Good afternoon, colleagues. Item 2, Ministers’ statements. The honourable Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Ramsay.

Mr. Speaker, the 17th Legislative Assembly identified the need for an Economic Development Strategy to strengthen and diversify the Northwest Territories economy.

Our strategy will respond to changing circumstances in the North and address business opportunities in all regions of our territory.

Mr. Speaker, the Economic Opportunities Strategy is part of a much bigger picture. It complements other initiatives the GNWT is undertaking such as a comprehensive Mineral Development Strategy, and other linked initiatives such as the Land Use and Sustainability Framework and a Northwest Territories Anti-Poverty Strategy.

While the NWT is filled with economic opportunity and potential, we are sometimes challenged to find ways to convert it into jobs and development that prevents poverty and encourages people in all of our communities to participate in the economy.

This strategy is of pan-territorial importance and cannot be developed by government alone. While Industry, Tourism and Investment is coordinating the government’s participation, the project itself is being overseen by a governance committee that includes representatives of the NWT Chamber of Commerce, the Northern Aboriginal Business Association, the NWT Association of Communities and the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency.

Last December, in consultation with this governance committee, I appointed an advisory panel to engage NWT residents, the private sector,

governments and other key stakeholders in a series of discussions on the economy. This panel is travelling to communities to identify the economic opportunities that exist in our territory’s regions and communities along with the strengths, weaknesses and threats that exist in each area. All of this work will be very helpful as our governance committee drafts the Economic Opportunities Strategy.

This strategy will have benefits for every region of our territory. It will contain tangible, attainable recommendations for investments and decisions that will advance and sustain the NWT economy for the future.

Over 100 invitations and opportunities are being provided to NWT residents and organizations to engage with the NWT Economic Opportunities Strategy Advisory Panel. The panel has already met with stakeholders and residents in Hay River, Fort Smith, Fort Resolution and Inuvik. They will also travel this month to Fort Simpson, Norman Wells and Behchoko.

A public forum will be held tonight at six o’clock in the Explorer Hotel here in Yellowknife. These public meetings are opportunities for individuals and organizations to contribute experience and insights on the very important subject of our territory’s economic future.

Of course, Mr. Speaker, this period of listening and public engagement is only a part of the overall process. We have done a review of major NWT economic studies together with best practices in other regions. Our strategy will include the recommendations and applied experience and insights of our highly qualified advisory panel. We also value the advice of industry and economic expertise from our territory and elsewhere.

Collectively, through this extensive and multi-partnered process, we are putting in place the elements of an economic strategy that will enable the NWT to keep pace with the incredible opportunities and growth potential that it possesses. We will ensure that our North is positioned to manage this investment and growth to advance jobs for people, opportunities for businesses, self-reliance for communities and economic sustainability for our territory. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to advise Members that the Honourable Glen Abernethy will be absent from the House for a portion of today’s proceedings to attend to a personal matter. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Item 3, Members’ statements. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Construction of the road between Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk is an important first step in completing the Mackenzie Valley Highway. If we do it right, this project will provide many jobs and business opportunities.

Living in the Delta, I see all kinds of business going to the Yukon because the Dempster Highway is our supplier. I see millions of dollars going down the road every year, Mr. Speaker. We need that business and economic opportunity in our territory. The Beaufort-Delta region badly needs a boost to its economy and people need jobs so they can support their families. The unemployment level in most of our communities is terrible, at 35 percent.

As you know, creating jobs is one way we can build safe and sustainable communities, one of this government’s main priorities. By building the road to Tuk, we will create lots of jobs. The question is who’s going to do them. Will our people in the Beaufort-Delta be ready for those jobs?

I’m worried that we are behind on providing education and training to prepare the Delta workforce to get well-paying highway jobs that should be available for many years to come. For example, there should be Class 1 driving courses in every community every few months.

Appropriate courses should be delivered through the community learning centres, but some are not very active and in some communities they don’t even exist. Current high school students should be ready and able to handle the future jobs. The community schools are under-resourced and graduation rates could be a lot better.

Support for students who have completed high school in Inuvik is another big problem. If this territory is going to prosper, and if our people are going to prosper, we have to improve our education and training.

I’ll be asking the Education, Culture and Employment Minister about that later today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Today I want to say, for the record, that we do have a great health care system. It is very difficult to deliver quality health care from Fort Liard all the way to Sachs Harbour, but on the whole, people working in the health system are to be commended.

Saying that, there is always room for improvement, and I would like to suggest some changes that would both help out the people of Fort Liard and probably lower the cost of health care and medical travel in my region.

It is one of the goals of our health system to deliver as much care as close to home as possible and I very much agree with this. For people in Fort Liard, that means getting some of their health services in Fort Nelson, British Columbia. Right now residents of Fort Liard often use their own resources and just drive south for certain services. It is only 210 from Liard to Fort Nelson, and I might add that the road is better, too, compared to the 284 kilometres on Highway No. 7 to Fort Simpson. It is not uncommon for Liard patients to be flown to Yellowknife, which is 780 kilometres away. If it is not absolutely necessary, this is both inconvenient to patients and expensive to our health system.

For example, a constituent can say his knee hurts, he is sent to Yellowknife and sees a doctor who confirms that his knee hurts, and then sent home to await a more rigorous appointment. This, as I say, can be done closer to home in Fort Nelson.

I would like to see an agreement between the Health and Social Services and the BC Health ministry that allows seamless care that is invoiced to our health system. As it is now, it is not fair to those people in Fort Liard who are covering the costs of their own trips to Fort Nelson.

I see the current budget includes expanding the use of electronic medical records. This should make it easier to manage the arrangement I propose. Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again I must preface my statement with all due respect to the folks of the Beaufort-Delta. We, as keepers of the public purse, have a job here to

keep the public interest, and the accountability and transparency for the expenditure of government funds. We have an obligation to question that.

I’d like to also talk about the Inuvik-Tuk highway. I am not categorically dismissing it as a good idea, but there are certainly some very big questions that need to be asked before I can personally endorse a project of this magnitude.

The cost-benefit analysis of a piece of infrastructure of this expense at this time in this area needs to be very critically looked at, and I do hear the plight of the Inuvik area, the Inuvik region, in terms of the economic downtown, the conditions there. I do not think that a $300 million road project to create economy is the answer to that situation, not in and of itself.

I hear the federal government say that they want to be able to say that they have highway infrastructure coast to coast to coast. That’s a very lofty goal, an admirable goal, but our government is necessarily being called upon to participate in this project at least with 25 percent of the capital cost and who knows how much on the ongoing operations and maintenance of that highway.

We have Highway No. 7. We hear our colleague from Nahendeh stand up session after session and talk about the lack of maintenance and upkeep on a highway in his region. We heard many times from folks that represent the Mackenzie Delta about the conditions of the Dempster Highway and how this government does not have enough resources to maintain and upkeep that highway, and now we want to build another piece of highway infrastructure. We need to do so by first very seriously counting the costs of what the use will be and what the ongoing costs of that are.

I look at the latest major highway project this government overtook, which was from the Rae turnoff to Yellowknife, and no offense to the Department of Transportation, but they were building a highway in the Canadian Shield where they had unlimited access to rock they could crush to put a proper bed in that road, and that road is beyond disgusting. I think they started rebuilding the road the day after they built it. That was a $200 million project in this part of the country where they didn’t have to deal with permafrost and all the challenges that they will have to deal with up in the Beaufort-Delta area.

So we have to ask ourselves some very hard questions, regardless of the fact that it is on sale at 75 percent off. It will still be a piece of infrastructure that we will be responsible for and we have to look at this very critically. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This morning I sat down with some very committed and encouraging people in the Northwest Territories. They were working on initiatives to help our elders in our small communities. The program is called Elders in Motion. These people talked about how they are working with the elders in our communities, and some of the barriers, some of the advice and some of the things that they are doing in our communities. I just happened to be there when they were doing their presentation – and they’re at the Baker Centre this afternoon finishing off today’s work there – and they were talking about the elders who are needing help in our small communities and communities right across the Northwest Territories.

The people in my region were talking about having some support, some of the small stuff we can do in our communities to help our elders get out, get active and do some of the things they used to do a long time ago.

For example, one of the things that the participants talked about is having ramps at the elders’ homes so they can easily come out of the houses and get out and exercise, pick berries and do the things they have loved to do all their life. They also talked about putting small steps into the school because some of the steps are pretty steep in the schools in the settlements. There’s maybe about 20 steps for them to get up into some of the classrooms or walk in some of the other areas that they want to go. They also talked about the roaming of dogs in the small communities. They are really afraid that there are too many loose dogs in the communities and it stops them from getting out and being active.

These community people are working hard. The elders are guiding and advising them. I think that there is a time and place that these small things, that sometimes we overlook as legislators, we need to look at some of these things that can support our elders get out, get them in motion and give them a good life before they pass on to the next world. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to mark the sudden passing of Dr. Clyde Hertzman. Clyde Hertzman became well known to NWT health professionals and educators through his role as an advisor to this government in the development of the first Early Childhood Framework. He has since been a continuing resource and inspiration to our territorial early childhood community. Dr. Hertzman was with us

only last month at the Early Childhood Development Round Table in Yellowknife. I know many Members were there and Ministers, where, with his usual high energy and discerning understanding of his audience, he effectively conveyed his learned research, an essential point to consider in the design and evaluation of early childhood programs.

Dr. Hertzman was director of the Human Early Learning Partnership, Canada Research chair in Population Health and Human Development and professor in the School of Population and Public Health at UBC. He was a Senior Fellow of the Experienced-based Brain and Biological Development Programme and the Successful Societies Programs of the prestigious Canadian Institute for Advanced Research. He was named Canada’s Health Researcher of the Year in 2010. He held an honourary appointment at the Institute for Child Health University College of London, England, and last month earned the Order of Canada.

As one of the great champions of early childhood development and population health in Canada, Dr. Hertzman was considered a guru in the international field. He produced an extraordinary body of research spanning and linking the health and social sciences. This trailblazing work deepened our understanding of childhood development and provided compelling evidence-based arguments for progressive policies. Struggling for publicly funded universal childcare, striving for program assessment and young child evaluation tools and pushing for the elimination of child poverty, Dr. Hertzman was an impassioned champion of the need to bring equal opportunity to all people.

We were fortunate to enjoy his support, wisdom and inspiration in the continuing effort to improve the well-being of our children, families, society, community and economy. The early childhood community and the people of this territory feel his loss, and continue to be inspired by his example and contributions. Our most sincere condolences to his wife and children.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to follow up on my colleague’s comments, Mr. Yakeleya. Last night I had the opportunity and the pleasure of attending the NWT Rec and Park Association awards for our elders in the Northwest Territories, the active ones. At this time I’d really like to take the opportunity to recognize two elders

who won the awards: Ms. Violet Beaulieu from Fort Resolution and Mr. Gabriel Kochon.

Violet is 80 years old and Gabriel is 84. Last night, when I got to meet them, they were full of energy and in great health.

The NWT Rec and Parks Association takes a different approach in promoting its healthy living programs. It promotes the physical, mental, social and spiritual aspects of well-being, taking a holistic approach in taking care of our elders. They know what to do with our elders and our people in the Northwest Territories. They make a focus on traditional and cultural lifestyles while introducing new and innovative exercise programs that continue to allow our elders to live a happy, fulfilled and, more importantly, an independent lifestyle.

In the budget address the other day, there was mention of chronic disease management and investing in more long-term care facilities and staff. When we ask for programs in chronic disease management to take care of our ever-growing senior population, we don’t want more facilities, we don’t want staff to take care of our elders, we want funding to go into these successful programs, effective programs that continue to keep our elders alive and well in our communities passing down our traditions, passing down our language, and for that I respect what the NWT Rec and Parks Association is doing. We’ve got to take a different approach in prevention, promotion, and we’ve got to recognize elders that are being active in the communities, and are being role models and continue the traditional culture and language of our peoples which is declining.

We’ve got to support these organizations who’ve never had an increase in funding, no forced growth, and support them so that they can get out to the communities and do stronger support for our people in the Northwest Territories and our residents.

At this time I’d like Members to join me in congratulating our two award winners, our elders, as well as congratulate the hard work that the NWT Rec and Parks Association does for the 33 communities across the Northwest Territories. Mahsi.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to return to the subject of government customer service that I discussed last week. I have brought up the issue of poor customer service at least once a year during my time as a Member. It’s an area where no one government person or department is really in charge of the issue, so each department

and office operates on its own which, in turn, leads to inconsistencies in service for NWT residents.

The GNWT as a whole has no culture of customer service, no standards, no policies, no monitoring. So here’s an idea, as my colleague Mrs. Groenewegen likes to say: Why doesn’t the government centralize the responsibility for customer service in a department like, say, the Executive? We wouldn’t have to reinvent the wheel. We can look to our provincial counterparts for models that work. Ontario has spent a lot of time on this.

I gave an example of poor service last week, that of motor vehicle clients being unable to call and being able to talk to a real person and what I consider to be poor voicemail messages on their phones. There needs to be guidelines for all GNWT employees around returning phone calls and e-mails, how to answer, timelines and so on. There needs to be guidelines for employees dealing with clients face to face and through social media, how to greet people, how to listen, how quickly your response should be given to an inquiry. This applies whether they are internal clients, other GNWT employees or external clients, anyone outside the government.

All of these things are integral to good customer service. Private businesses who provide good customer service invest the time and money to properly train their staff. We need to do the same for our public service, Mr. Speaker. To do that well, we have to centralize the responsibility for developing a culture of customer service in our employees. We need to train GNWT public servants to understand excellent customer service and have the skills to feel comfortable and competent when dealing with clients.

We need policies, guidelines and standards that apply to all employees, and a small staff within the Department of Executive could provide the necessary leadership and develop the necessary standards and policies.

I need to make it clear, I do not advocate for more employees. We have more than enough. As I said the other day, a serious analysis of our current staffing will find us several employees who could transfer into a new position for customer service. If the will is there, Mr. Speaker, it can be done without spending any more money. The question is how important is customer service to this government. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Once again, we are seeing a budget go wistfully by and, yet again, our potential territorial hospital has been bypassed. Let me say those words again, Mr. Speaker, territorial hospital.

We continually hear by this government that we have competing priorities, that roads are more important than territorial health and that an office building is more important than territorial health. Yet this government continues down a path of priorities where economics and practical sense collide.

A recent visit by the majority of Regular Members to our territorial hospital showed, clearly, a dire need for new facilities. This facility was designed for only 10,000 patient visits a year. We are now doing over 20,000.

The Minister of Finance, during our general comments on main estimates, admitted that this hospital is in need for a midlife retrofit. He is on record as saying it’s going to require $200 million to $300 million, yet we see no signs or signals in this budget to begin the planning for this.

The Finance Minister’s comments of “we’re on the road of taking care of that” leaves the average NWT residents wondering if they, too, can go down to their local bank and ask to withdraw some of this “taking care of that” money.

Sorry, Mr. Speaker, we’re taking care of that. What does that really mean? Unless this Assembly and the people of the Northwest Territories see it on the books as a priority within the budget line, there is no taking care of that and that is for sure.

If the Minister of Finance does not think we need to spend any more of our budget on health care, fine. He has every right to believe in a legacy of a fiscal restraint policy of don’t get sick. Let me remind everyone listening today, with our imminent landscape about to go into full throttle, our new $800 million shiny platinum Visa card is ready to be inserted into the chip reader and Premier McLeod has the PIN number.

So, back to the territorial hospital. While our health care providers are clearly working out of closets or having to trip over pallets of medical supplies in the hallway or having to eat their lunch outside because they just lost their coffee room for a new service, our government will be keying in the PIN number to withdraw funds that have nothing to do to ensuring the future of our health care. But not all is lost, Mr. Speaker, as I’m sure the voters will be taking care of that in the next election. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m going to use today’s opportunity to talk about the Financial Administration Manual. I’m going to frame it around the administration and the conduct built around that.

The public is concerned, certainly as I am, about the accountability of this manual and the transparency that’s brought with it. So I’m not going to speak to any specific example whether we’ve had problems in the past or even in the recent situation.

I’d like to focus my concerns around the administration and our guiding book, our bible, as such when it comes to finances and economics of the NWT. What happens if there is an error or breach, Mr. Speaker? The public is unclear and wonders how the balance is worked out. Is it swept under the carpet or how is it weighed and measured in a transparent way?

Clearly, independence, or I should say unclear independence, seems to be one of the questions that is railing out there. People wonder, do the staff guide their reviews under the scrutiny of their bosses when they are, in some cases, reviewing these situations. What is the transparency of these guidelines that provide a reasonable atonement? It’s not necessary about getting a pound of flesh, but we all have to know what measurements and guidelines we are being held accountable to.

The choice, as the public sees it, if there is a problem in some way, really comes down to a few options. Do nothing and that becomes a real option, or correct the error of the breach, and do nothing and pretend the error never happened.

So the government is left with the choice of two lesser evils. Do we do nothing or do we pretend nothing happened? I will ask questions to the Finance Minister later today and get some clarity on how we weigh and measure the Financial Administration Manual in an open and transparent way. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’d like to speak about a national icon that’s been removed from the Northwest Territories.

On October 24, 2011, the Greyhound service was removed from Hay River. Greyhound provides a service throughout the nation. On that date we lost that service in the Northwest Territories. That service continues to serve the Yukon and I’ve been

informed that potentially the Yukon is supporting that process to continue because it is important. The community of Hay River and the South Slave, since it’s been removed, have suffered some difficulties without it.

This is a service that’s used by a lot of people with low income and businesses that use it for tourism. There’s a national pass system out there where tourists travelling into the country or around the country can buy a pass that will get them anywhere in Canada, except the Northwest Territories.

This service was also used by businesses that were using it to transport some of their employees in and out of the Territories on holidays and send their employees down to Edmonton on holidays or trips. That service is no longer available in the Northwest Territories.

I will have questions for the Minister of ITI and what steps we should have been working on to see if we can resume this service in the Northwest Territories; this vital, national part of the Northwest Territories. We are promoting tourism in the Northwest Territories, but this key element has been removed from Hay River. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday I asked questions to the Minister in terms of the ambulance service. I would like to talk about highway emergency services today.

Many residents of the Northwest Territories and visitors to our territory probably assume if they were to have an accident on one of our highways, there are ambulances and trained emergency service providers who would come to their rescue. They would be surprised to learn how thinly our emergency services are stretched. The issue is one of gaps and policies, legislation and coordination. We do not have a clear framework for emergency services outside of communities that tells who’s responsible for what and who is authorized to do what.

It is also one of funding for equipment and training. Most communities do not even have a local ambulance, let alone the capacity to respond to an accident 50 or 100 kilometres away.

One resource we do have, thankfully, is a lot of very committed volunteers and professionals, who are more than willing to be there to provide these essential services. It must be very frustrating for them to not have the policy and funding support they need to do that effectively.

I’m concerned that we are all living in a bubble, just hoping that we don’t have a major accident or a fire on some remote stretch of highway. The odds are that one day that bubble is going to burst.

Clearly, it is the interest of public safety that well-trained first responders are available for highway emergency. Northwest Territories residents and visitors should feel confident that services are going to be there in the unfortunate event that they need them. Increased resource development activity and promotion of NWT tourism means more traffic and the greater likelihood of accidents and fires along the highway. We need to make ground ambulance and services in communities based on the highway our priority. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Nadli. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognitions of visitors in the gallery. Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize Mr. Willard Hagen, a constituent of Inuvik Twin Lakes; and Mr. Richard Edjericon. I’d also like to recognize Mayor Andrew Cassidy and deputy mayor Brad Mapes of Hay River who I had an opportunity to meet with this morning. Welcome to the House, gentlemen.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mrs. Groenewegen

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize the mayor, Andrew Cassidy, and deputy mayor, Brad Mapes, in the visitors gallery today. I thank the Ministers who took the time out of their schedule today to meet with the MLAs and our town representatives. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize Rick Edjericon, a resident of Weledeh and chair of the besieged Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board. I don’t know if he’s still there – I can’t see behind me, Mr. Speaker – but Willard Hagen, the chair of the about-to-be redesigned Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Mr. Bouchard.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to recognize the mayor of Hay River, Andrew Cassidy, and deputy mayor of Hay River, Brad Mapes. I appreciate the Ministers also meeting with us today. I think it’s vital that we get a visit in the capital here and see what we can do to help out Hay River. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. I’d like to welcome Willard Hagen here, as well, and Rick

into the House. Thank you for coming today to take in today’s proceedings.

Item 6, acknowledgements. Item 7, oral questions. Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are addressed to the Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation. The Minister is aware of a very difficult housing situation here in Yellowknife. A number of leased units that the Housing Corporation has leased from a landlord are being removed from the public housing inventory here in Yellowknife. Apart from the disruption to the lives of the tenants, which is a major disruption as anybody can imagine, the action also causes headaches in the ranks in the GNWT, in particular the Housing Corp.

I’d like to know from the Minister how many units at the Inukshuk Co-op are being lost to the Yellowknife public housing inventory, and who took the action to remove these units from the Yellowknife public housing inventory, and how many units are being lost. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member is correct; we were leasing 17 units from Inukshuk. They had a board of directors meeting and they had decided that they weren’t going to renew their lease with the NWT Housing Corporation, so that affected 17 units and all those residents in there. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

This is a fairly significant reduction in the capacity of public housing in Yellowknife. I think it’s at least 5 percent. I’d like to know whether or not the NWT Housing Corporation will be looking at replacing these lost units with other ones. Is this a permanent reduction or will we be able to keep the same complement of housing that we have now in public housing in Yellowknife? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the Yellowknife Housing Authority is currently over-allocated as far as the number of units that they do have. A lot of it affects the money that we get from CMHC. The money is declining; therefore, the number of units that we’re able to maintain is starting to be affected.

We’ve asked all the communities to look at ways of reducing their stock, because a lot of them are over-allocated on the number of units that they have.

Mr. Speaker, I’m a little concerned to hear the Minister say that Yellowknife is over-allocated. He also referenced other communities. I guess I need to know from the Minister what that term means.

We have a great need for public housing here in Yellowknife. There’s a need for public housing in every community, I think, but I think Yellowknife, as the capital, although it’s a different situation here, we do need more public housing.

I’d like to ask the Minister if he could please explain to me what the term “over-allocated” means. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, each community is allocated a number of units that they keep in their stock. As we’re bringing new units into stock, a lot of the communities haven’t been reducing their allocation of units by that amount. So if a community got five new units, we would expect them to take five out of stock, because these are public housing replacement units. With the declining CMHC funding, it’s getting unsustainable to be trying to do maintenance on a lot of these units.

I recognize the Member’s point about the need for public housing. We do see that across the Northwest Territories. However, in some situations we try to deal with the number of units that each LHO has, and if there is an opportunity to possibly hang on to some of these units, then we have to explore that option also.

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

Thanks, Mr. Speaker. I think I heard the Minister say that they’re going to look at things, but I guess my last question to him would be: Recognizing that there’s a need for more public housing in Yellowknife, what plans does the Housing Corporation have to try and increase the number of units in the public housing inventory here in the city? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, we have a number of units here in the capital and we are looking, in all the communities, at the number of units that we have there. This is kind of an ongoing issue to see where we can make some changes. Some communities may need to add on to the number that they have; some are a little over-allocated, as I said before. But it’s an ongoing issue and I could commit to the Member, and all Members opposite, that we will continue to have a look at this and make sure that we get to a point where all the housing needs are close to being met or are met, and also having this number of units is not unsustainable with the money that we get from CMHC. Because the difference is going to have to be made up somewhere, and in most cases it

would come, I think, before the Legislative Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday I asked a question in the House in terms of the long-term plans for ambulances, and I appreciated the response. My question is directed to the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.

As you know, at this point we have increased industrial activity in the Sahtu, where we’re seeing large amounts of transporting of goods up to the Sahtu area; plus, at the same time, we have the bridge operable now on a 24-hour basis. So we are seeing increased activity of traffic on the highways.

My question is to the Minister of MACA. What emergency services are available now to assist when there’s a serious accident or fire along the highway outside the community boundaries? Mahsi.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As a government, we don’t have services going out on to the highways. In many cases the accidents or incidents that happen are taken care of by the community nearest the incident. It’s just the way thinking is in the Northwest Territories. We’re all good neighbours and if something happens, somebody is going to respond and take care of that incident first and then worry about compensation later. Thank you.

I would like to thank the Minister for that. As you know, travelling on the highway, you don’t have it full of neighbours along this. Usually you are alone travelling at your own risk. Could the Minister provide an update on the work MACA is doing in cooperation with Health and Social Services and Transportation on ground ambulance and highway fire emergency services and also in developing a policy legislative framework? Mahsi.

Mr. Speaker, the Member is correct; we are doing some work with our colleagues over at Health and Social Services and Transportation, trying to come up with

overarching work to cover all of the Northwest Territories.

As far as MACA goes, we do provide $200,000 to communities that want to apply for some of these services. It’s $200,000 divided amongst the number of communities that apply. So we do have that, but understand that that doesn’t really cover a lot of the issues facing drivers on the highway. We are working with Health and Social Services. We are

looking at some numbers. It is going to be quite costly to implement a whole system right across the Northwest Territories. Those are options that we are putting together right now and I am sure, when the opportunity arises, we will have discussions with committee and also we will be hearing from the Northwest Territories Association of Communities on this issue too. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I’d like to thank the Minister for the response. This matter goes back to the 16th Assembly and this matter continues to be at least an agenda item for a to-do list for the government.

Would the Minister agree that our highway communities need locally stationed ground ambulance and highway fire emergency vehicles and equipment and access to training for first responders? Mahsi.

Mr. Speaker, one of the things that we wanted to do with some of the money that wasn’t taken up by the communities is use it as a training component to train members in the communities. Volunteer firemen would be a good choice and anyone in the community that wants to be qualified as first responders. I think that’s the initial step that we have to take, because they can have a shiny piece of new equipment there, but if they’re not qualified as a first responder, it is a huge liability. I think a lot of communities recognize that. They were very open to the training component of it and we’re looking forward to possibly rolling that out through the School of Community Government within MACA. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to understand just what level of coordination and leadership this department is undertaking. Can the Minister advise when he and his colleagues will be able to bring forward a proposal for expanded ground ambulance services for consideration by standing committees in this House? Mahsi.

Mr. Speaker, I knew I should be prepared for that: When? We are continuing to do the work. For me to tell you an exact date, I don’t think I’d be telling you the truth. I will commit to the Members that I will get the information and I will communicate it to the Members. Again, I know I should always be prepared for the fourth question: When? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I strongly believe in order for this government to be successful, we need to plan. I’d like to ask the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, what is the training plan for the Beaufort-Delta communities to prepare them for the Inuvik-Tuk Highway Project. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Part of the ongoing discussions that we have had are in partnership with Inuvialuit and also with the Gwich’in to provide the training requirements. My department is working closely with the Beaufort-Delta on what kind of training is required. Not only that, but we provided training in the past on Source Road 177 in Tuk, combining with our Education and working with the college, Hamlet of Tuk, Tuk Community Corporation and contractors, just going through labour markets to build a database for local residents to plan and deliver training that maximizes the local employment. Those are just some of the examples we have undertaken.

We are looking forward to this new initiative that is coming at us. The project was just approved last week by the Environmental Impact Review Board. We are still waiting for federal approval at that level. But now we are talking about partnership, partnership, partnership. We invited Aboriginal leadership to NWT Days. It was a very productive and successful meeting. We are building on the relationship that we have. Definitely I will be working closely with the Member and members from the Beaufort-Delta to make this training requirement also a success in that region. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, in order for us to be prepared, will the Minister ensure that Class 1 driving courses be delivered regularly in every Beaufort-Delta community? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, if that is the wish of the communities, by all means, we have done that in the past where training has taken place in the Beaufort-Delta, whether it be safety training, substance abuse workshop, Class 1 driver exam, driver training. There is also heavy equipment Class 1 and Class 3 training that has been undertaken. We need to be prepared and also preparing those individuals from the communities so they can enter the workforce. Once the road has been constructed, we want the manpower to be ready. So that is an area that we are exploring.

My officials will be meeting with ITI and DOT, my department, Aurora College and regional representatives to deal with planning stages on Valentine’s Day. Definitely, we are looking forward to those planning stages. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, how many jobs are expected on the Inuvik-Tuk Highway and what is the target for hiring from the Beaufort-Delta communities and also this territory? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the jobs, training opportunities will be identified through a working group that we are going to establish. When I talk about the meeting tomorrow, that is a preliminary stage of planning. Out of that, we are hoping to get some more concrete figures, concrete numbers from ITI, from DOT, from my department and from regional representatives, because they have their own needs as well. So we need to respect that. We need to take those into consideration, compile all the information that I will be sharing that with the Members once we have that information. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Later on today we’re going to be meeting with Environment and Natural Resources. I have some questions in the budget address with the $100,000 that he mentioned that’s an LNG, liquid natural gas, solution for Inuvik. I’ve been getting a lot of e-mails and questions in regard to what this money is going to be allocated towards and how it’s going to affect our gas situation in Inuvik. If the Minister can take a moment, would he be able to elaborate on what this money is for, how it’s going to be spent and how it’s going to be used for what he mentioned in the budget address? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the government has worked with the community of Inuvik and other stakeholders through a response to the declining and depleted natural gas sources around Inuvik, one of the alternatives that came up as a viable option was liquid natural gas. NTPC has been engaged in a lot of work, talking to suppliers, doing the numbers, looking at transportation costs, looking at the cost per gigajoule landed in Inuvik versus other substances like the propane air mixture that’s currently provided, for example, or diesel, which is the most expensive. So there’s been work in that

regard and we anticipate, hopefully in the next few weeks, to be able to report that hopefully we’ve reached a successful agreement with suppliers.

At this point that work is still underway and I’m not in a position to speak too much to the detail, but it looks to us, from the information that I’ve seen, that this is a potentially viable alternative. Thank you.

Thank you. I’m glad to hear that the Minister is working on this. In terms of his mention of synthetic gas, it is an issue because the way we ship it up in Inuvik is from Dawson, and as we all know, the Dempster Highway does close down sometimes. Our storage for the synthetic gas is only a five-day storage and we don’t want to get into a situation during these cold winter months where we’ll find ourselves in dire straits here.

He did mention about four weeks to come back with the report and the study. Can he give me an exact timeline, whether it be after we finish this House sitting, so I can let the residents of Inuvik know that at the end of this session we should have something that might be implemented, something that we can look at and move further? Can he give me a specific timeline, if possible? Thank you.

Thank you. The Power Corporation is working hard to conclude some of the arrangements. So I’m hopeful that in the life of this sitting that we’d be able to stand up and make a public announcement. What we are looking for, or the long-term target, of course, that we’re looking for, is to be – if all things fall in place as we’re planning – by this coming fall, in October, November, in Inuvik we’d be able to have an alternative source should we be able to confirm and sign all the necessary contracts to, in fact, embark on putting in liquid natural gas as an alternate source. So within the life of this sitting, I would hope to be able to stand up in this House and share that information with the folks.

Thank you. We’re talking about this advancement in the LNG possible solution. Last year the Minister and the department had allocated another $100,000 to other energy initiatives such as biomass, pellet stoves, wood stoves. Can the Minister confirm whether that dollar figure is still available for the community residents of Inuvik so that they can find another way to heat their homes and not rely on fuel? Thank you.

Thank you. The money that’s in there for rebates and grants is there, and we’ve added dollars and we’ve raised the cap, especially for businesses. So businesses that have expenses that are fairly significant, I think the cap has been raised to $50,000 from $15,000 and to better support folks. So that money is there not only for Inuvik, of course – but if they make use of that, that’s more power to them – but other Northerners as well. Thank you.

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

Thank you. I appreciate the work that we’re doing for all residents and businesses that are on the natural gas situation. But the ones that are on diesel or on fuel, are there any initiatives in the plan going forward that would reduce the costs for those people on diesel fuel, as well, so that their cost of living goes down when other businesses on natural gas go down, as well, so that we’re targeting the whole community? Thank you.

Thank you. The intent with the Power Corporation, we’re focusing on generation of electricity. We’re a major customer in the community. We’ve been on diesel for a while now, ever since we got the word that the gas was being depleted, so that we would free up as much gas for the community as possible.

As we proceed on the liquid natural gas initiative, clearly there’s going to be opportunities for the community-at-large to take advantage of this as well. We have to look and balance the costs that are going to be there with liquid natural gas versus the projected costs for the synthetic gas, which is slightly less than diesel, but it’s still about $35 a gigajoule versus, I believe, $39. So it’s still very, very expensive when you think that natural gas is on the market down south for about $4 a gigajoule. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to follow up on my questions the other day in my Member’s statement on early childhood development with the Minister of ECE. I’m wondering, are the new family resource centres that are going into place this year meant to be a flash in the pan program, or do they actually recognize, I think, the intent and the need for a long-term comprehensive approach here? Thank you.

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

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. When we first initiated these family resource centres, we wanted to do a pilot project. Maybe for a short period of time at this point for Tulita and Ndilo, but part of the process is we want to listen to the general public, the stakeholders when we’re engaging the general public about the Early Childhood Development Framework. What’s going to come out of that? Would this still be their first priority and others, other initiatives that we’ve highlighted.

We want to see this as a long-term strategy, but we want to wait and see what the framework actually tells us, and based on that, we want to move forward in this format. Mahsi.

Thanks for those comments. I remain concerned about the $125,000 that had been allocated for the Family Resource Centre in Ndilo, apparently very recently because it’s year end. Ten of the 12 months have passed when those dollars were finally allocated. I’m concerned about the effectiveness of those dollars that are being spent for the last few weeks. So I’d like to know from the Minister, what is being done to ensure that those dollars are spent effectively, particularly given this situation this year. Mahsi.

Mahsi. We are fully aware of the time constraint on the funding allocation. The funding will be direct deposited this week. My department met with the organization last week to start planning. The Ndilo staff do have a plan and they assured us that they want to complete the project by the end of the fiscal year. The acting chief also emphasized to us that Ndilo will implement the initiative in the time remaining. So those are the confirmations that we’ve received from the community of Ndilo, but we’ll continue to assist them, work with them and provide support to the community, because we want this to be a successful project along with the Tulita and other projects along the way. Mahsi.

Thanks to the Minister. I appreciate his supportive approach here. I have to say I am disappointed. When the House approves expenditures, it’s with the intent that the Minister get out there and get the program on the ground so that we take benefit that year. So I’d like to ask, what were the issues causing this amazing delay in getting the Family Resource Centre dollars out the door into Ndilo, apparently just happening this week, other than their obvious reluctance to commit to a flash in the pan program when a long-term one was needed. What were the other issues and how were they addressed? Mahsi.

Mahsi. When the first announcement came out, my department met with the representative of Ndilo with respect to the Child and Family Resource Centre in September and also following in October and November. We’ve attempted to meet with First Nations CEO, and in mid-November my department heard from the CEO to discuss the required documentation. So the draft proposal has been submitted thereafter November 15th and there’s been some discussions

and dialogue between my department and Ndilo.

We’ve done what we can as a department to expedite the process but, unfortunately, through the process the CEO left the community. But we continue to have the dialogue with their representative because we want to see this be a

successful project. Again, I have to reiterate that we’re here to support them and we’re going to be allocating the funding now. The plan is in place to implement it. We’ll continue to provide that service and I will keep the Member up to speed on the process itself. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Short, final supplementary, Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks to the Minister. I also did speak to the CEO and he expressed extreme frustration with the department. I am sure there are frustrations on both sides. I would ask the Minister to direct his staff to get down to it and just getting to it. Will the Minister commit to getting those dollars out the door early in the next fiscal year for early childhood development? Thank you.

We are going to be releasing the funding this week and the plan to implement their planning. Again, we are working closely with the Ndilo community. We want to have this be a successful project, as well, and other future projects. We are doing what we can to maximize our support and provide services to the communities. Releasing the funds expeditiously will be our top priority. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement I talked about the Elders in Motion. In the Northwest Territories there are 4,342 elders who are 60 years and over. In the Sahtu there are 256 elders. We are all going to get old, Mr. Speaker. Some of us are going to be called to be an elder. I think in this House here, there are some seniors already here. I think there are four of them.

I went over to the Baker Centre and I saw some really dedicated people working on issues and helping the Elders in Motion. I want to ask the Minister responsible for Seniors, in working with his colleagues, is there some type of coordination where some of these elders who need support in ramps to their house so they can leave the house when they want to. I am asking this because that’s one of the concerns they brought up.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Minister responsible for Seniors, Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Department of Health and Social Services and also in my responsibilities for seniors, we are working on a plan for a continuum of care for seniors. One of the main objectives of that work is going to keep seniors in their home communities, in their own homes, as long as possible. That may

require some technical work on the units such as ramps and other barrier-free provisions within the unit. Thank you.

I also asked the Minister responsible, I know there’s a wide range of issues we want to look at with seniors and also with the school and part of the continuum care. Is the Minister going to ask Education, Culture and Employment how it can make it more friendly for our seniors to come into the schools and participate with the students? One of the suggestions the group talked about is steps in the school so they could participate easier and they would like to come into the school. Would the Minister look at that also?

I would have no problem discussing that with the Minister of Education. We have recognized that the schools that have easy access seem to be a centre for elders to attend and visit with the students and teachers within those schools. Schools that have barriers such as steep steps are not as senior friendly. So we can have that discussion between the two departments or between my responsibilities as the Minister responsible for Seniors and the Education Minister. Thank you.

I want to say thank you to the Minister of MACA because of the sports and recreation and the good job they are doing with the Elders in Motion program and working with the Department of Health and Social Services. These seniors don’t want to idle any more, Mr. Speaker. They want to go full throttle and they are asking the Minister to help them on some of these issues. One thing that really bothers them a lot, having to do with the municipality, has to do with loose dogs. I just don’t know how the Minister can help, the Minister of MACA, to have dogs tied up. That’s an issue that I want to ask the Minister about and if he would work with his colleague to see if they can get these loose dogs tied up in the communities.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. You are changing the topic, but I guess, Mr. Beaulieu.

Again, Mr. Speaker, I have no problem to discuss the issue of dogs, stray dogs in the communities that could potentially be a danger for seniors with some mobility issues with the Minister of MACA. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya. I guess I will give it to you, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I indicated in my Member’s statement, I went to the Baker Centre and I heard the Sahtu people talk about the Elders in Motion program in our region and a number of issues our elders have to face. I want to ask the Minister, would he be committed to come back, within a period of time, and make some

improvements to some of their recommendations. Some of them I talked about in this House. Will the Minister come back this fall so we can have some discussions about some of the things we talked about to make it easier for the elders to keep in motion?

As I indicated, within the continuum for care for seniors, I will give the Member a progress report on how we are moving along with that initiative. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable 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 Transportation. In this tentative agreement we have with the federal government for the construction of a highway from Inuvik to Tuk, I would like to ask the Minister, in his discussions with the federal government, has the topic of the ongoing cost of the operations and maintenance of that highway ever been raised. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Minister of Transportation, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The ongoing maintenance and operation of that highway would be the responsibility of the Government of the Northwest Territories like other highways in the territory. So the answer would be no.

I would like to ask the Minister if he could give us an approximate cost of what it cost to maintain the 2,200 kilometres we currently have of all-weather road in the Northwest Territories, a ballpark figure. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I don’t have that figure and I’d be guessing, but I can perhaps read the Member’s mind. The projections on the maintenance costs of the Inuvik-Tuk highway would be approximately $2 million a year. Thank you.

I was hoping that the Minister would give me an amount so I could figure it out per kilometre. If it was a high amount, I was going to tell him that’s exactly why we can’t afford to spend more. If it was a low amount, I was going to tell him that’s why we can’t afford anything else because we can’t even keep with the roads we’ve got. I was ready for it.

Mr. Speaker, when we built the Deh Cho Bridge, it was self-financing. Does the Minister see any aspect of self-financing from the use of the Inuvik-Tuk highway? Thank you.

I think now is the time for the government to invest in an infrastructure project like the Inuvik-Tuk highway. Now is the right time. We have to think long term. One of the criticisms, when you talk to companies that want to do business here in the Northwest Territories, is the lack of infrastructure. Putting a road between Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk is going to do a tremendous amount to the future economic prosperity of that region. It’s going to grow an economy outside of Yellowknife in a region of our territory that needs that type of activity. It will lead to resource development both onshore and offshore. It will connect those two communities. It will lead to further tourism opportunities in the region. There is a number of great, compelling reasons why the government needs to act now to build the Inuvik-Tuk highway. We need to make those type of decisions now, that are going to be benefitting this territory for generations to come. Thank you.

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

Thank you for that lovely speech. I’m all for growing the economy outside of Yellowknife, as everybody knows. But I’d like to ask the Minister, how did the traffic projections for this projected road, this planned road, compare with other regions and other all-weather roads throughout the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, for that level of detail, I can get that and commit to get that to the Member. Certainly, this road will be the first one to get to the Arctic Coast in Canada. It’s going to connect the country from coast to coast to coast, and our belief is we are going to see a lot of interested parties that want to drive this road to get to the Arctic Coast. Currently, you have to fly in there or take the ice road in the winter. It’s a great opportunity for the region, a great opportunity for our territory and a great opportunity for this country. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today in my Member’s statement, I spoke about our Health department working with the BC Health ministry and their northern health authority about having Fort Liard residents utilize their services.

I’d like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services, do we have a current arrangement with BC Health or any of its authorities currently? Thank you.

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