Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Today I highlight the Dehcho Land Use Plan, which the Dehcho First Nations, the Government of Canada and the Government of the Northwest Territories have been working on for the past decade. Government and industry view the Northwest Territories with great interest because of the vast potential for natural resources. Equally, Northerners look upon the beauty of the North as a gift of which we each have responsibility to maintain the integrity of the environment.

In the Deh Cho region, the Interim Measures Agreement signed in 2001 states the following:

“The purpose of the plan is to promote the social, cultural and economic well-being of the residents and communities in the Dehcho Territory, having regard to the interests of all Canadians.”

With the completion of the interim Dehcho Land Use Plan, the parties can move beyond phase one negotiations, which will protect the land in the interim while negotiations move towards a final agreement.

In 2006 a draft land use plan was completed, but at that time governments did not support it because it set aside too much land for conservation and also it

was too complex to implement. Since then there have been efforts by all the parties to revise the Dehcho Land Use Plan by making changes to the regulatory mechanisms and zoning changes so that the Dehcho Land Use Plan could favourably be considered and reviewed by the parties.

There remain outstanding issues to move the Dehcho Land Use Plan forward. We all want to protect the land and also recognize a need for balance devolving for the Dehcho in the Northwest Territories.

I encourage all the parties to continue working and supporting the revision to the interim Dehcho Land Use Plan, and move it forward, and complete the course and help out the overall completion of the Dehcho process negotiations.

I will be raising questions in this regard later in the House today. Mahsi.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’d like to talk about the cost of home heating oil, diesel for vehicles, and gasoline in the Northwest Territories. In the last government we had a fairly keen focus on the cost of living. When we talk about the cost of living, certainly heating our homes and our businesses, driving our vehicles, snow machines, quads, mobile equipment, fishing, going on the land, all of these things are very much affected by the cost of diesel or gasoline. I don’t think anyone could argue that these are very essential commodities everywhere, especially here in the North.

The Competition Bureau of Canada has commissioned studies on the relationship of crude oil prices to retail and wholesale gasoline prices. These studies have found that gasoline prices generally do track crude prices, but there can be a delay of up to two months before it decreases or increases and crude oil prices are passed along to the consumer. At the same time, some of those studies found that variations in crude oil prices are only one of the factors that influence retail prices.

I would like to suggest to you that when the price of crude goes up, there is no two-month delay in the price going up at the pump or with the truck that delivers your home heating fuel. I think that there are variables that do affect the prices from region to region. Jurisdictionally there are taxes that affect the price of fuel. There are transportation distances to get the product to market. There is the time of the purchase and the storage factor that needs to be taken into consideration; also the volume of sales. Certainly people who are retailing outlets that

sell less product with overhead will be passing on those overhead costs on a per-unit basis for what they sell.

This issue has been raised to me by my constituents who are curious. What their perception is, is that when the price of crude goes up, the price at the pump goes up; when the price of crude goes down, the price at the pump stays up. This is the perception.

I’d like to know if this government thinks that they have any role in the consumer protection function and that this government can play a part in analyzing this, studying this. We are a very captive market here. We don’t have a lot of options when it comes to buying these products.

I’ll have questions later today for the relevant Minister.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When growing up I remember such youthful optimism around me from everyone when we always talked about the future. I’m reminded of this when I see in the gallery today so many young people here. I remember hearing from people about where they wanted to go, what they wanted to see, and certainly we always heard about what they wanted to be. However, I can never recall anyone ever telling me, or anyone, for that matter, that they wanted to be homeless. That’s why today I want to recognize and certainly give great credit to the work being done by the Yellowknife Homelessness Coalition.

As many of you in this House know, once built, the Betty House will roughly double the number of transition units for women and women with children here in Yellowknife. This is a significant endeavour and it will change the lives of many.

Approximately 150 women leave the Alison McAteer House every year and they need somewhere to go to help them get on their feet and move forward in a positive manner. The Betty House will create a safe and affordable housing opportunity to become a path for success to allow these women, and in some cases their children, to pursue a healthy lifestyle, get into the workforce and continue on with their life in a positive way.

The Betty House is an investment in people’s lives; make no doubt about that. It will help the health and future of women and children in this community and territory. Betty House is a true example of the community responding to a community need. With

the Yellowknife Homelessness Coalition leading this, I want to give particular note and appreciation to Dayle Hernblad, who is the coordinator of this initiative.

In the future the Betty House will be owned by the YWCA, but it couldn’t be done without the support of the Government of Canada, the NWT Housing Corporation and most definitely the City of Yellowknife. I would be remiss without making mention of such notable partners as BHP Billiton and The Brick, who lent their support over the weekend.

In closing I want to say that the Betty House is not just building a building, it’s also building a future for many Northerners who need a helping hand.

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

At this time I would like to welcome from Ulukhaktok – not too often we get people in from Nunakput and this many, it’s good to see. For the boys hockey is Alex Akhiatak, Elliot Malgokak, Bradley Olifie, Jarrett Kitekudlak, Jordan Kitekudlak, Brandon Okheena, and chaperone Kelly Nigiyok and chaperone Patrick Joss. For boys soccer was Troy Kataoyak and Tyson Klengenberg. Girls soccer was Carmella Klengenberg, Tamara Oloaryok, Papak Ekpakohak, Sydone Okheena, Shania Goose, Kendra Kudlak, and chaperone Mayor Janet Kanayok. Welcome to the House, everybody.

The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would also like to recognize Patrick Joss. The committee has had many occasions to visit Ulukhaktok to do our business and on every occasion Patrick has been there to help out the committee. Thank you, Patrick.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would also like to add my comments to Mr. Bromley’s to recognize Patrick. Whenever we get to Ulukhaktok, he has always been there. Welcome to the kids from Ulukhaktok. You have a very beautiful community.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Going on to my colleagues’ comments, it’s not very often that we do get a lot of youth of this magnitude in the House, into the gallery. I’d like to recognize all the

students from Ulukhaktok. Welcome to Yellowknife. Welcome to the Legislative Assembly.

I, too, want to thank Patrick Joss. He’s a very committed volunteer and community leader in his community, not only Ulukhaktok but throughout the Beaufort-Delta region. He has helped out in a lot of things. Welcome to all the students.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to recognize our visitors from Ulukhaktok and the Nunakput riding, specifically Patrick Joss. I know some other Members have talked about Patrick. He’s a real ambassador for the community of Ulukhaktok and the riding of Nunakput and it’s great to see him here in the House today.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Item 6, acknowledgements. Item 7, oral questions. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I had an acknowledgement that I would like to address.

The Member is seeking unanimous consent to go back to item 6 on the Order Paper.

---Interjection

He didn’t give notice?

---Interjection

Okay. Item 8, written questions.

---Interjection

Sorry. Item 7, oral questions. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Recently the City of Yellowknife launched a public news release to inform the public that they have now taken on the Certificate of Recognition program that they have been awarded with that accreditation. Asking for the COR program to be implemented in the Government of the Northwest Territories through the leadership of Public Works and Services here, I’ve been asking them for some time about when they will be bringing this program forward and implementing it when it comes to our contracting of services.

My question to the Minister of Public Works and Services is, quite simply, this: Does the Minister see the rolling out of the COR process, that’s the Certificate of Recognition, happening any time soon and, if anything, can he point to a particular date

when we can start seeing that program implemented?

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister responsible for Public Works and Services, Mr. Jackson Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. This area of COR competence, the safety factor has been discussed for numerous occasions now. It has been recognized through the Northwest Territories, as well, through various companies. These are discussions that we continue to have within Public Works and Services along within the GNWT as a whole. There are various partners involved, as well, whether it be WSCC and Public Works and Services and other companies as well. The safety factor plays a key role in all company businesses, so we will continue to have the dialogue with the organization.

Many businesspeople are taking the initiative to join the Certificate of Recognition program, the COR program, from across our territory from big communities to small communities. It’s becoming a territorial initiative. To add one more, it’s actually becoming a national trend where many jurisdictions, whether it’s the provinces or even the federal government, are leaning towards this is the type of recognition that you need to have in order to apply for service contracts, construction works, et cetera. Recognizing that there’s been a commitment from many small businesses here in the Northwest Territories working towards this, does the Minister see the GNWT implementing COR as a requirement in government programming when we go to tenders?

We deal with, as I stated, various companies. One of them is of course the Northern Safety Association, which we have a GNWT representative on there as ex-officio. As PWS we work in collaboration with the Department of Transportation and NWT Housing Corporation on developing a position as encouraging contractors to utilize these services. It is a northern-wide safety factor, COR competence.

As I stated, these are ongoing discussions that we are having. We recognize through all the organizations that have been highlighted as recipients of COR. We’ll continue to work with them.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.