Good afternoon, Members. Item 2, Ministers’ statements. The honourable Minister of Education, Mr. Lafferty.

Mr. Speaker, languages are about identity: who we are and how we understand and interact with each other. Promoting our languages harmonizes with a connection to cultural values and provides a sense of identity and belonging.

In our ongoing commitment to the preservation and revitalization of language, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment provides professional training for Aboriginal language specialists in partnership with the University of Victoria. We continue to develop language resources to promote Aboriginal language use in the home, community and schools. We are exploring legislative options to change roles and structure of the two existing Aboriginal language boards. We are also taking steps to establish an Aboriginal Languages Secretariat.

The Aboriginal Languages Secretariat will be a critical first step towards the full implementation of the shared vision, goals and objectives of the Northwest Territories Aboriginal Languages Plan.

To recognize another milestone in our official languages mandate, I intend to table the Strategic Plan for French Language Communication and Services today. The strategic plan is the product of many years of hard work. It is a consensus document and I am pleased to say that we have accomplished our mission.

Mr. Speaker, the plan outlines three broad frameworks that are necessary to support implementation:

• a legislative and regulatory framework;

• an administrative framework; and

• an operational framework.

The plan will guide all of our departments, the Legislative Assembly and the agencies, boards, commissions, corporations, offices and other bodies designated in the government regulations in the development, provision and offer of French language services across all territorial government offices.

Languages strengthen our greater NWT community, Mr. Speaker. They create an identity for all of us. Language and culture are a priority for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, and we will continue to further those initiatives that help us preserve, revitalize and support those important pillars of our society. Merci beaucoup, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.

Mr. Speaker, the 2012 forest fire season is officially over.

This year a total of 298,000 hectares of land were affected by 279 wildfires. The majority of these fires, 241, were lightning caused, 25 were person caused, four were caused by industry, two arose from a coal seam near Tulita and the cause of seven fires were unknown.

There were also eight fires in the NWT section of Wood Buffalo National Park, eight fires in Nahanni National Park and a fire at the Great Bear Lake National Historic Site.

Action was taken on 89 fires or about 32 percent of the reported wildfires. The only known damage to any values at risk was some trapping areas that were burned over.

Core support to the fire program this year included five helicopters, four air tanker groups and 28 Type 1 wildland fire crews across the NWT. Several additional resources were brought on over the fire season to help with ongoing fires and initial attack, including emergency firefighters and other resources from Canada and Alaska.

The fire season began for crews in late May and continued until Labour Day. Weather stations were reporting high to extreme drought codes into late September. The extreme drought codes are an indicator of the level of seasonal drought.

The wildland fire season normally runs from May 1st until September 30th in the Northwest Territories,

but this year we were still monitoring fires in the Deh Cho region into October.

While it was a typical year in terms of number of fires in the NWT, the early start to the season with lightning-caused fires is not typical. Normally lightning-caused fires are being detected in late June or early July. This year there were six fires caused by lightning in May alone.

Mr. Speaker, a number of fires were larger than normal and burned for an unusually long time. There was little precipitation and long periods of hot, dry weather throughout the Northwest Territories which prolonged the length of time fires burned and increased their size. In addition, every region in the NWT experienced at least one major fire event this season.

Notable fires this season included a fire 15 kilometres south of Behchoko and another south of Hay River that were started by lightning on May 31st and burned until they were finally put out in September. Both fires required extensive action. Several fires near Inuvik, Trout Lake, Gametì and Deline were also started by lightning in June and burned until September. Fires that started in August near Fort Liard and Kakisa presented problems into late September.

Mr. Speaker, the 2012 forest fire season was difficult and costly in terms of the length of the season, the size of the wildland fires in proximity to values at risk and the time it took to put these fires out.

In addition, the supply of AV gas fuel in the NWT is becoming an issue. The supply is dwindling as more and more companies switch to jet fuel. There was very little AV gas available in Norman Wells and Inuvik during the forest fire season, preventing us from moving our aircraft into those areas. This required us to bring in CL-215 T’s and a Lockheed L-188 from Alberta, at an additional cost, to manage the fires in these regions. As a result, we are conducting an aviation fleet review this winter to determine next steps.

A Wildland Fire Management Program Review, conducted between October 2009 and January 2011, was initiated to align current and future wildland fire management activities with the policy objectives, the needs of Northerners and the principles of ecological integrity. A number of actions were identified to consider. As we continue to implement these actions, and with better knowledge of key program requirements, we are

better equipped to protect values at risk, improve coordination and manage wildland fire seasons.

Given the conditions, the 2012 fire season could have been much worse. A review of this season will be done this fall and winter and included in planning for the 2013 season. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Our mining, oil and gas industries rely on modern, accessible geoscience information to make investment and land use decisions. The Northwest Territories Geoscience Office provides governments, industry, Aboriginal organizations and many other stakeholders with up-to-date, easily accessible geoscience information. This information is key to encouraging investment in mineral and petroleum exploration.

Reliable geoscience data is vital to encourage exploration in areas with high resource potential, which in turn contributes to the sustainability of Northwest Territories industries, which translates into opportunities for our businesses and jobs for our residents. It is estimated that for every dollar invested in government-funded geosciences in the NWT, five dollars are in turn spent by mineral exploration companies.

This year is an important one as it marks the 10th anniversary of the NWT Geoscience Office in its modern, purpose-built location, as well as the 40th anniversary of the Yellowknife Geoscience Forum, both notable achievements.

The vision that created the NWT Geoscience Office – one of strength through partnership – has clearly been successful, and the relationship between federal and territorial geoscientists remains healthy to this day. Much of this stems from the vision of a new building to house everyone under one roof.

I want to thank the Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada colleagues for committing to that important step more than 10 years ago.

The experiment has been a success and we now have a group that provides us with insights on our post-devolution world. Staff provide coordinated and efficient government services.

The 40-year longevity of the Geoscience Forum is also a remarkable achievement and I want to congratulate the NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines in reaching this historic milestone this year. The forum is many things to many people: a meeting place, a place to exchange information and ideas, a social event, a place to do business and an opportunity for our southern neighbours to

understand Yellowknife winters. There is no other conference quite like it and newcomers continually marvel at all that is offered. It is the biggest conference in the North. Last year saw over 800 people registered for the event and this year promises to have the same high turnout.

The technical program has expanded this year with the inclusion of non-research-oriented presentations on topics related to exploration, mining, and petroleum development in Canada's North. This will provide another means for us to learn about some of the products and services and work that contribute to our northern economy.

I would also like to thank both the Chamber of Mines and the NWT Geoscience Office for all their work in hosting this annual event, and congratulate them on a successful 40 years.

I am also pleased to announce that the NWT Geoscience Office, through the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment, will soon be hiring its first permafrost scientist. We all know that understanding how permafrost responds to climate and environmental change is an important topic for our future. Not only do we need to understand these changes, we also must know how to mitigate the resulting effects on our infrastructure and the environment.

The permafrost scientist will help to lead these tasks in close coordination with other GNWT departments, and will influence the work of other mainly southern-based permafrost researchers, so that real and costly issues are being addressed. Especially when it comes to research, the NWT remains a land of opportunity.

Mr. Speaker, investing in geoscience programs attracts investment to our territory and creates spin-off exploration projects that will provide employment and business opportunities for NWT residents. We will continue to support the work of the NWT Geoscience Office, which supports this government’s goal of creating a diversified economy that provides all communities and regions with opportunities that benefit our residents. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mr. Speaker, effective human resource management of the NWT public service relies on partnerships between the Department of Human Resources and other government departments, boards and agencies.

I am pleased to announce, Mr. Speaker, that the Department of Human Resources and its partners

in the Department of Health and Social Services and the health and social services authorities recently launched a Service Partnership Agreement pilot project. Service partnership agreements are a common tool for defining the relationship between a shared services provider and its clients. Partnership agreements outline the responsibilities of both parties, set service standards and identify the unique needs of each partner. These agreements are often used in HR, IT, financial and procurement settings to establish system-wide performance indicators that help create effective reporting and public accountability.

This work addresses recommendations from the Office of the Auditor General and the Standing Committee on Government Operations.

The health and social services system is an ideal segment of the public service to pilot a service partnership agreement. It provides a good mix of headquarters and regional operations in remote, small, and large communities, each with a variety of human resource needs. We have set performance measurements for the next year and reporting needs have been discussed and agreed upon. Working with our health partners through ongoing evaluation of service levels throughout the pilot year will allow us to continue to develop the agreement and will help us implement service partnership agreements with other departments and agencies.

Mr. Speaker, developing service partnership agreements is part of our work to implement 20/20: A Brilliant North, the Public Service Strategic Plan. Our efforts towards fixing and maintaining the foundation of human resource management through system upgrades, expanded recruitment tools and streamlined business processes has guided our work on developing service partnership agreements. Our focus now is on effective performance measures and reporting so that we can identify what is working and what needs to be improved.

Mr. Speaker, the staff at the Department of Human Resources and I are committed to partnership and collaboration to ensure the public service meets the needs and aspirations of all residents and supports this Assembly’s vision of Believing in People and Building on the Strengths of Northerners. I look forward to updating Members as the pilot progresses. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Smoking rates in the NWT are double the national

average. In 2009, 36 percent of NWT residents 15 and older smoked, compared to 17 percent nationally. Smoking contributes to chronic diseases affecting the heart and lungs, and also causes cancer.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to report that within the next six months, three of our health and social services authorities will be smoke-free. The Hay River Health and Social Services Authority and the Beaufort-Delta Health and Social Services Authority have both established new tobacco policies, and the Stanton Territorial Health Authority has been smoke-free since this spring. Patients don’t have to quit smoking, but they can only smoke off the grounds. If they need extra help to quit smoking, they can get it from their doctors and nurses.

In recognition of Aboriginal cultural practices, tobacco use for traditional spiritual purposes continues to be allowed.

I applaud the initiative shown by our health and social services authorities. They are providing a healthier environment for patients and staff and they are sending a clear message that tobacco has no place in an institution dedicated to improving health.

Mr. Speaker, by setting a positive example and providing a supportive environment, we hope to encourage residents of the NWT to tackle their tobacco addictions. Change is not always easy.

Eliminating tobacco use in our health and social services authorities is one way to reduce our smoking rates. We are going beyond treatment to truly promote health.

We also offer additional supports to help people quit smoking. Our Quitline provides toll-free telephone counseling support for smokers who would like to quit. The service features trained cessation counsellors and personal call-back programs to support smokers at a time that fits for them.

Mr. Speaker, the cost of smoking cessation aids is covered for all residents, even those that are not covered under a health benefit program. The GNWT will provide up to three months’ worth of prescription medication or nicotine replacement therapy, such as the patch or gum.

Smoking is very addictive. It’s best not to start at all. We are re-launching the Don’t be a Butthead campaign this January with new on-line prevention modules. Youth can continue to make a promise to be smoke-free each year. Students in our Smoke Screening program watch 12 of the best anti-tobacco ads from around the world and vote for the one they think is most effective.

Mr. Speaker, smoking will continue to be one of our health system’s biggest challenges. We have made some progress in reducing our smoking rates, but

we have room to improve. I encourage all residents to make healthy choices every day. It’s never too late to quit smoking and our government can help.

Our goal is to get smoking rates down to the national level. It can be done if each of us can convince one person that smokes to quit. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Item 3, Members’ statements. The honourable Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a good friend in the gallery and I would like to speak about midwifery.

Heather Coakwell arrived on Sunday. She’s here in Yellowknife to deliver her third child. She’s here three weeks before her due date. Her husband, Jason, is in Hay River keeping food on the table, working hard. He’s waiting to get a call to fly over or drive over for the delivery. Their two daughters, Keira and Danika, are waiting in Hay River to hear the news on their new brother or sister. They know that they will have to stay with grandma while mom and dad are gone. But Grandma Rourke has no problem with that and is happy to have the girls visit for a few days, maybe even a week.

I’m happy to see Heather here today, but my story is an example of the difficulties that expectant families from the communities have to deal with. The stress of childbearing is difficult at best, and the families have challenges being away from home, the stress of earning an income, and family members worrying about how the big day will happen.

The Coakwells will not be together for this special day. Heather’s co-workers at the Hay River hospital and other friends will not be close on this big day as well. This is just a shame. Heather was born in Hay River but her three children will not be.

I would like to see the Department of Health implement midwifery sooner than later. The department has studied this issue. Midwifery is recommended. Now we need to find a way to implement it in the NWT. We need this essential service in the communities.

Good luck to the Coakwells. I hope it’s a boy.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ll be addressing the House in French, followed by English.

[Translation] Mr. Speaker, it is with great pleasure that I address my Francophone colleagues around the North. Today we are celebrating an unbelievable event with the announcement of the first…(inaudible)…plan on service and communication in French by the Government of the Northwest Territories.

This plan will make it easier to improve communication and the provision of services is to provide for more effective government. This would not have been possible without the relationships with the Federation Franco TeNOise cooperating with the GNWT. Now, with the development of a strategic plan on the French language, we can now look at culture to improve services in our official languages and to build bridges between the northern cultures.

I am proud to be a francophone today living in the North, and thanks to the cooperation between and partnerships with francophone groups, I am confident that our government will continue to improve its ability to develop and provide services to our multicultural community. I would like to conclude by pointing out the excellent work by the Minister of Education to meet our northern francophone residents. [Translation ends]

…and that I am extremely proud that the Federation Franco TeNOise who, in partnership with the GNWT, have come up with the first ground-breaking strategic plan for French language service. As a francophone, I look forward to all the possibilities and opportunities that will be available for northern French-speaking residents in the years to come.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. An aspect to health and social services that is provided in the Northwest Territories, home care workers, is an essential component of this system. They provide the necessary services to clients, especially to those living in communities that lack adequate staffing and infrastructure.

Home care workers play a vital role in helping people gain or maintain their independence in their homes and community. This is very important as this territory is seeing an increase in the seniors population.

The program itself assists people to stay in their homes, rather than going to a hospital or long-term care facility, which may or may not be located in their communities. This can be very difficult for families as this becomes a long-distance relationship with an important and loving family member and, furthermore, can add financial restraints to the family as well as emotional and psychological.

In some of our communities, we do not have the facilities to house some of our senior residents. As a result, home care is the next logical step. In Inuvik we have two positions for home care as well as a home care nurse. We are very fortunate. These individuals work tirelessly in sometimes a very thankless job, for going above and beyond, in most cases, to attend to the residents of Inuvik. I thank them for that. Some of their job duties include foot care, palliative care, respite care, nursing, and support and maintenance of personal care for the client, among many other duties. I can only imagine the workload for home care workers in those communities with limited nursing resources as well as those living without long-term care facilities.

As a government, we need to create services that are accessible and responsive to the needs of our residents of the Northwest Territories. More importantly, home care services that provide support to the communities which enable people to stay in their homes safely, and with dignity and a good quality of life.

I brought this up today because I heard of the concerns that are going on in Hay River, and the concerns that we have in Inuvik where our two home care workers are working very long hours nonstop to work for the people that need that assistance. It is a very important matter and I will have questions for the Minister of Health later on today.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the harvests are in and the news is great from across the NWT for healthy growth in our building agricultural sector. Since 2006, support from the successful Growing Forward agricultural agreement has helped extend community gardens to most of our communities. NWT-produced eggs are now available in the territory. Norman Wells brought in a 35,000 pound spud crop this year. Hay River producers have launched a mobile commercial kitchen, enabling residents to process local fish and produce across our roaded system.

Here in Yellowknife, long-established community gardens have been extended to two new locations

in Weledeh and in Frame Lake ridings. We have a proposal coming forward for an urban farm, local birch syrup production is well established, interest in cultivated berry production is germinating, and gardens in at least Inuvik and Yellowknife contribute to social support programs.

As recently announced by our Industry Minister, a five-year extension of the Growing Forward Program will inject $1.2 million of welcome support a year into programming, an increase of $500,000 per year and totalling $6 million. We are looking forward to the introduction of that agreement this March.

The Territorial Farmers Association recently welcomed the Growing Forward news at its annual general meeting in Hay River. The board was invited to comment on program improvements and new program needs. Producers have stressed that programming should be designed to fuel their self-reliance, and this makes sense. The TFA will contribute comments, but would also like the opportunity to comment on the draft programming before it’s finalized. I’ll be looking for the Minister’s commitment to provide that important opportunity.

Growth in the agricultural sector is a grassroots success story. Funds provided to date have catalyzed the steady development of local economies and growing family self-sufficiency. Fruitful partnerships between local residents and the Territorial Farmers Association, Ecology North, the Arctic Energy Alliance, the GNWT and many others has yielded highly successful projects in many communities.

Ecology North’s fall fair event last month attracted incredible produce displays and participation from Hay River, Lutselk'e, Fort Simpson and other communities. Agriculture is demonstrating its long-term promise as an engine of community enterprise for lowering the cost of living and for providing quality jobs, nutrition and healthy lifestyles to the benefit of us all. Mr. Speaker, this is sound investment.

I ask my colleagues to join me in thanking all of the people – some workers, some volunteers – who are helping motivate this new industry and starting to realize the incredible potential we have across the Northwest Territories. Mahsi to all of them.

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. The flood in Nahanni Butte may be over but the community is still not the same. Much work has been done; however, their access road is still under water. That is a bigger problem than ever,

now that snow is flying and the river is freezing up. In an effort to save costs, residents are risking their vehicles by driving in just over two feet of water so that they can once again have a boat ride to their vehicle on the south side of the river and drive to Fort Simpson or Fort Nelson for their groceries.

Boating at this time of year can be extremely dangerous due to high winds, freezing temperatures and limited hours of daylight. The water levels are continuing to drop, but not fast enough.

The community has been told that the access road will not be rebuilt until winter and supplies to repair the road will not arrive until January. The community has already made an effort to drain the road, but there’s still too much water for their work to be successful.

As I had indicated, recently people have started driving through water over the road bank. You need nerve, four-wheel drive and a vehicle heavy enough to break the ice that is forming overnight. You have to stay within the routes marked out with orange flagging tape, otherwise you end up deep in the ditch. The solution is hazardous and temporary, to say the least, but the residents feel it is necessary. Flights are costly and we can’t expect everyone to drive through the river to get from A to B.

The people of Nahanni Butte have put up with enough. Some are already driving 320 kilometres to Fort Nelson for groceries and other supplies because of the general road conditions in the Deh Cho region. The houses and buildings have been ruined. Water, sewer, electricity and other basic services were totally disrupted. People are trying to rebuild their lives. Not only does the community need and depend on the access road to transport regular goods and services, but they need to bring in building supplies, appliances and other major items.

If winter wasn’t coming on, a family of beavers could do a better job of repairing our road.

The people of Nahanni Butte have proven and are determined to find solutions and repair damage caused by the flood. We need to apply some of their innovation and resilience in finding a way to rebuild an access road at this critical time for the community. I don’t want the community to wait until February for repairs. We must plan now and get as much as we can now for the community. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The United Nation’s general assembly on December 18, 2009,

passed a resolution declaring 2012 the United Nation’s International Year of Co-operatives.

A co-op is a business owned by its customers or its workers. Besides saving money for their members, co-ops are attractive to people who like the idea of a business being owned and managed by its members.

Co-ops have been around for a long time. The first successful co-op was started in Rochdale, England, in the 1840s.

Canadian co-operatives and credit unions have more than 18 million members, and there are about 9,000 diverse kinds of co-ops in Canada. There are:

• more than 2,200 housing co-operatives, home

to about 250,000 people;

• more than 1,300 agricultural co-ops;

• more than 650 retail co-operatives;

• nearly 900 credit unions and caisses populaires,

with close to 11 million members between them;

• about 450 co-ops offering child care or early

childhood education;

• more than 600 workers, that is employee-owned

co-ops, with a total membership of over 13,000; and lastly, but not least,

• more than 100 health care co-operatives.

Co-operatives, including credit unions, have an estimated $252 billion in assets. More than 155,000 people are employed in the co-op sector. The survival rate in co-ops is higher than that of private sector companies. A study in 2008 found that 62 percent of new co-ops are still operating after 10 years, compared with 44 percent for other traditional businesses.

There are a surprising number of co-ops in Yellowknife. We have retail or consumer co-ops: the Yellowknife Co-op, Yellowknife Glass Recyclers Co-op, Arctic Co-operatives, Northern Images and two housing co-ops, Borealis Housing Co-op and Inukshuk Housing Co-op.

In this year of the co-op, I congratulate all NWT co-ops on their success as a business enterprise. I thank them for their service to our residents. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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