Good afternoon, colleagues. Orders of the day. Item 2, Ministers’ statements. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, when our new government first met last October, we agreed on a vision for the Northwest Territories. Our vision is of strong individuals, families and communities sharing the benefits and responsibilities of a unified, environmentally sustainable and prosperous Northwest Territories. Developing an Anti-Poverty Strategy is part of achieving this vision. It is linked with all of our goals and will ultimately form part of the basis for our government’s coordinated approach to social issues.

Mr. Speaker, our goals as the 17th Assembly are all

connected. To have healthy, educated people free from poverty, we need a diversified economy that provides all communities and regions with opportunities and choices. We need sustainable, vibrant, safe communities. We need an understanding by all parties that people’s well-being is critical for the overall well-being of the Northwest Territories, our communities and our families.

Many Northerners continue to struggle. We spoke with many of them during the consultations that were held over the last year. In all, 250 people from across the Northwest Territories took part in these discussions in all regions. We heard from residents and stakeholders, from front-line workers and clients, students, elders, businesses and non-governmental organizations, as well as community and Aboriginal leaders.

We heard that poverty is complex and influenced by many factors such as education, employment, housing, and health. We were told to focus our efforts on poverty-related issues: addressing

addictions, improving education and skills, improving housing and creating jobs. We need to address issues of wellness, poverty and

addictions as we seek to keep our communities safe. We need to address the high cost of living and make sure that our programs encourage self-sufficiency. During our last session we saw Northerners’ and Members’ dedication to this issue.

Later today, at the appropriate time, I will table What We Heard, a summary of the consultation results. Our government believes in people and builds on the strengths of Northerners. It is time to begin the work of developing a strategy to respond to their concerns. Reducing poverty in the Northwest Territories is not something that the government can do alone. Individuals, their families and communities, other governments and volunteer and community organizations all play a role. We heard the need for leadership and accountability at all levels.

This government will work collaboratively with all stakeholders from non-governmental organizations, Aboriginal governments, business and others with an interest in poverty in the Northwest Territories. Under the leadership of the Social Envelope Committee and a lead deputy, this government will develop a plan and bring it back to this Assembly before the end of this calendar year.

In the meantime, work will continue on the actions we have already identified that will address the underlying factors that contribute to poverty. We are moving forward to enhance addictions treatment, address housing needs and increase employment opportunities where they are most needed. We are helping people become and stay employed, reducing dependency on government programs and making investments in infrastructure that will create economic opportunity and reduce the cost of living in our communities.

We have also talked many times about the need to address housing issues, which are closely linked to our economic and social agendas. Housing is a major determinant of health and lack of housing makes economic development difficult, especially in our communities. The ongoing Shelter Policy review will provide a long-term strategic framework for delivering housing in the Northwest Territories and the basis of specific actions on this priority.

Some of these projects will likely be identified in the final Anti-Poverty Strategy. This work requires a balanced approach that acknowledges that action on one priority will support action on other priorities.

I look forward to returning to this House and to committee to continue the discussion about how best to reduce poverty in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Now, more than ever, Northerners are realizing the importance of literacy. January 27th was Family Literacy Day. Celebrating Family Literacy Day helps recognize the important role that families play in literacy development.

The Northwest Territories has vast economic potential, and Northerners want to be able to access the jobs being created. We know that to take advantage of the opportunities, we must have a skilled, educated and literate workforce.

Family support is imperative to our children’s literacy development. Parents and elders are our children’s first and most important teachers. They are role models, and when they work at improving their own literacy skills, they demonstrate the importance of literacy. They are also the keepers of language and pass on language skills to the next generation.

Our partners in literacy are also helping to support northern families through programs such as Reaching Out to NWT Families, administered by the NWT Literacy Council. Through this program, families receive kits with books in Aboriginal languages and activities that support literacy development. As well in 2011, family literacy facilitators were trained to deliver support to families in 24 of our smaller northern communities.

This government recognizes the valuable part that families and the community play in literacy development. I am confident that by working together and believing in people, we can achieve meaningful increases in literacy levels, which will positively affect and build on the strengths of Northerners. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Minister of Human Resources, Mr. Abernethy.

Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories is committed to establishing a public service that is inclusive of all people and that accurately represents the population it serves. Today I would like to provide Members with an update on initiatives launched under 20/20: A Brilliant North, the Public Service Strategic Plan, that focus on diversity in the public service.

There are several government initiatives currently underway aimed at increasing the number of persons with disabilities in the public service. This is a segment of the population that we understand has historically been under-represented in the GNWT workplace based on the limited information we have.

Since the spring of 2010, the GNWT Advisory Committee on Employability has been advising on ways for the government to promote, support and increase the participation of persons with disabilities. Working closely with the committee, the Department of Human Resources is now developing a framework to increase the representation of persons with disabilities in the public service. This framework will guide efforts to promote the public service as a place that welcomes people with disabilities and ensures that our workplaces remain inclusive and accessible to all.

To support this work, the Department of Human Resources surveyed government employees in January to encourage employees with disabilities to anonymously identify themselves. This survey will provide us with more accurate baseline statistics and correct a long-standing gap in our data. With this information, the department will be able to better plan for increasing the participation of persons with disabilities.

New disability awareness training sessions are starting this month, available to all government employees in all regional centres at no cost. This training provides participants with an understanding of biases and assumptions about the employability of persons with disabilities, and helps build a spirit of inclusion and acceptance among government employees.

Two new policies directly related to employees with disabilities were implemented in 2011. The Duty to Accommodate Injury and Disability Policy ensures that government employees are provided with the disability-related accommodations they need in a timely and reasonable fashion. The Harassment Free and Respectful Workplace Policy outlines our commitment to a workplace which is free of harassment and disrespect. The Department of Human Resources is now providing training for

public service employees on accommodation and respectful workplace issues.

Mr. Speaker, another form of diversity that is vitally important to our government and central to the Public Service Strategic Plan is the representation of Aboriginal persons within the public service. Since early 2010, the Department of Human Resources has been working closely with the Aboriginal Employees Advisory Committee, which was set up to provide advice on ways to promote, support and increase the representation of Aboriginal employees in the Public Service.

In February of last year, the GNWT also completed a consultation with Aboriginal organizations on Aboriginal cultural awareness among government employees. Information from this consultation is now forming the foundation of an Aboriginal cultural awareness training framework aimed at increasing awareness of Aboriginal history and culture within the workforce and promoting an understanding of Aboriginal issues among all employees. This is something that has never been offered within the GNWT before. The first phase of training will consist of on-line learning workshops, and in the future we will be considering classroom and on-the-land training opportunities.

In addition, the Department of Human Resources is also developing an Aboriginal employment framework, which includes initiatives to assist Aboriginal people across the NWT in applying for jobs in the public service. Creative marketing plans that communicate employment opportunities to Aboriginal people are also being developed.

One of the most important initiatives to come out of this work is the Associate Director/Superintendent Program. This program, currently in its second year, is designed to increase the number of Aboriginal employees at the senior management level by providing targeted training and developmental positions.

Mr. Speaker, 2012 will be an important year for diversity in the public service, with a number of new initiatives joining those already in place. As we strive to develop and maintain a representative workforce, by ensuring that the Government of the Northwest Territories is an attractive employer to all, diversity in the public service is a goal we can all get behind. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Item 3, Members’ statements. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is widely known that our federal partners from Infrastructure Canada have a successful Building Canada Plan which is focused on building a stronger, safer and better Canada through modern world-class public infrastructure. I would like to take this opportunity to talk about the provincial/territorial base funding that was established under this 2007 Building Canada Plan.

This $2.276 billion provincial/territorial base fund was provided to provinces and territories for infrastructure in almost all Building Canada Fund eligible categories. To be eligible for funding, each province or territory had to sign an agreement with the Government of Canada, and most recently this government passed capital estimates for small and large cap projects that had the ability to access the balance of such funding.

Although the GNWT did not determine the eligibility criteria to award these projects for funding, it could advance projects that it identifies as eligible for federal funding. In essence the federal government contributes up to 75 percent of eligible cost with the remaining percentage of the budget coming from our government.

This is the nuts and bolts of the program and I’m bringing this known funding program into the House today for nothing more than a quick aerial view of what sometimes gets slipped through the cracks.

You see, one of the comments that many of my Yellowknifers ask is why is the City of Yellowknife always missing out on potential infrastructure dollars, and as a result, how does it maintain itself as a healthy and vibrant capital city.

As a Yellowknifer, I believe this is a fair ask and in doing so, there is no disrespect to our small or remote communities as this question would be equally valid for them if the situation were present. We need to ask such a question in order to make sure we are in harmony in government and for our people, all people.

If one was to analyze all the GNWT projects funded under the Building Canada Plan between 2007 and 2011, Yellowknife received a total of $15,596,099 from a potential amount of $140,682,148 that was given to the GNWT. In other words, Yellowknife, our capital city, home to over half our population, a huge contributor to our tax base, only received 11 percent of this potential funding. Let me repeat that number again, 11 percent.

I believe the purpose of this program under the Building Canada Plan was meant for all Canadians,

in order to support projects that contribute to cleaner air and water, safer roads, shorter commutes and better communities, small and large.

We cannot change the past, but in the future I ask that this government consider best practice and fair distribution of infrastructure needs of all communities when looking at proportionate distribution of funding dollars. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today it’s a pleasure to rise and welcome a new constituent, Olivia Froese, who was born in Hay River in the middle of January. She came three weeks early and this is special to us because we typically cannot have deliveries in Hay River.

Myself and Sarah and Jason Froese would like to thank the staff at H.H. Williams Hospital for their good work, strong work. It brought great pleasure to those workers, I know, who delivered the baby. We get to see the good side of life as opposed to the illness and the dark side of it, I guess; the bad side, the end of it. This is something that we’re striving to do more of. We’re hoping that this happens more and we get more birth certificates that have Hay River written on them.

My point today is that we’re missing the ability to deliver those babies in Hay River and my questions today will be put to the Minister of Health where the Midwifery Program is and the review that was supposed to be completed.

Like I said in my statement, we’re definitely missing that in Hay River. We want to see more of the ability to deliver babies in Hay River, get to see the joy, experience those joys with our families and share them with the community.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My statement again today will be regarding addictions and treatment options that need to happen here in the Northwest Territories. Yesterday I spoke at length in my Member’s statement, and as I said then and will say yet again, the Minister does like stats, so I need to remind him on a couple of them.

Eight-nine percent of people in our jails struggle with addictions, and from a hospital point of view, at least 350 people are hospitalized a year because of substance abuse. The problem with addictions is it preys on everybody in the context, it doesn’t require a specific face, a specific gender or colour. It doesn’t really care. Once it’s got its claws in you, it doesn’t want to let go.

Since my statement yesterday I have to say very little has changed in the perspective of how we’re going to treat people in a detox context and in a sad case, which is also a positive one, we all know that the free market principles apply here. If there are sellers, there are buyers. The sellers need to be attacked on all fronts by the RCMP, which I’d like to give credit for the recent announcement of their seizure. What they ended up pulling in was approximately $750,000 worth of material off our streets in an arrest: 7.5 kilograms in marijuana, two kilograms in cocaine and 500 grams in crack cocaine. I have to applaud their efforts because they’re really putting a dent in this particular problem.

As I said earlier, there are sellers and there are buyers. The buyers are the territorial government’s perspective, their responsibility. Our responsibility is to provide options for these people who need help. As I said earlier, it’s colourless, it’s faceless, it’s genderless. We need solutions in a detox context here in the Northwest Territories to help people. We need to start taking those positive steps providing that support.

Yesterday the Minister highlighted – and correctly, of course – we have the Nats’ejee K’eh centre which does provide a certain amount of relief, but it’s only a very small pillar of opportunity for certain styles of drugs, certain levels of capacity of addiction. A detox centre really gets at the source. Nats’ejee K’eh does not provide medical services for those people who have, say, a crack cocaine addiction or an ecstasy addiction or any other type of pill addiction. There are a lot of other solutions. His response being, well, we’ll create more on-the-land programs, I’m sorry to say, with all great and kind respect, that on-the-land programs do not solve the hard drug problems.

Today in question period I will be asking the Minister how we address this bigger problem.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m becoming increasingly concerned with how this government defines consultation. Not the high-profile, legal definition of duty to consult; no, I’m concerned that we as a government are ignoring

the spirit and intent of consultation with our residents and NWT organizations. I’m feeling a shift in the way that our government does business. That a we-know-what-we’re-doing, we-don’t-need-your-help, leave-us-alone attitude is even more prevalent than the last Assembly.

The government seems to have fallen into the habit of preparing a policy, a framework, or a strategy in-house and then goes out and asks residents and organizations or stakeholders if they’ve got it right. It should be the other way around.

A good example in point is the Recreational Land Lease Policy. Municipal and Community Affairs is right now carrying out broad consultation on a discussion paper that they developed, and good for them for doing comprehensive consultation. But that paper was developed without any input, without any discussions or consultation with the current recreational land leaseholders. So it’s no surprise to me, and it shouldn’t be any surprise to MACA, that the recommendations of their discussion paper are being contested by the leaseholders.

Yesterday the Premier made two comments in his sessional statement, which alerted my spidey senses. Most know by now that the government is in the throes of a Shelter Policy review, and while I can’t find fault with the consultation done for that review, it is the next steps which concern me. The Premier stated yesterday that we, Members of the House and the public, will soon see a strategic framework for housing, apparently in advance of seeing the results of the Shelter Policy review. I know that those involved in the provision of housing in the NWT will have opinions on that shelter review and on the results in any report. Why are we not consulting with our service providers, getting their expert advice and opinions on the recommendations from the Shelter Policy review report and then developing a strategic framework?

The Premier also stated yesterday that a government report, yet unseen by the public, but thankfully soon to be seen, will be used to develop an Anti-Poverty Strategy. We’re working backwards, Mr. Speaker. We should be working with our knowledgeable and expert residents before we create a strategy, not after it’s done. We should be seeking their advice and using it in the creation of any strategy framework or policy. We’ve put the cart before the horse and we would do well to recognize it; recognize it and reverse the cart and horse situation before we take the buggy to town.

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

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. During the last government we passed legislation called the Donation of Food Act. This is progressive legislation which allows commercial establishments to donate food for distribution by a food bank while not incurring any liability.

During the election campaign and subsequently in dealing with issues of families in need, the need for a larger-scale food bank in Hay River has come into focus. We need volunteers, corporate sponsorship and, certainly, buy-in from local food outlets. We have a soup kitchen in Hay River for which we’re thankful, with a small core group of volunteers who have fed many people during their tenure there. We, thankfully, have a new building for our soup kitchen and a new location, but it is small and there is not room there for storage of any significant amount of food.

In Yellowknife we know that the Yellowknife Food Rescue Group has saved thousands of pounds of food from the local landfill. This food has, in turn, helped and supported families that were in need.

As I tell my kids, it says “best before” not “rotten after” on the labels, and I believe that there is much good food that could be salvaged and could meet the need of people who are hungry. You would not think so in this day and age, but I know for a fact that there are people who send their children to school in Hay River with no lunch and I know that there are challenges for some of these families in providing healthy food choices for their children.

I am proposing that my colleague from Hay River North and I organize a meeting in Hay River to ask people to come attend, volunteer input, those who would like to be involved in having a larger scale food bank established in Hay River. We’ll invite the retailers as well.

I would also like to at this time say that I would like to invite Mrs. Ruby Trudel, who was the spearhead of the Food Rescue Program here in Yellowknife, to come to Hay River as well. We’ll fly her down there and hopefully she’ll give us some inspiration of the amazing things you can do when you rescue food and redistribute it to people in need.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I would like to speak about the lack of attention to Highway No. 7 once again. As you know, the Inuvik-Tuk highway is a major item of business for the 17th Legislative Assembly. The

federal government has told Canadians this project will fulfill the dream of uniting our country from coast to coast to coast. It has a budget of about $150 million over five years for this project. The GNWT will also spend a share on this highway, but the final costs and economic benefits continue to remain unknown.

Meanwhile, the Liard Highway, Highway No. 7, doesn’t seem to be within driving distance of either government’s capital plans. Residents of Fort Liard and constituents of Nahendeh are frustrated about this lack of attention. Highway No. 7 has proven economic benefits. It opens our communities to both economic and industrial development that can lead to investment into the rest of the Northwest Territories. Spectacular scenery, wildlife and the accessibility from southern Canada make this region an ideal destination for tourists, but the number of visitors to the Deh Cho has been declining. Road conditions are to blame. We are losing money from potential revenue in all areas. We need to invest money into this highway. It will definitely pay for itself in the long run.

I strongly support northern development. I respect the aspirations of people in our northernmost regions, but the total neglect of maintaining infrastructure in one territory while investing so much in another does not help us over the long haul. Our federal engagement strategy must include a discussion of all highways, including Highway No. 7.

Highway No. 7 does not have any investments in the 2012-13 Capital Plan and this is frustrating to me as an MLA. My constituents depend on Highway No. 7 for their living and cannot do it when it is closed for weeks at a time every spring.

At the appropriate time I will ask the Minister of Finance for our government strategy on investing into Highway No. 7. Mahsi cho.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Before I begin my Member’s statement I would just like to take a second to congratulate the Premier on his receiving of the Golden Jubilee Medal yesterday.

---Applause

Continuing with the theme of recognition, I was very honoured last week to attend a long-time service awards for our teachers and staff from the Beaufort-Delta Education Council. They are doing a lot of really great innovative work that is going to reflect on our youth as they come into the future over the next few years and longer. It allows the students of

not only Inuvik but the Beaufort-Delta region to succeed and make a strong, good life for themselves.

I would also like to take this time not only to recognize the long-term serving teachers but every teacher that has put the time and effort into teaching our children, keeping our cultures alive and well and continuing to put the efforts in on a daily basis. That is a very tough job. I would like to recognize all the teachers across the Northwest Territories for being mentors, role models, volunteers, and coaches to our youth, our children, when we don’t have the time to do that, and them putting in the extra efforts that go beyond the time allocated in their daily jobs. They don’t have a daily routine as much of us do. They go above and beyond what is called for them as teachers. I would just like to recognize them.

I would also like to take this time to recognize that it is Aurora College Week, and recognize all the staff and the hard work put in through the colleges in all of our communities that will succeed in getting our young adults prepared for going out into the world and getting jobs and being part of society. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to raise the issue of the Norman Wells liquor store restrictions that were lifted on February 1st . This is a

life and death issue for my people in the Sahtu. Historically, when we lifted the restriction in the 1970s, several people in the Sahtu communities died because of the outcomes of alcohol. In addition to the other causes we know about, more violence and more crimes in the homes in the communities, suicides, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, liver problems and other alcohol-related deaths and injuries due to drinking.

We had people who couldn’t get jobs, who couldn’t keep jobs. We had students who were missing school because of parents drinking. We had elders who were living in fear of their children and grandchildren. We had a wild time when the restrictions were lifted. Then the people aborted to put a restriction on.

Today we ask where is the balance for people who want the restrictions removed, only for reasons of convenience. For the people who want the restrictions to stay is a matter of health and well-being and life and death, yet it is an inconvenience to go back to the store a few more times to get what you want for a New Year’s party or a birthday party. People say watching your loved ones who can be

hurt, who can die from alcohol is also an inconvenience. So where is the balance?

We don’t have treatment programs in the Sahtu; we don’t have any detox centres in the Sahtu or any type of service like that. People in the Sahtu have spoken, they’ve said they want on-the-land treatment programs because people are from the land and that’s where they want to do their healing. We don’t have enough police services to enforce restrictions in other communities, and also we’re limited in the way we do the search and seizure provisions under the Charter. All of those things changed how people buy alcohol at this time – you know, limited – is really an effective tool, the least effective tool that we have.

We are seeking a regional approach that makes sense for the Sahtu. A regional approach may make sense in other areas in the North, but in the Sahtu it is different.

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

---Unanimous consent granted

A regional approach might not make sense in other areas of the Northwest Territories but it makes sense in the Sahtu. Five isolated communities, none which is a large centre. Norman Wells has about 30 percent of the regional population, but they have been given the decision-making power for 100 percent of the regional population. The Sahtu communities only have highway access during the short winter season and the rest of the time are limited to travel by air and water. There are no options to drive down the highway to buy alcohol in large centres like Whitehorse or Alberta. Most of the alcohol is coming from Norman Wells. Norman Wells has about 2 percent of the NWT population and 5 percent of the liquor sales. Right there it tells you something.

From 2010 to 2011, liquor sales in the Norman Wells store was $2.1 million. I’m afraid of what they may see for 2012-13 if the sales go unrestricted. I ask the government if they would work with me to see a regional approach to deal with this issue. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There have been a lot of developments since the last session on the federal introduction of Bill C-10, the Omnibus Crime Bill. I’d like to recap and investigate our status to date.

The national clamour grows as provincial and territorial research confirms the anticipated balloon

of court, corrections and policing costs resulting from minimum mandatory sentencing. Following a December 9th motion of this Assembly, the Minister

of Justice committed to provide information on the anticipated costs and I’ll be asking questions on that research. An element of that motion called on the government to investigate means of diverting offenders from the justice system using more effective treatment programs and avoiding court and correction costs.

In our meeting last year, the Ministers of Justice and Health promised a comprehensive investigation of mental health diversion court programs to meet part of that need. Again, as called for by this and the 16th Assembly. The need to fight crime at its

causes has recently been again confirmed by the work of a community roundtable on downtown social issues here in Yellowknife.

Unfortunately, provincial and territorial jurisdictions have been unsuccessful in knocking the federal government off of this regressive approach. Even political leaders in Texas say filling the jails just doesn’t work. Despite our overflowing jails and known consequences of Bill C-10, our Minister got a firm no from the Government of Canada on our call for assistance.

Recognizing the need to continue the fight, the Nunavut Justice Minister was damning in his criticism of C-10 and the huge human and dollar costs resulting. We need to promptly cost and document the downloading of expenses and take a harder line, in alliance with other jurisdictions calling on the federal government to pay the cost explosion it’s liable to create.

But most importantly, we need to address our real opportunity with more humane and effective treatment of potential and real offenders. Mental health diversion courts, alcohol, drug and family violence treatment programs, community justice mechanisms, these are the front-end investments that will reduce the costs from years of incarcerations and enable our citizens to live healthy, productive and law-abiding lives.

I will be asking the Minister questions on his progress in recent months on realizing these real opportunities and mitigating the real costs expected from Bill C-10.

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

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. [Translation] When we are here in Yellowknife we are talking about the budget and the people in the community are saying that we do not have enough money. It seems like we have to listen to people more diligently. [Translation ends].

They tend to depend on government to create jobs and opportunities. In the smaller communities half the people who have jobs work for either the GNWT or local governments.

With the current state of the economy this is not going to change any time soon. The employment rate in many communities is under 40 percent. In two-thirds of the Northwest Territories communities it is less than 50 percent. Think about that. In most communities there are no jobs for more than half our employment-aged people. How can we expect people to be healthy, and productive and independent when for so many even the most basic job is out of reach?

If our government cuts back its spending, there could be even more unemployment and even more people relying on income support. The number of people on income support has been rising steadily since the economic downturn in 2008. We typically have more than 1,500 people on income support and it costs this government more than $15 million a year to run this program.

While so many people struggle through life on very low incomes, prices of basic items in our small communities go up and up. The price of food in most of the Northwest Territories would shock most Canadians to the core. To make matters worse, this government has severely limited the caribou hunt in many communities. People are really feeling the squeeze from all sides.

This is the reality our government absolutely must address. We have to develop community economies.

Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is my understanding that the wellness worker position in Tsiigehtchic has been eliminated. It was a full-time position and much needed in the community. This need is even greater in Tsiigehtchic because there is no nurse in the community. The lack of health care and service is acute.

Wellness workers encourage active living and help people shift into healthy lifestyles. They help families and stress the importance of well-being.

Wellness workers are key people in delivering one of the most important priorities of this government. I cannot understand why we would cut this position in Tsiigehtchic.

Residents of Tsiigehtchic have been patient but persistent in their efforts to improve local health

care. Their requests have been more than reasonable.

This government has an obligation to deliver quality health services to its citizens. I know that we cannot have every service in every community all the time, but we have to meet the basic standard in all our communities.

The wellness worker position in Tsiigehtchic should be reinstated and this government should fill it promptly.

Thank you, Mr. Blake. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize and welcome Phoebe Parent, my constituency assistant from Fort Providence.

Thank you, Mr. Nadli. I would like to welcome all the visitors in the public gallery here today. Thank you for taking an interest in our proceedings. Item 6, acknowledgements. Item 7, oral questions. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to direct my questions today to the Minister of Health and Social Services, the Honourable Tom Beaulieu. I want to follow up a little bit on some of my colleagues here who touched on the issue of alcoholism in the Northwest Territories and treatment for that condition.

We cannot deny that we have a disproportionate number of our people who are involved with an addiction to alcohol. We cannot deny that fact. It is a fact. It is a disproportionate number. We get somehow lulled into thinking that this is normal. This is not normal. If we had a health outbreak of some kind that came and attacked our people here in the North, we would be on the national news. It would be a national crisis. We would be doing everything to find a vaccine to address it. Because this situation has existed for a long time, I believe we have become complacent as a government.

Alcohol addiction is robbing our people of their health, their livelihood, their prosperity, their peace. Peace in their lives. We as a government need to acknowledge the problem and take a more aggressive approach to address it. I was pleased to read… Oh, first of all let me say that there are many, many paths to sobriety and we need to

explore all those options. To simply name a few, there’s the residential treatment program, there’s the Alcoholics Anonymous, there’s counselling, there’s spiritual healing. You’ve heard of people who have been miraculously delivered from alcohol addiction, so people should keep praying.

I read of an interesting scenario in the Slave River Journal, where the Fort Smith Health Authority has an out-patient program where people can come in for an hour and a half or two hours a day and receive support and counselling. I’d like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services if he could elaborate on that program for us, where it came from, who is sponsoring it and how we can get that into other communities.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don’t have the details of the Fort Smith program. I wasn’t aware that there was a program in Fort Smith. I heard about it for the first time today.

I don’t have a lot of details about it either. I read about it in the newspaper. It sounded interesting because it isn’t everybody that can leave house, home, family, jobs, whatever commitments that they have, it isn’t everybody that can leave all that and go to a 28-day residential program. It’s at the community level where they can be an out-patient. They’re not in the hospital. They go to this program through the health authority and it seems to make imminent sense to me as one alternative for people to access help. It’s also for people who are sober but want to maintain that sobriety; they can also access this program. I will get the article from the Slave River Journal, I will share it with the Minister and then I will pursue questions on this later after we’ve both had a chance to inform ourselves a little bit more about it on how we can see that on a broader scale in the Northwest Territories.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Unfortunately, today I’m going to be talking about something that obviously shocked the North. Unfortunately, this is a shocking event that happened in Whitehorse but nonetheless it’s our northern family. That is the Rusk family who unfortunately were involved in a tragedy dealing with a silent, tasteless and odourless killer called

carbon monoxide. Again, on behalf of the Assembly, our hearts go out to the family.

With that in mind, carbon monoxide obviously takes on a new role when a tragedy does occur. Most recently we’ve heard of a recent tragedy even in Whati. It’s unfortunate that a tragedy has to come forward for us to create awareness of this silent killer.

I realize that National Building Codes are part of the standards of which the territorial government will endorse and I know that there has been some work in 2010 regarding updates to this code. That said, I have a question for the Minister of MACA, Mr. McLeod. We can’t do a lot with regard to a lot of the building codes in terms of residential housing and I won’t be addressing that in this question, but for public housing my question for the Minister is: Do we have a policy in place for carbon monoxide detectors, and if so, what is it?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Obviously, we feel badly for the events that took place in Whitehorse and we never want to see that in any units anyplace in the Northwest Territories. I have been giving the department direction to see about the policy to see what our standards are and see they can be enforced. I’m just in the process of gathering the information right now and until I have the information gathered, I’ll take the Member’s question as notice.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The Minister has taken the question as notice. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are addressed to the Premier. I’d like to follow up on my statement but also the Premier’s statement today. I’d like to start off by saying I really appreciate the statement that the Premier did make today and that there is a commitment to action on the part of the government towards an Anti-Poverty Strategy. The Premier, I believe, stated that it is time to begin work. I would say that it is well beyond the time to begin the work, but I’m very happy that it is going to start.

We have heard that basically this work is going to start. We’ve also heard that a strategy is going to be developed based on a document that he is going to table later on today. My concern is that we have a report from a very thorough workshop which was held in October 2010 and there is no indication on any information that I’ve had from the government that we will be using that report to develop our Anti-

Poverty Strategy. I’d like to know from the Premier the timeline, as well, that he’s indicated is pretty much a full calendar year. Almost 10 months. Well, over 10 months if we start from today. I’d like to know if the Premier could advise me and advise the House what the government will be doing in working with people in developing a strategy that is going to take 10 months. Can he give me a bit of an outline of the details on the process that is going to be followed?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to indicate that in addition to the workshop that this government funded for $40,000 which assisted us greatly, we also had consultations throughout the Northwest Territories. We had about 250 people present to the group that was doing the community consultation. We had focus groups and sessions in a number of communities. We had regional advisors from every region in the Northwest Territories. We’ve taken that information and we are releasing the document What We Heard today, and over the next few months we will be working within the government and also working with a committee that will be established called the Social Envelope Committee, and we’ll be working collaboratively with as many people as we can to develop an Anti-Poverty Strategy that will hit the ground running this year.

Thanks to the Premier. I think my question was more to the details as we go forward. I’d like to mention that Nunavut is well into the process of developing an Anti-Poverty Strategy and one of the things that they did was to have a public engagement process culminated in their strategy. It basically took them about a year and I’d like to know from the Premier whether or not our process is going to be similar to the Nunavut public engagement process. They had a team which was representatives of government, Inuit organizations, non-profit organizations and the business community. They travelled to every one of Nunavut’s 25 communities. Is that the sort of process that this government is going to follow or is it going to be something where we have this committee, as the Premier has mentioned, made up of bureaucrats who work in isolation?

I’m sure the Member would be very pleased to hear that we’re going beyond what Nunavut has done. We’ve had 33 focus group sessions. My understanding is Nunavut held one workshop and released the recommendations that emanated. We’re going to go further than that. We’re going to draft the strategy, we’re going to have direction from the Ministers of this government, the social envelope Ministers, and when we are finished we’ll have an Anti-Poverty

Strategy that will be implemented and hit the ground running.

Thanks to the Premier. I’m getting a little more confused. The Premier’s now saying that we will draft a strategy and then I thought I heard him say that there will be some consultation after that.

I need to go back to comments that the Premier made in December, and I believe he then talked about a discussion paper relative to the Anti-Poverty Strategy, that one was in development. I don’t see any reference to a discussion paper in his statement today and I haven’t heard anything in his answers to my questions yet. I’d like to ask the Premier whether or not the discussion paper that he referenced in December has gone by the wayside or is it still being developed. Thank you.

I would like to clarify once again. We will be releasing What We Heard papers, What We Heard from all of our consultations. We are working on a draft discussion paper. We will be working developing that in conjunction with the social envelope Ministers. We met with Alternatives North and YWCA to discuss the Anti-Poverty Strategy and they were very pleased with that approach.

Thanks to the Premier. I’m pleased to hear that Alternatives North and the Y are very pleased. There are a few more organizations than that, though. I believe the Anti-Poverty Coalition has some 25 or 29 organizations and I would hope they would also all be very involved.

The Premier mentioned a committee of Ministers or DMs. I’ve lost the thought now, but I’d like to know, most initiatives that we have within the GNWT have a lead Minister, and I’ve heard no reference to who the lead Minister for the Anti-Poverty Strategy project will be. Can the Premier advise me of that? Thank you.

We’re going to have a committee of social envelope Ministers, so all the Ministers that are involved with poverty will be directing the development of the Anti-Poverty Strategy. We’ll have a lead deputy minister that will coordinate the direction and make sure that we follow the direction of the Social Envelope Committee.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Your final, short supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess my last question for the Premier is: If we have a committee of Ministers and I have a question that relates to the Anti-Poverty Strategy or something that is related to that, who do I address my questions to? If it’s a department, I’m well aware, but if it’s a committee of Ministers, I would ask the Premier again who is the lead Minister that I can speak with when I have a concern? Thank you.

We communicated that information to the chair of P and P just recently and the chair of the social envelope Ministers will be Minister Abernethy.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just wanted to follow up on my Member’s statement regarding community economies. I would like to direct my question to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Here in the Northwest Territories, in the Mackenzie Valley, whether we live up north, whether in the south, west or eastern part of the Northwest Territories we call this our home. We live in small, remote communities, regional centres and, of course, we live in big cities like Yellowknife.

My question is: Does Education, Culture and Employment adapt its employment programs to each community’s needs, and if so, how is that done?

Thank you, Mr. Nadli. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The Member did talk about the income security in the communities, and part of the program is to assess those individuals that could pursue productive choices at the community level. We also have a small employment program, as well, a subsidy to the employer so they can hire community members. It’s been very successful to date and we will continue to address that. There’s also a Labour Market Agreement and Labour Market Development as well. That funding is allocated for training, skill development, self-employment, work experience and so forth, youth employment. That information I can share with the Members. Mahsi.

I would like to thank the Minister for his response. My question was whether the department would perhaps maybe modify or else customize its approach in terms of trying to create employment in communities, because not all communities are the same. We have, of course, different demographics in different regional centres in different communities. My question, once again: Does the department adapt its employment programs in circumstances of each community that is normally different? Mahsi.

Through the Department of Education, Culture and Employment we have regional representatives, regional employees at the community level, and we collaborate with other departments, as well, whether it be the superintendents working with the career development officers or PWS and ENR.

Each department has their own mandate, their own initiatives on how or where those individual positions should be based, which community or region. Within our ECE department we target each region, each community where those positions should lie, what kind of position it should be, the skills and so forth, and creating more opportunities in that area. We will continue to do that. I’ve touched on certain programs that we need to promote more of those into the communities. Mahsi.

My final question is directed in terms of some of the agreements, the labour market agreements with, say, the ASETS program, which has served the Deh Cho region for some time. I want to know what kind of efforts the department is making to ensure that those agreements are renewed and working in the best interests of the North. Mahsi.

I’m glad the Member raised that issue. It’s a very valid point. There are agreements in place with the Deh Cho and other regions as well. There are some changes through the federal government, whether it be ASEP versus ASETS and we also have the Labour Market Development Agreement and also the Labour Market Agreement that I’ve highlighted. It’s a separate entity but we continue to support those individual organizations and members.

The Member referred to an agreement that is in place. We know that there is a sunset clause but we need to coordinate together with the community. It is at a federal level and we will continue to push from the Department of Education, Culture and Employment and GNWT perspective. Mahsi.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to return to the issue of a residential detox centre required here in the Northwest Territories. I’d like to state for the record, of course, if you really care about this issue, even from a Yellowknife perspective, I want to emphasize it doesn’t matter where the building gets established, where we provide residential treatment for people who have detox needs. I mean, the fact is if we can put it in a regional centre, I would certainly support that any moment that that issue comes forward for any type of a decision.

On that note, a residential centre is much different than what the Minister is describing as an on-the-land type of program. Can the Minister of Health and Social Services provide information to this House that defines and explains why an on-the-

land program would work in cases when someone is suffering from cocaine, crack, hallucinogen addictions, things along those lines where you’d need defined medical treatment and support? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The program that I was referring to, on-the-land, that was requested by many of the small communities. The small communities refer to on-the-land treatment as a more holistic treatment that is to address all of the issues, mental health, addictions and the whole human being. Regardless of what type of addiction the individual is struggling with, they feel that specific program would work on the land for the small communities. Thank you.

I’m not going to deny the need for spiritual connection both within one’s self and certainly with the land on a lot of people. It’s not a one-size-fits-all solution. We cannot shoe horn everybody into the on-the-land program and call that a solution. What facts does the Minister have at his hand or with his arsenal defined as the department that he can provide this House and say and show that an on-the-land type of program would help people who suffer from things like crack, heroine, speed and other types of problems that require medical support, not just spiritual support? Thank you.

Detox is a program, not a building. What we are saying is that the health and social services authority is spending about $6 million across the board on mental health and addictions. Detox is a part of that and can be in any location. It is a program. It is available right across the North and certainly available in Yellowknife if needed. Thank you.

I have to take issue with that particular last point which is saying detox is available across the North. I’m sorry; that is not exactly true. As we all know, the only place with any detox treatment here is at Stanton Territorial Hospital. As I repeated many times over, Stanton is not defined as a detox centre. It is a central wellness for folks. We should be putting people with addictions in an addiction treatment centre for detox.

My point here is we need bold action. This government needs to wake up from its deep slumber and take some action. Will the Minister be willing to develop a plan to develop a detox centre here in the Northwest Territories? Thank you.

In the past in the Northwest Territories on Franklin Avenue there was a detox centre. That was shut down for one reason or another. People needing detox at this time do

seek detoxification through various avenues. The department is there, like I indicated. Health and Social Services is spending over $6 million in the various health authorities to address that issue, mental health and addictions. Detox is a part of addictions and, yes, we as a department are more than willing and are prepared and want to be involved in helping people detox from drugs and alcohol. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

I like the last phrase the Minister said, which was he is prepared to be part of something that goes forward here. I am going to offer a quick pro quo to this particular subject. If the Minister is willing to do something, I will stop nagging about it every session. What I am asking for now is that he diverts some of that $6 million and develops a plan. Just because he shut down the detox centre, it didn’t shut down the issue. The people are suffering from these particular things. It didn’t just magically go away. The reality here is simply this: Would the Minister be willing to divert some of that focus of the $6 million he keeps talking about for drug treatment, to work on a plan to develop a detox centre here for Northerners so they can get residential treatment when we suffer from the drugs that I have talked about?

A part of that money that is being spent by the health and social services authorities is for addictions. That is for treatment. It is for detox. Yes, during the upcoming business plan we would be willing to talk to the MLAs and discuss the possibility of moving more money into detox. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just wanted to follow up on my Member’s statement on the lack of attention by this government and the federal government on Highway No. 7. I would like to ask the Minister of Finance. I know that we have a federal engagement strategy and it is a credit to the northern region where the Inuvik-Tuk highway is on the Prime Minister’s vocabulary. I sure would like to have Highway No. 7 have the same attention as well. I would like to ask the Minister of Finance, when they are having discussions about infrastructure and highways at the federal level, is he willing to bring up the need for Highway No. 7 reconstruction? Thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Minister of Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We do have a plan for the Northwest

Territories. It has been articulated since we have picked the Cabinet and since we set our priorities. One of the major objectives in this Assembly, given the fiscal circumstances that we are in, what happened in the last Assembly as we put all of our pre-capital to take advantage of the stimulus money from the federal government and put out a $1.1 billion capital program over three years is to look at our borrowing limit. Our borrowing limit talks are productive. They are going to result in an increased borrowing limit. The reason that we are going for the borrowing limit is to be able to, in due time in the life of this Assembly, make strategic investments in the areas that we don’t now have the resources to do that. The issue of Highway No. 7 is on that. There is a list. It is going to be called a red flag list. Next in line, should there be funds available, the borrowing limit gets done, we free up some of our savings from within government, then we will be working collectively to address some of those outstanding infrastructure issues like Highway No. 7. Thank you.

I find it incomprehensible that this government does not know about the needs of Highway No. 7. I have been up here for nine years. In the 2012-13 infrastructure budget there is zero dollars allocated to Highway No. 7 and it collapses every spring and that is around the corner. I would like to ask this government what is their plan for Highway No. 7 when it comes to infrastructure investment. Thank you.

We are well aware of the concerns of the Member. We are well aware of the circumstances of the road. We are well aware that we have far more needs than we have resources. This road is on our red flag list. We have to resolve the borrowing limit issue and look at collectively making those strategic initiatives necessary in critical areas such as Highway No. 7. That is the intent of the government. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I know that when there is will and desire by the Cabinet to spend extra money, they can certainly come up with the money. I would like to ask the Finance Minister when is Highway No. 7 being discussed at the Cabinet table. Who represents my constituency at the Cabinet table when this investment is required? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Transportation looks after and is responsible for the highway system in the Northwest Territories. He is responsible. This Cabinet is responsible for addressing the issues of the Members as they are raised in this House. Specifically, the highway issue and the highway inventory will be addressed by the Minister of Transportation as he comes forward with the business plan for the coming year. As we resolve and finalize and move forward with the borrowing

limit issue, it will give us the capacity to address this particular circumstance. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would just like to ask the Finance Minister to continue highlighting it at the Cabinet table, because every year for the last nine years, investment expenditure has been done in the late fall when it is rainy season and nothing can be done and projects continue to collapse. My concern is that I cannot wait until the new capital and new budget to be discussed in June during prime construction season. Something has to be done now. I would like to ask the Finance Minister to commit to look after the needs of my constituents and our highway system. Thank you.

That commitment stands for the Member in his constituency as well as all the other Members opposite. We will and are going to do the best job possible with the resources available. We are going to look at making strategic investments. When the Minister of Transportation is back from his travels, he will be able to speak to great detail about the Member’s concerns whether from a broad government point of view. This issue very clearly is on our to-do list, our priority list should extra funds become available, which we anticipate they will in the coming months. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question today is for the Minister of Housing. Today we heard some questions regarding the alcohol and drug issue that we continue to see and face in the Northwest Territories. Meanwhile we also have a housing issue. I would like to put the two together and talk about how we can address that and try to deal with both problems. That is going to the root cause of where the drugs are coming from, why people are in the situation they are. I would like to ask the Minister of Housing what is the policy regarding tenants who are accessing housing programs in our small communities, or even in our larger centres that are also engaging in illegal activities such as bootlegging and selling of drugs to people of the Northwest Territories? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Moses. The Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We don’t condone any kind of illegal

activities in our public housing units. Especially the LHOs usually have a zero tolerance policy. If someone is convicted of illegal activity in their unit, then their residency will be terminated. Thank you.

Thank you. I’d like to ask the Minister, are there any different sizes of penalties depending on the infractions that are put forth by the tenant whether it’s bootlegging, selling of hard drugs or recreational drugs, even such things as gambling? Is there any difference in terms of the penalties that these tenants would be enforced with? Thank you.

Thank you. This would apply to all criminal activity that takes place in the unit or that they’re charged for and convicted. So it would apply to all. There’s no different sized penalty for different convictions. Thank you.

Thank you. I really commend the work that Housing has been doing on this situation and hope that they do have a plan where we can start looking at tenants who are abusing this program. It’s still contributing to our social problems by feeding these addictions to the people of the Northwest Territories. In regard to tenants being evicted, would the same enforcement be put on all tenants of the dwelling or all people on the leasing agreement? Can the Minister please confirm who would all be infracted with this penalty? Thank you.

Thank you. That is one of the downsides of this and sometimes there’s unintended fallout from the leaseholder being convicted of any illegal activity, and that would apply to the members because they’re the main person on the lease, their residency would be terminated. Unfortunately, some of those caught in the crossfire are those that really have nothing to do with the activity, but because they’re residents of the unit, they would be looking for another place to stay. It’s unfortunate that it has to come to this and we do our best to try and make sure that all the tenants are housed adequately, but if there is criminal activity going on, unfortunately there’s some unintended fallout and there’s some innocent victims to all of this and it’s usually the children. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Moses.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Once again I really enjoy hearing what the Minister has to say about making sure that people who are selling to our people actually are evicted, and that should cut down on our problems with the selling of alcohol and drugs to our people. Has the Minister done any work from the housing side of things with the Minister of Justice or RCMP division to find out who these people might be in our communities? Has there been any communication? Thank you.

Thank you. I don’t think we need to work with the RCMP or anybody to know who these people in the communities are. Every community knows who in the community are carrying out illegal activities. Unfortunately, some of them are tenants of public housing, but you can’t evict them even though the Residential Tenancy Act allows you to possibly evict them on assumption. The LHOs normally wait until they are convicted. But every community knows who these folks are and until we can get them convicted, unfortunately there’s not much we can do, as much as we would like to have them no longer tenants and carrying out illegal activities from subsidized public housing units. So we’ll have to continue to work diligently on that and make sure that we send a clear message out there that this type of behaviour will not be tolerated within the public Housing Corporation. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are following up on my Member’s statement today and they’re directed to the Minister of Justice. So my first question is: In some of our earliest briefings as the 17th Assembly, we were

alerted to the work that the Department of Justice was doing to really list the anticipated costs of the proposed Omnibus Bill C-10, Government of Canada. So I’m looking to the Minister of Justice to find out what those costs are. When will he be bringing that to committee, or is it ready now? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The Minister responsible for Justice, Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’re working on that right now. We’re very interested to actually identify what those costs are and break them down so that they’re reasonable. Some of the costs are easier to identify. The cost of facilities is certainly an easier cost to come up with, but when it actually comes down to how much it’s going to cost for legal aid and how much it’s going to cost for court time, or even how much it’s going to cost in the facilities itself, because we actually have to do an analysis of the actual cases that have gone through the system and try and figure out how the new act is going to affect it. So we’re working on it. I’ll commit to getting something to the Minister in the next two months on those costs. I’m interested in seeing them as much as the Member. Thank you.

Thanks for the response from the Minister. Obviously we’d need these costs now if we’re going to use them in leveraging further assistance and working with other jurisdictions.

Obviously other jurisdictions are not waiting until they have dotted all the i’s and crossed the t’s. By then it will be too late, this legislation will be in place and we’ll be faced with the immediate ramifications. So what is the Minister doing to use what information we do have and work with other jurisdictions, especially northern jurisdictions, who clearly recognize the costs that are accruing as a result of this legislation? What does he see is the time frame here? Thank you.

Thank you. The department in no way shape or form is waiting for these costs to start doing some work. We recognize that some work needs to be done. The government is focused on trying to find ways to keep people out of the justice system completely. We want to focus on alternatives and diversions. One of the things that we’re doing is we’re talking to other jurisdictions about the types of courts they have put in place, such as mental health courts, such as alcohol treatment courts or addictions courts. Those are things that we need to explore as a way to divert people out of the justice system completely. We’re also looking at working with the Minister of Health and Social Services, who is focused on doing some prevention here in the Northwest Territories. We all know that alcohol is one of the driving factors of crime in the Northwest Territories and we need to start addressing that. So we are working that.

With respect to courts here in the Northwest Territories, we have pulled together a working group of departments – Justice, Education, Culture and Employment, Health and Social Services and MACA – to start going through options that are available to us, such as the diversion courts and collaborative practice working together with the departments. So there are things that we’re doing. We recognize the areas that we need to work on and we’re starting to make some progress in that direction. We will obviously keep committee informed as we continue. Thank you.

Thank you. The Minister jumped ahead to some of my other questions here. My question had been what is the Minister doing to work with other jurisdictions, particularly northern jurisdictions to ramp up the effort to get assistance from the federal government on the impacts that we know are going to accrue, although we haven’t dotted the i’s and crossed the t’s yet? So perhaps before I can go on to the subject that the Minister raised here, also an important one, perhaps he could answer that question. Thank you.

Thank you. I recently attended the F/T/P meetings in PEI with the Ministers of Justice and I did have an opportunity to sit down with the other two Ministers from the other two provinces and we had the same issues and concerns about Bill C-10. We’re all being affected

slightly different because of different realities. Nunavut’s got a bigger problem because they actually have no capacity in their jails whereas here in the Northwest Territories we do have capacity and the Yukon just built a new facility, but the impacts of the bill are going to be the same in many ways. So we have agreed to work together. We are going to be meeting as Ministers on a regular basis and having our staff work together on similar issues across the three territories so that when we approach Ottawa we can approach it as a united front rather than three unique individuals. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have to say that’s news to me and that’s certainly not what I hear from the corrections folks and the constituents that I deal with, that we have room in our jails, but I’m glad to hear that. Perhaps I could ask the Minister to provide that information to committee.

I just want to follow up now on the preventative side. I’ve been hearing for a long time what the Minister has said. We’re working on that. Now I’m looking for some real substance. I heard the Minister say a couple of months from now. I guess that means we have to wait another couple months, but let’s make sure we hit that target. Perhaps my last question is just some information so I have the right perspective on timing here. When do we anticipate that the Bill C-10 omnibus bill would be implemented, and perhaps it’s a staged thing given the size of the bill?

The two-month commitment was on the costing. I’d like to see that costing information as much as the Member and I’m committed to getting that information out. It is taking longer than I’d like, but it does take a little bit of time to do the level of analysis required.

As I’ve indicated, that doesn’t stop us from doing the work. We have pulled together a committee to begin the work on alternatives and diversions, and it’s not just in the courts. We’d like to divert people before they even enter the justice system. That includes working with the RCMP. I’ve had a number of discussions with the superintendent here in the Northwest Territories about how we can work with the RCMP to divert right at the front lines. There are things getting done and I will update committee on the work of the working committee as it’s going.

With respect to when the bill is going to be implemented, that was one of the questions that came up. All the jurisdictions in this country are asking for time and at the meeting with the federal, provincial and territorial Ministers, the federal Minister did indicate that the rollout of this bill would be over time, that they are recognizing some of the challenges that we’re facing and they’re going to

roll out the nine different pieces of legislation at different times. Unfortunately, I don’t know what the timing for the criminal components or the youth components are going to be, but when I know I will let the Member and committee know for sure.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to talk to the Minister of Finance on the liquor restriction that the Town of Norman Wells had a vote and it was lifted. It’s in effect. I want to ask the Minister if he’s willing to look at the regional approach to deal with opening this piece of legislation so that the communities within the Sahtu can have a say into the operations of the Norman Wells liquor store through the Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister responsible for Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m aware of the Member’s concerns and some of the folks in his constituency. The issue of the Liquor Act and changing it away from a law of general application to one of regional application is one that I am prepared to look at as Minister to see what’s possible. I’m prepared to sit down with the Member if he wants to have discussions or he wants to put his fingers to the keyboard and lay out the very specific question that he may be contemplating. We would, of course, give it our full attention.

Maybe I could make some music here if I put my fingers to the keyboard on this piece of legislation. I want to ask the Minister when we have some discussions to look at the existing Liquor Act and looking at the regional approach to the Sahtu, that the Minister can also look at ways that this legislation will then allow the regional people to have another say at this recent plebiscite.

If we’re going to in fact make music together, we’ll have to ensure that it’s not a sad song, because I understand from the questions in the House yesterday that the Member has a broken heart as a result of devolution, so we’ll have to be very careful what kind of music we make. As I’ve indicated, I’m more than willing to sit down with the Member and talk the specifics.

I want to ask the Minister, if he’s good with lyrics maybe he could write the song “How Do You Mend a Broken Heart.” I want to ask the Minister, in his estimation, working with this Cabinet on this existing liquor law, can we look at

something maybe by, for example, the May/June session that we could look at contemplating a new Liquor Act that would seek the support of the Members, of course, and also for the Sahtu communities.

The cure for the broken heart the Member is referring to, of course, is to sign the Devolution Agreement, and the authorities and money will flow and he’ll feel much better.

In terms of his specific request on the Liquor Act, the Member is very well aware that the average timeline is about two years for amendments, but before we even get to that point we have to have the fundamental discussion about laws of general application and can we make laws of that nature in the Liquor Act. Can we tailor them region by region when people have broad rights that they have given to them under the Canadian Charter and Canadian Constitution. We will have that initial discussion and then we will see where that takes us.