This is page numbers 1163 - 1212 of the Hansard for the 17th Assembly, 3rd Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was report.

Topics

The House met at 1:31 p.m.

---Prayer

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

Mr. Speaker, this Assembly is committed to sustainable, vibrant, safe communities and to taking action against family violence. Homes should be places where strong individuals and families support and love each other. All people have the right to live free from the fear of violence in their own homes and communities.

But we have challenges. The Northwest Territories has the second highest rate of family violence in Canada and we know that many incidents are never reported. This is a territorial tragedy. It affects every community. Many of our people live every day in fear.

With the release of the coroner’s report on the death of Alice Black, we are once again faced with some stark facts about how communities are struggling to cope with issues of addictions, family violence and security.

Strong leaders confront difficult issues. The Government of the Northwest Territories cannot address family violence on its own. We need the daily cooperation of community leaders, social service agencies and non-government organizations. Business, Aboriginal and community governments and individuals themselves have to call attention to the terrible toll family violence takes on its victims and society.

Our government funds shelters in Yellowknife, Hay River, Fort Smith, Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk. They give victims and their children a safe place to stay while they think about what to do next. Emergency protection orders can be part of a longer-term safety plan for victims and their children. Staff are working with communities to make sure that victims

always have support and safe places to stay, no matter where they live in the Northwest Territories.

We need to change the way people think about family violence if we are going to end it. Family violence is not just about shelters. It is about making our homes and communities safe places to live. Our new Domestic Violence Treatment Options Court gives abusers a chance to change their behaviour. The interagency family violence protocols make sure that we all work together to provide the supports our clients need.

As my colleague the honourable Mr. Abernethy advised the House last Friday, “We have to change the attitude, we have to change the fundamental beliefs and ideas around family violence.” We need everyone to be part of this.

Mr. Speaker, the Members of this House are aware that one of the leading voices in this struggle is the Coalition Against Family Violence. I would like to take a moment to acknowledge their important contribution.

The coalition has offered its members, including the Government of the Northwest Territories, several recommendations to address family violence. They suggested a comprehensive social media strategy aimed at shifting attitudes and beliefs about family violence. They recommended that we implement a 24- week program targeting men who use violence. And they asked all of their members to continue their efforts to strengthen community outreach.

Mr. Speaker, later today the Minister of Finance will be introducing a supplementary appropriation bill that includes $367,000 for the Department of Health and Social Services to support initiatives related to the Family Violence Action Plan. Together with the Minister of Health and Social Services and my Cabinet colleagues, long-term, ongoing investments are being developed as part of the business planning process for next year.

This supplementary appropriation also includes an additional $49,000 to support a community-based intervention p r o g r a m t o assist men to direct their own change to end violence. Ongoing support will be sought through the 2013-2014 business review process.

Mr. Speaker, family violence cannot be a special awareness week or a one-time initiative. Our health

and well-being depends on breaking the silence and working together in meaningful and coordinated ways to end all forms of family violence. When we see violence, we need to speak up. Protecting the most vulnerable people in our society is everyone’s responsibility.

This Assembly is part of the solution. We cannot be overwhelmed by the challenges; there is no choice but to continue. We need to be strong leaders. We need to speak up. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Members, before we continue on with Ministers’ statements, I would like to welcome a former Speaker and MLA, Mr. Sam Gargan, who is in the House today.

---Applause

At the table, we have our former Commissioner, Speaker, Minister, Member, Sergeant-at-Arms, Honourary Clerk of the House, Mr. Anthony W.J. Whitford. It’s always good to have you here.

---Applause

The honourable Minister of Human Resources, Mr. Abernethy.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Minister of Human Resources

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to speak today about the successful negotiation of three new agreements with the bargaining units that represent our employees.

A contract has been negotiated and ratified with the Northwest Territories Medical Association, and collective agreements have been negotiated and ratified with the Union of Northern Workers and the Northwest Territories Teachers’ Association. They are all four-year agreements, which provide our employees with predictable, stable terms of employment in a volatile economic environment. Four-year agreements also provide the GNWT with the stability we need to address the large priorities of the 17th Legislative Assembly, including

devolution and a sustainable health care system. The increases provided to employees are very reasonable, given our fiscal position and the global financial situation. In fact, when comparing our settlements to those in other public governments across the country, I would venture to say that we are providing an excellent package.

The GNWT values its employees. We treated them fairly and respectfully throughout the collective bargaining process. I want to thank our partners – the NWT Medical Association, the NWT Teachers’ Association and the Union of Northern Workers – for coming to the table as partners with shared interests, wanting to find workable solutions to the challenges we all faced. I would also like to thank all the staff involved – within both the GNWT and

the bargaining units – in negotiating, researching, analyzing and proposing creative solutions during negotiations.

While there are a range of accomplishments in all of the new agreements, I would like to highlight two memoranda of understanding that were negotiated with the Union of Northern Workers, given the profile that these issues warranted over the past six months.

The first MOU involves the safe disclosure of information by public servants. Both parties want to create an environment where employees who, in good faith, believe a wrongdoing has occurred, can bring that forward freely, confidentially and safely. Employees should never have to fear reprisal when they come forward to raise concerns about potential wrongdoing.

Through this MOU, we have agreed to jointly develop interim provisions that provide protection for employees who disclose information in certain situations. These will include an independent mechanism for reporting situations where the employee, in good faith, believes wrongdoing is occurring. They will remain in place until legislation providing protection for employees who disclose information is enacted by this Assembly.

The second MOU addresses rest periods, which represent an important safety issue. There are circumstances where the lack of adequate rest between scheduled hours of work may present health and safety concerns in some work environments. The Government of the Northwest Territories and the Union of Northern Workers will establish a joint working group to review all relevant issues related to employee rest periods, to test implementation and to provide unanimous recommendations.

Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories is very pleased to have negotiated these agreements with our partners who represent our employees. We appreciate the valuable work carried out by GNWT employees. Despite challenging economic times, we wanted to provide terms of employment, including salary increases, that recognize this. We are now working to implement the collective agreements, and to continue to work collaboratively with the bargaining units in partnership during the life of these new agreements. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

Mr. Speaker, on June 21st we will celebrate National Aboriginal Day. This is an

opportunity to celebrate Aboriginal people’s outstanding contributions to the history, languages, arts and cultures of our territory and Canada.

As my colleagues are aware, our celebration of this national holiday in the Northwest Territories is unique. In 2002, National Aboriginal Day was declared a statutory holiday in the Northwest Territories. This year marks the 10th anniversary of

that declaration. To this day, the Northwest Territories remains the only jurisdiction in Canada to recognize it as a statutory holiday. For this we can be very proud.

National Aboriginal Day acknowledges the valuable contribution of Aboriginal peoples to the healthy development of our communities, our territory and our country.

The Government of the Northwest Territories commitment to the Dene, Inuvialuit and Métis of the Northwest Territories extends well beyond this holiday.

A key priority of the 17th Legislative Assembly’s

vision of “Believing in People and Building on the Strength of Northerners” is renewing and strengthening relationships with Aboriginal governments. The Government of the Northwest Territories is committed to engaging them in a spirit of mutual respect, recognition and responsibility. Government-to-government cooperation is an essential part of the North’s foundation and legacy.

Today we are particularly proud to honour the Dene, Inuvialuit and Métis of the Northwest Territories. They play a vital role in contributing to our economic development, protecting our environment and enhancing our traditional knowledge through learning and sharing.

Every year National Aboriginal Day events are organized across the country. The Northwest Territories communities celebrate by showcasing the North’s culture through drum dances, traditional games and foods, music and artwork. I hope you enjoy the festivities in your community and I wish everyone a happy National Aboriginal Day. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister responsible for the Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission, Mr. Lafferty.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

The Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission, WSCC, proudly sponsors the annual Mine Rescue Competition in celebration of Mining Week, held in June each year. This year the Mine Rescue Competition is June 15th and 16th .

The WSCC sets standards for mine safety certification for the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. The Mine Rescue Competition brings together rescue teams from the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and, recently, the Yukon. The event helps align northern training and response techniques across the territories and with the rest of Canada.

The North’s mining industry has a history of outstanding achievements in mine safety due to its emphasis on prevention and risk management. We are fortunate in the Northwest Territories. When need arises, we have highly skilled professionals ready to deal with emergency situations.

Teams consist of volunteers who take time out of their schedules to practice and train. If summoned for a rescue operation, every move they make impacts the safety of the rest of their team, the people in the mine and the mine itself. These men and women display remarkable teamwork and communication. They show tremendous skills and safety when dealing with a crisis.

The Mine Rescue Competition tests these skills. It gives teams an opportunity to obtain certification in Mine Safety, and gives the northern mining community confidence that mines operating in the North are able to face any challenge.

The week’s events conclude Saturday, June 16th ,

with the remaining competitions taking place in public view at the Yellowknife Community Arena. At that time, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut Chamber of Mines hosts their annual Miner’s Picnic and community barbeque.

I encourage everyone to take advantage of this special event, and join the WSCC and the community on Saturday, June 16th , at the Mine

Rescue Competition and the Miner’s Picnic.

The WSCC works in partnership with stakeholders across all industries, to ensure workplace safety and care for workers. Together, we can eliminate workplace diseases and injuries. Mahsi cho.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Minister’s Statement 50-17(3): Nahanni Butte Evacuation
Ministers’ Statements

Inuvik Twin Lakes

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs

Mr. Speaker, I rise to update Members on the status of the recent flooding in Nahanni Butte and the incredible efforts of many individuals and organizations who are working together to help ensure the safety of residents.

As is the nature of most emergencies, this event caught us by surprise. Water in the Liard River basin reached heights not seen in many years, and in fact, it may turn out to be a record year.

Despite the fast moving nature of floods, residents were not caught off guard. Officials from Nahanni Butte worked together with a number of organizations to ensure residents were notified in advance, and emergency plans could be enacted in time to ensure a safe and coordinated evacuation.

The response was coordinated through a number of partners including the RCMP, the Government of Canada, the community government of Nahanni Butte and the GNWT.

Within our government, MACA coordinated the emergency response, the Department of Transportation worked to provide evacuation transport, Health and Social Services provided emergency shelter and supplies to evacuees, and Environment and Natural Resources has offered to provide fire crews from the region to help with community cleanup once floodwaters subside.

Mr. Speaker, I am very impressed with the level of cooperation amongst everyone involved. One positive thing we can take away from this unfortunate situation is that it proves our emergency planning efforts are working. It is also an indication that we need to continue to be ready for emergencies by working together to plan and prepare for future events.

We’ve all heard about climate change and what that might bring. Wildfires last year and record-breaking floods this year all point towards the need to remain focused on our efforts to build resilient communities.

Throughout this event, I worked very closely with my colleague, the MLA for Nahendeh, Kevin Menicoche. In addition to his obvious concern for the residents of Nahanni Butte, Mr. Menicoche praised the village of Fort Simpson for their incredible generosity and giving during this period of need. I, too, add my praise for the people of Fort Simpson who have gone above and beyond to assist the Nahanni Butte evacuees.

MACA continues to work with communities to build and sustain effective emergency plans, to familiarize officials with their important roles and responsibilities during an emergency, and to support community governments in the management of emergencies.

Today residents from Nahanni Butte remain in Fort Simpson, and it may still be some time before they are able to return. Members should be assured that all those who have combined to support the evacuation remain committed to supporting these residents until such time as they are able to safely return to their community.

Once the water recedes, MACA, in conjunction with the Department of Public Works and Services and the Department of Transportation, will undertake an assessment of the community to determine the full extent of the damage. I would like to assure

Members and the residents of Nahanni Butte, that we are sensitive to the impact of this flood on their lives and we will be examining all options in getting the community up and running again, including accessing financial assistance under the federal Disaster Assistance Policy.

Given the circumstances of the recent events, we are once again reminded of how important preparedness and partnerships are when responding to emergencies in the North. I invite my colleagues to join me in commending the organizations and personnel who contributed to a successful emergency response. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

Mr. Speaker, I want to take a moment before we all leave for the summer to reflect on our accomplishments as a Legislative Assembly over the past few weeks.

This has been the first extended working session of the 17th Assembly. It has been a long session,

especially at this time of the year, but we have done some important work together.

One of the most important things we have done is passed the budget for the 2012-2013 fiscal year. As an Assembly, we have agreed to a vision of strong individuals, families and communities sharing the benefits and responsibilities of a unified, environmentally sustainable and prosperous Northwest Territories. The budget we have reviewed and approved will give our government the money to start making that vision a reality for all the people of the Northwest Territories.

Our debates have not been without their disagreements, Mr. Speaker. As leaders, we will often be called upon to make difficult decisions, decisions where the path forward is not always clear. There are many priorities and many demands; many things that we want to do for our people.

Unfortunately, our resources as a government are limited and will be for the foreseeable future. That means that we have to choose our priorities carefully. Together, we need to find the right balance of program spending and capital investment that will help us make progress on our social, environmental and economic agenda.

I want to thank Members on both sides of the House for the time and energy they have put into our debates these past three weeks. While we have not always agreed, I know that your questions and your decisions have always been made with the best interests of our people in mind. And in the end, we have succeeded in passing a budget that will

put us on a path towards achieving the vision, goals and priorities that we set out when we first met. This is consistent with the spirit of consensus government.

The budget supports our people with funding to implement Building for the Future, for early childhood development, for mental health and addictions and to ease the transition to higher electricity rates. Our budget supports our economy with funding for sustainable mineral development and economic development strategies and for the negotiation and implementation of devolution. It supports our environment with money for renewable energy, for negotiating transboundary water agreements and the development of a sustainable land use framework.

This session has seen the Sahtu rejoin the devolution process by signing the agreement-in-principle. We saw the delivery of a Commissioner’s opening address laying out this government’s agenda. We unanimously passed a motion in support of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. We saw the tabling of the Mental Health and Addictions Action Plan, of the Aboriginal Government Engagement Strategy and of the Department of Justice Strategic Plan. We have committed to returning with an Anti-Poverty Strategy. These are accomplishments we can be proud of and which will help us achieve our vision as an Assembly. We have done good work in our first three sessions as a government, but it is only the beginning. There is more work to come.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to extend my good wishes to all Members and all the people of the Northwest Territories. I hope we all have a relaxing, enjoyable summer and look forward to returning to work when we convene again in the fall. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Colleagues, I’d like to draw your attention to some special guests we have in the gallery today.

Please join me in welcoming Mr. Hermann Sitz, Consul General of Germany, and his wife, Mrs. Ninna Sitz, on their first official visit to the Northwest Territories. Welcome to our Assembly for what I hope will be the first of many visits.

The Consul General and Mrs. Sitz will be joining the Premier and myself for the planting ceremony for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee shrubs which will take place during our recess this afternoon. I invite all Members and members of the pubic to join us for this commemorative event.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Item 3, Members’ statements. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Jane Groenewegen

Jane Groenewegen Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My Member’s statement says that I love Yellowknife, but let’s dial that back a little bit. I like Yellowknife. Yellowknife is a great place to visit, but as the Member for Hay River South I don’t begrudge government headquarters. We need to have a capital somewhere and the amenities, attractions and jobs that that brings to our capital. What bothers me is that we have not managed to put more government jobs in other communities.

All Members of this Assembly, including those from Yellowknife, agreed last fall to “increase employment opportunities where they are most needed, by decentralizing more GNWT positions.” This is a priority of the 17th Assembly which is

publicly advertised on our website. Yet it seems that we’re actually going backwards.

In 2012-2013, the Government of the Northwest Territories planned to add 62 new full-time jobs. More than 90 percent of these new positions go to Yellowknife. You guessed it. How much consideration was given to whether any of the 57 full-time positions placed in Yellowknife could be located in other communities? It’s true that these figures don’t account for the loss of positions through sunsets or position deletions, but if you look at the net increase in positions, the picture is even uglier.

After sunsets and position deletions, Yellowknife is up 34 full-time positions and regional centres like Hay River are down four full-time positions, and small communities get a few part-time positions for government service officers but they are also down one full-time position. Yellowknife will benefit from an additional $4.3 million budgeted for positions located there. Meanwhile, regional centres and small communities will see an overall reduction for government salaries and benefits.

We aren’t decentralizing at all. We are once again centralizing government positions and the dollars that go with them in Yellowknife.

Later today I will have questions for the Premier, who is responsible for the decentralization initiative. It is discouraging to those of us from areas where the economy is in a slump, to see this kind of action on the part of this government and we have to do something about it and we have to do something soon.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m pleased to dedicate my last statement today to recognizing the great achievements of Weledeh constituents competing at the 22nd NWT Track and

Field Championships held June 6th to 8th in Hay

River.

I’ll start with Hannah Clarke, who was named first overall in the junior female category and took the gold in the 400, 800 and 1,500 metres, and a bronze in the triple jump. Hannah was also nominated as this year’s Sport North Junior Female Athlete of the Year in speed skating, so she’s an all-season all-rounder.

Congratulations to Greg Littlefair’s new record in the Master’s 500 metre race of 18 minutes 24 seconds. Greg also won gold in the Master’s 800 and 1,500 metre races. Claire Littlefair followed suit for the family, with top-three placings in the Midget 800, 1,500 and 3,000 metre races.

Again in the Master’s category, Michelle Culhane won gold in the 400 metre, and silver in the 800 metre and triple jump. Debbie Meade was a medalist for Master’s in the 800, 1,500 and 3,000 metre.

In the Tyke category, Wren Acorn won top three placings in the 200 metre, high jump and long jump. Our own Myra Mercer claimed gold in the Tyke’s 400 and 800 metre. Anika Affleck took fourth in the Bantam triple jump, 800 and 1,500 metre.

Henry Ksydaig – excuse me if I pronounce that wrong – took bronze in the Bantam high jump. Emily Hodgins won bronze in the Bantam shot put. Linnea Stephenson took bronze in the Bantam discus throw, and Nova Stephenson at fifth in Bantam 800 metres. Logan Bulger silver in the Peewee long jump. Dakkar Henry silver in the Peewee 200 metres, Jill Stewart bronze in the Seniors 800 metres, and Kerry Egan took fifth in the Master’s 800 metres. Last, but not least, Gillian Furniss took silver in the seven years and under Tyke category for 50 metre dash.

For any of the great Weledeh competitors I may have missed, please accept my apologies and my huge congratulations for turning out. Of course, the games were not only possible through the participation of the 1,200 keen athletes, 110 coaches, and an amazing 420 volunteers came through again to organize and present the NWT’s premier summer sporting event in Hay River.

My congratulations to all competitors, coaches, volunteers and spectators on a great event. Mahsi.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to dedicate my Member’s statement to the residents of Nahanni Butte and the community of Fort Simpson, who is reaching out to help them in this time of need. I just wanted to say that even though we are calling an evacuation and flood of Nahanni Butte, I believe that conditions are worse than we think, worse than we thought, especially with the recent media report, that damage cannot be understated.

I was searching for a word last night and this morning, but I think the word that I am looking for is a “disaster” at Nahanni Butte at this point. The power plant may be damaged. The airport is out and has been flooded. The highway is gone. There are no phone lines. The band office has been flooded as well as many homes. I just want to state that we as a government are going to have to reach out, plan for how to best help the residents, give them every support that they need, and over it all we can’t forget that the residents themselves miss their homes, lives and livelihoods. We are going to have to plan, and mitigate, and best try to return them to their homes.

Later on today in oral questions, I will be asking the MACA Minister or other appropriate Minister, as well, how and what steps are we taking to help the residents of Nahanni Butte to help plan and get through this disaster. Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Robert Bouchard

Robert Bouchard Hay River North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to dedicate my speech today to the dedicated team in Hay River that is planning for the Relay for Life this Friday night and early into Saturday morning. The organizers have done a great job putting these teams together and fundraising a great deal of money for cancer research. I would like to thank all of the teams that have been doing fundraising for the last several months in Hay River. As I indicated, they will be walking around the Hay River track and field track overnight. They are dedicated and they have been working hard.

I would also like to share a little bit of a moment. My Dad was affected by cancer this year. He passed away. With that, I would like to wish everybody happy Father’s Day on Sunday as well. Thanks very much, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Wendy Bisaro

Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Tomorrow, June 15th , is World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. I

would like to thank all Members in the House who are wearing purple for doing that in recognition of tomorrow. Elder abuse is a significant threat to the residents of all of our communities. For many years elder abuse has been a private matter, hidden from view and not talked about. Thanks to a significant public education campaign, elder abuse has become a much more higher profile in our society. It is seen as a national problem needing attention.

The NWT Seniors’ Society has been advocating tirelessly to change the situation. As a result of their efforts, elder abuse is getting the recognition it deserves. The GNWT and the public have a better understanding of the magnitude of the problem.

Elder abuse is defined as any kind of physical, sexual, psychological or financial abuse, as well as neglect. Abuse happens when family members extort money from their elders or force them to sign over property.

All elders, male and female, are at risk for abuse as they are easy targets because of physical frailty or, in some cases, diminished mental capacity. Our elders should be respected and honoured. They hold the wisdom, the history and the knowledge of our communities and our territory. We cannot ignore elder abuse, and understanding it gives us the power to fight it.

What’s needed is for society to recognize that elder abuse and neglect does exist and to raise our awareness of the problem. We need to inform health and social service practitioners about elder abuse, ensure that everyone can identify the signs of elder abuse and that they know where to find help. We need to use the media to change attitudes and to reduce stereotyping of the elderly, and we need to educate our elders as well. All of these actions help to bring the problem of elder abuse out into the open, to acknowledge that it’s a problem and then we can start to eradicate it.

In the long term our government must give a higher profile to elders and start to consider elders as a cohort of their own, gather statistical data for elders and fund elders as a distinct segment of our society, much as we do for youth, but paramount is the need to fund a separate program whose aim is to reduce and eliminate abuse of older adults. At the moment, funding comes under the umbrella of a Family Violence Action Plan. Funding for elders needs to be separated out and funded on its own, within the Family Violence Action Plan perhaps, but funded as a separate line item.

In closing, this is Senior Citizens Week in the NWT and I hope all Members take action sometime this

week to show their respect for NWT elders. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.

Daryl Dolynny

Daryl Dolynny Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I love Yellowknife and up until a few minutes ago I loved Hay River, but I’ll click the like button for now.

---Laughter

We just survived a very long budgetary process and it was very well debated and it shows a strong respect for consensus government in action, but yet we can improve. As the Premier said today, we have to find that right balance; and he’s very right in that assumption.

Our success in this budget is due to the public service working behind the scenes tirelessly and providing us all the information that we require to do our jobs properly. To the machinery of the Legislative Assembly, to our clerks, support staff, it was tireless and we are thankful to our Pages. We apologize for the long nights; we have to apologize to the parents as well. To our translators behind the glass here working tirelessly to translate our every word. To our on-site media hosts, which scrutinize every word and report back to the taxpayer what is important. And it could be debated, but this budget may go down in history as the one where most concessions were agreed to by both Cabinet and Regular Members. We’ll let the historians debate that over the summer.

As this House breaks for the summer months, I’d like to wish the best of luck to all of our students writing their final exams, to the students graduating and leaving for the first time and maybe leaving for a repeated semester. To those families, the new families joining us in all our communities, and as we heard today, a special message of support for those families affected by flooding in Nahanni Butte.

Just to let you know, Mr. Speaker, all Members are working during the summer. We’re here to help, and help our constituents. Many of us will have the opportunity to meet you in many of your communities. I myself will have the pleasure of going to Hay River, Enterprise, Behchoko and eventually Fort Simpson.

Walking around Range Lake the other day, I noticed many boats and trailers and recreational vehicles in our yards. So if you find yourself this summer on the land, on our water or on our highways, especially Highway No. 7, please be safe, look out for one another and have a great summer. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister of Justice made a Minister’s statement early in this Assembly regarding the Aboriginal Policing Program. Today I’m very happy to say that we have a young fellow in Inuvik who is participating in that Cadet Program and I look forward to seeing the fruits of his hard work, as he’s been a young guy trying to get into the program for quite a number of years. Although it is a Cadet Program, it’s going to teach him all the skills that he needs to further his career.

The fellow that I’m talking about is Gerald Pascal. I’ve had the pleasure of working with him in the past. He’s a volunteer. He’s a youth ambassador. He’s an Inuit games demonstrator. He also volunteers for the local fire department. He’s very involved and I’m very happy to see him in this program. I’m really excited for all the cadets that are in this program as they move forward.

At this time I would like to wish Gerald and all the other cadet recruits the best of luck and success on the start of their journeys into a great community career that’s going to have a positive impact on our local people and be a role model for our future generations as we move forward here.

It’s a great program. I’m really glad to see it’s going through. I’m really glad to see that our local Aboriginal youth are taking advantage of that.

Just to wrap up here, sometimes we get so wrapped up in our jobs, especially during budget session, we sometimes don’t have time to look at some of the real impacts on our communities and people.

At this time, as we’re closing up the budget session, that we can start to focus on what is a very devastating issue in the Northwest Territories, and that is the Nahanni Butte situation. The residents, leaders, and people that are putting in endless hours to help out these residents. I look forward to putting some focus on that and helping out my colleague from the Deh Cho.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’m asking students in the Deh Cho riding to apply for summer jobs with the territorial government. It is a great opportunity for all students who continue their

studies after graduating from high school. The pay is generally very good, but it does vary depending on the job.

I would also like to remind the students that every department, board and agency does their own hiring, so you need to make the rounds when you’re job hunting. It is a good idea to do that even if you have already applied on-line.

The GNWT summer jobs provide valuable hands-on experience for our students and help them save money for their school terms. The students are also a valuable resource for the government. As the Minister of Human Resources said yesterday, these students are our public servants of the future.

As of last week, 240 students have been hired. About half are Aboriginal Northerners and the other half are non-Aboriginal Northerners. Unfortunately, this government has not hired as many students this year. In 2011 our government hired 286 students and 58 percent of them were Aboriginal Northerners.

I want to highlight this next statistic, so I hope the Minister and all my colleagues are ready for it. In my riding, this government has only hired one summer student so far this year. I’m pretty sure we can do better.

We can also improve the information we collect from the students. Human Resources does not track them by gender, age, or where they are going to school. Our programs to support students are good, but this information could help us do even better.

I want to conclude my final statements of this session with a few words to our students. By all means, continue your studies after high school, take advantage of all the support our government offers, especially Student Financial Assistance, and go hard to get a summer job with the government. They’re looking to hire more students, especially in the Deh Cho riding.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today because I wanted to talk about a conflict. Whether it’s perceived or real shouldn’t be so much the issue. It’s the matter that it’s thought there might be a problem. A constituent has brought to me a complaint where they believe, quite strongly, that there is a perceived bias within the WSCC process. In this case my constituent has informed me that, when they were working through the process, they used to approach this person when they were the claims advisor. But in the way process changes

here, this person has now become the adjudicator. When their file went from we’re here to support you, now they’re ruling against them.

I know good people are at the helm here and it’s not a question of was the right type of decision done ethically, and I don’t view that being the problem. I think it’s more a situation where we’ve allowed ourselves to overlook the possibility of bias, in the context of conflict only, whether again it’s perceived or real.

The act is clear when it comes to staff or workers of the WSCC, and members of the staff and the Appeals Tribunal, are not eligible to be a worker’s advisor. It doesn’t apply the other way around when you work up through the system, because it appears to be silent whether this particular case could be seen in that regard. This is, again, about a perceived conflict and bias and the importance of a fresh, clear and fair type of decision.

We may have ended up with the same result if someone else had heard the case but, quite frankly, we will never know. I’ll tell you why. Because this constituent approached, as I talked to them and the advice I gave them, they had approached the Governance Council for some strategic advice on how to deal with this perceived or real conflict. The Governance Council replied that they felt the decision by the Appeals Tribunal did not improperly or unreasonably apply because of policy or legislation. What’s funny about this situation and how I characterize it is simply because there is no policy on this particular problem.

I will be asking the Minister of WSCC how we will be dealing with this perceived or real type of conflict. All people are asking for is a fair hearing to ensure there was no bias or challenge based on the fact that one time they were in favour of it but now they’re in a deciding role and are now against it. People are only asking for fairness and I think that’s the least we could offer them.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Frederick Blake Jr.

Frederick Blake Jr. Mackenzie Delta

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Beaufort-Delta region is facing a real downturn in the economy over the last couple of years. Residents are very concerned about employment. We have many people in Inuvik who are selling their homes and moving away. Running low on natural gas is only one reason a lot of people are moving.

The residents of the Beaufort-Delta need the support of the 17th Legislative Assembly to

implement our key priority, which is the Inuvik to

Tuktoyaktuk highway. We have begun the process and I am hopeful that we can begin construction within the year.

Some Members have been quick to criticize the building of the Inuvik-Tuk highway. It’s easy for a Yellowknife MLA to be critical. Yellowknife is home to thousands of government jobs and services, and access to government officials is available. There is a life outside of Yellowknife. There is life in my riding of the Mackenzie Delta and in the Beaufort-Delta. We deserve every opportunity to economic development and prosperity that some people in this House take for granted.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Blake. Item 4, reports of standing and special committees. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Standing Committee on Government Operations is pleased to provide its Report on the Review of the Office of the Northwest Territories Languages Commissioner Annual Report 2010-2011 and commends it to the House.

Introduction

The Standing Committee on Government Operations met on May 24, 2012, to review the Northwest Territories Language Commissioner’s Annual Report for 2010-2011. The committee thanks the Languages Commissioner, Ms. Sarah Jerome, and the former Languages Commissioner, Ms. Shannon Gullberg, for their attendance at the public hearing.

2010-2011 Annual Report

Complaints and Inquiries

In 2010-2011 the Languages Commissioner received approximately 100 inquiries and dealt with three complaints under the Northwest Territories Official Languages Act. The standing committee was concerned that the continuing low number of formal complaints may be due to residents’ lack of awareness of their official languages rights and of the complaints process.

However, the committee notes that the report lists several additional concerns brought to the Commissioner which she either referred as outside her mandate or resolved through mediation. The committee encourages the Commissioner to provide more detailed information on complaints

and concerns dealt with that did not go through the complaints process and inquiries in her next report, including information for past years so that trends can be tracked over time.

In view of her experience with complaints and concerns the Languages Commissioner recommended that the government should ensure that members of the public service understand, honour and respect provisions of the Official Languages Act. The committee concurs.

Recommendation 1

The Standing Committee on Government Operations recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories report to this House on measures taken in 2011-2012 and plan actions for 2012-2013 to ensure that the public service understands, respects and honours the provisions of the Official Languages Act.

The committee further encourages the government to use the services of the Languages Commissioner to make presentations and promote her office within the public service.

At the public hearing, Members asked the Commissioner to expand on a statement in her previous report that many of our Dene people are not comfortable in dealing with the complaints. The Commissioner suggested that this attitude might be the result of silencing the Aboriginal people during the residential school era, especially where Dene and Inuvialuit children were forbidden to speak their languages.

The committee recognizes that a legislative complaints process may be intimidating, and encourages the Commissioner to make the process as user friendly and culturally sensitive as possible. Members agree with a further recommendation from the Commissioner, regarding sensitivity to terminology such as the word regime that may have negative connotations for residential school survivors.

Recommendation 2

The Standing Committee on Government Operations recommends:

• that the Government of the Northwest

Territories refrain from the use of the word regime in documents concerning official languages;

• that the Government of the Northwest

Territories consult with residential school survivors and Aboriginal language communities on other terminology that may act as a barrier for Aboriginal people in asserting their rights under the Official Languages Act; and

• that the Government of the Northwest

Territories ensure that public servants are

aware of sensitive terminology in speaking and writing in the area of official languages.

Now I will pass the floor to my colleague, the deputy chair of the committee and Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Nadli. Ms. Bisaro.

Budget

Wendy Bisaro

Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The 2010-2011 budget for the office of the Languages Commissioner was $220,000, up by $77,000 over the previous year. Approximately $35,000 remained unspent because an administrative assistant position was not filled until close to the end of the fiscal year.

At the public hearing, the Commissioner noted that additional funds were received to create and publish a directory of interpreters and translators for all official languages. While some funds again remained unspent, Ms. Jerome said that all of the outstanding surplus would be taken up in the first quarter of 2012-13, with the costs of publishing and distribution of this directory.

Promotion of the Office

Since 2004, the promotion of official languages has been the responsibility of the Minister for Official Languages. However, it is Ms. Jerome’s role to promote the office of the Languages Commissioner, the rights, status and privileges of official languages speakers pursuant to the Official Languages Act, and her availability to answer questions or to investigate complaints.

The office of the Languages Commissioner is accessible through its website, a toll-free phone line, and an office in Inuvik. The office is also promoted through radio advertisements in all official languages, the distribution of promotional items, media interviews and by Ms. Jerome’s attendance at public functions and summer assemblies.

The committee considers the website a critical communications tool and urges the Commissioner to make every effort to keep it lively, current and informative, in all official languages. Members also noted that the toll-free phone line is presently answered in English and suggested that the Commissioner investigate technology that would allow a caller to access the office in all official languages.

A major theme of the Languages Commissioner’s report, stemming from her travels to communities, is concern with the decreasing availability of trained and certified interpreter-translators for Aboriginal official languages in the Northwest Territories. The older generation of well-trained and experienced interpreter-translators is beginning to retire and they are not being replaced.

It is effectively impossible for the Official Languages Commissioner to promote her office without these services. This concern is what motivated the Commissioner to undertake the interpreter-translator directory project.

The Future

Under the Official Languages Act, the Languages Commissioner is empowered to make recommendations for necessary or desirable changes to the act as part of her annual report. In her latest report, the Languages Commissioner commented extensively on the recommendations of the 2008-2009 Review of the Official Languages Act by the 16th Assembly Standing Committee on

Government Operations. That review recommended the creation of designated areas for service provision in Aboriginal official languages, where the languages are indigenous.

The Commissioner recommended that the government move forward with the committee’s recommendations, but consider that not all speakers of Aboriginal official languages reside in their traditional territories. She also noted that residents must often travel outside their home areas to receive services.

At the public hearing, the Commissioner suggested using non-traditional means, such as audio or video conferencing, to provide services in official languages for residents who reside in or travel to the Northwest Territories locations outside their indigenous language area. The Languages Commissioner also believes the government and the Legislative Assembly should have a positive obligation, in legislation, to protect as well as promote official languages. A number of these recommendations were made in the Commissioner’s previous report.

The Standing Committee on Government Operations very much appreciates the Commissioner’s input. As required under the Official Languages Act, the committee will begin its five-year review of the act in February of 2013. Members intend to review and update the previous recommendations for legislative change. Pending this review, the committee wishes to obtain the government’s response to the legislative recommendations of the Commissioner.

Recommendation 3

The Standing Committee on Government Operations recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories review and respond to the Languages Commissioner’s recommendation’s for legislative change, namely recommendations three and four on page 20 of the 2010-2011 Annual Report.

Mr. Speaker, I would now like to return the reading of the report to the chair of the committee, Mr. Nadli, Member for Deh Cho. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro.

Conclusion

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Standing Committee on Government Operations is grateful for Ms. Jerome’s deep commitment to official languages in the Northwest Territories. Members look forward to working together with the Languages Commissioner in the coming year to ensure that NWT residents’ official language rights are respected and honoured.

Recommendation 4

The Standing Committee on Government Operations recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories provide a comprehensive response to this report within 120 days.

That concludes the report of the Standing Committee on Government Operations on the Review of the Office of the Northwest Territories Languages Commissioner, 2010-2011 Annual Report.

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

Therefore, I move, seconded by the Member for Frame Lake, that Committee Report 3-17(3) be received by the Assembly and moved into Committee of the Whole for further consideration.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The motion is in order. To the motion.

An Hon. Member

Question.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Question has been called. The motion is carried.

---Carried

Mr. Nadli.

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to waive Rule 93(4), and move Committee Report 3-17(3) into Committee of the Whole for today. Mahsi.

---Unanimous consent granted

Thank you, Mr. Nadli. Mr. Nadli.

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Standing Committee on Government Operations is pleased to provide its Report on the Review of the Status

Report of the Auditor General of Canada on the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly and commends it to the House.

Introduction

The Standing Committee on Government Operations held its public review on the Status Report of the Auditor General of Canada on March 26 and 27, 2012.

The standing committee thanks the Auditor General of Canada, Mr. Michael Ferguson, and his staff for their work in preparing the report and assisting the committee with its review. The committee also thanks the vice-president of the Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission, the president of the NWT Housing Corporation, the NWT comptroller general, the deputy ministers of Finance, Transportation, Public Works and Services, and Education, Culture and Employment and their staff for their attendance and participation.

Role of the Auditor General of Canada in the NWT

The office of the Auditor General of Canada is a vital source of independent and authoritative advice for the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly.

The Auditor General conducts two main kinds of audits in the Northwest Territories: financial audits and performance audits. Financial audits answer the question: Is the government keeping proper accounts and records and presenting its financial information fairly? Performance audits answer broader questions: Are programs being run with due regard for economy, efficiency and environmental impact? Does the government have the means to measure their effectiveness?

Since 2006, the Auditor General has conducted six performance audits in the Northwest Territories. Completed audits include:

• workers’ compensation, June 2006;

• public housing and home ownership programs,

February 2008;

• contracting for goods and services, June 2009;

• education in the Northwest Territories, May

2010;

• health programs and services, March 2011;

• management of the Deh Cho Bridge Project,

March 2011.

A performance audit of income security programs is currently underway. The Legislative Assembly Standing Committee on Government Operations is mandated to review the reports of the Auditor General of Canada and make recommendations to the Government of the Northwest Territories. The committee’s goal is to help the Legislative Assembly hold the government accountable. Members look for efficiencies, best practices and

gaps, with the intent of improving services to the people of the Northwest Territories. The objective information and advice of the Auditor General are essential tools in Members’ scrutiny of government spending and performance.

The Status Report of the Auditor General of Canada

The status report conveys the results of a follow-up audit which examined the government’s progress in addressing selected recommendations from the first four of six completed performance audits. Audit work was completed on August 31, 2011, and a report was tabled in the Legislative Assembly on February 14, 2012.

The audit focussed on the implementation of recommendations concerning:

• administration of the claims process of the Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission;

• management of public housing and home ownership programs, and the strategic planning process for the NWT Housing Corporation;

• contract

administration with the departments

of Finance, Transportation and Public Works and Services; and

• program monitoring and reporting by the Department of Education, Culture and Employment.

All the program areas covered in this audit have an impact on the lives of NWT residents, in terms of our economy, society and quality of life.

The standing committee is pleased to report that overall, the Auditor General addressed the GNWT’s progress in acting on the selected recommendations as satisfactory. The committee will review progress in each of the areas audited later in this report.

GNWT-Wide Barriers to Effective Program Management

First, however, Members wished to express concern over the Auditor General’s observation, stated in the preface, that the Government of the Northwest Territories faces serious barriers to effective management across programs.

Effective program management requires that:

• performance indicators and program standards

are established;

• performance is measured and monitored

against standards; and

• issues are identified and action taken to improve

programs.

The Auditor General found three key barriers to sound program management, not just for one

program or department, but for most of the GNWT programs and organizations over the last six years. These barriers are:

• inadequate information to manage programs

and make decisions;

• insufficient monitoring of third-party program

delivery; and

• an absence of detailed action plans clearly

setting out how and when organizations intend to implement recommendations made in the audit reports.

Inadequate information to manage programs and make decisions

The Auditor General found that the GNWT’s ability to manage its programs is hampered by a lack of data and by the poor quality of the data collected. As stated in the report, the Auditor General believes GNWT senior managers realize the importance of gathering high quality information on a regular basis. However, pressures to deliver as many programs as possible to as many clients as possible predictably result in pouring scarce dollars and person years into programming instead of into databases, performance monitoring and program evaluation.

The committee understands the pressure on the government to “do anything, but do something.” Members consider, however, that there is little sense in putting more money into a program without good evidence that the resources will achieve objectives.

The Auditor General concludes and the committee concurs that GNWT organizations must make a sustained effort to improve the quantity and quality of data collected.

Insufficient monitoring of third-party delivery

Almost half of GNWT expenditures are allocated to third parties through grants and contributions. Third parties, including, among others, health, education and housing authorities, deliver most services in regions and communities.

The standing committee supports this highly decentralized model of program delivery. Members believe that local and regional organizations, with local and regional boards, are in the best position to understand and respond to residents’ needs in a geographically vast and culturally varied territory.

The committee agrees, nevertheless, that GNWT organizations that delegate program delivery to third parties should regularly monitor their performance. This is the only way to make sure the third parties are following GNWT policies and program standards, including standards for data collection and reporting.

The committee, therefore, concurs with the Auditor General that the GNWT must consistently monitor third-party program delivery.

An absence of detailed plans to implement agreed recommendations

In spite of GNWT commitments to implement recommendations of previous audits, the Auditor General often did not find detailed plans showing how and when the government would take action. Without consistent action plans, it is difficult for the standing committee to assess the government’s progress in implementing agreed recommendations.

When issues have been identified by the Auditor General and the GNWT has committed to address them, the GNWT organizations must provide detailed plans, with actions and time frames for implementing the agreed recommendations.

Need for a coordinated response to government-wide barriers

The barriers to effective program management identified by the Auditor General are government-wide. They must be addressed if the GNWT is to improve programs and services to residents within the current framework of fiscal restraint. The standing committee is well aware that the government cannot report inefficient, ineffective or inequitable programs and services.

Members point out that the Premier is publically mandated to “increase and improve interdepartmental planning, coordination and communication in support of cross-departmental goals and priorities.” Further, one of the 17th Assembly’s cross-departmental government goals is “effective and efficient government.”

The committee also notes that the audits covered in the status report were not financial audits, typically referred to the Department of Finance, but the performance audits, similar to the program reviews for the program review office within the Department of Executive.

The standing committee, therefore, recommends that the Premier and the Department of Executive review the February 2012 Status Report of the Auditor General of Canada and report back to the committee on how the three GNWT-wide barriers to effective program management identified in the report will be strategically addressed.

The committee wishes to stress, again, that the Premier and the Department of Executive should play a major role in coordinating the response of the GNWT-wide findings to the Auditor General’s performance audits and addressing systemic issues.

Recommendation 1

The Standing Committee on Government Operations recommends that the Premier and the Department of Executive:

• review the February 2012 Status Report of

the Auditor General of Canada;

• coordinate the government’s response; and

• propose solutions to overcome the three

government-wide barriers to effective program management identified by the Auditor General.

Members recently received confirmation in the House from the Premier that the Department of Executive will coordinate the response to government-wide findings of the Auditor General’s performance audits. The committee understands that the Department of Executive will work with the Department of Finance and the Refocusing Government Committee of Cabinet to review the report and propose solutions to the identified barriers. Members look forward to receiving the results.

Now I will pass the floor to my colleague, the deputy chair of the committee and Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Ms. Bisaro.

Main Findings

Wendy Bisaro

Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake

Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General’s progress assessment took into account how long government organizations had to implement recommendations and how difficult the recommendations were to implement. The Auditor General cautions that a rating of satisfactory does not mean complete implementation. Similarly, a rating of unsatisfactory does not mean there were no improvements.

While the standing committee is pleased that enough progress has been made for the Auditor General to give the government an overall rating of satisfactory, there is much room for improvement. The audited organizations were considered to have made satisfactory progress in nine of 14 recommendations and one key issue reviewed for this audit, which amounts to a grade of only 60 percent. The committee considers this a bare pass, especially in light of the cautions mentioned earlier.

The Auditor General’s follow-up audit found that satisfactory progress had been made in the following areas:

• The Workers Safety and Compensation

Commission improved its processing of workers’ claims;

• The Northwest Territories Housing Corporation

improved its management of home ownership programs;

• The Department of Finance strengthened its

contracting policy framework; and

• The Department of Education, Culture and

Employment is improving its monitoring of education councils and adult education programming.

The standing committee commends the organizations for these efforts and encourages them to continue.

The Auditor General found unsatisfactory progress in the following areas:

• The Northwest Territories Housing Corporation

has not improved its monitoring of local housing organizations and it has not developed a strategic plan that identifies priorities and links actions to its mandate;

• The Department of Transportation and the

Department of Public Works and Services have taken steps to improve their contract administration. Nevertheless, preventable errors were found in one-third of the contracts audited; and most seriously

• The Department of Education, Culture and

Employment has made unsatisfactory progress in inspecting daycare facilities.

Members were horrified to learn that some ECE-inspected daycare centres were not following health and safety requirements. Worse, the department has no set procedure for following up when inspections identify problems. In the words of the Auditor General, “Without proper follow-up on instances of noncompliance, children are at risk.”

Matters such as a blocked fire exit, chemicals for cleaning left out, or an uncovered electrical outlet may seem trivial on a day-to-day basis, but they can have tragic consequences. The committee regards the safety of children in government-inspected facilities as a sacred trust. There is no acceptable excuse for safety deficiencies in the protection of our children.

Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission

The Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission of the NWT and Nunavut ensures compensation and pensions are awarded to injured workers or their dependents under the Workers’ Compensation Act. In 2010, the WSCC registered 2,233 claims for incidences in the Northwest Territories. The Auditor General identified the administration of the claims process as a key issue for review in the follow-up audit.

In the sample reviewed by the Auditor General, the WSCC made timely decisions and payments for approximately 90 percent of claims, and payments were accurate. The commission has improved its claims processing since 2006 with mandatory plain

language training for claims officers, an on-line training program for new employees and an on-line reference system for standards and procedures.

It was a pleasure to hear the commission’s vice-president, Ms. Gloria Badari, say at the public hearing, “Service to our clients is our top priority.” In 2006, the 15th Assembly’s Standing Committee on

Accountability and Oversight identified a bureaucratic, corporate culture as an underlying obstacle to service improvement. The WSCC clearly has worked hard to meet or exceed the Auditor General’s recommendations and the corporate culture has been reoriented to customer service.

The standing committee is also pleased to see that the WSCC is also continuing to work on service improvements. The Auditor General reported that the WSCC is now working to establish a complete quality assurance and control framework with standards and procedures to ensure claimants are treated consistently, fairly and equally. In 2011, WSCC developed and approved an organization-wide service standard and plan to implement them in 2012.

At the time of the follow-up audit, the WSCC did not have an established process for approving and communicating changes to procedures and standards, a mechanism for reporting errors to senior management, or a comprehensive mechanism to measure and monitor performance. The Auditor General recommended improvement in this area and the committee concurs.

Recommendation 2

The Standing Committee on Government Operations recommends that the Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission:

• develop and implement a more complete

and consolidated quality assurance and control framework for the processing of claims;

• establish a process for approving and

communicating changes to its claims processing procedures and standards; and

• report in detail on its actions in this area to

the Legislative Assembly by the end of fiscal year 2012-13.

Northwest Territories Housing Corporation

The Northwest Territories Housing Corporation is mandated under the Housing Corporation Act to ensure there is a sufficient supply of affordable, adequate and suitable housing to meet the needs of NWT residents. Its operations are highly decentralized. The NWT Housing Corporation delivers home ownership programs through five district offices, while public housing is delivered by 23 independent local housing organizations.

Of all the matters reviewed to date by the Auditor General, the standing committee deems the fair provision of adequate housing to residents in need as a concern second only to the safety of children. The committee finds the number of outstanding deficiencies listed by the Auditor General for this agency to be unacceptable.

Members are aware that the Housing Corporation has experienced organizational upheaval since the 2008 Audit Report. The corporation had to manage the unexpected $150 million upsurge in construction and repair of homes resulting from Canada’s economic stimulus spending to counter the recession. In the same relatively brief period, the public housing rent scale was transferred to the Department of Education, Culture and Employment and then transferred back to the Housing Corporation.

Under the circumstances, it is not surprising, but it is regrettable, that the Housing Corporation was unable to implement many of the Auditor General’s recommendations. The Housing Corporation’s results in this audit provide examples of all three of the government-wide barriers identified by the Auditor General. Now that other major issues are receding and the Housing Corporation has new corporate leadership, the committee expects the Housing Corporation to move quickly to remedy the deficiencies identified by the Auditor General.

Management of the Homeownership Program

On the positive side, the Auditor General rated the Housing Corporation’s progress in the management of the Homeownership Program as satisfactory. The Housing Corporation has evaluated its Housing Choices Program and taken steps to ensure that outstanding mortgage receivables are collected. The corporation has also improved its oversight of home ownership assistance to ensure that policies and procedures are followed.

The committee is glad to hear of these improvements. Members, however, are not entirely satisfied with the Housing Corporation’s progress in collecting its mortgage receivables. In 2007, the Housing Corporation stopped offering mortgages to low-income clients and introduced its Housing Choices Homeownership Program. This left the corporation with a significant number of clients who still owed money on mortgages provided under the older program.

In the earlier 2008 audit, the Auditor General found that 81 percent of Housing Corporation mortgages were in arrears. The follow-up audit found that the Housing Corporation had taken the following steps:

• introducing a repayment options plan;

• engaging legal counsel to issue demand letters;

and

• contacting all clients with repayable mortgages.

By April 2011, 150 of 468 clients chose a repayment option. Committee agrees that the steps taken represent progress, but notes that only one-third of the clients had chosen a repayment option as of last year. The Government of the Northwest Territories and its agencies need every dollar of the amounts owing that they can reasonably receive. The president of the Housing Corporation also considers collection rates lower than acceptable.

Recommendation 3

The Standing Committee on Government Operations recommends that the NWT Housing Corporation:

• continue its effort to collect mortgage

receivables; and

• report annually to this House on the number

of clients who have chosen a repayment option, the total dollar amount of repayments and the total amount still outstanding as of April 1st of each year, starting with the data

as of April 2012.

The Auditor General rated the corporation’s progress in two other important areas as unsatisfactory: monitoring of local housing organizations and development of a strategic plan.

Monitoring of Local Housing Organizations

The Housing Corporation’s unsatisfactory progress in monitoring local housing organizations comprises what are, in the committee’s view, several serious deficiencies. Lack of annual assessments of LHOs, insufficient monitoring of public housing application assessments for compliance with policies, and inadequate reporting of public housing condition ratings

Lack of Annual Assessments at LHOs

The Housing Corporation has universal partnership agreements with local housing organizations which represent the LHOs, which require the LHOs to follow Housing Corporation policies and procedures. Under these agreements, the Housing Corporation is responsible for yearly assessments and the LHOs are required to provide annual audited financial statements and quarterly financial and administrative reports.

The standing committee was not pleased to learn that the Housing Corporation has flouted its own agreements with LHOs. The follow-up audit found that the Housing Corporation has not conducted any annual assessments of LHOs for policy compliance, nor does it have a strategy for doing so. The corporation says it does not have the capacity to conduct these assessments.

Instead, since 2008 the Housing Corporation has directed district offices to enhance their monitoring and reporting of LHO activities to ensure compliance with policies. In January 2011 the

Housing Corporation finalized forms to gather activity data, but did not provide guidance to district offices on when and how often forms are to be completed. In the two district offices the Auditor General’s staff visited, forms had been completed for two of 13 LHOs and partially completed for another two.

Annual assessments of operations are a key requirement of the corporation’s universal partnership agreements with LHOs. The Auditor General notes that by not conducting the required annual assessments, the Housing Corporation has lost the opportunity to have a structured and scheduled way to consistently and thoroughly monitor the LHOs.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to pass the reading of the report to my committee colleague, the Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Mr. Dolynny.

Public housing allocations not monitored for policy compliance

Daryl Dolynny

Daryl Dolynny Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Auditor General examined a representative sample of 47 public housing applications in four LHOs visited. Only 36 percent had been assessed according to key procedural requirements. While some of these discrepancies may be minor, the committee is concerned about the credibility of the public housing allocation process. Applications must be consistently evaluated according to the Housing Corporation policies and procedures by all LHOs, or people will not believe the process is fair.

In 2010, the Housing Corporation began developing a territorial housing information management system which would require LHOs to electronically record applications, point-rating forms and arrears checking. This new centralized system was expected to be operational by April 2012. At the public hearing, the corporation’s representative said the system represents a quantum leap in the Housing Corporation’s ability to monitor LHOs. The Auditor General agreed that this is a positive step but pointed out that the Housing Corporation still does not have a clear picture of the delivery of the public housing program, including LHO compliance and policies and consistency of delivery among LHOs.

The Housing Corporation has also modernized administrative manuals for the LHOs. The manuals, which had not been updated since the 1990s, were to be released in mid-April and made available on-line. Finally, resources were added through the business planning process to improve training and workshops for LHOs.

The committee hopes that these measures will enable the Housing Corporation to report that they are fully implementing the Auditor General’s 2008

recommendation on the regular monitoring and documentation of the public housing allocation process before the end of fiscal year.

Inspection and Reporting on Public Housing Units

The Housing Corporation is responsible for managing public housing and reporting on its condition. The Auditor General found that the unit condition ratings were being completed annually but there was no consolidated system to capture condition rating information. Further, the Housing Corporation was not conducting random inspections to confirm the LHO condition ratings.

The corporation agreed with the concerns expressed by the Auditor General. At the public hearing the president of the Housing Corporation said that this February the Housing Corporation implemented a new process for inspecting units, training inspectors, and monitoring and reporting on unit condition ratings. The new process provides support and training for those completing unit condition ratings. Monitoring and verification of the condition ratings is now taking place through the use of random inspections. Condition ratings will also be linked year over year to help identify major changes during the capital planning process.

In addition, the corporation plans to complete the replacement of its outdated maintenance management operating system, MMOS, in 2012. The new system will improve management and reporting capabilities and be integrated with the Housing Corporation’s financial systems.

The committee is pleased to hear that the corporation is starting to take measures to improve the consistency and accuracy of public housing condition ratings. However, Members are concerned at the length of time it has taken for the work to begin in this area.

The Auditor General noted, finally, that the Housing Corporation has not been monitoring or reporting publicly on the condition of its public housing, either in its annual reports or in separate reports. As of August 31, 2011, the Housing Corporation had not tabled an annual report in the Legislative Assembly since 2007-2008. The corporation was, therefore, noncompliant with both the Housing Corporation Act and the Financial Administration Act. The committee considers it unacceptable for a government funded agency to ignore the law.

The 2008-2009 Annual Report on the NWT Housing Corporation was tabled in February. The Housing Corporation president committed to tabling the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 annual reports during this session of the Legislative Assembly. The Auditor General recommended that the GNWT should prepare and submit annual reports to the Minister in a timely manner. The committee concurs and includes this advice in the following

recommendation on monitoring of the local housing organizations.

Recommendation 4

The Standing Committee on Government Operations recommends:

1. That the NWT Housing Corporation meet its

obligations for consistent and thorough monitoring of local housing organizations under the universal partnership agreements, either by funding the resources to conduct annual assessments of operations or by changing the agreements to specify some other form of structured or scheduled monitoring with a follow-up in cases of noncompliance.

2. That the NWT Housing Corporation improve

its monitoring of and support of local housing organizations and allocating public housing to ensure all applications are consistently point-rated and adequate documentation is on file to support allocation decisions within the 2012-2013 fiscal year.

3. That the NWT Housing Corporation improve

its monitoring, verification and consolidation of public housing unit condition ratings, in order to obtain a complete picture of the condition of its public housing portfolio, within the 2012-2013 fiscal year.

4. That the NWT Housing Corporation fulfill its

statutory responsibility to ensure that the information on the condition of its public housing is publicly available by preparing and submitting annual reports to the Minister for tabling in this House in a timely manner, with all previous years’ reports submitted by the end of the 2012-2013 fiscal year.

The Housing Corporation does not have a complete strategic plan

The Auditor General concluded in 2008, that the NWT Housing Corporation would benefit from a strategic plan in dealing with issues such as budgetary restraints, arrears and vacant units. The Auditor General suggested, and the committee agrees, that a strategic plan should include:

• a clearly stated vision for the organization;

• clearly defined stages for realizing the vision;

• specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and

time-limited expected outcomes;

• high level direction or means to be pursued; and

• financial and human resources to put the plan

into effect.

In the follow-up audit, the Auditor General assessed the corporation’s progress on finalizing its strategic plan as unsatisfactory. The corporation had issued a Framework for Action 2008-2011 in response to

the 2008 recommendation, but this was described as an action plan and part of the strategic planning process rather than strategic plan.

In April 2012 the corporation issued a Building for the Future: Northern Solutions for Northern Housing, subtitled A Strategic Framework for Housing in the Northwest Territories. The document does not contain a detailed plan or clearly defined stages for accomplishing the Housing Corporation’s goals.

Since that time, the corporation has taken some initial steps in implementing its strategic priorities and has improved its annual performance measures reporting. While the Standing Committee on Government Operations would like to see the corporation take a more complete and comprehensive approach to strategic planning, Members are aware that the organization still has much work to do to remedy the other deficiencies identified by the Auditor General. The committee would not want the corporation to devote scarce resources to the production of more paper, rather than ensuring more and better housing for Northerners.

The Auditor General recommended that the Housing Corporation should develop implementation plans for recommendations from the 2008 audit on which progress to date has been unsatisfactory or incomplete. The Standing Committee on Government Operations concurs.

Recommendation 5

The Standing Committee on Government Operations recommends:

1. That the NWT Housing Corporation develop

detailed implementation plans for all of the Auditor General’s recommendations on which progress to date has been unsatisfactory or incomplete, including specific goals, targets, action items, timelines for achieving results, and indicators for measuring progress.

2. That the NWT Housing Corporation provide

information annually in its business plan on how its strategic priorities are being implemented.

3. That the NWT Housing Corporation revisit its

strategic framework within the life of the 17th Assembly, with a view to providing a more detailed plan with clearly defined stages after other deficiencies identified by the Auditor General have been addressed.

Contracting for Goods and Services

The Auditor General’s review of contracting in the Government of the Northwest Territories did not cover the awarding of the contracts, but rather their administration. The Department of Finance is responsible for contracting policy through its

Financial Administration Manual, FAM. Each department is responsible for its own contract administration. In the 2009 audit, the Auditor General found that most of the contracts examined had not been administered according to GNWT requirements, with errors in 57 percent of the contracts examined.

The contracting policy framework has been improved

The Auditor General rates the Department of Finance’s progress on contracting policy framework as satisfactory on balance. The committee encourages the department to continue its work in updating and improving the accessibility of the GNWT Contracting Policy.

In 2009, under the Financial Administration Act, contract authority was delegated to the deputy ministers to designate expenditure and accounting officers and Finance has revised the FAM accordingly. The Auditor General noted that improvement was needed in documenting these delegations. The deputy minister assured Members at the public hearing that this documentation has now been completed.

As well, a vendor complaint process was established in November 2010 to provide for independent contract dispute resolution. The standing committee learned at the hearing that only four complaints have been referred for resolution to date, and all those complaints concern the contract to work processes rather than administrative issues such as timely payment.

Improvement in contract administration is limited

In the 2009 audit, the Auditor General found deficiencies in the contract administration of the Department of Transportation and Department of Public Works and Services. These included:

• receiving goods or services before the contract

was issued;

• not issuing contract change orders according to

GNWT policy;

• exceeding spending authority; and

• approving payments before obtaining required

certifications.

In the follow-up audit, the Auditor General found that both Transportation and Public Works and Services, PWS, had taken steps to strengthen their internal processes through:

• training and procurement at Transportation;

• establishment of a checklist for procurement

files at PWS; and

• workshops across the GNWT on procurement

and contracting at PWS.

However, in a review of sample files from the two departments, the Auditor General found errors in 15 of 44 contracts, or 34 percent. The Auditor General rated progress in contract administration as unsatisfactory.

The standing committee also views this continuing rate of error as unacceptable. As the Auditor General points out, errors in contract administration place the GNWT at risk of overpayment or purchases of inappropriate goods and services. The government cannot afford such mistakes. The Auditor General recommends that these two departments strengthen their contract administration quality assurance processes, and the committee agrees.

Recommendation 6

The Standing Committee on Government Operations recommends:

• that the Department of Public Works and

Services and the Department of Transportation strengthen their quality assurance processes for monitoring adherence to applicable regulations and policies in the administration of contracts; and

• that

these

departments report annually to

the House on the measures taken and their results.

I will now pass the floor to my colleague, the Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Mr. Moses.

Education

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Department of Education, Culture and Employment is responsible for employment and cultural programs, early childhood, primary, secondary, adult literacy and basic education (ALBE) and post-secondary education (PSE), and training in the Northwest Territories. The department shares responsibility for education with eight regional education councils and Aurora College, among other education and training delivery agents.

ECE has made uneven progress in its monitoring of early childhood education

Inspections of daycare facilities

Earlier in this report the standing committee registered its alarm at the Auditor General’s findings with respect to daycare facility inspections. The Auditor General considers ECE’s progress on these inspections to be unsatisfactory.

In the 2010 audit, the Auditor General reported that the Department of Education did not inspect all daycare facilities each year as required by law. The

department responded that this was due to a shortage of staff and committed to developing an electronic tracking and reporting function for inspections within its client management system (CMAS).

In the follow-up audit, the Auditor General found that ECE had started to develop the electronic system but had not yet been able to generate reports on the inspections. The Auditor General reviewed the two most recent inspections for each of the 121 daycare facilities in the NWT, and found that only 90 percent of the facilities had been inspected in 2010. The committee considers these results not just unsatisfactory but unacceptable.

The standing committee is extremely concerned that the Auditor General found “serious issues related to noncompliance with health and safety requirements” in some of the completed inspection reports with no record of follow up. Issues included locked fire exits, chemicals within reach of children, and uncovered electrical outlets. The Auditor General found that the department has no guidelines for following up on inspections when a facility is found to be violating requirements.

The deputy minister noted at the public hearing that the department has taken actions on the issues identified in the inspection reports and has started to develop guidelines to ensure daycare operators adhere to health and safety regulations. The committee considers this response slow at best.

Measuring the impact of early childhood education

Early childhood education is a particularly striking example of the GNWT’s overall problems with data collection. In 2010 the Auditor General reported that ECE was not collecting data on the educational component of daycare programming. The department had not developed a way for early childhood educators to share information with the K to 12 system on the progress of children entering school, nor had the department developed performance indicators to assess whether children who had attended daycare performed better than those who had not.

Further, ECE had not evaluated its 10-year-old Early Childhood Development Framework. After the 2010 audit the department committed to evaluate programming developed under the Early Childhood Development Framework for Action in the 2010-2011 fiscal year. The deadline for completing this evaluation was then pushed to early 2012. This evaluation has not yet been tabled.

In the follow-up audit, the Auditor General found that ECE had introduced the early childhood environment rating scale, used to determine if programming is improving, and completed 16 assessments using the scale. Thirteen daycare facilities had developed quality enhancement plans;

however, the department indicated that it is not yet in a position to revise its early childhood programming because it has not yet collected data on children’s cognitive development, language and communication skills, and emotional and social well-being.

While the Auditor General considers progress in measuring the impact of early childhood education to be adequate, the standing committee would like to see much, much more improvement in this area.

The 17th Legislative Assembly has placed great

emphasis on early childhood development. On May 30, 2012, the Assembly passed Motion 5-17(3) strongly recommending that the Ministers of Health and Education work together to bring forward proposals for a new and comprehensive early childhood development program to begin in the current fiscal year.

The Standing Committee on Government Operations endorses the recommendations of the Auditor General on the inspection of daycare facilities, and adds its own, with respect to measuring the impact of early childhood education. The committee is pleased that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment will now have the resources to implement these recommendations on the monitoring of early childhood education with greater speed.

Recommendation 7

The Standing Committee on Government Operations recommends:

1. that the Department of Education, Culture

and Employment address any outstanding issues of noncompliance identified in the current daycare facility inspection reports;

2. that the Department of Education, Culture

and Employment ensure that inspections of daycare facilities are carried out annually and that immediate action is taken for any identified deficiencies;

3. that the Department of Education, Culture

and Employment address the outstanding issues with regard to measuring the impact of early childhood education, including collection of data on the educational components of daycare programming, information sharing with the K to 12 system, development of performance indicators, and collection of data on children’s development and well-being, and that the department report on these measures annually in its business plan; and

4. that the Department of Education, Culture

and Employment carry out the renewal of the Early Childhood Development Framework in partnership with the

Department of Health and Social Services within the 2012-2013 fiscal year.

Monitoring of Education Councils

Twenty ministerial directives give Northwest Territories education councils detailed direction on the requirements of the Education Act.

In 2010, the Auditor General examined how well the Department of Education, Culture and Employment monitored councils’ compliance with the reporting requirements of the directive of an Aboriginal language and culture-based education (ALCBE). The Auditor General found poor information in reports and lack of follow-up by ECE.

The Auditor General recommended that the department:

• follow up on corrective actions taken by

education councils;

• develop a strategy and timetable for assessing

the effectiveness of education directives; and

• strengthen the reporting requirements for the

ALCBE directive.

The Auditor General considers progress on the monitoring of education councils to be satisfactory, and the standing committee encourages the department to continue its progress in this area.

In the follow-up audit, the Auditor General found that ECE reviews and provides feedback on some reports received from education councils. More follow-up is still required. The department has also established a schedule for assessing the effectiveness of directives, and developed a new reporting template for the Aboriginal language and culture-based education directive that requires more detailed data from schools.

Monitoring of Adult Literacy and Basic Education Programming

In 2010, the Auditor General examined how the Department of Education, Culture and Employment monitors Aurora College’s compliance with the adult literacy and basic education (ALBE) directive and found that many of Aurora College’s reports had limited data on results achieved.

The Auditor General recommended that the department, in collaboration with Aurora College, should:

• establish key performance indicators and

targets for expected results for ALBE programs;

• review the reporting requirements of the ALBE

directive to ensure key information is being collected;

• monitor adherence to reporting requirements;

and

• take action to improve program results.

During the follow-up audit, the Auditor General found the evaluation of the ALBE program is underway for completion by December 2011. The ALBE review was completed in December 2011 and was reviewed by the Standing Committee on Social Programs.

Although the department has not yet fully implemented the recommendations of the 2010 audit, the Auditor General considers ECE’s progress on monitoring adult literacy and basic education programming to be satisfactory, and recommended that the department develop implementation plans for the recommendations where progress is incomplete.

The standing committee concurs with the recommendation, but remains concerned about the measurement of results for the ALBE program. During the public hearing the department minister of ECE indicated that one obstacle to better monitoring and reporting in this area is Aurora College’s obsolete student record system. The ALBE review also revealed that the program does not have adequate financial information available with which to make more effective and directed programming allocation decisions, in part because of the inconsistent and non-standardized reporting systems that currently exist.

Given the continuing low levels of adult literacy in the Northwest Territories, and the relationship of literacy to many social and economic indicators, it is critical that the government’s funds be spent on effective adult education programming, and that the government has efficient and reliable means to measure program effectiveness.

Recommendation 8

The Standing Committee on Government Operations recommends:

1. that the Department of Education, Culture

and Employment develop implementation plans for the Auditor General’s recommendations on adult literacy and basic education for which progress today is incomplete, with specific goals, targets, action items, timelines for achieving results and indicators for measuring progress; and

2. that the Department of Education, Culture

and Employment develop and implement a plan for the improvement of data collection and quality, for adult literacy and basic education, student achievement and financial information in the 2012-2013 fiscal year.

I will now pass the floor back to the chair of the committee, the Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli, to conclude the report. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Moses. Mr. Nadli.

Conclusion

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

The standing committee again thanks the Auditor General of Canada and his staff for their work in monitoring the progress of government organizations, and implementing the recommendations of previous performance audits. The committee also respects and appreciates the work of the organizations in making improvements in the programs and services for Northwest Territories residents.

Throughout the Auditor General’s status report the committee heard, again and again, the cross-departmental themes of inadequate information to manage programs and make decisions, insufficient monitoring of third party program delivery, and the absence of detailed action plans to implement audit recommendations. The committee would add a fourth barrier: That of the constant struggle to provide consistent guidelines and training for those who perform the task of data collection and program monitoring.

The committee concludes that the underlying issue is a need for greater GNWT-wide coordination in responding to these barriers. If people from different departments and agencies are talking to each other, perhaps someday the government’s management information system will also do so.

Recommendation 9

The Standing Committee on Government Operations recommends that the government provide a comprehensive response to this report within 120 days.

That concludes the report of the Standing Committee on Government Operations on the Review of the Status Report of the Auditor General of Canada to the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly.

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

Therefore, I move, seconded by the Member for Frame Lake, that Committee Report 4-17(3) be received by the Assembly and moved into Committee of the Whole for further consideration. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The motion is in order. To the motion.

An Hon. Member

Question.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Question has been called. The motion is carried.

---Carried

Mr. Nadli.

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to waive Rule 93(4) and move

Committee Report 4-17(3) into Committee of the Whole today. Mahsi.

---Unanimous consent granted

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Committee Report 4-17(3) is moved into Committee of the Whole for consideration today of reports of standing and special committees. Mr. Bromley.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Your Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures is pleased to provide its report on the introduction of electronic petitions in the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories and commends it to the House.

Introduction

Petitions are formal requests submitted to a Legislature. They are a vehicle for the public to influence policy-making and legislation and to bring their concerns to the attention of the Assembly. The act of petitioning has been described as the oldest of parliamentary forums. Citizens have used them for hundreds of years in the western parliamentary tradition, to state their grievances and ask their government for help. Today many jurisdictions permit electronic as well as handwritten petitions to be presented in the Legislatures.

On June 4, 2009, the Legislative Assembly directed the Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures to undertake research to determine the consequences of allowing the use of electronic petitions in the Northwest Territories. The Assembly further requested that the committee pay particular attention to concerns regarding security of the petition site and the authenticity of on-line signatures.

The Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures examined issues related to technology, implementation and cost. Committee looked to other jurisdictions with on-line petition sites, particularly the Parliaments of Quebec, Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania in Australia, and the Scottish Parliament.

In Committee Report 1-16(1), the standing committee recommended the implementation of an electronic petition pilot project to enhance the traditional petition system currently in place. On May 20, 2010, the Legislative Assembly adopted the motion to implement an electronic petition pilot project to run from October 1, 2010, to June 30, 2011. A second motion further recommended that the Office of the Clerk undertake an evaluation of

the project at completion and that the evaluation be provided to the 17th Legislative Assembly.

The present report presents the results of this evaluation and makes recommendations for the future.

Mr. Speaker, with your concurrence, I will now pass this on to my colleague Mr. Hawkins, to continue the report.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Mr. Hawkins.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Mr. Speaker, I am completely surprised, but I am happy to help.

Electronic Petition Pilot Project Guidelines

The following guidelines were established for the pilot project.

1. The Assembly would maintain the current

process of paper petitions.

2. Electronic petitions could be used on their own

or could be combined with the traditional paper petition.

3. The electronic petitions would resemble the

Assembly website as closely as possible.

4. The Assembly would approve the format of the

electronic petition before it was posted on-line.

5. An acceptable petition must contain a proper

and respectful request of the NWT government or Minister to take or refrain from taking some action in response to an alleged grievance.

6. Aside from the petition format identified above,

Assembly staff would not comment on, verify or amend any information in the body of the petition.

7. As with traditional petitions, electronic petitions

require that a Member present the petition to the House.

These guidelines created as much uniformity as possible between the rules and the procedures already established for written petitions and the use of electronic petitions.

Conditions of Use

The following conditions governing the use of electronic petition websites were prominently displayed on the site:

1. A person may only join a petition once.

2. A petitioner must not use a false name.

3. A petition must be submitted in good faith.

4. A petition must not contain potentially libelous,

false or defamatory statements.

5. A petition must not contain matters protected by

a court order, subject to an appeal process or legal actions.

6. A petition must not contain material which is

commercially sensitive, confidential or which may cause personal distress or loss.

7. A petition must not contain names of individual

officials or public bodies.

8. A petition must not contain the names of

individuals or provide information which will easily identify an individual in relation to a criminal accusation.

Security and Privacy

The following security measures were implemented on the on-line petition site:

1. The petitioner must register on the site by

creating a user name and password.

2. The petitioner must supply an address, e-mail

address, town, postal code and country.

3. The petitioner’s name and community were the

only personal information available to the public when viewing an electronic petition.

4. E-mail confirmation was sent to the principal

petitioner to advise that the petition was posted and ready to accept signatures.

5. A limited number of entries for each Internet

address was permitted.

6. Electronic signatures were reviewed in order to

eliminate obvious faults, names and multiple entries.

7. For the purpose of presentation in the House,

the number of electronic signatures from the Northwest Territories must be clearly identified.

Statistics

The pilot project was implemented in October 2010 and ran until June 30, 2011. Year over year comparisons show that there is some modest demand for the on-line petition format in the Northwest Territories.

• In 2007-08, there were 10 paper petitions.

• In 2008-09, there were nine paper petitions.

• In 2009-10, there were nine paper petitions.

• In 2010-11, when the electronic petition project

was implemented, 10 petitions were submitted, of which half were electronic. Two of these were combined with the traditional paper format.

• In 2010-11, there were a total of 2,869

signatures gathered on petitions, just over one-third of which were electronic.

At this particular time I will be passing the report on to Mr. Bromley, MLA for Weledeh.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Mr. Speaker, thanks to my colleague for filling in as my voice gave out there.

Recommendations

In a jurisdiction so large and geographically remote, the standing committee believes there is value in providing residents with greater opportunities to interact with their government. The public appeared to appreciate and utilize the pilot site as one place to go to view or sign various petitions, offering greater accessibility and transparency to citizens of the Northwest Territories. No insurmountable concerns arose during the pilot project. The committee, therefore, considers that this Assembly should offer an ongoing electronic petition service and revise the rules of the Legislative Assembly accordingly.

Recommendation 1

The Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures recommends that this Legislative Assembly approve the implementation of an ongoing electronic petition service to operate in conjunction with the traditional petitions, and that the electronic site be operational for the fall 2012 sitting of the Legislative Assembly.

Recommendation 2

The Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures recommends that any necessary amendments to the rules of the Legislative Assembly to permit the use of electronic petitions be drafted and presented for the approval of the Legislative Assembly during the fall 2012 session.

That concludes the Report of the Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures on the Introduction of Electronic Petitions in the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Therefore I move, seconded by the Member for Great Slave, that Committee Report 5-17(3) be received by the Assembly and moved into Committee of the Whole for further consideration. Mahsi.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The motion is in order. To the motion.

---Carried

Mr. Bromley.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

I seek unanimous consent to waive Rule 93(4) and move Committee Report 5-17(3) into Committee of the Whole for today. Mahsi.

---Unanimous consent granted

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Committee Report 5-17(3) is moved into Committee of the Whole for consideration for today.

Item 5, returns to oral questions. Item 6, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Mr. Premier.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am very pleased to recognize the following visitors to the gallery, the Coalition Against Family Violence members Lorraine Phaneuf and Annemieke Mulders; Samantha Dechief with the Status of Women Council; Jo Sobool, Salvation Army; Jean Basil, Native Women’s Association; Lydia Bardak, John Howard Society; Mira Hall, Centre for Northern Families; David Wasylciw, Men for Change, Northwest Territories; and Gail Cyr, our women’s advisor. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Premier McLeod. Mr. Ramsay.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I welcome all the visitors in the gallery and thank them for their patience. I wanted to recognize a constituent I had in the audience today, Ms. Mira Hall. Thank you.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Bromley.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also would like to recognize the Status of Women folks here today, Lorraine Phaneuf, Annemieke Mulders; Jean Basil, Lydia Bardak and Gail Cyr, a resident of Weledeh.

Also, Mr. Speaker, I’d particularly like to recognize Majors Jo and Dale Sobool of the Salvation Army. Both of them will be leaving Yellowknife on Sunday to take their new posting with the Salvation Army in Penticton, BC. In addition to their ministerial responsibilities, the Sobools have, through the Salvation Army, managed the Bailey House, the men’s transition home, withdrawal management services, the soup kitchen and food bank, organized the Christmas food hamper drive and toy distribution, and made a superb contribution in their work with other NGOs and other community members and volunteers. Please join me in saluting them. Thank you.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Mr. Dolynny.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

Daryl Dolynny

Daryl Dolynny Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, I’d like to welcome the visitors in the gallery and the Status of Women Council over here. Earlier today we had one of our members from Range Lake, Mr. David Wasylciw here. I’d like to pay tribute and respect to our Pages here from Range Lake, Dakota Szarkowicz and Brandon Jacobs, for a job well done.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Mr. Lafferty.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to thank all the Pages that are working here today and in the previous week, most specifically in the Tlicho constituency: Belinda Simpson and Patrina Tom out of Wekweeti and their chaperon Mary Adelle Football. I would just like to thank them for being here.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Ms. Bisaro.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

Wendy Bisaro

Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to welcome the members of the Coalition Against Family Violence, those that are still here and those that left already. I’m glad to see that you were here. I’d like also to recognize a couple of Frame Lake Pages who have been working very hard today and I think other days within this session: Conor Holick and Ryan O’Brien. Thank you to them specifically for the work they’ve done and thank you to all the Pages that have helped us with this long-day session.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Mr. Hawkins.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, wish to acknowledge the fine group we have in the gallery for the Coalition Against Family Violence and, more specifically, the group from the Status of Women. Mr. Speaker, one of our Pages, Heather Flannigan, I would like to recognize as well. Finally, I would like to recognize my favourite table officer and I have no doubt yours as well, Anthony W.J. Whitford. One of our favourite guys here. Thank you.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Angus Wilson was our public affairs summer student last year and he’s here in the Legislative Assembly. Thank you for last year, Angus, and welcome back to the Legislative Assembly.

Also, again, I’d like to welcome Consul General of Germany Mr. Hermann Sitz and his wife Ninna again in the public gallery today.

Colleagues, we’ll be taking a short recess and I invite everyone to join the Premier and myself for the planting of our Amber Jubilee Ninebark shrubs, in honour of the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. These shrubs were a gift from the province of Manitoba to all Canadian jurisdictions. They were newly created and named in honour of the 2012 Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

I invite all Members and guests to please join us outside for the planting of the shrubs. Thank you.

---SHORT RECESS

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

I call the House back to order. Item 7, acknowledgements. Item 8, oral questions. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Jane Groenewegen

Jane Groenewegen Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I indicated in my Member’s statement, I think there has been an incredible growth in our public service and I’m sorry to say that I believe that growth has been focused disproportionately in Yellowknife. Our government talks about decentralization, but we don’t really see it happening.

Mr. Speaker, in 1999-2000 budget year, the total budget for compensation and benefits for our public service was $139 million. Today it’s $294 million. Mr. Speaker, I believe, as I said, because the numbers are really hard to compare, I think I can say with some certainty that the majority of that growth has taken place here at headquarters. New positions should be the easiest to decentralize as they don’t involve existing employees that have to be uprooted and moved. The GNWT is expected to establish more new positions as a result of devolution. What is the process of this government for assessing whether new positions can be located outside of Yellowknife? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Premier

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think at one time the Legislative Assembly had a rule of thumb that before any positions were established in Yellowknife, there would have to be a comparable position established elsewhere. I think in this Legislative Assembly we make the rules, so it would be up to us to decide. Personally, I think that you put the positions where it makes the most sense to have them located. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Jane Groenewegen

Jane Groenewegen Hay River South

Thank you. That doesn’t give me a lot of comfort that we put the positions where it makes the most sense to have them located, because once the expansion of the public service occurs and there’s more and more concentration of positions at headquarters, there’s an argument, I suppose, and a rationale that could be made for putting new positions close by the ones that are existing and that situation just continues to feed on itself.

What we need is political will on the part of our leaders to see a fairer distribution of government resources, including positions. So whether it be individual positions, new positions, units of positions, we need to hear about the creation of a policy that would allow all government positions to be examined department by department for the availability of positions to be transferred outside the capital. Thank you.

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Premier

Thank you. I’m pleased to hear the Member offer that we should be looking at all positions, because that’s what in fact we will be doing. We will be looking at all the positions that we have with the Government of the Northwest Territories, and this government has committed to, and it is a priority of this government to see the decentralization, and committed to the Standing Committee on Priorities and Planning that we would work very closely with all of the Members as we go forward in implementing this priority. Thank you.

Jane Groenewegen

Jane Groenewegen Hay River South

I thank the Premier for that. By the next time that we reassemble ourselves here together to do work for a period of time, it will be to work on the business plans for the following year. I’d like to ask the Premier, would it be possible on a department-by-department basis to have identified positions that could be considered for decentralization by the beginning of our business plan deliberations that will start this fall. Thank you.

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Premier

Thank you. As we reviewed the business plans, we had made that commitment, that when we reconvene in the fall, we will have all the information available to allow us to make some decisions, establish some criteria and we will be doing inventories of all of the available housing, available office space throughout the Northwest Territories. We have asked our deputy ministers to identify opportunities for decentralization and, obviously, we have to take the employees into consideration and we will be looking at reviewing our Affected Employee Strategy to make sure that the best interests of protected employees are looked after as well.

Jane Groenewegen

Jane Groenewegen Hay River South

Thank you. I think the Premier is reiterating some things that have been told to committee, but I do want it on the public record here in the House for the people of the Northwest Territories to hear, as well, and I think if left up to the public service, the initiative of decentralization will not happen. So I think that they need clear political direction from this government, from this Premier, from these Cabinet Ministers that this is a task to be undertaken with all seriousness. We would like to see some progress on this. So I would like to again ask the Premier if he will have, associated with department’s business plan by the fall, positions identified for potential decentralization. Thank you.

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Premier

Thank you. We have committed to doing that and we’ll be doing exactly that when we convene in the fall. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen. Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Given the seriousness of the situation in Nahanni Butte and the residents, I’d like to ask the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, who is also in charge of emergency measures, I believe, given the seriousness of the situation, what is the government’s plan moving forward to get the community up and running again? Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. McLeod.

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We do plan on assessing the damage that’s in Nahanni Butte. We would like to do an initial assessment and then do a more detailed assessment once the water recedes, and we’ll work with the Member and the community to see how we go on a go-forward basis. There’s obviously going to be a lot of damage there and we need to assess that and work with the community, find out where we can possibly access some money for the community to help them deal with the damages they face. Thank you.

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

Thank you very much. Given that as well that we were tied up here in Yellowknife doing our budgetary session, I’d like to invite the ministry over to Fort Simpson to meet with the residents and perhaps have a look at the community as well. Thank you.

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you. We have committed, or we will commit to going into the community. As a matter of fact, we will go into the community of Nahanni Butte on Monday and we’ll have some senior officials from the different departments that have infrastructure there. We’ll also be joined by our colleague. The honourable Deputy Premier has agreed to accompany them and we’d like to invite the Member and the chief of the community along also. This will give us an initial idea of some of the damage that’s done. As I said before, we’ll be able to go in afterwards and do a follow-up and do a more detailed assessment of the damages in Nahanni Butte. Thank you.

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

Thank you very much. Of course, the weather and time permitting, I’d like to extend that offer, as well, so that we can meet with the residents that were brave enough to remain in the community, meet with them to see what their needs are and see how we can be helpful. As well, I’m willing to prepare and organize a meeting for the residents that are in Fort Simpson. Perhaps we can meet with them to see their needs, because now it’s actually a long-term issue. So if they’re willing to meet with the residents at both places, I’d be happy. Thank you.

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you. We’d be pleased to meet, permitting we’re able to meet with the residents that are still in Nahanni Butte, and then once back in Simpson, I think they’ve committed to meeting with the residents from Nahanni Butte that are in Simpson. So we look forward to that opportunity to have some discussion with them as to some of the plans and how we’re going to move this forward and how we’re going to help them with some of the losses that they’ve suffered. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I know that the Emergency Coordinating Committee – I commend them all and everybody involved – that their task was evacuation and safety first. Would this be the same committee that’s looking at the long-term efforts of Nahanni Butte, or will there be a task force set up on how we best manage the relief of the community and restoring the community? Thank you.

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you. Again, I’m with the Member. I do commend the work that’s being done by the committee and Nahanni Butte and the residents of Fort Simpson. Obviously, this committee would need to sit down and have a discussion as to some of the ways we can mitigate any further disasters.

The one thing I can point out is the possibility of a new federal government program called the Disaster Mitigation Program. It’s for situations such as these, where communities are prone to flooding. We don’t know the exact details yet. We should have more information by the middle of summer. So once we get that information, we’ll be glad to share it with all Members of this House, and we’ll see how we’re able to access the money to prevent some of these disasters or be more ready for them if they were to happen again. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Frederick Blake Jr.

Frederick Blake Jr. Mackenzie Delta

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As mentioned in my statement, I’d like to ask the Minister of Transportation a couple of questions. What progress has been made on the Inuvik-Tuk highway over the last nine months? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Blake. The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Ramsay.

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We continue to pursue the completion of the environmental assessment and that is currently underway. We’ve also done a great deal of geotechnical analysis on the route and are working

with both the community leadership in Tuktoyaktuk and Inuvik. Thank you.

Frederick Blake Jr.

Frederick Blake Jr. Mackenzie Delta

Thank you. As many of the First Nations up there and also the Inuvialuit have land claims in place which are constitutionally protected, I’d like to ask the Minister, once a project is set to begin, will the Minister be willing to enter into negotiations for 50 percent of the work of this project.

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

Thank you. Those questions on procurement remain outstanding and we do have to look at that. As soon as we get a better indication of what the road is going to cost – and we’re going to get those figures when we’re done the environmental assessment, we’re done the geotechnical analysis – we will get a better determination of what the road will cost. We still have to have some further discussions with the federal government on funding and we intend on doing that soon. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Nadli.

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today I made a statement in terms of summer students, students that spend the time and sacrifice going out to school and coming back for the summer and trying to work and save their money so that they can go back with a good savings account. My question is to the Minister of Human Resources. What kind of summer jobs are available for summer students for the communities that I represent? Mahsi.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The Minister of Human Resources, Mr. Abernethy.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m actually not aware of any specific jobs in the riding that the Member represents. I know that one summer student has been hired. The Premier has given the Ministers direction to hire as many students as can be afforded and as operational requirements allow. So we will be working to hire as many students as we can throughout the Northwest Territories.

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

Thank you. My question now is: Why is there only one student that was hired from my constituency? Mahsi.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Thank you. I don’t know. I will talk to my ministerial colleagues. We will talk about opportunities that are out there, and the Premier has directed us to look at not just Yellowknife, but all communities in the Northwest Territories where jobs exist and to hire as many students as we can. So I’ll certainly bring your message forward to the Cabinet table. Thank you.

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

Thank you. My final question is: Is there a target number that the government is aiming for in terms of hiring students? I know there was a target, but for this summer is there a target that this government is aiming for? Mahsi.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Thank you. I believe last year we got about 280, 281, 282, somewhere around there. So far this year we’ve hired 241. I’ll have an update of numbers for all Members tomorrow. It continues to move. We hope to hire as many as we can. We’d obviously like to see numbers similar to what we’ve had in the past, but as we’ve indicated, there are obviously some financial limitations and the department will be hiring as many students as they can both afford and that there’s work for.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Wendy Bisaro

Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question today is addressed to the Minister responsible for Homelessness. Approximately a year ago now, Nick Falvo produced a report entitled Homelessness in Yellowknife: An Emerging Social Challenge. They had done a study of homelessness in Yellowknife and had come up with a number of recommendations. In December, about six months ago, I asked the Premier some questions about whether or not the government was going to be reviewing the recommendations in the report, and the Premier advised that yes, they would. During business plans when we were discussing the Housing Corporation, I asked the Minister responsible for Homelessness if they would be reviewing the Falvo recommendations from the report and he advised they would. I would like to at this point ask the Minister whether or not the Housing Corporation, who is responsible for Homelessness, whether or not they have, at this point, been able to look at the five recommendations from the Falvo report of about a year ago.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Minister responsible for homelessness, Mr. Robert McLeod.

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have looked at the report. We have looked at many of the recommendations that have been made, as we listen to all the recommendations that are made from people in and from the Northwest Territories. We’ve had an opportunity to look at it.

Wendy Bisaro

Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake

I thank the Minister for telling me that yes, they’ve had a chance to look at it. There were five recommendations in the report. Three of

them were addressed to the Minister responsible for Homelessness. One talked about accountability and the creation of a homelessness secretariat; another one talked about keeping the Yellowknife Homelessness Coalition advised; the third one talked about establishing a working group to develop shelter standards. There was one addressed to the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation – I think the Minister for Homelessness knows that Minister – about creating more affordable housing. I would suggest that we probably have the creation of a homelessness secretariat, at least the start, with a dedicated person within the Housing Corporation. But in terms of establishing a working group to develop shelter standards, is that something that is on the plan or the radar or is that something that the Housing Corporation is going to be looking at?

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

While we have a group that looks at shelter standards called the NWT Housing Corporation, who is now responsible for the homelessness files, we use that opportunity and expertise that we have there. The Homelessness Coalition, the Member pointed out that we are going to have a dedicated person that will be coordinating the homelessness activities across the Northwest Territories. There’s progress made on that. As far as how we’re going to deal with homelessness, we think public housing is a good start. Obviously, there’s more work to do. One of the things we’re going to task our new coordinator to do, is try to gather all the information that’s out there to help us best determine how we’re going to further deal with the homelessness issue.

Wendy Bisaro

Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake

Thanks to the Minister. I appreciate that there needs to be some background work done. I also appreciate the Minister’s comment that the Housing Corporation is the one that should be developing shelter standards. I look forward to some work on that from the Housing Corporation, presumably in the next year or so. One of the recommendations talked about creating more affordable housing, including more independent living support units. The Minister mentioned that he thinks public housing is part of the solution to alleviating homelessness. Can I ask the Minister in terms of independent living units, whether or not, that is something which the Housing Corporation will consider to try and alleviate homelessness.

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

This is one that I can commit the Member will have a look at. I think there have been some programs like this tried in the past, with different degrees of success. I know there were a couple of them that were actually not turned back into public housing but were renovated and turned back into the group that built these units. There have been some attempts out there to try this; however, it’s something that we have to look at because we do have a wide need across the Northwest Territories as far as affordable housing

goes. I will commit to the Member that as part of the overall picture and being new in this portfolio and just taking it on into the Housing Corporation, we’re going to need to do a little bit of work. I can commit by fall we’ll have a plan put together for sharing with the Members.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.

Wendy Bisaro

Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks to the Minister. He’s anticipated my next question, my usual question of when, so I appreciate that we’re going to get something in the fall. I guess I would like to know from the Minister, in gathering the information, who are they going to consult with to try and get as much information as possible?

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

We’ll do the work that’s needed. Obviously, there are some groups in the Northwest Territories that do some fairly good work as far as dealing with the homelessness. It would be wise of us to have some discussions with them, get their input, and get the input from folks all across the Northwest Territories, because if anybody knows the conditions of homelessness in the Territories it would be the folks across the Northwest Territories, especially those in the larger centres that are seeing a migration of people coming into the communities. We’ll have discussions all across the Northwest Territories, and when we update Members in the fall, we will provide a list of all those groups that we have talked with.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Daryl Dolynny

Daryl Dolynny Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today will be for the Minister of Transportation. We heard lately about the extra – if anyone hasn’t been paying attention – $10 million that will be required by this government to complete the bridge for its, I can’t remember how many times completion, but to allegedly complete the bridge on a date in the future. Can the Minister indicate to us when we would expect to see these so-called extra crews on site to do all this extra work? They were talking about working around the clock, two shifts, 24 hours per day. Can the Minister indicate when this will happen?

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The honourable Minister responsible for Transportation, Mr. David Ramsay.

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Minister of Transportation

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That has been the case on the project for the past two weeks. We’ve been two crews working 20 hours a day and when concrete begins to be poured here shortly, that will increase, undoubtedly, to 24 hours a day construction on that project.

Daryl Dolynny

Daryl Dolynny Range Lake

That’s good to hear that we’re moving on that project as we were promised. Anyone who works with paving clearly understands that paving requires a certain temperature for pavers to go and actually do the road and it has to be warm enough to do that road. Can the Minister indicate to the House here when is the last possible date, not predicting weather, but there’s a window of time when paving has to be done and it has to be done in temperature. Can we get some sense of when paving should be completed by to visualize this project going forward?

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Minister of Transportation

There are various options that could come into play. It could be paved in sections as it’s complete. If it doesn’t happen that way, it will happen in September, weather permitting. There’s always cold surfacing that could happen. There’s technology out there now that would allow it to be done in colder weather. Optimum conditions and our expectation is that would be done by mid-September.

Daryl Dolynny

Daryl Dolynny Range Lake

That’s good. I’m glad to hear we have some plans happening and plan B. The next question has to do with our plan B process. If by chance – and I’m trying not to be hypothetical in the question, I’m trying to be forthright here – the date of the opening of this bridge is not completed, does the government have a plan B in place for this?

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Minister of Transportation

That very much is a hypothetical question. Our expectation is the bridge will be open this coming November. I thank the Member for his question but it is a hypothetical question.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Dolynny.

Daryl Dolynny

Daryl Dolynny Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don’t believe it was hypothetical. Anyone in construction or building has plans Bs and Cs just to make sure we have contingency plans. That said, I will be asking that question, I’m sure, later on in the Assembly.

Can the Minister be a bit more clairvoyant as to which date the government is proposing that this bridge be built and open for public? Hansards have a couple dates in there. We’ve seen the 24th . I’ve

heard the 26th . Can the Minister be a bit more clear

as to the AIP, this new agreement, which date is circled on the calendar for people to be excited about?

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Minister of Transportation

Our expectation is that could happen sometime in November. To be on the safe side, I would say the last week of November.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today in my Member’s statement I talked about a perceived or real process problem of potential conflict. Perceived or real are about the same in this type of business. It’s about the integrity of our particular system. The folks I’m talking about in my examples, I know are all good and honourable people and they certainly work to do the best job that they can. My questions will be directed to the Minister responsible for WSCC.

Knowing that the Governance Council is well within its authority to make rules and procedures regarding conflict of interest, and with respect to that, it would only seem reasonable, therefore, for the Minister to request the WSCC to ensure the board directs those type of policies to be drafted. Would the Minister be willing to investigate this particular situation, ensure that conflict of interest policies apply to all of their adjudicating officers under the act under WSCC?

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister responsible for the Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission, Mr. Jackson Lafferty.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. With this particular case, the Member brought it to my attention and I did forward it to WSCC Governance Council immediately to find out if there is a perceived conflict of interest. At this point it is a perceived conflict of interest and they came back saying they don’t see any perceived conflict of interest. There wasn’t any correlation between the clientele and the worker at that time. There is no connection there. The word that came back is that they don’t foresee any conflict of interest on this particular case. I will be dealing with this case with the Governance Council as we move forward on other potential perceived conflicts of interest.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

I appreciate the answer from the Minister but the Governance Council, as I pointed out earlier, had already felt the decision of the Appeals Tribunal was not improper and unreasonable as to how it applies to the policies. Due to a fair bit of research we have been doing, we have not been able to find a conflict policy for it to apply to. In other words, they didn’t breach the policy because there is no policy. Ultimately, that is the question. It’s not about the specific example of names when I say this case; it’s about the bigger picture of how we deal with them in the future. Therefore, I restate the question in a different way.

Would the Minister be willing to investigate the need for the conflict of interest policy, and to ensure that one is established under the authority given to

the Governance Council, to apply to all its adjudicated officers under the WSCC Act?

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

I’ll definitely be meeting with the WSCC Governance Council – I’m planning to meet with them anyway – and I will definitely be addressing this particular topic.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mr. Hawkins.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

I’ll decline. The Minister answered the question satisfactorily.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Frederick Blake Jr.

Frederick Blake Jr. Mackenzie Delta

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Not too long ago I believe we learned a lot from the province of Alberta when they were faced with forest fires. I’d like to ask the Premier, will the Premier and Cabinet set up a disaster fund for communities that are directly affected by natural disasters such as floods, forest fires and landslides.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe we have an assortment of disaster funds that we can call upon. I think the biggest one is the arrangement we have with the Government of Canada where they have a disaster fund. We do have a Forest Fire Disaster Fund, mainly for harvesters. We do have a Harvester Disaster Fund for hunters and trappers that have acts of God causing them to lose equipment. I believe through MACA we have emergency funding that can be called upon if required.

Frederick Blake Jr.

Frederick Blake Jr. Mackenzie Delta

Many times when we have these funds available to the communities, there are a lot of barriers. I’d like to ask the Premier and Cabinet if they could please not put so much red tape on the communities that they can access this funding.

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

As a matter of fact, that is the very reason why we have a Reducing Red Tap Initiative that we’re doing through the Refocusing Government Cabinet committee. In most cases, these disaster funds, the only requirement is that they be acts of God or natural disaster. For the Harvester Fund, you have to show that you have actually earned some revenue from hunting and trapping.

Frederick Blake Jr.

Frederick Blake Jr. Mackenzie Delta

Many times communities face flooding. As many may know, communities face a lot of silt, either in their houses or on the roads. I’d like to ask the Premier if it would be possible for the communities to use a lot of that funding to chipseal their roads.

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

I’ve been listening to these kinds of requests before. For those communities that have gas tax funding, they do have the authority to make those kinds of decisions on whether to chipseal a road or not.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Wendy Bisaro

Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have some questions today for the Minister of Health and Social Services. The Minister tabled the Mental Health and Addictions Action Plan 2012-2015 the other day in the House, and I’d like to ask him some questions regarding that report. One of the first actions that is intended to be done by the department in 2012-2013 is a Minister’s forum on addictions. The Minister has had Members looking for potential membership on that forum for the last little while. I’d like to know from the Minister whether or not this forum is intended to be a one-shot affair, of an ongoing forum that continues on from year to year, and what is the purpose of this particular Minister’s forum.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Mr. Beaulieu.

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The intention of this forum initially was to have the forum around December, depending on how much information we are able to gather. Although we thought we had a structure in mind on the forum, now we’re considering the deliberations that have occurred during Committee of the Whole and we’re looking at maybe changing the structure of the forum at this time.

Wendy Bisaro

Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake

I’ll try the question again. Is this forum intended to be ongoing, is it a one-shot deal, or will it carry on for more than one year, and what is the purpose of the forum?

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

I’ll try to answer it again. December 12th is the time that we’re hoping to have

the forum finalized. The purpose of the forum is to travel to the communities or have those individuals from the communities travel here. We still haven’t finalized that. We’ve had to start to rethink how we’re going to do it, but the purpose of it is to gather information on addictions. Thank you.

Wendy Bisaro

Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake

Within the report there are a number of service gaps that are identified. I can’t remember quite how many there are, but one of them that I think has been recognized by the department and has been recognized in the action plan is lack of detoxification facilities. It’s been mentioned many times by Members in the House in statements and in questions.

To the Minister, I’d like to know whether or not this action plan will address that gap specifically, that we do not have detoxification facilities, and if it does not, in the future, how does the Minister intend to address that gap. Thank you.

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

In the action plan, detoxification, I think, is the first gap that is identified in there. Our intention is to try to have people go through detoxification without necessarily building infrastructure for them to do it in. I think the intention would be to go to more programming than anything. Also, we have some confidence that if an individual wants to quit using drugs or quit using alcohol, that they will stop and go through their own personal detoxification. We have to have some confidence that people that wish to quit drinking, will quit drinking, and that at some point down the road they could be ready for treatment. Thank you.

Wendy Bisaro

Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake

Another thing that I noticed, in my quick perusal of the plan, is there’s no reference to extra funding, there’s no reference to an increase in personnel. I presume this plan is going to start in 2013-14. Will there be additional funding required in the next fiscal year for both to put the plan in place and to hire extra personnel, or is it all going to be funded from within? Thank you.

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

For this fiscal year, ’12-13, the intention was to look at the money that we have in the various programs now, the money that we have in on-the-land programs for healing, some of the money that we get from Health Canada for wellness, and also the $6 million. It’s a total of about $9 million when you look at treatment and everything in the system. We’re thinking of looking at that money through counselling and so on, to try for us to build on this plan and then make a decision whether or not we think that if we can’t fund everything internally, then we’ll go back through the business planning process to fund the areas which we don’t think we can handle internally. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final, short supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.

Wendy Bisaro

Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the Minister for his response. What the Minister has outlined is a good solution, to look internally first and then see whether or not you can accomplish it.

The other thing that isn’t mentioned in the actions that I have read, I don’t see a specific mention of prevention. I’d like to know from the Minister if that is a focus of this particular action plan and it just happens to be a word that isn’t in there. Is it represented by the particular actions in this action plan? Thank you.

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

The whole plan is all about prevention. We are trying to help people to sober up so that they lessen their use of the health

system. What we think is common knowledge is that sober people are healthier, and there are serious problems with alcohol and that it has a heavy price tag on the health system. Generally, the way we view this is that the nature of the whole action plan is going to be on prevention. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The issue of film tax credit comes up from time to time and it was broached to me recently. The question was, quite simply: Why doesn’t the GNWT have one and present one to industry? It really came on the heels as a reminder that Arctic Air is booking its second season. My question to the Minister of Finance is: What type of process is involved in establishing a tax credit, such as film tax credit, that would help encourage industry to invest and do work here in the Northwest Territories? The process, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The Minister of Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’d have to look at that specific subject. We’d have to look at other jurisdictions, many of which are, in fact, removing their tax credits, look at the pros and cons and then try to factor it in and bring it forward through a business planning and budgetary process. Thank you.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Has the Department of Finance ever examined something like this type of tax credit such as the example I’ve given, a film tax credit, and furthermore, what cost does it actually affect the Government of the Northwest Territories? I mean, are we talking about fifty cent dollars? Are we talking 75, 25? I’m trying to get a sense of an example of how much it costs and affects the government’s books. Thank you.

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

The Department of Finance, to my knowledge, having been the Minister going on four years, has not looked specifically in any detail at a film tax credit. Thank you.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

My next question to the Minister of Finance is: Would he be willing to investigate the process and the potential cost of what it would be to, in this particular regard, what would it cost the GNWT to set up a potential film tax credit? That way we can have something for future discussion. Thank you.

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

I’ll commit to have discussions with the Minister of ITI, and we’ll look at what’s being recommended in terms of going forward. I’ll make sure that I have enough

information about the mechanics of setting up a tax credit, so that if the Member raises the issue or wants to discuss it further, we’ll have that detail so we can have an informed discussion. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Thanks, Mr. Speaker. I hate to say it but, for clarity, it just sounded like he was going to have a discussion about the process and maybe even just muse about the idea. Really, what I’m asking for is for the Department of Finance to investigate the costs, procedures and policies required. It doesn’t mean go write them. It just means go investigate the mechanics of creating one and how much it would cost us. That’s the type of discussion I’m just trying to get on the record. That’s all I’m asking. Would he be willing to do that so then we can have a full discussion when it comes to budget time next time around to say is this something we want to do, because if this is what it is, this is what it will cost? Thank you very much.

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

When it’s time to discuss and review the finance budget and business plan, we will be ready for a fulsome discussion on film tax credit. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Daryl Dolynny

Daryl Dolynny Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today will be for the Minister of Transportation. I’m going to be going up north now with my questions. This House approved a $2.5 million due diligence for the Inuvik-Tuk road a number of months back. We heard inside the House in Committee of the Whole that findings of this so-called first round of due diligence produced 300-and-some holes, to which, as we heard from the deputy minister, were somewhat questionable. Can the Minister indicate to us here when we’d be expected to see the tabled findings of the so-called first $2.5 million so that the taxpayers know what value they got for that money? Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Ramsay.

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Once we complete the environmental assessment, it goes through the review process. I’d be more than happy to share that level of detail with all Members of this House. Thank you.

Daryl Dolynny

Daryl Dolynny Range Lake

I think the general public is a bit concerned here that this government, this department received one round of $2.5 million, just received a round of another $2.5 million, and we’re going to be breaking for the summer months, we’re not going to be back here in the House until

October. Again, the question to ask: When can we see an expectation of information being shared to the public regarding the first round of due diligence studies of the so-called bore holes and how much aggregate or sand is out there? My second question: When can we see this new round of information be available to the public? Thank you.

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

That would undoubtedly happen this coming fall. It’s important that this work gets done. I can’t underline that enough. We need to know what we’re getting ourselves into. We fully intend to try to identify where the granular material is. This is our effort to do that, to go through the environmental assessment process so that when decisions are made by this government, we will know what we are getting ourselves into. Thank you.

Daryl Dolynny

Daryl Dolynny Range Lake

Again, I do appreciate it is a very complex project and we’ve got to do our work to make sure we’ve got all the answers. The point is that we have done quite a bit of work thus far on this project and we get to that point where it’s called a tipping point. We’re pot-committed, so to speak, in poker terms. I want to make sure that before we get to that next round of ask from this government, can the Minister make guarantees to this House that we’ll get answers to these first rounds of so-called information before there’s a future ask of money from this government? Thank you.

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

We had hoped to get before committee and give a presentation on the status of the Inuvik-Tuk highway. We have provided a written update to the committee, and we were happy to do that. This fall when we have more information, again, we’ll be very happy to work with Members on that side of the House to show them what we’ve done that will identify where the granular material is and next steps forward. We’re going to need the support of Members to ensure that this project moves forward. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Dolynny.

Daryl Dolynny

Daryl Dolynny Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, I do appreciate the complexity of the project. However, will the Minister commit to publishing publicly all findings in the next round when we meet back in October? At the next time of session, would he commit to publishing all findings so that the public can see clearly what Members are seeing so they are, in fact, informed as we head down the rabbit hole on this very expensive project? Thank you.

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

When that material becomes available, we will ensure that Members are brought up to speed on that material. Again, our best guess would be it would happen sometime this fall. I know we’re back in the House in October. Hopefully, during the October sitting we can have

that time to sit down with committee and go over the findings that we have arrived at. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was listening to the questions very intently by the Member for Range Lake and I just wanted some clarity on this particular subject. It’s not coming from an angle of criticism but more as an official clarity on the issue of 75/25 split. That’s been bouncing out there quite a bit. I’m not speaking pro or against the project. I’m just more committed and curious, of course, around the firmness of that offer from the federal government, because this is going to be an important element of the dialogue on the future bridge. If the Minister of Transportation could get that on the record, the willingness of the federal government to continue that 75/25 split if it goes beyond what we believe is the early estimates for the road. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Ramsay.

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We continue discussions with the federal government on the funding. It is $150 million. Again, those discussions are ongoing on how that funding is going to roll out and what the split will be, and we’ll continue those discussions. Thank you.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Would the Minister be able to provide some correspondence on that type of discussion they seem to be having with their federal counterparts? Everyone in this House knows that this is going to be a challenging and very emotional debate if that 75/25 breaks down. We don’t know where that number will end and that’s why it’s fundamentally important early on to know that we do support the intent of this project and we have the support of the federal government to get behind it before it starts. As we know – and I’m not trying to turn this into the Deh Cho Bridge example – but who knows where the costs could go if we don’t firm them up early? Thank you.

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

We have to get a determination of what the price is going to be on the construction of the Inuvik-Tuk highway. Before we go to the federal government and get that number, we need to know exactly what we’re talking about. Again, this is part of the exercise of doing the geotechnical work, going through the environmental assessment, and like other partially federally funded projects in this territory that we’ve seen through the Building Canada Plan, we need to do an environmental assessment first. We are going to continue down that road. Again, Mr. Speaker, the

discussions are ongoing with the federal government and we will continue to move the project forward with the thoughts that the Members have brought up today. Thank you.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

I just want to make sure it’s clear on the record, I’m fully supportive of the money being spent today on the environmental assessment and I wouldn’t want anyone to think that that isn’t the case. I’ve even stood steadfast on any questions from the public when they say we should stop now before it goes out of control. This is absolutely critical information to get the right price. I don’t change that.

Is the Minister saying today that we have to get all the environmental assessment work done for us to be able to develop a price in order for us to have a formal discussion with the federal government regarding the 25/75 split? If that’s the case, that is the answer for the House. I just need that as the answer when the public asks me what’s happening with the money and what’s happening with the cost of the road. Thank you.

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

The federal government’s expectation of us is that we would go through the environmental assessment. We would find out what the construction costs would be on the project. Again, we will be going forward to the federal government if that price gets higher than the $150 million that they’ve committed. That’s a discussion that we will continue to have with the federal government as this project moves forward as we know better what the costs are going to be. I can assure the Member and other Members of this House that that is an important part to all of this and we will continue to pursue that. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Item 9, written questions. Item 10, returns to written questions. Mr. Robert McLeod.

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a return to written question asked by Mr. Alfred Moses on May 24, 2012, regarding the shelter policy review – proposed seniors rent scale.

1. Would the Minister please provide a list of the

communities that were consulted in the shelter policy review?

The engagement process during the shelter policy review was quite extensive and included a number of approaches. One component of the engagement was workshops with community and Aboriginal government representatives.

In Inuvik on June 2-3, 2011, we met with representatives from Aklavik, Fort McPherson, Deline, Ulukhaktok, Fort Good Hope, Inuvik, Sachs Harbour, Gwich’in Tribal Council, Paulatuk, Nihtat Gwich’in Tribal Council, Tuktoyaktuk, Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, Tulita and Inuvik Community Corporation.

In Hay River on June 13-14, 2011, we met with representatives from Fort Providence, Hay River, Fort Resolution Metis Council, NWT Metis Nation, Fort Resolution, Fort Smith, Hay River Reserve, Lidlii Kue First Nation, Fort Simpson, Fort Simpson Metis, Nahanni Butte, West Point First Nation, Wrigley and Salt River First Nation.

In Yellowknife on September 1, 2011, we met with representatives from Tlicho Government, Wekweeti, Behchoko, Gameti and Whati.

Key interviews were held with the mayor of Yellowknife and the chiefs of Detah and Ndilo, who were unable to attend the other scheduled workshops. In addition, a workshop was held with non-government organizations including both community and territorial organizations on June 28, 2011. Workshops were also held with local housing organization manager and board chairs, with four separate workshops including representatives of 21 communities.

2. Would the Minister please indicate which

community groups were consulted during the review?

Community leadership were provided materials on the shelter policy review and identified participants for the workshops. In addition to the community workshops, a workshop was held with non-government organizations that have a role in housing. A variety of advocacy groups, including the NWT Seniors’ Society, and groups that operate shelters participated in this workshop.

Input was also sought from a variety of other stakeholder groups during the shelter policy review including membership of the NWTTA.

3. Would the Minister please confirm the number

of NWT seniors who were consulted during the review?

As noted, there was a variety of engagement approaches used during the shelter policy review. We did not collect the age of participants in each of these activities, so cannot provide the number of seniors that may have participated in the review.

4. Would the Minister please provide an outline of

the consultation process for the shelter policy review?

A variety of approaches were used during the shelter policy review to get input from stakeholders on housing issues in the Northwest Territories. These included the following:

• There were workshops held with community

representatives and leadership where all communities were invited.

• Workshops were also held with local housing

organization (LHO) board chairs and LHO managers.

• A workshop was held with representatives of

non-government organizations including shelter providers, low-cost housing providers, NWT Seniors’ Society and the NWT Council for the Disabled.

• There were targeted housing client meetings.

These built on the engagement with clients on poverty that included discussions on housing.

• There was an on-line questionnaire that was

available to all residents that gathered information on issues along the housing continuum. A statistical survey was also completed with more than 700 territorial residents that included questions on housing issues.

• Key interviews were done with other

stakeholders including Regular Members of the Legislative Assembly, deputy ministers within the GNWT, the NWT Construction Association, the NWT Chamber of Commerce and CMHC.

• Input was also provided by the Executive

Council and standing committees of the Legislative Assembly.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister of Transportation, Mr. Ramsay

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Minister of Transportation

Mr. Speaker, I have a return to written question submitted by Mr. Hawkins on May 29, 2012, regarding negotiated, sole-source or similar contracts.

Later today, at the appropriate time, I will table documents titled “Sole Source DOT Contracts April 2009-June 2012” and “Negotiated Contracts DOT April 2009-June 2012.” Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Item 11, replies to opening address. Item 12, petitions. Item 13, reports of committees on the review of bills. Item 14, tabling of documents. Mr. Lafferty.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document,

entitled “Government of the Northwest Territories Response to Motion 3-17(2), Aboriginal Languages Secretariat.” Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mr. Beaulieu.

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document, entitled “NWT Health Care Services 2012 Client Satisfaction Questionnaire.” Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Mr. Ramsay.

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document, entitled “Northwest Territories Community Futures Program 2010-2011 Annual Report.” Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. R.C. McLeod.

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following two documents, entitled “Shaping Northern Housing Options: NWT Housing Corporation Annual Report 2009-2010” and “Sustainable Housing for NWT Residents: NWT Housing Corporation Annual Report 2010-2011.” Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Miltenberger.

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document, entitled “Traditional Knowledge Annual Report 2011-2012.” Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mr. Abernethy.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document, entitled “Results Report 2011-2012 – 20/20: A Brilliant North, NWT Public Service Strategic Plan.” Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Mr. Ramsay.

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Further to my Return to Written Question 2-17(3), I wish to table the following two documents, entitled “Department of Transportation Negotiated DOT Contracts April 2009 to June 2012” and “Department of Transportation Sole Source DOT Contracts April 2009 to June 2012.”

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Pursuant to Section 266(2) of the Elections and Plebiscites Act, I wish to table the Report of the Chief Electoral Officer on the Administration of the 2011 General Election of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories. Mr. Bromley.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to table three documents. The first one is from Despair to Wisdom: Perpetual Care and the Future of the Giant Mine - A Report on the Community

Workshop by Alternatives North held September 26-27, 2011, at Chief Drygeese Centre in Detah.

Also, Building Trust and Confidence: A Report of a Workshop on Oversight of the Giant Mine, March 6-7, 2012.

Finally, Giant Mine Perpetual Care Funding Options by Amy Taylor and Duncan Kenyon submitted to the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board by the Pembina Institute. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Item 15, notices of motion. Item 16, notices of motion for first reading of bills. Item 17, motions. Mr. Bromley.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

WHEREAS rates of mental illness in the Northwest Territories are disproportionately high in comparison with other Canadian jurisdictions and a high proportion of persons involved in police incidents suffer from mental illnesses;

AND WHEREAS implementation of the federal Safe Streets and Communities Act will dramatically increase the costs of policing, courts and corrections services;

AND WHEREAS introduction in other Canadian jurisdictions of mental health courts as diversion programs from the criminal justice system are proving successful in improving illness treatment success rates and providing cost benefits to the policing, court and corrections services;

AND WHEREAS the 16th Legislative Assembly

passed a motion on August 25, 2011, calling on the GNWT to begin research to examine options and potential benefits of a mental health court diversion program as an adjunct to the NWT Court System;

AND WHEREAS the Department of Health and Social Services is enhancing its approach to mental health program delivery through the development of a new strategy;

AND WHEREAS strategic cooperation between the Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Social Services is essential for the effective delivery of mental health programming and the introduction of effective diversion measures;

NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, that the departments of Justice and Health and Social Services work cooperatively to bring forward a plan for introduction of diversion measures including specialized courts and integrated case management for review in the 2013-2014 business plans;

AND FURTHER, that the same departments provide the Standing Committee on Social Programs with a work plan at the earliest opportunity that will describe how this objective will be achieved, and that reflects the individual departments’ responsibilities in achieving this goal, on which to base accountability;

AND FURTHERMORE, that the Government of the Northwest Territories provide a comprehensive response to this motion within 120 days. Mahsi.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The motion is in order. To the motion. Mr. Bromley.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think it’s clear that everybody knows that we have a disproportionally high rate of mental illness in the NWT. The terrible history of our residential school abuses and abrupt removal from homes and cultures has contributed, obviously, and resulted in multi-generational impacts. There’s been some good work done, especially recently with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission playing an important role, but it’s also recognized that the need for diagnoses and healing remains high.

The unaddressed mental health issues are resulting in some tragic consequences, as evidenced by the complete disappearance or tragic violent deaths of individuals profiled in the news in recent months and really over the past number of years. In many cases, these are people who have been in and out of our correctional system and a resolving and repetitive cycle that is in itself tragic.

Not only are the human costs unacceptable, the costs to our health, education and justice systems are huge. Both beg some relief and resolution.

Recently, the federal crime bill has put in place further pressures on our corrections system that, according to our Justice Minister, will be unsustainable when the full impacts are realized. These issues are well known and have been discussed in this House.

This motion speaks to this situation and the serious need to act quickly to put in place effective prevention measures that will both improve the effectiveness of our delivery of mental health and diversion with those with mental health illness away from the humanly tragic, repetitive and costly correctional system.

The motion follows up on a previous motion from the 16th Assembly which referred to the research

done on mental health diversion courts of Canada and elsewhere. A response to a trend of trivializing the mentally ill across North America is what this diversionary court represents.

There’s abundant evidence of success at very modest cost in Canada. The Toronto court, for example, was based on existing budgets of involved partners and had no separate government

funding. Judge Richard Schneider stated that the federal Health Court has saved the health system millions of dollars. Similarly, a New Brunswick Mental Health Diversion Court has no budget of its own. It relies on the support of partner organizations, all but one of which are provincial government entities.

The record is clearly a high degree of success, both in addressing mental health of many individuals and embracing the cycle of repeated criminal offences and incarceration for the saving of millions of dollars.

The Minister has recently tabled a Mental Health and Addictions Strategy which is welcomed by everyone. Incredibly, though, the strategy for goals does not include prevention. This despite the repeated call for action at this foundational level and the Minister’s apparent support for such programs.

The Minister may claim that prevention is there, but I urge you to read the goals and see prevention in them.

During questions earlier this session the Minister of Justice revealed being done by his department and by Health and Social Services, will not allow consideration of action on this before the ‘14-15 business plans, despite the work being called for in the 16th Assembly with work being initiated already

at that time.

To me, this is too late, Mr. Speaker. The toll on human and financial costs is too great to delay this long wait, while people who could be diverted to progressive measures instead get pulled down on the spiral and treadmill of corrections and untreated mental illness is intolerable.

I appreciate the support of my seconder, Mr. Moses, and I look forward to any comments and support from my colleagues and I do call for a recorded vote. Mahsi.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The motion is in order. The Member has asked for a recorded vote. Mr. Abernethy.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The government is committed to improving mental health and wellness services in the justice system and it’s absolutely going to take a partnership between the Department of Health and Social Services, Justice, as well as the other social departments.

We have followed up on the motion that was put forward in the 16th Assembly and also

recommendations from Member Bromley and committee to move forward with this, and I have committed previously that we are going to move forward and come up with some decision points that can be reviewed by committee. But the first thing that happens and has to happen is we

actually have to finish the research and get out there and get all the information together.

We have developed or we are in the process of finalizing a work plan, which we hope to share with committee in August, and that work plan is going to identify what the objectives are, what the different roles of the different departments are, all the things that they’re asking for in this motion and that will be available in August.

But the motion that is before us today goes a little bit further and asks us to introduce diversion measures, including specialized courts. This may be something that we do actually do, but before we actually agree to do a diversion court, we have to finish the analysis, finish the research and get that information in front of committee. That information has to be in front of committee so that we can all make an informed decision together. We want to have that information in front of committee before the end of this fiscal year so that we can actually do design on whatever the recommendations happen to be, whether it’s a diversion court or other integrated programs or other diversion prior to court. I mean, we need to have all that information in front of committee so that we can make a decision so that in the next fiscal year we can actually do design.

There’s a lot of things that sort of happen and interact with this. For instance, if it comes to diversion court, a diversion court will not be successful without the support of the judiciary. So we need to make sure that whatever programs are in place to divert people in, meet the needs and the desires of the judiciary.

So there’s still lots of work to be done. We’re going to do the analysis. It’s going to be in front of committee so they can make decision points this fiscal year, and we can proceed with design in the next fiscal year depending on whatever direction is given and we can move forward.

So although we’re on the same path, we have a slightly different opinion. We look forward to working with committee to actually make those decisions when we’re ready. Given that this is a direction to Cabinet, Cabinet will be abstaining. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. I’ll allow Mr. Bromley some closing remarks, if he chooses.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I haven’t heard a lot of discussion, so I’m content to leave it at that. I think the Minister has explained how to do this and we’re saying let’s get it done, let’s not wait for another two years. Mahsi.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The Member has asked for a recorded vote. All those in favour, please stand.

Tony Whitford Honourary Table Officer

Mr. Dolynny, Ms. Bisaro, Mr. Nadli, Mr. Menicoche, Mr. Moses and Mr. Bromley.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

All those opposed, please stand. All those abstaining, please stand.

Tony Whitford Honourary Table Officer

Mr. Beaulieu, Mr. Abernethy, Mr. Miltenberger, Mr. McLeod - Yellowknife South, Mr. Lafferty, Mr. Ramsay, Mr. McLeod - Inuvik Twin Lakes.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Whitford. Yes, seven; no, zero; abstentions, seven.

---Carried

Mr. Moses.

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha, that notwithstanding Rule 4, when this House adjourns on June 14, 2012, it shall be adjourned until Wednesday, October 17, 2012.

AND FURTHER, that any time prior to October 17, 2012, if the Speaker is satisfied, after consultation with the Executive Council and Members of the Legislative Assembly, that the public interest requires that the House should meet at an earlier time during the adjournment, the Speaker may give notice and thereupon the House shall meet at the time stated in such notice and shall transact its business as it has been duly adjourned to that time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Moses. To the motion.

Some Hon. Members

Question.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Question has been called. The motion is carried.

---Carried

Item 18, first reading of bills. Minister of Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, that Bill 9, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), No. 1, 2012-2013, be read for the first time. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Bill 9 has had first reading.

---Carried

Mr. Miltenberger.

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to proceed with first reading of Bill 10, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 7, 2010-2011.

---Unanimous consent granted

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Great Slave, that Bill 10, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 7, 2010-2011, be read for the first time. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Bill 10 has had first reading.

---Carried

Mr. Miltenberger.

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to proceed with first reading of Bill 11, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), No. 4, 2010-2011.

---Unanimous consent granted

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Monfwi, that Bill 11, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), No. 4, 2010-2011, be read for the first time. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Bill 11 has had first reading.

---Carried

Item 19, second reading of bills. Mr. Abernethy.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Monfwi, that Bill 7, An Act to Amend the Judicature Act, be read for the second time.

This bill amends the Judicature Act to meet the requirements of the Agreement on Internal Trade in respect of enforcement of trade orders and amendments, the regulation-making authority to allow for the establishment of fees for persons who provide services to a court or to parties in the course of court process. The bill also makes a number of non-substantive amendments. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Bill 7 has had second reading.

---Carried

Mr. Abernethy.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Kam Lake, that Bill 8, An Act to Amend the Securities Act, be read for the second time.

Mr. Speaker, the bill amends the Securities Act to provide a framework for the recognition of auditor oversight bodies mandated to oversee the performance of auditors of publicly traded companies, and provide a framework for the regulation of credit rating organizations and the establishment of legal rights available to investors in respect of a failure to comply with the requirements set out in the rules made under the act respecting the delivery of a prescribed document and makes a number of non-substantive amendments. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Bill 8 has had second reading.

---Carried

Mr. Miltenberger.

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, that Bill 9, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), No. 1, 2012-2013, be read for the second time.

Mr. Speaker, this bill makes supplementary appropriations for operations expenditures for the Government of the Northwest Territories for the 2012-13 fiscal year. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Bill 9 has had second reading.

---Carried

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Great Slave, that Bill 10, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 7, 2010-2011, be read for the second time.

This bill makes supplementary appropriations for infrastructure expenditures for the Government of the Northwest Territories for the 2010-2011 fiscal year.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Bill 10 has had second reading

---Carried

Mr. Miltenberger.

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Monfwi, that Bill 11, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), No. 4, 2010-2011, be read for the second time.

This bill makes supplementary appropriations for operations expenditures for the Government of the Northwest Territories for the 2010-2011 fiscal year.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Bill 11 has had second reading.

---Carried

Item 20, consideration in Committee of the Whole of bills and other matters: Tabled Document 2-17(3), Commissioner’s Opening Address: Creating the Conditions for Success; Committee Report 3-17(3), Official Review of the Office of the Language Commissioner’s Report; Committee Report 4-17(3), Review of the Status of the Auditor General of Canada; Committee Report 5-17(3), Rules and Procedures Report, with Mr. Dolynny in the Chair.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Daryl Dolynny

Welcome back committee. I’ll call committee to order here. We’ve got three orders on the Order Paper today. We have Committee Report 3-17(3), Standing

Committee on Government Operations Report on the Review of the Office of the NWT Languages Commissioner Annual Report 2010-2011; Committee Report 4-17(3), Standing Committee on Government Operations Review of the Status of the Auditor General of Canada; and Committee Report 5-17(3), Standing Committee on Government Operations Rules and Procedures Report. What is the wish of committee? Mr. Menicoche.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. The committee would like to consider Tabled Document 2-17(3), Committee Report 3-17(3), Committee Report 4-17(3) and Committee Report 5-17(3).

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Daryl Dolynny

Does committee agree?

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Daryl Dolynny

With that, we will go to opening comments for Committee Report 3-17(3). Before we do that, Mr. Hawkins.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Oh, no. To that issue.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Daryl Dolynny

As I indicated, we will be going to opening comments for Committee Report 3-17(3). Mr. Nadli.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Standing Committee on Government Operations has submitted its Report on the Review of the Language Commissioner’s 2010-2011 Annual Report. The report, which includes four recommendations, was read into the record by the chair of the committee. With Members’ unanimous consent, the motion was passed that moved the report into Committee of the Whole for discussion today.

There are 11 official languages in the Northwest Territories. The committee appreciates the efforts of the Languages Commissioner, Ms. Sarah Jerome, to receive complaints and inquiries, promote the rights, status and privileges of official languages speakers, and make recommendations for legislative change.

The committee supports the Commissioner’s recommendations for a better understanding of the NWT Official Languages Act within the public service and greater sensitivity to the needs of Aboriginal official language speakers who are affected by the history of silencing and language laws associated with residential schools.

As required under the Official Languages Act, the standing committee will conduct a review of the act in 2013. Members intend to revisit and update previous recommendations for legislative change. Pending this review, the committee wishes to obtain the government’s response to the Languages Commissioner’s legislative recommendations. These recommendations, listed as three and four on page 20 of the Commissioner’s report, include

consideration of the needs of official language speakers living or travelling outside designated areas where their languages are indigenous, placing a positive obligation on the government to protect as well as promote official languages and ensuring that Aboriginal language protection measures are contained in legislation and not just in policy.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Daryl Dolynny

Thank you, Mr. Nadli. We’ll open up the floor to general comments on the committee report. Seeing none, Mr. Nadli.

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that this committee recommends the Government of the Northwest Territories report to this House on measures taken in 2011-2012 and planned actions for 2012-2013 to ensure that the public service understands, respects and honours the provisions of the Official Languages Act.

The Chair

The Chair Daryl Dolynny

Thank you, Mr. Nadli. We’ll just give a second to circulate that motion. A motion is on the floor. To the motion.

Some Hon. Members

Question.

The Chair

The Chair Daryl Dolynny

Question is being called. Motion is carried.

---Carried

Mr. Nadli.

Committee Motion 23-17(3): Sensitive Terminology Around Official Languages, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

I move that this committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories refrain from the use of the word “regime” in documents concerning official languages;

And further, that the Government of the Northwest Territories consult with residential school survivors and Aboriginal language communities on other terminology that may act as a barrier for Aboriginal people in asserting their rights under the Official Languages Act;

And further, that the Government of the Northwest Territories ensure that public servants are aware of the sensitive terminology in speaking and writing in the area of official languages.

Committee Motion 23-17(3): Sensitive Terminology Around Official Languages, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Daryl Dolynny

A motion is on the floor. To the motion.

Committee Motion 23-17(3): Sensitive Terminology Around Official Languages, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Some Hon. Members

Question.

Committee Motion 23-17(3): Sensitive Terminology Around Official Languages, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Daryl Dolynny

Question is being called. The motion is carried.

---Carried

Mr. Nadli.

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

I move that this committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories review and respond to the Languages Commissioner’s recommendations for legislative change, which read as follows:

3. That the Legislative Assembly continue to move

forward with the concept of a service-based model as suggested by the development of the proposed Official Languages Services Act. However, in moving forward, consideration must be given to:

(a) the fact that not all speakers of an official

language reside in a designated area;

(b) that residents in the Northwest Territories

travel in order to receive services; and

(c) the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest

Territories and the Government of the Northwest Territories have a positive obligation to promote and protect official languages.

4. That the Aboriginal language protection regime

be contained in legislation and not just become part of government policy or protocol.

The Chair

The Chair Daryl Dolynny

A motion is on the floor. To the motion.

Some Hon. Members

Question.

The Chair

The Chair Daryl Dolynny

Question is being called. Motion is carried.

---Carried

Mr. Nadli.

Committee Motion 25-17(3): Comprehensive Response Within 120 Days, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

I move that this committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories provide a comprehensive response to this report within 120 days.

Committee Motion 25-17(3): Comprehensive Response Within 120 Days, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Daryl Dolynny

A motion is on the floor. To the motion.

Committee Motion 25-17(3): Comprehensive Response Within 120 Days, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Some Hon. Members

Question.

Committee Motion 25-17(3): Comprehensive Response Within 120 Days, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Daryl Dolynny

Question is being called. The motion is carried.

---Carried

Does committee agree that consideration for Committee Report 3-17(3), Standing Committee on Government Operations Report on the Review of the Office of the NWT Languages Commissioner Annual Report 2010-2011, be concluded?

Committee Motion 25-17(3): Comprehensive Response Within 120 Days, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

Committee Motion 25-17(3): Comprehensive Response Within 120 Days, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Daryl Dolynny

Moving on to Committee Report 4-17(3), Standing Committee on Government Operations Report on the Review of the Status Report of the Auditor General of Canada to the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly. Mr. Nadli.

Committee Motion 25-17(3): Comprehensive Response Within 120 Days, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Standing Committee on Government Operations has presented its report on the Review of the Status Report of the Auditor General of Canada to the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly. The committee’s report, which includes nine recommendations, was read into the record by the members of the committee. With the Assembly’s unanimous consent, the motion was passed to move the report into Committee of the Whole for discussion today.

The standing committee thanks the Auditor General of Canada and their staff for their work. The status report examines government’s progress in addressing specific recommendations from four previous performance audits. The recommendations concern programs and services of the Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission, the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation, and the departments of Finance, Transportation, Public Works and Services, and Education, Culture and Employment.

While the Auditor General rated the government’s overall progress in acting on the recommendations of previous audits as satisfactory, the committee is concerned that this rating is really only a bare pass. Members were struck by the Auditor General’s observation that the NWT government’s ability to effectively manage programs was limited by three serious government-wide barriers:

1. inadequate information to manage programs

and make decisions;

2. insufficient monitoring of third-party program

delivery; and

3. an absence of detailed action plans clearly

setting out how and when organizations intend to implement recommendations made in the audit reports.

The standing committee strongly recommends a coordinated approach led by the Premier to tackle these barriers.

With regard to the Auditor General’s department-specific recommendations the committee was shocked to learn that some government inspected

daycare centres were not following health and safety requirements and the Department of Education has not set procedures for following up on the deficiencies. This is unacceptable and must be addressed immediately.

The Auditor General also found that the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation has not improved its monitoring of local housing organizations, and has not developed a strategic plan that identifies priorities and links actions to its mandate. The committee is confident that the Housing Corporation can, and will, improve in these areas.

Finally, the Department of Transportation and Department of Public Works and Services have taken steps to improve their contract administration. Nevertheless, preventable errors were found in one-third of the contracts audited. The committee expects both departments to show further progress within this fiscal year.

The committee commends the government organizations for their efforts to implement the Auditor General’s recommendations and urges them to make greater effort in the areas where the Auditor General found progress to be unsatisfactory or incomplete.

Committee Motion 25-17(3): Comprehensive Response Within 120 Days, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Daryl Dolynny

Thank you, Mr. Nadli. We’ll open up the floor to general comments. Question? Thank you. We’ll move to Ms. Bisaro.

Wendy Bisaro

Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that this committee recommends that the Premier and Department of Executive review the February 2012 Status Report of the Auditor General of Canada;

And further, that the Premier and Department of Executive coordinate the government’s response;

And further, that the Premier and Department of Executive propose solutions to overcome the three government-wide barriers to effective program management identified by the Auditor General.

The Chair

The Chair Daryl Dolynny

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Just give a second for that motion to circulate.

A motion is on the floor. To the motion. Ms. Bisaro.

Wendy Bisaro

Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to make a couple of comments here. This finding of the Auditor General is quite disturbing, I think. It also is an opportunity for the government to recognize that we have sort of a systemic problem within the government that’s been identified by the Auditor General. The work that the Auditor General does is thorough. I find it fair and I find that they

often see things that we don’t see ourselves, and that’s the value of having an outside organization look at our work and look at what we’re doing.

There are three key barriers that have been identified by the Auditor General, and the chair of the committee spoke to those in his opening remarks. They’re pretty fundamental, and they affect not just one department but they affect all departments, they affect the whole government. It was interesting to me that the Auditor General, in the audits that he has done over the last six years, found that these three barriers existed in all the programs of the departments that they had audited.

The committee recommendation here, I think, is important. I’d like to suggest that the Cabinet and Executive need to give it the credit and the importance that it’s due. The Auditor General, in his report, mentioned not once, but twice, that these systemic barriers exist. I think that many of these things, although maybe not couched in the same language, have been mentioned by Members in this Assembly but also many times by Members in the 16th Assembly, and I just want to emphasize again

that it’s time that the government listened.

These issues, as identified by the Auditor General, are across government. It’s not just one department that they refer to. It’s referring to almost every activity that we do. I feel that the Auditor General has placed the responsibility in the right place: on the shoulders of the Premier and the Department of the Executive, who are responsible for the government as a whole.

I really don’t have anything else to add. It is important and I would hope that other Members will recognize the importance of this. I hope that the Executive, the Cabinet and the executive branch will recognize the importance of this, and I hope that we will see some action from the Premier and his department that will give us some idea of how the government is going to address these three key barriers. Thank you

The Chair

The Chair Daryl Dolynny

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. To the motion.

An Hon. Member

Question.

The Chair

The Chair Daryl Dolynny

Question has been called. The motion is carried.

---Carried

Ms. Bisaro.

Wendy Bisaro

Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission develop and implement a more complete and consolidated

quality assurance and control framework for the processing of claims;

And further, that the Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission establish a process for approving and communicating changes to its claims processing procedures and standards;

And further, that the Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission report in detail on its actions in this area to the Legislative Assembly by the end of fiscal year 2012-13.

The Chair

The Chair Daryl Dolynny

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. To the motion. Ms. Bisaro

Wendy Bisaro

Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would like to just explain this motion a little bit. Certainly, the Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission has made some improvements. They were audited, the first in this group of departments that were audited by the Auditor General. I think it was in 2006, if I remember rightly. So they’ve had quite a bit of time to look at the recommendations from the Auditor General’s report in 2006, and have had a fair bit of time to respond, and from the Auditor General’s remarks they’ve responded quite well. But that said, there were still some gaps, and this motion goes to the particular areas that are still lacking within the WSCC that the Auditor General saw. They could be seen to be minor, but quality assurance is never minor, and that’s why it’s referenced here.

The other item that’s mentioned is a process for approving and communicating changes to its claims processing procedures. That’s an internal communication, basically, within the organization, and the Auditor General found that a change might be made in one area which was not communicated to the whole of the organization and people in another area weren’t aware of it. They’re not as dire as the gaps that were mentioned in the first motion that I made, but it is important that the WSCC recognize that by making these improvements, they’re only going to make themselves a better organization and provide better service to our residents. Thank you.

The Chair

The Chair Daryl Dolynny

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. To the motion.

An Hon. Member

Question.

The Chair

The Chair Daryl Dolynny

Question has been called. Carried.

---Carried

Mr. Nadli.

Committee Motion 28-17(3): NWT Housing Corporation’s Mortgages Repayable, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation continue its efforts to collect mortgage receivables;

And further, that the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation report annually to this House on the number of clients who have chosen a repayment option, the total dollar amount of repayments, and the total amount still outstanding as of April 1st each

year, starting with the data as of April 2012. Thank you.

Committee Motion 28-17(3): NWT Housing Corporation’s Mortgages Repayable, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Wendy Bisaro

Thank you, Mr. Nadli. To the motion.

Committee Motion 28-17(3): NWT Housing Corporation’s Mortgages Repayable, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

An Hon. Member

Question.

Committee Motion 28-17(3): NWT Housing Corporation’s Mortgages Repayable, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Wendy Bisaro

Question has been called. The motion is carried.

---Carried

Mr. Nadli.

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation meet its obligations for consistent and thorough monitoring of local housing organizations under the universal partnership agreements, either by finding the resources to conduct annual assessments of operations, or by changing the agreements to specify some other form of structured and scheduled monitoring, with follow-up in cases of noncompliance;

And further, that the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation improve its monitoring of and support to local housing corporations in allocating public housing, to ensure all applications are consistently point-rated and adequate documentation is on file to support allocation decisions within the 2012-2013 fiscal year;

And further, that the NWT Housing Corporation improve its monitoring, verification and consolidation of public housing unit condition ratings in order to obtain a complete picture of the condition of its public housing portfolio within the 2012-2013 fiscal year;

And further, that the NWT Housing Corporation fulfill its statutory responsibility to ensure that information on the condition of its public housing is

publicly available by preparing and submitting annual reports to the Minister for tabling in this House in a timely manner, with all previous years’ reports submitted by the end of the 2012-2013 year. Thank you.

The Chair

The Chair Wendy Bisaro

Thank you, Mr. Nadli. To the motion.

An Hon. Member

Question.

The Chair

The Chair Wendy Bisaro

Question has been called. The motion is carried.

---Carried

Mr. Dolynny.

Daryl Dolynny

Daryl Dolynny Range Lake

Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the NWT Housing Corporation develop detailed implementation plans for all of the Auditor General’s recommendations on which progress to date has been unsatisfactory or incomplete, including specific goals, targets, action items, timelines for achieving results, and indicators for measuring progress;

And further, that the NWT Housing Corporation provide information annually in its business plan on how its strategic priorities are being implemented;

And further, that the NWT Housing Corporation revisit its strategic framework within the life of the 17th Assembly, with a view to providing a more

detailed plan with clearly defined stages after other deficiencies identified by the Auditor General, have been addressed. Thank you.

The Chair

The Chair Wendy Bisaro

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. To the motion. Mr. Dolynny.

Daryl Dolynny

Daryl Dolynny Range Lake

Thank you, Madam Chair. As we heard earlier today in the review of the Auditor General report findings, I think it’s important to note that this is the second time or the second round, as you will, in which the Auditor General had a look at many of the issues we’re talking about today. This is no different than one returning to the dentist’s office after having your teeth done, in terms of a cavity or filling, and the dentist is looking to see if you’re brushing your teeth properly and doing all the proper oral work that you as a patient need to do. This is, in essence, what we’re doing with this procedure.

I can tell you that although great strides have been undertaken with the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation since the start of the 17th Assembly, it

obviously had a fairly large uphill battle in order to make the improvements that are warranted. More

importantly, we saw opportunities in the LHOs, or the local housing organizations. This is where there was the most opportunity for improvement noted by the Auditor General. The annual assessments of the LHOs did receive a fail, as a result of their findings for the second round, and that follow-up audits weren’t being conducted on an annual basis.

Since that point in time, we’ve heard different stages of the Minister as well as the Housing Corporation in terms of their attempts to make and mitigate the findings of the Auditor General. For that, I think it is critical that, as the member of the standing committee, we give the department and the corporation a little bit of opportunity to make the changes they need to make. However, I do want to state on the record that the findings for the second round weren’t very favourable. We are hoping that the department, with the Minister, do undertake all the recommendations very seriously from the Auditor General. Thank you, Madam Chair.

The Chair

The Chair Wendy Bisaro

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Are there any further comments to the motion?

Some Hon. Members

Question.

The Chair

The Chair Wendy Bisaro

Question has been called. The motion is carried.

---Carried

Mr. Dolynny.

Daryl Dolynny

Daryl Dolynny Range Lake

Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the Department of Public Works and Services and the Department of Transportation strengthen their quality assurance processes for monitoring adherence to applicable regulations and policies in the administration of contracts;

And further, that the department reports annually to this House on the measures taken and their results. Thank you, Madam Chair.

The Chair

The Chair Wendy Bisaro

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The motion is on the floor. The motion is in order. To the motion. Mr. Dolynny,

Daryl Dolynny

Daryl Dolynny Range Lake

Thank you, Madam Chair. Again, the details we saw earlier today clearly speak to the area of the processing of any assurance of monitoring the goods and services and contracts. Again, this is something that has to be looked at. This was definitely an area that we thought, even though the framework did receive a satisfactory grade from the Auditor General, it was clear from the Auditor General comments that there were still

errors of the process. But it was getting better. With that, we do hope that those in Public Works and those in Department of Transportation adhere to these recommendations.

Again, this is the second round that these recommendations have been asked by the departments and that the Standing Committee on Government Operations will be following up with the department on this motion. Thank you, Madam Chair.

The Chair

The Chair Wendy Bisaro

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. To the motion.

Some Hon. Members

Question

The Chair

The Chair Wendy Bisaro

Question has been called. The motion is carried.

---Carried

Mr. Moses.

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment address any outstanding issues of noncompliance identified in the current daycare facility inspection reports;

And further, that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment ensure that inspections of daycare facilities are carried out annually and that immediate action is taken for any identified deficiencies;

And further, that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment address the outstanding issues with regard to measuring the impacts of early childhood education, including collection of data on educational components of the daycare programming, information sharing with the K to 12 system, development of performance indicators and collection of data on children’s development and well-being, and that the department report on these measures annually in its business plan;

And further, that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment carry out the renewal of the early childhood development framework in partnership with the Department of Health and Social Services within the 2012-2013 fiscal year. Thank you, Madam Chair.

The Chair

The Chair Wendy Bisaro

Thank you, Mr. Moses. The motion is on the floor. The motion is in order. To the motion. Mr. Moses.

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Madam Chair. As stated in the reports that we heard earlier today from the Auditor General in regard to the early childhood

development, and motions that we passed in this House that it is an important aspect of our residents of the Northwest Territories and our social and economic impacts as well in terms of the health and safety… Well, first of all, of our facilities that we trust that should be maintained to a quality and to a standard that our kids can go and get good care, obviously, that is the first one that we need those to be addressed annually. Any deficiencies that are discovered, they would also be addressed and fixed and attended to in an appropriate manner.

With all the information and research behind the early childhood development and the importance of getting that framework done so we as a government can move forward to make it a better future for our youth and for our society, that it is taken into consideration by this government. Obviously, the cognitive development, social development, language and culture are all very important aspects. To that motion, I support it and would like to see all of these addressed in a good manner. Thank you, Madam Chair.

The Chair

The Chair Wendy Bisaro

Thank you, Mr. Moses. To the motion. Mr. Dolynny.

Daryl Dolynny

Daryl Dolynny Range Lake

Thank you, Madam Chair. I appreciate the Member for leading into this motion here. I will be speaking to just one part of this motion, one in which I think was noted by the Auditor General. I want to express that component. This component is the inspection of the daycare facilities. I want to make it known that the results of the daycare facility audit was an unsatisfactory mark. For an Auditor General to give an unsatisfactory, it has to be fairly significant. I know they are very generous in giving it a very objective opinion.

I need to make a note that when the Auditor General came across this issue, there was basically a stoppage immediately in the process of the Auditor General. I want to make that note, as well, that relevant people within the department were made notified as noncompliance in health and safety issues surrounding our children. When the Auditor General asked, there was no written guidance on how these follow-ups were going to be concluded. This is an issue of concern.

Within the report itself, they did not inspect all daycare facilities. I want to stress that. They did not have the manpower. ECE did not have the amount of staff to do that. The average months between inspections for most of our facilities are around 20 months. In one region, it was as high as 21 months. In some of the audit samples, there was about 14 months, so there is clearly an opportunity for inspections here not so much to consider the noncompliant nature in health and safety risk. The fact that we need to get into these child daycare facilities more frequently and in a way in which we can do random audits, so this is not an audit where

the inspectors show up and the department shows up and things are cleaned up prior to the visit. You need to be random. I need to stress that. I think the Auditor General will agree with me on that one.

Again, the fact is that the department does have some work to do in this area. Again, for a full stoppage of an audit that the Auditor General did, should give this Assembly and the people of the Northwest Territories a concern that was given by the Auditor General.

I hope that the department will make the necessary changes and the proper action plan that will deal with these issues, not within a year or two, not looking at strategies and looking at monitoring and enhancing the regulations. I think we are beyond that. I think this is a matter of this is where rubber hits the road. This is involving our children. I expect that we are inspecting these facilities within the very near future and that information is brought back to this Assembly as early as the next fall sitting. I will stop at that, Madam Chair. Thank you very much.

The Chair

The Chair Wendy Bisaro

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. To the motion. Mr. Bromley.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you, Madam Chair. I also will support this motion and appreciate the committee bringing this forward. I certainly agree on the inspection side of things. The law calls for an inspection every 12 months. As my colleague mentioned, we seem to be in the order of 14 to 20 months.

The findings are very straightforward to correct: clearing a fire exit, storing chemicals properly, plugging something into the electrical socket so it can’t be accessed by small children. Those are very easily done sorts of things. I am not convinced that it is a manpower issue as much as just making sure direction is clear and responsibilities are clear.

I certainly agree with the Early Childhood Development Framework. I would further say that, of course, we would like that done as promised some time ago. We would like it completed in time to enter into the business plan for 2013-14, which means prior to the September period for those business plans. That is all I had. Thank you.

The Chair

The Chair Wendy Bisaro

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. To the motion.

Some Hon. Members

Question.

The Chair

The Chair Wendy Bisaro

Question has been called. The motion is carried.

---Carried

Mr. Moses.

Committee Motion 33-17(3): Adult Literacy And Basic Education, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment develop implementation plans for the Auditor General’s recommendations on adult literacy and basic education for which progress to date is incomplete, with specific goals, targets, action items, timelines for achieving results, and indicators for measuring progress;

And further, that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment develop and implement a plan for the improvement of data collection and quality for adult literacy and basic education student achievement and financial information, in the 2012-2013 fiscal year. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Committee Motion 33-17(3): Adult Literacy And Basic Education, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Wendy Bisaro

Thank you, Mr. Moses. Motion is on the floor. Motion is in order. To the motion, Mr. Moses.

Committee Motion 33-17(3): Adult Literacy And Basic Education, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Madam Chair. Once again, with this motion what we want to see is better results within our adult learning education system, and that dollars are spent in a more efficient manner, and in a better area of allocating the dollars so that they’re spent more efficiently and effectively, with quality programming.

The adult literacy in the Northwest Territories is pretty low, and low literacy rates result in social and economic downfalls of our system. If we can start educating, well, obviously our early childhood, but then with our adults as well we can get them better prepared for the jobs that we see in the future, get them prepared to get back into the workforce, or furthering their education into post-secondary education, which you want to see as a healthy education and a new generation of educated adults.

I’m glad that the committee agreed on putting this motion through and I hope to have more people speak to it. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Committee Motion 33-17(3): Adult Literacy And Basic Education, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Wendy Bisaro

Thank you, Mr. Moses. To the motion. Mr. Dolynny.

Committee Motion 33-17(3): Adult Literacy And Basic Education, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Daryl Dolynny

Daryl Dolynny Range Lake

Thank you, Madam Chair. I will be voting in favour of this motion brought forward here by the Member for Inuvik Boot Lake. The adult literacy and basic education component, or ALBE program as it is known, is a vital component and a vital training tool mechanism for education for our people in the Northwest Territories.

Unfortunately, sometimes the monies we do receive, federal monies that go towards these initiatives, we take for granted and I think given times of restraint, given our due diligence on having to make sure that we’re stretching those dollars effectively. As the motion indicates, the limited data on what results were achieved with this ALBE

program is quite concerning. Throwing money at a program which we’re not monitoring and finding out exactly how therapeutically beneficial we’re providing the people of the Northwest Territories is very troublesome. Sometimes those monies could be used for better use.

So as the motion indicates, and as the Auditor General clearly indicates in many of its directions, establishing those key performance indicators, what is the dashboard of success? Are we monitoring the success of these clients? Are we interviewing them? Is there a formal system to which that feedback mechanism gets back to the so-called establishments of curriculum and education, including Aurora College and, more importantly, to the Members of this House?

Action needs to have a way of moving forward and I believe this motion speaks to such action. So, again, I will be speaking in favour of this motion. Thank you.

Committee Motion 33-17(3): Adult Literacy And Basic Education, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Wendy Bisaro

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. To the motion.

Committee Motion 33-17(3): Adult Literacy And Basic Education, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Some Hon. Members

Question.

Committee Motion 33-17(3): Adult Literacy And Basic Education, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Wendy Bisaro

Question has been called. The motion is carried.

---Carried

Mr. Nadli.

Committee Motion 34-17(3): Comprehensive Response Within 120 Days, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the government provide a comprehensive response to this report within 120 days. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Committee Motion 34-17(3): Comprehensive Response Within 120 Days, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Wendy Bisaro

Thank you, Mr. Nadli. Motion is on the floor. The motion is in order. To the motion.

Committee Motion 34-17(3): Comprehensive Response Within 120 Days, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Some Hon. Members

Question.

Committee Motion 34-17(3): Comprehensive Response Within 120 Days, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Wendy Bisaro

Question has been called. Motion is carried.

---Carried

Thank you, committee. Does committee agree that we have concluded consideration of Committee Report 4-17(3)?

Committee Motion 34-17(3): Comprehensive Response Within 120 Days, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

Committee Motion 34-17(3): Comprehensive Response Within 120 Days, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Wendy Bisaro

Thank you, committee. We will move on to Committee Report 5-17(3). Mr. Bromley.

Committee Motion 34-17(3): Comprehensive Response Within 120 Days, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you, Madam Chair. The Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures submitted its report 5-17(3) on the introduction of electronic petitions in the Legislative Assembly of

the Northwest Territories. The report, which includes two recommendations, was read into the House earlier today, and with the kind consent of the Assembly, a motion was passed that moved the report into Committee of the Whole.

Madam Chair, this report responds to the Assembly’s request for an evaluation of the Electronic Petition Pilot Project conducted October 1, 2010, to June 30, 2010, and recommends that this Legislative Assembly improve the implementation of an ongoing electronic petitions service to be operational for the fall 2012 sitting of the Legislative Assembly. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Committee Motion 34-17(3): Comprehensive Response Within 120 Days, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Wendy Bisaro

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Are there any further opening remarks to Committee Report 5-17(3)? Okay, is committee agreed we move to detail?

Committee Motion 34-17(3): Comprehensive Response Within 120 Days, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

Committee Motion 34-17(3): Comprehensive Response Within 120 Days, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Wendy Bisaro

Mr. Bromley.

Committee Motion 35-17(3): Implementation Of Ongoing Electronic Petitions Service, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that this committee recommends that this Legislative Assembly approve the implementation of an ongoing electronic petitions service to operate in conjunction with traditional petitions, and that the electronic site be operational for the fall 2012 sitting of the Legislative Assembly. Thank you.

Committee Motion 35-17(3): Implementation Of Ongoing Electronic Petitions Service, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Wendy Bisaro

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The motion is being distributed. I’ll just wait a few minutes.

Committee, the motion is distributed. To the motion.

Committee Motion 35-17(3): Implementation Of Ongoing Electronic Petitions Service, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Some Hon. Members

Question.

Committee Motion 35-17(3): Implementation Of Ongoing Electronic Petitions Service, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair Wendy Bisaro

Question has been called. The motion is carried.

---Carried

Mr. Bromley.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that this committee recommends that any necessary amendments to the rules of the Legislative Assembly to permit the use of electronic petitions be drafted and presented for the approval of the Legislative Assembly during the fall 2012 session. Thank you, Madam Chair.

The Chair

The Chair Wendy Bisaro

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The motion is on the floor. The motion is in order. To the motion.

Some Hon. Members

Question.

The Chair

The Chair Wendy Bisaro

Question has been called. Motion is carried.

---Carried

Does committee agree that we have concluded consideration of Committee Report 5-17(3)?

Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

The Chair

The Chair Wendy Bisaro

Thank you, committee, we are concluded Committee Report 5-17(3). We will move on to Tabled Document 2-17(3), Commissioner’s Opening Address. I will open the floor for comments. Mr. Hawkins.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Madam Chair. I’ll certainly be brief. As I understand it, this will be a future discussion on the upcoming Caucus agenda, where Members will discuss at length. So what I will say and leave, certainly in brevity, that is I’m very concerned about the lack of collaboration with Regular Members on the development of this. I view this as a blueprint on the mission of where government is going from a vision context.

So in absence of sort of a collaborative approach, which we often hear about how we work together, the assurance of the 20-minute speech turned into 45 minutes and I’m sure it had nothing to do with the person who actually read it, more in the context of it was a lot larger than I was led to believe. That said, I’m willing to stand down any fine mechanical critiquing until Caucus has a thorough discussion on this particular issue, whether they want to continue it.

The last one I just want to mention is that the Commissioner’s opening address in this context is truly a hallmark of the vision of the government and I would say that it was most notable, in my point of view, that Members weren’t involved in the development of it, and that’s sort of the crux of my issue. But that said, in my view at this present time the issue is concluded and we will consider further detail and discussion when Caucus reviews it as an item. Thank you, Madam Chair.

The Chair

The Chair Wendy Bisaro

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Any further comments to Tabled Document 2? Seeing none, does committee agree we have concluded consideration of Tabled Document 2-17(3)?

Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

The Chair

The Chair Wendy Bisaro

Thank you, committee. Mr. Menicoche, what is the wish of committee?

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that we report progress.

---Carried

The Chair

The Chair Wendy Bisaro

I will rise and report progress.

Report of Committee of the Whole
Report of Committee of the Whole

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Can I have the report of Committee of the Whole, please? Ms. Bisaro.

Report of Committee of the Whole
Report of Committee of the Whole

Wendy Bisaro

Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Your committee has been considering Committee Report 3-17(3), Government Operations Report on the Review of the Office of the Northwest Territories Languages Commissioner Annual Report 2010-2011; Committee Report 4-17(3), Government Operations Report on the Review of the Status Report of the Auditor General of Canada to the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly; Committee Report 5-17(3), Rules and Procedures Report on the Introduction of Electronic Petitions in the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories; and Tabled Document 2-17(3), Commissioner’s Opening Address: Creating the Conditions for Success, and would like to report progress with 15 motions being adopted, and that Committee Reports 3-17(3), 4-17(3) and 5-17(3), and Tabled Document 2-17(3) are all concluded. I move that the report of Committee of the Whole be concurred with. Thank you.

Report of Committee of the Whole
Report of Committee of the Whole

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Do you have a seconder? Thank you, Mr. Blake.

---Carried

Item 22, third reading of bills. Mr. Lafferty.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife South, that Bill 1, An Act to Amend the Student Financial Assistance Act, be read for the third time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Bill 1 has had third reading.

---Carried

Mr. Blake.

Frederick Blake Jr.

Frederick Blake Jr. Mackenzie Delta

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Kam Lake, that Bill 3, An Act to Amend the Human Rights Act, be read for the third time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Bill 3 has had third reading.

Mr. Miltenberger.

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, that Bill 9, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), No. 1, 2012-2013, be read for the third time.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Bill 9 has had third reading.

Mr. Miltenberger.

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Great Slave, that Bill 10, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), No, 7, 2010-2011, be read for the third time. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Bill 10 has had third reading.

Mr. Miltenberger.

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Monfwi, that Bill 11, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), No. 4, 2010-2011, be read for the third time. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Bill 11 has had third reading.

Mr. Clerk, would you ascertain if the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories, the Honourable George Tuccaro, is prepared to enter the Chamber to assent to bills.

George Tuccaro Commissioner Of The Northwest Territories

Mr. Speaker, Members of the Legislative Assembly, good afternoon.

At this time I would like to commend Members of this House for your work on the annual budget for 2012-2013, which you have passed. This budget will fund the Government of the Northwest Territories programs and services that will help this Assembly achieve its vision of strong individuals, families and communities sharing the benefits and responsibilities of a unified, environmentally sustainable and prosperous Northwest Territories.

And now that you have considered the matters before you in this session with utmost care, you

have reached your decisions for the people of the Northwest Territories in mind.

I would also like to thank Members for their nominations for deserving Northerners who may receive the Diamond Jubilee Medals to honour Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. These Northerners will join other Canadians who will receive this honour.

I would like to wish each of you a safe, healthy and happy summer as you take your break and enjoy quality time with your families, even as you continue working for the betterment of all Northerners. I look forward to seeing you all again here in this House during the fall sitting.

Assent To Bills
Third Reading of Bills

George Tuccaro Commissioner Of The Northwest Territories

As Commissioner of the Northwest Territories, I am pleased to assent to the following bills:

• Bill 1, An Act to Amend the Student Financial

Assistance Act;

• Bill 3, An Act to Amend the Human Rights Act;

• Bill 6, Supplementary Appropriation Act

(Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 1, 2012-2013;

• Bill 9, Supplementary Appropriation Act

(Operations Expenditures), No. 1, 2012-2013;

• Bill 10, Supplementary Appropriation Act

(Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 7, 2010-2011;

• Bill 11, Supplementary Appropriation Act

(Operations Expenditures), No, 5, 2010-2011.

Thank you, merci beaucoup, mahsi cho, quanami, koana.

Assent To Bills
Third Reading of Bills

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Colleagues, before we adjourn today, I would like to make a few comments.

Firstly, I appreciate the work that you have undertaken during this session. You have debated and adopted the 2012-2013 budget, four supplementary appropriation bills, two pieces of legislation and considered five committee reports.

During this sitting we have also noted the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Many of you joined the Premier and me earlier today for the planting of the Jubilee shrubs to commemorate this event. I wish to remind Members that ceremonies will continue to take place in many communities throughout the North to present the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medals. I encourage you to attend as many of these ceremonies as you can and to celebrate with our northern medal recipients.

The House also noted and marked May 26th as the

National Day of Healing and Reconciliation, a unique and heartfelt northern response to the impacts of residential schools in the North. This House also passed a motion during this sitting which recognized and honoured the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and we were honoured to have Commissioner Marie Wilson with

us on Monday. I urge all Members and all NWT residents to continue to celebrate the strength of our communities and of our people and to take an active part in Aboriginal Day festivities on June 21st .

This is another uniquely northern day of celebration.

As Northerners, we will, of course, join all Canadians to celebrate Canada Day on July 1st .

True North strong and free.

I know, colleagues, that many of you offered congratulations to graduates in your regions during this sitting. Today I’d like to congratulate all my graduates of Nunakput, especially Bessie Lennie Ruben, Dakota Reidford, Isaac Elanik, Tessa Selene Lucas, Kyle Wolki, Joel Ross-Gruben, Kayla Kaodloak, Reheane Kanayok, Tracey Kanayok, Natasha Nasogaluak and Amanda Wolki. I’d like to say a special thank you to your parents, grandparents, your guardians and your friends for encouraging and supporting you each and every day to get you where you’re at. Thank you.

This is another happy summer ritual and it is worth repeating. I wish to extend the congratulations of the House to all the NWT graduates and wish them the very best as they begin a new and exciting stage in their lives. You are our future and we are all very proud of each and every one of you across the North.

Members, many of you will be returning to your homes and families tomorrow, which is a really good day. Summer in the Northwest Territories is a time to travel and visit with family and friends, to attend summer assemblies and listen to and learn from our constituents.

I wish you all safe travels as we leave today and look forward to seeing you as our paths cross this summer and when we again meet in this House in the fall.

Mr. Clerk, orders of the day.

Orders of the Day
Orders of the Day

Tony Whitford Honourary Table Officer

Mr. Speaker, orders of the day for Wednesday, October 17, 2012, at 1:30 p.m.:

1. Prayer

2. Ministers’

Statements

3. Members’

Statements

4. Returns to Oral Questions

5. Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

6. Acknowledgements

7. Oral

Questions

8. Written

Questions

9. Returns to Written Questions

10. Replies to Opening Address

11. Petitions

12. Reports of Stand and Special Committees

13. Reports of Committees on the Review of Bills

14. Tabling of Documents

15. Notices of Motion

16. Notices of Motion for First Reading of Bills

17. Motions

18. First Reading of Bills

19. Second Reading of Bills

20. Consideration in Committee of the Whole of

Bills and Other Matters

21. Report of Committee of the Whole

22. Third Reading of Bills

23. Orders of the Day

Orders of the Day
Orders of the Day

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Good job. Accordingly, this House stands adjourned until Wednesday, October 17, 2012, at 1:30 p.m.

---ADJOURNMENT

The House adjourned at 6:03 p.m.