Good afternoon, colleagues. Item 2, Ministers’ statements. The honourable Minister of Public Works and Services, Mr. Abernethy.

Madam Speaker, when the 17th Legislative Assembly set its goals,

two of them were to support the growth of healthy, educated people and to operate an effective and efficient government. Today I would like to update my colleagues on an important development to the GNWT’s digital communications network, which is helping achieve those goals.

The network connects our 33 communities to the government’s communications system. Everything from critical department applications to Internet access and e-mail is delivered through this network. Without it, our ability to deliver high quality programs and services, especially in our remote communities, would be limited. It allows us to take advantage of new applications that enhance our services to the residents of the Northwest Territories. We recently entered into a five-year contract for the network that will improve the government’s ability to serve the people of the NWT.

Since work first started to establish the new contract, the Technology Service Centre worked closely with our two biggest users: the Department of Health and Social Services and the Department of Education, Culture and Employment. This helped us to better understand how technology can serve health and education. And it ensured that the new network would be flexible enough to grow with our government. We are now getting more bandwidth for the same price, and we can add more at a much more affordable rate. We’re also able to make sure that critical things like digital X-rays get top priority

when sending or receiving data. This is the most secure digital system our government has ever operated. We are committed to having the digital tools in place to be more efficient, more creative, and more cost-effective than ever before.

Our staff now have more ability to do in-house videoconferencing, reducing department travel costs. Communities that need it the most have had their bandwidth doubled.

In conjunction with the new DCN, and the future development of the Mackenzie Valley fibre link and the data communications improvements anticipated for the GNWT and all communities along its route, the benefits to the NWT will be significant in the years to come.

Madam Speaker, technology is critical to delivering our programs and services. I am confident that these improvements will benefit all of our residents in more innovative and cost-effective ways than ever before. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

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

Madam Speaker, the traditional economy is an important source of income for many Northwest Territories residents and one of the sectors that this government supports as part of our goal of a diversified economy. Today I would like to tell you about the remarkable sales of Northwest Territories wild furs this year and the government initiatives that support and promote this important economic sector.

Over $300,000 worth of genuine Mackenzie Valley furs were sold at the most recent wild fur sale held in North Bay, Ontario, last week. Beaver pelts, which had previously been underperforming at auction, went for an average price of over $26 per pelt, compared to $13 in 2011. This increase is due in part to a decision to ship all small and medium size beaver pelts to dressers and return them to the NWT for sale into the craft sector. This benefits traditional crafters and our trappers.

This past March at the wild fur auction in Seattle, our trappers received previously unheard of prices

for marten - $380 per pelt, and arctic fox - $200 per pelt, shattering previous high prices. In comparison, top price for marten in 2011 was $150, and arctic fox, $68.

I am pleased to say that total sales to date for the 2011-12 trapping season are over $1.3 million, and we still have one more auction left at the end of June. This will be one of the most financially rewarding trapping seasons in nearly 30 years. Most importantly, our trappers, families and communities will benefit from these increased sales.

The traditional economy not only plays an important role in ensuring culture and traditions continue, but also provides economic benefits. Food harvested from the land can reduce the cost of living in small communities and is an excellent source of nutrition. In fact, estimates of values of food harvest are approximately $20 million. When retail values are applied, this figure doubles.

Recognizing the importance of traditional harvesting, the Government of the Northwest Territories increased its funding this year to the Community Harvesters Assistance Program to over $1 million. This funding is distributed to local wildlife committees who, in turn, distribute funds in their communities. Program funds play a crucial role in covering a portion of costs for renewable resource harvesters.

Also, Madam Speaker, we want to ensure these traditions and methods are passed on for years to come so the traditional economy continues to thrive. Investing in youth programs is an essential part of this. The GNWT runs the Take a Kid Trapping and Take a Kid Harvesting programs, which introduce youth in the NWT to traditional harvesting practices.

Local instructors incorporate visits to trap lines and give youth hands-on experience setting traps, snares and fishnets. They also teach traditional life skills, as well as conservation methods and best practices in the preparation of pelts for market. This year over 2,200 youth took part in 53 program initiatives across the territory.

By actively supporting the harvesting and marketing of wild fur through the Genuine Mackenzie Valley Furs Program, as well as supporting traditional economy programs, the GNWT is taking action to diversify the economy and provide all communities and regions with opportunities and choices. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

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

Madam Speaker, our languages make us who we are as individuals and as a society. Today I would like to talk about service improvements and revitalization efforts for the Northwest Territories official languages.

Recently we concluded the consultation phase of the French Languages Plan. The Fédération Franco-TéNOise is reviewing it and we hope to share it with Members of this Assembly very soon.

The Francophone Affairs Secretariat officially opened in April and is planning for possible inclusion in next year’s business plan, working with all government departments. We are also doing the early planning for an Aboriginal languages secretariat, an important part of the Aboriginal Languages Plan. We hope to include it in next year’s business plan. As well, we are hosting the second Aboriginal Languages Symposium next spring, and are beginning the planning process.

In partnership with the Yamozha Kue Society and district education councils, ECE led the development of several language learning apps for iPads and iPhones. They are available for free on iTunes and use games and teaching techniques to help people learn the basics of the NWT Dene languages. Future apps will feature Cree and Inuit languages. As well, the department supported the new Chipewyan dictionary produced in Fort Resolution. This 369-page resource was truly a collaborative effort, with education and language specialists, elders and youth involved.

I will be developing amendments to the Official Languages Act. In accordance with the wishes of the Dehcho First Nation we will rename the South Slavey language to Dehcho Dene. We will also eliminate the Official Languages Board.

Madam Speaker, I look forward to updating this House on our progress over the coming months. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Item 3, Members’ statements. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. The Yellowknife office or commercial market had approximately 20,000 square feet of vacancy or around 1.6 percent prior to June of this year.

Just recently the new federal government consolidated the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development into a new building,

which then pushed our Yellowknife office vacancy rate up to 80,000 square feet or 6.4 percent vacancy.

We know that a recent RFP has closed for a new GNWT 60,000 square foot building to house devolution of Aboriginal Affairs from the federal government to the territorial government, knowing full well this building will hold very little net growth in terms of staff positions or expansion during the devolution transition.

In essence, Madam Speaker, we’ll have a new GNWT building with no new forced growth while this government gets their financial house in order over the next couple of years.

Consequently, this new GNWT building will add an additional 60,000 square feet of vacancy into the Yellowknife area, bringing the total amount to 140,000 square feet of vacancy and pushing our market vacancy at over 10.7 percent. This is the point of my statement today.

The historical absorption rate of office space in the Yellowknife area in better years of growth has been around 10,000 square feet per year. Given the future of the NWT during some very uncertain times, with the diamond mine transitions, MGP on hold and our high energy costs of doing business, one can only predict that we have anywhere from 14 to 20 years of inventory of commercial office space dusting on the shelf and force this jurisdiction into one of the worst real estate slumps this territory has ever seen.

To make matters even more troubling, by pushing the marketplace vacancy rates above the safe areas of 4 to 5 percent, we could in essence be sending the wrong message to our institutional capital markets that have been investing in the North, which could further trigger a loss of confidence in our community and erase decades of progress.

We cannot turn back the clock now, as it appears this government was given the mandate to proceed. However, I say with conviction here today that this government must not allow itself to trigger a real estate slump and it should carefully monitor the stability of the markets as we proceed with this new Yellowknife GNWT office building.

I will have questions later today for the Minister of Public Works and Services.

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

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Today I want to speak to the third item in my trilogy about inadequacies in the Residential Tenancies Act.

Most people can appeal to the rental officer for an intervention and a decision to solve their impasse. However, the Residential Tenancies Act does not allow the rental officer to deal with renters and landlords of transitional housing. There is no definition in the act for the term “transitional housing” or “transition home” so the rental officer has no authority over this kind of rental premise.

This failing was recognized by the NWT rental officer in his latest annual report for 2010, tabled in this House in 2011. The rental officer said, “Transitional housing is an intermediate step between living in a shelter or homelessness and independent living. Transitional housing is typically provided for a term and offers tenants their own private rooms and supportive living environment, including opportunities to develop the life skills necessary to maintain independent living. This form of housing is gaining in popularity and is considered by many to be a missing component in the efforts to fight homelessness. The current act excludes this form of housing and, therefore, provides no statutory structure to transitional housing landlords or tenants, or any method of dispute resolution other than the courts. Expanding the application of the act to include transitional housing will clearly require specific provisions and exemptions that apply to the program. However, this is not unlike the current provisions that specifically apply to public housing. Both landlords and tenants of transitional housing will benefit from the application of the act through defined rights and obligations, and a clear and simple dispute resolution process.” It says it very well.

The rental officer refuses to consider any conflict where transitional housing is involved, and rightly so. It would be against the law. He cannot consider intervention under the Residential Tenancies Act because there is no provision identified. As pointed out, the only avenue available to settle a dispute for transition housing landlords and tenants is for the parties to go to court; a rather unlikely prospect for most people, as I mentioned last week.

Amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act were done in 2008 but the issue of transition housing was not addressed. The government needs to amend the definitions in the Residential Tenancies Act to provide for a definition of transitional housing. All NWT renters and landlords should be covered by this act no matter what type of accommodation they live in.

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

Mahsi, Madam Speaker. Summer assemblies have been an important part of Aboriginal cultures for generations. They come from

the time when our people lived off the land, following the resources they needed to sustain their families. They travelled seasonally and lived in small family-based communities. Major regional decisions were made at large gatherings that happened at least once a year and most often in the summer.

This tradition continues today in all our regions. As we look forward to the summer, we look forward to the summer assemblies. They involve First Nation members of all ages and feature drum dances, Dene hand games and prayers.

These events are extremely important to our way of life, but summer assemblies do more than celebrate our culture. They are the time to discuss critical issues facing Dene people. As in times past, communities are represented at these discussions by their leaders and delegates. It is an opportunity for them to make decisions to guide the future of the Northwest Territories through a process that is equally important to the process we are engaged in here today.

Summer assemblies build consensus on the foundation of Dene laws, key values and principles including respect for all forms of life, respect for elders, the impacts of our decisions on future generations, sharing, acceptance of others, learning from our past and seeking spiritual guidance and wisdom.

These values and principles are even more important now as we face such issues as devolution, lands and resource revenue sharing, self-government, the role of land and water boards and our relationship with other governments. It is in our best interests to hold to these values and principles not only as First Nations assemblies but as leaders and decision-makers in a rapidly changing world.

We look forward to a season of summer assemblies that will strengthen the Northwest Territories. As a government, the GNWT must listen to the voice of the people represented at these gatherings and respond in respectful and meaningful ways to the outcomes of their decisions. Mahsi.

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

Mahsi cho, Madam Speaker. I begin with a little tongue-in-cheek today. I’m happy to learn that the NWT Housing Corporation has fixed the leaky faucet that has been dripping in this House for the last eight years. I guess all the comments from myself and Members during that time finally pooled into a flood that could not be denied.

Clients of the corporation now have a Housing Appeal Committee. It is fully independent of the NWT Housing Corporation, as Members and the standing committee recommended during the 16th Assembly. Two public representatives and three senior government employees have been named to the Housing Appeal Committee.

I am pleased to see that Nahendeh is well represented with Mr. John McKee of Fort Liard. Like Mr. McKee, the other appointees have provided distinguished service to the people of the Northwest Territories. Of course, all members of the appeal committee will serve clients of the Housing Corporation across the territory.

The committee’s task is to provide unbiased reviews of decisions of the corporation that clients consider unfair or incorrect. I am also hopeful that they can review past grievances, some of which are over 20 years old.

This is a good way to ensure that policies are justly carried out. I expect that the new appeal committee will prove helpful to all our constituents and may well have the added benefit of suggesting improvements for the Housing Corporation’s policies and procedures.

Applicants for housing and existing tenants will have access to this appeal mechanism. It will also be available to applicants and clients of the Housing Choices home ownership program.

Now that I have acknowledged a positive for the Housing Minister, perhaps I will ask my colleagues to join me in another long-standing issue. If we flick enough pebbles at the Minister of Transportation, perhaps he’ll find enough gravel to fix Highway No. 7. Mahsi cho.

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

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Today is a very important day for the Inuvialuit people of Inuvik and the Beaufort-Delta region.

During the Aboriginal rights movement which originated in the 1950s, the Government of Canada had signed treaties with many Aboriginal groups, but the Inuvialuit had never entered into such an agreement. The Inuvialuit realized that if a claim was not made, they might not get a voice in deciding their future.

In 1974 they established an organization called the Committee for Original People’s Entitlement, COPE, to resolve the matter. Acting as a collective role for the Inuvialuit, COPE entered into negotiations with the Government of Canada. After

10 years, the Government of Canada and the Inuvialuit gathered on June 5, 1984, in the Hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk to celebrate the momentous occasion. It is on the shores of the Beaufort Sea that the Inuvialuit Final Agreement was signed.

The IFA is built on the hopes and hard work of the many involved and its continued success is attributed to the ongoing dedication of the Inuvialuit. The IFA was the first comprehensive land claim agreement signed north of the 60th parallel and only

the second in Canada at that time. Approved by the Canadian Parliament as the Western Arctic Claims Settlement Act, it took precedence over the acts inconsistent with it. The act was also protected under the Canadian Constitution in that it cannot be changed by Parliament without the approval of the Inuvialuit.

Today marks the 28th anniversary of the Inuvialuit

Final Agreement. I would like to take this time to wish the Inuvialuit people of Inuvik and throughout the Beaufort-Delta region, the NWT and Canada, a great day of celebrations and a happy Inuvialuit Day. I wish them further successes and achievements with their future endeavours. Quanami, Madam Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Colleagues, before we continue with Members’ statements, please join me in welcoming back into the House today in the visitors gallery, the former Member for the Mackenzie Delta, our former colleague and Member of this House, Mr. David Krutko.

---Applause

Welcome back. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Earlier this year the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation announced changes to the public housing rental scales for July 1st . The

changes include charging rent to seniors who do not pay rent now unless they have younger adults living with them. The new rent scale will start at about $75 a month, which many elders will be asked to pay. This may not sound like a lot of money to some people, but the cost of groceries and other necessities are very high in the small communities, especially in the Sahtu and further north. Our elders are on fixed incomes, already stretching every dollar they have. Many of them are already living in poverty. This increase is going to hit them very hard.

It is just not me, but a few elders in the Sahtu are objecting to this change. The NWT Seniors’ Society, which is the territorial organization, has

spoken out against it. Why? Because there has not been proper consultation and discussion.

The Elders Parliament which took place in this very Chamber less than a month ago passed a motion calling on the GNWT to delay making any changes to public housing rent scales for the seniors until such time as a full consultation has taken place with the elders, communities and NWT Seniors’ Society. The motion also calls for the GNWT to make a public full cost-benefit analysis of the proposed changes and to work with the elders, communities and the NWT Seniors’ Society on a comprehensive framework to ensure consistency and fairness across the seniors programming.

I think the Minister and the GNWT should be listening to the advice of the elders on this. Later this week I’ll be tabling a petition and entering a motion opposing the plans to begin charging rent to the seniors in public housing. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

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

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I’d like to bring the topic of persons with disabilities to the forefront since we acknowledge Disability Awareness this week.

In the past five years, a group of dedicated volunteers has taken the Hay River Committee for Persons with Disabilities from a delinquent society to a vibrant and much needed part of the community of Hay River. They run numerous programs. They currently provide an Employment Assistance Program where 15 people are enrolled for training, job hunting and on-the-job support. They assist clients from the surrounding local areas and they put forward proposals to run traditional summer camps, pre-employment skills, life skills programs, summer student training programs and recreational activities, arts, literacy, as well as two mentorship programs in their office administration.

Thirdly, they operate a handivan transportation service from Monday to Friday eight hours a day and occasionally weekend pick-ups. This service is supported by donations from business and private citizens with an operational budget of about $75,000. They recently started a service to Enterprise and in 2011 have provided 1,300-plus rides. They have been denied government funding for this handivan even though the government mandate action plan for persons with disabilities clearly states that the government will develop and provide funding provisions for local and accessible transportation.

This group has put in a request to Health and Social Service to increase their multi-year core funding, which was denied and they are told to do some fundraising. Their office is struggling financially, and with the limited availability of human resources to keep up with the demands of clients’ needs, it is putting a real strain on their operations.

They are unable to provide all of the above services in their current 3.7 hour staffing position they are funded for. They are currently having funding that will end at the end of this month and if they do not receive additional funding, they will have to shut down.

Madam Speaker, I request unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

Madam Speaker, the Honourable Tom Beaulieu stated this week that the Department of Health and Social Services supported the work for NWT Disabilities Council, the NWT Autism Society, the Yellowknife Association for Community Living, the YWCA, the Canadian Institute for the Blind and the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association. We recognize these organizations provide valuable support to persons with disabilities, but my questions today will be for Mr. Beaulieu about Hay River persons with disabilities. Thank you, Madam Speaker.