Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’d like to talk about tanning equipment because it’s time that we have some type of discussion on tanning beds, booths, lamps and their use for cosmetic purposes. The public discussion and information is really required.

It’s an issue brought forward to me by a number of constituents who have had grave cause in some of the recent findings, because tanning devices, as we know them, do cause cancer. The World Health Organization officially classified them as a carcinogenic item back in 2009.

The average person doesn’t know that some tanning beds emit ultraviolet radiation five times more intense than the midday summer light. Research has also told us that they’ve found that a person’s risk of getting skin cancer increases by 75 percent if they use these tanning beds before the age of 35. Naturally, Canada has guidelines for tanning gear, but not much in the way of regulation, so responsibility is really left up to the customers and some of the organizations that run these things. Studies, of course, show that tanning beds are particularly – and I stress particularly – risky for children who use them, but again, we don’t have any laws to prohibit that.

So many jurisdictions have banned or even restricted the use of tanning beds for young people and I’ll point out a few. Around the world we have places like Nova Scotia, Australia, and even France who have thought about this and taken serious steps to provide measures to protect our young people. It’s time maybe that the Government of the Northwest Territories finally consider some type of regulation on this type of industry to protect our folks who are young.

This gives us a chance to come up with some guidelines and public discussion on ensuring that our people under the age of 18 are protected. Adults can obviously make their own minds up and use the equipment as they feel they can, and certainly most of our adults are in a position to understand the risks, but I would say that it’s time that the Health Minister come forward with some type of discussion to make sure our youth are protected.

Justifiably, there are many laws on our books that are there to protect our young people until they are

reaching an age where they can make smart and responsible choices on their own. I think the tanning bed equipment should be one more of those issues added to the list that puts our young people ahead of personal vanity.

Later today I will have questions for the Health Minister to see what he will be willing to do on this particular subject.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With rivers breaking up and lakes melting across the NWT comes a time that many people look forward to: the summer sport fishing season. Sport fishing has a great sustainable tourism potential for our communities that we perhaps do not make as much as we could. There should be business opportunities for local guides, hotels, bed and breakfasts, restaurants, stores, boat and equipment rentals, and arts and crafts. However, the large number of RVs and trucks gathered by the winter road crossing and campgrounds near Fort Providence especially can be overwhelming at times. Unfortunately, we do not always see these people coming into the community and spending their money locally.

At the same time we need to be careful that the fish stocks stay healthy and that we are not overfishing or damaging their environment. There are special restrictions in place for particularly sensitive areas. For example, the Providence Creek is closed to sport fishing from April 15th to May 30th and there

are special limits on jackfish and pickerel for the Horn River and Mills Lake as well as the Mackenzie River Management Area which includes the Kakisa and Fort Providence regions to just west of Hay River. There are also special limits on grayling in that area.

The federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans is responsible for the regulations, and both the DFO officers and our local ENR officers enforce them. DFO does some monitoring of the fish in the area; however, overall there have been very few studies on fish, fish habitat and harvest numbers in the Northwest Territories.

Fish are a very important resource for all the Deh Cho communities as food, as part of our culture, and now economically as well. The communities know this best and I think we need to be looking at ways for them to get more directly involved in protecting the management of sport fishing in the area. We should not be relying entirely on the federal government to do this. The GNWT also needs to be working with the communities more closely to figure out how to benefit from the tourism

traffic that is already on our doorsteps and how to ensure that it remains sustainable.

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

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. It gives me great pleasure to recognize 2012 Education Hall of Fame inductees here with us in the gallery. First is Helen Kitekudlak from Ulukhaktok, Betty Barnaby from Fort Good Hope, Chris Baron from Behchoko, Angela James from Yellowknife, Margaret Thom from Fort Providence, Kevin Antoniak from Fort Smith, and Dr. Curtis Brown from Fort Smith. Congratulations. Thanks for joining us here in the gallery.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ve got a few people to recognize. First up I’d like to recognize Margaret Marshall. She’s a constituent.

As well as Liz Wyman, a constituent who is also the chair of the Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority, and of course Liz Wyman is no stranger in the business community. She’s a very successful lady.

As well, the next two people I would like to recognize are Michele Letourneau and Annemieke Mulders. I believe they’re sitting up front here. For many of you, you may recognize their names. They’ve been rightly fighting for fair and safe access to their dwelling through the rental office process, a saga continuing on today.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also would like to recognize all the people who have been inducted into the Education Hall of Fame and thank them for amazing work that they’ve done through their careers to date.

I especially want to mention Angela James, who has been the principal down at K’alemi Dene School, as well as, of course, the K’alemi Dene School Choir which performed during the ceremonies earlier this morning.

In relation to that, I’m also very pleased to recognize two of our Pages also from K’alemi Dene School who are well represented today in many ways: Brent Betsina, to your right, Mr. Speaker, and Johnny Ray Johnson-Black, to your left. I’m very pleased to have them in the House. I’m not sure if this may be the first time K’alemi Dene School has been in the House, but I’m very happy to see them.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s not very often that I get an opportunity to recognize people in the gallery but I have two special people from my home community and constituency of the Deh Cho. I hope they’re still here. Mr. Jim and Mrs. Margaret Thom.

Thank you, Mr. Nadli. I, too, would like to welcome, it’s not too often that I get to have constituents here from Ulukhaktok. It’s Helen and Joseph Kitekudlak from Ulukhaktok.

While I’ve got a moment, I’d like to… The 40 years, Helen, that you’ve given to all the students in the home school of Helen Kalvak Elihakvik School in Ulukhaktok and we’re really thankful for all the work you’ve done, both you and Joseph. Thank you very much. It’s good to have constituents here. Welcome to the Legislative Assembly.

Again to all the Education Hall of Fame inductees, welcome to the Legislative Assembly. I’d like to welcome all our visitors in the public gallery here today for taking an interest in our proceedings here today. Thank you very much.

Item 6, acknowledgements. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would just like to acknowledge Mrs. Margaret Thom, who was the recipient of the Education Hall of Fame. Also with Margaret is her husband, Jim.

Margaret has contributed to the education of her people through her work as community counsellor at the Deh Gah Elementary and Secondary School for 20 years. She has taken a lead role in supporting graduates by travelling with them to post-secondary institutions. Many students have been successful as they continued their education, thanks to her continued support even after they’re finished in school.

Margaret recognizes the importance of traditional teachings and education. She has made sure that the cultural value and beliefs of the people of the Deh Cho are present in all the school and what the school does from counselling to parental involvement to classroom work. In 2009 Margaret became the first elder representative on the Aurora College Board of Governors.

Margaret, it gives me great pleasure to recognize your contributions to the community.

Thank you, Mr. Nadli. Item 7, oral questions. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In follow up to my Member’s statement, I would like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services a few questions on a process that brought this situation down to the floor. I’d like to ask the Minister what the steps and processes that the Department of Health and Social Services takes in awarding service contracts and is it a common practice between all contracts throughout the regions.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The standard process is that if it’s a tender, then it’s evaluated using the Business Incentive Policy for just the tendered cash value. If it’s an RFP, it’s evaluated as an RFP by the Business Incentive Policy.

My second question is: How does a local contractor lose a contract that he previously had for four or five years to a southern company, and most likely through the BIP process? Can I ask the Minister to explain that one to me? Thank you.

In this particular case it was an RFP, which evaluates the certain categories of the RFP through experience, methodology, cost, northern content and so on. It was determined that the southern bid had higher points in certain areas of the RFP including areas in the fees and costs. And because the southern bidder had all local employees at the particular location of the job, they were, after the BIP evaluation was done, the southern contractor had more points. Based on that, the award was given to the southern contractor.

When the contract was awarded out to the southern company, our local contractor in Inuvik was already told that he had got the contract after the BIP was awarded to the southern company. It’s pretty mindboggling. Anyhow, how can the department justify signing off on a contract when the initial contractor, the one who had it before, is appealing the process? During the appeal process, how can this government sign off on a contract, especially when it’s going to a southern company and our northern dollars are going south? Thank you.

The contract, there was a bit of a timeline between when the bid was out and

when it closed. The evaluation process is that the Beaufort-Delta Health and Social Services Authority did the BIP evaluation. It was initially determined that the northern contractor had a better score, but after consultation with ITI, who are the keepers of the Business Incentive Policy, they determined that, no, in fact the southern contractor had the higher bid, so they allowed the appeal to the Public Works, which is our quality control for the Business Incentive Policy. After that appeal, Public Works supported the original decision of the Beaufort-Delta Health and Social Services and ITI that definitely, in fact, the points issued on the second evaluation was correct. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Your final, short supplementary, Mr. Moses.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. After the initial awards were brought forth, it had come to the headquarters here and it was headquarters that had made the recommendations that they review the BIP policy. I believe that’s the process, according to my sources dealing with this guy. What it comes down to is we want answers. I’d like to ask the Minister if he’s willing to make public the original proposals with the date received stamp on them as well as the contract scores in detail. Not the final scores. The scores in detail of the contracts made public to this contractor and to everybody so that contractors out there know how this government is awarding contracts and why some of our small local contractors are losing out. Thank you. I’d like that commitment.