Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Many jurisdictions in Canada publish the salaries, or at least the salary ranges of individual civil servants. This has obvious benefits for accountability and transparency.

In New Brunswick, salary ranges for all employees are listed by department in the government’s annual public accounts. Nova Scotia has just begun requiring government agencies to publicly disclose the compensation, direct and indirect, of anyone who receives more than $100,000 in that fiscal year. Ontario publishes the salaries for public employees earning more than $100,000 a year by name on a readily accessible website. Manitoba requires the disclosure of all public sector salaries over $50,000 through the public body’s audited financial statements. Alberta discloses senior official salaries in an annual report issued under the Alberta Treasury Board directive. Of course, British Columbia discloses the remuneration of public servants who make over $70,000 a year.

But in the NWT, as I understand it, if a member of the public wants to know the salary range of a particular civil servant or a position, they have to file an access to information request. If the information of this is so limited and challenging, how is this being a fair essence of disclosure to our public citizens?

The government will argue this and say it’s a breach, in their view, under privacy. But I’ve given so many examples to explain why and how others do this, why can’t we? It’s time that this government is proactive in the disclosure of our salaries when we want to talk about good accountability.

The other day I raised the issue about senior management bonuses. It’s time to start talking about these things in public and sharing the information that rightly belongs in public. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Six months ago I lost a close family member to ovarian cancer. Today I’d like to acknowledge another form of cancer. This week is dedicated to the national

awareness of cervical cancer. The Northwest Territories health system has an excellent screening and prevention program. Even so, cervical cancer is among the top five cancers suffered by women in our territory.

Cervical cancer develops from the human papilloma virus, or HPV. There are more than 100 different types of HPV. These viruses infect the skin and are spread by close sexual contact, not bodily fluids. You can get these viruses without having intercourse. Both women and men can carry HPV. Most of the time the body’s immune system clears these viruses from the body, but when they are not cleared, the person usually does not know he or she has HPV. It can show no symptoms and remain dormant, only to be spread later. When cancer does develop in the cervix, it can take 10 to 20 years from the initial infection.

The good news is cervical cancer is preventable, with a bit of common sense and vigilance. Here in the Territories we have an HPV vaccine program for school-aged girls that prevents cervical cancer and 70 percent of the HPV viruses that affect the cervix.

It is also important for young women to begin getting PAP smears within three years of starting sexual activity or by the age of 21 at the latest. This simple procedure detects abnormal cells. Early detection and treatment saves thousands of women’s lives every year all over the world. The Northwest Territories has the highest PAP smear coverage, 83 percent in Canada. That also means there are less than 17 percent of women who should be tested approximately every two years. All it takes is a visit to your nurse or doctor, who is your primary health care provider. I understand that the screening rate is lower among Aboriginal women and lower in regional centres and small communities than in Yellowknife. This is yet another sign of where our health system can improve.

Awareness of the HPV and cervical cancer can be a life and death matter. I’m pretty sure that most young people know very little about the human papilloma virus. For that matter, I would bet that most adults’ knowledge of this topic can be improved.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize the former Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. David Krutko. I’d like to thank him for all his hard work over the years.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d also like to recognize my brother-in-law and colleague – he looks so relaxed I didn’t even recognize him at first – Mr. David Krutko.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, wish to recognize former Member Krutko. Committee meetings are certainly not the same as they used to be. If anything, they go faster. I will say that we do miss his presence here.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Item 6, acknowledgements. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to congratulate Ms. Doris Taniton from Deline, who received an award for the 2012 Minister’s Cultural Circle Award.

This is an award that is well deserved for Ms. Taniton and the community of Deline. She is known to be very passionate of her culture and heritage, which is a value to be cherished at such a young age.

On behalf of the Sahtu region, I would like to congratulate Ms. Taniton for her involvement and dedication in her community, and encourage her to continue her positive attitude for our youth across the Northwest Territories.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d first like to start by congratulating the Department of Transportation on winning the Silver Award from the Institute of Public Administrators of Canada for the Mackenzie Valley Highway Project. With that, I have a few questions on the project itself. I know a decision has been made formally approving the Inuvik-Tuk highway, which is the first step of the Mackenzie Valley Highway Project.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Member for his recognition of the award. We hope to be concluded with the EA process and get a report back on that early in 2013. Between that time and when session starts again in February-March, we hope to be able to get the cost estimates on the project so that we can better ascertain what the cost of the project is going to be. We expect to be able to come back before the House in the February-March sitting to formally make a decision on the Inuvik-Tuk highway. I look forward to doing that.

I’d like to ask the Minister when equipment will start moving and people will be working in the Beaufort-Delta region.

Processes like the EA take some time. I know the economy right now in the Beaufort-Delta isn’t what folks need it to be. We need jobs, we need opportunities there. I believe this project is going to help us deliver on growing the economy in the Beaufort-Delta. Should the project be approved in February-March, we will be able to hopefully move on a couple of sections that are shovel ready, both out of Inuvik and out of Tuk. Hopefully the project itself would commence construction in the fall of next year. That would be the fall of 2013.

My final question to the Minister is: What level of support is the Government of the Northwest Territories receiving from the federal government?

We’ve had a great deal of support from the federal government. It’s a project that the federal government believes has national significance. It’s going to lend itself to Canada’s sovereignty in the Arctic. It’s going to connect this country from coast to coast to coast. We certainly look forward to continuing to work with the federal government as the project moves forward.

We have today a commitment of $150 million from the federal government. Again, I think there are some moving parts here. We need to nail down what exactly the cost of the project is going to be, and like other projects that we’ve had here in the past, we need to complete the environmental assessment, get the report back, and then look to the federal government to continue to be the partner they’ve been thus far, and we’ll get a funding arrangement with the federal government and look forward to a continued partnership with the federal government on building this territory.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission. Over the past three years, I’ve described the problem of injured workers not receiving compensation for the impacts of physical as well as psychological pain. Although the legal ability to compensate for pain evidently exists, no pain compensation is awarded, simply because the WSCC has not written a standard to rate the physical pain. The issue was referred to the NWT Human Rights Commission, and a complaint was upheld for referral to adjudication and that adjudication has been suspended pending the results of a negotiation with a specified client. Although, I am unable to refer to the details of that negotiation because of imposed confidentiality conditions by WSCC. However, can the Minister say whether a standard for rating and compensating the impacts of pain is being prepared by the WSCC?

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

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The Member alluded to where we cannot talk about the specifics of a case that’s before the claims. This particular case is before the claims. When it comes to compensation and benefits for individuals, injured workers, I have had a meeting with WSCC, the president and also the chair, discussing various areas where the Member raised that issue with me earlier. I did raise the profile and we need to deal with those matters that are before us. Those are the areas that the organization is looking after but they are very careful discussing matters that are before claims.

Thanks to the Minister for those remarks. I realize there are areas that we can’t delve into. However, I do believe there is full agreement that pain is to be compensated and that the policy needs to be written first. That is what my inquiry is. I think that is out front and clearly public. It sounds like, from the Minister’s response, that hasn’t been done yet.

I’m wondering if the Minister can say when we can expect completion and introduction of that new standard, and when it will be rolled out to apply to all new claims for injury compensation.