Good afternoon, colleagues. Members, I would like to thank the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, the Honourable Jackson Lafferty, for providing us with pink carnations, marking our support to end bullying in schools and the workplace, on the Internet and, indeed, in every walk of life. I want to thank Members for wearing these pink carnations today as a symbol of our commitment to do our part to do away with bullying.

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

Mr. Speaker, today is the official Anti-Bullying Day, a day celebrated during the last Wednesday of February of each year. I am pleased we are wearing pink carnations today, marking a day of protest against bullying. This action was started by two brave young men in Nova Scotia, David Shepherd and Travis Price, who gave away 50 pink shirts after a Grade 9 student was bullied for wearing a pink shirt to school.

These two young men raised national awareness of a significant societal problem that does not just exist in our schools but is all too common in our society generally. It is a cancer that has spread far and wide and it is up to all of us, not just our teachers in schools, to put a stop to it. Parents, community leaders, co-workers and politicians must stand up for those who get harassed relentlessly, day in and out, for who they are, often just because they are different than the guy next door.

Mr. Speaker, this is not the society Canada is aspiring to be. In fact, Canada is well known for its tolerance and diversity, but if we don’t all protect it, do our part to change attitudes, set clear standards in policy and legislation that bullying is not

acceptable and won’t be tolerated, then we will lose what many before us have fought so hard for and, unfortunately, many have lost their lives over.

Mr. Speaker, I am very proud that our government, with the encouragement of Members across the floor, has begun the work of developing a comprehensive bullying prevention strategy with the assistance of the best expert this country has to offer and the wise counsel of residents and professionals in our communities. The comprehensive plan will be ready for review in a few weeks and I hope it is the start of a new beginning in our schools, which will provide safe places of learning for all of our children and teachers. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Ramsay.

Mr. Speaker, tourism is a vital industry here in the Northwest Territories. It is our largest renewable industry and attracted close to 70,000 visitors and over $100 million in new spending last year. Of all sectors, tourism presents the greatest likelihood of creating economic opportunities in each region, especially in the smaller communities.

Because of the importance and the potential of our tourism industry, it is critical that we develop effective plans to market the NWT’s outstanding range of tourism products.

Mr. Speaker, with that goal in mind, I am extremely pleased with NWT Tourism’s 2013-14 Marketing Plan, which will be tabled in the House later today.

Partnerships are a cornerstone of our tourism marketing efforts and I would like to thank the Tourism Marketing Advisory Committee for their guidance and leadership. This committee has representatives from the tourism industry and the GNWT, and provides strategic direction to NWT Tourism each year in the development of this plan.

I would like to thank the Tourism Marketing Advisory Committee and the board of directors of the NWT Tourism Association for their direction and advice in shaping this plan.

We have a lot to offer the world when it comes to tourism experiences. Our territory is known for its world-class sport fishing, aurora viewing, road touring, outdoor activities and hunting. As the marketing plan points out, the NWT is increasingly seen as a unique location for hosting small and medium-sized meetings and conventions.

We are also seeing increasing demand for Aboriginal cultural tourism products, a demand that we can satisfy through our strong cultures and natural hospitality of our people.

However, the tourism industry is extremely competitive and we need to continually position ourselves as a travel destination of choice. The NWT Tourism Plan will use the power of our iconic attractions to attract potential travellers to the NWT. The Aurora, our lakes and rivers, our parks and wilderness, our people and culture and our northern realities such as ice roads, and ice pilots all play a central role in the marketing plan.

The core marketing efforts will leverage interest in these attractions in key target markets in Europe, namely Germany; and the Asia-Pacific, namely Japan. Other parts of Canada will also be a major focus – Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan – as well as some areas identified in the United States. Also identified in the plan is the possibility of reaching into emerging markets such as Mexico, Australia and, as Premier McLeod proved last September during his visit to China, casting a wider net is important to help our tourism industry grow.

We are currently proposing to significantly increase the resources allotted to NWT Tourism to market the NWT as a travel destination. Subject to Legislative Assembly approval of additional resources for marketing in the amount of $600,000 for 2013-14, I will be asking NWT Tourism to amend their 2013-14 marketing plan to reach deeper into established markets and broaden the means in which they reach out to these markets. We will also be proposing a further additional $600,000 in marketing funding for 2014-15, which will allow NWT Tourism to expand their advertising promotions, attend more trade events, and increase media promotions in these markets.

Mr. Speaker, a prosperous tourism industry builds on what the NWT has to offer in abundance: a beautiful landscape, rich cultures and a willingness to share these with the world. The 2013-14 Tourism Marketing Plan continues to focus on and support NWT tourism development. Marketing the spectacular range of tourism products and experiences in our territory helps to ensure a diversified and healthy economy that provides all regions and communities with opportunities and choices. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to confirm that the Government of the Northwest Territories’ new Reservist Leave Policy allows public service employees to take unpaid time off to serve with the Canada Reserve Force, part of the Canadian Forces.

The Canadian Reserve Force is made up of volunteers who serve with the Canadian military while maintaining civilian jobs or studies. Reservists have made substantial contributions to Canada’s domestic and international operations and the number of reservists in service has grown significantly across the country. The number of NWT reservists has increased almost ten-fold since the C Company, the primary army reserve unit in Yellowknife, was established in 2008.

Northerners have had a long association with the Reserves, particularly through the Canadian Rangers. Easily recognized by their red sweatshirts and caps, the Canadian Rangers have played an important role since 1947. They assist with sovereignty and surveillance patrols, search and rescue operations, responses to emergencies, and advancing public recognition of the North’s First Nations, Inuit and Metis people.

Mr. Speaker, this government recognizes the valuable skills that Reservist employees bring to the public service. Their military training provides them with unique experience in leadership, planning, management and in specialized technical fields. Public service employees who volunteer with the Reserves are able to take up to 15 days of unpaid leave for training with the military, and longer periods as required for domestic and international deployments. These entitlements are consistent with those provided to private sector employees through amendments to the Employment Standards Act made during the 16th Legislative Assembly.

Our government will support members of the public service to serve with the Canadian Forces. I would like to thank our Reservists for their contributions to the public service, to our communities and to Northern Canada. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Item 3, Members’ statements. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What is the science of measuring bullying? Actually, I scoured the Internet, I Googled medical reports and I used Wikipedia for everything out there and there isn’t a science name for measuring bullying.

So today I have the luxury of presenting the newest term in the English language for the science that measures bullying, and that name is “bullyology.” I have an audition later today with the CBC’s Dragon’s Den.

---Laughter

There have been almost two decades of data on bullyology on our children. Even last week, the JAMA published findings that are most definitive in establishing long-term psychological effects of bullying. The analysis of these recent findings took into account a sample of 1,420 children from North Carolina. The kids were nine, 11 and 13 years of age.

The objective of the study was to test whether bullying or being bullied in childhood predicts psychiatric problems in young adolescents. The children, their parents and caregivers were interviewed each year until the youngster turned 16, and then periodically thereafter.

The findings clearly show that those who have been bullied, plus those who were both victims and aggressors, were at higher risk of psychiatric disorders compared to those with no history of being bullied. The ones identified solely as victims had a higher level of depression disorders, anxiety disorders, generalized anxiety, panic disorders and agoraphobia.

These bullyology results should be of no surprise to anyone, and it is clear that the psychological damage doesn’t go away as you mature, as the effects of being bullied are direct and long lasting.

Today is one day we give victims of bullying our attention, but it should be noted we should give every day to these victims and it will only happen through community support and future legislation.

Let me say again, legislation will only be one tool in our anti-bullying tool belt. Together, parents, educators and communities will still need to stay active and take an active stand on our kids’ behaviour at school, at play and on social networks.

Mr. Speaker, I have said this now a number of times in this House, but it is worth repeating. It won’t be easy, but together we must change behaviour and together we must. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We can see from the pink glow in the Chamber today that it’s Pink Shirt Day here and across Canada. For the second year in a row, NWT MLAs are acknowledging the importance of this initiative and, for the second year in a row, we’re not alone. Last year we were joined by Ms. Carrie Heldman and her Grade 5 class from N.J. Macpherson School. Ms. Heldman is back with the entire N.J. Macpherson Grade 4 to 6 student population to join us today and to highlight anti-bullying awareness along with the MLAs.

Since last year, the Anti-Bullying Campaign has gathered momentum across North America and across the NWT. NWT students, educators and education councils have developed and implemented strategies, awareness and resources to deal with the issue of bullying in our schools.

It’s tempting to put all the responsibility for addressing bullying onto the schools and educators, but we must accept that bullying takes place in all kinds of environments and all kinds of situations, not just schools. Bullying has to be considered in the larger context, the bigger picture. We cannot ignore the importance of addressing bullying in our society as a whole.

One area not spoken about where bullying does occur is in the workplace. Research tells us that at least 40 percent of all employees are affected by workplace bullying. According to the Workplace Bullying Institute, “Many places of work, consciously or unconsciously, endorse, perhaps even encourage bullying behaviour. In fact, workplace bullies frequently get promoted or they are not dealt with directly as the workplace culture does not know how to address such behaviour.”

Three key actions that could stop bullying are recognizing bullying behaviour, speak out at the time that you encounter bullying, and stand by those who are being bullied and support them. Over the last couple of years we have spoken a lot about bullying of our young people at school or in cyberspace, but much needs to be done to highlight and profile workplace bullying as well. Strategies that work well in schools can be transferred to the workplace. To mention two possibilities: one, create a policy that allows employees to file a complaint about any workplace bullying that they are either experiencing or witnessing; two, create an anti-bullying program to teach employees how to recognize bullying behaviour and teach them about what their rights are under the new policy. By implementing an anti-bullying or safe workplace policy the GNWT can lead by example. In doing so,

we will improve not only our own workplaces but all workplaces in the NWT.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I, too, rise to speak on bullying or, as Mr. Dolynny’s new word, bullyology. I would like to say a special welcome to all the students in the gallery here today. I just want to say that I, too, have a phrase or words as well. I like to call it Bully No More. This is the cry from this Legislature today and it’s supported by all our MLAs, Ministers, students and all our constituents.

I would agree that this is a people’s movement or constituents’ movement to have safe schools and safe students. As I speak to parents in my constituency of Fort Simpson and the small communities about bullying, they feel that nothing, or hardly anything is being done and there is no punishment for the offender.

For example, recently, within the past two days I was contacted by a parent who was very upset because there was a boy in her daughter’s class who poked her in the eye with a pencil. I’m so happy there was no physical damage done at all. The mother advised her daughter that the next time that happens to yell loudly, stop bullying, but her daughter said, but we’re not allowed to yell in school. The mother replied, I don’t mind you breaking a school rule as long as you stand up for yourself and stand up for other people. I’ll give you that permission, she said. This same boy bullies other girls in that school and only gets a few recesses taken away. Bullying has to be dealt with.

Also, some parents have advised me that they actually keep their kids at home for home schooling so that their children are safe. We need schools that are safe for our children to learn freely. We as MLAs have to come up with solutions by working to find ways to make sure that people are not allowed to hurt others in school. That is not acceptable to behave as a bully. Those days are long gone. I say, bully no more.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Bullying and its behaviour are unacceptable and should not be tolerated. There are deep root causes of bullying and its effects on the education system. Therefore, I want to highlight bullying in my language to encourage parents to be aware of bullying behaviour and its effects.

[English translation not provided.]

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also would like to use my Member’s statement today to talk about bullying. First of all let me say how happy I am that this much attention is being drawn to this very important topic. It occurs, as Ms. Bisaro said, in many forms and in many places. We most often think of it in the context of children, though, because hopefully, you know, we think that when people grow up they might stop acting out in a way that’s inappropriate. But on that matter, we, as legislators, have to do our part to put in place policies and regulations and legislation to back up the anti-bullying efforts of our constituents to ensure that the seriousness of bullying and its effects receives the attention that it deserves and, as Mr. Dolynny so aptly shared with us today, some of the long-term effects that bullying can have on people, and I have absolutely no doubt that those findings that he cited were absolutely true.

Very importantly, parents and family have a very strong role to play in not only stopping bullying but supporting a member of their family, a child in their family who is being bullied. I think that a lot of times parents have come to me as an MLA in utter frustration and despair over their children being bullied and not knowing how far they should go to intervene because they don’t want the situation to get worse. I know it’s very, very difficult for teachers too. It’s difficult for everybody, but we do have to take action. We cannot stand by and allow it to continue.

Strong families, a place where a child and an individual knows that they have unconditional acceptance and love goes a long ways to diminish the effect of what the schoolyard bullies and the classroom bullies do. I believe that and I certainly found that to be true in our family. It’s like the old adage, you know, siblings fight amongst themselves but when somebody is bullying your brother or your sister, well, then you’re all right there together. That family protection and sanctuary and closeness is something that I think parents need to be aware of. Also, I think that when I’ve heard parents sharing their frustration, I really feel for them. It is a very difficult thing to deal with when your child is being bullied. But I think that parents need to take the opportunity, as well, to make some extra time and become the friend, maybe, that their child needs at that time.

I’d like to pay my respects to this group here. This is the generation that will change our society’s attitude towards bullying. Congratulations to them.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to say today that I’m very honoured to be wearing my pink shirt on Pink Shirt Day. I would also like to thank Minister Lafferty for providing us with this pink carnation for Anti-Bullying Day. I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank the children and their educators for coming out today and showing their support, creating awareness in bringing this very hot topic to the forefront of Members here in this House as well as residents of the Northwest Territories. You should be very happy and very proud of what you did today.

Last night, when we were done here at the House, I went home and I did do my homework. I did the homework that was given to us by Member Dolynny. That homework was watching the You Tube video To This Day. After watching the video, I was very impressed with what I saw. It was very well done, very well documented.

I continued on watching other videos that dealt with bullying. There are a lot of very educational videos out there that not only tell you what bullying is, how to stop it, how to speak up, but there are a lot of personal stories out there that also are very effective in trying to get the message through to people on why we should be creating policies, why we should be creating legislation, why we should be protecting our people in the workforce.

While watching those videos, I came across this one quote. The quote stated, “The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.” The children in here, they look on and they are doing something. Members here in the House are looking on and we are starting to do something. We are discussing this type of legislation and creating these policies.

My message today is for people to speak up and let people know what they’re dealing with on a daily basis.

I know my time is running out, but I really wanted to get into the elder abuse. I have been getting a lot of e-mails and concerns of elders in my community and surrounding communities who are dealing with elder abuse, whether it is financial, physical, verbal, or emotional. It is not fair to the elders later on in their lives not being able to live a healthy, independent lifestyle. When these elders pass away, a lot of people who turn their ear, who turn an eye, decide not to listen. When they pass away they always say at least they are not going to be suffering any more. Now it’s time to speak up to

allow our elders, our seniors, to live a good end of their life. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This morning was a beautiful day outside, and when I took my little son to school I said, look at the day, it’s Pink Day today.

It is beautiful today, even in our gallery. Thank you very much for the teachers and the parents and the children for being here. I, too, did my homework last night and early this morning. I was looking for the magic pill for, as my friend would say, bullyology. I looked through the old school of reading and listening to what the elders have that talked to me about, and I think I have the magic pill. The pill is free. It is be nice and be respectful, and that’s free.

We don’t wear pink to make a statement. We don’t wear pink to be different. We don’t wear pink to say we are here. We wear pink because we value who we are as people.

We live in a value system of life. We were taught throughout life how to deal with life, which means bullying at times. We carry these experiences throughout our life. Bullying comes in many different shapes and sizes. It comes in various forms. It comes very simply to very complex words and actions. Yet, the common denominator to bullying is the same: It hurts. It hurts people.

Have we not yet learned to accept others as we would like to be accepted, to acknowledge and respect our differences and make our mark in our life by saying thank you?

We won’t be bullied in life. Just as nature has its own laws of the land, we learn by nature. But bullying is a teacher. It teaches us to be different. It teaches us to stand up. It teaches us to say to the world, bully no more, accept us. We want to stop this bullying now.

I want to say thank you to the children, for you are our teachers by reminding us how important the value of standing up for ourselves is, and it’s not easy at times. Surely the teachers are our children and you have come to make a difference at the highest level of government in the Northwest Territories, by having us wearing pink. Real men wear pink. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Like my colleague indicated, today is a beautiful day. It’s

nice and pink out there, but I’d also like to talk about the days getting longer and spring is around the corner.

Often in the North that’s an exciting time, but one of the difficulties that we have in Hay River is this brings on the discussion of breakup. One of the issues that we have in Hay River is an annual breakup and the Hay River has been filling in, getting silted up and for years now, since the late ‘80s, early ‘90s, they’ve quit doing the dredging in the Hay River area.

I’ve brought to this House, a few times, the dredging issue. In the springtime the residents of Hay River, often the ones that live in Vale Island, are very concerned and very nervous. They have to consider what they’re going to do come late April when the river breaks up and the potential for a flood happens.

The residents there have to consider whether they want to stay there or are they going to move. I know some that move away for two weeks with their families into the higher areas of the community. Every year this is an issue and we need to do something about the dredging.

Today I will have some questions for the Minister of Transportation on dredging. We’ve talked about some of the issues, now we need to put some dollars to this great difficulty in Hay River.

I will keep bringing this issue to this House for the residents that live in the Hay River area. As well, I will keep bringing this issue to this House for the industry, for the fishing industry, for transportation. Dredging is required in Hay River. The Hay River is blocking off and our residents and our industry are being affected. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s great to see all these students out here today in pink, and for those of us who caught the flash mob, we realize we’re in the presence of a bunch of great dancers, both students and teachers. Mahsi.

---Applause

During this budget review, I’ve been examining the startling figures for travel by GNWT departmental employees. For example, Aboriginal Affairs will spend over $13,000 per employee for travel in ‘13-14, or $520,000, over half a million for 39 workers. MACA anticipates $18,000 per employee, over $2 million for 115 employees. ENR projects $2.5 million in travel costs, or $8,000 per employee – a big department – ITI, $7,000. In fact, the cost per employee for all 2,500 GNWT workers is $7,000, totalling $17.3 million. Note that these projections

do not include travel for the 2,300 other employees of our boards and agencies who travel under separate budget.

Travel is a crucial element of many departments’ duties. Circuit court and prisoner movements, for example, are surely a big chunk of Justice’s annual $2.9 million in travel costs. Some face-to-face meetings are indispensable. Our public servants need professional development, which may be in the provinces, and deputy ministers are to be vigilant reviewing all requests for southern travel. Still, with these numbers I have to wonder whether the technological alternatives to travel are even being considered before the costly last resort of travel and person is chosen.

Human Resources spends the least on travel, about $2,000 for each of its 189 workers, and the PWS, Public Works and Services, comes in modestly at under $3,000 per employee. I’m assuming these departments achieve this partly by relying on doing staffing interviews by telephone and contract management by electronic contract.

The often wasteful practices of full costs and first-class travel, expensive ticket changes, repeated trips to Ottawa for two-hour meetings and trips to distant destinations, not unusually overseas or in the deep south, are well known. The public is aware, travel agencies are aware, and many are disgusted at such waste of taxpayer dollars.

I have no problem with necessary travel adding to an employee’s travel point collection, but how are we sure a travel decision…

Mr. Bromley, your time for Member’s statements has expired.

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

---Unanimous consent granted

I have no problem with necessary travel adding to an employee’s travel point collection, but how are we sure a travel decision isn’t influenced by travel points rewards?

Perhaps there are lessons here for all departments. Video conferences and teleconferences are not the same as meetings in person, but at $7,000 in travel per employee across the entire government, I know that every travel authorization is not being critically reviewed before signing off. I will have questions for the Minister of Finance.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Before I begin, I too wish to acknowledge our fantastic

students that are here in the gallery today. I was very impressed with their flash mob as well. It was clearly a statement that this generation is standing up to bullying and they’re certainly saying, in their own way, bully no more. I want to thank them for that.

I’d like to follow up on some concerns I expressed last week about the northern workforce at our mines. The Government of the Northwest Territories has negotiated and signed a total of five socio-economic agreements with industry over the last 17 years and this progress, in the sense of negotiation for Northerners, is a good thing.

Oil and gas exploration and new mineral development strategies are opening up the North, and there will be increased opportunities and developments and, potentially, jobs for Northerners. There is one particular problem. The only one out there who knows if these are Northerners working in the North is Revenue Canada because they’re the only ones empowered to audit the residency. Are we supporting paper Northerners or, as they are they commonly known, ghost Northerners?

I’m calling for more accountability and reliability on this particular reporting these mines must do. We’ve all heard the story about someone cashing in and getting that great job at the mine and then moving south. It’s time to deal with myth and fact. What is the reality before us? How many Northerners are truly northern hires and how many of the Northerners they’re reporting are true residents of the Northwest Territories? How many maintain a post office box and only check it here once every two weeks when they fly into the North to go to work and then they fly south to go live? Do we have a senate problem here in the Northwest Territories? Let’s get some health care cards, driver’s licences and tax information. Let’s prove it once and for all. True accountability for these jobs that are being reported. This is not about putting the spotlight on good behaviour, this is about emphasizing bad behaviour.

Several years ago the mining workforce was surveyed on residency issues but we need more solid information, clear reporting, consistent reporting, honest reporting, and perhaps maybe the only way to do it and make sure it’s done right is to get third-party reporting to ensure the mines are living up to their contractual agreements that they signed with the people of the Northwest Territories, not just the Government of the Northwest Territories but the people of the Northwest Territories.

I’ll be asking Minister Dave Ramsay, does he stand with Northerners or does he stand comfortably in the good arms of industry? Is he protecting their interests or is he protecting northern jobs that belong to northern people?

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

Colleagues, I would like to draw your attention to the presence in the public gallery today of our National Management Team from the National Francophone Economic Development Network, RDEE, and the CDETNO.

The National Francophone Economic Development Network is the sole national organization working to promote and coordinate economic development for Francophone and Acadian communities in Canada. They are holding meetings in Yellowknife this week. Ms. Andreanne Laporte, Rita Couture, Catheline D’Auteuil, Francis Essebou, Suzanne Druwe, Chantal Nadeau, Raymond Arsenault, Nancy Rousselle, Caroline Leblanc, Tanis Anctil, Genevieve Doyon, Batiste Foisy, Francois Fortin and Julie Gagne. Welcome to the gallery here today.

Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. [English translation not provided.]

I’d just like to welcome the N.J. Macpherson students that are here, all the students that are wearing pink. It’s a great day to wear pink. And all the supporters who are here with us in the gallery as well, mahsi cho for coming.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I represent the riding of Kam Lake in this Legislative Assembly and it’s a great riding full of great people, but it certainly has two great schools and one of those schools is well represented here in the gallery today, and that’s N.J. Macpherson. I just wanted to thank all the students, staff and parents that are up there for coming out here today to support Anti-Bullying Day.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize my constituency assistant, Ms. Leah Ipana, who is here chaperoning a couple of young ladies from Inuvik who are working as Pages, Ms. Chantal Grey and Ms. Lauren Cockney. I want to thank them and all the other Pages for the work that they do on our behalf.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is my great pleasure to welcome the students from N.J. Macpherson here and I want to thank all of you for the flash mob. It was awesome. You guys did a

grand job. I’d also like to thank you for your very good behaviour here in the House; you are very impressive. You could teach a few other students in Yellowknife a few things. Thank you for that. I know that all of you here represent all of the ridings in Yellowknife. My riding is Frame Lake. I know there are some Frame Lakers up there. Welcome to you students from Frame Lake.

I would like to specifically recognize representatives from the Public Service Alliance of Canada who are here. I can’t quite see them all but I believe they are all here. Julie Docherty, Sandra Lockhart, Bob Haywood, Leon Nason, Lynn Simmons, and I would like to specifically recognize Lorraine Hewlett and her son Christopher Coomber. Lorraine is president of the UNW Local 1.

I cannot recognize a former colleague – I was going to say old but he’s not that old, our relationship is old – Mr. Roger Windle, who teaches at N.J.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s my pleasure today to recognize in the gallery my sister, Janet. We both lead extremely busy lives. We seldom get to visit each other but she’s up in the North for a whole week and she’s going to join me in Hay River this weekend for the Kamba Carnival and then back up here to fly out of Yellowknife next Wednesday. A whole week with my sister. I’d like to welcome her.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Dolynny.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to introduce to you, and through you, you did mention some members here from the RDEE Canada, which is the... [English translation not provided.]… Again, he did a great job pronouncing those French words. We did have one person here who we should note is the executive director of the RDEE, who is Jean Leger.

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Once again I want to take a moment to recognize our N.J. Macpherson students here. Ms. Bisaro is quite correct; it’s quite impressive, both their flash mob dancing as well as their behaviour here in the House. She’s quite correct that the way we’re seeing our students behave here today is so impressive, I agree with her that many people could learn quite a few things from the students. That said, this is the generation that is standing up to bullying and I thank them for that, because the line needs to be drawn and they’re certainly showing their support with their pink shirts.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. It is my pleasure to recognize Ms. Stella Nadia, the deputy mayor of the Village of Fort Simpson, up in the gallery here today. I just want to say that she is a champion of the new pool in Fort Simpson as well as a tireless volunteer in Fort Simpson. Welcome and enjoy the proceedings this afternoon.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is also my pleasure to recognize all the students here today and their teachers. I especially welcome those who are residents of Weledeh, which includes Ndilo, Detah and Old Town, Niven Lake, that area. Welcome.

I also would like to give special recognition to the representatives from the Public Service Alliance of Canada, and Lorraine Hewlett, who often stands up for the public interest.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Mr. Bouchard.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize Leon Nason, a resident of Hay River, and Lorraine Hewlett from a long time ago when she used to live in Hay River. I’d also like to welcome all the children from the schools as well.

Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. I’d like to welcome all our visitors in the public gallery here today, especially all our youth. Watching you earlier this morning, you guys did an awesome job. Keep doing what you’re doing. I’d also like to thank all the public for taking an interest in our proceedings here today.

Item 6, acknowledgements. Item 7, oral questions. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are addressed to the Minister of Human Resources. I mentioned in my statement about workplace bullying. I’d like to ask the Minister what we in the GNWT have to deal with workplace bullying. My first question to the Minister is whether or not the GNWT has a policy that addresses bullying in our workplace.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The GNWT is committed to providing a workplace where all individuals are treated with fairness, dignity and respect. We do have a

Harassment Free and Respectful Workplace Policy, which replaced our old Workplace Conflict Resolution Policy, which came into effect in 2011. One of the reasons we modified the program and went with the new Harassment Free and Respectful Workplace Policy was to reflect the current emerging jurisprudence in the area of personal harassment, which is, basically, bullying, and to reflect current GNWT structures and practices in applying the policy. Short answer, yes, we have a policy in place.

I’m really glad to hear that. I’d like to know from the Minister what encompasses the policy, what is in the policy. What things will it prohibit our employees from doing in terms of harassing or bullying their fellow employees?

There are a number of categories of harassing behaviour covered under this policy and they include harassment, personal harassment, sexual harassment and abuse of authority. The policy also has an accompanying guide to apply to the policy which reflects current practices and processes for informal and formal complaint resolutions, demonstrates management, encouragement of prevention and resolution of conflict through frank communication, speaks to management and employees about roles and responsibilities in creating and maintaining respectful workplaces, and helps identify the manager’s role with respect to resolving issues before formal complaints are required.

Thanks to the Minister. One of the concerns that I have with workplace bullying is overt bullying is readily seen. It’s recognized, and it’s probably relatively easy to deal with, but there’s something which I was thinking about in the last few days that could be considered soft workplace bullying, and it tends to be more sort of the implied threat or suggestion that if you do such, this is going to happen to you or have such and such implications.

I’d like to know from the Minister, if I, as an employee, feel that I have been “soft bullied,” does the system that we have in place allow for me to lay a complaint, and to feel safe in laying that complaint and know that something is going to be done about it?

I feel that it does. It addresses harassment in the workplace as well as abuse of authority, whether it’s overt, implied or suggested. The program is available, staff are aware of it, we continue to provide training to departments as they request it so that they can be prepared to assist employees when these types of situations arise.

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Final supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks to the Minister. I guess I would like to know – since he mentioned training, that’s where I was going with my last question – what does the training encompass. I know he said departments request it. I would hope he would consider making it mandatory for all employees, but does it tell the employees what bullying is and help them to recognize it, help them to understand their rights under bullying or harassment? If he could answer that question. Thank you.

The training is more focused on the program itself and what the program can cover and can’t cover. It’s not necessarily an awareness campaign about bullying. I think that’s what the Member is referring to, but it’s more specific to the program itself, how it applies, who can utilize it, how to access it, and the steps the individuals would have to go through to utilize the process.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I said in my statement, I have dredged up some more issues in Hay River, as normal. I just have a question for the Minister of Transportation. Has the Department of Transportation begun to solve the department this year through their budget of dredging?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The issue with dredging the port of Hay River is certainly a big issue. The port hasn’t been dredged in close to 20 years. The Member is correct; there is a lot of silt being built up there and the navigation channel is being blocked. We do have to find some substantial capital dollars, however, to have a dredging program there, that’s why it’s important that we continue the dialogue with the federal government in hopes that they will rekindle the dredging program that they ran prior to 1994.

My next question is: Does the department have any money in this year’s budget to assess the needs of Hay River’s dredging and what exactly is it going to entail and do, maybe, some cost estimates to bring to the federal government so we have something to bring to the table other than our hands out looking for money?

All we have allotted in this year’s budget would be $60,000. It would cost $3 million or $4 million to take a good run at a program to start with in the port of Hay River. It’s something that currently is the responsibility of the federal

government. Again, we need to continue that dialogue. I know we’ve met in the past with Minister Lebel, and more recently with the parliamentary secretary, Mr. Steven Fletcher. We have to continue to impress upon the federal government the importance of dredging here in the Northwest Territories and, specifically for the Member’s point today, the port of Hay River.

I’m wondering if the Minister can use that money to assess Hay River’s needs and make some sort of plan so that we have a plan to bring to the federal government. We know in the past when they’ve had infrastructure dollars come forward, often it comes quickly, and we need to have some sort of plan in place. Will the Minister commit to doing that type of assessment and having that type of plan in place?

I think, working with the folks in Hay River, we could come up with a plan. I will commit to the Member today that I’ll go back to the department and discuss this option with them and, hopefully, we can formulate a plan on next steps when it comes to a dredging program for the port of Hay River.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay, Final supplementary, Mr. Bouchard.

My last question is: Will the Minister ensure that this plan gets completed this year so that I can stop raising this issue in this House, hat we have a plan in place and we just need to go to the federal government? I’m willing to go with the Minister to discuss this issue if that’s what we need, or if we need to do lobbying to get the federal government to do this. But we need a plan in place. Can I get commitment from the Minister that this will be completed this year?

We have invited Minister Lebel north. Hopefully, he has some time this summer to journey to the Northwest Territories. Failing that, we’re trying to line up some more meetings in Ottawa with Minister Lebel and other Ministers. Certainly, if we can make a plan here before next fall and the timing is right, if the Member would like to accompany me to a meeting to talk about dredging and a program to dredge the port of Hay River with Minister Lebel, we can certainly look at that. We do need millions and millions of dollars to accomplish this. It’s not something that’s in the financial means of this government today, or the responsibility of this government, but we have to continue that dialogue with the federal government and we will do just that.

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask some questions on emergency services with the Minister of MACA. I know, recently in this House, several Members spoke up about ambulatory and ambulance services on our highway system, given the unfortunate accident on Highway No. 1. When I was in Fort Liard doing my tour, I asked about ambulance services. They actually don’t have any there. I would like to ask the Minister of MACA, how are we addressing the emergency services on our highway systems, especially with communities without ambulances.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We continue to work with the communities. We had the ground ambulance and highway rescue money that some communities had taken us up on. As I stated the other day, once they realized that there was a liability because they weren’t qualified as first responders, then many of them quit taking us up on the money. We’ve kind of re-profiled and are hoping to use that money for more training for people in the communities. That way they would be qualified as first responders and then the community would be able to probably get some emergency vehicles and do these types of rescues.

The first thing to do is we need to get them training so they will be qualified first responders. I think the rest of it will work in place pretty well.

I know that in past Assemblies we were working on, I think it was the ambulance committee. Maybe the Minister can clarify exactly what committee that was. I thought we had some discussions about actually reactivating that committee. I think it was Health and Social Services, MACA and one other department. Anyway, can the Minister identify that committee again, and see if it will be activated for this Assembly, because we really have to address those gaps in our highway systems and saving people’s lives.

We have an internal deputy ministers committee. Ourselves along with I believe it’s Transportation, Justice and Health and Social Services are looking at this particular issue. They’re looking at cost and many other things that might come into play on this. The last we heard, I think, to implement a territorial-wide highway and ground ambulance rescue would be in the neighbourhood of $6 million. They’re continuing to do their work and we’re looking forward to some of the recommendations that they might bring forward

to the Ministers and we will share that with committee.

For example, I spoke of the community of Fort Liard that has no ambulance service. In fact, they don’t even have an ambulance. They’re willing to invest into that capital of buying an ambulance; however, they don’t have the financial support, they can’t cover the O and M costs and training is very expensive. Are those the issues that this committee is looking at?

It would be some of the issues. I mean, they’d cover all the bases as far as trying to help the communities implement this. We do know some communities have expressed an interest in purchasing some highway and ground ambulance type vehicles. We had one community that had purchased it, realized that they didn’t have trained people for it, and I believe they sold the equipment. We’re looking at, through the School of Community Government and MACA, offering some type of training to all residents or all communities across the Northwest Territories so we’d have qualified first responders in the communities. That would be the first step.

Then the second step, once they’re qualified then the communities have the option of looking at purchasing ambulance-type equipment. Once they do that, we’re always looking at the overall O and M budget of our department and how we fund the communities, and this may be another factor that comes into play.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just one final, short question. Given the tragedy and the accident on Highway No. 1 last week, the Member for Deh Cho actually said it was a Health and Social Services van that went out there and took the injured person back to Fort Providence.

Does this kind of incident highlight the importance of a ground ambulance support system throughout the Northwest Territories with the Minister and this government? Thank you.

Absolutely, Mr. Speaker. It was even before this incident that we were looking at how we can improve our ambulance, especially between the communities, and with more and more of the communities being linked by ice roads or highways, it was an important issue. Unfortunately, some of these incidents that happen highlight more and more the importance of the issue. I can assure the Member, and all Members, that through our internal working committee we are trying to find ways that we can find something that works for all communities in the Northwest Territories, especially those that are on the highway system. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement today, I was raising the issue of some of these ghost Northerners, or sometimes even commonly called paper Northerners, who get these northern jobs, and as soon as they get them, they move south, but the mining industry will put them on their socio-economic agreements and tick them off in the “have you hired or do you have a Northerner working for you” and they tick off yes.

The issue is, simply, this: How do the mines account and, furthermore, validate that these are a true northern workforce, and how do they officially report this to the GNWT to ensure the information they are reporting is valid and honest? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The three mines were before the Member’s committee last fall. I mentioned to the Member earlier this week that I would be more than happy to set up a meeting between him and his committee, myself and the three mines. We can go over any questions the Member or his committee has. Those questions can be raised and answered by the mining companies. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I am simply asking the question how does the government monitor, manage and validate the numbers presented as what we define as a northern working force. In the socio-economic agreements, it is a very specific description that says the mines must live up to a certain amount of workforce. That said, is the government taking it on blind faith or do they validate this? If they validate this, how do they report it? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, it is monitored. It is reported and tabled in this House. As to how they validate the numbers, I’d have to go back to the department and try to get a better understanding of exactly how they monitor and whether or not they follow each and every employee away from work and find out where they go and whether or not they have a NWT driver’s licence or health care card. That I’m not 100 percent sure of, but I will find out. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I would appreciate if the Minister would stop saying they go to my committee. It’s the Assembly’s committee, first of

all. Second of all, I think this is an issue that the Minister should be concerned about, not just some of the committee members.

What can the Minister do under the context of monitoring in the sense of do we have a definition of what a Northerner is? We don’t know if these people have health care cards, whether they have a post office box or even if they file their taxes here in the Northwest Territories, so we must have some rules to govern this by rather than just wading into this and saying, how do you validate this. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, we do have to work together. I mentioned this, again, in response to some earlier questions on the same matter. We have to continue the dialogue with industry. We have to continue the dialogue with Members. I think instead of just complaining about it, offering up solutions on what could happen, and that is going to happen by that dialogue continuing.

There are reasons that I work with the Minister of Health and Social Services, the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. It is a much bigger issue than mines not hitting employment targets. There’s a lot of underlying issues here that we have to work on collectively.

Again, I know it’s a committee of this House. The mines were in front of that committee late last year. I’d like to get them back in front of that committee at the earliest opportunity so that we can come forward with recommendations and suggestions on how we can improve things and do things better. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, my job is to… One of the things is to compliment good work, but at the same time, my job is to point out problems in the system and provide solutions, which I keep providing them but they seem to fall on deaf ears.

So here is one more – and I’m not saying just this Minister; I’m saying many Ministers – would this Minister consider the option of taking a third-party monitoring system by appointing someone to review these so-called Northerners, because he may find that some comply perfectly, which should be supported, and some don’t comply at all. We should be celebrating the good work and certainly pointing out the bad work. Would the Minister be willing to consider a third-party monitoring service to ensure we get the facts on the table? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I know that the mines do pay a northern allowance to employees, and certainly they would do the due diligence on their own employees to recognize whether or not they’re entitled to a northern allowance by where they live. So that would happen. As to whether or not we get in a third party, no, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions follow up on my Member’s statement earlier today with questions to the Minister of Finance. Obviously, not every employee travels. The $7,000 per person is an average travel cost across the entire government, but for every employee who never travels, there is another average employee spending double that, or $14,000, and every one of them has a boss who is signing a travel authorization.

Does the process for putting forward an approval request for travel include the requirement to demonstrate that alternatives to travel have been considered and found impractical? Mahsi.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That review is implicit in the work the managers do. It is not built into the form, but as part of managing their respective budgets – the Ministers, department managers – they have to make that determination. They have to look at the budgets. They have to look at the need for travel. We place a very, very heavy emphasis in the North on community travel, on consultation, on working across the Territories with the Aboriginal governments, with NGOs. It’s a very time-consuming, expensive process, but that’s implicit in jobs that managers do. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, thanks to the Minister. I have no problem with that. The Duty Travel Policy of the FAA manual says that all travel is to be completed by the most economical and practical means available, but that only refers to ensuring best value once the decision to travel has been made. We have policy guidelines requiring senior management approval for travel to southern Canada with the advances in virtual travel through technology.

Will the Minister ask his officials to examine what controls could be put in place in the travel authorization process to ensure alternative communication means are shown to be impractical before personal travel can be requested? Mahsi.

Mr. Speaker, I would suggest to the Member that that would make a topic of discussion at the Refocusing Government committee, that I am chair of, could take a look at it. The answer would be we will look at how we do this. As we move into another budget cycle, we are keeping the financial discipline on government through this coming year, a 2 percent cap on growth. We are being frugal already, but we can

never be too careful. We will have that matter reviewed at our next Refocusing Government meeting. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, thanks again to the Minister’s commitment. I appreciate that. I do note that this year’s travel budget projections are slightly down from last year’s, in line with what the Minister was saying. The Minister will acknowledge that $17 million in annual travel costs is a big bill for half of our civil service. Even an efficiency of 10 percent would free up major dollars for other needs. Some departments seem to have extraordinarily high travel costs, in comparison to others, with no obvious explanation. We need a challenge and verification method for ensuring travel is being prudently purchased.

How does the Minister responsible for the FAA ensure this is taking place, and what would be the process for a critical review? And I think the Minister has started on that. Thank you.

Thank you. This is a big territory, 1.3 million square miles. A lot of it is not connected by road. We have enormous costs to do the jobs necessary. We’ve also made a commitment in this House to support all the communities. We’ve made a commitment in this House and this government to support consultation, community visits, getting the government out of Yellowknife to the people.

We appreciate the need for using technology like telehealth and those types of things. The Mackenzie Valley fibre optic line, we believe, will improve the efficiencies of the health system, it will improve and enable us to do the things that the Member is talking about, things like videoconferencing without any concern about bandwidth, that type of thing.

We are starting a budget process again. We’re going to take this to refocusing of that commitment, and if there’s a concern by the Member’s office or through the respective committees to review travel, of course, we are fully committed to working with committees, as well, to identify areas of concern. If travel is one of them, then we will work with committee and try to sort those out. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think the Minister has made a solid commitment there and I’ll look forward to working with him. We don’t have an internal auditor general, obviously, but a functional audit of a category of expenditures across government might be a wise move, especially given the potential savings involved. But the Minister has committed to come to committee to discuss the possibility of improving travel policy safeguards. So will the Minister hear from committee and include their perspectives on what

should be included in that review? I appreciate the Minister’s commitments again. Thank you.

Thank you. The commitment was, of course, that if the committee identifies an issue and they want myself, as Finance Minister, or other Ministers to appear before them and discuss a particular issue, of course we are there to work with committees as with all or any issues. If travel is one of them, we’ll do that, keeping in mind a lot of the conditions, but we can have that full and frank discussion with committee about the type of travel, the amount of travel, the cost of travel, the reason for travel and all those types of things. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mr. Moses.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the news today I read, in the most recent study, that obesity rates are at historic levels in Canada. So that kind of got me going, especially after discussions yesterday with the Department of Health and Social Services. Then, upon further research, I saw in the Stats Canada 2004 report, there were red flags that were showing that over the past 25 years, since 2004, there was a dramatic increase in obesity rates. Now, nine years later, the Northwest Territories and the Maritimes are recognized in this report as having the highest rates of obesity and they’re at historic levels. Now, if those red flags weren’t addressed in 2004, they’ve surely got to be addressed now. So my questions today are for the Minister of Health and Social Services.

I’d like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services, based on this new report that came out and the new findings of the new studies, what is this Minister doing to address the historic rates of obesity here in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. The Department of Health and Social Services leads a Healthy Choices Framework, since 2003-04 approximately, when those stats came out. It’s a partnership between ourselves, Education, MACA, Department of Justice and Department of Transportation, and it is to coordinate several of the GNWT’s programs and services related to health, safety and active living. Thank you.

Thank you. That report that gave us the red flag came out about 2004. We do have the Healthy Choices Framework to try to address it, but where are we at right now in the Northwest Territories? We’re at historic rates and I’d like to

ask the Minister, what is this Minister doing to work with his federal counterparts to address these historic rates so that we can start taking care of our residents as obesity leads to a lot of chronic disease. As I mentioned yesterday, 70 percent of all deaths are related to chronic disease. What is the Minister of Health and Social Services doing to work with his federal counterparts to address these issues? Thank you.

Thank you. It is a national issue, no question about it. As a territorial government and as a territory we do participate with the other provincial and also the federal Department of Health in the healthy weight work throughout the territory. Right now the next Healthy Weights Conference is in Newfoundland. We had requested that the Healthy Weights Conference be brought to Yellowknife. I had recently discussed that possibility with the Minister and there’s an indication that we would get in line like everyone else and that we might be next after Newfoundland, but Newfoundland was decided a couple of years ago. So we will be going to the conference to discuss healthy weights of Canadians across the country with other jurisdictions. Thank you.

Thank you. I look forward to getting feedback and comments on that meeting because, as you know, health, fitness, and active living are all part of my campaign. I just want to know if the Minister will be looking at developing a specific program, much like the Department of Justice has with the Not Us! campaign, to create awareness, education and to help defer some of our criminal practices in the communities. Would the Minister look at creating some type of similar program to address obesity, specifically promoting active living, getting people active in the communities and put some funding dollars towards that that would decrease some of those findings? Would he look at the possibility of developing some type of program? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Moses. Colleagues, before we go on today, the preamble on the questioning is a little bit too long. I know you are trying to make your point and that, but shorten it up. Members’ statements, that’s what your Member’s statement is for. So questioning on your oral questions to Ministers. Thank you. Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, the coordination of that framework activity does look at physical activity, mental wellness, exercise and healthy eating, all of the various areas. We work with the Department of Education in trying to promote healthy foods in the schools, we have Drop the Pop and so on. So those are some of the activities that I can run through quickly. In general, what we’re asking people, as we

discuss, is to eat healthy, exercise, drink responsibly and don’t smoke. Thank you.