Good afternoon, colleagues. Welcome back to the Chamber. Orders of the day. Item 2, Ministers’ statements. The honourable Minister of Education, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The Department of Education, Culture and Employment’s official languages division has been hard at work on three important projects: the Aboriginal Languages Plan, the Aboriginal Languages Summer Institute, and the Strategic Plan on French Language.

In October 2010, the Government of the Northwest Territories tabled its strategic document, “Northwest Territories Aboriginal Languages Plan – A Shared Responsibility.”

The plan outlines how the government, non-government organizations, and Northerners will work together to strengthen Aboriginal language use. In addition, it includes the views of Aboriginal language communities regarding specific actions required to address the particular characteristics with their specific language group.

The plan is framed over a 10-year period. It is intended to help guide decisions related to policy, priorities, and support for Aboriginal languages. The plan will also help guide the language communities with their specific activities and direction.

A number of actions identified in the plan are already underway. Some of these include: funding language “tool kits” development or identified learning materials; analyzing and evaluating current language funding distribution methodology; initiating a feasibility study to establish an Aboriginal Languages Secretariat; and publishing the annual report on Aboriginal language activities across the NWT.

Further to this plan, Mr. Speaker, the Aboriginal Languages Summer Institute recently completed its second year of courses. The pilot language institute

enables participants to enhance their current language skills and enhance their capacity to plan and develop language preservation and revitalization, strategies, programs, and resource materials.

The 2011 language institute was held from July 11 to 23 in Yellowknife at the Aurora College facility. All 20 participants, representing official Aboriginal languages, successfully completed the courses. There are further discussions with the University of Victoria to deliver another two-week course later this year. It is hoped to deliver programs through the language institute as a regular language revitalization program.

Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories drafted a Strategic Plan on French Language Communications and Services to improve communications and services delivery to the public in French across the government. Representation of the Federation Franco-TeNOise are discussing the draft plan and we anticipate completion in the coming months.

The plan outlines three broad frameworks for implementation: legislative and regulatory, administrative and operational. It also includes establishing a Francophone Affairs Secretariat.

The Francophone Affairs Secretariat is a central support agency to deliver French language communications and services by government departments, boards, and agencies. The secretariat also coordinates government-wide provision of French translation services and manages Services TNO, the government’s single-window for French language services.

The operation of the secretariat will start this fall. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Robert McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is my pleasure today to provide Members of the Legislative Assembly with an update on the Northwest Territories Team that attended the 2011 Western Canada Summer

Games that were hosted by the City of Kamloops, British Columbia, from August 5

to August 14

.

The Western Canada Summer Games were created in 1975 to provide western and northern athletes an opportunity to compete at a higher performance level and learn more about this great country.

Nearly 2,300 athletes representing the four western provinces and three territories took part in the Kamloops Games. Team NWT included 140 athletes, coaches, and managers from eight sports and representing 10 communities.

Mr. Speaker, all of the athletes performed extremely well and did us proud. I am pleased to congratulate Alea Stockton and Julianna Neudorf for their silver and bronze medals respectively in the women’s five-kilometre walk, and to the team of Joseph Lirette, Madison Hurst, Mason Hachey, and Christopher Lirette for their bronze medal in the 100-metre relay. I invite my colleagues to join me in congratulating all of our athletes for their hard work and dedication.

A special mention goes to the Team NWT volunteers and officials who managed the team, and to the territorial sport organizations for working so hard to support their athletes. They demonstrated a willingness to go that extra distance to provide the athletes with the best experience possible. It is through the combined effort of volunteer organizers, the coaches and managers, the officials and the staff that make the athletes success possible.

A special note of recognition is required for Mr. Bill Othmer from Sport North, who served as our chef de mission for Team NWT. Congratulations to Mr. Othmer and all his mission staff on a job well done.

I would also like to extend my thanks to the host society from the City of Kamloops, British Columbia. This organization did a wonderful job of hosting the games and made the team welcome in their community. We trust that the next host, the Municipality of Wood Buffalo, Alberta, will continue the tradition of hosting an excellent sporting event.

Finally, I would like to make special mention to all the parents who support their children in their athletic pursuits. Their dedication of time and financial support to the development of our youth is so important, and is evident through the number of youth who were able to attend these games in person.

Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories is working to build our future by promoting healthy and active living among children and youth. Improving the physical and mental well-being of our youth will create healthy, educated Northerners as envisioned in the 16

Assembly’s

vision of Northerners Working Together.

Mr. Speaker, we have much to be proud of in our sport and recreation system, and on behalf of all Members of the Legislative Assembly, I congratulate all those who took part in the 2011 Western Canada Summer Games. Thank you.

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

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. [English translation not provided.] Mr. Speaker, today I would like to talk about the NWT Housing Corporation and how it must change its policies to allow them to address the issue of the public housing rent scale and the issue of providing support for homeowners in small, rural and remote communities.

Mr. Speaker, many times over the past four years the Legislative Assembly has passed motions asking the Housing Corporation to change the rent scale in order to improve incentive for people that want to work in the smaller communities.

In addition, I have made many requests asking the Housing Corporation to develop policies to support the development of a housing market in rural and remote communities to prevent home ownership units from dilapidating to a point where the houses are falling beyond economical repair.

Along with the high cost of rent in small communities for families that go to work and have children out of school, the monthly expenses for maintaining a household along with daycare costs easily add up, and the deductions made from your gross pay of a person’s income. At the end of the day there is very little incentive for a person to work in the small communities where there is no private market to ease you into homeownership.

The NWT Housing Corporation has been asked many times to change its current policies. When is that policy going to change? Will the NWT Housing Corporation continue to work on this policy change into the next Assembly and ensure that those changes are made? Will these items be an essential part of the transition document for the NWT Housing Corporation?

Many MLAs have complained to the Minister about housing, about the various issues their constituents are facing when they’re dealing with housing. I am making my 30

Member’s statement today on

housing, and yet I have not seen changes in the policy that will allow people in public housing to go to work and retain some of their income for themselves, thus providing incentive to work. I have not seen people in homeownership get their units

repaired or renovated so they can live in comfort in their homes and their homes are now deteriorating beyond a point where they are frustrated and don’t know where to turn.

I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

As MLAs, we have the power of suggestion for the government, however, our suggestions are supported by the people that have elected us. Our suggestions must be taken seriously; they cannot be ignored.

Today I will have questions for the Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation on the policies that are affecting the people in Tu Nedhe.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Changes to the federal Food Mail Program, now known as Nutrition North Canada, are disastrous. It’s actually increasing the cost of foods for the residents in our smaller communities. This is a huge problem that requires immediate action. Instead of ensuring flat shipping rates for northern orders of nutritious food, the federal government is subsidizing freight costs for northern retailers. Basically that’s the Northern Stores and Co-op stores. In theory, it should work if the freight subsidy is fully passed on to the customers. That doesn’t seem to be happening.

My constituents are sending me cost comparisons. They are showing me the numbers that they pay when they’re able to order groceries directly from Yellowknife versus what they’re paying at the community stores. The costs of things like milk, apples, eggs, and cheese have almost doubled. My constituents are asking me, why should oranges cost $3 a kilogram in Yellowknife and more than $8 a kilogram in Tulita. That’s even after the freight subsidy of $2 per kilogram.

The federal freight subsidy is not benefitting the consumers. Stores in Yellowknife are no longer taking part in this program because the federal government reporting requirements are too complicated and take too much time. This especially hurts people in the Norman Wells area. This subsidy has actually reduced competition, what little competition there is in our smaller communities.

I know this program is a federal responsibility, but our government shares the pain when our people cannot afford to eat a balanced, nutritious diet. We have to do something about this immediately.

Northern retailers are not happy with the Nutritious North Program. Consumers and my people are not happy with it. The Nutritious North Program needs to be revised, and this government should start applying some serious pressure to make this happen. Maybe the Premier should have a few words with Mr. Harper.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Natural gas as a community energy supply has gained attention lately and there’s a consideration being given to expanding that use in communities. Let’s examine some related issues and consider the wisdom of our long-term approach.

The situation in Norman Wells is well known. Huge costs are being faced as the local gas supply ends and the town struggles to find a cost-effective replacement. In Inuvik a $5 million contract is being let to provide a propane backup should local gas supplies fail, as they will in two to 15 years. Inuvik is preparing itself to deal with the Norman Wells situation of today. Yet, studies have been carried out to consider the conversion of Simpson, Tulita, and Good Hope to natural gas. A lot of money spent on the barely economic possibility of hooking these communities to another finite fossil fuel: natural gas.

But wait. A recent Pembina Suzuki Foundation report proves that natural gas is not the answer to climate change; it’s, in fact, one of the causes. Any economic forecast will tell you that fossil fuel prices will continue driving up our small communities costs of living. More importantly, the report clarifies that massive retooling to go to a different fossil fuel uses up precious infrastructure dollars on a temporary solution that is increasingly recognized as insufficient. This use of dollars also detracts from known renewable energy solutions that are often more economic in the same time frame. These solutions contribute both greater economic benefits through job creation and stimulation of local economies, and obviously greater environmental benefits. Does it make sense to keep pouring on the gas, Mr. Speaker? I don’t think so.

Nordic and other countries’ experience shows that the answer is conversion to local renewables, especially biomass and small hydro in our country. Reasonable payback times are proven; the local employment and investment opportunities are enormous. Safety from volatile energy pricing and reduction in the cost of living are benefits we should be leading our citizens towards now. Imagine if the people of Norman Wells or Inuvik could turn back the clock to when they signed on to gas. Knowing

the conversion costs they paid and, yes, will pay again, we need to ensure that renewables are examined. This is the foresight we should be offering them as leaders, but I don’t see it happening.

Mr. Speaker, when we plan for renewable, we plan…

Mr. Bromley, your time for your Member’s statement has expired.

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

---Unanimous consent granted

When we plan continuing dependence on fossil fuels we are planning for now. When we plan for renewables we are planning for from now on. I will be asking questions on why renewables aren’t being considered here. Mahsi.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the 16

Assembly draws to a close, I’ve had an

opportunity to again review the list of goals that I had set out during my time as MLA. I’m pleased to say that many of the items and issues have a checkmark beside them. But, Mr. Speaker, there’s one item that I’m sad to say has not been achieved, and that is an NWT agricultural policy.

Our cost of living is high, partially due to the cost of transporting food to our communities, as my colleague Mr. Yakeleya has referred to today. The Territorial Farmers’ Association, with membership that runs from south to north and east to west across our territory, is doing an amazing job of keeping the potential of NWT agriculture on the radar, but we still need an NWT agricultural policy, a policy that considers issues such as taxes on land used for agriculture.

A couple of people in Hay River who have been very, very vocal proponents of agriculture in the North recently bought a quarter section of land near Peace River and their annual taxes on 160 acres is $80. This is the kind of consideration that a jurisdiction neighbouring us pays to promoting agriculture.

We also need a policy that considers things like the availability of purple gas for farm and harvesting practices, the licensing of farm vehicles and registering of them at affordable rates. We also need to recognize the consideration of identifying parcels of land in our land use plans for future agricultural purposes. There is no reason why this can’t be done. We have fertile land. If there’s one thing we have lots of in the Northwest Territories it’s

land. Even if it was land leased in unsettled claim areas, these lands could be farmed. There’s no reason why we can’t be driving to Yellowknife and see waves of grain blowing in the wind, but there does not seem to be a will for this government to form any kind of an overarching policy that would encourage that.

Some people think that this is a South Slave issue. It is not, when you look at the communities that historically produce food for their regions and regions beyond, when you consider the thousands of pounds of potatoes that were produced in Norman Wells this past year.

Mr. Speaker, our long days of daylight, the land that we have, the desire of our communities to look at greener ways of living are all reasons why this government should make it a high priority in the 17

Assembly to finally put together an agricultural policy, an overarching policy for the Northwest Territories. It is long overdue. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. At my constituency meeting last week I spent considerable time discussing one huge concern, one that’s been an ongoing issue for 15 years for Northland mobile home residents.

Northland mobile home park is a neighbourhood of 258 homes in central Yellowknife and houses 1,100 people. As Members know, the infrastructure in the park is in dire need of replacement, and the lack of political will to address this emergency situation is frightening.

I was asked by one of my constituents the other night, do they -- meaning governments -- realize how serious this is. Mr. Speaker, I don’t think any government realizes how serious it is, and I am not exaggerating when I say the water and sewer systems in Northland could completely fail at any moment. Literally at any moment.

The repercussions of that failure will be catastrophic for the City of Yellowknife, the GNWT, and the Government of Canada. Let me tell you how. Firstly, should the Northland infrastructure collapse, the area would be condemned. Having raw sewage underneath homes does not meet our public health standards.

The 1,100 people living in Northland would be forced out of their homes. The vacancy rate in Yellowknife at the moment is just .8 percent. Many residents would have no other place to live and would move out of the territory, leaving their jobs and their homes behind. As Northland residents

leave the NWT, we will lose money, a lot of money, Mr. Speaker, and we will continue to lose money every year long after they are gone.

The NWT receives $24,221 per person in transfer payments from the Government of Canada annually. If all 1,100 people in Northland leave, the GNWT will lose over $26 million in federal transfer payments. If only half of them go, it’s only $13 million lost. We can’t afford that loss of revenue in either case. What services will we cut to account for that loss of revenue?

As well, Mr. Speaker, many Northland residents are employees of government; municipal, territorial and federal governments. They are our health care and child care workers, our engineers, our policy and program analysts, our front-line and mid-level office workers, teachers, mining industry employees. Two to three hundred workers or more leaving the community at the same time will create vacancies that employers will not be able to fill. There will be a huge impact on our government services and NWT businesses.

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

---Unanimous consent granted

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to my colleagues. When parents move, so do their children. Fifty percent of the population of Northland is children in school. Consider the negative impact on school budgets and school district staff when those children move out.

Along with school district revenues decreasing, the City of Yellowknife will see a $400,000 drop in their tax revenue. More jobs lost, more services cut.

Mr. Speaker, the scope of the problem at Northland extends far beyond just the replacement of the water and sewer infrastructure. It’s an extraordinary situation but it’s an emergency situation. This government can be proactive and help with the problem now or sit back, do nothing, and deal with the much larger problem when it arises, when the systems fail and the Northland neighbourhood is condemned.

Cooperation and coordination are needed to tackle this urgent issue and prevent the 1,100 Northland residents from becoming homeless. Is the GNWT up to that challenge? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Mr. Speaker... [Translation] I would like to make a statement on how the government can help us, and this is what I’d like to

talk about today, and I will speak in English from this point on. [Translation ends.]

I rise today to speak about families. Families are the strength of our territory. The mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health is important to the health and prosperity of our territory. Many of our families are suffering. They are suffering because of the effects of trauma in their lives and this is tearing them apart.

Trauma is an event that involves a single experience or repeated experiences that completely overwhelm the individual’s ability to cope. Traumatizing experiences can be caused by crime, dysfunctional families, or even experiences such as the residential school system.

The symptoms of trauma show themselves in many ways: addictions, abusive behaviour, low self-esteem, dropping out of school. The effects are cyclical. For example, a child of 10 lives at a home where adults are addicted to alcohol, the parties go all night, the adults in life abuse each other, the child witnesses this, causing trauma. The child cannot get enough sleep. He tries to go to school but he’s too tired to do well. The child drops out because he’s not doing well and can’t get a job later on in life because of his lower literacy levels and education levels, so he copes by drinking and/or doing drugs, is soon addicted, and the cycle continues.

This government does well to deliver programs that treat the symptoms of alcohol and drug abuse, and family violence, with upgrading and literacy programs. However, this government continues to ignore the root cause of these symptoms: trauma.

Trauma treatment programs come in many different forms. They require professionals trained specifically to deal with trauma, but also require a number of other things to be successful. Firstly, they must be community driven, appropriately resourced, support the whole family as a unit, be ongoing, and provide after-care support.

No one department within this government can provide the continuum of supports. It requires a coordinated continuum of support right across the GNWT to enable communities to develop and deliver the programs and services they require to address this trauma.

I will be asking what has been done to support communities to develop trauma treatment programs for our people.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Northwest Territories is at the boiling point with housing in my riding. Four years of procrastinating with the decisions, four years of mismanagement, and four years of poor policy changes. This government must provide basics firsts, such as roads, health care, schools, and housing. Housing is the most important across the territory. People are being evicted, such as in Paulatuk where they are being evicted. Why they are being evicted is the best example. How is the huge equality between the larger centres and the small communities? Where are these people going to go? This government is not just going to allow them to go homeless this winter. Evicting them because they cannot pay immediately is not the answer.

In the past we were fighting the government and the Housing Corporation for providing adequate housing facilities, such as removing mould, collapsing ceilings, and some broken windows. In the past we were fighting the government and the Housing Corporation to improve the huge overcrowding. Today it’s a lot worse. We’re fighting this government to stop evicting people in the communities in these substandard houses.

Some of the communities are taking and launching a lawsuit against the Housing Corporation, according to some of the constituents, and this is valid and gaining support, considering everyone is going to go through since the changeover in 2006 to 2009 with the mistakes the Housing Corporation and the Minister made in the public in 2008. With no amendments made to the arrears that have toppled over, no adjustments, attended ledgers, and not properly reassessed everyone’s monthly total rent to reduce their arrears to get actual total rent per month from everyone’s pay stubs in the submissions.

Some of these concerns in the Housing Corporation are calculating these arrears. It’s most likely that they’re making up these formulas as they go, or that the administration’s filing system is so unorganized that they’re just guessing.

I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted