Item 2, Ministers’ statements. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is my privilege to rise today to express my support and appreciation for the great work accomplished by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

This initiative has been no small task. The commission visited our communities, set up supports, and provided a forum to allow our survivors to share their pain and begin to heal. This is a significant accomplishment.

I would like to acknowledge the fourth anniversary of the apology by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and the work of his government, especially Minister Leona Aglukkaq, that has led to this day.

I would also like to thank Health Canada, as well as all the members of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for their dedication and commitment during this process.

Mr. Speaker, many of our residents have suffered the direct impacts of residential school abuse, and many of their family members and loved ones have also been affected.

Over 6,000 common experience payment cheques were issued to residents in the NWT. We know that healing will be a lifelong process.

As Minister of Health and Social Services, I see the effects of the residential school experience reflected in our health and social services system, especially in mental health and addictions. Yet, I am also inspired by the courage, faith and determination of these survivors.

The Department of Health and Social Services provides over $9 million annually to support our

residents with mental health and addictions challenges. We fund addictions counsellors, on-the-land programs and treatment centres for residents. We will continue to develop and deliver programs and services that meet the needs of all residents of the NWT.

In addition, the Department of Health and Social Services is working with communities across the NWT to develop community wellness plans that will support community designed wellness programming, including on-the-land healing and after-care.

The programs and services we offered contribute to our collective efforts to assist survivors and their family.

I applaud the work of Health Canada Northern Region and their Resolution Health Support Program, which provides supports to survivors and their family. I would encourage all survivors to take advantage of this program.

Mr. Speaker, today is another step on the road to truth and reconciliation. As Members of this Legislature, and leaders in our communities, we must continue our efforts to help in the healing process and in restoring dignity to all of our people. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Before we continue, colleagues, I’d like to recognize a former Commissioner, Speaker, Minister, Member, Sergeant-at-Arms and our Honourary Clerk of the House, Mr. Anthony W.J. Whitford.

---Applause

The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.

Mr. Speaker, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment is committed to improving educational outcomes for all students of the Northwest Territories. We have developed new curricula that will be introduced in the fall.

As part of our efforts to develop culturally appropriate and engaging learning opportunities for our students, Northern Studies 10 includes a new focus on the history and legacy of residential

schools in Canada. Optional implementation of the new course will begin with the 2012-13 school year and become mandatory in 2013-14.

Consultations are underway for the proposed development of Northern Studies 20 and 30 over the next two years. We plan to add a unit to the Northern Studies 20 course to explore the impacts of residential schools in a northern context. These are being developed in partnership with Nunavut Education.

The new residential schools unit comes with a full collection of teaching resources that help students and teachers explore the policies and historical context of colonialism that supported residential schools. Students will learn about the positive and negative impacts that residential school experiences had on many people; they’ll talk about the opportunities for reconciliation and healing that are needed today.

Mr. Speaker, many generous and courageous Northerners provided powerful testimonies and guidance in the development of the Grade 10 unit. We are convinced that these contributions will make a difference to our young people, their families and communities.

The support of the Legacy of Hope Foundation, Health Canada and especially the Truth and Reconciliation Commission has been critical to the development of this teaching resource. These efforts toward understanding and healing are important, and I have been involved in this process since the beginning, attending all of the meetings and speaking on behalf of the people that attended residential schools in the Northwest Territories. I will be travelling to Saskatoon later in June for the next meeting.

Mr. Speaker, the North is a spectacular place, rich in resources, culture and heritage, and history, and it is vital that our children have the opportunity to explore, understand and build on the lessons history has taught us. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Minister of Justice, Mr. Abernethy.

Mr. Speaker, the work the Truth and Reconciliation Commission is doing in the Northwest Territories and across Canada is a critical step in the healing process for people suffering from the abuse and trauma of residential schools. Our government is working with them to support our people and our communities.

Far too often, people who have been through residential school have ended up in front of our community justice committees, our courtrooms or

ultimately in our correctional facilities. While many people in communities have shared their experiences during the Inuvik national event or in their own communities, those in correctional facilities may not have had this opportunity.

To date, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission has not had the opportunity to enter any correctional facility in this country to work with inmates to record their statements in an organized way.

We are planning to change that.

I am pleased to notify Members of the Assembly that we are working with the commission and Health Canada to find a way for this innovative work to happen this fall in our largest facility, the North Slave Correctional Centre.

Staff are planning carefully to ensure the people who are opening themselves to this healing journey will be properly supported, both in the facility and again when they return to their home communities. Our counterparts in Health Canada and the Department of Health and Social Services play essential roles to make sure once released from a correctional facility, inmates have the support they need.

Mr. Speaker, we hope to set a precedent here for other facilities in Canada to follow. This will be a valuable process for all inmates who choose to participate.

The statement-taking process of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission is just the beginning of the healing journey. We hope that many of those in our largest correctional facility will take this important step. We will be there to support them when they do. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mr. Speaker, June 15th is

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day.

We all need to take a moment and say thank you to those elders who have taught us, supported us and provided the wisdom that has guided our lives.

Many of us in this House owe a debt of gratitude to the elders in our communities that have helped guide us in our careers.

All residents need to stand up and say with one voice that any form of elder abuse is unacceptable. June 15th is a good day to take the time to do this

officially, but we must be vigilant every day. Abuse of any kind, taking advantage of elders in any way or neglecting the needs of elders is unacceptable.

Elders shaped and built our communities in their younger years, raising their children and working to make the NWT what it is. Today elders continue to contribute to our communities by providing advice, wisdom, supporting a cause, sharing life experience, volunteering and participating in community activities.

When I travel to communities and meet with people, the elders in the meetings know the issues and offer positive solutions.

Mr. Speaker, we encourage our elders to make healthy choices so they can live independently at home. We should also encourage residents to report elder abuse and neglect. It is hard to imagine that up to 80 percent of elder abuse or neglect goes undetected. We owe it to our elders to protect them.

To show support for our elders and to let residents know elder abuse is unacceptable, I encourage people to wear purple in the House on June 14th to

raise awareness for World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Item 3, Members’ statements. Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Over the weekend I was thinking about this day because of a motion that was read in the House last week. I was thinking about the students that we are thinking about. I was thinking about the parents who are not here today with us, parents who put their trust in the hands of the church, the government, either by sending the children to residential schools or if the parents were so scared that when the children were taken from the community, such as my uncle, when they heard the boat coming in and stopping in Tulita, they would run to the bushes and they would hide. The RCMP or the Indian agent or the priest would go up there to the house and take these kids.

Sometimes these kids would be taken away, they would be crying, not sure how long they’d go or how far they would go. I remember my uncle telling me they took him to Fort Providence and they tried to walk back to Tulita after a couple of months and weeks in Fort Providence. They didn’t think they would last there long because of the situation. They weren’t told what was going to happen to them. Anyhow, my uncle said they stayed in Providence for years and years and they came back for awhile and later on the boat came back to pick them up and he said this time he told his dad he’s not going and he took off in the bush.

Those types of impacts I hear from my people. I hear people who are talking, families who were

devastated, tormented, families who had a lot of pain. Mr. Speaker, today is the day of healing and reconciliation. It means that people need to learn about forgiveness. I found it very hard. My grandmother was taken away for about nine years and she stayed in Hay River. Yet, she still showed me the power of forgiveness. She even went to church every day. I kept telling her, Grannie, why do you go? She said you have to learn how to forgive.

Thank you, Grannie, for teaching me how to forgive. Mahsi.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The budgetary process just completed has led us to modest new appropriations and realignment of funds and response to Regular Members’ fiscal priorities.

The newly allocated funds amount to $3.728 million, one-quarter of 1 percent of the total $1.411 billion budget. There are $1.25 million in funds re-profiled internally and perhaps $140,000 in foregone revenue. That’s a total change of $5.118 million or 0.36, one-third of a percent of the total.

The government has fiercely defended its position that there should be no additional expenditures, because “we don’t want to jeopardize our Aa1 credit rating.” Meanwhile the government also says it’s “committed to protecting the programs and services our residents rely on.”

The guiding principles of consensus government point out that consensus government is defined by the ability and willingness of all Members to work together with their respective roles for the collective good of the people and that the opportunities for all Members to have meaningful input in important decisions is fundamental. Yet over the past three weeks there has been a battle royal to have a significant impact on the direction of one-third of 1 percent of the government’s proposed budget. Since then, the government has brought forward new proposals for both infrastructure and operations dollars that already dwarf the minority budgetary achievements of Regular Members. Undoubtedly, other appropriations or warrants can be expected.

The business planning process is long, arduous, and held up to the guiding principles requirement for meaningful input, unfortunately, does not leave an impression of open dialogue. Input from this side of the House is seen as undermining the budget and described as showing irresponsible disregard for our long-term fiscal security, yet one has to ask,

according to the records, whose decisions actually threaten our fiscal security.

All Members gathered at the beginning of our term to set the 17th Assembly priorities. All Members

make recommendations on the draft budget, a key feature of our consensus government, and all Members decide whether to approve the budget. As we move into the next business planning cycle, the government needs to pay much more attention to the words we are saying and have said.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. June 10th to the 16th is recognized as Senior Citizens Week in

the Northwest Territories. Senior Citizens Week provides an excellent opportunity for people of all ages to celebrate with our seniors their lives, their accomplishments, wisdom and knowledge. It can be an exciting time to get the family and community together to be active with our elders and our older adults, such as taking them out for a tea or just going and doing a regular house visit and appreciating them for who they are.

During this week let’s take the extra time and care in honouring our senior citizens. The prosperity we continue to enjoy today has been made possible by the seniors and elders of our community. It is during this week that we ask communities across the NWT to join us in celebrating, as well, Elders Abuse Awareness Day, which is June 15th . We must

honour our elders as they are the teachers of our knowledge, keepers of our culture and traditions. They are also the caregivers that allowed us to be who we are today, sitting in this House with respect and values.

We must respect the hard work and commitment they have made in shaping our communities and this territory. With that said, we must work collaboratively to ensure issues that are of concern to seniors are addressed and we do it as a group. The seniors have a saying of seniors helping seniors, but I will want to take it a little bit further and say communities helping seniors, government helping seniors.

Just before I came into the House today, I had a phone call from a couple of elders in one of the surrounding communities back home and they were pretty upset with what had happened last week with regard to a Minister’s statement made last week ensuring that seniors will be paying rent on September 1st . Hopefully, that does not go through.

We are still wanting to create some more discussion on that.

In the small communities there’s a high cost of living, lack of jobs and there are seniors who take care of their families who are adults. Because of that, they’re going to have to pay. They take care of the adults in their families and we’re still trying to squeeze every little bit of dollars out of them. Thirty-five dollars doesn’t seem like a lot, but in a small community it might be enough for a couple of meals for one day. I respect our elders, all the traditions and cultures that they have, and that concern needs to be addressed.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It was a dramatic weekend in Nahanni Butte, Fort Liard and Fort Simpson. Melting snow and rain have swollen the Liard River to flood levels. The biggest emergency was in Nahanni Butte. Rising waters were lapping at the door of the power plant when finally it had to be shut down. With the power cut off, it was decided to evacuate the residents of the community to Fort Simpson by air and ground transportation. Fifty-two people were moved to safety.

The community of Fort Simpson has really come through. People have opened their homes, volunteered to help and worked hard to welcome the people of Nahanni Butte. I want to thank them for their kindness and hospitality. They are really making the best of it. It was a big job done on very short notice and I’m happy that it went so well. It looks like the emergency response exercise that Fort Simpson and region had about a month ago really paid off.

I also want to thank the mayor and staff of the Village of Fort Simpson, the staff at Municipal and Community Affairs, Health and Social Services and the Emergency Measures Coordinating Committee. I also understand the Department of Transportation played a big role, as well, and will help schedule flights when the evacuees can return to Nahanni Butte.

All of this happened when the ferry was out of service. High water on the Liard has brought a lot of logs and debris down the river. The N’dulee ferry crossing towards Wrigley is closed. This was a big concern to residents and visitors of Fort Simpson throughout all these evacuation procedures. At last report, water levels were stabilizing. This is good news, especially since 15 residents of Nahanni Butte stayed behind in the community. With any luck, everyone else will be able to return home early or later this week.

Thankfully, flooding like this is not a common event in Nahanni Butte. I hope the floodwaters have not done too much damage, but I trust our government will keep up the good job when the cleanup starts.

Once again, I offer my commendations to all involved for the safety and care of the people of Nahanni Butte and Fort Liard. Mahsi cho.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A number of organizations representing health professionals in the Northwest Territories continue to ask for regulation of their sector. They continue, primarily, to come knock on the government’s door as opposed to the government telling them that they should be regulated, and that certainly needs to be noted.

Who am I talking about? The chiropractic and massage therapy groups are certainly leading and becoming champions on this particular issue, because they feel it’s very important to have clear regulations that protect themselves and our public.

It’s becoming very popular, as we all know, how people continue to use those services of chiropractic and massage therapy. Of course, we all probably know somebody who wants to enter these types of professions with full accreditation. Many of these young students and even some of them a little bit on the more mature side who enter these careers go seek training and spent a lot of money on full accreditation, but when they come to the Northwest Territories they’re not regulated.

Regulations would help everybody, not just the health professionals but also the public. Licensing the practices in the Northwest Territories would help define the scope, certainly the standards and code of ethics, which are very important. It will enhance the primary care through increased collaboration among all health professionals. Of course, when there are problems, it certainly gives an avenue and a direction on how to handle complaints.

This topic is not new to this House. It was brought up many times during the 16th Assembly, and there

was talk even about creating an umbrella legislation to cover a health professional’s act in some form. We’re now into six or more months of the 17th Assembly and we’ve yet to hear anything on this particular subject.

I’ve spoken on this particular topic a number of times and perhaps even we should be looking at the issue of omnibus legislation and we could even reach out to the naturopathic profession, as well, that would like regulation included.

In short, new legislation needs to come forward soon, not just for us but for public confidence. It builds assurance with the public that we are watching out for the good and health… This is a particular subject that I think the public has finally come to say we expect our government to be watching out for us, and regulation and legislation is the mechanism that needs to be done on this particular topic.

That said, I’ll have questions for the Health Minister later today. Thank you.

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

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to highlight a small but very enterprising community in my riding. The hamlet of Enterprise, with about 100 people, is known as the gateway to the Northwest Territories. The community is located about 90 kilometres into the Northwest Territories from the Alberta border along the Mackenzie Highway at the turnoff to Hay River.

Enterprise is the first community highway travellers see when they enter the Northwest Territories. Many stop to picnic beside the scenic Hay River or pay a visit to Winnie’s Restaurant, a friendly place offering delicious home cooked meals and a wonderful selection of Dene arts and crafts. Other local businesses include service stations and the Twin Falls Motel to accommodate travellers.

Enterprise was established when the highway was built in 1967. It was incorporated as a hamlet in 2007. The community probably advertises itself as environmentally friendly, clean, safe and a sustainable community with manageable growth.

The only real cloud on the horizon for this hardworking little town is the economy. Enterprise likes visitors and needs some for its business to survive. Better infrastructure is one way to encourage travellers to stay for a meal, tank of gas or a night’s rest in the community. The hamlet is working hard to improve local services.

A water well will be drilled in August to supply their fire department and community garden. The well will also test flow rates and water quality. If those tests are positive, the hamlet could potentially develop a water treatment plant and operate its own water supply system. Currently the hamlet buys all its water from the Town of Hay River.

Later today I will have questions for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs for the government’s support for these efforts. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Over the last few years, there has been a lot of controversy and concern over NWT sport administration. With the Arctic Winter Games held in Whitehorse a few months ago, and the many competitions leading up to those opening ceremonies, and with all the publicity around our Arctic Winter Games athletes, the media and the public have recently expressed views and opinions on our sport governance system.

There is no question that some regions and some communities of the NWT feel hard done by when compared to Yellowknife, but just what they need to fix the problem is still hotly debated. A recent editorial from the Northern Journal, a Fort Smith-based newspaper said, “The SRC, Sport and Recreation Council, has grown with substantial staff and a budget today of about $8 million annually. There is still little improvement to the delivery of sport and recreation in the communities.”

The NWT Sport and Rec Council was established in 2005 to address that very problem: concerns from communities and volunteers around equitable access to sport resources, both financial and human. Now some seven years later, the problem still exists. In fact, not only are the communities unhappy, but so is Yellowknife. Instead of efficiencies and streamlined operations, we have simply added another administrative layer to our sport administration system. The five member organizations of the SRC compete for dollars to deliver similar programs to our youth and our territorial sport organizations.

Volunteers are more burdened than ever with administrative work. In many cases, they now have to apply to two organizations for funding instead of one. About two years ago the SRC embarked on an ambitious strategic planning exercise which cost about $200,000. There was hope that streamlining would occur, that the SRC member organizations would identify their areas of expertise, target their efforts and avoid duplication in programming. But that was not to be. Parties could not agree and the process was terminated. To date, there has been neither a report nor any recommendations from that exercise, at least none that have been made available to the public.

The SRC continues to grow. There is now a staff of eight and an $8 million budget. How much of that $8 million is going to the administration of sport instead of to our NWT youth programs? To quote the Northern Journal once again, “There are two problems with all of this. The first is the lack of leadership from the Legislature; the second is the

misguided approach of government where the solution is to keep creating more government.”

It is time the GNWT got serious about the effectiveness of our sport delivery system. We will lose our volunteers, our organizers, coaches and managers if we don’t. As usual, when that happens, NWT youth will be the losers. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is no denying that I am a huge fan of CBC Arctic Air. In fact, the other day I was watching a rerun and on this rerun we saw a patient being hauled on the back of a quad on a stretcher. Very exciting, exposed to the elements, made for great TV.

It made me start to think. I did question a lot of emergency workers and care workers throughout the Territories. The reality is this is happening. This is not TV. We have many patients that are being hauled on the back of pickup trucks, sometimes on the back of vehicles and some of them in quads. They are being transported from health centres to the airstrips. We also see this happening at accident scenes. We are lacking ambulance services in a grand fashion.

Recently, we have been spending lots of time on health talking about a sunset clause of $200,000 for Municipal and Community Affairs. That was designed to assist communities for delivering ground ambulance and highway rescue services, but this is just the tip of the iceberg and I’ll tell you why. I’m going to take Members down a little snapshot, a little Polaroid, if you will, in terms of what the history of this topic is.

Back in 2007, the Cabinet of the day directed its Ministers of Municipal and Community Affairs and Health and Social Services to develop legislation, policies and funding framework to address the delivery of ground ambulance and highway services in the Northwest Territories. In 2008 an advisory committee was struck and co-chaired by the same two ministries and developed some funding and legislative framework. In fact, Mr. Speaker, in 2009 some of the projected costs coming from some of these findings indicated this could save the day with a $6 million insertion to protect our public. Six million dollars. We throw $10 million on a bridge every couple of months and we don’t even have a second glance at that, and we’re talking about $6 million. This is a small price to pay.

Since then, there has only been a number of communities that have actually accessed some funding, and in fact only three thus far: Yellowknife,

Hay River and Fort Simpson. It’s clear that community governments have come forward and asked them to bring more to the table. The recent NWT Association of Communities has asked for a comprehensive and coordinated system of ground ambulance. Communities need more clarity, more responsibility and government commitment. We need solutions.

It’s been five years. Why do residents have to wait any longer? What is the price of mitigating risks on our highways? What is the price of patient safety? But more importantly, what is the price of human life?

You know, it makes for great TV, but I can’t wait to see another CBC Arctic Air episode when we join the rest of the 21st Century with proper ambulance

service in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, in view of the anniversary of the public apology of our federal government with respect to the immeasurable harm of residential school survivors and to them and to their families, I’d like to just say today that for sure I’m not an expert or a counselor or anyone who has any credentials in family relations, but I was a child and I am a parent. One thing I do know, it goes against all the laws of nature to take a child away from their parents. The authority of a parent is tempered with love and security in the bond between them. That authority is misplaced when it is given to someone else who does not have that relationship with a child.

We know about the benefits of secure attachment between a child and a parent, and we know about the immeasurable harm when a child is deprived of that formative bond. To add more injury to the situation in the case of residential schools, there was abuse we know that occurred on a large scale. We also know that another thing that added injury to the situation of the removal of these children was undertaken by people who claimed to be the representatives of Almighty God. That creates further confusion as people go forward in their life when they look for a faith in which to call upon any kind of supernatural intervention or support in their life.

I’d like to applaud the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission throughout our country. I had the privilege of attending the hearings on the Hay River Reserve and hear people go forward, witness after witness, and tell their story of what they had experienced. They were friends of mine

that appeared there, that I have known for years and years, but I didn’t know their story until they mustered the courage to go before that panel that day and tell that story.

It’s very, very difficult to hear of injustice, of discrimination, of intimidation that occurred in such recent history in our country and in our North, but the healing does have to begin somewhere and I believe this is a step towards that. We as a government have an obligation now to support the survivors in every way we possibly can to go on with their lives and to recover from this misplaced policy of this generation and previous generations. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This past spring the staff and students at N.J. Macpherson School challenged themselves to raise $15,000 to help Stanton Territorial Hospital. For a kindergarten to Grade 5 school with just over 250 students, that was an ambitious goal.

Mr. Speaker, I’m pleased to say not only did the students reach their goal, they surpassed it. They raised just over $17,000 and I’m extremely proud to say that the school is in my riding of Kam Lake.

After hearing that the Stanton Territorial Hospital Foundation is currently raising money for a dedicated area in our territorial hospital for chemotherapy and IV treatments, Tina Drew, a parent at N.J. and one of my constituents, approached the school. She asked if they would consider raising funds for a local organization instead of a national one this year. The school jumped at the opportunity to keep the money here in the Northwest Territories. Just like business is an investment, when people donate to one of our local charities, they are creating a stronger, healthier community and I applaud N.J. Macpherson School for making that decision.

I’d also like to applaud the Stanton Territorial Hospital Foundation for spearheading many projects over the years to purchase medical equipment, to support programs and to assist in the development of new initiatives at our territorial hospital. The foundation is dedicated to raising funds to ensure that staff at the hospital have the best tools available to do their jobs and save lives. The Stanton Territorial Hospital Foundation is still raising funds for chemotherapy and IV treatment, and I encourage everyone to consider making a donation.

I’d like to thank the staff and parents for helping N.J. reach and surpass its goal, and of course I’d

like to thank the students for working so hard on this project. School isn’t all about math and reading, it’s also about learning to be a supportive community member and with this event N.J. certainly accomplished that.

This is one of many great community events that N.J. Macpherson held this past year. These students are the future. It’s clear they care about the community and are going to help us create a sustainable and vibrant territory well into the future.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m very pleased to recognize the following very important visitors from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission: Commissioner Marie Wilson; Frank Hope, northern regional liaison; Jeannie Maniapik; and Lucy Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Monfwi, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to recognize Marie Wilson, commissioner of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. I would just like to say thank you for doing such great work on behalf of all the survivors in the Northwest Territories. Mahsi and welcome. Also the team as well. I would also like to recognize Mr. Anthony Whitford, whose birthday is today. Welcome.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, rise with great respect and honour to recognize a couple of outstanding Weledeh constituents. First, of course, is Marie Wilson, who is here representing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and all the wonderful work they do. Kudos to them. I’d also like to recognize, of course, Anthony Whitford, who you yourself have outlined his many credentials. Both Weledeh constituents outstanding in their public contributions.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize my sister-in-law Lucy Ann Yakeleya. I also recognize Marie Wilson, Frank Hope and Jeannie. Also to a special guy, Anthony Whitford.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to also recognize the good work that the Truth and

Reconciliation Commission has been doing. I was able to attend the event in Inuvik and it was really well done. Also Anthony Whitford, who has been a regular at the Assembly and is a mentor of sorts, and my constituency assistant, Maia Lepage. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize Tony Whitford, as well, and also add that he is an auctioneer. Thanks, Tony.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to wish welcome to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, but more importantly, to have the honour of Mr. Anthony Whitford here with us is always a blessing and, as we found out this last weekend, he has been one of the spearheads for Relay for Life and he’s also a cancer survivor.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s an honour always to recognize the Honourable Anthony W.J. Whitford, who is a friend of many and he’s looking fantastic. As our colleague Mr. Dolynny said, he is a survivor of cancer. I have seen him with a great spring in his step lately. It’s nice to see the old Tony back.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. I’d like to welcome all the visitors in the public gallery here today taking an interest in our proceedings. Welcome to the Legislative Assembly.

Item 6, acknowledgements. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise to acknowledge and congratulate my constituent Marie Wilson on her recent recognition as an Honourary Doctor of Laws by St. Thomas University in New Brunswick. This distinction comes in tribute to Ms. Wilson’s lifelong contribution to the quality of public discourse in the North, in Canada and the world. Her work in CBC, our WSCC, and now in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, is a model of public service. I invite you to join with me in saluting and congratulating Ms. Wilson on the conferral of this honour.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Item 7, oral questions. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement I talk about the residential school students who went to schools outside their communities. I talked somewhat about my uncle. I want to ask – I don’t know if it’s the Minister of Justice or the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, but maybe I’ll ask the Minister of Justice on this one here – about students that did not come back to their communities. There are some families in the communities who are waiting for their son or their brother or their sister. One of their family members has not come back. What is the Department of Justice doing to help the communities and family members to know what happened to those students at the residential school they attended?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m not certain, but I will absolutely work with my colleague from the Department of Education, Culture and Employment and other individuals throughout Canada, including possibly the representatives from the TRC to find out what the status of that is.

I appreciate the Minister taking the question. I wasn’t too sure which Minister would take it. I want to continue on with the Minister of Justice. For the students that did not come back from these residential schools, there are stories, there are innuendos, there are assumptions, there are people telling us this is what happened to that little boy or little girl. I want to ask the Minister of Justice if he would look into his department to see where he can look with the staff that he has, to say we want to get down to the bottom of this, what is it that we need to do. Can the Minister provide some kind of a process framework to answer this question?

We’ve heard the stories as well. They’re horrible, obviously. I’m not sure that it is the Department of Justice, solely, that would be responsible for that and, like I said before, I will work with my colleague with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, but we’ll certainly also discuss it at Cabinet level and see if there’s anything that can be done, or which department would be the responsible department,

or what would be the responsible organization to help.

Where can former students of the residential school go to see what can be done if there is a situation where their family member did not come back home and they need to find out what happened to that family member? Where would those people go and who would they call in this government?

I would suggest that you could approach either the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, Department of Justice, or the Department of Health and Social Services and we’ll try and find a way to work together. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. How would people in our communities go about this? You say they can call, but who would they call? How would this be communicated to the people in our small communities? Would it be done on TV, ads, workshops, conferences? How would they know that they can call this number to know where they can get some information? Thank you.

I don’t know off the top of my head, but I’ll talk with the Minister of Education later today and hopefully we’ll be able to provide the Member with some additional information that will help those individuals. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Transportation. In recent years we’ve deployed some modern equipment and means to keep the travelling public informed of current circumstances that would affect their travel plans. Constituents can access websites updating ferry and ice conditions. This was also provided by way of solar-powered road signs alerting travellers of everything from bison on the road to load limits on ice crossings.

Recently, a constituent, well actually, I’ll just say it was my husband, drove all the way – he’s actually Mr. Bouchard’s constituent – to Indian Cabins before he found out the road was closed down there by our border because of forest fires. I think that the idea of using these signs on the outskirts of highways to advise of things affecting the road travel is a good idea. I’d like to ask the Minister of Transportation if there is any effort or plans within his department to expand the use of these solar-powered signs. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The Minister responsible for Transportation, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, we would look at deploying those signs where we need to, but in the advance of technology we’re also keeping our website up to date for the travelling public. Oftentimes now that’s the first place people look to for information. That is on our website and it’s updated, especially with the situation taking place in the Deh Cho and affecting those communities and our roads and our ferry system, it’s important that we’re updating that continuously. That’s one place the Member could possibly look. Thank you.

The operative word in the Minister’s response is current and updated, because I used to travel the road between Hay River and Yellowknife for many years, and if you went onto the website on the weekends to find anything out about the ferry or the ice road, it wasn’t actually updated from Friday at 3 o’clock until Monday morning at 10 o’clock. Has the department undertaken any measures to resolve that so that the information is, in fact, up to the hour and current?

This past week we had people from Fort Simpson that were in Hay River for the track and field championships, and the approaches to the ferry crossings were under water and they had no real way of finding out what the current situation is. Could the Minister respond to that, the current availability of information? Thank you.

Over the weekend the website was updated on a continuous basis. It was updated because of the situation that was happening with the Liard River. As far as weather, we have somebody on every weekend updating the website. If there are events that are happening in the territory, I would expect that we’d have somebody available to update that website. I can get that level of detail for the Member on how that happens and when it happens. Thank you.

The website is one way. There’s also a 1-800 number to call for an update. The Minister says that he expects it would happen. We would like to know that it is going to happen, because again, for years when I travelled on that road, the only way to really find out what was going on at Fort Providence was to call Big River Service Station in Fort Providence. That was the only really current information you could get about what was going on there. Could the Minister confirm he expects it would happen on weekends? Can the Minister confirm that there is somebody employed to ensure that information is current at all times? Thank you.

I will find out for the Member. We also have the 1-800 number, as well,

that people can call. It’s important to us that safety is the number one concern here for the travelling public. I will get that information for the Member. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Your final, short supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think there should be solar-powered signs at the outskirts of every community on the road system and at both of the border crossings coming into the Northwest Territories. If the department needs to procure more solar-powered signs, can the Minister assure me that he will look to northern suppliers? Thank you.

Yes, we will do that. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to follow up on questions from my colleague for the Deh Cho last Friday, on the cost on agriculture. The cost of transportation is a major part of nutritious food costs in our communities. By cutting transportation costs, we cut a big and an unnecessary element of the cost. Local food production is clearly the answer.

My question for the Minister of ITI is: Given the community gardens and programs for commercial agriculture expansion and start-up are helpful beginnings, what are the Minister’s immediate plans for building on this success, putting needed jobs in the communities through agriculture and reducing the cost of living? Mahsi.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In response to Mr. Nadli’s questions last week, we have done a great deal. We understand the importance of locally grown food. We recognize the importance of processing fish and meat locally and getting it into the local homes. We’ve been in 29 communities in the Northwest Territories on the Community Garden Initiative and that’s through the Growing Forward Fund that the federal government had. Also, I should note, we are advancing some capital investment aimed at replacing the defunct grading station in Hay River for eggs and the production of eggs in our territory. Once that is complete, eggs produced in the NWT will be able to be marketed into the wholesale, retail and food service sectors right here in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

Thanks to the Minister for those comments. As I also mentioned in my statement on Wednesday, availability of land is a challenge for the expansion of agriculture. In response to my written question of February 16th , the Minister said

that ITI will provide municipal governments with expertise, assistance and support in matters related to agriculture as and when requested. That’s fine, but what about increasing the supply of agriculture land outside municipalities? What is the department doing to identify and free up some of the vast amount of arable land that could be made available? Mahsi.

That is a good point, and I believe we need to work collectively. I need to work with my colleague from Municipal and Community Affairs. It could, in fact, be a big part of the Economic Development Strategy that we’re going to continue to pursue here in the Northwest Territories, so that we can find ways to grow the agricultural industry here in the Northwest Territories. I agree wholeheartedly with the Member on the importance of getting that sector more pronounced here in our territory, and I’ll do what I can as Minister to make sure that that happens. Thank you.

Thanks again to the Minister for those comments and the commitments. The Territorial Farmers Association is another partner I can think of that reports that access to land is indeed one of the major challenges facing its members. Will the Minister, perhaps in consult with his colleagues, commit to contacting the association and identifying the issues and opportunities to be addressed, and reporting to EDI with a plan for recommended measures? I recognize that this could also become part of the greater Economic Development Strategy, but I think I’d like to follow that track as well Thank you.

I’ve had the opportunity to sit down with the Territorial Farmers Association for a meeting, and I look forward, at the earliest opportunity, to meet with them again as we advance the Economic Development Strategy. I think we will be leaning heavily on organizations like the Territorial Farmers Association for that level of expertise and knowledge when it comes to agriculture here in the NWT and how they feel the government could help out in that regard. Certainly, they will be a part of this as we move forward. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Your final, short supplementary, Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks to the Minister. Really we are talking food security here as well as an economic function. I know we are addressing these things and Anti-Poverty Strategy and other aspects, but food security is really about lower costs. This weekend our local

chicken cooperative would have ended up calling out the roosters. We had to go to sources in Ontario to find out questions we needed answered. Given solutions needed to involve many departments in a strategic cross-departmental approach to food supply, will the Minister commit to development of a food strategy as an integral element of our strategic plans to fight poverty and promote economic development? Mahsi.

Mr. Speaker, again, as we move forward, I think whether or not we need a food strategy per se or to be part of a larger piece like the Economic Development Strategy or many of the other support mechanisms that the department has for locally produced food and agriculture in the NWT, it certainly is something worth some consideration, though. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today I used the fictitious CBC TV show Arctic Air to depict an issue about emergency response. It has been a reality. In reality, this is actually happening in the Northwest Territories. With that, my question who won the coin toss is the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. Has there been a working group established? Have the fire chiefs been involved? Is there work to be done with the Northwest Territories Association of Communities and work with other departments such as Health and Social Services on creating some type of archway, some kind of health profession or a trade for emergency medical service providers providing some type of equality in our systems of emergency services throughout the Territories? Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There had been a working group that had been established. MACA is part of the working group. Health and Social Services is part of a working group. We do have some assistant fire chiefs that are part of the working group. We are looking at the overall delivery of emergency services across the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, it is encouraging to hear that this is indeed a priority of the government and a priority of the department. Could the Minister indicate as to when the consolidated findings of this working group will be shared with committee here and the Members? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the intent is to have something by December of this year that

we could possibly share. Obviously, there is a lot of work that needs to go into this to make sure we get a product that best serves all the people of the Northwest Territories. By December of this year, we are hoping to have something that we can have a discussion with committee about. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, as indicated in my Member’s statement earlier today, some of the earlier planning back in 2009 projected this could cost the taxpayer or the government up to $6 million to perform. Can the Minister advise if this number has been looked at? Are we close to this number or is it too far down into the future to actually predict? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, $6.1 million was the initial figure that we used. Once we go through all the planning, the number may rise. We would have to look at all the options and then come back to committee with what probably is closer to a final figure and share that with them, and then we will determine what the next steps are going to be once we do that. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, very encouraging news. I think people listening out there feel that their needs are being met. Until such time as we have policies in place, we have budgets in place, there are communities out there that are in dire need. They need medical transport vehicles to avoid patients being transported in the back of quads, in the back of pickup trucks. Is there any appetite for this department or the government to look at the needs of individual communities, assess them, and do more good now than waiting for some projected budget in the future? Can we assist these communities in the near future? Thank you.

We do have some right now that we allocate to some communities that apply for it. It helps them with equipment mostly. We have to understand that there’s a huge liability issue in trying to provide emergency service in a lot of communities. If they’re not qualified, then that would put more residents at risk and put the communities or the individuals in a liability issue. So we have to explore all those options.

There is $200,000 now that is allocated to a number of communities. As the Member said, we only have three communities that have taken us up on it, but a lot of this is to help with some of the equipment they have in communities. Of course, we want all of our residents to be sure that they’ll be transported to health centres safely and the Member pointed out something that he saw on TV, which is actually not far from the truth. We’ve heard of cases of people being transported in the back of a vehicle, but that’s just the community responding

to a situation. Instead of just waiting for something to happen, they make something happen.

So, again, there’s a huge liability issue and we have to recognize that. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are addressed to the Minister for Human Resources today. I’d like to ask the Minister with regard to a report of the Standing Committee on Government Operations from reviewing the 2009-10 Annual Report of the Information and Privacy Commissioner. At that time both the Information and Privacy Commissioner and the office of the Auditor General had recommended transparency in government, and particularly with regard to funding of dollars within government. It was a recommendation of that report in May of 2011, over a year ago, that this government be proactive and disclose employees, senior management salaries. So I’d like to ask the Minister of Human Resources why it is that we do not publish our senior employees’ salaries. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The Minister of Human Resources, Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was actually on Government Ops when that report was done. In the Government of the Northwest Territories there are three levels of pay for executive managers: EM1, EM2, EM3. EM1 runs from $162,000 to $202,000. EM2 goes from $180,000 to $225,000. EM3 is $198,000 to $247,000. This is as of April 1, 2011.

I have directed the department to post those on-line. They will be posted on-line similar to all other salaries for all GNWT employees. Thank you.

Thank you to the Minister for being so proactive. I appreciate that that’s going to be posted and I hope the Minister will advise when that’s going to happen, but will employees be identified by their salary range? The Minister mentioned three salary ranges. So if I’m interested in a particular employee in a department, will I be able to figure out which salary range he or she falls into? Thank you.

Thank you. I have directed the department to post it on-line the same time we post the current and the new UNW, NWTTA and senior management, do them all at the same time, which should be done as soon as we have ratified the final agreement, the UNW Collective Agreement. So that should be really soon.

No, we won’t be posting individuals’ salaries. That would be inappropriate and against the conflict of information. But that would be consistent with what we do for all employees. We don’t tell anybody what Jane or John Doe in any other profession makes, so why would we do that for our senior management? Thank you.

Thanks to the Minister. I wasn’t referencing a specific individual’s salary, but whether it would be possible to find out what range the individual falls into. So do I fit into EM1, 2 or 3?

The other issue that was recommended by the standing committee report from a year ago had to do with employee bonuses. So I’d like to ask the Minister whether or not employee bonuses will be published the same as senior management salaries. Thank you.

Thank you. With respect to the individual positions that my colleague is talking about, there’s only about 17 positions that fall into these executive management bands and if we started identifying what positions follow what bands, would be really actually identifying what the individuals make and that would be inappropriate. So we won’t be sharing that information. We will only be sharing the ranges.

With respect to what an individual receives as a bonus, we won’t be telling anybody what an individual receives for a bonus, but the policies and protocols for how bonuses are identified is public information and we can release what we paid in a year in bonuses, but not by individual. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks to the Minister for that information. I would look forward to seeing the bonus information, whatever it is, hopefully by department or by division.

I’d like to just ask the Minister, the report from a year ago suggested that legislation might be required. I’d like to know from the Minister whether or not he feels legislation is required to make sure that this happens every year. If this Minister is not around, will Ministers coming behind him take the same proactive approach? So do we need legislation, do we need a policy, do we need regulations? Thank you.

Thank you. I don’t believe we do. I think now that it’s posted, I think that will become standard practice. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ve got some questions today for the Minister of Health in regard to his Minister’s statement on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission support. In his statement he makes reference to what we fund addictions counselors, on-the-land programs and treatment centres for residents. I’d like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services what centres he’s referring to. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m referring to the one treatment centre we have in the Northwest Territories, Nats’ejee K’eh, and then, when required, people are sent to treatment centres in the South also.

Thank you. Can the Minister provide us with the numbers of out-of-territory patients, clients that are constantly going to treatment centres down south and how many different treatment centres down south is he referring to? Thank you.

Thank you. I don’t have that information with me here, but I can provide that information to the Member. That’s the number of different treatment centres and the number of people attending those treatment centres. No problem. Thank you.

Thank you. Throughout the term of this Assembly, at the beginning I was asking questions in regard to the waiting list of members that need counselling, and in reference to the Minister’s statement, Inuvik specifically, there’s a three-month waiting list for anybody to get counselling, and with the TRC event even more are happening. So I was wondering if the Minister or his department has addressed this issue in Inuvik and if he’s seeing any growing trend in the communities that hosted a TRC event this past year. Thank you.

Thank you. Aside from what is already in the budget for community counselling, we are trying to now work with our department and within our department to develop wellness plans with all of the communities. Also, tomorrow there will be a Mental Health and Addictions Action Plan released. We’re going to use that plan over the next three years to try to address the backlog that was created by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s work, and then also having the federal government really not having enough resources at the communities to address all of the issues that came about from people trying to address their long-term issues due to the residential school. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Moses.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is an issue that I’ve been seeing even before I got into the House as a Member. But continuing on, I see some good work also by the Minister of Justice in terms of the NSCC facility. Is the Minister working with the Minister of Justice to help him develop these counselling programs for the inmates? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the program at the North Slave Correctional Centre is not yet developed, but anything that this department can do to assist Justice in the development of counselling and the work inside the correctional centres, we are prepared to do. Thank you.

The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.