Good afternoon, colleagues. I would like to draw your attention to the presence at the table of our Honourary Clerk, Mr. Anthony W.J. Whitford. He’s celebrating the 25th anniversary of his election in

this House. On behalf of all Members, thank you for joining us here today, Tony.

---Applause

Colleagues, before we proceed to today’s business, I wish to give my ruling on the point of order raised by Mr. Miltenberger on October 28, 2013, with respect to comments made by Mr. Hawkins on his Facebook page after my ruling on October 27th .

Mr. Miltenberger’s point was that Mr. Hawkins’ comments called into question his apology to the House on October 27th and, therefore, violated

rules 23(k) and 23(l). Mr. Miltenberger likened the Facebook comments to a note passed in the House.

Rule 23 applies to debate in the House, not to matters that take place outside. As your Speaker, I have no way of knowing whether posts to Facebook or Twitter or other social media are made within the Chamber or not. The Member could easily have posted the comments from his office or somewhere else in the building.

Mr. Hawkins did apologize in the House for his comments on October 23rd , and withdrew his

remarks. I accept the Member on his word and consider that matter settled.

I, therefore, find there is no point of order.

However, I do need to strongly caution Members that statements made outside the House, whether on Facebook or in other media, can amount to a breach of privilege or even contempt of the House.

This is especially so when a Member’s comments could be read as challenging a ruling of the Speaker. It’s thin ice and I urge Members to stay off of it.

This is not to protect me personally. It is to keep dignity and order in the House, so that we can get our work done.

That leads me to my next point. I want to draw your attention to the amount of time we have spent in this sitting on points of order and privilege. We come from around the NWT and meet here only a few times a year. That time is precious and we need to make the best use of it.

This House is not a theatre meant to entertain the public. That’s not our culture here. It’s a place where we do important work for the people of the Northwest Territories.

Every day I hear Regular Members asking tough questions and doing their job without going against the rules of debate.

Every day I hear Ministers responding to those tough questions and doing their job without raising a point of order when something is said that could offend them.

So it can be done. If all Members make a sincere effort to uphold the dignity of the House and to thicken their skins, I am sure you will be able to deal with all of the difficult issues before you without any unnecessary drama. We can do this on behalf of our people. Let’s get on with it.

Item 2, Ministers’ statements. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.

Mr. Speaker, educational change, without question, is one of the most critical initiatives we must enact in the NWT. The Education Renewal and Innovation Initiative has been underway for approximately a year, and we are seeing some exciting directions emerge for true foundational change.

This work will create a different way of teaching our youth. It will involve partnerships, improved relationships between communities and schools, and a focus on helping our children develop a strong sense of identity. It will support our educators and lifelong learners to renew authentic

learning experiences inside and outside the classroom, and develop effective assessment tools that measure this learning.

This kind of change in education is happening around the world. We are directly involved in many of the key areas of educational change that Alberta is undertaking. We have reviewed NWT student achievement data; benefited from international, national and northern research; and thoroughly engaged with Aboriginal governments, education authorities and councils, and superintendents. We also held sessions with non-governmental organizations, teachers, students, and other GNWT departments.

Mr. Speaker, later today I will be tabling the product of all the research and engagement that has been undertaken over the past year. The Education Renewal and Innovation Framework: Directions for Change document has a 10-year horizon and will be supported by a multi-year action plan detailing the direction, actions and timelines, along with costing. ECE will now develop an evaluation framework supporting the renewal work and setting clear targets.

Mr. Speaker, we have not been elected to maintain the status quo. There are inequities in our system. Students in small communities need to have access to quality education as much as those in our larger centres. We are committed to addressing this challenge. Whether students are in Colville Lake, Yellowknife, Inuvik or Jean Marie River, we will develop programming and ways to deliver that programming that allows their teachers to open up a world of learning that leaves them hungry for more.

There are challenges that go beyond the classroom and the school walls that we must address as we develop our initiatives: poverty, addictions, lack of hope, the legacy of residential schools, and attendance. There are other challenges that need to be met primarily through school programming and policies themselves: authentic learning; staff recruitment, training and retention; and training and transitions to jobs. We are already addressing many of these as we renew the education system that will prepare our children for a more prosperous and healthy future. The framework I am tabling later today suggests initiatives and hopeful directions that, if brought to life, will address these challenges.

On July 12, 2013, a speech was delivered to the United Nations by a young Pakistani girl that had been shot by the Taliban for being outspoken about education. Malala Yousafzai delivered a message critical to the principles of education, and one that we are visualizing for the future of our territory. She said, “One child, one teacher, one pen and one book can change the world.”

Mr. Speaker, we must have the collective courage to move forward towards that change. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Before we continue, I’d like to welcome back to the House Mr. Jake Ootes and his wife, Marg. It’s good to see you back in the House today.

---Applause

The honourable Minister of Transportation, Mr. Beaulieu.

Mr. Speaker, improving the delivery of programs and services, especially to residents of smaller, remote communities, is an important goal for our government. Later this fiscal year the Department of Transportation will be providing residents with the option to access driver and motor vehicle services from the comfort of their homes, workplaces or from anywhere else with an Internet connection. Services will be available from any computer, smartphone or tablet with an Internet connection, and with expanding cellular coverage across the territory, that’s just about anywhere.

It has taken over five years of dedicated work to get the Motor Vehicle Information System upgraded to be in a position to provide on-line services while maintaining and protecting the integrity and quality of our programs and information.

Earlier this year the department completed the migration from our 1980s Motor Vehicle Information System to a state-of-the-art system called DRIVES. This work was undertaken by Transportation staff with consultants hired for specialized work. This multi-year project was completed on time and on budget. The project was also completed without any disruptions in service. Mr. Speaker, this was no small feat.

DRIVES now provides enhanced processes to streamline client driver’s licence processing. Heightened security and system processes reduce the risk of fraudulent requests associated with identity theft. The new system also includes enhanced medical compliance standards and driver profiles standards. The on-line financial transaction security and encryption is equivalent to that of a bank. Now that the background system is in place, we have been shifting our focus outward to expanding on-line services to our clients.

Included in the first suite of on-line services to be rolled out before Christmas are e-notification reminders. How many of us have forgotten to renew our registration or driver’s licence, only to be reminded by a ticket? You will soon be able to register to have reminders come directly to your inbox or to your hand-held device.

Early in the new year you will also be able to renew your vehicle registration, schedule appointments such as driver tests, and obtain your driver record on-line.

These services will be available in every community with an Internet or cellular connection. We expect that this will be greatly appreciated in remote communities where there currently are no issuing sites. These clients will no longer have to wait for services to come to them or travel to a larger centre for service.

We expect that on-line services will also shorten existing wait times for those that choose to continue accessing services in person. At our busiest issuing site, here in Yellowknife, we have recently implemented a number of initiatives including queuing systems, posting wait times on-line and implementing measurable service standards to improve the client experiences. We expect that as much as 50 percent of registration renewals will be processed on-line once it is available. If that is the case, it will result in even shorter wait times to receive service. Clients will be able to get the services they need when it’s convenient, without having to wait in a line-up.

In future, we will be proposing to expand on-line services even further, to include driver’s licence renewals, address changes and obtaining commercial vehicle permits, to name a few. With technology, there are now endless possibilities for innovative service delivery. I look forward to keeping you updated on our ongoing efforts to improve service delivery and reduce government red tape. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I want to follow the lead of my colleague from Hay River North from earlier this week, and speak briefly to the issue we are seeing every day in the media with regard to our country’s capital and the elected and appointed leaders there.

As a territory, we have a close working relationship with the Government of Canada through the party and leaders in power. We have most recently had considerable dealings with Canada in pursuing our aspirations for greater self-determination through our Devolution Agreement.

I am saddened as I watch the nightly news as the saga of the Senate expenses continues to play out. It’s sad that for a country of Canada’s stature and reputation on the world stage that it is threatened to

be tarnished by something that was so avoidable and, I believe, could be resolved without further collateral damage.

It seems that the line between the work of the Senate in dealing with legislation coming forward from the House of Commons, as one of the things they do, has been very blurred with the work of parties that the Senators are appointed by and work with. This confusion has led to a lack of clear delineation of expenses related to Senate work versus party work. A review of the role and responsibilities of Senators seemingly needs to be addressed. The fact that Senators are appointed on a regional basis creates the perception that they need to be from and residing in the province of origin when, in fact, the work before and during the Senate appointment may have required that they actually live some other place. So regional representation is a notion that needs to be more clearly defined.

It would be interesting to find out how many sitting and retired Senators actually took advantage of this capital living allowance improperly, as it seems void of any clear rules. If there had been rules, the claims of the Senators in question should have been caught by administration.

Although these Senators filed expense claims, they didn’t have any authority to pay themselves from the budgets of the Senate. They didn’t issue the cheques, and for those who did, where was the monitoring scrutiny that one would expect? Mr. Bouchard made reference earlier in the House this week, even in a small jurisdiction like ours, how the rules are set out and how they’re followed.

So now we find ourselves in a situation where a succession of serious errors in judgment has occurred and they threaten the stability of the party that governs this country. That’s a sad day for Canada, regardless of what political stripe you hold to.

This is an amazing country. We have a democracy, despite some recent challenges, that is really still the envy of many, many countries. The leaders of any of our national parties did not get to that level of leadership without having earned the respect of a lot of Canadians along the way. As a legislator, I have had the privilege to meet many party leaders on trips that they’ve made to the North, and as a keen follower of politics, even prior to entering public office, I can say without hesitation that each one of them were very impressive Canadians and leaders in their own right.

I’d like to seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

My wish is that a group of mature, seasoned Senators could take a lesson from what’s happened, to agree going forward there

needs to be more clear definition brought to the roles and responsibilities of Senators which activities are eligible for claiming expenses from the Senate and which are not, a revisiting of the rules around primary residence and capital living allowance and a team of administrators of those allowances and indemnities that would not allow Senators to be reimbursed for claims that they are not eligible for.

My wish is also that this could be accomplished before the lives and reputations of any more people are destroyed, that people be held accountable for the funds they received in error and be allowed to move on with the work that they were constitutionally directed to do in the Senate.

This show going on in the House of Commons right now may be wonderful fodder for the media and a lot of fun for some leaders and a lot of posturing for senior politicians, but if there was any chance that people involved could stop for a moment and ask themselves if what they’re doing is beneficial to our country and the citizens who elected them, maybe they would work together to find a constructive resolution to a situation so that it never happens again. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier this summer I had the pleasure of accompanying our Minister, R.C. McLeod, the Minister responsible for sports, to Sherbrooke, Quebec. We were attending the federal/provincial/territorial roundtable discussions on sport and I wanted to say that it was a very enlightening experience and I want to say that the NWT is well-represented at this table and I think it’s through the good work of our Minister. Sometimes we forget to say those good things and I want to make sure it goes out publicly.

Before I talk about our other mission that we were there for, which is the Canada Summer Games, I wanted to say that we need to talk about the sponsors of our Team NWT that made it possible for our athletes to actually attend this event. So with my commendable expression, I want to say thank you to NorthwesTel, First Air and Coast Fraser Tower for their stewardship and their ability to help our young athletes. So that’s first and foremost.

It was a pleasure that Team NWT had 84 athletes, 23 youth ambassadors, and I can’t tell you enough how well our youth ambassadors are received not only from here, from the Northwest Territories, but nationally. They get heartfelt acclaim. We had 12 mission staff there led by Chef de Mission Bill Otmyer, who likes to be referred to as Billy “O.” Billy

did a great job. We also had 16 coaches and managers there. So, all in all, we had a great team.

It’s important that we also thank some of our own government stakeholders who were there. These are people who, behind the scenes, spend countless hours and I want to make sure Mr. Ian Legaree gets full credit here for this as well – that’s well deserved – and Damon Crossman. He was not only there on behalf of the government, he was actually there as a coach for basketball as well. So hats off to those two people as well.

Of course, I can’t mention everyone. There are too many people to mention here today, but you know who you are and pat yourself on the back.

Although Team NWT did not medal at our Canada Summer Games, which is always our target, I’m very comforted knowing that everyone, I think, got a really good, lasting memory and will definitely remember their time there.

I just want to conclude with it’s always fun to find a special quote that summarized, I think, the true essence of our Team NWT. This is from Bill Bowerman, who is a 1972 U.S. track and field co-founder of Nike.

With that, Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude.

---Unanimous consent granted

Again, with Mr. Bowerman’s quote here and he says in his quote: “Victory is in having done your best. If you’ve done your best, you’ve won.” So I’m proud to say that all NWT athletes were winners, in my eyes. I think we’re winners in everybody’s eyes in the Northwest Territories. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to discuss one of the topics near and dear to my heart. In Hay River we are very proud of the commercial fishery on the Great Slave Lake. As many people know, in the summertime most of the production is being done in that season. I’m glad that we’ve completed that season just recently.

Along the Great Slave Lake we have a two million pound quota that we have the capacity to produce. The sad part is that in past years we’ve only collected about 300,000 of those pounds. So I’d like to discuss with the Minister and question the Minister today about some of the production and how we’re looking to increase that production.

Like I said, I have brought this to this House several times, but I want the Minister of ITI to know that this is very important for the people of Hay River as well

as the people of the Northwest Territories. This is a commodity that we should be using and maximizing and a commodity that we should be very proud of.

Later today I will have questions for the Minister of ITI on this summer’s production and what the department is doing to help this industry. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is true that the theme song for devolution should be “you can’t always get what you want,” except in this case we can’t get what we want or what we need. What we need is more jobs in the smaller communities and the capacity to fill those jobs with local residents. Where there is hope, there is despair. Once people have jobs, they have hope. When people are working they can support their families. They contribute to their communities and look forward to a better future.

I say this to remind the government the devolution promise of more jobs in the communities is critical and the stakes are very high. In this House last week, Premier McLeod indicated that as part of the phase to devolution, something in the neighbourhood of about 90-some positions have been decentralized to the regions and that more decentralization will come with phase three. I’m concerned that most of these jobs are going to the regional centres, or that they will wind up being pulled back to Yellowknife if they can’t be filled.

Speaking of regional centres, the work of decentralization will require innovative thinking. I would like to see the government consider establishing Fort Providence as a regional centre. Given its strategic location on the water between Fort Simpson and Yellowknife, it is perfectly situated as a marine hub. In spring the ice does not melt and move out of Great Slave Lake until early June. At Fort Providence the river is free of ice in mid-May, making it ideal for early river transportation activities. If done properly, decentralization can give us opportunities like this to organize government services more effectively.

With respect to decentralization, I’m also concerned that the majority of these jobs require a high level of education with specialized skills that will discourage people in the communities from applying. Getting positions into communities is only part of the equation. Filling those positions with qualified local people is the bigger challenge. Some people seem to equate 10-year positions in the community, for example, with the need for a 10-year process for 10-year families. But for the communities lucky

enough to get 10 new positions, it is my hope those positions will be filled by 10 local residents already living in the community. People who want to work but maybe lack the skills or knowledge to take on new jobs.

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

---Unanimous consent granted

To me the biggest challenge will be to assist people living in the communities to qualify and train for those jobs that devolution promises.

I look forward to hearing more about how the government will rise to the challenge through the Regional Recruitment Strategy. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Nadli. Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the spirit of Halloween, I decided to change things up just a little bit and just for today. As such, in the spirit of working together, I did give the Finance Minister a heads-up and I said I’m going to have a little fun with my statement today. Of course, his response was, “At who’s cost?”, and I assured him no, in all fairness.

There was a television rerun show that I used to watch and I remember it very well from my youth. As such, it has inspired my Member’s statement today. Colleagues, all colleagues, I say I know you know the melody, so don’t be afraid to jump in and sing along.

They’re creepy and they’re kooky, their policies are mysterious and spooky, the more you get to know them, they’re altogether ookie, the McLeod Cabinet family. Da da dun – don’t be afraid, guys – da da dun, da da dun, da da dun, da da dun.

Most days you dread to see them, with their policies you think they’re dreamin’, and the morality leaves you screaming, the McLeod Cabinet family. Da da dun – come on, colleagues – da da dun, da da dun, da da dun, da da dun.

So get out your decoders, the foolishness we’re bound to, dreamlike charms they’re selling the McLeod Cabinet family. Da da da dun. Thank you very much, folks.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins.

---Interjection

You said it, not me. I can’t sing. Order! Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you, Mr. Hawkins, I think. I stand again today to once more voice my concerns about the way the Department of Education, Culture and Employment funds inclusive schooling in our schools. The department directive on inclusive schooling states, “Inclusive schooling is intended to ensure equal access for all students to educational programs offered in regular classroom settings.”

As I pointed out in March of this year, this very preamble highlights what is wrong with how inclusive schooling in the NWT is currently being funded and addressed at the departmental level. Inclusive schooling should not be about ensuring equal access. It should be about ensuring equity for our students, and there’s a big difference there, Mr. Speaker.

As a former educator, I hear a lot from other educators, parents, education councils and authorities and board members, who all want the best for the children in their care. But in order for teachers to do that, to properly respond to each individual student’s needs, the department has to come up with a funding formula for inclusive schooling that ensures success for NWT students. The department must work with all education councils, authorities and boards to develop that formula, not impose it on them.

I hear from the Yellowknife school boards regularly about their ongoing concerns with how inclusive schooling is funded. I hear over and over how it’s not working for them, how Yellowknife students are not receiving equitable access to resources as a result of inequities in the funding formula.

About 18 months ago, Education, Culture and Employment, in its wisdom – I have to say it was poor judgment, in my mind – reduced the inclusive schooling funding by about $1 million across all NWT school districts. As a result, Yellowknife Education District No. 1, for instance, has had to supplement the cost of their inclusive schooling programs from their budgeted surplus. In school year 2011-12, both Yellowknife Education District No. 1 and Yellowknife Catholic Schools spent approximately $2.5 million in inclusive schooling over and above the funding provided by Education.

Now, two years later, they have used up their surpluses. It’s not available for them to use anymore to sustain those inclusive schooling programs. Next year, if nothing changes, both boards expect to have to either increase taxes or cut programs.

I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

Some months ago, the Minister promised the department would do a review of the inclusive schooling funding formula, but there is no evidence to date that that has been done. It’s time to revisit and redefine the funding formula for inclusive schooling. The entire inclusive schooling directive must also be revisited, revised and redefined. Both of these must be done in consultation with education stakeholders, developed with them, not designed by the department and then presented to stakeholders for comment.

We spend a lot of money on inclusive schooling. We must evaluate how we are spending it, revamp it accordingly, and ensure equitable access to education programs for all students. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’m going to speak about an act that was assented to in the Legislative Assembly in June of 1985 and that’s the Mental Health Act. In the last 28 years, nothing of significance has been done to this Mental Health Act. There haven’t been any major amendments to this act to provide our workers and our stakeholders and those that provide the mental health services in the Northwest Territories to do a better job or else get the services to people that need it. Those 28 years is a long time.

The reason I’m bringing this up today is because on the Department of Health and Social Services website are four discussion papers that are looking at updating this Mental Health Act, which I have taken a strong look into the Mental Health Act and there were a lot of holes in it. It wasn’t very strong, and in some cases, it was very confusing to myself and health professionals when we looked at it.

Today I am encouraging all key stakeholders, concerned residents of the Northwest Territories who have family members who might have mental disorders or have people in their communities that they want to take care of, to review these discussion papers that are on the Department of Health and Social Services website, and add their feedback, add any comments that they might have, and provide input into making this Mental Health Act stronger to provide the right services and programs for the people of the Northwest Territories.

When I was looking at some of these other reports, in 2004 there was a Mental Health and Addictions Services Report that clarified that mental illness is a major cost-driver in the Northwest Territories, and

that, in the Northwest Territories at that time, suicide rates were twice the national average. I’m pretty sure nothing has changed in that time. In fact, at the beginning of this 17th Legislative

Assembly, when we were going through our orientation and getting our updates from the Department of Health and Social Services, it was mentioned that mental health and addictions is the biggest cost-driver for the Northwest Territories today.

I encourage all residents of the Northwest Territories and key stakeholders in the Northwest Territories who provide mental health and addictions services to review these discussion papers, give us your feedback so we can have a very strong Mental Health Act at the end of this government, moving forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last night I attended, as did the Member for Frame Lake, an event sponsored by the local chapter of the Council of Canadians, a national non-profit group supported not by governments or corporations, but by individual citizens in Canada. The event featured a talk by Maude Barlow, national chairperson of the council.

Maude Barlow is an amazing person, the recipient of 11 honourary doctorates and untold awards and recognitions. She recently served as the United Nations first senior advisor on water issues. During this term, in July 2010, through Resolution 64/292, the United Nations General Assembly explicitly recognized the human right to water and sanitation, and acknowledged that clean drinking water and sanitation are essential to the realization of all human rights. This resolution provides an obligation for all countries, including Canada, to ensure these rights are upheld.

Maude has written 17 books and, most recently, one titled, Blue Future, Protecting Water for People and the Planet Forever. She always takes the long view.

During her talk, Maude detailed the global water crisis, providing specific examples of issues in Canada as well as around the world. She detailed the shocking consequences of the crisis that is happening today in the global south and what is beginning to happen in the global north.

From there she went on to describe some of the work she does to mobilize communities and coalitions, including her work with indigenous people, to deal with the waste people and removal

of clean water from our homelands around the world. One core observation was her understanding that production of most things, from the shirts we wear to the cars we drive, use and pollute water. For example, extraction of fossil fuels requires massive amounts of water. In the latter case, she also noted that that tragic double loss as we put all our efforts and creative thinking into fracking instead of renewable energy and efficiency.

Finally, Maude brought a message of hope. As revealed in Blue Future, she profiled how water and our need for it to teach us how to live together. This compelling woman has spent a lifetime fighting for democracy, healthy families and healthy communities, always with hope and compassion.

I left the event thinking, what a great Canadian. I wish this House could hear the inspirational words of wisdom she so generously shares. Thanks to the local chapter of the council for bringing their leader to town. Mahsi.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We either have the best incident reporting policy in Canada or we have the worst-kept secrets of oil and gas incidents in the Northwest Territories.

According to a recent CBC report, the National Energy Board, Canada’s pipeline regulators, showed that more than 70 incidents from spills, leaks and injuries or fires were reported in Norman Wells. That’s in six years.

Mr. Speaker, we have a problem. Are our regulatory laws strong enough? I say no, because we need to tighten them up, as per the report that CBC clearly indicated. This has shaken my confidence in our coordinator with our regulatory bodies and our legislation.

When you have Imperial Oil, a big time oil and gas operator in the North, who is one of the biggest violators of these incidents and stating there’s no impact to our land, our water or our air, it’s like having the fox telling us the chicken coup is fine.

First we had leaks of crude oil of thousands of litres. We had 40 million litres of water used for cooling the operation then released into the Mackenzie River going down to the community of Fort Good Hope with indications of levels of copper in them. We had water contamination of hydrocarbons released back into the water. Again, we have Colville Lake people telling us there’s something wrong with the water.

What are the rules? What if we had never heard of these 77 incidents? It frightens me to know that

Imperial Oil can do this and more. What else is it that we don’t know about since 1920 when Imperial was operating? I see more fighting. It’s what we know.

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

---Unanimous consent granted

Thank you. Now that we know, I’d say we are paid to solve problems. Let’s do this together.

I’ll have questions for the Minister of ENR at the appropriate time. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Item 4, reports of standing and special committees. Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Standing Committee on Economic Development and Infrastructure is pleased to provide its report on the tabling of the Pembina Institute Report titled Responsible Extraction: An Analysis of the Northwest Territories Mineral Development Strategy Panel Report and commends it to the House.

In conjunction with the release of Pathways to Mineral Development: Report of the Stakeholders Engagement Panel for the NWT Mineral Development Strategy in June 2013, the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Infrastructure commissioned the Pembina Institute to review the report and related documents, and offer its comments and recommendations on the Government of the Northwest Territories’ approach to future mineral development in the North.

The committee commissioned this review out of concern for the perceived industry bias and lack of public involvement in the work of the advisory panel that the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment commissioned in the preparation of the Mineral Development Strategy. The committee wishes to publicly release the Pembina Institute’s work, entitled Responsible Extraction: An Analysis of the Northwest Territories Mineral Development Strategy Panel Report, and offer residents an opportunity to get involved in the creation of responsible public policy for mineral development.

The Pembina Institute’s analysis supports some areas of the advisory panel’s recommendations, but

strongly recommends a more balanced approach and open public consultation as the government prepares to implement the Mineral Development Strategy. Members of the standing committee invite the public to comment on the Pembina Institute’s analysis as well as the Mineral Development Strategy Advisory Panel’s report. The Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment is ultimately responsible for the direction of the Mineral Development Strategy and has an important role in commenting on this work. The committee members are disappointed that the Minister has, so far, declined to offer a direct response to the Pembina Institute’s assessments.

As the Northwest Territories takes on responsibility for land and resources management, Northerners must work together more than ever before. Taxpayers cannot afford to support the exploitation of publicly owned natural resources. The Northwest Territories cannot afford another Colomac or Giant Mine. It is time to develop projects with legacies we can be proud to share.

Mining offers many opportunities, but for the long-term benefit of our people, it must be governed by responsible public interest policy, and supported as one of many vital components of a diversified economy that builds and sustains the Northwest Territories as a whole.

The committee will be formally tabling the Pembina Institute report and welcome public comment in the development of this important policy framework.

That concludes the report of the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Infrastructure on the tabling of the Pembina Institute Report, titled Responsible Extraction: An Analysis of the Northwest Territories Mineral Development Strategy Panel.

Therefore, I move, seconded by the Member for Mackenzie Delta, that Committee Report 9-17(4) be received by the Assembly and adopted. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. There is a motion on the floor. The motion is in order. To the motion.

Question has been called.

---Carried

Committee Report 9-17(4) has been received and adopted. Item 5, returns to oral questions. Item 6, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. It gives me great pleasure to recognize some of the people who are here with us today. There are some chairpersons of the school boards. John Stephenson is here with us, chair of YK No. 1. Gayla Meredith, president of NWTTA is here with us as well. I saw Ted Blondin earlier. He might still be in the gallery. He is the chair of the Tlicho Community Services Agency. For the Catholic School Board, Chair Simon Taylor is here with us, and also the superintendent, Claudia Parker, is here with us. I believe there is some staff that came in, as well, from my department: John Stewart along with other partners, Helen Balanoff, Sophie Hall and Laura McNeil. Thanks for being here with us. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mrs. Groenewegen.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize in the visitors gallery Sophie Hall, who has been a tireless worker on behalf of French first language education in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Dolynny.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to introduce a member from Range Lake. Mr. Huvenaars is here with us today and was introduced earlier by the Minister. What people don’t realize is that Mr. Huvenaars and I go way back. We used to curl together. We weren’t very good, but we curled together.

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also would like to welcome the chairs of the two Yellowknife school districts who are here, Simon Taylor from Yellowknife Catholic Schools and John Stephenson from YK Education District No. 1. I want to say it was a pleasure to see Mr. Ootes and Ms. Baile here in the House earlier. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Mr. Bromley.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize Mr. John Stephenson, chair of the YK 1 and resident of Weledeh. Also, Simon Taylor, chair of the Yellowknife Catholic School Board, and some of the staff here today. Also, the residents of Weledeh, Jacob Schubert, one of our Pages today. Thanks to all the Pages for the service they are providing. I believe I heard John Stewart was in the gallery. I can’t always see behind me here, but another resident of Weledeh. I understand Roy Erasmus is in the crowd. I’m very happy to see him and any other folks that are returning for our

celebration coming up here tomorrow, particularly of course Jake Ootes and Marg Baile. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Mr. Beaulieu.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize two Pages from Lutselk'e: Nathan Catholique and Ethan Rambough.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to recognize former Member Jake Ootes and his lovely missus. And also to recognize Roy Erasmus, a former Member also for the Legislative Assembly. It’s good to see Jake.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. I’d like to welcome back, too, Mr. Roy Erasmus. It’s good to see you in the House today. Welcome all members of the City of Yellowknife into the House. Thank you for taking time for our proceedings here today. Item 7, acknowledgements. Item 8, oral questions. Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Mr. Speaker, I talked about the incidents that the CBC reported on Norman Wells being the number one community of oil and gas leakage, fire, injuries and pipeline integrity. I want to ask the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources if there is a reporting protocol and why doesn’t it include any type of notification to the public on these incidents that CBC had to tell the world on this type of stuff that’s dear to our hearts.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. ENR does have a spill line. It’s operational 24 hours a day. Plus, as well, we rely, as the Member well knows in his constituency, on reports from folks that are on the land. They have been very, very helpful in spotting leaks, especially on the pipeline. There is that opportunity there. The National Energy Board has responsibility for responding to leaks at production sites and exploration sites, but clearly, when you look at the map across Canada where spills occur, I mean, it’s very clear that when there’s oil and gas, this type of situation is going to occur, given the volume of material being moved and thousands of kilometres of pipelines and such that are in operation.

According to reports from Imperial in 2009, 127,000 litres of water contaminated with hydrocarbons that was used to

force oil up from the underground also poured into the water. Even though we do have a report-a-spill line for all these types of incidents, with the Minister of the Environment, what are the consequences to ensure for these illegal releases of contaminated water in the river?

There are licences at play, there are remediation costs, and there’s a review to make sure that this issue is cleared up, the culpability is determined, and that the proper steps are taken to clean it up and make sure that we try to avoid those things in the future.

With the increase of oil and gas in our region and the development that’s going to certainly increase if the proven resources are there in the Sahtu, what type of level of increases of spills could we expect, based on the performance of the pipelines and the companies and the reports that we’re just finding out now from the CBC report? I’d ask the Minister.

I want to make it clear that we’ll want to look at the numbers clearly. If you use a global number of spills, some of them are going to be very small; some of them will be larger, as the Member has indicated. We have to set up the processes as we take over. We want to make sure that we have the capacity to monitor, to do a better job, to work with the industry, to work with the National Energy Board to bring a better focus to bear, but there is a reality that if you have this type of activity with that type of material being moved, and given the fact that they’ve been in operation for decades, some spills will happen. The issue is going to be to make sure we catch them quickly, that they’re small, and that, in fact, we aim for zero spills, as difficult as that may be.

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

Mr. Speaker, the National Energy Board and the Government of the Northwest Territories are certainly going to enter into a partnership where we will become the employer and the National Energy Board will become the employee on April 1, 2014. I want to ask the Minister: Would he set up a meeting with the Sahtu Secretariat Incorporated, the GNWT, the National Energy Board – because they’ll be our new regulators – and Imperial Oil to look at this report here and look at, going forward, where do we need to work together to put a zero effect of oil spills, pipeline corrosion, any type of incident, that would assure our people this work can be done in a safe manner?

As we move towards devolution and as we move towards the Government of the Northwest Territories setting up its northern-based regulatory regime, we will very certainly be meeting with industry, with the regulators, with the land and water boards, with the

folks in the regions, in the Sahtu and other regions, and offshore as well, and absolutely, the issue of this type of damning report will be looked at carefully. We’re going to want to make sure that we’ll be able to provide comfort and certainty to Northerners that due process and due diligence and rigor has been applied to this issue, and as the Member said, the ideal would be to have no spill and what do we have to do to get there.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Transportation. I recognize that the Minister is quite new to this position, and I’d like to start by offering my congratulations, and I hope he’s ready to get on with things in his new role. My questions are on the issue of public highways and what happens when resource exploitation puts extra pressure on them. My constituents on the Ingraham Trail are concerned that the secondary winter road to the diamond mines may not be built this year. They are concerned that this will cause an increase in truck traffic on the Ingraham Trail that will damage the highway that has just recently been repaired.

I’m wondering: Does the Minister agree that the lack of a secondary winter road to the diamond mines will cause increased highway maintenance costs for the GNWT through damage to that highway?

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A joint venture group has been building the secondary winter road on the Ingraham Trail to handle the increased traffic. However, the department understands that they will not be constructing that road, or unlikely that they will be constructing that road. The department’s first priority is safety and we will be looking at stepping up some of the highway patrols there and putting some people on there for security for 24 hours a day during the winter road season. However, the road is being rebuilt and I’m not sure that the increased traffic is going to do damage to the main road to Tibbett.

Thanks to the Minister for that response. I’m glad to hear he’s all over the safety issue. That’s number one, of course, and that happens with this increased traffic now on the Ingraham Trail.

I’m sad to hear confirmation that the secondary road will not be built and I hope the Minister will look into working with industry to see if he can get them to put it in. We do a number of things,

because, I mean, it’s clear that this damage does happen with truck traffic. Any resident out there and the Department of Highways can tell you. We do things in a number of different ways up here. The winter road to the diamond mines is paid for by the mines, while the Ingraham Trail is paid for by the GNWT, the Mackenzie bridge, a combination of trucking tolls and government funding.

Can the Minister explain his understanding of how this should work? Should industry pay for what industry uses or should the public pay for everything? Mahsi.

Thank you. Although I haven’t gotten into the details, how I think it should work is if industry is bringing a lot of resources into the Territories, then the government should be there to support industry to allow industry easy access to resources so they’re able to pay for the resources that are taken off the land. Thank you.

Thank you. On our trip to North Dakota, we saw that fracking requires a huge number of trucks; so many trucks that they were wearing 10-inch-deep ruts in the asphalt and causing the state to go to concrete road construction at substantial cost. Now this government is promoting fracking for the Sahtu.

How does the Minister plan to ensure the public roads we have already built are not destroyed and the public is not paying for roads and repairs that should be paid for by the extraction industry? Mahsi.

Thank you. The Department of Transportation has certain load limits and certain speed limits on roads when there is hauling going on and so on. Those are designed to ensure that the roads do not fall apart and deteriorate quicker than is normally expected. So with the speed limits, the amount of weight that is carried on the tires that the truck is using and so on is all calculated so that the roads last a certain period of time. With those calculations, the Department of Transportation is not concerned that this piece of infrastructure will deteriorate any faster than what we anticipate. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can confirm that residents, based on 15 years of real experience, are very concerned. I hope the Minister also becomes concerned about this.

Could the Minister please explain how that same philosophy that industry should contribute to the cost of roads they are using and degrading, how has that been applied in the case of the new Inuvik to Tuk all-weather road? How will industry contribute? Mahsi.

Thank you. From what I understand, the Inuvik-Tuk highway is funded heavily by the federal government. The intention there is not solely for the extraction of materials. That highway is not going to be in and specifically designed for the resource developers to use. It is there to put a highway in to the Arctic Ocean.

So for sure resource developers will be using it, but it’s funded… Again, the majority of that road is funded by the federal government. They put the money in there. That’s why the road is being built, but it’s not really tied into the resource extraction in that area. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to follow up on my statement and I have some questions today for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

I spoke to a review of inclusive schooling, which we had been advised by the Minister was being done. I’d like to first of all ask the Minister for an update on that inclusive schooling review. Has it been done and when will it be made public? Thank you.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. This whole inclusive schooling has been a topic of discussion within our department and with our regional partners, local partners, educational, NWTTA and other partners that are involved. We’ve done the review through the program review office because we have to do our review via the office of the Auditor General as well.

So some of the recommendations came out that we knew we were working within our department and working with the school boards. So, through the Education Renewal, it’s been highlighted as part of the initiatives that we need to roll that into our Education Renewal. We are working closely with the education authorities, education school boards, because this will have a positive impact in the communities and schools. Mahsi.

Thanks to the Minister and I absolutely agree with the Minister that this needs to be looked at, but we were told that this was going to be looked at some months ago. The fact that it’s rolled into the Education Renewal Initiative confuses me and makes me somewhat apprehensive. The Minister is tabling that Education Renewal Initiative document this afternoon. So I don’t understand how we can roll the inclusive schooling evaluation into a document that’s about to tabled. Can the Minister explain that? Thank you.

Mahsi. Currently we deliver inclusive schooling through the school boards and through their formula funding, upwards of $26 million above and beyond what’s legislated.

So it is $7 million beyond what we’re legislated. The school board is at the discretion of using those funds as well.

So we work closely with the school boards on identifying, and there’s also a ministerial directive on inclusive schooling to make sure the money is well expended in those areas. When I refer to the education renewal, education renewal is very broad, changing the whole educational system. The inclusive schooling will be captured as part of the renewal process. If we’re going to change our Education Act, it will be part of the process as well. Again, reiterating the legislation that’s before us through this Assembly and we’ll continue to push that forward within our initiatives. Mahsi.

I’m still confused and I’d have to say, and I spoke in my statement and I need to tell the Minister this is not working. From the perspective of school boards here in Yellowknife, but also other school boards in the territory, the Inclusive Schooling Program funding that they’re getting is not working.

I want to know from the Minister will he commit to doing a study of inclusive schooling funding and a study of the Inclusive Schooling Directive and make some revisions? Thank you.

Mahsi. Those are some of the areas that we are currently collecting data, the stats from the school boards. We need to identify what’s working and what’s not working. I fully agree with the Member that we need to re-evaluate inclusive schooling within our school system. This is an area where my department is working very closely with the school boards and we need to fix that issue, some of the areas that need enhancement. So those are key areas we are looking for. Mahsi.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have to say to the Minister I heard the same words from the Minister about, well, we need to do this and we’re going to do this. I heard that many months ago. So I’m not very pleased that we are going to be “starting over again from zero.”

I’d like to ask the Minister how he is going to ensure that the money that is required for specific students gets to those students that need it most? Thank you.

Mahsi. We’re not starting from scratch. We’ve collected information and we are moving forward on this. It’s an education renewal. We’ll certainly capture that as well. But at the same time, we are collecting that information. We always use the best practices as well from across and so forth.

This particular inclusive schooling has garnered a lot of attention within our department and we will continue to improve in those areas. Again, we have to work with our partners, the school boards, the DEAs and DECs. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A few days ago I was questioning Minister Miltenberger regarding the power rates in the Northwest Territories, more specifically the power rates here in Yellowknife. His assessment is we’re doing things, we’re moving forward, there are challenges, et cetera, but he’s always willing to hear a good suggestion.

So the Government of the Northwest Territories engineers or manipulates, or call it as you will, 40 percent of the power rates for residents of the Northwest Territories. Yellowknife is not on that list of 40 percent of the Northwest Territories that they are, again, engineering or manipulating power rates. As such, I would like the Minister to explain what all the Yellowknifers perceive as an anti-Yellowknife approach.

What is he doing for Yellowknife? Why is it good enough for almost everybody else but not for this city and their residents? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is no bias in the system. The whole intent was to create a system that was more even and less complex, hence the thermal rates and the Yellowknife rates. One of the big factors in Yellowknife and Hay River, plus a couple of small communities, is there is another power distributor, NUL. While we provide and sell power at wholesale rates, the provider in these communities adds their own costs on top of that, which is why there is such a distinct difference, for example, between Hay River and Fort Smith, why there is such a distinct difference between the power rates charged where the Power Corp does a service and where NUL does. There is no bias in the system and we try to be even handed and fair as possible. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the average working family, or I should say the everyday working family does not believe the Minister in that regard, because if you lower the cost in every community, generally speaking of course, but you do nothing for the largest populated community, that does seem to be perceived as bias.

What is the Minister willing to do to help strike away some of that perceived bias but with this suggestion? What is stopping this government from doing an analysis in a comparative sense lowering

the cost of electricity in Yellowknife in a similar fashion as he has engineered the power rates outside of Yellowknife? Thank you.

In point of fact, yes, we have pegged the residential rates in the thermal communities to the Yellowknife rate. So I’m not sure what the issue of bias would be when we are using Yellowknife as a benchmark. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the Minister knows very well that power rates are based on what it costs to deliver power. In these communities, that’s why some of them unfairly, of course I recognize the problem associated why some of the power rates are outrageously high, but yes, they pegged them to the Yellowknife costs, but yet all they did was keep and maintain the Yellowknife cost as it ever increases but we lowered everyone, so we in de facto subsidize everyone at the Yellowknife rate, but he’s done nothing for 40 percent of the population, so there lies the question.

What is he willing as the Minister of the NWT Power Corporation that follow with all the money, all the technology and all the staff to come up with solutions, not us simple MLAs that just working a day job every day trying to do our best. What is he, with all the resources in his hands, willing to do for customers that represent 40 percent of this territory? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, it’s a good thing that the Member in fact has a day job, because if he had to sing for his supper, it would be a long time between meals.

---Laughter

Order! Order!

In fact, the thermal communities’ residential rates are pegged to the Yellowknife rate. There are no other subsidies in the hydro rate zone. I would be happy to have a more detailed discussion. If there is some work we can do and reviews of rates and information we can provide to the Member that would answer some of his questions and show him that there is no bias, I would be happy to have those discussions with him. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will fully agree with the first part of his statement about the singing and going hungry, but I do not agree with the second part. The last part, I will take him up on his offer of sitting down and talking to me.

Quite frankly, I’m asking the Minister to do an evaluation of what it would cost to bring the Yellowknife rates down to what is considered normal and comparable. We have subsidized and engineered the power rates in all the communities.

Yet, at the end of the day, we don’t seem to do anything for the largest community that is trying to get people here. They are leaving because of the cost.

Would the Minister be able to do an evaluation of that? Let’s compare it to the Fort Smith region, which has some of the lowest power costs in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

I just would need some clarity from the Member on what he means by normal and comparable. If he wants to compare it to the Fort Smith rates, we’d be happy to lay out the price breakdown. I will indicate clearly right now one of the big costs that Yellowknife has, that Hay River has and Fort Smith doesn’t have, is the franchise arrangements and costs that flow from that arrangement that communities make on their own call, because of their franchise fee, and we can show and we will be happy to lay that out for the Member to the cent, to the kilowatt hour and have a discussion if that would address some of his questions. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are to the Premier about decentralization. First I just wanted to highlight the NWT. Of course, we have one major city here in the NWT. We have about five or seven regional centres and the rest are communities. Right now devolution has been regarded as the biggest achievement thus far. We’re seeing some discussion in terms of devolution, so there has been a lot of heavy lifting. At the same time, we are burdened with heavy responsibilities. I’m going to ask the questions, but I don’t know if I should expect a shuffle or a dance, but I will try.

Of the 90 positions already decentralized, how many are targeted for communities outside of regional centres? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The honourable Premier, Mr. Bob McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don’t believe any are targeted. Thank you.

Thank you. That’s disappointing. Can this government help a community like Fort Providence and recognize it as a regional centre so the community is able to benefit from decentralization? Mahsi.

It’s more than just asking to become a regional centre. It has to make sense, it has to be feasible and there has to be a good reason for doing so. We have five regional centres

that have been established strictly for administrative purposes. In the past, we’ve looked at establishing regional centres to coincide with land claim agreements, but we found that not to be feasible at this point in time. In order to establish Fort Providence as a regional centre, we would have to have some rationale for doing so and also primarily how much it would cost. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I do appreciate the Premier being straightforward in terms of perhaps relaying or at least lessening the hopes and aspirations of small communities, basically saying that cost is a big factor at this point.

When can small communities realistically expect the benefits of decentralization? Mahsi.

The Member will be very pleased to know that this government has a plan and a vision for the future and part of that plan is decentralization of positions from the larger centres to the smaller communities. We will be having a housing capital plan so that we will build up to 100 housing units in the small communities. We also have a plan where we will establish offices so that we can decentralize positions to the communities. We have set up ourselves so that we can develop that plan and that vision over the next two years of this government, where we will identify those positions and divisions that will be decentralized. We will be able to tell each and every one of the Members which positions and when we expect them to be decentralized. Everybody will have a plan. Everybody will be happy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My final question is: Would there be any positions decentralized to Fort Providence? Mahsi.

There’s no song and dancing here. There will be positions that will be identified. As we develop our plan, we will identify those positions that will be decentralized. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are going to be on the Mental Health Act. I welcome the Minister and the department in the work moving forward. On the Department of Health’s website, there are four discussion papers and the government is asking for feedback by December 10th .

After the feedback has been given to the department, what is the timeline to get an LP,

legislative proposal, to this government for review? Does he have a timeline getting the LP to this government, so we can move forward on this act? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Member for his question and I also thank the Member for encouraging residents of the Northwest Territories to get involved and bring their thoughts and concerns about the Mental Health Act to the department. This is a significant act. It’s a very old act, as the Member has identified, and it’s going to take a bit of time to work through the whole process and make the changes necessary. But without input from committee and without input from residents of the Northwest Territories, it is impossible. So we need the time, Mr. Speaker.

I will commit today to have the LP and act come to committee and follow the normal process by fall next year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We’ve got about six weeks, I’d say, less than six weeks to get feedback on these discussion papers on a very important act that’s going to affect all residents of the Northwest Territories.

If the Minister and his department don’t receive sufficient feedback in that amount of time, December 10th , would the Minister be willing to

extend the deadline to access feedback on the discussion papers? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

This is the first round of collecting information after the discussion items and discussion papers have gone out. After that, there will obviously be some initial work on some drafting and working on the legislative proposal. From that point, we will be seeking input from stakeholders from across the Northwest Territories and move forward to the point where we’re closer to being ready to go forward with an LP and discussion with committee. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Outside of the Northwest Territories, I know other jurisdictions across Canada have some very stringent, very strong mental health legislation.

Is the Minister willing to look at other jurisdictions across Canada to mirror some of that legislation and things that could work in those jurisdictions that can also work here in the North? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

In the reworking of this act, we will absolutely look at legislation from other jurisdictions. I will not commit to something that I have not read, but if there is something identified in other jurisdictions that consultants

show will work in the Northwest Territories, we’re certainly willing to look at it. At the same time, the government has already done a significant amount of work on this over the years. There’s been report after report after report on mental health and addictions and other issues. We’ve got the information and it’s time to actually start doing something.

As I’ve indicated, we will come forward with the Mental Health Act, barring any unforeseen circumstances or barriers, within the life of this government. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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