Good afternoon. Item 2, Ministers’ statements. The honourable Minister of Human Resources, Mr. Abernethy.

Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories is committed to establishing a public service that is inclusive and representative of the population it serves. Today I am pleased to provide my colleagues with an update on initiatives currently underway to achieve this important goal.

Established in March 2010, the GNWT Advisory Committee on Employability provides advice on how government can promote, support and increase the participation of persons with disabilities. Working closely with this committee, the Department of Human Resources has developed a draft framework to guide efforts to promote the territorial public service as a place that welcomes people with disabilities and ensures that our workplace remains inclusive and accessible.

To support this work, the Department of Human Resources recently surveyed government employees on issues and attitudes related to employees with disabilities. The survey results are currently being tabulated and we expect to receive them by the end of June. The results of the survey will provide us with more accurate baseline statistics and correct a long-standing gap in our data.

Ten disability awareness training sessions for employees were held throughout the Northwest Territories this spring, including five in regional centres. Ninety participants took part in these sessions and the feedback has been very positive. The department may offer more sessions in the

future if employees continue to indicate a need for this training.

The Department of Human Resources is also rolling out a poster campaign to be displayed in government workplaces across the territory to promote disability awareness and inclusion. The posters highlight information on various types of disability, challenging people with the slogans “See the Abilities,” and “Look Beyond Disability.” These posters also provide information about the GNWT Advisory Committee on Employability and highlight the message that the GNWT is an inclusive workplace open to all people, providing choices and opportunities to people from all communities.

The Government of the Northwest Territories is committed to facilitating an equitable and inclusive hiring process. Applicants with disabilities are encouraged to identify any accommodations they need to eliminate barriers in a job competition. A diversity officer is available to provide support and advice to prospective employees throughout this process.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to close by referencing the powerful statement delivered by Mr. Cornelius Van Dyke during the last Elders Parliament. Mr. Van Dyke spoke about a barrier-free and inclusive society, the challenges faced by persons with disabilities and the measures that government can take to eliminate systemic barriers. In the words of Mr. Van Dyke, “when one of us is diminished, it diminishes all of us.”

The Government of the Northwest Territories shares Mr. Van Dyke’s vision. We remain committed to eliminating systemic barriers to employment and ensuring that our territorial public service is an inclusive employer open to all and representative of the population we serve. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mr. Speaker, wildlife is valued by all people in the NWT and contributes to our well-being and

economy. A new Wildlife Act is needed to effectively manage wildlife in the Northwest Territories. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources has prepared a draft of the proposed new Wildlife Act for public review and comment. This draft was developed with extensive input from Aboriginal organizations, wildlife renewable resource boards, residents, industry and other stakeholders.

To ensure everyone has the opportunity to provide additional input into the proposed new Wildlife Act, ENR is continuing a robust public engagement and consultation process. To date, the following steps have been initiated:• Community and regional public events and

open houses are being hosted across the territory to ensure that everyone has an opportunity to get information on the proposed act, ask questions and provide comments.• A meeting with Aboriginal government leaders

has been set for June 19, 2012.• Public information materials, including a plain

language version of the draft Wildlife Act, fact sheets, posters and frequently asked questions have been widely distributed and posted on the Internet.• A dedicated website, nwtwildlifeact.ca, has

been created to ensure that all public information materials and event schedules are easily accessible on-line.• A Stakeholder’s Wildlife Act Advisory Group

has been established with representatives from industry, tourism, outfitters and resident hunters to allow these stakeholders an opportunity to review the proposed act in detail and provide recommendations.

To help shape the final version of the act, we strongly encourage the public to make their views on the proposed Wildlife Act known.

Mr. Speaker, with this feedback, it is hoped we can introduce a new Wildlife Act during the upcoming fall session.

A new Wildlife Act with broad understanding and support will ensure wildlife is conserved for the benefit of all people in the NWT. I look forward to ongoing collaboration and cooperation between everyone involved.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to speak about the Department of Transportation’s efforts to adapt to climate change.

Wherever you look in the Northwest Territories, you will see impacts of climate change on the transportation system. The Dempster Highway is settling more as permafrost thaws. We are getting more freezing rain in the South Slave, so we need to put more sand and gravel on our highways. The opening of the Tlicho winter road has been delayed due to warmer weather. More flights have been cancelled in Inuvik due to frost buildup and the loss of friction on the runway. Airlines are using more glycol in Yellowknife to de-ice aircraft. Water levels are increasingly unpredictable, making it more difficult to maintain ferry landings. Coastal community resupply is hampered by changing ice conditions and sustained high winds.

We are active on many fronts to adapt to climate change. We continue to build bridges on the Mackenzie Valley winter road to extend the operating season and offer greater access to the communities. We have introduced ice spray technology to build ice faster and open river crossings earlier. We use ground-penetrating radar to determine ice thickness when we are choosing the routes of winter roads. We built an expanded glycol retention area at the Yellowknife Airport and changed highway maintenance shifts to ensure more efficient coverage and improved highway safety with better response time during inclement weather.

Mr. Speaker, the Department of Transportation is doing research to better understand what the future impacts of climate change may be and to develop strategies to adapt. It is our business to know how climate affects our infrastructure and operations. It pervades all our efforts, be it planning, design, construction or maintenance. However, climate change adds a new level of uncertainty. What happened in the past is no longer necessarily the case in the future, and there are gaps in our knowledge.

The best way to gain knowledge and improve our ability to adapt to climate change is through partnerships and collaboration with other GNWT departments, other levels of government, scientists, the private sector and other stakeholders. Under the federal government’s Building Canada Plan, we have allocated $1.85 million for research and development. With this funding we have carried out a climate change risk assessment for the transportation system. We have assessed the vulnerability of Highway No. 3 between Behchoko and Yellowknife. We have developed a protocol for assessing the vulnerability of airports. And we are currently working on a Climate Change Adaptation Plan that will be completed this summer. It will inform how the department will manage the key short- and long-term risks to the transportation system resulting from climate change and how to take advantage of the opportunities.

Also this summer, the department will evaluate rehabilitation techniques for roads constructed on warm, ice-rich permafrost at four test sections on Highway No. 3 between Behchoko and Yellowknife. In the fall we are organizing a workshop on how to keep our winter roads sustainable as our climate changes. The department will also consider how to optimize our maintenance operations across the highway system, including Highways No. 6 and No. 7, to deal with climate change impacts.

Mr. Speaker, the Department of Transportation sits on two Transport Canada sponsored networks of expertise, one on permafrost and the other on Arctic waters. Their objective is to foster northern expertise and conduct research necessary to provide Canada and the three territories with the capacity to manage transportation infrastructure in the context of a changing climate. Over the next four years, we will be conducting a number of additional studies to expand our knowledge base.

We are also sharing our knowledge and experience through the development of best practices guides that other governments can apply. Through the Transportation Association of Canada and the Council of Ministers Responsible for Transportation and Highway Safety, the department has collaborated on a Best Practices Guide for the Construction, Maintenance and Operation of Winter Roads, and a Best Practices Guide for the Construction of Transportation Infrastructure on Permafrost.

Finally, Mr. Speaker, it is important that I acknowledge the efforts of our front-line staff. It is operators and maintainers that are responsible for ensuring the safety of the traveling public and maintaining levels of service while contending with and adapting to the impacts of weather and climate change on a daily basis.

Mr. Speaker, the challenges of adapting to climate change are daunting. We will continue to promote research and development, cultivate partnerships, incorporate climate change in all decisions, improve communications and share best practices to meet these challenges ahead. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to follow up in my Member’s statement today from my colleague from Hay River North’s statement the other day on the commercial fishery, something that’s also very dear to my heart.

Mr. Speaker, the strength of our economy is diversity, and as a government we have no trouble responding with lots of resources to big-ticket industries like oil, gas and diamonds. Today I want to talk about a resource that has too long been virtually ignored.

On our doorstep, literally, we have a world-class product and potential for an amazing commercial fishery. Its renewable, it’s sustainable and its harvest has virtually no negative environmental impacts, but the industry continues to shrink. There’s a quota for almost two million pounds of fish and we only harvest about 200,000 pounds per year. The market mechanism which we seem married to indefinitely is dysfunctional and detrimental to the well-being of those participating in the industry. I hope the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation is listening.

So, Mr. Speaker, I have an idea to revitalize our commercial fishing industry. A few months ago I heard a fisherman being interviewed in Twillingate, Newfoundland, who had been involved in the commercial fishery down there in ocean waters, but the cod stocks had dwindled to the point that he could no longer participate in that. If we can’t find people locally and in the Northwest Territories to do this – it’s hard work, not everybody wants to go out and do this – but people who already know this industry, we should have a campaign to advertise, or to go down to Newfoundland where people have been involved in a commercial fishery their whole lives and then invite them to come back here.

When we didn’t have diamond cutters, we went to Armenia to get diamond cutters over here so we could keep our secondary diamond processing industry going here in the Northwest Territories. Surely we could figure out a way to attract some commercial fishermen to fish our Great Slave Lake out here to create some industry.

It could be an industry that’s worth $10 million to our economy here in the Northwest Territories, but we can’t figure it out. We keep looking to a handful – and God bless them – of aging and getting-more-tired commercial fishermen that are out on this lake. There’s a handful of them. Do you want to be part of the marketing corporation? Don’t you? They take votes.

Hey, let’s think outside the box here. Let’s look at the industry as it sits there and let’s find a creative way to revitalize it, and if that means going to Newfoundland and recruiting some people, let’s do it. Let’s get ‘er done. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Spring is now over. The ice is gone from our rivers and now we’re starting to see more activity around the Hay River industry around the water.

Hay River is a natural transportation hub. It is the starting point for barges and tugs that go down the Mackenzie and supply goods throughout the Northwest Territories. The harbour is important to the commercial vessels, commercial fishing and recreation users. As well, we have a Coast Guard based there.

The federal government once dredged the harbour clear of silt that comes down the Hay River. In 1994 the federal government stopped dredging in the Hay River harbour. Growing sandbars now obstruct the mouth of the river, making it difficult to navigate the waters for large ships and commercial fishermen. The lower water basin also contributes to the potential flooding each spring in Hay River.

Industry is also interested in dock maintenance as well as dredging. Industry and fishermen are having difficulties getting their ships docked. Residents of Hay River are seriously concerned about the impacts of the sandbars. Without good access to the harbour, industry in Hay River is being limited and residents are at risk. We need to resolve this issue sooner than later.

I have to repeat: Dredging is needed in the Hay River. It helps maintain our valuable harbour space. It ensures open passage for commercial vessels. There is new proven equipment, technologies and expertise available out there. A dredging program would also bring opportunity to build community capacity and use local contractors.

The federal government still has jurisdiction over NWT waters. The Government of the Northwest Territories must pressure its federal counterparts to own up to their responsibilities. The Government of the Northwest Territories needs to consider the Hay River harbour when it plans to spend money in Hay River.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to follow up today on a statement I made earlier this week regarding changes to the Residential Tenancies Act. The powers of the NWT rental officer as outlined in the act are sadly lacking. Amendment to the legislation to improve on those powers is needed.

The rental officer’s job is to help landlords and tenants with disputes, and most problems can be

worked out privately. The rental officer will encourage you to do that wherever possible. In some cases, though, agreement cannot be reached and the rental officer must make a unilateral decision regarding a dispute. It’s something that he does very well.

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation website describes the NWT rental officer this way: The rental officer is given many of the powers formerly held only by the courts. The rental officer provides information, mediates, and acts as a judge as circumstances warrant. In cases where parties cannot reach agreement through mediation, the rental officer must hold a hearing. At this point in the process the rental officer begins to act like a judge.

Unlike a judge, the rental officer’s decisions are not binding on either party in the dispute and can be ignored by either party. The only recourse for a complainant is to take the matter to court. As I’ve said often before, the courts are not a viable option for many of our residents. In the minds of many of our residents, it’s not a cost-effective avenue for dispute resolution.

A recent editorial in News/North commenting on a landlord/tenant dispute stated, “That a Supreme Court judge needs to be asked to ponder the validity of a rental officer’s order seems like a terrible waste of time and money. We can understand why there is an appeal process, but as it stands now, the advantage is with large landlords with deep pockets to hire lawyers so they can fight complaints.” It goes on to say, “A mechanism should be there for the order to be enforced. If that means the territorial government hands the rental officer the power to summon a sheriff after a month of non-compliance passes by, then so be it.”

That recent refusal of a landlord to comply with the rental officer’s decision raises many questions. Who foots the bill for court time? Who pays for the judge? Should a minor matter as a fence dispute have to go to court? Should it cost those involved so much time, money and distress? Who is being served by this protracted process and how are they being served?

It wouldn’t take much to make the necessary amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act to provide the rental officer with the power to make his decisions binding and to provide justice without going to court for tenants and landlords who have won hard-fought battles. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m going to use my statement much in the same manner as MLA Bisaro has just done. I’m going to use it to paint a bit of a narrative, a story, because we have a situation here where cars appear to be more important than people. Cars appear to be more important than safe access that’s lawfully written into the law. It’s a story about cars and where safety of women is certainly being overlooked. Cars seem to be more important.

This ongoing dispute between the UNW and its tenants seems a bit of a shame. You’ve seen the widely spread media reports, some of course very interesting, others very scary. The fact is, what we’re seeing is nothing happen other than frustration by the tenants who even in one case actually had to take the law in their own lands, who may become a victim of the law not being enforced.

We have a situation here where powers cannot be enforced. They’re being fettered by process, process without follow-up and enforcement. We have tenants who have safety concerns. We all knew the UNW has long since been a champion and has a productive legacy for fighting for the rights of others, for what is good, what is fair. I cannot understand myself why are they putting all that great history and legacy behind without building a partnership with their tenants over what really lies down to is safe access. Yet again, cars are being chosen over people.

The whole purpose, as my colleague has just said, of the rental office is about keeping disputes out of the courts. It’s about a productive way to work between tenants and landlords. It’s about ways that we can make things simple. The rental office and, certainly, their act really comes down to no teeth. I’m not saying they couldn’t write an enforcement order. It’s more an issue, in my view, that they can’t enforce it, and that’s a bit of the problem. We see going back and forth; we agree, we disagree, we agree, we disagree, and yet the landlord flirts with compliance but yet stalls even further.

How much longer will cars continue to be more important than the safety of women? I don’t stand for what they stand for, thinking that cars are better than women. I think we should be fighting for the rights of safe access for these tenants and ask ourselves what is missing here in this Rental Tenancies Act. Quite simply, it’s about the authority of ensuring that enforcement compliance does happen.

Later today I will be asking the Minister questions in this regard and asking him where does he stand. Does he support safe cars or safe people? Thank you.

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. It gives me great pleasure in speaking about the three Nahendeh residents from Fort Simpson who received Sport North awards for their contribution to sport, recreation and performance, not only to Fort Simpson but throughout the NWT. This was detailed in the Deh Cho Drum today about… The two of them are actually a mother and daughter team, and they are recognized in different fields.

The first is Mr. Shane Thompson, who received the Sport North award for the Ruth Inch Memorial Contributor to Sport. The other is Ms. Val Gendron, who received the Delma Kisoun Memorial Community Contributor Award. It gives me great pleasure, once again, to congratulate them both for this important territorial award and recognition for their tireless efforts in advancing sport and recreation in Fort Simpson and throughout the NWT communities. Thank you for taking the time for volunteering throughout all this.

I have seen how hard they have worked and travelled to make life more fun and exciting for our young adults and children in Fort Simpson and throughout the North. They took the time to share their lifelong skills with them and to show them different positive experience. This alone, I have seen, has made an impact on their lives, for their future growth and their characters.

Also, a lady from Fort Simpson, Ms. Madison Piling won the Youth Female Athlete of the Year. I am proud to congratulate her on this important award in recognition of her effort and dedication in the speed skating field. She has shown the calibre of athleticism from our community and represented our NWT with distinction over the past few years.

I just wanted to make note that we have many youth in the gallery here, and I just wanted to say that you too can achieve any goal you want by having a dream and working hard towards it. Once again, congratulations to my constituents for this significant achievement, recognition and milestone in their life. Mahsi.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Aklavik is one of 10 communities in the NWT that have only seasonal access to a gravel source. Aklavik gets

about 23 tonnes of gravel per year from Willow River, which is 18 kilometres from town, or 27 kilometres if you take the Peel River channel. Every year the community builds an ice road to reach the gravel source. It can cost as much as $3,000 per kilometre, plus maintenance. Gravel is stockpiled in the community during the winter months so it can be used the rest of the year. Pit operations, ice thickness and safety have to be carefully planned to successfully operate this road. Stockpiling isn’t practical.

Sadly, global warming is limiting our winter road season, as mentioned by the Minister of Transportation earlier today. It seems that it will get worse in the future. Aklavik needs all-weather access to its gravel source. The gravel at Willow River is high quality.

Not only do we need it in Aklavik, we need good gravel to build the Inuvik-Tuk highway, and lots of it. That project would provide great opportunities to Aklavik, where the employment rate is close to half the NWT average. In the last 20 years it has rarely been above 40 percent. There are simply more people than jobs. An all-weather road would offer great opportunities for quarry operators, maintenance and servicing the community. There are no plans in this year’s budget to start work on an all-weather road to Willow River gravel source.

In the last Assembly the GNWT was able to complete an all-weather road to Tuktoyaktuk’s gravel source. This was a successful project that will bring lasting benefits to the community. If a project like this can be done in Tuktoyaktuk, it can be done in Aklavik. We need to get the Willow River gravel source into our plans. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday we brought in a motion on early childhood development to show our concern that we want this government, our government, to focus on building a strong foundation for our future, whether it’s training, funding or structures.

We are, indeed, challenged with a fiscal responsibility of keeping afloat in the waters of economic uncertainty. However, we have set our goals in the 17

th and we must, by all means, do our

best to get there. We are approaching the critical mass of which infrastructure projects will see the light of day within this government. So much, yet so little.

Today I bring to this floor in this House the wishes of the people of Colville Lake. The people of Colville Lake, their vision is to have a decent,

proper school. Let me tell you what all 54 children have to go through day in and day out these past years to get a decent education, and yet we expect our children to have this good education. All we need to do is see the Alberta Achievement Test results of how well our children are doing in our small communities.

In Colville Lake there are two buildings. There’s a portable building and a log structure. That’s their school. It’s open in the building; there are no walls. In the kindergarten classes there are four grades in one room. It’s difficult to teach children, I was told by the teachers, due to the noise and other activities going on in the same room.

There are FASD children who require different learning, teaching, and need a room just for themselves. There’s no gymnasium in their school. Students have to carry their recreation equipment across town just to get into a gymnasium, and that’s a small one.

Winter gets really cold, Mr. Speaker. The lack of space, the recreational equipment and school supplies are stored in sheds outside. Every space in the school is stuffed and there’s no room. There are no planning facilities for the teachers to do their planning.

Children are expanding each year. As I said, there are 54 children, with six more coming next year. More issues are more important, but these are critical.

We are truly grateful to the government for putting in proper washrooms and facilities with running water. It’s taken about eight years, ever since I became an MLA, to get this done. I’m asking for a new school. I was wondering, if it took eight years…

Mr. Yakeleya, your time for Member’s statement is expired.

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

---Unanimous consent granted

It took eight years to get proper washroom facilities in our school. Could this be a measurement on how long a new school may be coming to Colville Lake? I want this government to examine clearly the benefits of building this school against the other projects when the time comes to determine which infrastructure projects we can take on in this government.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Conversion of our energy systems to renewables

supports development of a home-grown industry, frees our people from unpredictable and rising fuel costs and cuts greenhouse gas emissions. It provides major economic and employment opportunities at the community level. To pursue those benefits, we need a detailed understanding of the supply of forest resources and their sustainable use.

The Biomass Strategy calls for work with communities to assess the potential use of biomass energy to encourage a stable and economic supply of NWT pellets in our communities, to build a combined heat and power community energy system and to identify viable business models to support these objectives. The strategy commits to evaluate and quantify sustainable wood resources around communities.

Completion of inventories and sustainability assessments are overdue. The strategy also commits to putting in place our first biomass combined heat and power community system, but where is it?

Detailed forest inventories are well underway in the South Slave and Deh Cho, but sustainability assessments have only been completed in the South Slave. A supply assessment has begun for Norman Wells, but information is lacking for other communities.

Private enterprise has proposed a wood pellet manufacturing plant for construction in the South Slave, though it’s delayed for a year due to a lack of forest access. Access and known sustainable yields are key needs for viable businesses.

Feasibility studies are increasingly identifying opportunities of local biomass, both as heating fuel and for co-generation of electricity, but progress towards realizing these opportunities requires an improved foundation of knowledge and facilitation with access and supply issues.

The NTPC Minister announced the intention to complete a strategic plan for energy system development in the coming months. To show the way and meet the commitments of the Biomass Strategy, this plan needs to include a combined heat and power community energy system delivered on the ground.

For biomass to play a big role in a stable energy future, accessible feed stocks for such energy production are an essential element of this strategy. Despite the stated goals of the strategy, I note funding of the Biomass Strategy has been unconscionably decimated in the budget from $1.55 million to a mere $100,000 this year. More later.

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

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. [Translation] In the Northwest Territories we are all living in the Northwest Territories. This is what I’m going to be talking about. A lot of people are living in small habitats and these are some of the things I’m going to be talking about. In regard to Hay River Reserve, I’m going to be talking about these issues. Hay River is… [Translation ends]

…300 people. It is a beautiful community, especially at this time of year when the trees are so green. Dene traditions are strong and there’s great interest on anything that impacts traditional lifestyles, such as the proposed new Wildlife Act.

People worry that the law will be yet another encroachment on their rights. Even though there’s a reserve based on treaty rights, administration of the community is unduly complex. The territorial government is very involved in the community’s bilateral relationship with the federal government. As they say, three is a crowd.

This is so important because the community has not benefited much socially or economically by being close to Hay River. Hay River’s employment rate is about 73 percent compared to 44 percent on the reserve. It’s basically the same as in isolated communities like Nahanni Butte or Fort Good Hope.

We have been talking about education, and about 35 percent of reserve residents have high school diplomas compared to the NWT average of 70 percent.

Like many other communities, housing is a major issue. More than 40 percent of homes are in core need, according to the Housing Corporation. That is true, but it’s also true that the Housing Corporation still has vacant new houses on the reserve.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today is World No Tobacco Day. Initially I wanted to speak to that. It was something that I kind of started my career of doing a lot of work on tobacco, creating legislation and some of the legislation that we brought to this House.

However, what grabbed my attention and got me thinking last night and today was the motion that we passed in the House yesterday. Members on this side decided to pass a motion to defer a certain budget within this government because we didn’t think that government was acting in the best

interest of the people of the Northwest Territories. I’m not going to get into detail, but it showed some match and it showed that we’re working together collectively to create something that’s going to affect our people in the Northwest Territories. It’s doing something that’s going to invest so that future generations are going to be able to succeed. All the youth here today we are putting an invested interest into and into their futures and back home.

Last night I was thinking about this, this morning I was thinking about this, and we as the 11 Members on this side are not just going to sit back and let government dictate how this government is going to act. We saw a budget that came through that’s, as mentioned, status quo from last year and previous budgets. We’ve got a lot of Members on this side; we’ve got a lot of Members who have been here for many years. We’ve had a lot of departments who are bringing forth the same business plans they’ve had the year before.

Yesterday I was really happy when I left work. It was a long day. We’ve gone through a gruelling process and we go through business plans and then we sit here and go through the budgets. If we don’t look at those changes and try to make changes based on what our constituents tell us, then it never gets done. We pass a lot of motions in this House and sometimes all the hard work that our communities and people do, and they put the resolutions and recommendations to this government, and we pass a motion in the House and sometimes it just gets tabled and sits there. That’s not going to happen anymore.

Yesterday I had a really good learning experience, and I was really happy how this government reacted and the quick response that we did get from government in further deliberations. Too many people worked too hard in our communities that when it comes to this floor, it needs to be addressed.

Regardless of whether we need Highway No. 7…(Inaudible)…water systems in the communities…

Order! Mr. Moses, the time for your Member’s statement…

I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

Obviously this is something that I have a lot of passion about and it’s something that I want to bring to the attention of all residents of the Northwest Territories. Regardless of your gender, your sex, your age, your ethnicity, talk to us. They have to talk to us to make sure that we can move forward on this business. Like I said, regardless if it’s Highway No. 7 or roads or health centres or schools, we are not here only to represent our own

constituents but the whole territory and all the people.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s a privilege to fall behind the “no-more” speech.

One common problem that many people encounter when they open their monthly cell phone bill is called “cell shock.” Although not life threatening, it could have a disastrous effect on your pocketbook. This cell shock is a direct result from consumers being surprised with charges on services they were not aware they would be charged for or services they did not know would cost extra.

To counter, provinces like Quebec, Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, and now Ontario are introducing consumer protection legislation to help consumers understand the costs and services of wireless service agreements. The ultimate goal of this type of legislation is to promote transparency and accountability in a wireless communication industry by capping the cost of cancelling a contract, by charging only a modest fee for leaving a fixed term contract, by notifying consumers of any changes to their contracts, getting consumers’ consent in renewing, extending or amending their contract, allowing plain language in their contracts, to include all-inclusive advertised pricing for their cell phone plans, to not charge consumers for services while their devices are under warranty for repair, and will provide notice to consumer who are about to incur additional charges for exceeding service limits.

Although the Northwest Territories has limited wireless service and providers, telecommunication continues to grow and we will be seeing a higher percentage of the population who will count on this government to provide adequate consumer-related protection. This government’s goal should be to provide greater clarity and fairness to all NWT consumers with respect to cell phone agreements and follow suit with a growing number of provinces that are taking the lead.

I will have further questions later today for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs as consumer protection legislation could be pursued through such department. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, Mr. McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, on Saturday it was a very special day for a graduating class of Samuel Hearne Secondary School. Every year we have graduation ceremonies all across the Northwest Territories, but what makes this one extra special is it is the final graduation class of Samuel Hearne Secondary School, which is slated for demolition later on this summer.

Of the two schools we have in Inuvik, SAMS, was built, I believe, around 1959, and Samuel Hearne was about 1967. They are a significant part of the history of Inuvik. As a kid going to SAM School, which only went up to Grade 6, you couldn’t wait to get to Grade 6 so you can move over to the big school in Grade 7.

We had a lot of history in this school, as I said, and many friends that we met in the schools that we still call friends today. We were fortunate, we had people from all over the Beaufort-Delta, from the Sahtu, we had a number of people from Nunavut that went through the schools there, and a lot of them we still know quite well today. Five Members of this Assembly, I think, have gone to Samuel Hearne: Mr. Blake, Mr. Yakeleya, Mr. Moses, Mr. Jacobson and myself. Our two Pages are both from Samuel Hearne.

There’s a lot of history that will be gone there. That part of that is over and starting next year we’ll start a new era in the educational history of the children of Inuvik. We’re looking forward to seeing all these children go through our education system and someday they can be in this Assembly talking about the number of classmates and friends that they’ve had in the new school.

I want to take this opportunity to wish all the graduating class, the historical graduating class of 2012, Amy and the rest of her classmates, congratulations and nothing but the best as you go forward. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Item 4, reports of standing and special committees. Mr. Nadli.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Your Standing Committee on Government Operations is pleased to provide its Report of the Review of the 2010-2011 Annual Report of the Information and

Privacy Commissioner of the Northwest Territories and commends it to this House.

Introduction

The Standing Committee on Government Operations has reviewed the 2010-2011 Annual Report of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of the Northwest Territories. Members would like to thank Ms. Elaine Keenan Bengts for the report and for her appearance before the committee on February 14, 2012.

The Information and Privacy Commissioner is an independent officer of the Legislative Assembly whose primarily role is to review and write recommendations on public bodies decisions related to the NWT Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act. The Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act requires that public bodies demonstrate their accountability by making information accessible to the public while at the same time protecting the privacy of individuals. Seven review recommendations are summarized in this year’s report. In most cases the public bodies concerned accepted the Commissioner’s recommendations.

The Commissioner’s past reports have also included recommendations to departments for changes to improve the administration of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act. This year the Commissioner noted with frustration that most of the recommendations from previous years remained largely unaddressed. She, therefore, did not make new recommendations for legislative or administrative changes, but instead, listed those previous recommendations she considers most important.

The standing committee is seriously concerned about the government’s lack of action on the recommendations of the Information and Privacy Commissioner and the previous standing committee for improving access to information and protection of privacy in the Northwest Territories. The committee prioritized several of these recommendations in discussion with the Commissioner and is pleased to bring them forward to this Assembly.

Now I will pass it over to the deputy chair, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Nadli. Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Recommendations Information and Privacy Legislation for Tax-Based Municipalities In the public review, the Information and Privacy Commissioner identified her long-standing recommendation for municipal access to information and protection of privacy legislation as her first priority. The standing committee ranks this

recommendation first on its list of legislative changes for government consideration.

As the Commissioner notes, the three northern territories are the only Canadian jurisdictions which do not have information and privacy legislation for municipalities. The Commissioner is receiving increasing numbers of inquiries from people who are concerned because a municipal authority has improperly collected, used or disclosed personal information. Municipalities, especially the tax-based communities, collect and retain significant amounts of personal information about citizens and employees. There is no recourse for citizens when this information is improperly used nor are there any rules governing citizens’ access to municipal information.

One method of regulating access to municipal government information and protection of privacy is to include local governments among the public bodies governed by the ATIPP Act. Freestanding access and privacy legislation for municipalities is another option for consideration. Both of these mechanisms are used in other jurisdictions. For example, local government bodies are included in Newfoundland and Labrador’s general access/privacy legislation and defined to include specific municipalities, while Ontario has a freestanding Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

Previous standing committees have supported the recommendation to make municipalities subject to access and privacy legislation. The government’s February 2011 response to the 16

th Assembly’s

Standing Committee on Government Operations supported the recommendation in principle and acknowledged the importance of the issue. Nevertheless, despite the government’s 2008 and 2009 commitments to identify options and develop a work plan, no work plan was advanced on this initiative during the 16

th Assembly.

The Department of Municipal and Community Affairs (MACA) cited implantation issues identified by community governments including capacity, cost and training as factors in its delay in moving forward with this recommendation. The committee notes, however, that the NWT Association of Communities has a standing policy on access to information and protection of privacy which supports the Information and Privacy Commissioner’s recommendation to the extent of urging MACA to prepare a discussion paper and commence consultation with stakeholders.

The committee understands that small communities may not have the resources needed to implement access and privacy measures. At the public review, the Commissioner suggested that legislation be developed at least for tax-based municipalities. The committee concurs.

Members also understand that MACA has had limited resources in past years to undertake the necessary work. The standing committee maintains that it is time the government made this recommendation a legislative priority and found the resources to act on it.

Recommendation 1

The Standing Committee on Government Operations recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories implement access and privacy legislation for municipalities in consultation with stakeholders and bring forward a bill during the first two years of this Assembly.

Completion of the Health Information Act

Health records are among the most sensitive types of personal information held by public bodies. The Department of Health and Social Services or regional health authorities were involved in seven of the 20 new access and privacy review requests that the Commissioner received in 2010-11, mainly complaints of breach of privacy.

The committee learned that the Commissioner is currently conducting a systemic review of the Yellowknife Primary Care Centre, or super clinic, which is her first review of this type. The Commissioner noted that patient information in this type of clinic is accessible based on staff roles – receptionist, nurse practitioner, laboratory technical, doctor. But that she is finding the amount of information accessible to all staff is significant.

Members also heard from the Commissioner that implementation of electronic medical records is advancing and the lack of legislation governing health information is a concern. In the Commissioner’s view, patient control over health information is paramount. In the Commissioner’s words, “information should follow the patient, but people should know where their information goes.” The committee concurs.

Work on Northwest Territories health privacy legislation has been underway for the past three years. The new Health Information Act will establish a framework for the collection, use, disclosure of and access to personal health information. It is anticipated that the Information and Privacy Commissioner will be given oversight functions under this new legislation.

Recommendation 2

The Standing Committee on Government Operations recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories complete work on the new Health Information Act, taking into account consultation with the Information and Privacy Commissioner and the principle of patient control over patient information, and bring forward a bill within the first two years of this Legislative Assembly.

Now, Mr. Speaker, I will pass the reading of the report to my colleague Mr. Dolynny.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Mr. Dolynny.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to my previous colleagues.Review of the Access to Information and Protection and Privacy Act and the Powers of the Information and Privacy Commissioner As in her 2008-09 and 2009-10 reports, the Information and Privacy Commissioner recommended a general review of the ATIPP Act in this report. The 16

th Legislative Assembly passed

Motion 8-16(6) on May 18, 2011, in support of a review. That motion, moved by the Member for Nahendeh, read in part:

“Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, that this Legislative Assembly strongly recommends the Government of the Northwest Territories undertake a comprehensive review of the Access to Information and Protection Privacy Act, including an examination of access and privacy legislation in other Canadian jurisdictions and all past recommendations of the Information and Privacy Commissioner, and bring forward a bill during the first two years of the 17

th Assembly.”

The government’s response to Motion 8-16(6) states that the Government of the Northwest Territories’ (GNWT’s) access to privacy office, within the Department of Justice, with one dedicated position, is tasked with researching, developing and implementing a wide range of policy tools and best practices. It was suggested that addressing these issues through the use of policy guidelines rather than legislation allows the GNWT to respond more flexibly to technological change.

While the committee understands the advantages of policy in responding to the rapidly changing environment, the ATIPP Act came into force more than 15 years ago. In several Canadian jurisdictions, access and privacy laws contain clauses requiring a review at a specific time (example: Nova Scotia) or at regular intervals (example: Newfoundland and Labrador at five-year intervals). There is no similar review clause for the Northwest Territories legislation.

The committee believes it’s time for a thorough review, not only to ensure the act remains current and relevant, but also address outstanding issues that have arisen in practice as the act is implemented.

As noted in Motion 8-16(6), a complete review of the act will provide opportunity to reconsider all the Information and Privacy Commissioner’s previous recommendations, recently amended access to information and privacy legislation in other

Canadian jurisdictions, as well as changes in information and communications technology.

A complete review of the act will also provide an opportunity for the review of the role and powers of the Information and Privacy Commissioner. Consideration should be given, in particular, to empowering the Commissioner to make recommendations that are binding on public bodies, following her review of complaints related to the decision on access and privacy.

Recommendation 3

The Standing Committee on Government Operations recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories undertake a comprehensive review of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act and the roles and power of the Information and Privacy Commissioner and bring forward a bill during the first two years of this Assembly.

A comprehensive review should, as well, address two other previous recommendations highlighted in the Commissioner’s 2010-2011 report, namely: a review of the fee structure attached to the request for information under the act for clarity of wording, consistency of application, and the cost for individuals compared to other Canadian jurisdictions; and the inclusion of a provision in the act which would give the Information and Privacy Commissioner the discretion to expand the limitation period for seeking a review of the access to information request.Educating Children About Privacy in the On-line World The committee strongly agrees with another Commissioner’s outstanding recommendations, 5. c), that “more must be done to educate our children and provide them with the knowledge they need to protect themselves while they work in the wired world.” Training on on-line privacy risks, including but not limited to, predators, phishing, scams and identity theft should be added to the Northwest Territories school curriculum starting in Grade 1.

Recommendation 4

The Standing Committee on Government Operations recommends the Department of Education, Culture and Employment develop curriculum for Grades 1 to 12 regarding the protection of privacy in the on-line environment, in consultation with the Information and Privacy Commissioner for implementation in the fall of 2014-15.Progress Report and Implementation Plan for Recommendation The 16

th Assembly’s Standing Committee on

Government Operations supported many of the Information and Privacy Commissioner’s recommendations for legislative change and other

government actions to improve access to information and protection of privacy in the Northwest Territories, through committee reports and motions in the House. The present committee respectfully requests a report by government on all the committee recommendations presented in the House between 2008 and 2012 pursuant to the committee’s annual review of the Information and Privacy Commissioner’s report; progress on the part of government in addressing each of these recommendations and what the government intends to do in 2012-2013 and subsequent years to implement recommendations that remain unaddressed.

Recommendation 5

The Standing Committee on Government Operations recommends the Government of the Northwest Territories provide a progress report and implementation plan for the committee’s recommendations concerning access to information and protection of privacy presented in the House between 2008 and May and June 2012, before the fall 2012 session of the Legislative Assembly.

Mr. Speaker, I now recommend that we go back to the committee chair, Mr. Nadli.

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Mr. Nadli

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Conclusion

The Standing Committee on Government Operations respects and appreciates Ms. Elaine Keenan Bengts’ work to implement and improve access to information and protection of privacy in the Northwest Territories. The committee looks forward to real progress in this field over the course of the 17

th Assembly.

Recommendation 6

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

I MOVE, seconded by the Member for Frame Lake, that Committee Report 1-17(3) be received by the Assembly and be moved into Committee of the Whole for further consideration.

Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The motion is nondebatable.

Question has been called. The motion is carried.

---Carried

Mr. Nadli.

Mr. Speaker, the Standing Committee on Government Operations is pleased to provide its Report on the Review of the 2010-2011 Northwest Territories Human Rights Commission Annual Report and commends it to this House.

Introduction

The Standing Committee on Government Operations has completed its review of the 2010-2011 Northwest Territories Human Rights Commission Annual Report. The committee would like to thank Ms. Mary Pat Short, chair of the NWT Human Rights Commission, and Ms. Therese Boullard, director of human rights, for their appearance before the committee on February 13, 2012, on the 2010-2011 annual report.

2010-2011 Annual Report

Mary Pat Short of Fort Smith, Rita Mueller from Behchoko, Roger Wah-Shee from Yellowknife, Yacub Adam from Yellowknife and William Turner from Yellowknife were members of the commission during the year. The standing committee observed that one membership has been revoked, while the terms of three of the four remaining members conclude on June 30, 2012.

In 2010-2011 the director of human rights received 352 inquiries, about half of which originated in Yellowknife. There were 22 new complaints of discrimination on grounds prohibited under the Northwest Territories Human Rights Act. Nearly three-quarters of new complaints alleged discrimination in employment. Disability had the highest number of complaints – nine – as it has been for the last six years.

The standing committee is deeply concerned with the high number of complaints of discrimination on grounds of disability. The committee appreciates the Human Rights Commissions’ work to educate the public on the rights of persons with disabilities, including a new brochure on Human Rights and Disabilities and a workshop for employers on their duty to accommodate. The committee believes that the Government of the Northwest Territories should lead by example in following the act and recognizing the human rights of persons with disabilities.

Recommendation

The Standing Committee on Government Operations recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories continue its efforts

to recruit and accommodate workers with disabilities in the public service and report on these efforts to this House within 120 days.

The Human Rights Commission received a 2010-2011 base funding increase of $50,000 to launch a multi-year pilot project in which it became a party to all complaints referred for hearings to the separate and independent NWT Human Rights Adjudication Panel. There are few inexpensive legal supports in the NWT for human rights complainants going forward to hearings. The purpose of the pilot project is to ease the burden on self-represented parties by ensuring that all relevant information is before the adjudicator. The standing committee commends the commission on its pilot project, which will assist in the fair and effective administration of the act, and supports its continued funding.

2011-2012 Work Plan

During the public hearing, the committee learned that an increase in inquiries from communities follows commission visits. The standing committee strongly supports the NWT Human Rights Commission’s plans for informing more NWT residents of their rights and responsibilities in 2011-2012, especially residents of smaller communities. The commission planned visits to Norman Wells, Deline, Paulatuk, Behchoko, Lutselk’e and Fort Smith during the 2011-2012 year. The standing committee urges the commission to visit as many communities as possible each year, and to expand its workshop offerings to smaller communities as well as regional centres.

The committee also heard, with interest, that the commission will establish a “teachers’ corner” on its website. The Human Rights Commission has done a great deal of work to develop a Social Studies Curriculum Guide and learning activities to accompany the publication “Know Your Rights.” The standing committee is pleased that these resources will be made available on-line, and encourages the commission to maintain and expand its presence on the Internet and in social media in all official languages in future years.

Conclusion

The standing committee applauds the Human Rights Commission’s 2010-2011 report and looks forward to progress toward its vision of “a North at peace with its diversity where everyone is safe, confident and respected on their journey.”

I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Frame Lake, that Committee Report 2-17(3) be

received by the Assembly and moved into Committee of the Whole for further consideration.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s my pleasure today to recognize Grade 6 students in the gallery today along with their chaperones and teachers. Two of the teachers I’d like to recognize are Mrs. Rita Moizis, Ms. Jennifer Tweedie, and students – and bear with me, colleagues, as we go through these names quickly, and students can stand – Austin Cayen, Braiden Charlton, Jason Griffiths, Jarret Larkin, Sylvia Lockhart, Mackenzie Mandeville, Elizabeth Nimegeers, Jasmine Norn, Kenneth O’Connor-Moran, Davida Patterson, Jeramiah Pierre, Sonia Roach, Jayda Sabourin, Sean Smith, Ethan Walsh, Abby Webster, Megan Wood and James Beaulieu. Welcome. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Bouchard.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to welcome Grade 6 from Hay River as well. I have the rest of the list: Angela Boutilier, Ally Carston, Marisa Carter, Michaela Crook, Fiona Huang, Aimee Jacobs, Gabrielle Kirby, Shelby Lawrence, Madison Loutit, Aaron Mackie, Taylor Maurice, Savanna Moore, Shania Pierre, Donny Seaton, Nicholas Smallgeese, Tyrell Wilgosh. Also three chaperones: Mr. Mike Wilgosh, Mrs. Tara Kirby and Mr. Jamie Smith. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for joining us today at lunch and thank you for all the organizing to help with the event for the Grade 6 class.

Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. It was my pleasure. Mr. Dolynny.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It gives me a great pleasure and honour to welcome a number of my family members who are here this weekend to celebrate my son’s Grade 12 graduation. We have the matriarch of the Dolynny clan, my mother, Mrs. Vivian Dolynny; my younger brother, Mr. Stacy Dolynny from Sherwood Park, Alberta; the cute one next to him is my little niece Alexia; her big brother, Logan Dolynny; behind my mother is my sister-in-law who is here from Grande Prairie, Alberta, Darcy Zackowski; sitting next to her is my father-in-law, Mr. Grant Zackowski; the cute

one at the top is Mr. Matthew Zackowski; and I’d be remiss, Mr. Speaker, if I didn’t give great homage to my lovely and gorgeous wife, Cindy Dolynny.

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m pleased to welcome two representatives from the Status of Women Council for the NWT, Ms. Lorraine Phaneuf and Ms. Annemieke Mulders. Welcome to the House, everyone.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I’d also like to recognize the students who are with us today from Princess Alexandra from Hay River. It’s always great to have students in the gallery. There are 35 students, three chaperones and two teachers. Welcome. Enjoy the gallery.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mr. McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, I’d like to recognize two Pages we have in the gallery today from Inuvik, Ms. Angie Edwards and Ms. Tamara Gordon, along with their chaperone and my constituency assistant, Ms. Leah Ipana. Welcome to the Assembly.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize two constituents in the gallery today as mentioned earlier, Lorraine Phaneuf and Annemieke Mulders, both with the Status of Women. This time, too, Mr. Speaker, I’d like to use this opportunity to recognize the Hay River Grade 6 class. I’ve not seen a better behaved or better dressed group of students in a long time. I think that should be recognized. Lastly, I too would like to acknowledge my colleague Daryl Dolynny’s family who are here for the graduation of his son, Tanner Dolynny. By the way, he’s valedictorian this weekend, so congratulations.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. I would like to welcome all visitors here in the public gallery. Thank you for taking an interest in our proceedings here today. For the Grade 6 students, we had a really good lunch. I enjoyed your company. Safe travels home today and don’t spend all your money at Wal-Mart.

Item 7, acknowledgements. Item 8, oral questions. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions follow up on my Member’s statement today and it is about the commercial fishing industry on Great Slave Lake.

Mr. Speaker, I have stood to speak of this many times in this House, but it’s time for some innovative and creative action on the revitalization of this fishery. I would like to ask the Minister responsible if the department could take action to bring some new blood into this fishery. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The fishery on Great Slave Lake is primarily an export fishery where the prices and the majority of costs are determined according to global markets and circumstance. Certainly with the advance of the Canadian dollar and the global economic downturn in 2009, we’ve seen a decline in fish sales to the U.S., which is predominantly, I believe, 60 percent of the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation’s audience or market, is in the United States. It makes up 60 percent. The FFMC has seen a 30 percent reduction in sales since 2009, so those are issues that are outside of our control, but I understand what the Member is saying about other opportunities. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are so many opportunities to market our fish outside the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation and as the Minister knows, just about every other jurisdiction in Canada has now left the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation. They mishandled their opportunity to market fish on behalf of the freshwater fishers in this country and in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories. In my opinion they did not do a good job. We could market all the fish from Great Slave Lake to one desk, to one buyer to be distributed, but our government has never taken on the initiative to do that. We need to help the fishermen. The fishermen are doing the best they can but when asked if they want to leave Freshwater, when they’re not being presented with another alternative that would give them any kind of comfort or confidence that their fish would have a market to go to. Why can this government not find a market on our own outside of Freshwater so that our fishermen have a market for the product that they could develop here?

The reality is the fishermen remain in Freshwater Fish Marketing

Corporation and involved in that organization. As a government, the Government of the Northwest Territories has been supporting the commercial fishing industry in the Northwest Territories for well over 30 years. We provide money on an annual basis to operate and maintain an office in Hay River. We have a $225,000 support on an annual basis to help fishermen in the territory. In response to the decline in marketing initiatives and sales, we’ve also come up with $550,000 to help support local fish and meat processing in the Northwest Territories so that more fish can get into local markets around the NWT.

I have the greatest respect for the commercial fishers that are out there on this lake trying to carve out a living commercial fishing, but the fact is there’s only a handful of them and there’s two million pounds of fish could be taken from that lake on a sustainable basis. I know about the Take a Kid Trapping but what about take a kid fishing? What is this government doing to create interest in that commercial fishery as an industry and to get more people involved in that industry as fishers, if not from the North then from other places?

Certainly there would be other markets out there, but today those fish are being marketed by FFMC. The Member is correct; 90 percent of the fish being marketed by that organization today come from Manitoba. Northern Ontario and Saskatchewan just recently pulled out in April. There are going to need to be some decisions made here as we go forward to help support and market fish that are caught commercially here in the Northwest Territories.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Final, short supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We had a comprehensive plan to revitalize the commercial fishing industry. It is an industry that is here on our doorstep. It is renewable. It is sustainable. We need to get more people involved. We need to find a better market. Will the Minister commit to undertaking an initiative to see that happen within his department?

The goal of this government is to diversify the economy here in the Northwest Territories. Certainly we’re going to take every opportunity to do that. I’d be more than happy to work with Regular Members to look at commercial fishing here in the NWT to see what we can do. If we can do things differently and make a difference and grow that industry here in the Northwest Territories, that’s something I’m interested in. I know there’s a number of Members across the floor that are interested in doing that. We can put our best effort into that.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I said in my Member’s statement today, there seems to be a bit of a crisis out there where cars are more important than the safe access that some women want and deserve to their apartment building. That seems to be a real shame. I tried to highlight that narrative in my Member’s statement. I’ll have questions to the Minister of Justice about what he will be willing to do.

In this particular case my question is: What remedies are now available to the enforcement order of a rental officer when a landlord or tenant, as in this particular case, has trouble getting the order enforced and followed through by the landlord as issued by the rental officer?

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister responsible for Justice, Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The rental officer has powers and authorities as identified within the Residential Tenancies Act. When a dispute occurs between a tenant and a landlord and cannot be resolved through mediation or discussion, the rental officer does have the power to make an order. Once filed with the court, that order does have the power of the courts. If one of the parties disagrees with the order, there is a right to appeal. The right to appeal is the cornerstone of the Canadian justice system and that cannot be ignored. When an appeal is filed, the Supreme Court has a couple of options. They can allow the appeal, dismiss the appeal, or change or cancel the order. If following the appeal the order is upheld, actions can be taken to make sure that the landlord and tenant comply with the order. Where an order has been made and is not under appeal and is not followed by one of the parties, a person or corporation can be charged with an offence. If found guilty, a person is liable to a fine of $2,000 and a corporation of a fine up to $25,000.

I appreciate that canned answer because it really structures part of the problem. The thing is, the rental office is really meant to be something simple. Somebody can go in, they have a dispute, it’s ruled on one way or the other whether they like it or not. It’s about follow-up and commitment on these particular orders.

We have a situation where the appearance of the order is not complied with and they continue to

have trouble with that. That brings us to the question. The rental office has no follow-up power and enforcement power. Why do we need to send people to court? Why don’t we review the situation within the act?

The department is reviewing a number of issues with the legislation that were raised by the rental officer. One of the issues that was not raised was this particular issue about the powers and the orders and the enforcement of those orders.

However, recognizing the concerns of my two colleagues as well as people throughout the Northwest Territories, I have directed the Department of Justice to look at possible issues relating to the enforcement of orders under the Residential Tenancies Act. In this review we need to determine that there are actually issues that can be addressed through the legislation or whether there are some other means to address these enforcement issues. They will be looking into that.

I’m hoping to get back to committee with some sort of analysis and report, as well as the Member, this fall. I will take that to committee and we will have a discussion and we’ll figure out where to go from there to improve this service in the future so that this type of thing doesn’t happen again.

I’ll thank the Minister for scooping my third question, which ultimately only left me with the fact that is it anticipated that there will be amendments coming forward this fall? I’m just trying to get a sense of what he was after. Ultimately this issue needs to be reviewed. It sounds like that is what he was about to do. I want to make sure that it gets reviewed in a timely way so that we don’t put other people at risk. Is that what he’s saying? That he’ll bring forward amendment to regulation changes that can be implemented immediately?

I agree completely. We want to make sure that this type of thing doesn’t happen. What I’m committing to do is providing a bit of an analysis and report on what can be done to make sure that orders can be enforced and how they can be enforced. I’m not sure that’s going to require a legislative amendment. It may be policy, it might be regulation. We will do that research and analysis. We will bring it to committee. We will present it to committee and seek direction from committee and the Member as well. We will seek direction on how we want to move forward on that. It may be legislation; it may not be legislation. We will do something.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just want to recognize my colleague from Tulita and Kelsi Taylor, two Pages here. I forgot to say that. I want to ask the Minister of Education questions on the Colville Lake School. I want to ask the Minister where within his department, how soon could the people in Colville Lake look at the possibility, amongst the many other projects that we have in the Northwest Territories, that they can look at maybe a planning or discussions on building a new school for Colville Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The Colville Lake School has been addressed in the House on numerous occasions. It all depends on the allocation of students. We currently have, as the Member has indicated, 55 students. It’s allowable up to 62 students. At the same time the Member is asking when we can discuss this. The opportunity would be when we’re going through the capital planning process. We put forward any requests on capital infrastructure if it’s a real critical need for the Northwest Territories. We compile those capital planning and then decide from there which is the most priority for the Northwest Territories. There will be opportunity to do that during this Legislative Assembly.

In the Colville Lake School it’s very difficult for the teachers to give the best attention to the students. Where in the capital planning process that the Minister can see that the Colville Lake students can have a chance to say yes, we could possibly get some planning studies done to put us on the capital planning projects to have a new school. Where?

This is an opportunity. We’re listening to the Member. We need to go through the process of selecting those individual capital projects that are important to the Northwest Territories. If we have a capacity of 62 and we have 55 students in there, that’s an area we’re also looking at. We’re closely monitoring those schools, Colville school and Trout Lake and other schools that have been brought to our attention. We’re going to work with that as part of the planning process for capital planning. Discussion will take place as to which priorities we should focus on. That is the process that we need to follow within the GNWT.

I want to ask the Minister who in this government would need to be convinced when you go to Colville Lake. I challenge any Member here to bring their students to Colville Lake, attend the school in Colville Lake, and see if that will help them get a new school. There are four classrooms

in one building. There’s no privacy. Even though that number is there the Minister is rattling off, doesn’t quite fit the people in Colville Lake. Who within the longest system needs to tell the Minister that we need a new school in Colville Lake? This is not acceptable. Who do we need to convince?

The process itself is through the divisional education council, through the superintendent working with the principals and delivering that through the chairperson on to my attention as part of the process itself, then putting it into the system as well. Compiling with all the other capital projects. It is this Assembly that decides on those capital projects and we’ll continue to push that forward. The most critical needs in the Northwest Territories.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The people in Colville Lake want to know – at some point they were told that they were going to get a new school – why was that bumped from the capital planning project and they brought in the portable building. Why was that bumped in Colville Lake and they missed out on having a new school?

I don’t have any information on why, but we should focus on as we move forward. If this is part of the capital planning project, then we should pursue it and that will be a discussion that we will be having in this House as well.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m going to make some questions today for the Minister of Justice on the document that he tabled a couple days ago, Analysis of Federal Bill C-10, Safe Streets and Communities Act: Impacts on the NWT Department of Justice. I didn’t get a chance to go through it in detail yet, but just some stuff from the conclusions that were mentioned. He’s talking about if our institutions should become full capacity, what is his plan with this impact on the justice system? What is his plan for inmates if they can’t get into our institutions?

Thank you, Mr. Moses. The honourable Minister responsible for Justice, Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With the report, it identifies that we think we might see as many as 11 positions or 11 people in those facilities over a year, at a whole year duration, not actual days, which will put additional

pressure on the facilities, absolutely. Right now we have an opportunity, given that we have Nunavut inmates as well as federal inmates in those facilities, and our first step would be to stop taking Nunavut inmates, which would leave us room for northern inmates. Thank you.

I forgot to mention, I just wanted to thank the Minister for tabling the document so that our public and our residents get an opportunity to see this and see the impacts that it’s going to have on our government and our communities.

In the conclusions, the Minister mentioned that there might be an extra pod for the North Slave Correctional Centre, as well as maybe the construction of a proposed women’s facility. When we were going through the process of Arctic Tern in Inuvik, can the Minister commit to looking at that facility, the Arctic Tern facility again and maybe, possibly making the right adjustments to it so that we can open it up should we need not construct a new building but use existing infrastructure, which we always preach about. Can the Minister answer that question? Thank you.

The most recent technical report on the Public Works and Services building still indicates that there are limitations to that building to be used as a secure facility for corrections purposes. That building has been turned over to Public Works and Services who will do some remediation work on it and have it ready for some disposal. Somebody will be able to use that building. Unfortunately, it can’t meet the criteria or the conditions for a secure facility.

We do need a female facility. The female facility we have in Fort Smith is not meeting the needs. It needs to be upgraded, and it is in the list of facilities that need to be reviewed and, hopefully, constructed over the life of this government. But we still need to have those discussions. Thank you.

The estimates that he’s got in this report are $32 million for the North Slave Correctional Centre, and then he’s got another $35 million in his conclusions for another building. We’ve got existing infrastructure out there and we have to look at how we can use those so that we don’t always put money into capital.

With that said, there’s also going to be an increase of, he states that more people are going to be wanting to appeal their sentences, so it’s going to put more stress on our legal aid system, which is already exhausted enough. What is his plan for the legal aid system should people start appealing their sentences? Thank you.

Right now we have just completed the drafting of a new Legal Aid Act, which will be coming in front of committee soon, hopefully. We’ve also been having discussions in Cabinet and with committee about enhancing or

providing some additional resources to the legal aid unit, and we will continue to have those discussions and find a way to enhance the services being provided in that area. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Knowing what he knows here and the report that’s in there, can the Minister provide Members on this side of the House a detailed plan of how he’s going to start implementing the effects of this report that he put out, a plan that’s going to allow us to know what’s going to be coming in future business plans? Thank you.

We only have 36 minutes and I don’t think anybody wants me to use that entire time up. What I’d like to offer is I can certainly meet with committee to go through some of the things that we’re planning and build upon the discussions that we’ve already had on the business plan and walk through some of the details of this report. If the committee wants that, I am happy to provide the Member and committee with a little bit more of a briefing on this topic. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are addressed to the Minister for Justice. I’d like to follow up on my Member’s statement.

I’d like to thank the Minister for his responses to my colleague Mr. Hawkins, and he’s addressed a few of my concerns, but the Minister mentioned that there is an issue. He also mentioned that he’s trying to improve service. For me, the issue is of costs to the individuals. When an individual who has an order and the order is not being enforced, they must go to court. I’d like to know from the Minister, in terms of costs, I guess, does the Minister have any idea of the costs to individuals through the courts for rental officer decisions that have been ignored and have not been agreed to and followed up on. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The Minister of Justice, Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No, I don’t.

I’m not sure I want to thank the Minister, but I guess I’d like to ask the Minister whether or not he would be willing to provide that information. I think one of the things that we have to realize is that taking an issue to the Supreme Court is not cost effective for our residents. We have many, many people who are so totally intimidated

about going to court that they wouldn’t even think of doing that and taking that action.

I appreciate that the Minister is going to look at the act, and I appreciate that we will get some kind of action. I’d like to ask the Minister when we might be able to get the information that he’s referencing. He may have given a time frame and maybe I missed it, but when can we look to see the results of the review that he says he’s going to do? Thank you.

I have directed the department to have some results ready for discussion with committee and Members in the fall. Thank you.