This is page numbers 923 - 956 of the Hansard for the 17th Assembly, 3rd Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was health.

The House met at 1:31 p.m.

---Prayer

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Good afternoon, colleagues. Today before we start, I’d just like to say happy Inuvialuit Day. It was yesterday. They signed their land claims 28 years ago. So to all the people in the communities, happy Inuvialuit Day in the Beaufort-Delta.

Item 2, Ministers’ statements. The honourable Minister of Transportation, Mr. Ramsay.

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Minister of Transportation

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Deh Cho Bridge is a major piece of public infrastructure that will serve the people of the Northwest Territories for years to come. This government intends to finish the bridge and have it open to traffic this year. I rise today to update Members and the public on steps the Department of Transportation and Ruskin Construction are taking to ensure our commitment becomes a reality.

Ruskin Construction has made considerable progress in the last six months. They have erected the two pylons, strung all the supporting cables and installed a third of the deck panels. Weather-sensitive work has recently begun, including grouting of the deck panels, installation of the formwork for constructing curbs, and construction on the abutments. Work has continued safely and I am pleased with the quality of the work being undertaken. Even with this progress, though, it has become clear that we will need to do more to get the bridge opened this fall.

Mr. Speaker, an independent engineering assessment has concluded that with additional resources, the bridge can be completed this year. To this end, the department and Ruskin Construction have recently come to an agreement-in-principle that will help us meet this shared goal. The agreement identifies key milestones in the schedule and provides additional resources to meet our timelines. The agreement also sets out how

additional costs will be shared by the two parties, with the GNWT’s share capped at just under $10 million. The agreement also resolves all outstanding claims between Ruskin and the GNWT, which greatly reduces future financial uncertainty on the project.

Major infrastructure projects are always challenging and the department and Ruskin will have to work hard to manage the project schedule risks that still remain. Decisive action is necessary to help achieve our goal of opening the bridge to traffic this fall. We have put an arrangement in place that will provide the resources to meet this objective. I am confident that both parties are committed to the successful completion of this project and am sure that we will be able to meet the challenge together. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to announce the release of the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs United Nations International Year of Youth Report.

The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution

proclaiming the year commencing on

August 12, 2010, as the International Year of

Youth.

MACA acknowledged, commemorated and supported the Year of Youth through a number of initiatives and programs that directly supported the objectives of the United Nations’ proclamation and our Assembly’s goal of building sustainable, vibrant and safe communities.

The report showcases the department’s involvement with youth across the Northwest Territories. It also provides a summary of programs delivered directly by the department and those of other organizations MACA supports.

From culturally focused programs to experience working abroad, MACA’s programs encompass a wide variety of leadership development opportunities.

The Traditional Games Tour program preserves our culture and teaches youth about our history. These games are an integral part of our territorial identity and in the last two years, staff have visited nearly two-thirds of the communities to deliver hands-on workshops in Dene and Inuit games.

The NWT Youth Ambassador Program was established as a permanent program in 2011-2012 after being successfully piloted at events like the 2007 Canada Winter Games in Whitehorse and the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver. In 2010-2011, Youth Ambassadors represented the NWT at the LA Times Travel and Adventure Show in Los Angeles, 2011 Aurora Week in Tokyo, Japan, and during the royal visit last summer.

Mr. Speaker, the primary objective of this program is to give youth a structured volunteer experience at major events and develop important life and job skills that they can carry forward. The unique opportunity this program provides is a testament to the Assembly’s commitment and investment in the future of our youth.

Mr. Speaker, some of the other programs supported by MACA include: the Gwich’in Elders and Youth Forum, the Nahanni River Trip, Camp Connections, Northern Youth Abroad, and the Dechinta Bush University Centre for Research and Learning.

I would like to thank the many community organizations and partners that continue to work with MACA to provide these programs and help shape successful futures for the leaders of tomorrow. I am confident that united with our ongoing support and commitment to our youth, we will continue to build strong leaders and a strong and sustainable future for our territory. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Minister of Human Resources

Mr. Speaker, today I am pleased to highlight some of the new tools and resources that the Government of the Northwest Territories is using to modernize and update our recruitment practices and better communicate with job seekers in the Northwest Territories.

Rapidly changing technology gives us faster and more cost-effective ways to provide information about our programs and services, to promote the benefits of working with the territorial public service and to recruit new employees.

As part of 20/20: A Brilliant North, the Public Service Strategic Plan, the Department of Human Resources is creating a new careers website to

encourage visitors to sign up for e-mail alerts when vacancies are posted on eRecruit. Too often we have seen talented applicants who have great skills, but may not have been the top-ranking applicant on a particular job opening, and wondered: how do we continue to engage these talented people for future opportunities? Through this process, the GNWT will create an on-line talent community whose members can be contacted periodically for opportunities and who can promote the GNWT as an employer of choice. People will be able to share government job opportunities across social media sites such as LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. This Assembly is committed to supporting our residents to enter and stay in the workforce. We know that Northerners are one of our strongest assets in recruiting friends and neighbours to the public service.

Northerners, and indeed all Canadians, have a high rate of participation in social media. The Department of Human Resources is preparing to launch our presence on LinkedIn, a social media site for professional networking. Currently, LinkedIn has close to 3,700 members in the Northwest Territories. Across Canada there are 5.2 million members, representing 64 percent of the professionally employed population, which makes Canada the second highest per capita user in the world. Jobs on LinkedIn are advertised to targeted candidates with education or work experiences that match current vacancies in an organization. Job advertisements on LinkedIn are shared an average of 11 times through social media networks.

The Department of Human Resources also recently launched a Facebook page. It has news releases, a link to the eRecruit site, promotional information, instructional videos, and the “Meet Our People” segments that showcase our employees. As this page becomes more popular, it will promote all of the department’s job-related activities.

Mr. Speaker, residents of the Northwest Territories are already using Facebook to connect with their friends and family. By using social media to promote job opportunities, we are using a medium that is already embraced by the people with whom we want to communicate. For people who prefer e-mail, that option will keep them aware of opportunities and give them time to apply for jobs that interest them.

Using tools and technology that enhance existing strategies to communicate about our opportunities is important for all residents of the Northwest Territories. Our work to strengthen and maintain a representative workforce supports this Assembly’s priority of building a strong, sustainable future for our territory. Providing people in all communities with opportunities to join the public service strengthens our programs and positions us to do

even better work for the people of the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Item 3, Members’ statements. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to use my Member’s statement to talk about the Grade 4 J.H. Sissons class who have been invited here today, and as Members will note, they are in the gallery right now.

I was invited some time ago to be a listener for their Authentic Audience Project as they wrote stories. Mr. Speaker, I’ll use my Member’s statement today to acknowledge each student and as I read their name and the name of their story, of course, I’d like them to rise so Members can see who they are.

Their teacher is Ms. Catherine Siegbahn, followed by the students: Cameron Bond, Fred the Pirana!; Ivan Ceria, New Super Carl Brothers; Joshua Donison, Bob’s Adventure; Kea Furniss, The Water Mystery; Safiya Hashi, The Black Hole; Dylan Heaton-Vecsei, The Video Game Wish; Ethan Kirizopoulos, Sheep Wars; Emmanuel Lamvu, The Magic Recorder; A.J. Lawrance, The Gibson Family; Riley Menard, The Mystery Locket; Rae Panayi, Mars Bar; Ruby Pigott, Lou and Spartan Journey in the Haunted Bar; Justin Powder, The Sheep Invasion; Paxton Ramm, It’s So Scary!; Samuel Schofield, Wizards; Zachary Sheck, Star Fox; Nathan Shereni, Mister Awesome; Tristan Sorensen, Purple People Versus Red People; Liam Stushnoff, Liam’s Story; Ronnie White, Dark; and Matthew Wiebe, Life in Roblox.

The last part of my Member’s statement today, I’d like to mention the fact that I will be tabling the stories at the request of the students and I’ll be officially tabling them during that part of our agenda today. As I mentioned to the students, I will return to class and show them that they will be on the record forever. They are fine pieces of work which I’ve had a chance to read. I was very impressed. Thank you for your time today. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. I, too, would like to welcome all Grade 4 students. One of our staff here, Cheryl Menard’s daughter Riley Menard, welcome back to the Legislative Assembly, Riley.

The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A few years ago the Department of Executive put together some pricing samples for basic goods across the Northwest Territories. A bag of flour, 2.5 kilograms, costs $4.15 in Yellowknife, $7.17 in Fort Simpson, $7.79 in Fort Good Hope, $8.25 in Inuvik and $8.94 in Tuk. I don’t know exactly how much flour costs in Fort Providence, but the good folks at the Bureau of Statistics tell us that our prices are at least 21 percent higher than Yellowknife’s.

If we’re going to make bannock, we need to mix the flour with lard and water, maybe some sugar. If lard costs $4 or $5 in Yellowknife, it will probably cost at least $10 in our most remote communities and no less than $7 elsewhere. If you want to get fancy and make your bannock with milk, you had better be rich, because a four-litre jug of fresh milk costs as much as $13.29 in some communities. At that rate, you won’t have any money left over for Klik. I hope you can cook your bannock over a campfire or woodstove, because by now you’ve already spent up to $18 to $20 in some places just for some bannock and you still haven’t made tea.

We all know that power bills are going up and up in all our communities. In Inuvik and Norman Wells natural gas has been shut off, so you better not switch your stove on at all. With the cost of living this high, if it costs a person most of their paycheque just to make bannock, we may have to change the way we live in the Northwest Territories.

Deh Cho communities are fortunate in some ways because we have a viable source of biomass surrounding our communities, we can grow our own food and we know how to hunt. When it comes to other basics like flour, sugar and Red Rose tea, they are difficult to produce locally and we are running out of options.

People in our communities are asking the GNWT to do all they can to reduce the cost of living and find creative solutions to make prices for our basic goods more reasonable for Northerners.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. It is well known that one of the greatest factors contributing to the high cost of living in the NWT is transportation. This is true even for communities that are on the highway system. Although for most cases, having a road does help. What is a real shame is that we have not kept up all the highway investments made in the past and as a result we

are not getting the benefits and lower costs of living as we should be seeing from our existing infrastructure. I am, of course, thinking of Highway No. 7.

The poor condition of Highway No. 7 is not just an operations, maintenance and safety issue, it is also a cost of living issue. For example, the suppliers for the general store in Fort Liard now refuse to ship freight using the shorter route via Fort Simpson and instead insist on taking the long way around through Grande Prairie and up the Mackenzie Highway to Fort Liard because of the bad experiences they have had in the past on the No. 7 mudway. Imagine now how much extra fuel is being wasted to ship each load of goods hundreds of unnecessary kilometres. The financial cost is, of course, being passed on to the Fort Liard residents.

The poor state of the highway is also affecting a number of businesses that need to access it for their operations, such as Beaver Enterprises and the contractors who provide postal and medical travel services between Fort Liard and Fort Simpson. The costs increase because of travel delays and extraordinary wear and tear on vehicles and equipment. Community residents also bear the cost of extra damage to their vehicles and they need to fly instead of drive when the road is impassable.

Just a few days ago, a long-held dream of mine came true: to ride the washboard of Highway No. 7 with the Minister of Transportation. I was very pleased, as were my constituents. The Minister heard from a constituent who was very happy to see him take the initiative to come out and see and feel what the residents have been experiencing. Even though the conditions had been driven for several days, the road was still very rough and as soon as it rains, we know from experience, it will only go from bad to worse.

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

---Unanimous consent granted

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

I want to thank the Minister for making the trip and I hope now that he has himself dodged the potholes and rattled over the washboard, that he too will champion our cause.

To invest in a highway is to invest in a lower cost of living for the future. I look forward to the day when I see Highway No. 7 on the government’s books. Mahsi cho.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.

Hydro Energy Management
Members’ Statements

Daryl Dolynny

Daryl Dolynny Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Back in July 2008, oil peaked to an alarming $147.30 a

barrel. The world stood still, not knowing how high oil prices would go. Luckily, and I say luckily, oil has somewhat normalized to under $100 a barrel, but many believe that we’ll once again see the rise of this commodity to levels of $200-plus, and if so, one only needs to ask are we really ready for what would happen.

The North is very different from the rest of Canada in many ways. With our sparse population dispersed over many millions of square kilometres, the cost of logistics of energy distribution is a major issue to our high cost of living. Interestingly, our per capita energy use is almost two to three times the Canadian average, with electricity costs in some cases over 10 times higher than average per kilowatt hour.

Our overreliance on fossil fuels for diesel electricity generation will no doubt be our ultimate demise if we do not foster a different mindset of change. Although energy efficiency and energy conservation are recommended priorities by many agencies, our true saviour of our energy solution for the North lies with our hydro and transmission line initiatives. As our very Hydro Strategy shows, over 11,000 megawatts of hydro potential is for this region, yet we have only been developing less than 0.5 percent.

Now, I don’t want to discredit the other energy options such as wind, biomass, geothermal, solar and fuel cell technology, and although many reports may indicate mixed results with these alternative energy forms, small community populations could benefit and must be evaluated on a site-by-site basis, as some of these emerging technologies of energy could have potential use. However, I want to be clear: Our future for making real and positive changes in our northern cost of living lies in our hydro capacity build, our mini-hydro run-of-river potential and, more importantly, our transmission line strategy.

In the end, we need to act swiftly and surely on a hydro and transmission line strategy, as it’s through this technology that Northerners will try to see the energy costs lowered to levels of acceptable affordability. Oil prices are a daily ticking time bomb for many of us and we cannot wait for oil to double in price, for our electricity to double in price and for our heating oil to double in price, as living in the North would be impossible.

Let’s ensure our future. Let’s find the resources to build hydro and transmission line capacity now before it’s too late. Thank you.

Hydro Energy Management
Members’ Statements

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Reducing The Cost Of Food
Members’ Statements

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As people struggle with the high cost of living, providing adequate, affordable and nutritious food to our families can be a challenge. We are dependent on costly southern food, so the affordability of eating right is an issue. When we rely on food from the South, we export our purchasing dollars to the South, and instead of local jobs and businesses, we support jobs and investment afar. Greenhouse gas production increases from transporting food long distances.

The affect some communities have experienced from changes to federal air mail demonstrates the problem we all face. We aren’t meeting local food needs with local supplies. Some progress is being made towards developing our NWT food supply industry. We now have a start on community gardens in most NWT communities, the beginnings of fresh local produce and demonstrating the enormous potential remaining to be tapped.

Kids at schools such as the Kay Tay Whee School in Detah, and perhaps these children here today, provide a good example. They are learning that gardening is not only possible, but fun and tasty.

Fresh NWT-laid commercial eggs will be available inside our borders this fall. The Growing Forward Program supports small-scale food production, commercial development of northern agri-foods, support for the harvesting, processing and marketing of fish and meat, and for traditional harvesting. Exotic mushrooms, birch syrup and studies to expand berry harvesting are happening right here in Yellowknife. Great Slave Fisheries could, and should, meet both regional needs and a top-scale international fish market. I doff my cap to the intrepid core of food production enthusiasts and the food hunting and fishing public across all of our communities, but great challenges remain, some at a very basic level.

The NWT soil survey of 2008 indicates there are 1.3 million hectares of arable land in the South Slave and Deh Cho regions alone, yet only eight agricultural leases exist today, a total area of 170 hectares or one 7,000

th of the total potential. Most

basically, we lack a long-term plan for agriculture including an NWT food production policy that includes support for infrastructure development and access to land.

When we talk about reducing the cost of living, local food production is essential. By growing our capacity, we will improve the quality and price of healthy food, and opportunities for employment and investment, while building the resilience and self-reliance of our communities. Let’s develop a reliable food policy with the necessary supports and guide this opportunity to full success. Mahsi.

Reducing The Cost Of Food
Members’ Statements

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To live in the North it is very costly. We all know how much it is costing us to live in our small communities, even in Yellowknife. When we come to Yellowknife or when we travel to Edmonton, we do the necessary things. We have to shop. We do this to seize the opportunity to bring back cheap groceries, clothing or material. A lot of our people are shocked to see how much things cost in Yellowknife. I am definitely in awe to see the prices in Edmonton. It has been reported by our government that to live reasonably well in Sachs Harbour, you would have to make about $95,000 a year. Do we have those jobs in Sachs Harbour that pay $95,000 a year? Maybe a few.

In the Sahtu our dollar is not the same as the Yellowknife dollar or even the Edmonton dollar. You may be wondering why I am saying this. According to the consumer price index of April 2012, we in Yellowknife pay a bit more than the Edmonton prices, and in the Sahtu we pay double the price, so our dollar is definitely less.

Last weekend, during my stopover in Norman Wells, I was approached by a lady. I asked her about the shopping in Norman Wells. She said, my God, you should look at the bag of flour I had to buy. Twenty pounds is $43. I went to Yellowknife. I just about fainted in the Extra Foods store because of the price they pay there. She said, good thing the hospital was close by. I had to get some medical attention, she said. She was making a joke out of it, but she said the price we pay. In Yellowknife for 20 pounds of flour it’s $12.98.

My colleagues know, for the North and the Sahtu, how high costs are in our small communities. We need to continue to let Ottawa know that we are no different than the people in the South. Quality means our dollar should be of equal value to the southern dollar. As I said, a bag of flour should be the same price as a bag of flour in Edmonton, Sahtu or in Yellowknife. It can be done, Mr. Speaker, just like our bottle of whiskey is the same price in Norman Wells and Edmonton. They pay the same price.

The federal government will be hosting a public meeting in Norman Wells on the Nutritious North Program on June 11

th . I hope my people speak

their mind then. It is my hope…

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Your time for Member’s statement has expired.

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

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

---Unanimous consent granted

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues. It is my hope that our region and other regions will be treated fairly and acknowledged once and for all that our currency has been stretched to the limit in all of our communities. Please, we need help from this government.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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