Good afternoon, colleagues. I wish to give my ruling on the point of order raised by Mr. Miltenberger on October 24, 2013, with respect to comments made by Mr. Hawkins on the previous day. I would like to thank all Members who spoke to the point of order.

Mr. Miltenberger’s point of order was on the content, volume and tone of Mr. Hawkins’ comments in his oral questions to Mr. Beaulieu on October 23rd violated Rule 23(k) as insulting and

abusive language, and 23(l) as speaking disrespectfully of any Member.

Mrs. Groenewegen, in speaking to the point of order, said, at page 3 of unedited Hansard, she also found Mr. Hawkins' comments “to be offensive and it did, in my opinion, reduce the demeanour of our House.”

In responding to the point of order, Mr. Hawkins said, at page 3 of unedited Hansard, “I’m here to do my job and demand results, Mr. Speaker, and sometimes that does cause one to raise the energy in the debate.”

I am guided by the second edition of House of Commons Procedure and Practice, 2009, which states at page 619, “In dealing with unparliamentary language, the Speaker takes into account the tone, manner and intention of the Member speaking; the person to whom the words at issue were directed, the degree of provocation; and most importantly, whether or not the remarks created disorder in the Chamber.”

I have reviewed Mr. Hawkins’ comments from October 23rd and, taken with the volume and tone in

which he made them, I consider they did cross the line of being insulting, abusive and disrespectful. The specific remarks are those quoted by Minister Miltenberger in his point of order, which I don’t want to repeat here because we have already spent enough time on this.

I can appreciate that Members do sometimes need to speak with “energy” to make their points and represent their constituents; however, this went too far.

We are a consensus system of government and we have our own standards. A style of debate that might be business as usual in other Legislatures is not necessarily acceptable to this House. As Mr. Miltenberger stated, at page 2 of the unedited Hansard, “We pride ourselves on the decorum of this House, the propriety of the way we do business.”

Members, given the events of that day, I also want to take the opportunity to remind you of a few things:

1. Members must speak through the Chair.

Speaking directly to other Members as “you” is not acceptable.

2. Members must not interrupt the Chair. When the

Chair calls a Member’s name to caution him or her about continuing to speak when another Member has the floor, that Member needs to stop speaking right away.

These are not my personal rules. They are your rules, Members, and they are there to keep order and decorum in this House.

Let me also remind Members, for the third or fourth time during this sitting, that we are here to work for the people of the Northwest Territories. Be respectful of each other and this House, thicken your skins if you have to and let’s get the work done for the people.

There is a point of order. I will now go to Mr. Hawkins and ask him to withdraw his remarks. Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Actually, I thought about this over the weekend and wondered how you would rule on this particular item. Obviously, I was hoping you would rule on my area, but your wisdom and guidance of the documentation before you has led you to your decision today and that I will respect.

Mr. Speaker, in short, I find it unimaginable how to take back…

Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What I was going to say, in a roundabout way, was I find it difficult to take back passion and energy, but with that said, what I will do is I will respect the ruling and I will apologize for any concerns that I may have inflicted on Cabinet. What I will say, in short and in final, Mr. Speaker, it will not temper my passion to get the job done. Thank you.

Mr. Hawkins, I asked you to withdraw your remarks. Mr. Hawkins, will you withdraw your remarks to the House and apologize to the House?

Sorry, Mr. Speaker. It’s hard to hear you over Mrs. Groenewegen, who keeps talking. I missed what you said.

Mr. Hawkins, I’m asking you to withdraw your remarks and to apologize to the House.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I could hear you that time. I apologize to the House in full. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Hawkins, you’re wasting more time of this House. I’m going to ask you once again to withdraw your remarks and apologize to the House.

My apologies, Mr. Speaker. That was my intent when I said I apologize to this House sincerely and fully, and with that, I withdraw my remarks. My apologies for missing that last piece. It was not intended in any other manner.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The second time I had you do that, the first time was making comments to Mrs. Groenewegen. So you apologize for that and you apologize for what’s been said. Thank you for the apology. We’ll proceed.

Item 2, Ministers’ statements.

Mr. Speaker, the GNWT is recognized as one of Canada's top Diversity Employers in 2013 for the initiatives we've undertaken to enhance opportunities for Aboriginal people, persons with disabilities and other under-represented groups. The GNWT is committed to developing and maintaining a public service representative of the people we serve across the NWT.

The Department of Human Resources, in conjunction with the Aboriginal Human Resource Council, is conducting an Aboriginal Inclusion Survey among GNWT employees, focusing on recruitment and retention of Aboriginal persons. The survey will gather information about all of our

employees’ attitudes and opinions regarding Aboriginal inclusion, and determine if there are systemic barriers that contribute to perceived low rates of Aboriginal recruitment and retention.

Human Resources, working with the Aboriginal Employees Advisory Committee, has engaged the Aboriginal Human Resources Council so we can identify the GNWT’s strengths, weaknesses, strategies, practises and behaviours related to Aboriginal inclusion. We share the council’s goal of advancing the full labour market participation of Aboriginal peoples. The Aboriginal Human Resources Council has collaborated with us to develop the survey questions, is administering the survey and receiving the responses, and will prepare a final report and recommendations based on the survey results.

Aboriginal culture, values and experience inform program and policy development as well as front-line service delivery, and we are providing training in Aboriginal cultural awareness through our new Aboriginal Cultural Awareness Training program. It is imperative that our public servants appreciate and respect NWT Aboriginal cultures. These training modules are accessible on-line for our staff and for any member of the public to view, and we are rolling out facilitated training sessions for our staff across the NWT this month. The training has been recognized internationally as a Top Ten Innovation in Diversity, putting us in the company of other progressive employers like RBC, Sodexo and American Airlines.

Mr. Speaker, the GNWT is committed to creating a representative public service that reflects the diverse cultures of the NWT and promotes the development and advancement of Aboriginal people. We are making progress in attracting, advancing and retaining Aboriginal employees. Statistics show movement in the right direction:

• During the 17th Legislative Assembly,

indigenous Aboriginal persons have filled 19 of 59 senior-management staffing opportunities.

• Almost 20 percent of senior managers are indigenous Aboriginal. This has been increasing over the years, up from 15 percent in 2009.

• Since 1999, the rate of Aboriginal employee growth has been larger than that for non-Aboriginal employee growth and for the rate of GNWT workforce growth overall.

• The biggest increases in rates of Aboriginal employee growth have occurred in the management and health occupational areas.

Mr. Speaker, we do not rest on our laurels; more needs to be done. We are committed to continuing this momentum in order to champion diversity, inclusion and cultural awareness, and to see more

Aboriginal people represented at all levels of the public service. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mr. Speaker, this Assembly is committed to investing in prevention to keep our health system sustainable. Vaccines are a cornerstone of preventative medicine and I would like to encourage all Northwest Territories residents to get their free flu shots this fall.

Immunization prevents influenza and its serious complications. It protects individuals and families from severe illness. It contributes to the health of the population, by preventing time-loss at work and keeping children at school.

You need the flu shot every year. The influenza viruses change continuously and each year’s vaccine has been updated. Last year’s shot won’t protect you this year.

Get the flu shot to protect yourself and your loved ones from getting sick. This is especially important for children, elders, people with chronic health conditions and their families. The vaccine is available in all communities and a complete schedule of flu clinics is available on the Department of Health and Social Services website. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories strengthens awareness of our northern identity and uniqueness by promoting our many cultural backgrounds and revitalizing our languages. I am very pleased to advise this House that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment held the third annual Minister’s Culture and Heritage Circle to celebrate the tremendous contributions that people across this territory have made.

I am proud to honour the efforts of residents who work to strengthen the arts, cultures and heritage of the Northwest Territories. The Minister’s Culture and Heritage Circle was established in 2011 to celebrate Northerners who contribute to the preservation and promotion of culture and heritage in the Northwest Territories. Five recipients were selected from across the territory by an independent panel of judges. Our judges were William Greenland, Diane Boudreau and Mike

Vaydik, and I thank them for their service. Our recipients this year were David Gon, for the Individual category; Justin Memogana, for the Youth category; Emily Kudlak, for the Elders category; and Gwich’in Social and Cultural Institute for the Group category. I awarded the Yellowknife Choral Society the Minister’s Choice Award for sharing their passion for choral music in their community and territory. I am pleased to welcome them all here today.

I hope all Members of this Assembly will join me in honouring the Culture and Heritage Circle recipients and thank them for their work preserving, promoting and celebrating our unique cultures and heritage.

Mr. Speaker, languages and culture strengthen our greater NWT community, underpin many of the priorities of this Assembly and create an identity for all of us. They are a priority for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, and we will continue to work with our cultural communities to ensure our territory retains the vibrant and unique identities we have worked to preserve. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Item 3, Members’ statements. The honourable Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s good to be back. I’m happy to report that I’m feeling much better and some people are even saying I’m looking better.

---Laughter

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank my friends and family for the support the last couple of weeks. I feel rich for the support I received over these last two weeks. Mr. Speaker, I’d also like to thank you and Members here, as well as the Legislative Assembly staff and obviously my constituents for all the support during the last couple of weeks feeling under the weather. I am looking forward to the next couple of weeks of session to complete the work that we have, the Wildlife Act, the capital budget, as well as several other supplementary appropriations and many acts. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is great to be back.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today in my Member’s statement I’d like to talk about the idea of regional high schools.

Historically, we know that students from Lutselk’e, a small community, went to Fort Smith; students from Res went to Hay River; and many students from across the North went to Akaitcho Hall. I was not directly involved in any of these, but at the time it seemed like not a bad idea. However, as government changes and as ideas change, the idea of grade extensions in the small communities became the best practise, the wisdom of the day, and that was what was undertaken.

I think it is time to once again have a dialogue and talk to people about what is the best opportunity for a good, comprehensive high school education for students from small communities. We had the Western Arctic Leadership Program which was in Fort Smith for a number of years and is not available anymore, and that did see students from across the North going to Fort Smith and being involved in different programs there.

Schools in regional centres do have a wider course selection available. They have part-time employment opportunities which may not be available in smaller communities. They certainly have more opportunities for competition and honing schools in the area of competitive sports, and although there are downsides for high school students to be away from their home community, I think some of those things I just listed are some of the positive points.

The argument can be made that by taking some high school students out of the small communities that we would then be watering down the great extension programs for those who may not want to go to a regional centre, for those who would want to stay in their home community. I think that with the advent of so much on-line and distance learning, which the grade extensions must have already to rely upon, I think we could offer students the option of remaining in their community and continuing on with that program, but also allowing opportunities for students who would like to go to a regional centre to go to high school to do so.

A lot of good came from the attendance of students in regional centres in high school. Everything is relative. If you live in Hay River and come to Yellowknife, as my children all did for a portion of their high school, that broadens your horizons. So when you’re in a small community and you come to a regional centre like Hay River, that again broadens peoples’ horizons and I think that we did see a lot of lifelong relationships, a lot of lifelong friendships that were developed as a result of students getting together at that age.

By the time young people reach the age of high school…

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

---Unanimous consent granted

By the time young people reach the age of high school, maybe it is an opportunity and it is time for them to spread their wings and experience some new things and perhaps living in a new community as long as – and I have to really stress this – there is safe, supervised and supported living accommodations for them in those regional centres.

So I for one would be in favour of having this dialogue on revisiting the idea of regional high schools. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We seem to be living in the age of the whistleblower, and you notice I didn’t say noisemaker, because all too often we have some of those people too. But the true whistleblowers, people who uncover fraud, mismanagement, government surveillance, you name it, are making waves worldwide. Some publish their findings on WikiLeaks, YouTube, or even use their own blogs.

So far we don’t have any Edward Snowdens in the Northwest Territories, but maybe we should consider that it could happen. Do we want to have an environment where whistleblowers in the Territories are treated like criminals on the run for courageously informing the public? I hope not.

Many people see whistleblowers as heroes who go against the grain, taking great personal risk to protect public safety, stop corruption or safeguard peoples’ rights. To some extent, our government has taken a step towards protecting potential whistleblowers from within and avoid media attention itself. I am referring to the 22-page agreement of the Union of Northern Workers on Safe Disclosure of Information.

For those of you who are not familiar, this agreement sets up a process employees can use if they see wrongdoing that goes unchecked. If all goes well, problems are corrected and employees are protected from reprisals. But the agreement does not cover releases of information directly to the media or to the public.

It appears that the UNW agreement and the discussion paper tabled in 2007 was merely a stopgap measure instead of introducing full-blown legislation to protect whistleblowers. Even then,

provinces like Manitoba and Saskatchewan had laws protecting whistleblowers in both public and private sectors.

I am wondering if we are falling behind the times. Information is sometimes so hard to come by, as I illustrated many times with MLAs having limited access to information in this Chamber, and some days I wake up half expecting an enterprising hacker or a researcher to have set up NWTLeaks to deal with our problems. If they do, I hope we have a law protecting legitimate whistleblowers.

It is clear more is needed to be done in this area than the mere UNW Safe Disclosure Program. Whistleblowers need the protection to report legitimate wrongdoings, and noisemakers need to be filtered from doing wrong unto others.

At the appropriate time I will have questions for the Minister of Justice on this topic. Thank you very much.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. People across the NWT are concerned about this government’s direction. I can’t help but agree. Many have observed a distressing alignment with the approach of our federal government under its present leadership. Government communications clearly reveal it doesn’t care what Members think or what the public thinks. A recent example is the surprising revelation that despite a 60 percent increase in our debt limit last year, our Finance Minister has initiated actions to seek an even higher debt limit. Not only no debate, but not even bothering to tell the elected representatives of a supposedly consensus government. To hear a Finance Minister say in this House that schools and medical infrastructure are not investments in economic development whereas highways are, shows a dysfunctional understanding of economic development. Sound economic development comes from healthy people, not from healthy roads.

Such thinking is all too common in this government’s policies and pronouncements and these policies yield economic development that tends to benefit non-residents, leaving net costs to Northerners. Later I will be speaking to the government’s plans for big subsidies to the richest companies in the world. Such activity will pull workers in from across the country, people who will not live here and will not pay taxes here, but will leave costs for us to pay.

Each of our current diamond mines have had to hire greater numbers of workers from outside the NWT. We now lose $300 million in wages per year

just from diamond mines, not oil and gas included yet. In North Dakota we learned that workers making a dollar in that state pay income tax on that dollar in that state regardless of where they reside, yet I hear no plan to tackle this issue or any of the others associated with the government’s development approach that will, again, largely benefit non-residents.

Last week the Premier said we will spend up to $700 million on a transmission line to export power to Saskatchewan. Power in Saskatchewan costs one-quarter of that in Fort Smith, so we will sell our power at a steep loss. This even without considering the half billion cost of the power line. Are we exporting or are we actually planning to import coal-generated power through this line to replace our local clean hydro power or even diesel with the dirtiest power in the world? Either way, it is another example of the wasting of public funding on infrastructure for industry, while our community infrastructure and sustainable approach and local benefits falls apart.

I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

This and more, despite public input, considerable public input that has called for economic focus and diversification towards smaller scale and renewable resources, development that provides real benefits and healthy communities. We heard this with the economic opportunities consultation, a comprehensive consultation. Perhaps it’s devolution on the brain, but whatever it is, it’s reason for concern and a re-examination of this government’s direction. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As we rocket our way towards devolution on April 1, 2014, and towards the millions of dollars of resource revenue which will be our reward, and if we’re to believe Cabinet, the panacea for everything that ails us from roads to rents, I’m very grateful that the 16th Assembly had the foresight and gumption to

establish a Heritage Fund before it dissolved. That fund was established to capture and hold for our children’s children and their children’s children the revenue from the NWT’s non-renewable resources. But how much of those resource revenues will actually make it into the Heritage Fund? That is yet to be determined by Regular Members and the public. But from government statements made recently, it’s already been decided, and I have to say that I don’t much like the decision.

In the government response to Motion 20-17(4), tabled in the House on October 17th , it says: “As a

balance between long-term savings and addressing immediate infrastructure needs, the GNWT is proposing an annual contribution of 5 percent of resource revenues to the NWT Heritage Fund.” And further down in the same response: “Consequently, the GNWT proposes retaining flexibility over the majority of the new resource revenues to invest in infrastructure and pay down debt.”

The government response does also state that there is no intention to use resource revenues for operational requirements, and of that I am very glad. What saddens me is the miniscule amount proposed for the Heritage Fund: 5 percent of our resource revenues until such time as we have eliminated our infrastructure deficits and paid down our debt. Lofty as that goal is, has any government ever attained those two objectives? I doubt it.

In my view, we should be placing a minimum of 25 percent of our anticipated resource revenues into the Heritage Fund, and it should be so stated in legislation, not in regulations which are easily changed by government without any discussion with, or input from, the public.

As promised in the tabled response to Mr. Hawkins’ June motion, the Minister of Finance is currently travelling the territory, engaging residents in the discussions about the budget and about how we should use our newfound riches, our resource revenues.

The Yellowknife public meeting with Minister and staff is tonight. They are looking for residents’ views on both the budget and the Heritage Fund. Tonight, Explorer Hotel, 7:30 p.m. If you have an opinion on how much we should put into the Heritage Fund, make sure you show up and share it.

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

---Unanimous consent granted

The government has already made up its mind. Without any contradictions voiced, their decision will be the one that is put into place. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This government provides a very critical service to residents of the Northwest Territories and that service is medical travel. In my short time being an MLA and listening to a lot of the concerns that residents of the Northwest Territories have, especially in my region of the Inuvik region and constituents of mine that travel to either Edmonton

or to Yellowknife, there are still concerns with this medical travel. I wanted to bring the point to order today on what is all provided in this medical travel. One of the things that were brought to my attention is return airfare, but also things such as accommodation and, specifically, ground transportation.

I am bringing this up today, because on Saturday in Inuvik, we had, I believe, about six medical clients who returned back to Inuvik after going out for some treatment or going out for medical appointments and who got stranded at the airport. Obviously, it is on the weekend, so the government only usually runs from Monday to Friday, government workers, but this does bring to attention that when we do send patients and clients out for medical service and appointments that there has to be somebody there coordinating to ensure that this individual gets back to their point of origin in a safe manner.

In one case I heard that one of the clients that did return on Saturday, who was also an income assistance client, was even thinking of walking into the community of Inuvik. In this temperature, about 11 kilometres, that’s uncalled for.

Later on today I will have questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services on what actions are going to be taken to rectify the situation and also deal with some of these matters at hand such as escorts as well as people who travel to Yellowknife and need that transportation to get either to the boarding homes or to their appointments. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Moses. Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is with great honour and much excitement today that I congratulate the Gwich’in Social and Cultural Institute on their most recent Group Category Award presented by the Honourable Jackson Lafferty, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

The GSCI displays a fine role in developing and supporting cultural heritage. I am proud that such a group can celebrate, promote and preserve the arts, culture and heritage as defined in the eligibility for this award.

What great timing as the GSCI celebrates its 20th anniversary this fall, such an honourable way to recognize this organization with 20 years of researching and recording over 100 projects for our future use. Also, 414 official place names have now been approved and the geographical map has been

developed showing over 900 Gwich’in place names.

I would also like to acknowledge the people behind the work: the staff and the board of directors, past and present, for making such a huge commitment and being proud of their accomplishments.

Many of the elders who started this project have now passed on. Their participation in this project, in identifying place names with their stories, will be an educational tool for years to come. Congratulations, once again, to the Gwich’in Social and Cultural Institute on your hard work and dedication. Also, congratulations to the rest of the recipients of the Ministers’ Culture and Heritage Circle. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We need a pilot car to drive home the idea of having a driver education program in our school communities, small schools. Mr. Daryl Dolynny, Member for Range Lake, last week spoke about this. He actually made a suggestion. Minister Ramsay, Minister of Transportation, talked about how the Department of Education and Department of Transportation are working together in regards to driver education programs in our schools. I think it’s time we have a pilot project by next year. When it makes sense, such as our need to invest in our children and into our future, give our youth a challenge to take the opportunities on the road to success.

The 17th Assembly Caucus priority states,

“believing in people” and I believe this is a doable project for the reasons I will state. Creating a pilot project in the schools, in the small communities especially, we have regional disparity. Sixty-seven percent of young drivers, aged 15 to 24 years, in Yellowknife, Fort Smith and Hay River have their licence, compared to 33 percent in the small communities aged 15 to 24. That’s regional disparity.

Now, the Minister goes on to talk about the Project Gearshift. So I tell the Minister, it’s about time we get a high school that will give them incentives to get to school and to have an actual driver education training program. Will Project Gearshift actually give the youth a driver’s licence? What services and programs do we have to wait for? How long will a qualified driver instructor come to our communities and to our school? Where do they get their Class 5 driver’s licence? Well, that can change. Go to school.

I seek unanimous consent to conclude my Member’s statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

I say to the Minister, initiate a pilot project now. Start to introduce one next year, with a target date of September. The message is: education pays. Drive home this pilot project.

I call upon this government to bring forward a proposal to have a driver’s education training program in one of our Sahtu communities or any other small communities in the North.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Every day in the news we hear troubling stories about poverty, violence, abuse and neglect, but they are not stories from far-off, distant lands. They are stories that affect the lives of Aboriginal peoples right here in Canada.

For anyone with a conscience, it should be deeply disturbing about the abuses of residential schools and the terrible living conditions in communities like Attawapiskat law enforcement to be concerned about the disappearance of countless Aboriginal women, or the destruction of our land and water by big industries engaging in practises such as fracking. But think of it this way: For every big news, there are many, many untold stories of suffering. In 2007 the UN passed its Declaration on Indigenous Rights, which set a standard for the treatment of Aboriginal peoples by government worldwide. I think it says a lot about how the federal government abuses Aboriginal people, and Canada was only one of four nations out of 148 that did not support the declaration when it was adopted.

Canada has since shown support for the declaration, but as the UN Rapporteur reminded us this month, Canada’s treatment of the human rights of its Aboriginal peoples leaves a lot of room for improvement. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why there’s a sense of mistrust between Aboriginal peoples and the federal, provincial and territorial governments of Canada.

Federal and GNWT policies on First Nations land claims and self-governments state that they aim for certainty and finality, yet progress towards the completion of these claims is so slow it is spanning generations. The GNWT has promised that it will work with all First Nations on the Intergovernmental Council on Land and Resource Management, based on the Devolution Agreement. We have assurances that devolution will not change the fundamental relationship of the Crown with First Nations people. How can we trust these

assurances when so many promises to the Aboriginal people of Canada have been broken or left in unrest?

Perhaps it is time for the federal, provincial and territorial governments of Canada to support establishing a tribunal with First Nations peoples and governments to resolve impasses, conflicts and disputes. This would create a mechanism for mediation to resolve disputes more effectively than the courts can. Maybe then we could really put behind the injustices of the past and also set up the relationship between Aboriginal people and the Government of Canada, a new frame of trust for moving into the future. Mahsi.

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Cavities, toothaches, bad breath and painful extractions that might have been prevented, these things aren’t talked about very often. Unfortunately, though, oral health problems are very common amongst my constituents. With a simple legislative change to the Dental Auxiliaries Act and a promise from our government to invest in visits to small communities, residents could receive timely and valuable dental care.

In nearly every Canadian province, dental hygienists are allowed to work independently. They aren’t required to work under the direction of a dentist. In the NWT dental hygienists don’t even have that freedom. This means NWT residents are not benefiting from a range of services offered elsewhere in Canada.

Better alternatives are available. One example is the use of interim stabilization therapy. This is basically a temporary filling to relieve pain and halt the progression of tooth decay. This type of therapy can be performed by dental hygienists in most provinces and it should be performed by hygienists here too.

A simple legislative change has the potential to prevent a great deal of pain and expense associated with tooth decay and gum disease. We should make it possible for hygienists to practise independently. This would be a win-win prospect. Residents would benefit and so would dental hygienists. People of all ages would have timely access to oral health care and it could be served in a variety of settings, from schools and community health centres to private clinics in people’s own homes. They could receive more regular checkups starting at an early age.

Dental hygienists have a proven record of innovative service delivery and they could do a

world of good in our small communities. The Northwest Territories needs to bring its legislation in line with the majority of the Canadian provinces. I will have questions for the Health Minister at the appropriate time. Thank you.

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

Mr. Speaker, when I was visiting constituents this summer, as I do each summer, I heard a number of complaints about this government, which should really be no surprise to anyone in this building. In fact, there were so many complaints about this government I don’t know if I can fit them all in, even in replies to the opening address.

However, particular attention was paid to this government’s lack of attention to families and their bottom line. People told me devolution is important over the long haul, but they can’t make the short haul, so the long-haul details really don’t matter.

In particular, families are struggling day by day and, when they see our cost of living go up to number one, they don’t like being number one. Who wouldn’t want to be number one in the real world, but when it comes to your power bills, they don’t like being number one.

We certainly have to thank the Premier, in his old role as Minister Bob McLeod, because Bob McLeod helped move our power bills in the method that they are going. He deserves the credit for this, and let me explain why.

A few short years ago, Members will recall the power rates were engineered so that they would be lower in the communities, but locked-in in Yellowknife. Let me be the first to say that the communities struggle day to day and certainly their power bills are no envy of anyone. In fact, if you’re not on the hydro grid, I don’t know how you survive. I believe it’s very necessary to pay particular attention to those problems and I certainly support solutions that work toward that.

Affordable living is a challenge everywhere in the Northwest Territories, but government does what government does. I’m not disagreeing with the first part. That took a bit of courage, but it’s the second time they have had to look at what else happened. So they were artificially lowered, and somebody had to pick up the costs somewhere.

What happened was power rates in Yellowknife were frozen, but what they didn’t tell is – and here it is – the rate riders in Yellowknife were just about to fall off. So in other words, they locked us in at a higher rate. Then they shifted the administrative burden from the regional centres to Yellowknife. Again, the cost of living continues to go up.

When you compare apples to apples, Yellowknife to Iqaluit, Yellowknife to Whitehorse, Yellowknife to even Barrow, Alaska, guess what, we’re number one. Our power bills are horrible. We want to do something about real-life working families who struggle to get by day after day. This Cabinet needs to come down from its perches and big salaries and lofty offices and see what it’s like for the living families to struggle each and every day.

I won’t have softball questions today for the Ministers, but they will be getting a bit of a push from me, that’s for sure.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. It gives me great pleasure to recognize some of the recipients that are here in the gallery. First of all I’d like to recognize the Youth category, Justin Memogana is here with us from Kugluktuk. His brother Chad is here with us as well. Also, the Elder’s category that is here with us, Emily Kudlak from Ulukhaktok as well. In the Group category I’d like to recognize from the Gwich’in Social and Cultural Institute Alestine Andre, Bertha Francis, Ingrid Kritsch and Robert Alexie Sr., who are here with us today. Also, Minister’s Choice, Yellowknife Choral Society, and here with us today are Lorne Gushue, Ruth McLean, Constantina Tsetsos and Margo Nightingale. Also with our department here with us are Karen Wright-Fraser and Ashley Green. Welcome to the Assembly. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mr. Blake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to recognize my constituents: Alestine Andre, from Tsiigehtchic; Bertha Francis and Robert Alexie Sr., of Fort McPherson; along with Ingrid Kritsch, who are the recipients of the Minister’s Culture and Heritage Circle Award. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Blake. Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to recognize all of the winners of the Culture and Heritage Awards today. Congratulations to them and, particularly in the House today, members of the Yellowknife Choral Society, some of the members, and I know Constantina Tsetsos is there, a resident of Weledeh, as well as Lorne Gushue and Ruth McLean, Margo Nightingale, I don’t know if Margaret Peterson made it or not. So congratulations, and I don’t know if Jennifer Young is there. I can’t see everybody behind me, but she

is one of the co-founders of the Yellowknife group Face to Face. It’s a support group for people suffering from the loss of infants during pregnancy. So I’d like to recognize Jennifer as well. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Mr. Moses.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to congratulate and welcome all the recipients of the Culture and Heritage Awards today, specifically the Gwich’in Social and Cultural Institute, and also welcome Karen Wright-Fraser, who is a relative and who has been a very strong advocate for cultural contributions and the prolonging of the Gwich’in culture. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Moses. Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize a number of people today. Karen Wright-Fraser is a constituent of Frame Lake. Congratulations, Karen, on your award and welcome to the Assembly. I would also like to recognize the members of the Yellowknife Choral Society who are here and congratulate them on their award. Lorne Gushue, Ruth McLean, Constantina Tsetsos and Margo Nightingale, your hard work is obviously recognized. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think we’re going to fight over Karen here because I thought she lives downtown. With that said, she is certainly worthy of the prize to fight for; she is such a great lady. I want to start off by recognizing Karen Wright-Fraser. She is known for a lot of things, not particularly because she worked with me a long time ago, but she is a talented artist in her own right and very well renowned. Her skill is amazing and she has great talent at keeping her traditional life.

The other constituent that I’d like to acknowledge, and who has been acknowledged several times already, is Lorne Gushue. He’s a community activist in many ways, a stalwart volunteer on so many efforts, we don’t have time to go through every single one of them. I can tell you we spent a lot of time talking about what a great community fellow he is and to that end I say thank you to both and welcome.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Today several outstanding Northerners were recognized in representing our arts, culture and heritage across our great territory. I really would like to welcome Mr. Justin Memogana and his brother Chad from Ulukhaktok. Welcome to the House. That is drummer dancers that, when we were up at our Caucus retreat, all these members were drum dancing while we were up in Ulukhaktok. That was our main drummer right there. I know your dad

would be really proud of you, so congratulations again.

Ms. Emily Kudlak, thank you for your Elders Category Award. Thank you for all you do for the community of Ulukhaktok. I know you are always active in the community with our youth, so thank you and keep up the good work. Thank you.

Welcome everybody in the House here today for taking in our proceedings and to all of you, congratulations on behalf of our House. Thank you very much for being there for us, especially our elders.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to recognize Weledeh resident and former Premier, Stephen Kakfwi, who received the Governor General’s Northern Medal on October 4, 2013, in Quebec City. The highly regarded award was established to honour Canadians whose actions and achievements contribute to the North. Originally from Fort Good Hope, Mr. Kakfwi spent 16 years as a Sahtu MLA and served as a Cabinet Minister and the first Premier of the NWT after Nunavut was created.

On behalf of Weledeh residents and the people of the Northwest Territories, I would like to congratulate Mr. Kakfwi and his family for his accomplishments, and thank him for his continued important contributions to the people of the North. Mahsi.

---Applause

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement and certainly reading here Mr. Dolynny having an exchange with Mr. Ramsay last week in regards to driver education programming in our school, I want to ask the Minister if he’s given some serious consideration with his colleague, the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Is this something we can look forward to putting on a piece of paper saying by next year, if we put our heads together and the will of the people and the will of the department, we can have a driver

education training program in one of our small communities?

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We recognize the regional disparity in numbers of young people in the territory that have a driver’s licence of one form or another, Class 7, Class 5 probationary, or Class 5 licence between Yellowknife, Hay River, Fort Smith and the other communities in the territory. Certainly, we need to do something about that. The department is taking this challenge seriously. We have Project Gearshift that we’re allowing participation in schools. We are going to cover up to $3,000 or 50 percent of the cost for them to host professional driver trainers in their communities. We believe that’s going to certainly be a step in the right direction.

Going back a number of years, we had driver training in some of the high schools here in the Northwest Territories. Given what is happening today in the central Mackenzie Valley in Norman Wells and with the pending construction of the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk highway, the Member’s concern about trying to get some type of program into a high school in Inuvik and Norman Wells certainly has merit. Thank you.

Certainly, we want to close the gap on the disparity within our regions. We know not all regions are created equal, so I want to ask the Minister with regard to the driver education training program, is this something that he and his colleagues, specifically the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, can look at as a pilot project in the Sahtu, for example, to raise the challenge with our young people to have one of these types of drivers’ licences for next year?

Mr. Speaker, high school students in Yellowknife and Hay River can still receive two credits toward their high school diploma by taking professional driver training, but that is only available in Yellowknife and Hay River. That, again, is part of the reason we’re looking at Project Gearshift, to get the professional driver instruction outside of those two communities and to young people across the Territories so they can get drivers’ licences. We’re also developing flashcards and an app that is based on the NWT Drivers Manual. I believe in responding to Mr. Dolynny last week, these will be available sometime early in the new year. We believe that will go a long way to helping students pass their driver’s test when the examiner does get into their community. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, would the driver education program have a schedule in a Sahtu community high school for these driver education training programs, that every so often the instructors will be coming into these schools where there’s incentive to receive a credit, get to school,

and every three months that in one of the Sahtu communities you’ll know these young students will be receive one type of driver’s licence. It will do a lot of wonderful things in terms of increasing their self-esteem, once they get a driver’s licence.

Mr. Speaker, with the economic activity construction happening in the Mackenzie Delta and also the activity that’s taking place in the Sahtu, it certainly is in our best interest to ensure that, at the high school level, youth have access to getting… One of the fundamentals is a driver’s licence. I think the more we can do that, the better off our young people will be and better able to get employment. I think, at the end of the day, really that is what this is all about, is independence and getting employment for young people across the territory.

On Project Gearshift, that would have to be initiated by schools. Again, it’s funding; it’s a program that’s available to schools. So schools, whether they’re in Inuvik or Norman Wells, can certainly apply for the funding that is available through Project Gearshift. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to see a program stronger than Project Gearshift, but that we actually have a program in our schools that would allow a driver education program for our youth, that they actually not wait for funding but initiate it. Schools are always competing for funding and other initiatives, and sometimes we’re not quite there as we’d like to be in regards to having funding for the schools.

Is this something that they could look at more concrete that could be a pilot project, so say this could work, especially in the Sahtu where there’s oil and gas activity that’s going to be flourishing in the next couple of years?

Thank you. The discussions have already begun between ECE and DOT. We will continue to have discussions. In the past these programs ended because of concerns with liability and also logistical concerns.

I think these are things we can get over and we should get over. If there’s a real need in a community like Norman Wells or Inuvik or other communities around the NWT, this is something that we have to get our heads around. Certainly, we can continue the discussions and I will do that through the Minister and the education board both in the Beaufort-Delta and in the Sahtu. We’ll continue and see where we can get these discussions and keep Members apprised of where we get with the program. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Obviously, the last couple weeks I spent some time at the Hay River hospital, l and I forgot to thank them.

My questions today are for the Minister of Health. Last spring the Minister had talked about making some changes to the authority and giving Hay River some feedback. I’m wondering if we could create kind of a community-driven authority where the community could give feedback. Is there something, a board that they’re looking at setting up where the communities can have feedback? I know right now we have a public administrator, but is there any thought to putting something like that in place?

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

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Yes, the thought is to return to a board structure for the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority. As the Member knows, we are in the process of constructing a new health centre and we’re hoping to be able to provide some medical services to surrounding communities. So once we’ve determined the full scope of what that specific health centre can provide to the surrounding areas, then we are going to talk more with the staff and the public administrator to determine what type of board structure we should have in place for Hay River Health and Social Services. Thank you.

Thank you. I appreciate the Minister’s answer there. The Minister talked about the new facility. Do we have to wait for that facility to get that kind of feedback from the general public? We’re looking for some sort of feedback that the public can give on the current operations in the current facility, as well, and what kind of timeline we’re looking at in order for implementation of that type of an advisory board.

No, it’s not essential that we wait for the health centre to be completed in order to have some sort of board structure. The public administrator and I did discuss that possibility. He recommended that we start off by maybe asking a couple of people from Hay River on the recommendation of maybe even the municipality, the MLAs or even the Aboriginal organizations’ area to appoint people that he could start working with and having some discussions. That’s something that we are currently contemplating. I’ve had my first discussion on that type of structure, I would say, about two months ago with the public administrator. Thank you.

Thank you. Obviously, in the health care industry it’s very important to have consistency. I guess a question I would have about that authority is also the promotion and recruitment of doctors.

I’m wondering if the department has been in discussion any further. I know the Minister has talked in this House about a centralized doctors’ recruitment facility. I’m just wondering where the department is currently in that discussion with the Hay River authority.

As the Member knows, we’ve recently moved the CEO to a position with Health and Social Services. We have an acting CEO and then there’s going to be a new CEO for Hay River coming on stream within weeks. I’ve had that discussion with all of the Joint Senior Management Committee – that’s all of the CEOs across all of the jurisdictions and some senior staff with Health and Social Services – and made it a priority. One of the top three priorities for the health system is recruitment of doctors.

Plan A for the recruitment of doctors would be to recruit doctors in the communities where they will be working. Plan B would be to move doctors from those communities to live in Yellowknife, but again, our intention is to continue with plan A and push the idea of having doctors brought into a place like Hay River. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Minister’s answer there and I appreciate the concept, but how much of a priority is it to assist the authority in promotion of the community itself and to get a doctor in place? I understand the concept of a central unit, but obviously in this House we have concerns about decentralization and we want to see that in the communities.

How much is the department pushing the recruitment of doctors in the communities versus a centralized doctor pool?

Thank you. That is the ultimate way to go. We recognize that the doctors will be living in the communities where they’re serving, so that continues to be our push. When I talked to all of the Joint Senior Management Committee a couple of weeks ago, I did talk only about trying to get doctors into a community. The new CEO that will be coming on is very versed in bringing in and talking to doctors and trying to hire doctors and so on. We also have a support system in Health and Social Services that will help the communities and CEOs recruit doctors for their communities. That continues to be the number one priority for us as far as doctor recruitments go. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As a follow-up to my Member’s statement earlier today, my questions will be directed to the Minister of Justice.

If my memory serves me correctly, the current Minister of Justice was interested in full-blown whistleblower protection or legislation when he was an Ordinary Member. So there should be no big surprises here in the House today. However, one of the surprises is the lack of progress this government and department has undertaken since tabling a discussion paper on whistleblower protection back in 2007.

Can the Minister of Justice please inform this House why there was little to no action on whistleblower legislation after the 2007 discussion paper? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Minister of Justice, Mr. Abernethy.

Mr. Speaker, I can’t speak for the actions of a previous government, but I can say that when we came into the 16th Legislative Assembly, whistleblower legislation was a priority for both Regular Members and I as the Minister. Through negotiations with the union, the union requested that we work with them on a memorandum of understanding to put together some joint policies around whistleblowers, which we’re basically used as a pilot study. That work has been done. It was made effective April 1, 2013. I made a commitment that after we ran this program for a year, we’d do a bit of a review, learn lessons from that year and we would move forward with legislation. I will be coming forward with a legislative proposal to committee probably around October 2014, which gives us the year to run the program, a little bit of time to do analysis, which I will absolutely be sharing with my colleagues on both sides of the House and we will be coming forward with the legislation, without question. Thank you.

Thank you. That’s promising news here and I think it’s important that the public hear that as well.

So to truly appreciate what we currently have to protect our public sector, can the Minister please indicate what is the government’s experience so far with the memorandum of agreement with the UNW on whistleblowing within the GNWT? Thank you.

Thank you. The memorandum of understanding and the policy went live on April 1, 2013. We tried to get that

information out as best we could. We’ve included it on our website; we’ve got it out in Bear Facts a number of times. We had a joint letter go out with the UNW to all UNW representatives in the Northwest Territories, and to date, we’ve actually had nobody take us up on this policy and program.

I guess just to pinpoint a little bit of the time flying by that the Minister has just indicated, he has indicated earlier that in October 2014 we should be seeing some type of legislative proposal on this side of the House. Can the Minister indicate as to when we might see a draft proposal at its earliest?

As I’ve indicated, we’re running this program for a year. We’re learning our lessons. We’re getting information. Unfortunately, we haven’t had any uptake on it, but we may. We will take that time from April 1st to the

following October to draft some draft legislation and we will come forward with the legislative proposal and follow the normal legislative process in the Government of the Northwest Territories, and we will definitely have something through the House, hopefully before the end of this government.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, I appreciate the Minister’s response there. I guess we all know how government works here when we see a proposal of this nature, large proposals coming really late in the 17th Assembly. Can the

Minister give some reassurances here that we are going to have ample time to have all the amendments in place and to have full-blown whistleblower legislation by the end of our sitting in the 17th Assembly?

I’m committed to taking it through the process. I’ve already made that commitment to the House a number of times both today and previously. We will follow it through the normal legislative process, which includes going to committee, spending 120 days with committee, and then going to the House for, hopefully, first, second and third reading.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In follow-up to my Member’s statement today on regional high schools, before I get into my questions, let me just make a clarification. I made a brief reference to my own children coming from Hay River to Yellowknife. I am not advocating for any student from Hay River coming to Yellowknife. It was just an unusual circumstance where they had a parent at both sides of the lake and they took

advantage of an option. I was speaking to the relativity. When you’re from Hay River, Yellowknife’s big. When you’re from Fort Res, Hay River’s big. When you’re from Toronto, Taipei is big. Everything is relative, right?

Getting into my questions, I’d like to ask the Minister responsible for Education if the idea of regional high school education is on the department’s radar in any way. I believe the option should be there for students that want to remain in small communities, but for those who would like an enriched curriculum, a variety of courses and subject material, that this could be available. Is this on the department’s radar?

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The Minister of Education, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Specifically, if it’s on the radar, probably not at this point, but I can certainly raise that issue with the school board chairs. I usually have a meeting with them. Part of the discussion that we’ve been having about grade extension is based on the feedback from the communities, the parents. The parents don’t want their kids to be sent out to regional high school. They’ve had some experience where their children, their students, I guess, would get into whether it be trouble or the substance abuse in the larger communities due to the fact we’ve created these grade extensions into communities. This is an area that we can certainly have discussion with the school board chairs.

In my Member’s statement I was very clear to suggest that this would not be feasible, doable or even desirable if there were not home boarding or residential options available to these students that were sober, supervised, supported and in every way healthy for the children.

The Minister says that parents don’t want their high school students to go to regional centres for the reasons that the Minister stated, and he said that he will speak to the superintendents of education. Could we not perhaps find a way to ask the parents how they feel about that? Because I have run across many parents who feel that their young people do well in the small communities, they get to a certain point, they’re bored, they are feeling like the education system is not challenging them, and they would love an opportunity for their students, for their children to go to a regional centre to go to high school. Is there a way that we could actually canvass the parents to find out if they have an interest in this?

There has been a survey in the past, when we started the discussion on grade extension. We can reopen that dialogue with the communities, especially with the parents. I would like to hear from the parents, the school board chairs, the superintendents, the educators

and the grandparents how they feel about having regional high schools in another part of the community to send their kids over there. By all means, I will be more than happy to have this dialogue happening in the communities through the school board chairs and the school board directors.

I think anything that offers more options to our secondary high school students in the Northwest Territories to make sure they get the best high school education they can, should be looked and should be considered. I would like to ask the Minister, do the education councils at this time have any funding in their budget for one-offs. If a parent came and said, you know what, I would like my child to go from Tuktoyaktuk to attend school in Inuvik, is there funding in budgets right now on an application or one-off basis where parents can have their student or their child attend a regional high school for the cost of travel and home boarding?

More options, I totally agree with that. That’s why we’re looking at various programming such as I mentioned. E-learning is just one of the examples that the Beaufort-Delta has been very successful; also, the tutoring in the South Slave region. Those are just some of the areas that we continue to push.

With respect to some of the areas for funding allocation, we provide funding to DECs, district education councils, on an annual basis, based on enrolment, and part of that has been distributed to district education authorities so they can expend at their pleasure. We provide funding on an annual basis and they decide where the money should be expended.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Hay River has a wonderful high school, which is not utilized to its maximum capacity, with very experienced teachers and a very wide variety of course options, so I would like to ask the Minister if he could report back to us what a survey of parents might indicate who, in the South Slave, in small communities, might be interested in accessing an education in Hay River.

We’ll definitely do that with the community of Hay River and also the surrounding small communities that the Member alluded to earlier.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today my questions are based on learning that in North

Dakota, workers pay income taxes to the state of North Dakota regardless of where they reside. I’d like to direct my questions to the Minister of Finance exploring our situation. Early in the previous Assembly, we learned that we were losing about $300 million per year to high salary workers flying in to work in the NWT mines from other provinces.

Would the Minister have any update on how much this figure is currently for mine workers and what additional we are losing now for oil and gas workers?

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The Minister of Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can commit to get that information for the Member.

Thanks very much to the Minister for that commitment. I think he would probably agree that it’s a substantial number and not something we’d like to see. A report published in 2008 by the Parkland Institute pointed out that the GNWT does collect the payroll tax from all workers, including those who fly in and out, which I think is beneficial, but I don’t believe we have increased those payroll taxes in the last five years. Now, this could be done in a way that does not change things except increase the tax we collect from fly-in/fly-out workers.

Would the Minister be able to confirm that raising the payroll tax for high-income workers while lowering the income tax by an equal amount, or the payroll tax, or income tax for those at lower income would allow the GNWT to collect increased taxes from fly-in/fly-out workers without changing the tax burden on NWT residents? Mahsi.

Mr. Speaker, I don’t have access to the document that the Member is quoting from the Parkland Institute. I can indicate to the Member that we have looked at increasing the payroll tax in nearly every Assembly that I’ve been in. We’ve broken it down in great detail; we’ve looked at it from every angle. The bottom line determination to date has been that increasing the payroll tax, when you look at all the administrative costs and the complexities and the amount of money spent making sure that there is no negative impact on Northerners has made it not worth pursuing at this juncture. Thank you.

Thanks to the Minister for those comments. I would be happy to provide him with a copy of the report, although this isn’t totally from the report. The Minister mentioned it has to have a benefit to it. There are some costs associated with this. Right now we have the federal government collecting income tax for us. That’s a bit of a deal, because it’s an expensive process. At some point, you hit an inflection point where it becomes

worthwhile paying the administration and doing the collection yourself.

Has the Minister looked into that at all to decide when it would be… I appreciate his commitment to find out how much we are losing. Maybe he would be interested in doing some projections. Has the Minister looked into at what point we might consider collecting those ourselves? Mahsi.

Mr. Speaker, we would be more than willing and interested to appear before a committee to lay out in detail the specifics of the payroll tax as we have it set up now and the work that we’ve done in looking at alternatives and options to increasing. We have, in fact, done that in the past and it may be time to have another look at it. I would be interested in looking at the Parkland Institute paper, to see if there is something new that hasn’t been contemplated. As well, I think the big issue is the leakage and what is the best way to prevent that leakage of all that money going directly south, and is the payroll tax increase the only or the best way to do that. I know we have had, and are having, discussions with Dominion Diamonds, for example, to look at ways that we can encourage and incent more people to stay and come to the North to live and work, not just work. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thanks to the Minister. There has been a lot of work done and I supported that and appreciated that. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be getting us where we want to go.

Just following up on my last, what action is the Minister taking to discuss this topic with our neighbouring jurisdictions, particularly Nunavut and the Yukon? Certainly, they have to be having similar issues and maybe they will more and more. So there’s an opportunity, maybe, for northern Canada to have a special dispensation where we can actually collect income tax from dollars made here. Mahsi.

Mr. Speaker, in fact I do believe, as well, that Alberta has the same challenge with a significant amount of workers it brings in mainly from eastern Canada on an ongoing basis. We have had discussions about the challenges they face. I haven’t had any immediate or recent discussions with our northern territories. I have had more discussions with Alberta as they struggle to come to grips with the same issue. They may have come up with no surefire solutions, either, because the planes still fly on a weekly basis full of workers returning home or on shift change. Thank you.