Good afternoon, colleagues. Item 2, Ministers’ Statements. Honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories is a proud sponsor of the 2013 Indspire awards. Formerly known as the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation, Indspire promotes the development, education and professional advancement of Aboriginal people in Canadian society.

I will be attending the awards this week in Saskatoon. It gives me great pleasure to announce that two Northwest Territories residents will receive awards this year.

Gail Cyr of Yellowknife will receive the award for public service. Ms. Cyr is a long-time employee of the Government of the Northwest Territories and is currently the special advisor to the Minister on the Status of Women. She has had a lengthy career serving indigenous people and all our residents. She established the Native Court Worker Association for the Northwest Territories and is very involved in family violence prevention and awareness. She is passionate about making our communities sustainable, vibrant and safe. She is committed to forming partnerships that help Northerners become strong and independent. We are proud of the work that Ms. Cyr and all our employees do on behalf of the people of the Northwest Territories.

Duane Smith, who is the chair for the Inuvik Community Corporation and the vice-chair of the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, will receive the award for politics. Mr. Smith is also the president of the Inuit Circumpolar Council (Canada) and was once a wildlife officer with the Government of the Northwest Territories. Throughout his political life,

he has been a strong supporter of Arctic land claims and has effectively driven initiatives in support of strengthening and diversifying our northern economy.

Both Ms. Cyr and Mr. Smith are well-known throughout the territory and are excellent role models who are proud of their Aboriginal heritage. They are helping to build a sustainable future for our territory, building on the strengths of Northerners.

Mr. Speaker, I ask Members to join with me in congratulating them on this prestigious honour. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, 15 youth ambassadors, representing seven NWT communities, travelled with us to Ottawa recently to promote the Northwest Territories at Winterlude as part of NWT Days.

They acted as guides and greeters at various events and as traditional games demonstrators. To say that the youth ambassadors did an outstanding job does not give them enough credit. They impressed both political participants and thousands of others who attended and watched their performances. They were also featured on local and national media for their efforts. Many people approached me to tell me how much they appreciated their work and to praise them for being true ambassadors for the North.

Mr. Speaker, each of these future leaders returned with a new sense of confidence after an experience that has helped them develop life and job skills to deal with future challenges. One parent said that the program is helping turn her daughter’s life around. She was an at-risk youth when she applied for the program. Now she has new confidence and respect.

Mr. Speaker, this mother’s reflections are not unique. The NWT Youth Ambassador Program is guided by the principle that a structured volunteer experience and participation in major events can

develop significant skills and build the confidence necessary for youth to deal with the complex challenges of modern society. We see and hear about its positive impact all the time.

Youth ambassadors receive consistent, high quality training and preparation for projects. They work with program managers to develop expectations and standards. This program is directly contributing to the GNWT’s goals of having healthy, educated people free from poverty, and the leaders that come out of this program will help build sustainable, vibrant, safe communities across our territory. This program is a long-term investment in our territory’s future that benefits all of our communities.

I am especially proud of the new alumni component to the program that has former youth ambassadors returning to act as mentors to their younger peers. This youth to youth interaction and guidance is often one of the most powerful motivators for participants to make healthy lifestyle choices.

Mr. Speaker, the Youth Ambassador Program was launched in 2007 as part of our pan-territorial commitment to support the Canada Games in Whitehorse that year. Since that time, our government has supported nearly 20 projects of various sizes. Hundreds of NWT youth have now had an experience that will have positive effects on the rest of their lives.

Many more youth will get to experience this program as it progresses. This summer the youth ambassadors will be taking part in the 2013 Canada Summer Games by volunteering for the Sherbrooke, Quebec, host society. This will be another great opportunity to highlight our northern youth and culture and I am very much looking forward to it.

Mr. Speaker, the department is constantly monitoring and evaluating this program. In future years MACA will be able to present reports on the longer term effects of this program as we continue to follow up with participants as they enter adulthood and become productive contributing members of our communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I will continue my discussion on some of the issues in the area of health for Hay River. One of the major issues in Hay River is the fact that, back several years ago, the government removed the management board and replaced it with a public

administrator. Although the administrator is doing a good job, there is still a lot of outcry from the community to have some sort of advisory board so that the community from different walks of life can give information and feedback to the health authority so that we can have representation and see what the issues are. We have one public administrator, one person that the public can contact, and sometimes that’s difficult. If you don’t know that individual or you’re not part of the inner circle of that group, it’s very difficult. We in the community here would like to see an advisory authority set up, along with some information or some representatives from outside the community and surrounding area, where some of the people actually come and use the health centres. This is one of the major issues that we have in the health area.

Another area that I’ve brought up in the House before is the flexibility of funding. Currently, we have no full-time positions there but we have been using a nurse practitioner, and we would like to be able to use potentially more if we have the ability to hire more nurse practitioners. Right now the funding is in columns so it only allows certain dollars to be spent on physicians versus nurse practitioners.

I’m going to be having questions for the Minister of Health on those two issues today about whether we can have the public advisory committee and reduce the column funding in the Hay River Health Authority.

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I am pleased that the government is investing additional funds into the NWT Tourism Marketing Strategy. Showing Canada and the world that NWT is a world-travelled destination is key in developing and diversifying our tourism economy in all regions.

I’m working with the mayor of Fort Simpson, Mr. Sean Whelly. He has an idea of a man that can swim the entire Mackenzie River and bring along international exposure. His name is Mr. Martin Strel, but you can call him Big River Man. He has swum most of the world’s longest rivers. In February 2007, Martin Strel began an insane attempt to be the first person to swim the entire length of the world’s most dangerous river, the mighty Amazon.

Martin is an endurance swimmer from Slovenia, who swims rivers – the Mississippi, the Danube and the Yangtze to date – and he has highlighted their pollution to the world. It also means that the Big

River Man swam with alligators, piranhas, snakes, et cetera. Fortunately we don’t have these dangers in our North. Maybe the ferocious Jackfish.

It’s no surprise that we call the Mackenzie River the Deh Cho; it is a very big river. The Mackenzie River watershed is considered one of the largest and most intact ecosystems in North America, especially in the North. Our Mackenzie River is one of the longest pristine rivers and we should do what we can to use that as a selling point. There are many great communities and sights all along the Mackenzie River.

The documentaries on these courageous exploits have been seen internationally as he was shown by the National Geographic Channel and throughout many world film festivals. His films have been universally praised in all of these forums. This is the type of national and international exposure that we as the GNWT and our Tourism Marketing Strategy should support.

This would be a great idea to build on the momentum of NWT Day in Canada where we showcased our tourism potential. I envision that he will stop at each of our communities and we can have feasts and showcase local scenery and tourism stops. Hopefully, in Fort Simpson we can see him also go to the Nahanni National Park Reserve so that the world can once again see its beauty. Later today I will ask the Minister of ITI questions on how we can make this a reality.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Northwest Territories is gifted with artists whose talents reflect our culture and history. As pointed out in the Department of Education, Culture and Employment Arts Strategy, art and artistic endeavours are important from a social, cultural, and economic perspective. The process of expression, and creation and production of art, celebrates, preserves and transmits culture. This appreciation and the benefits of the art is also shared by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, TRC, of Canada.

The TRC believes that artists have a keen, profound contribution to make in expressing both truth and reconciliation. I’d like to bring to the attention of the people and artists in the Northwest Territories that the TRC is inviting artists to submit works that express the truth, the impact and the legacy of the residential school experience.

The TRC is also inviting artists to submit works relating to apology, truth, cultural oppression, cultural genocide, resistance, resilience, spirituality,

remembrance, reconciliation, rejuvenation and restoration of Aboriginal culture and pride. Whether artistic expressions are created in addition to or are a substitute for individual statements given to the TRC, it is an important and meaningful way to express people’s experience and assist with reconciliation.

I would like to inform the artists of the Northwest Territories that have been affected by residential schools about this call for submission, and invite them to consider submitting their artistic expression by the December 31, 2013, deadline. More information can be obtained from the TRC website, www.trc.ca. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My Member’s statement today is a continuation of my budget comments from yesterday and it’s about a subject that I’ve spoken of many times before.

As I listened to the budget address last week, I was hoping to hear the Minister of Finance announce a new revenue source in our budget, but I was disappointed yet again. There is no reference to a new revenue stream in the 2013-14 operations budget. In fact, out of a 10-page budget address, only one small paragraph is devoted to revenue.

Our next year’s budget is pretty much a carbon copy of the current budget. Yet, Mr. Speaker, our needs are great. There are so many things we want and need to do as a government and as a territory to enhance the life for our residents. Things like a bigger Midwifery Program, comprehensive early childhood programs, more energy initiatives, maintaining the Dene Ko Day Shelter, increased education programs and services, upgraded highways, and replacing old infrastructure, our schools, our government buildings and the like.

The list is too long to mention everything. The bottom line is we need to increase our revenues in order to put in place all the things that we believe our territory needs.

The Finance Minister has explained this is a stay the course budget with few initiatives. So why not increase our revenue to give us financial breathing room?

There are opportunities for new revenue sources. Many have been explored by the Finance Minister and then rejected, and that is wrong, in my view. I know we’re limited to certain revenue sources because of the Territorial Financing Formula and the potential clawbacks of our own-source revenues. But to refuse to implement any significant new revenue source is short sighted.

Since the start of the 17

th Assembly, any time the

need for revenue is raised, the Minister of Finance or the Premier refer to devolution and the presumed financial windfall that we will inherit. Minister Miltenberger did so yesterday during Committee of the Whole. Resource royalties negotiated through devolution cannot be seen as our financial salvation. We have to be more forward thinking than that.

We, the Assembly and our residents, want autonomy. We want control over our territory. I do too. Part of that autonomy demands prudent planning and long-term thinking, and both of those require a recognition that we need to put in place a significant new revenue source to move this territory forward. I urge the government to reconsider their position for our next budget. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It goes without saying that our current NWT education system is in dire need of an overhaul. The recent Auditor General of Canada clearly pointed out numerous opportunities of reform, and we know that the department has been busy evaluating the delivery of northern education.

To be clear, we are not saying the department is doing a lousy job, nor am I saying the school districts aren’t pulling their weight, nor am I inferring that we have a poor quality of educators out there. What I’m saying is that we have a problem – a big problem – and it’s going to take more than a department to fix this ship.

I’m sure the department is sparing no dime in gathering the best experts, discussion papers, research and feasibility studies on what changes it will need to institute. Then we are more than certain we will have a series of forums, follow-up discussions and reports at some juncture. The point is that this is the wheel of government. This is what the general public sees as we tackle obstacles or improve services. But I have a question. If you field test the kids as to what they want and have these kids had the ability to grade their teachers.

Business and government survey their employees all the time and make policy changes based on a skill data. So why would our students be any different?

The premise of grading teachers is nothing new and is being done all over the United States. Kids stare at their teachers for hundreds of hours a year, which gives them an unbiased reliability and measuring teacher performance. Some of the

results from this exercise produced more reliable means testing than student test score growth and was deemed an important measure of testing effective teaching.

Most research documents and education reformers worldwide are obsessed with teaching quality and are referring to this instrument as a perfect gauge to complement education effectiveness.

With this in mind, I will be asking the Minister of Education later today about if education reform is on the horizon and if he and his department are looking at such models as a means of achieving the full potential of our students. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Over the last few months, at the beginning of this government, we have heard a lot about devolution and some statements over the last week on decentralization of jobs. Government positions going out in the communities and the regions are going to be a big thing and something we have to prepare for. In fact, our communities are talking about it, our regional centres are talking about it, and they’re very excited to hear that we are going to be decentralizing some of the jobs into the communities.

With that said, as Mr. Dolynny had pointed out, our education system, we do know there are challenges in our education system and that our students aren’t ready for post-secondary schooling when they graduate from the school system. There are going to be a lot of challenges when they go through with decentralization, and we have to start planning and preparing for it now.

This government has to find innovative and unique ways that are going to help assist building capacity in these regions and in these communities, so when these jobs become available, our communities, our families, our residents will be ready to take on these jobs.

Something that has been talked about and discussed is the housing needs in the communities as well as the office space. So when these jobs become available, we know that these jobs are capable of being done in communities such as Hay River, Inuvik, Fort McPherson, wherever it might be, that we do have the office space and we do have the housing infrastructure to house these people.

But it goes further than that. A lot of these people who are going to be coming up, either taking jobs or going out to the communities, have families. We are

going to have them placed. We are going to need early childhood development programs. We are going to need nursing. We are going to need policing. We are going to need recreation services, because outside of work, people have lives. We are going to have to build the infrastructure in these communities that is well needed, so when people come up to the North or are decentralized out of Yellowknife and some of the regions, they are prepared to live in the community, that they are going to be proud to live in, to do their work in, and be welcome in the community and be able to develop their family structure and their work structure as well.

When it comes to preparing for decentralization, one motto that I always used when I used to do all my running is: fail to plan, plan to fail. This government needs to start planning so that when these jobs become available in the communities, we are going to be successful and we are going to have these jobs taken up by people outside of our small communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Moses. The Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Most of us know February is Valentine’s Day month, but it is also Heart Month. The Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation and similar organizations around the world recognize Heart Month every February. It is an opportunity to raise funds for life-giving research and to alert people to the risk of heart disease and stroke.

Our hearts and bodies are fragile and need to be looked after. Every seven minutes someone dies as a result of heart disease and stroke. Ninety percent of Canadians have at least one risk factor. Poor nutrition, stress, lack of exercise, smoking and too much alcohol all increase risks. It is important for people to know that there is a lot they can do to protect their own health. The choices we make today can affect our future, not only how long we live, but also whether we spend our last years in sickness and disease.

Most, or all of us probably, have known elders who spent their whole lives working hard and eating traditional food, and in their 80s or even 90s they’re still out there cutting their own firewood and looking after themselves. Some of them could probably outrun people 60 or 70 years younger than them. It really concerns me when I see our youth smoking, eating junk food and spending hours a day on TV and video games. The traditional Dene lifestyle is a very healthy one and we can learn a lot from our people who live that way.

I encourage everyone to make a commitment this month to cut down at least one risk factor for heart disease and stroke. People can make their homes junk food free zones, maybe go for a long walk every day with your valentine. Just start somewhere.

There are some health issues that we cannot control, but when it comes to heart disease and stroke, our own choices do make a big difference. I wish all my constituents and people across the NWT success with whatever changes they make to reduce their risk of heart disease and a strong and happy, healthy Heart Month. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I am going to speak about something that cannot be done any justice to in two and a half minutes. I confess I was late for work this morning because I got caught up in watching a movie on television that was about social injustice. It was called “A Million Colours” and it was about the social injustice in South Africa with the apartheid. It got me thinking this morning, as I was getting in the shower, late as I was, about social injustice in general and I have so little tolerance for social injustice. When the movie “Schindler’s List” came out about the holocaust, I could not stand to watch it because of the injustice of the acts that were being perpetrated on people.

I got thinking about our country and about our territory, and I got thinking about the social injustice of the policies of previous governments when they came, not so long ago, into our communities in the North and across this country and they took people’s children away from them. That is the past and I know we cannot turn back the clock and we cannot go back and change that, but now in this day and age and today we still live with the fallout from that social injustice. We still live with Aboriginal First Nations people being disproportionately represented in almost every social negative indicator that you can come up with, whether it’s suicide, whether it’s incarceration, whether it’s addiction to drugs and alcohol.

So this atrocity, as it happened, is still with us. It’s alive and well today because people turn to things like drugs and alcohol to mask the pain of this injustice, but our country has never really dealt with that, I don’t believe. Yes, there were apologies made by the Prime Minister and we have recently seen the efforts of the Idle No More movement in trying to communicate some of these things, but I don’t think that our country will ever be healed from this until there is a general societal acceptance of

the fact that there was a grave social injustice perpetrated and we are living with the masked symptoms of that yet today.

Today is Bell satellite or TV or communications Let’s Talk Day to deal with mental illness. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission has gone a long ways towards let’s talk about what happened in the past. They have done an amazing job of let’s talk about it, but we cannot afford to stop talking about it until we start to see a change. Those of us sitting around this table know all too well what we deal with every day as legislators as a fallout of a grave social injustice that occurred in this territory and in this country, and we need to keep talking about it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The federal government’s latest rampage against environmental protection and this government’s silence in areas of critical public interest demand comment.

Thursday, the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board was informed of budget cuts. It will reduce its staffing by half, crippling its ability to carry out full consultative reviews. Because of the independent status of the board, the federal government can’t tamper with board decision-making, so repressive control is exerted through funding cuts, reducing and restricting the board’s ability to operate. Funding cuts will hit, most severely, its ability to do full information gathering, such as community scoping meetings and meaningful assessments. Assessments, in fact, will be a desktop exercise.

Seven new mines are in the office and these plus other large projects being proposed require meaningful review to be done responsibly. With this latest blow in the federal assault on the environment and with the new, sometimes unrealistic deadlines, ongoing ministerial decisions and banning much of the public opportunity for participation, we are going to see incomplete reviews, increased environmental impacts, and the depleted ability of our land to meet people’s needs, and, I suspect, a vulnerability to Section 35 court actions that will freeze development.

The MVRMA – Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act – boards, including the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board, are the mechanisms created to fulfill the promises of consultation and joint decision-making made in the land claims. Undermining the capacity of boards reneges on these promises to our Aboriginal

government partners. The federal government will fail to meet its fiduciary duty and, to satisfy Section 35 requirements, the duty to consult and accommodate.

Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada’s own environmental audits of 2005 and 2010 pointed out repeatedly that previous underfunding hurt boards’ abilities to assess projects fully and promptly. These further cuts fly in the face of their own reviews and set the stage for the promised destruction of our own regional boards.

I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

These measures threaten our ability to protect our northern environment. They gut the board that this government will rely upon for our management advice following full devolution. All this without a public word of protest or concern from territorial leaders.

How long will devolution negotiations muzzle this government, and what on earth is it going to take before the government finally speaks up on behalf of the citizens and their land? I will have questions for the Premier.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to use the opportunity today to talk about a January 7

th letter I wrote to Mr. Miltenberger regarding a

Financial Administration Manual breach of 3307. It refers to aircraft chartering.

In my January 7

th letter I wrote to Mr. Miltenberger

and said that it looks like Mr. Ramsay led a charter to Fort Providence and several Members attended that. According to Mr. Ramsay’s November 19

th letter, he encouraged Members to bring family members along. Although it was an occasion to celebrate – and that should not be forgotten on this occasion – the letter did not sort of proscribe as to who should pay for these particular rides.

The Financial Administration Manual –

Mr. Hawkins, this matter you brought up is before the Conflict of Interest Commissioner. I will shut your statement down for the day. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’m very happy to recognize the leaders from the Sahtu: Chief Leonard Kenny from Deline, Chief Beaufort McNeely Jr. from Radili Ko Fort Good Hope, and Danny Gaudet, businessman and chief negotiator and good cousin of mine from Deline.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to follow my colleague from the Sahtu in recognizing two chiefs from the Sahtu, Mr. McNeely and Mr. Kenny. Welcome to the House. Also, a former colleague, Mr. David Krutko from the Mackenzie Delta, and a good friend, Mr. Danny Gaudet. Welcome.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Blake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize the former Member for Mackenzie Delta Mr. Krutko, also Danny Gaudet and the two chiefs from the Sahtu. Welcome.

Thank you, Mr. Blake. I, too, would like to welcome back Mr. Krutko. It’s always good to see you almost every day since we’ve been here. Good to have you back, David. I, too, would like to welcome Danny and Leonard. Welcome to the House here today.

Item 6, acknowledgements. Item 7, oral questions. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to ask some questions to the Minister of Human Resources on the Aboriginal hire and Aboriginal senior management area of our government. I want to ask the Minister what plans he is working on to close the gap. There is a gap between the number or percentage of Aboriginal people in senior management within the Department of Human Resources already with the Government of the Northwest Territories.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are a number of things that we’re doing. One of the things that we are doing is the Associate Director/Superintendent Program, which is actually an Affirmative Action Program to bring individuals in and train them for senior management roles. We have about three positions a year, six

ongoing at any time, and we are getting good results with that program.

Can the Minister advise the House and me what the percentage rates are now with the government with regard to the senior management hire but with Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people?

I don’t have that number memorized, but I will commit to getting that to the Member later today or early tomorrow.

From last year I recall it varied from different departments. It’s not a very good record for us as a government to look at the population that we represent that falls well behind the numbers that we perceive should be going higher.

I want to ask the Minister if there are some concrete, measurable plans to raise this number. I’ve been here for nine years and we still haven’t done a significant amount of work to increase this number. Is the Minister confident that these numbers will be raised by the end of this Assembly?

The government is working and Cabinet has given direction to each of the departments to try and increase their numbers of Aboriginal representation. There clearly are some challenges. There isn’t a significant amount of turnover at the senior management level, which means there’s not a lot of people moving up. The Department of Human Resources has some expertise in succession planning and they’re happy to work with any department and they have made that offer to do some succession planning to move some individuals up through the system. We also have an Aboriginal Engagement Committee engaged by the Government of the Northwest Territories, which consists of Aboriginal employees from across the government. I’ve had the opportunity to sit down with them and discuss some of the challenges that we face, and I’ve encouraged them in coming forward with solutions and recommendations to think outside the box and help us come up with some solutions that will help increase the Aboriginal representation in our public service.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Is the Department of Human Resources working with colleges and students to start successive planning for careers for students who have graduated from these post-secondary or high schools?

We do have a couple programs that are available to help students graduating from college – whether it’s Aurora College or another institution – transition into the workplace. Our Internship Program is that program

and it is an affirmative action-based program. We also work with the college to help us identify training within house, programs for GNWT employees to take. So we do work with the college, and as far as the students, we do have the Internship Program.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Furthermore to my Member’s statement and preparing for decentralization, but also preparing for some of the work that’s going on in the Northwest Territories, today I’m going to ask the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment what we have planned and in store in terms of increasing our labour workforce. He did make a statement in the House the other day that there’s a labour market symposium going on right now, and I want to see what work this government is doing to prepare and increase labour skilled workforce to meet the needs of our regions that are flourishing right now: the Sahtu, Yellowknife with the diamond industry, in the future the Inuvik-Tuk highway, the fibre optic link. What is he doing right now to increase and develop our numbers in the skilled labour workforce?

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

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank the Member for asking that question. I had an opportunity this morning to speak to that labour force symposium that’s happening over the next two days. We have over 80 delegates. What we talked about at that level was partnership across the Northwest Territories, across the national stage. That’s what it comes down to with five regional training committees that have been established in partnership with ECE, ITI, and also Aboriginal organizations, industry, the Mine Training Society and also the college.

They work on a regular basis to address regional labour market needs. These committees also collaborate with all the partners in the region to address training requirements and provide opportunities in the region, including safety courses, mine training programs, ready to work programs, upgrading the current workforce skills such as the financial literacy programming provided in the South Slave region. Those are just some of the examples that we currently deliver in the region. There is also a Labour Market Agreement and a Labour Market Development Agreement from the federal government that we work with.

I was very happy to hear the Minister make reference to working in partnership with ITI. We must not also forget that we need partnerships with Human Resources, the Department of Health and Social Services, ENR and with some of the energy initiatives that we move forward with.

Can the Minister outline any incentive programs that his department is currently putting through to encourage our young Aboriginal men and women, our young indigenous Northerners the opportunity to take some of these labour jobs in terms of getting ready and prepared for all of the development that’s happening in the Sahtu, all the future development that’s going to happen in our region, and also continue to meet the standards that we set out in our socio-economic agreements with the diamond mines? Are there any incentive programs that are going to increase our workforce?

Again, creating partnerships in the regions in the Northwest Territories does have advantages and benefits. When it comes to providing incentives at the regional workforce development, we deal with the Mine Training Society, which deals with industries as well. We have industry representatives on there, ITI, ECE, and other Aboriginal organizations on the specific committee that delivers training in the regions. Not only that, there is also funding available through Aboriginal leadership, such as asset funding through the federal Minister. There is also, again, as highlighted earlier, labour market agreements that are for those individuals who would like to get training on the job who do not quality for EI subsidy. Also Labour Market Agreement. Labour Market Development Agreement is another program through the feds that is going through our ECE department to the communities. We’ll continue to push that into the communities because we know some of the communities, some of the regions are very active in oil and gas, other sectors, industries, activities. We’ll continue to develop those relationships in the communities.

In terms of devolution and decentralization I really strongly believe that the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment holds a very important role on how this government moves forward in years to come in terms of education and training and getting our people ready to take on these jobs so that we can develop economic prosperity. I’d like to ask the Minister, what’s the status on the Apprenticeship Program for our northern workforce and also our trades program. What’s the status of our Apprenticeship Program throughout the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I do not have the specific detailed information I can provide to Members, but if I recall, there’s well over 400

registered apprentices in the Northwest Territories, and journeymen ticket holders as well. But I can provide the detailed information with accurate documentation.

With the devolution and decentralization into the regions, that’s a discussion we’ve been having, even since visiting Ottawa for NWT Days, having those positions transferred into the regions and into the communities. I believe that that’s the wish of this government, so we’ll continue to strive towards that.

With the decentralization, there will definitely be training. That’s where we come in as Education, Culture and Employment to deliver community-based training at that level. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just wanted to say that I look forward to getting information on this labour market symposium and some of the outcomes that came from that.

I’d just like to specifically ask the Minister, has he been coordinating and working with the leaders in my region and my communities in planning for some of the big projects that we’ve got on the timeline here, the Inuvik-Tuk highway, fibre optic link. Is he having those conversations with our leaders so that we can start the training sooner than later, so that when these jobs open up, our local people have jobs ready and are trained to take those jobs on. Is he having those discussions? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The quickest answer would be yes, we are, as my department, along with other departments, even with the Premier. It has been addressed with the Gwich’in, the IRC, the Beaufort-Delta leadership. We’ve met with them. We’ve addressed their concerns, their issues, their ideas. They are preparing for the exploration activity that will be happening in their region. We are continuing to work with them. We want to be prepared to deliver those highly skilled individuals at the community level with the kind of training programs that are required.

I must say and commend the Inuvik area and the Beaufort-Delta. Trades on Wheels was a good asset benefitting the communities. That’s one of the economic arms that we’ve initiated through partnerships, and we may be looking at a similar type of model as we move forward. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today I spoke about tourism and international exposure, and the opportunity of having Mr. Martin Strel, known as the Big River Man, swim down the Mackenzie River probably from Hay River or Fort Providence all the way to Tuktoyaktuk. I think it’s a huge opportunity and I had written to the Minister last year.

I’d like to ask the Minister, what would be the steps that we should take to continue this initiative.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, last year the Member wrote to myself and the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources in regard to the Big River Man and the swim down the Mackenzie. Although at first glance of the proposal it would appear that his idea wouldn’t match up with any funding program that the government currently has, our officials were going to contact Martin Strel himself and propose to help out in other ways, and that was to talk to communities along the proposed route and drum up support for such an event to happen. I’d have to go back to the department and see if they’ve actually had those discussions with Mr. Strel and see where this is all at. But, certainly, it has great promise to be a big event. Thank you.

The idea came from Mr. Sean Whelly, the mayor of Fort Simpson, and I’ve been pursuing it since last year and I have raised it with NWT Tourism. It’s a huge opportunity, I think, for international exposure, so if we could get the department onside and look for some resources. What kind of resources would the department have to fund such an international event?

Mr. Speaker, we’ve got a great team down in the Deh Cho in the Nahendeh riding, as the Member is aware, in Fort Simpson and other communities in the riding. We’d certainly be able to coordinate efforts with communities, with tourism operators in the area to make them aware of opportunities and drum up any potential sponsorships. I think that’s one area where, hopefully, the department would be able to help out in such an endeavour. Thank you.

I guess where the Minister can play a bigger role, too, and not only with his support, is such an event would cross many jurisdictions, so getting assistance from all the different ITI departments involved as he avoids the treacherous Jackfish all the way to Tuktoyaktuk, we’ll gladly need his assistance in coordinating that on an NWT-wide scale, if the Minister can commit to looking at something like that. Thank you.

Luckily enough, there’s no piranha in the Mackenzie River, so the worse he’ll have to fear is the Jackfish in the Mackenzie.

Certainly, we need to coordinate efforts. The swim would take place down the entire length of the Mackenzie, so it would include our ITI staff in the Sahtu and in the Mackenzie as well. So it would have to be a coordinated effort, if we are going to look at doing this. I’m going to go back to the department and see where discussions are at with Mr. Strel and his team on trying to pull this off.

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I think timing is of the essence. I think in order to make preparations, we have to begin those discussions now. If the Minister, with his continued support, we can begin these discussions with his department, with Mr. Mayor and the NWT Tourism could come up with a good plan that perhaps this event can happen this summer. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. That’s a comment. Would you like to reply, Mr. Ramsay?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ll go back to the department and get a response for the Member as soon as possible. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In follow-up to my Member’s statement today, I have some questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services.

Some days I talk about what the Northwest Territories would look like without drugs and alcohol. That’s an exercise that I’d like to use as a bit of a visioning exercise.

We have many, many healthy people in the Northwest Territories and that’s something to celebrate and something I’m very happy about. But you know that political statement that’s always said no one left behind? There’s a lot of people who are living in bondage today to drugs and alcohol, who are being left and who are not realizing their potential in life. We cannot forget about them. This group that sits around in this room, as Mr. Miltenberger refers to as this august group, let’s face it, this is kind of the cream of the crop here and people may not be struggling with those kinds of things. But we cannot forget about those people who are out in our communities who struggle every day. We have to talk about it. We have to keep it in our consciousness.

To that end, our Minister of Health and Social Services struck a committee, an addictions forum, the Ministerial Forum on Addictions. These very good candidates who have gone out to the communities and have tried to engage people in the topic of addictions. But when they came to Hay River, they met with all the front-line workers, all the people who work in those. There was not a single person that I could see in that room that actually had a problem with addictions.

What is the Minister going to do with his forum on addictions to talk to the people in the homeless shelters, the people who are incarcerated, the kids in the school to get the discussion? Let’s talk with them. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Members’ statements.

---Laughter

The Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We would have no problem directing the forum to visit with the shelters or any facilities where there was an attraction of people that had addiction issues, recognize now that their plan was to have public meetings, and advertise and try to draw people to the meetings, recognizing that they could only draw the people that were interested in the topic. Sometimes they don’t have that interest in some communities, but we are finding that in the smaller communities they are getting a lot of interest. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, in a committee meeting when we were receiving a briefing from ECE the other day, and I’m not going to give away anything super confidential here, but we were talking to children about their education, and there was hardly any of them that did not talk about their ability to get an education in the absence of talking about the addiction to alcohol in their family, in their parents or in their community of one of those things. These were kids that we are talking about education, and they were talking about how many people in the community were drinking. That is an interesting correlation. As I said, the Minister has great people on the forum. Will the Minister commit to… You don’t need to send the whole panel, the whole group. Take someone like Paul Andrew, for example, who is chairing this.

Will the Minister commit to sending either one or two delegates from the commission into the places where we know there are people who could talk about their issues and shed some light on where we need to go and spend our dollars as a government? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, yes, I will commit to that. Thank you.

I think there are stories to be told. As I mentioned in my Member’s statement, I think that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission went a long ways towards the healing that comes from people being able to talk about their issues. So while I applaud the Minister for forming this group and sending them out, I think we need to talk to the people who can share the most with us, and I think that is the people affected every day by the addictions in the Northwest Territories.

When does the Minister expect to have results from the work of this commission? Is there still time to integrate this kind of very focused discussion that I’m talking about? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the plan is the fieldwork for the forum would be done by March 31

st . Soon after that we are going to select a group

of them and maybe even have other people involved to write the report. Yes, there would still be time for them to expand some of their fieldwork if necessary. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We heard our colleague today talk about training so that young Northerners can take advantage of economic growth, all kinds of things.

Will the Minister confirm that when we talk about the amount of money that we spend on social issues as the Government of the Northwest Territories, that addictions should be one of the highest priorities of this government? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I recognize that addictions are a cost-driver in our various systems. Addictions are a huge cost-driver in justice, also a huge cost-driver in health and health outcomes of our citizens.

Yes, I am trying to make that a priority for the government, as the House knows. We are trying to work with various groups in the community. We talk a lot about addictions across the territory, whether it be alcohol, drugs, or even cigarettes, for that matter. We spend a lot of time talking about those addictions, so we are trying to do something about that. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I indicated in my Member’s statement, I had questions for the Minister of Health. The community of Hay River had a management board in place before; now it has been replaced with a public administrator. Will the Minister look at putting a

public advisory board into the community of Hay River?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is no plan to put a board back in place in Hay River immediately. We are looking at the legislation to see what type of management structures we would be allowed to have in the various authorities right across the territory, because right now the past board, as it stands, was a board for Hay River only.

When we build a new health centre and we were trying to bring some of the surrounding communities, as Mr. Bouchard indicated, they will provide service from that centre to some of the surrounding communities. For example, right now people drive from Fort Resolution to Hay River, get on a plane and come here for health services. It may be possible to provide the health service right in Hay River. It would save a lot of money on medical travel and so on. We want to see that restructuring of our health services based on the new modern health centre in Hay River will do before we decide to refill the board positions because they may be from other communities. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I understand the Minister’s issues with that. In the interim, the public has no effective way of communicating their concerns in the community with health issues. There is one public administrator, one person. If you don’t know that person… I am looking to see if the Minister would allow for an advisory board. I am not looking for the management of the operations; I am looking for an advisory board to give the public administrator some feedback from the community so that we can branch out the contacts in the community so that the community feels like they’re engaged with their health care system.

Mr. Speaker, I will look at the legislation and the whole governance around the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority. As you and Members of the House are aware, each authority has their own governance at this time. I will look at that legislation, look at the governance surrounding that and see if it’s possible to appoint an advisory board through that model. If it is possible, I will certainly consider that. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I am thankful to the Minister for looking into that. My other area of concern I had in my Member’s statement was the flexibility of funding. As I indicated, we have funding for permanent doctors in Hay River. We currently don’t have any, but we have been using nurse practitioners, but the funds to fund those nurse practitioners are column funded so we can’t use the doctors’ funds to do that.

Has the Minister come up with a solution and been able to allow the community, the authority for Hay River to do some flexibility in these funds?

Mr. Speaker, we have not come up with a solution to provide flexible funding for Hay River. At this time, interestingly enough, we are waiting for a business case from the Hay River Health Authority senior management and two other health authorities that will give us the business case returned back to the Financial Management Board who restricts the funding for physicians. Once we are able to develop a business case for these authorities, then we will present that to the Financial Management Board to determine whether or not we will be allowed to build flexibility into physician funding to allow us to hire others like nurse practitioners in a system with the physician funding. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have been asking the Minister this question for quite a long time about this flexibility, and he keeps going back to the FMBS and the solution. I am wondering when the Minister will commit to completing this process.

The community of Hay River wants to have coroners, nurse practitioners, wants to be able to use their funds so that the community can have a better health care system. When will the Minister commit to getting this flexibility in funds?

Mr. Speaker, I will ask the department to provide me a business case on all three health authorities by the end of April. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Interestingly enough, Mr. Bouchard and I are on the same page today. I have some questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services and they are also about nurse practitioners. It was last June and also when we were deliberating the budget a year ago last February that there was quite a bit of talk about nurse practitioners and funding nurse practitioners, using them and so on. At that time in June, the Minister of Health and Social Services talked about a lack of doctors and using nurse practitioners. He mentioned that there were funding obstacles and it’s the difficulty with FMB, I gather, but at that time in June, the Minister, I take it from Hansard, promised us a plan. I just have heard the Minister say that there is currently no solution and that we’re waiting for a business case from authorities. So I’d like to know from the Minister

along the lines of what Mr. Bouchard has just asked. We’re getting a business case at the end of April, I think the Minister said. Could he clarify that? Is this business case coming from the authorities or is it coming from the departments? What are we expecting and from whom at the end of April? Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I said I would ask the authorities to provide the Health and Social Services with a business case by the end of April. Just for lack of not having the information and feeling that there’s been plenty of time for the authorities to put that information together, I’m suggesting that that would be a good date for them to provide the business case to us. As soon as the business case is in our hands, then it would not take us long to maybe have one discussion with the Joint Leadership Council, and then over to the Financial Management Board to see if the funding for physicians can become flexible. Thank you.

Thanks to the Minister. My next question I was going to ask him was whether FMB had given any consideration to changing the policy and, obviously, they have not if it hasn’t gone to them already. So I need to ask the Minister if last June, that’s over six months ago, almost eight months ago now, if last June the Minister was promising us a plan to deal with this lack of flexibility, why has it taken this long to get to a point of no solution. Thank you.

Thank you. I don’t know why it’s taking this long, but I do know that we have a governance system where the health and social services authorities operate with a board, independent board or through a public administrator. So we are trying to set up a system now where we’re changing the governance.

As we stand up in the House here as Health Ministers to answer questions, there’s something that’s a little bit out of our control and that is that the management of the authorities. So we ask the authorities, we’ll work with the authorities and try to get that information. I will put appropriate pressure on them to get that information to us quickly. Thank you.

I want to thank the Minister, although I’m not quite sure I appreciate his response. However, I’ll look at Hansard tomorrow and check it out.

One of the other concerns that I have with nurse practitioners is the way that we fund them, and my understanding is that we have about nine nurse practitioners that we as a government are funding. I’d like to ask the Minister how these nine NPs are funded. Are they all funded from the base funding

from the department or are some of them funded by federal funding? Thank you.

Thank you. Nine of the nurse practitioners are funded through the THSSI, the Territorial Health Systems Sustainability Initiative. That’s federal funding. The rest of them are funded through O and M. So not through any other funding other than just regular O and M through the health and social services authorities. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So the Minister said we have nine that are funded by THSSI funding. I thought we had nine in total. So I’d appreciate clarification on how many NPs we have. But of these nine NPs who are funded through THSSI funding, what is the Minister doing to ensure that when THSSI funding runs out, I think in a year, that we will be able to continue these nine nurse practitioners within our system? Thank you.

Thank you. I apologize, I thought I said six of the NPs were funded through THSSI, and it is six NPs funded through THSSI. The plan is to, of course, continue to negotiate with the federal government on sustaining that funding. If that funding is no longer available, if that funding has been eliminated, then the department would have no option other than to go through this process of going through the mains to be able to see if we can’t get funding to retain our nurse practitioners in the system. So at this time our hope is that that funding will continue. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier I raised a question in terms of heart and stroke, and it being Heart Month, so my question is to the Minister of Health and Social Services. What is the department’s approach, in terms of addressing the heart and stroke disease, from diagnosis to treatment? Mahsi.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. At this time we look at heart disease along with all other chronic diseases; lung diseases, diabetes. So with the heart disease, what the department wishes to do at this time, recognizing that it is quite a cost-driver in our system, is to develop a strategy by first examining the pilot projects that we have run. We have run I do believe it’s three different pilot projects across the territory to then evaluate how the results of those pilot projects were, and from

that we’re trying to develop a chronic disease strategy. So within that disease, like I said, we would have lung disease, heart disease, diabetes and any other disease, including cancer, that is considered to be a chronic disease. Thank you.

Thank you. I know one of the priorities of the 17

th Assembly was to try to take some

preventative steps in terms of trying to address the health and social issues. So my question to the Minister is: What are some of the preventative measures that are in place to try to curb? He’s indicated that heart disease and other afflictions are cost-drivers. What are some of the measures in place to try to curb the rates of heart and stroke disease in the North? Mahsi.

Thank you. The department works with the Department of Education in healthy foods in schools and so on, hoping that this type of thing will carry on from the schools to the home. We support the anti-smoking campaigns like Don’t Be a Butthead as an example. We’re also in a federal campaign called Healthy Weights, so we deal with that as well. So these are some of the areas that we see as preventative. But just the whole nature of chronic disease management would be based on prevention that we feel is the best bang for the buck. Thank you.

Thank you. Lacking an ambulance in most small communities, what emergency measures do the health centres have in responding to heart and stroke situations? Mahsi.

Thank you. I don’t know if all of the health centres have the equipment to deal with a heart attack or a stroke. I don’t have that information with me. I know that we are, in some of the larger centres, able to deal with it, we have the equipment to deal with that, but I can’t commit to saying that we have that type of equipment in all of our smaller health centres. So it would be difficult for me to answer that question.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final supplementary, Mr. Nadli.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My final question is just in terms of the long-term horizon. I know it’s probably improbable for every community to have an ambulance, but is it within the department’s plan, in terms of long-term objectives and goals, to ensure that at least, at the very minimum, communities such as Fort Providence would have an ambulance?

Yes, the department has had some conversations with some of the key communities in strategic areas of the highway system that may benefit from having a service such as an ambulance service. We are working with an interdepartmental group, along with MACA and the Department of Transportation, to try to get the people trained. We are also looking at including one

of the people that are required for emergency measures that would work in the ambulance under the umbrella legislation that Health is now trying to bring to the House as a legislative proposal. Within there, we would have the emergency measures people who would be able to also be riding the ambulance and so on. There are a few things in play. We just don’t have the timelines here, but I’m sure we would be able to get the timelines to the Member.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I enjoy hearing some of my colleagues today and I’m trying to be in line with some of their comments. Those like listening to our people, and we heard about listening to our kids. I’d like to build upon that.

With reference to my Member’s statement earlier today about allowing students to grade their teachers as part of the overall reform change for education effectiveness, my questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment today will be focused on what the department is doing about northern education reform. There are many barriers and factors that are impeding our students from achieving success in our school system. Can the Minister elaborate as to what are the things that are pulling us to focus on the change we require?

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