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

Mr. Speaker, I would like to invite my colleagues to join me in congratulating the recipients of the 2012 Premier’s Awards. The Premier’s Awards for Excellence and the Premier’s Collaboration Award are presented annually to individuals and teams for their outstanding service to the Government of the Northwest Territories. As well, I am pleased to confirm the second Dave Ramsden Career Achievement Award was presented.

This year’s recipients are from a range of departments across the public service, engaged in a variety of work that improves the lives of the residents of the Northwest Territories.

The Premier’s Award for Excellence in the Individual Category was awarded to three outstanding employees: Mr. Douglas Krause, Ms. Margaret Dawn Anderson and Mr. Jim Stevens.

Mr. Krause is the information business analyst, project manager with the Department of Transportation. He successfully managed a major capital project to replace key modules of the Government of the Northwest Territories motor vehicle information system and assisted the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation in adopting a common website content management system.

Ms. Anderson is the acting assistant director of the corrections service in the Department of Justice. She worked diligently to lead, develop and implement several projects benefitting community partners in delivering programs to clients. Under her guidance, the Northwest Territories Community Justice Review was completed in May 2011,

resulting in 12 recommendations to improve community-based programming.

In addition, Ms. Anderson led the revision of training information specifically for RCMP members in assisting with diversion cases that are more appropriate to community-based agencies. She also developed, researched and delivered an eight-week program of Planning Action Responsibility to support domestic violence treatment options.

Mr. Stevens is the director, Mackenzie Valley Highway with the Department of Transportation. He helped to advance a long-standing priority of the Government of the Northwest Territories, with the proposed Mackenzie Valley Highway. He demonstrated innovation by using a grassroots approach to complete project description reports for the entire Mackenzie Valley Highway. Mr. Stevens also achieved memorandums of understanding with Aboriginal groups representing the Mackenzie Valley.

The Premier’s Award for Excellence was awarded to three teams comprised of Government of the Northwest Territories employees.

The Stanton Territorial Health Authority Tobacco-Free Steering Committee Team partnered with the Department of Health and Social Services to help promote a healthy environment for staff and patients by promoting a tobacco-free environment.

The Mandate Review Project Team, with the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations embarked on a comprehensive two-year review of the negotiating mandate framework. This framework guides the Government of the Northwest Territories participation in all Northwest Territories land, resources and self-government negotiations and includes 114 individual mandates.

The Deninu School Team from Fort Resolution led the completion of a Chipewyan dictionary. It contains 369 illustrated pages of Chipewyan words, phrases and sentences. In addition, a CD of audio files by fluent speakers was generated to keep the language alive. The team demonstrated innovation and made positive impacts on the school and the community.

The Premier’s Award for Collaboration was given to three teams of Government of the Northwest Territories employees and their partners.

The Territorial Housing System Development Team was comprised of technical and program specialists from the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation who worked with managers of local housing organizations representing 23 independent organizations in the Northwest Territories. A significant shift was made in public housing system operations by moving to a centralized system and an electronic operating environment to deliver housing services.

The Slave River and Delta Partnership, Department of Environment and Natural Resources and partners team identified activities and opened the lines of communication for partnerships with communities concerning aquatic ecosystem health.

The Northwest Territories 2011 Royal Visit Team’s tremendous work on the Duke and Duchess’s of Cambridge visit to the Northwest Territories was a huge undertaking, demonstrating commitment and professional delivery of the Northwest Territories Royal Visit program. Team members from diverse organizations met the challenges, including strict security arrangements and outstanding activities to welcome the royal visitors.

Finally, I would like to acknowledge this year’s recipient of the Dave Ramsden Career Achievement Award: Ms Bronwyn Watters, deputy minister of the Department of Justice. In her distinguished career, Bronwyn has exemplified public service through her professionalism, vision, collaboration and compassion, and has advanced many initiatives within the social envelope during her years with the Government of the Northwest Territories. With retirement pending later this year, Bronwyn leaves an impressive legacy within the Government of the Northwest Territories and across the North, through her work to advance the social agenda.

Mr. Speaker, the recipients of this year’s Premier’s Awards and Dave Ramsden Career Achievement Award have demonstrated dedication and excellence in their work, and I would like to extend my congratulations and thank them for a job well done. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The Department of Education, Culture and Employment wishes to congratulate all the graduates from high schools, Aurora College and apprenticeship programs.

Aurora College saw 140 graduates this spring: 43 from Thebacha Campus, 53 from the North Slave Campus and 44 from the Aurora Campus. Graduates received certificates, diplomas and degrees in programs like Environment and Natural Resource Technology, Education, Nursing, Business Administration and Social Work.

This year sees the first class to graduate from the Aboriginal Language and Cultural Instructor Program at the Aurora Campus. Eleven graduates received their diplomas and are ready to promote, preserve and revitalize our languages. Fifteen other graduates from across the territory also received their Aboriginal Language and Cultural Instructor Program certificates.

Mr. Speaker, there are 417 registered apprentices in the Northwest Territories, half of whom are Aboriginal and 34 are female. So far this academic year, 75 journeypersons have been certified. With more countries looking north at our vast resources and Arctic coastline, these tradespeople are invaluable to our territory as our economy develops and diversifies. With their training, these Northerners will be well positioned to take advantage of opportunities and choices in all communities and regions.

As we all know, the high school years can be demanding, formative, emotional and rewarding. Many students have overcome obstacles and reached graduation this year. As they prepare for the next stage of their life, I remind them, and all Northwest Territories residents, that learning is a lifelong journey. I encourage them to strive for excellence in whatever they choose to pursue next. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Once in awhile a young man comes along who redefines human spirit and truly rewrites the scriptures on humanity and giving. Today I wish to inform the Members we have such a marvel who resides in the riding of Range Lake and his name is Mr. Cole Philipp.

It all started a couple of years ago when this student was in Grade 7 in Range Lake North School and he learned about “pay it forward,” which is a movement depicted in books, TV, mainstream and film. In essence, Mr. Speaker, this pay it forward program is a means to change the lives of

others by doing good deeds for others and Mr. Philipp rose to the occasion.

His idea to make a difference for kids in orphanages in Mazatlan, Mexico, was a truly inspirational journey that has been showcased in major media sources in Canada and in Mexico. For Mr. Philipp’s humble beginnings in fundraising, his original target of $2,000 soon magically turned into a windfall of over $38,000 being raised.

---Applause

In fact, during his last fundraiser, Cole’s Funky Monkey cupcakes were seen all over the back offices of the Legislative Assembly and many of us today are still trying to shed those pounds.

Mr. Philipp had the pleasure of sharing 100 percent of this money this past April with over six orphanages in Mazatlan, Mexico, for such things you and I take for granted such as food, clothing, school supplies, medical supplies, new bunk beds, new computers and new lockers.

Now at the age of 14, Mr. Cole Philipp is a Grade 9 student at Sir John Franklin, is a recent recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal of Honour and is already planning his next adventures. If you spend even the briefest amount of time with this young man, you can easily see his gears turning, his huge smile and his magnetic enthusiasm.

It gives me great pleasure to say we have in the gallery today the wiz-kid from Range Lake and former Page for the Legislative Assembly, Mr. Cole Philipp.

---Applause

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

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. In the 1990s a survey of runway issues across the North identified Trout Lake as being one of the 11 airports that needs major upgrades to ensure safe operations. It was later determined that the runway itself needed to be relocated.

Trout Lake is a community without an all-weather road access. Its airport is a community lifeline. The Trout Lake Airport Relocation Project is still unfinished and still on our books. The community wants to see this project completed in spite of the difficulties it has experienced. Right now the Department of Transportation is in charge of the project and previously wanted to hire contractors from outside the community and region to do the work, and still may want to. This is nothing that I as the MLA for Trout Lake can or will ever support.

This is Trout Lake’s airport, and opportunities related to this major undertaking should belong to the community and the region. Someone from Trout Lake should be working with DOT to select an appropriate contractor, if not from the community then at least from the region. There are plenty of willing contractors in Fort Simpson and Fort Liard.

Trout Lake needs this continued opportunity. There is equipment in the community and a willing workforce of men and women. It is a chance for the local development corporation to develop much needed capacity that could assist in future projects not only in Trout Lake but other communities in the region. There are already good examples of other small communities that have worked successfully with the Department of Transportation airports division to complete their much needed infrastructure projects.

We all agree that safety of our people and the aircraft is a priority. We need to put past arguments behind us and get this project off the ground. We need a win-win situation and a good-news story for major infrastructure construction in this territory.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just want to say I was very impressed with the young fellow that Mr. Dolynny talked about. He’s got a good future ahead of him.

I want to talk about Raymond Taniton. Raymond Taniton co-authored a book called At the Heart of It. It’s the seventh book in the Land of our Storybook series. Tessa MacIntosh was the photographer and Mindy Willet was the co-author with Raymond Taniton.

Raymond is a Sahtugot’ine, which means people from the Great Bear Lake area. He lives in Deline and is one of the many gifted leaders in the community in the Sahtu region.

After Europe colonized Canada, Aboriginal people were made to do things differently, often forced to forget their traditional ways and values and become a different people. Sahtugot’ine also suffered from colonization, but in Raymond’s book he showed how they continued to teach their children their core values: to have respect for their elders, their parents and themselves. In this book he also tells people there are many reasons why Deline is a strong and healthy community, stating that they never gave up the responsibility to govern and look after themselves. In At the Heart of It, Raymond shows readers how to make a traditional drum with the help of his father, Alfred, a leader and keeper of

the drum, and shares many what At the Heart of It in Deline to be connected to a healthy community.

This book is used by many in the schools of the Northwest Territories and they are using them from Grade 4 to Grade 7 mostly. I have heard adults also reading them as they’re good instructions to all the different communities in the Northwest Territories. There is going to be a total 10 books.

I also heard people from India, Australia, France and all over the U.S. are also reading this book. This book is in our schools, and the stories are from different storytellers and the youth from across the different regions. They are very good stories, and I want to say thank you very much for the people who made it possible. Thank you for Raymond Taniton, for his father, for Mindy, Tess and the department who made all this possible. Please go out and read these books. Good job. I want to say thank you to the hardworking people who made this possible. Mahsi cho.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The environmental assessment hearings for the Giant Remediation Project begin in September. The Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board will review the assembled information and then issue recommendations governing remediation of the site. Those measures must keep our environment and people safe in perpetuity – that’s forever – unless technology is developed to eliminate the stored arsenic. Public confidence in the measures over perpetuity is essential. As the review board chair pointed out recently, public trust is a fundamental part of community acceptance of the project.

Thanks primarily to the dogged determination of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation, the City of Yellowknife and Alternatives North, there has been progress towards the creation of an independent oversight body to monitor the project as long as it continues. These groups, with the federal and territorial governments, signed a letter to the board this week. They stated general agreement on creating a working group to make proposals on an independent oversight body.

A public body would provide arm’s length advice to minimize environmental harm and risks and to build public trust. It would review environmental monitoring plans including any perpetual care plan and monitor their implementation and results. They would monitor compliance with regulatory conditions and other commitments made by

government, and encourage research into alternative technologies to finally eliminate the arsenic. Perhaps above all, it would create the transparency, public involvement and unbiased reporting essential to public trust.

If the Giant Mine remediation were coming as a new development proposal today, this form of public oversight would be routine. Look at the legally binding agreements in place for our diamond mines. The need is clear. Eventually, regulatory permits will be issued to carry out the remediation work and stabilize the arsenic, but a project laden with decades of public anxiety in millennia of environmental consequences requires a social licence as well. Creation of an independent oversight body under a fully funded and legally binding agreement could issue that social licence and give us confidence for the years ahead. I appreciate and encourage this government in continuing support for the creation of an independent oversight body. Mahsi.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today on behalf of an NWT resident whose child has Autism Spectrum Disorder. This young adult has been supported through their school years, and as a testament to that support and their own perseverance, will be graduating high school this month. We do a good job of providing the extra, necessary support for special needs students in our primary and secondary schools, but apparently, that’s where the support ends. Let me explain.

There are several colleges in the South which offer transitional vocational programs, a program that fits the post-secondary needs of this young person. Like many specialized programs, they’re not cheap: about $15,000 per year. Most students, when they graduate from high school and get accepted to a college or a university, can get financial support from the GNWT via the Student Financial Assistance program. Disabled persons, as full-time students under current Student Financial Assistance guidelines, are eligible for a study grant of up to $8,000 per academic year. But, of course, there’s a catch. The catch is the student has to be enrolled in an academic program. Transitional vocational programs are not considered an academic program and thus are not approved by Student Financial Assistance for funding.

There’s no question in the mind of Education, Culture and Employment that an autistic person is a disabled person. There is also no question in the mind of ECE that all NWT post-secondary students

should be taking an academic program; a thoroughly unrealistic goal, in my mind, especially for challenged students.

Transitional vocational training is not an academic program. It is about advancement, ensuring people learn the skills they need to transition from a supported environment to living on their own. Consider this quote from Hansard February 25, 2000: “We have to look clearly at how we deal with disabled people and students. Right now there is no way to deal with them. There is no access for them. Students who are disabled and have special needs have to go to various departments with their hat in their hand, trying to cobble together financial arrangements to go to school.” Unfortunately, nothing has changed in the 12 years since the MLA for Thebacha, Mr. Miltenberger, stood in this House to voice his concern.

There is an opportunity here for a hardworking NWT resident to advance from a dependent to an independent person to become an involved, contributing member of NWT society.

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

---Unanimous consent granted

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks, colleagues. There is an opportunity here for a hardworking NWT resident to advance from a dependent to an independent person to become an involved, contributing member of NWT society, someone who is not in need of ongoing financial support from the government. Yet our Student Financial Assistance Policy will not recognize the extent of this young person’s abilities, will not provide the funding needed to get the schooling and training necessary to advance them to the next stage in their life. For a government that professes to want equality and success for all of our people, this is a significant failure. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Most of the Northwest Territories 33 communities are made up of First Nation band councils. There are a number of options for how communities govern themselves. No matter what size the population, hamlets, villages, towns and cities in the NWT are established by territorial laws. Community governments’ roles are political and administrative. Elected councils are made up of mayors, councillors and chiefs, to provide leadership and guidance through administration.

Hamlet councils are more than dogs, dumps and ditches. They are even more than just administering

the community’s budget, maintaining public buildings and enforcing bylaws. Councils today work with education and health and social service boards. They help plan and deliver tourism and economic development activities, administer income support and housing programs, and represent their communities at higher levels.

There are three charter communities in the Northwest Territories. In chartered communities, the responsibilities of the band council and the municipal council are both combined.

The community of Enterprise, in particular, wants to operate their own water treatment plants and become a more independent and self-sustaining community. Incorporating a designated First Nations authority is a way to work around provisions in the federal Indian Act that hinder First Nation communities’ ability to take on responsibility for providing municipal services by owning buildings or land. That will remain the case until we finalize self-government negotiations. The operation of our First Nations communities in areas with unsettled land claims is another area where the GNWT needs to focus when negotiating a Devolution Agreement.

At the community level, in order for a band council and a municipal council to successfully merge, people need to cooperate and send clear messages to high levels of government. There has to be open communication and wellness to work together. That is equally true in self-government and devolution negotiations.

As we have seen in this House over the past two weeks, when we try to reach consensus, we don’t always get our way. Sometimes no one gets their way. But if we keep communication open and keep working on our problems, we will find solutions that work for the majority of Northerners. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As announced in the recent federal budget effective this past June 1st , the Government of Canada will

be raising the duty-free exemptions for cross-border shopping. Canadian residents who have been out of the country for 24 hours will be able to bring back $200 worth of goods duty free. This current exemption is only $50. The exemption for trips of 48 hours or more will increase from $400 to $800 worth of product duty free.

For the majority of Canadians who live within a few hours of the U.S. border – which is most of the country – this is a real tangible benefit. It means

that a family in Toronto or Montreal can wake up in the morning and decide to make a short drive to New York State for the weekend, load up with back to school supplies and clothes, and save potentially hundreds of dollars in tariffs in addition to the savings to be gained from purported lower American prices. It means that a family in southern BC can drive to Washington State two or three times a month, spend the night and come back each time with a trunk load of groceries all duty free. Over the course of a year and a few trips, a family’s savings on import tariffs alone to the Canadian government could easily add up into the thousands of dollars. That is in addition to all the savings from often paying lower prices across the border.

So while I do not begrudge southern Canadian families their tax savings, I believe that the federal government has overlooked the people living in the Territories and northern part of the provinces who do not have the option of cross-border shopping on a weekly or monthly basis and will realize little or no savings from this new duty-free exemption.

Where is the tax relief for northern Canadians who pay higher prices across the board, GST compounded on those higher prices and untold millions of dollars in fuel tax, which is hidden in the cost of every good that is transported north? Where is the fairness?

I believe this oversight could be corrected quickly and easily with an increase in the northern residents’ tax deduction. This would be a straightforward way to give Northerners a break on their income taxes that matches the savings southern Canadians will now realize on their cross-border shopping, and that would be only fair.

Later today I’ll have questions for the Minister of Finance on how he might engage the federal government on this issue. The federal government, the Prime Minister comes up here, they say they want Arctic sovereignty, they want people to live up here and they say they love the North. Well, why don’t they show it? Give us an increase in our northern tax deduction. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I use my Member’s statement to congratulate the graduates of the two high schools in Hay River. We have four graduates at Ecole Boreale and 38 graduates at Diamond Jenness Secondary School. Both of these grad ceremonies will take place next weekend and I will be able to attend both of them, so I’m looking forward to that.

It’s an exciting time for these youth, and I urge these youth to continue to learn, continue to educate yourself depending on where your specialties lie, whether that’s in a trade or whether that’s getting a degree or just learning some sort of certification. Life is an education, like the Minister of the Department of Education indicated today, and continue to learn.

I’d like them to enjoy their ceremonies, but make sure that they’re safe out there. Make sure there’s no alcohol involved, no drinking and driving.

I’d also at this time like to congratulate some of my former graduates of 1987, who graduated 25 years ago on June 26, 1987. We graduated 25 years ago and we’ve spread out through the country. So I congratulate everybody. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank all our hardworking staff in the GNWT. The event that we had today goes to show that we have some really good staff and people working for the people of the Northwest Territories through the Premier’s Awards; some hardworking, dedicated staff.

With that said, we’re coming to the end of our four-week budget session. We’ve had some very long days, early mornings, late nights and we had some really strong debates, some really good meetings. Just the whole process of how everything went down was very educating. It’s a lot of hard work, and in between our meetings we try to deal with constituency concerns every chance we get, as well as dealing with territorial concerns.

I’d like to recognize all of the hard work and dedication of all the Members on this side of the House, as well as Cabinet and their staff for all of the hard work that they put in over the last three and a half weeks.

Just as important, I’d like to recognize the Legislative Assembly and their staff for all of the hard work that they’ve been doing drafting motions, getting all of our work together, organizing the meetings, trying to fit in the meetings when we can. It is a lot of work. We put in a lot of time, a lot of energy.

I’d also like to recognize the family and friends who support us and who sacrifice so that we can come here, have these strong debates, have good questions and try to work out what’s best for the people of the Northwest Territories.

I have to say that I have respect for anybody that can do this job, or anybody that works for the Legislative Assembly and puts in the hours that we’ve been putting in for the last three and a half weeks. It’s pretty amazing and it’s something that I didn’t see as a resident of Inuvik, or just as an NWT resident when we saw how things were deliberated here. It’s a lot of hard work and I respect anybody that can do it, and I also respect any of our NWT leaders across the Northwest Territories and the hard work that they do for their people as well.