular Members’ Caucus room. There is not, in my opinion, enough of hearing everybody’s voice. You could be an amazing voice at the Cabinet table and have a lot of things to say and a lot of good, but with Cabinet confidentiality and Cabinet solidarity, the public, and even us, we may not hear enough of that. I believe that something is lost.

Does the Premier agree that there may be an expanded role for our Caucus where we sit as 19 equal Members and talk about initiatives and ideas in a greater way than we do normally on an annual basis or at the beginning of our term?

I believe we should do that. I think the way we started this 17th Assembly where

we, all 19 of us, sat with Aboriginal governments I think showed that we can work together on that basis. I think for major issues we should meet as Caucus to discuss. I think in November we’re going to get together for two weeks to set the strategic direction for this government and also to finalize or formalize our vision and goals and objectives for the next four years, and our priorities. I think it’s very important for us to work as a Caucus together.

I knew that was coming and I will only make one more supplementary. As the Premier, will the Premier commit to having input on our Caucus agenda from the Cabinet side now, agree to bring forward to the Caucus, together with the Regular Members, the exploration of opportunities for the Caucus to consider more than what we have typically in the past?

We will be discussing that in our Cabinet retreat and we’re prepared to discuss it at the first opportunity in Caucus.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are in follow-up to my Member’s statement.

I’d like to ask the Premier, relative to the comments that he made on Wednesday, unedited Hansard indicated that the Premier had said that he would be willing to support a loan guarantee for the project to replace the water and sewer infrastructure at Northland. I’d like to ask the Premier to explain to me what is meant by a loan guarantee and how is that beneficial to the city and to the project.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When I met with Mayor Van Tighem from Yellowknife, we talked about the Northland issue and the fact that the estimated cost to fix the problem at Northland was somewhere in the neighbourhood of $18 million. The Northland condominium group had indicated to the city that they didn’t need to have paving and so on that had been planned for the area, so that would shave $2 million to $3 million off the project. Also, if a loan guarantee was provided so that the city could make a low rate, they would save a further $3 million to $4 million. That would reduce the cost by half. That was what was proposed by the mayor in a letter to me as the sole Minister on Cabinet in the 16th Assembly.

If I recall correctly, and I guess I’ll have to confirm in Hansard, but I indicated that I was prepared to have it brought forward to Cabinet once we had reviewed our fiscal situation and we would deal with it on that basis. I would also have to check into what the process is for this government to provide a loan guarantee, because I understood that we have to come to the Legislative Assembly to get a loan

guarantee approved. That’s something I’ll have to confirm.

I thank the Premier for his remarks. He had stated that the project cost was $8 million and I took a little bit of exception to that. I’m pleased that he’s changed his number to $18 million, because that is much closer to the project cost. If I add up the numbers that the Premier just mentioned, I don’t get it being reduced. He said half the cost; I don’t get it being reduced to $9 million. I think there still is, even with the reduced paving, even with the loan guarantee, I think the cost of the project is out of the reach of most members that live in Northland.

I’d like to know from the Premier, I guess I need to understand whether or not we’re talking about the same proposal, because the proposal that I have seen asks for a no-interest loan. I would like to ask the Premier if this government will seriously consider not a loan guarantee but a no-interest loan to the City of Yellowknife.

The way I look at it is we’ll have to confirm the numbers, finalize a proposal. Whether it be a loan guarantee or a no-interest loan proposal will have to be brought forward. We’d have to discuss it at Cabinet, and if we have a positive response, then we would go forward on that basis.

Thanks to the Premier. I appreciate that commitment and I’m really pleased to hear that the option of a no-interest loan will be considered. My usual last answer – I’m only asking three questions today, Mr. Speaker – is when can we, I, the city, expect a response from government regarding their proposal? Thank you.

My understanding is the condominium association had finalized the proposal. I haven’t seen it myself, but if there is a final proposal that has been brought to the city, then I expect that as soon as we assign portfolios and Ministers have been briefed up, that we could look at that, probably within the next few months.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My question for Cabinet and our Premier is: I do realize that in March we are planning to change our rent scale for housing and I’m hoping that we can implement that sooner, if possible. I know portfolios aren’t designated yet, but I’d like to make that a priority. Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Blake. Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know there is a rental scale review. We’re expecting the results fairly soon and we’ll take whatever steps we can to do it on a timely basis, recognizing that it’s a big issue for all of the communities in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Blake. Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to congratulate the Premier and the Cabinet for being selected our leaders.

At the 17th Assembly, as we start defining our

course, pathing out our approach and trying to determine the best trail to take our people forward into the next four years, I’ve heard the Premier speak of working together, collaboration, all key fundamental aspects of ensuring that we uphold the principles of consensus. I’d like to ask the Premier if he has confirmed a forum or a date to follow up on the historic October 21st meeting with the Aboriginal

groups. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’ve only had two meetings, one before we were sworn in and one since we’ve been sworn in, so we haven’t had an opportunity to discuss it yet, Mr. Speaker.

The Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My line of questioning is with the Aboriginal government that we had this historic meeting last Friday, and also that the biggest issue, I guess, on the people’s minds is the working relationship and the Devolution and Resource Revenue Sharing Agreement that was signed in the 16th , and the time

frame to conclude that agreement with the federal government.

This territorial government indicated that Members had talked about the amount of dollars that are leaving the North. They talked about the control being yet in Ottawa, with some still staying in the Northwest Territories.

I want to ask the Premier, with the time frames that we signed a deal, we have not had a good response from the Aboriginal governments, except the Inuvialuit and the NWT Metis Nation at the table signing, and shows a very weak sign of support for this deal. The major other five Aboriginal governments are not all there together. I want to ask the Premier his relationship with the federal government and John Duncan. This is the guy that would not meet with the Aboriginal governments when he came to the Northwest Territories, yet he is supposed to be the man to represent the Aboriginal people.

Can the Premier indicate, in his phone call with Duncan, that things have changed or it’s different versions of how the North is going to be strong, free and wealthy and what’s a good potential? Can the Premier tell me what type of discussion he had, that maybe we’ve got a chance with Duncan to maybe consider meeting with the chiefs when he gets to the North again?

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I had a very good discussion with Minister Duncan and I told him about how we, as a Caucus, had met with the Aboriginal governments, and that I had been on the phone talking to the majority of the Aboriginal government leaders and it was my intention to talk to all of them either by today or early next week. He indicated that he was prepared to come north and to meet with the Aboriginal leaders at some appropriate time in the future, so I believe that it is his intention to do so. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Hopefully, somewhere between now and whenever Minister Duncan comes north and meets with all the Aboriginal leaders to discuss this important issue, being a former chief negotiator of the land claim and self-government, that the federal government tag the amount of money to conclude a deal with the benefits if we go ahead to sign or not to sign.

With the devolution we have an 18-month time frame. I want to ask the Premier, in his discussions so far with the Aboriginal governments, the federal government, if that 18-month time frame is something that we’re working towards or something that could be maybe stretched or could be something that would give us enough time to get a deal signed with the Aboriginal governments, all of them, to make this a deal that’s worthwhile to stand up and say, yes, it’s a maiden deal or something that Minister Duncan is going to show again by demonstrating his actions at the take-it-or-leave-it deal, and that is the way that he seems to be operating. Is the Premier willing to consider those options?

My understanding of the dates or timelines that you’re quoting is that those are just guidelines. In our discussions with the Aboriginal governments, we are not talking about those kinds of specific details at this time. We’ve been talking about how to try to find ways to find some common ground and to start working together, and we’re hoping to be able to start to do that and to follow up on the meeting in Dettah by getting together again soon, hopefully before Christmas.

Certainly, I hope that the Cabinet or the Premier is looking at some guidelines, because that’s how the system works.

I know when I was the chief negotiator, again, that the Treasury Board gave us a guideline and this is the amount, this is the agreement, you reach it and when you get there, you go to your people and ask if you want to accept the deal or not. The other part of it goes into implementation.

Would the Premier look at, with the Aboriginal governments, a timeline. I heard it from your other Cabinet Ministers that the amount of money that’s leaving the Northwest Territories, there’s a deal signed.

The federal government is a majority government. They have the ability to say take it or leave it. Can the Premier look with his team to see how they could get the Aboriginal government onside, on common ground within the guidelines of 18 months or they can do it within two or three years and take it to the people so that the people can all vote and say this is what we want, rather than keep it with a select few in the House here?

It is our intention to work with the Aboriginal leaders to find some common ground and at that point they’ll look at timelines. Thank you.

Can the Premier tell us how he’s going to involve this Assembly? How do we staff the right person? Are we going to have some staff in Ottawa that would help us bridge the link between us and the Minister’s office to strengthen the agreement with our Aboriginal partners on this important issue and other issues in the North such as the Mackenzie Valley Highway? How are we going to evolve and determine the staffing if we are going to have a staff in Ottawa to help us get our financial, political, economic situation here in the Northwest Territories, and most importantly, our relationship with the federal government?

Thank you. Normally staff from Ottawa don’t really become involved until such time as we get fairly close, because we need staff from Ottawa to write the Cabinet decision papers and also when we get closer to the actual transition to have federal staff to help with implementation. So I’m not sure what the Member is leading to when

he’s asking for having federal staff involved, because normally they’re involved at the negotiating table and we have our negotiating people as well. So if you’re suggesting to use federal people to reach common ground with Aboriginal governments, then we could do that as well. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Short supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just for clarification, I’m asking about our own staffing, I’m not asking about the federal staffing. That is the post-evolution and post-impact agreement. I’m asking about our people, how we’re going to get our people here working with us as an independent office, or an office that we could use in Ottawa.

Thank you. Right now in our discussions with Aboriginal governments, we’re keeping all our options open, and at the appropriate time we will have that discussion, and if it would facilitate the process, we would be quite prepared to do it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Premier fielding all these questions today on behalf of Cabinet. I’d like to say, first of all, that I’m pleased that there was a good discussion had with Grand Chief Sam Gargan and I’m wondering if the Premier can share with us either in this format, or Caucus, or committee, what those discussions were and how they were good. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. They were very good for me, first of all, because the Dehcho Grand Chief is planning to organize the community feast for me in Fort Providence at some point in November, and he wants me to visit all of the different institutions there and meet all of the people again. So I was happy with that. I’m very pleased to do so. We’re working on a date.

We had a good discussion on where the Dehcho First Nation is at, the Dehcho process and how his views are on the land use planning framework, how the different governments can interact, and we had a discussion on devolution and constitutional development. We did all this in a fairly short time frame, but I think we were both pleased with the meeting. Thank you.

Thank you. I also heard the Premier say that he’d met with most of the other

Aboriginal government leaders. Is there anything he can share from discussions with them, too, beyond invitations to feasts and stuff? I’d be interested in how we’re moving forward on some of the key issues that are before us. Thank you.

Thank you. I had the opportunity to either meet or call most of the leaders, and most of them are still in a positive frame, and they’re willing to continue to have discussions on how to find ways to work together and to see if we can set up a process and define common ground. Thank you.

Thank you. It sounds like a good start, a good follow-up to the Friday meeting. I like the positive stuff. I am looking forward to hearing about progress on the real issues. Will the Premier be updating us regularly on these sorts of discussions on relationships with our Aboriginal government partners? Thank you.

Thank you. It was my intention to debrief with the MLAs on the different Aboriginal governments, the regions. I could also do it collectively, if that is the wish of the Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Bromley. Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement today I talked about addressing the addictions problem, and perhaps, maybe, we could actually gain ground this particular Assembly and deal with this particular issue. Now, I don’t suspect any Assembly – although it would be nice – or any government ever to fully deal with that particular problem, but the important thing is never to surrender to allow addictions to happen in the manner that it is, as well as the fact of how little it’s actually been happening.

I highlighted the focus of the mandate of a particular department as well as this government, and what is little known by the public is that departments are given specific mandates by the Premier and ordered as marching orders. To shed a little light on that, that’s never really discussed publicly or else we would have known in advance at the beginning of the 16th Assembly about the

supplementary health benefits change, as well as a few others.

So my particular question to the Premier will be: when will the development of departmental mandates be seen, will there be engagement with Members on those developments, and when do we expect some type of discussion on those particular mandates that individual departments will get the

marching orders on that Ministers will have to comply with? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m anticipating that once we assign portfolios, that we’ll also be providing mandate letters to each of the Ministers and that will be reflected in the business planning process that we do through this Legislative Assembly. Thank you.

Thank you. The Premier didn’t address the question about specific mandates and I highlighted the point about supplementary health benefits. That was a Cabinet decision mandate handed out to the department to fulfill. It didn’t have Regular Members involved in that type of decision.

Suggesting that we wait for the business plans for these holistic mandates is great, but before you put any bologna on the table, it’s the decisions made in Cabinet that are the ones that are the real meat and potatoes of the government’s marching orders. Those are the types of mandates I’d like to find out.

When will the Premier be issuing specific mandates to departments as to the objectives created in Cabinet for that direction? I’m not talking about the Caucus feel good statements; I’m talking about the ones that get down to the nuts and bolts and direction of government. Thank you.

Thank you. We normally wait until we go through our strategic planning exercise with the whole Caucus where we, as a government of the 17th Assembly, identify our

vision, we identify our priorities and then we develop our goals and objectives. At that point we’ll be giving specific marching orders to the departments. Thank you.th Assembly the Department of Health was given the mandate to start hacking away at supplementary health benefits, and in no way that was ever discussed in a Caucus discussion and in no way that was developed in Caucus visioning. But yet, the Department of Health was marching to the orders given by the Premier of the day. That’s the concern I specifically have here. So is the Premier saying here today, without any doubt, that there are no mandates issued to any of the departments, and furthermore, is he also saying that all departmental mandates will be developed with all Members? Thank you.th Assembly we set

up a protocol which we all agreed to and we all agreed that there would be no surprises. There was nothing that was identified in the protocol that was going to be approved by the 16th Assembly that

would flow into the 17th Assembly. We’ve all agreed

that we’re going to get together and set the vision and strategy for the 17th Assembly, and we are

committed to that process and we will follow that process. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Premier and I’ll ask him this: when will we be seeing a meeting with all three territorial Premiers? They should be brought together to discuss common issues such as our economy, our infrastructure, our health and northern Aboriginal affairs. How can we speak as one voice, as a solid northern voice for the rest of Canada, Mr. Speaker?

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe that the three northern Premiers will probably get together before the next Council of Federation meeting. Normally the three Premiers get together to set the stage for the discussions that will happen when all of the Premiers are together. My expectation is probably the first chance for all the Premiers to get together is the end of November. I will have to confirm it, but my expectation is we will probably have a chance to get together before then. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to ask the Premier a question with regard to Rural and Remote Communities Working Committee that we established in the 16th Assembly. Would the Premier consider a similar working committee again or even establish the same one on behalf of the small and remote communities? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Although I wasn’t a member of that committee, in my estimation, it was a very good committee. It accomplished a lot and it provided for real change and improvements to the small communities. So if it is the wish of everybody here to continue it, I certainly would support it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Since we are talking about protocols and kind of laying the protocols and groundwork for protocols going forward for the 17th Assembly, when the

Premier just shared about his meeting with the grand chief and a little bit of the content of that and the invitation to go to Fort Providence, it kind of reminded me of a protocol that is very dear to my heart, and that is when people in communities, whether it be the town council, the hamlet council, an NGO, want to entertain or host or bring a Cabinet Minister or the Premier into their community, that they make the MLA the point of contact. There is a no more sinking feeling.

Outside of Yellowknife, you know politicians are everywhere, you see them on every street corner, but when you get out into the regions and into our communities, there is a no more sinking feeling to find out the Minister of Education is doing a tour of the schools this morning and you didn’t know about it. It’s a horrible feeling when you’re a Regular MLA and I think it just shows respect to the local MLA. If you’re meeting with the Sahtu leadership, then Mr. Yakeleya should be part of that meeting and part of that conversation.

I know it’s a small territory. We know everybody and people are going to contact you directly, but out of respect and as a protocol, would you share such a protocol with your Cabinet at the very outset? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think that’s going to be the key element of our communications package. Any of the Ministers that travel to anybody’s riding, the Member or the MLA representing that region or community is made aware of it well in advance and there will be an opportunity. Any time I go to a community I find it only helps if you have the MLA representing help to introduce you to their constituents. I think that’s the way to get things done.

So let’s just give an example: the Chamber of Commerce is having their gala AGM coming up here and they would like to have a guest speaker come from this Cabinet. As a matter of fact, they’d like to have Mr. McLeod as their guest speaker. Mr. Bouchard and I would then hear from that organization and we would extend the invitation to the Premier, on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce, and would in fact host, officially host. It shows such respect to the Regular Members if they not only are made aware of it but actually host the Premier and the Cabinet Members when they are in our jurisdictions. If we could have that put in place I think that would show a great

deal of respect to the elected Members on this side of the House.

I agree with all of those sentiments and we’ll work hard to make sure that happens. I’ll certainly look forward to going to Hay River; it’s one of my favourite places.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Colleagues, I’d like to welcome a former Member of this House, Mr. Ernie Bernhardt. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just want to follow up on Mrs. Groenewegen’s questions to the Premier on Cabinet coming into our region. Some of our regions that we represent have four or five or six communities. Sometimes when we ask Cabinet Ministers, through their busy schedule sometimes it’s a quick visit in or a quick visit out, or we can do two communities rather than three communities. Sometimes we are left with why our community didn’t get the Premier or Cabinet Minister. We have to do a very careful balancing act on how we sort that out.

I want to ask if he would look at when they do, when he talks to his Cabinet Ministers, there are other factors to take into consideration, but if you make every effort that the Premier comes to our region more than once or twice in the Assembly. That they come at least a minimum of a couple times into our region for the first or second or third or fourth year and that we see them not only once or twice during Assembly time. That they make their visits to our region and, like Mrs. Groenewegen says, stay and visit our people, enjoy our people, rather than do a quick trip in and out.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.

We can develop guidelines. I think that if we commit to only going to a region when you can go to every community in the region, I think it would detract from the ability for Ministers or myself to go into a region. A lot of times you only have a day or two days there if you go into a region. If you commit, let’s say, going to the Sahtu and going to all five communities and if you have to spend six days or block off six days to be able to go there, a lot of times it’s very hard to find a block of six days to go into a region.

I think that we could agree to a guideline, but to be able to commit to that we’re going to, between now and the end of this government, go to the Sahtu four times a year or something like that, I think it would be difficult to adhere to. If we could say maybe we’ll try to go once or twice during the life of the government, then we could probably do that.

If we were to work together in consensus building and collaboration, I like what the Premier said to develop guidelines. It’s very easy to go to one location and spend two or three days there. There are communities that only have one location to go to. In Yellowknife you can walk around the blocks. You have the Ministers all living here. That’s where we get the issue of small communities and larger centres. If there are two or three communities you can hit, fine, but sit down and let’s talk about it. There are how many communities you can visit a year? Well, that’s something that I’d like to talk about. Come on. Give us a chance over here in the small communities. Have a heart, Mr. Premier.

I ask Mr. Premier if he’s willing to look at some basic guidelines for the small communities when the Ministers come into our communities, to take some out of your busy schedule and visit the people that put us here, the real people.

I think the reality is we have 33 communities in the Northwest Territories. We always make it a part of our busy schedule to try to get to every one of our communities in the North. Some of my long-term colleagues indicate that to do the circuit of 33 communities it will take 18 months. If you take that into consideration, I think that we’re probably looking at trying to get to every community two times during the life of the 17th Assembly.

That’s something we can talk about. The Premier has put up some very good arguments, but realistically you go to Yellowknife and how long are you here? You can go around any block. You can go to small communities, visit. We have to get realistic here. It’s really good to see Cabinet Ministers when they come into my region. You visit me. I really appreciate that. We’ve had some good meetings with the previous government here. It’s realistic. Sometimes you may not want to travel to our communities because of the weather and other functions, but when they can do it, they can do it. You can go to Inuvik and Smith and Hay River in one visit. We have to get realistic here and not put it out of context. Have a heart when you look at it and come and visit our people. Visit my people. They appreciate it.

Most of my colleagues that have been here before have been to all 33 communities or most of the 33 communities. I like to travel to the communities and we’ll all do everything as humanly possible to get to the communities as many times as possible.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to say to the Premier that I look forward to the humanistic possibilities of what he can do to come into our small communities. I look forward to his

position when we ask that question again, either in the halls or in the office or he can come and visit me also.