Good morning, colleagues. Today is International Women’s Day and I’d like to take this opportunity to recognize and celebrate the women who are accomplishing so much and all the work that’s done in our home communities that makes a difference in our great territory of the Northwest Territories.

---Applause

Item 2, Ministers’ statements. Honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, International Women's Day honours women's advancement towards equality and reminds us of the vigilance required to ensure that equality is maintained in every aspect of society.

Every year the Status of Women Council celebrates this day by announcing recipients for the Wise Women Awards. These women, chosen from five Northwest Territories regions, stand up of what is right for women, children and families. They work tirelessly behind the scenes or on centre stage to make a difference in our communities. They never give up their effort to encourage women to become leaders in their homes and communities. These wise women were nominated by their communities because they give their time and dedication to their families, and to those who seek help, and to their communities. They speak to the need for fairness and advocate for those who cannot speak for themselves.

This year the Status of Women Council honours the following wise women:• At 98 years of age, Taipana Rene Oliktoak from

Ulukhaktok is revered as a true role model for the traditional ways of her people;• Vivian Edgi Manuel of Fort Good Hope has an

unfailing willingness to help people and work to improve her community;• Margaret Ann Landry of Fort Providence is a

tireless worker for people in need;• Edna Schaefer from Fort Smith is never short

on patience and kindness for the people of her community; and• Karen Wright-Fraser from Yellowknife for her

skills in constructing traditional clothing and teaching traditional skills that help to keep culture alive and relevant.

Since 1992 the Status of Women Council of the Northwest Territories has hosted the Wise Women Awards honouring the recipients at the Bread and Roses Luncheon.

Mr. Speaker, I extend this Assembly’s congratulations to the recipients and our appreciation for their lifetime work for the betterment of northern communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Item 3, Members’ statements. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As you and the Premier have mentioned, today is the 102

nd International Women’s Day. International Women’s Day is annually held on March 8

th to celebrate

women’s achievement throughout history and across nations. It is also known as the United Nations Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace.

On this day, we all need to spread the message of women’s empowerment to our friends, family and the men in our lives. It’s a day that connects women around the world and celebrates the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future. It is a day to celebrate the women in our lives and our communities, to honour the advances women have made, but at the same time remember the need for continued action to

ensure that the equality fought for and gained by women who have passed before us is maintained in all aspects of our society.

To quote an old advertising slogan: “We’ve come a long way, baby.” But I must echo a quote I heard this morning on the radio: “Much has been accomplished, but much is still to be done.”

Of the world’s 1.3 billion poor people, nearly 70 percent are women. Between 75 and 80 percent of the world’s 27 million refugees are women and children, and of the world’s nearly 130 million children who are not in school, two-thirds are girls. On average, women earn between 30 to 40 percent less pay than men for the same work. Women also continue to be victims of violence. Rape and domestic violence are significant causes of disability and death among women worldwide.

This year’s theme for International Women’s Day is The Gender Agenda: Gaining Momentum. This theme reflects the belief that increasing women’s participation and access to leadership roles and opportunities will help women and girls thrive, reach their full potential and fulfill their dreams, and in doing so they will change our world for the better.

As mentioned by the Premier, we honour five NWT wise women today, who each, in their own way, have contributed to changing our world for the better. Congratulations to that formidable group of women, and let’s use this day to get fired up about women’s rights and empowerment, use this day to promote change in the lives of women all over the world.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to rise again in this House to talk about the issue of the doctor shortage in Hay River. When I came to Hay River almost 40 years ago, the hospital and the medical clinic were operated by the Pentecostal Sub-Arctic Mission. As part of their recruitment of staff for the hospital, they also recruited doctors, and many of those doctors made a long-term commitment to Hay River.

Over the years the practice of medicine has changed. It seems gone are the days of a family practitioner hanging up a shingle in a small town and staying there and being on call for every emergency that comes up in the community, delivering everyone’s baby. I mean, those picture-perfect, kind of, old-fashioned days will soon be gone. Young doctors now graduating from medical school want to have a life where they can devote time to their family, and travel, and all kinds of other things. Also, the training for general practitioners

has changed now where everybody either is a general practitioner or they specialize in something, and so this has made quite an impact on the delivery of medical services in Hay River.

Culminating at the same time as the departure of the Sub-Arctic Mission was a national doctor shortage. That came about, I believe, partly as a result of a decision that was made in the halls of power somewhere that they would reduce the number of training seats for medical doctors in our educational institutions across the country, so we had the unfortunate situation of a Canadian doctor shortage at the same time as a long-standing institution that had attracted doctors to Hay River was departing that role and giving up that contract.

Since then, Hay River has continued to struggle. We’ve had good locums. We’ve had repeat locums. We’ve had people in the health authority in Hay River who have put forward a very valiant effort to try and recruit doctors. Unfortunately, again, when you are the first doctor in on a full-time basis and you’re in a small town, it doesn’t matter if you’re on call. You’re always on call. If there’s a motor vehicle accident, if there’s an emergency of any kind, necessarily, because of what you can offer, you will be called upon.

We have had a hard time in Hay River to recruit that first doctor. Once we get that first one, then it seems like it would be easier to recruit. The doctor shortage has alleviated. We have seen some progress, and I am very, very happy to have been informed, with my colleague Mr. Bouchard last night, by our Minister of Health and Social Services, that Hay River has signed a permanent doctor, the first one in many years on a three-year contract. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Colleagues, before we go on today, it’s always good to have family in the House, especially my mother who is here today with us. It’s good to have her here. She’s going to clean up my apartment.

---Applause

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I would like this Assembly to make a decision that will save lives. I know the good Ministers of Health and Municipal and Community Affairs are listening closely and I would really appreciate their support on this. Fort Liard needs an ambulance. To support that service, an agreement is also needed between the health systems in NWT and British Columbia to ensure emergency service is available in Fort Nelson for our residents. There

are many good reasons to provide this service and to train staff to deliver it, but one key stands out above the rest.

A year and a half ago, a young infant died because the medevac flight could not get to Fort Liard quickly enough to save a life. For lack of a reliable weather report, a plane did not leave Yellowknife for almost five hours, according to the coroner’s report. But even then, it took another three and a half hours to fly to Liard and return to Yellowknife.

This little girl’s life just slipped away. If there was an ambulance in Fort Liard, she might have lived. In three hours she could have been driven to Fort Nelson. It was a very sad loss for her family and the whole community. I want to be sure we learn every lesson we can so that nothing like that happens again.

As you know, Fort Liard is some distance from Yellowknife by air. Weather being what it is, especially near the mountains, flight delays are fairly common. Quite often when cloud ceilings are low, the road is still easily travelled. It is Fort Liard’s main supply route and is travelled by many tourists. I won’t even get into the statistics and conditions on the use of Highway No. 7 today.

It is obvious that additional emergency service providing an ambulance would be a great benefit. Some of the costs would be recovered by reducing the number of expensive medevac flights. Sorry, Mr. Speaker, I think I am putting this too gently. I do want to concentrate on what is important here. An ambulance in Fort Liard will save lives. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today in celebration of International Women’s Day, as you indicated. I am very thankful and happy we have a lot of wise women here with us today in the gallery. I am also very pleased that I sit between two very wise women in politics. We should be cheering, Mr. Speaker. These women here teach this old dog many new tricks.

---Laughter

I’m not here just to speak about our lovely ladies here today; I am also here to talk about a partnership. I am here to talk about the Yellowknife Community Foundation and Diavik Diamond Mines. The Yellowknife Community Foundation was established in 1991 and they administer over $3 million worth of assets. Those assets turn into donations back to the community in various formats. Over the years they have given back to the

community anywhere between $75,000 a year to over $125,000 a year. I think that is quite an accomplishment for a community of this size.

What we have heard recently was a partnership of a recent announcement with the Yellowknife Community Foundation and Diavik Diamond Mines. Diavik Diamond Mines has announced the establishment of a Diavik Community Scholarship Fund. What makes this fund very unique is that it’s actually open not just to Yellowknife students. This is actually open to support tertiary education for students across Canada’s Northwest Territories and the West Kitikmeot region of Nunavut. This is a very broad approach. This is actually quite new for the Yellowknife Community Foundation. I applaud them for reaching beyond the boundaries of Yellowknife.

According to the chief operating officer of Diavik Diamond Mines, the purpose behind it is to promote northern skills development and, hopefully, for a sustainable future in resources.

The scholarship fund itself, as I said, is open to all NWT students and West Kitikmeot students, with a priority for Aboriginal students seeking a college diploma or a university degree or a related trade certification in the resource industry.

So, once again, we need to applaud the good work and stewardship of our companies out there. Diavik Diamond Mines is once again reaching out to not just the community of Yellowknife, but to all Northwest Territories and West Kitikmeot, and for that we should thank them for their continued stewardship and support for our communities. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Good morning, Mr. Speaker. There was a quote that I’d like to do my Member’s statement on. The quote is: “The land is in my blood.” One reason for the lack of understanding between the European people and the Aboriginal people can be traced back to the early world views of Aboriginal humanity. For example, taking care of our elders or taking care of our land. Both are different but yet they are the same.

It is in the European’s view of the natural world that our resources are primary value, quite simply of raw material. In the North we have a wealth of these resources. For example, the discovery of oil in the Sahtu by the Dene people only to have Imperial Oil come in and get rich and give the federal government a share of these riches. We even built a road to pipe this oil out in 1943, now famously called the Canol Oil Project, built by the U.S. and

Canadian governments. Just look at the Tlicho traditional territory where a small, shiny rock is being dug up and sold for millions around the world, and I’m not even talking about the Beaufort Sea.

My people are at a crossroads in our thinking as to who we are and why we are and, most importantly, where are we going. These three simple questions to each, ask ourselves when you find these answers, you’re on your way.

The Sahtu is my homeland of my own. We follow the laws of Yamoria and this is told down the Mackenzie Valley. As a matter of fact, our Dene laws are posted in the schools.

The point I’m making is our elders have to fill the roles in our communities by teaching and connecting us to the land. Our elders have reminded us over and over again about our relationship to the land. Our elders are very concerned about our young people. They cry when they see young people hurting themselves and they pray for them. Our elders are our professors, teachers, leaders, counsellors and spiritual guides. They earned their degrees from their years being in school on the land.

As one of our elders said to me as we talked early on when I sobered up, when he knelt down and picked up some dust off the ground and the dust came out of his hand, he said this is the blood of my people, be careful how you walk on this land. We need to put together a policy that will honour our elders by our government in this Assembly. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, have serious concerns about the wisdom of building the Inuvik-Tuk highway. The project doesn’t make economic sense. The only thorough analysis we’ve had was prepared in 2010 for a project costing $230 million. Twenty-eight months and $12 million later, it’s $311 million. That 2010 analysis revealed little if any net economic benefit, notably with reductions in oil and gas economic activity of thousands of person years of employment and significant reductions to GDP due to efficiencies.

Today with ice-free shipping seasons and marine transport, pipelines are off the table, probably leading to even more reductions. A spurt of 1,000 short-term jobs during construction with only 42 long-term jobs over 45 years is not responsible investment in economic development.

We don’t even have the technical information needed to make a decision. A go/no go decision must be based upon a full design and cost

estimate, a full understanding of partner responsibilities and a thorough assessment of risks. These are the worst road-building conditions in the world, and moving forward with incomplete designs and cost estimates would be nonsensical. We went ahead with a bridge at 85 percent design, eventually threw that design away and built a bridge at over three times the original price tag. Starting at the Minister’s discounted price of $299 million – just trust me, won’t you? – what would the final cost be?

Transportation has come to the government trough too many times already and we still lack basic information. How much patience do you think our taxpaying public has? The Beau-Del is in trouble and people need our help, but where is our innovative, thoughtful, long-term plan for regional stability and employment? Let’s move on from failed megaprojects.

A fraction of the highway cost spent on a renewable energy system would free Inuvik from crushing energy cost, create lots of long-term local jobs and provide a base for economic growth. The region and people are spectacular. Where is the real support for tourism development there?

Five years of road building doesn’t make an economy. Once we turn the first shovel on this road there’s no turning back.

I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent denied

Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise in the House today to also recognize the International Women’s Day and congratulate all the recipients from the five regions in the Northwest Territories. Today I wanted to recognize all the other ladies in the Northwest Territories, the thousands of ladies who do a lot of great work for their communities, for their organizations and for bringing serious issues to the forefront.

It wasn’t much more than two weeks ago that we had a bunch of ladies outside the Legislative Assembly pushing for midwifery programs. We have a lot of strong advocates out there that represent a lot of good work that we, as legislators, have to move forward on and push forward on to make sure they become reality.

I do congratulate the five ladies in the region who won the Wise Women Awards this year, and all the work and efforts that they do in the communities, but I also want to recognize those that were nominated but didn’t get the award, but all those other ladies who do tireless work efforts in the

communities to make sure their communities are safe and healthy.

One other I wanted to make is I chair the Standing Committee on Social Programs here within the government, and I’ve said it before that ladies do make really good decisions, they’re hardworking and they keep the order of the committee and the meeting. So I want to recognize our two lady Members here in the House today, Ms. Bisaro and Mrs. Groenewegen, and the work that they bring into the Standing Committee on Social Programs. They bring a lot of insight, a lot of knowledge, a lot of wisdom, and they’re part of the reason that the Standing Committee on Social Programs does a lot of good work through this Legislature. So I want to thank those two ladies in the House.

Obviously, I want to thank my mother. She just celebrated her 70

th birthday this past week. I want

to thank her for all her support and all her effort, not only for me but for the family and ensuring that we had a great life growing up, and also for her tireless efforts in making sure that all of her grandkids have a good life as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to follow up on another statement that I’ve made during the session and it’s regarding the proposed Inuvik-Tuk highway, this time with some specific concerns on gravel costs.

It is my understanding that the gravel used to build and maintain the highway is subject to royalties under the Inuvialuit Land Claim Agreement. The land claim agreement sets out maximum amounts for those royalties, it does not set minimums, so there is room for negotiation. Especially when Inuvialuit beneficiaries stand to gain so much themselves from a major infrastructure project at their doorstep, in terms of jobs, business opportunities, services, lower transportation cost and, certainly, convenience, those gains need to be taken into account when negotiating the amount of the royalties. To be clear, I’m not saying the royalties should be zero, but they should be fair and reflect and respect those primary beneficiaries who will be receiving this highway; potentially the $299 million project in their region.

We need to make sure whether a negotiation deal is fair for taxpayers of the Northwest Territories, because the highway is going to be precedent setting. In future years we, as an Assembly, will be looking at building the Mackenzie Valley Highway. We will also be negotiating royalty rates for gravel with other land claim groups. If we accept a bad

deal on the Inuvik-Tuk highway, we will be sentencing ourselves and future generations to be paying premium prices multiplied by hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars across thousands of kilometres. What is it in the end that may cost us dearly by not setting it out right up front?

To be very clear and to ensure the public is fully informed, I’m not talking about will we pay for the gravel. The gravel will be bought by fair market rate by the government. It’s about the additional royalties on top of the fair market project. A project of this magnitude obviously has a lot of pieces, and we need to make sure that the Minister of Transportation is paying due attention to such an important factor. Whether this government buys the gravel and then pays a 10, 15 or 20 million dollars additional royalty rate, that’s what I’m asking. This government should be asking the Inuvialuit to waive that royalty fee and put it into the project, because I’d rather see that money invested in the road and that would demonstrate that they truly have skin in this project that will change my support for this type of initiative.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to rise today, too, and recognize International Women’s Day. I’d like to congratulate the five recipients of the Wise Women Awards this year. Like my colleagues, I’d like to talk about the politics and ladies in politics. Obviously, we have two Members here, Jane Groenewegen and Wendy Bisaro. Good examples for the youth of today’s Northwest Territories.

I’d also like to recognize two members of my town council: Donna Lee Jungkind and Kandis Jameson, who also are striving to put women into politics and make sure that there’s a good balance there. Like my friend Mr. Moses indicated, they do provide a good balance. Obviously, often good voices of reason.

As we look towards getting equality, we need to look at some of the people out there. Like, we had Danica Patrick make the pole at the Indy 500 for the first time ever. We have to look at this, but this is the problem. They are the exceptions. They are the leaders, but they are the minorities. We need to make sure that equality gets into these areas. I would like to encourage all the youth, all the lady youth out there to make sure that they can strive to do whatever you want to do. You can do it out there.

One of the other things that I’d like to recognize today is this weekend there’s an event going on, The Sky’s No Limit – Girls Fly Too, an example of

ladies in the aviation industry can fly too. I’d like to encourage people to get out to that.

I’d also like to thank my mother and three sisters who raised me and made me the man I am today. In thinking about all the women in our lives, we have a new doctor, Dr. Boudreau, who signed on this week, and I’d like to welcome her to Hay River. We’re looking forward to seeing her and many more doctors in Hay River.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. March is National Kidney Month. I want to highlight this because we seldom think about our kidneys, but they are very crucial to our health.

Our two kidneys filter about 200 quarts of blood each day, removing waste from the breakdown of body tissue and food. The waste is safely purged in our urine. The kidneys also produce hormones our body needs. The kidneys work so well that one healthy kidney can do the job by itself but, of course, kidney disease generally affects both of them.

There are various types of kidney disease, and I can’t list them all, but diabetes is one cause of kidney damage. Diabetes prevents the body from using glucose, a form of sugar. Too much glucose in the blood can act as a poison to the kidneys. High blood pressure can also cause problems with kidney function by damaging the small blood vessels. Smoking also increases the risk of kidney disease. Some people with kidney disease can tolerate small amounts of alcohol, but heavier chronic alcohol use can really harm kidney function, especially if liver disease is also involved.

There are some signs of kidney problems that people should pay attention to and see their doctor or nurse about it. These symptoms include the need to urinate more often or less often, drowsiness or tiredness, loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting, swollen hands or feet, itchiness or numbness, darkened skin or muscle cramps.

These are the things people can do to reduce or control their risk of kidney disease. First, they should cut back on salt and be sure to eat fresh fruit and vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy foods. Exercise and physical activity also help a lot. I’ve already mentioned the dangers of smoking and too much drinking.

Medical help is available to people to diagnose and manage kidney disease. That can be monitoring the patient in their home community, consultation with internal medicine and referral to a kidney specialist. There’s a nurse practitioner dedicated to the renal program. Taking care of our kidneys is one of the

basics of good health. For many of us it can be as simple as eating well and exercising a bit.

Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to do my statement today on the Inuvik-Tuk highway. I’d like to thank the leaders of the Mackenzie Delta for their lobby efforts to build the road from Inuvik to Tuk. I’d also like to thank the Conservative government for their commitment to build the Inuvik to Tuk highway. I would also like to thank the 17

th Legislative Assembly and my colleagues here today for making the Inuvik to Tuk highway our number one priority for this government.

Mr. Speaker, let’s get ‘er done.

Thank you, Mr. Blake. The Member for Monfwi, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. [Translation] Today I’d like to talk about the Pages that are here to help us. We have two, Amber Beaverho. That is one of the Pages from Gameti; and another one, Krischan Smith. They are both from Whati community. And Alfred Beaverho, who is their supervisor. I would like to say thank you to those Pages and all the other Pages that have been here helping us through our session at this time. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. I, too, would like to recognize my two Pages: Ms. Natalja Westwood and Mr. Tyson Klengenberg from Ulukhaktok. I’d like to thank them and all our Pages for doing a good job all this week, for working all the long hours, just like the Members, and making sure you’re taking care of the Members. Thank you all, Pages.

Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize some ladies here from the Status of Women Council of the Northwest Territories. Starting with Lorraine Phaneuf, executive director; Tina Gargan, president, representing the Deh Cho region; Georgina Jacobson-Masuzumi, Beaufort-Delta. We also went to school together way back when. Doris Camsell, representing South Slave; Su-Ellen Kolback, vice-president, from the North

Slave; Samantha Dechief, community development coordinator; Annemieke Mulders, program and research manager.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d also like to recognize my constituent, Mrs. Doris Bonnetrouge-Camsell, also originally from Fort Providence. I have known Doris for many, many years and I always appreciate her advice and her support over the years.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also want to recognize the Native Women’s Association. Of course, your mother. I also want to recognize my wife. Every day in my house is women’s day and international day for me. It’s just that sometimes I don’t get her flowers, so I’m sorry.

I also want to recognize her sisters, Cecile Deneyoua and Doris Camsell. My colleague recognized her, so welcome to the House.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. It gives me great pleasure to recognize a student and teacher from Fort Liard who is here in Yellowknife to build leadership skills in the community. I’ve got Mr. Ross Duntra, Mr. James Duntra, Mr. Derek Kotchea, Ms. Kali Norn and she was just here serving as a Page, Mr. Speaker, and I think she’s after my job.

---Applause

I encourage her to continue. There’s Ms. Precious Hope and the Fort Liard teacher, Mr. Olly Williams. I will be happy to speak with you on our break here. Thanks for coming.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Mr. Nadli.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize Her Worship Mayor Tina Gargan and also the following former residents of Fort Providence, Doris Camsell, Cheryl Bonnetrouge and Cecile Deneyoua. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Nadli. Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, wish to acknowledge Her Worship Tina Gargan. We’ve been friends since we were kids, and when we were kids she showed leadership qualities, and clearly she’s demonstrating the ones we could always see. I’d like to thank her for coming today. I believe we have two constituents from Yellowknife Centre, Lorraine Phaneuf and Annemieke Mulders. I’d like to welcome them both. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Like I always say, it’s always so good to see our youth when they come to the capital to take in our proceedings. Mr. Menicoche said it perfectly, you are our future, stay in school and keep doing what you’re doing. I’d like to welcome all visitors in our public gallery. Thanks for taking an interest in our proceedings here today in the House.

Item 6, acknowledgements. Colleagues, I’m going to call a break.

---SHORT RECESS

Welcome back, Members. On the orders of the day we have item 7, oral questions. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’ve taken that discussion in the House. The Member also put in written questions that we are looking at responding to. We are having the discussions. Once we’re through this budget process, we’ll be able to pay more attention to the matters of the day. I have been thoroughly occupied here in the House, so there hasn’t been a lot that’s happened out of my office other than the initial contact with the department at this juncture. Thank you.

I will await the Minister getting in gear. Since the close of the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review public hearings, the board has taken the uncommon step of opening up the public record again with the request to the

developers – that’s us – for further information on the plan to dump toxic waters into Back Bay. Apparently the board is determined that the project proposal contains insufficient information to make wise decisions on this dilution of pollution solution.

Can the Minister update us on our activities to provide this solution and whether we will push to have this project element removed in favour of complete water treatment if the results prove unsatisfactory? Thank you.

Thank you. The Member has quoted a number of technical issues at some length and I don’t have it before me. So I will get in gear and I will take that question as notice. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement I talked about the elders’ wisdom and their discussions with me and I want to ask the Minister responsible for Seniors regarding helping out elders in our small communities. It seems that the elders are really in need of some tender loving care and I want to ask the Minister are there any type of discussions within his department, with his colleagues to review looking at the role of the Minister responsible for Seniors and put some real dollars behind that department? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The Minister for NWT Seniors, Mr. Beaulieu.

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. As Minister responsible for Seniors, I don’t have a specific budget under that ministry. However, I have access to budgets within the other departments. So far I’ve been meeting with the NWT Seniors’ Society, the group have fairly regular contact with the Seniors’ Society, and their requests come through me, and then I take those requests and go back to the various departments depending on which department they’re making a request of. So we are engaging the Seniors’ Society definitely. Thank you.

Thank you. That being the case, I’d like to ask the Minister if he’s willing to continue to work with his colleagues, but also maybe come to a point of asking his colleagues saying I need some money, I’m out there begging the Department of Education, MACA, Housing, you know, I need to have some money in my own budget so I can take care of the seniors the way I think they need to be taken care of The Minister has heard a lot of complaints from me about the seniors and I want to know when will this Minister get a pot of money to help our elders rather than go and beg the other

Ministers to help him out, to help the seniors? This is ludicrous. Thank you.

Thank you. As the current structure is set up, we do go through the budget process, business planning process, and within the provisions of those business plans and those budgets there are seniors programs from the various departments. So if there is a consideration that those budgets would be pooled and put under the Ministry of Seniors, then that’s something that we would have to have a discussion not only with Cabinet, but I think an open discussion with the entire Legislative Assembly. Thank you.

Thank you. I’d like to ask the Minister if he will start that discussion with his colleagues, with the Assembly within the life of this government, start putting together some discussions, some option papers, to see that the Minister of Seniors can have some type of authority, some leverage of funding just like the Native Women’s Association or the youth or the Women’s Secretariat. We’ve got to have some money for the elders secretariat. The elders need that. So I want to ask the Minister is he willing to commit, within the life of this government, to put some discussion papers, have a discussion with us and do what’s right for the elders?

Thank you. In all fairness, we do fund the Seniors’ Society, the territorial society as well as the local seniors’ societies, but I am prepared to have the discussion at the Member’s request. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister indicate to me, make a commitment within this time frame before the next business planning cycle, to come to the House with some discussion papers as to how we could look at creating an elders secretariat that would be fully responsible just for the elders in the North?

Mr. Speaker, yes, I will work towards producing a discussion paper to be shared not only with Cabinet, but the rest of the Legislative Assembly, on looking at consolidating budgets under my responsibility as Minister of Seniors. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Item 8, written questions. Sorry. I never saw any hands. Mr. Nadli.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to return to item 7.

---Unanimous consent granted

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today I made a statement in terms of kidney disease and how it affects the human body system, but more so to try to highlight people’s knowledge of a very critical part of the human body and how it is a disease that can affect one’s health. My question is to the Minister of Health and Social Services.

What is Deh Cho Health and Social Services doing in the small communities to raise awareness of kidney disease and how to avoid it? Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are working with the health and social services authorities right across the region. We are compiling some diabetes work which will be completed this month, or I suppose has been completed, and we’re trying to put the rest of the program together to expand out. We did the pilot projects in Norman Wells and the Yellowknife Health and Social Services, and Tlicho Community Services Agency in Behchoko, and the intention is to try to develop a diabetes program that can be applied right across the territory to all of the communities in the NWT. Thank you.

How does the department get the information to people whose first language is an Aboriginal language, mainly in Slavey for my part of the region? I also recognize this is an official language in the NWT.

Mr. Speaker, definitely, language and culture is a huge part of our diabetes work. In fact, we work with the home care…(inaudible)…Canadian Health under the Aboriginal Diabetes Initiative. We get funding from that and the work is more or less in the chronic disease prevention. So this is the work we do. We specifically get money for the Aboriginal Diabetes Initiative, so language and culture would be very important in the delivery of that specific program. Thank you.

How prepared are small community nursing stations to diagnose and monitor kidney disease, especially in small communities? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the case of where diabetes gets to a point where there is dialysis needed, as an example, we have a couple of options. They have dialysis in Yellowknife, Hay River, Fort Smith and I believe we have dialysis in Inuvik, although I don’t know that specifically off the top of my head. In addition to that there are people who have diabetes in small

communities who cannot travel to these centres, like the requirement to have the dialysis three times a week. Sometimes the other option is to train members of their family to assist them right in their hometown. We have some of that as well. As far as preparedness goes, I suppose, as they try to train through home care they provide assistance to people to deal with diabetes, as prepared as they can be for the onset of diabetes.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The major push for this Assembly is to try to put some preventative programs to ensure northern residents live a healthier lifestyle. The Minister indicated that there are pilot projects in several communities to become more aware of the affliction of kidney disease and ensure that it remains healthy. He’s also stated the programs that more likely will be unveiled at some point. Can the Minister tell exactly when those programs may be delivered?

As a result of the program, the plan is to release the final evaluation next month in April 2013. Then in collaboration with the chronic disease management people, we’re hoping that once we release the report that we will start to develop a framework through the Healthy Choices Framework and Health Promotion to start to deliver the program soon after that. I would anticipate that sometime this summer or this fall we will roll out the programs as a result of those pilots that we had run.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are addressed to the Premier. I would like to follow up on the questions that I addressed to the Minister of Health and Social Services yesterday and the concept of policy by commitment. I gave an example yesterday of two statements made in the House by two different Health Ministers referencing a policy which was not written and not part of the Cabinet sanctioned official policy. I would like to know from the Premier, when a Minister makes a commitment in the House, if he could explain to me and explain to Members what kind of weight that carries. What does it mean when a commitment is made here in the House?

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess it depends which government you’re referring to. If it was made in previous Assemblies and it was inaccurate, I don’t see how anyone could expect it to be a commitment that would have to be followed

up at this Assembly, especially if it was an incorrect statement.

If a Minister does provide information in response to questions in the House, and the Minister does provide information which is incorrect, and we as Members are advised of something that is incorrect, who is responsible? Will that Member then be advised that the information is correct and will that information then be corrected? Is it the responsibility of the Minister and/or Cabinet to correct it for us?

I guess my understanding of various interpretations of this House is if you believe it to be correct, it doesn’t necessarily have to be true. But if you make a statement and it’s obviously incorrect, then I guess what I expect would happen is that you would want to correct your statement at the first possible opportunity so that you don’t want to be seen as providing incorrect statements to this Assembly.

Thanks to the Premier. That’s good. I would like to see that. If a statement is made and a Minister or a Member believes it to be true – Ministers in particular, if it’s a policy commitment – what action takes place on the part of either Cabinet or staff to follow through and ensure that that information is correct or not?

I guess, first of all, we don’t go back and review all of the Hansard to make sure there were no incorrect statements. But going forward, if we have staff that track Hansard to make sure that if there are incorrect statements that are not consistent with government policy, they bring it to our attention, either to the individual Minister or to Cabinet. Then we take the appropriate action to make sure that the statements that we make are accurate, correct, and up to date.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Premier. I wasn’t going backwards. I was referring to the current Assembly. The Premier said that action would be taken. Does that action involve informing the Member that the information in the House is incorrect and advising the Member of what the correct information is?

Generally, the individual Ministers that make commitments, their departments will bring it to their attention. In other cases where we have Cabinet Ministers that have experience in the different departments and if they become aware of it, then we would bring it to the Minister’s attention. Then we would deal with it appropriately.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for whoever wants to answer them. I’m not sure if it would be the Minister of Human Resources or the Premier.

We talk often in this House about the growth in the public service at headquarters. I have talked about my experience on the occasional visit to an office in one of our ivory towers here in Yellowknife where I walk down hallways and through cubicles and try to find somebody that’s a receptionist or somebody that’s in charge. Let’s just say, there are hundreds and hundreds of public servants in Yellowknife here at headquarters.

We talk about decentralization, and we beg for a few crumbs in the regions, but I’d like to know what the process is for assessing when a position may become obsolete or is no longer required. Because let’s face it, in the government, there is no bottom line that we’re trying to adhere to. The people that are in positions of management are people that are telling the government we need these positions.

But whoever actually looks at the complement of staff and says, okay, you know what, there’s not enough going on here activity-wise to warrant a full-time position in this particular activity, and then maybe delete some positions, we never hear about that. We just keep hearing about the adding on and adding on and adding on.

I’m not trying to dis the public service, but I just wonder. In an operation this size, who is it that would actually look at that and who would come to a Minister and say, you know what, we’ve got people here that they don’t have enough to do. Is that the deputy minister’s job? Whose job is that?

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The Minister of Human Resources, Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That’s done on a regular basis by the individual departments themselves. They always have to look inwards and make sure that the services that are provided are being met and that they have the staff complement to do that. The Department of Human Resources does offer advice and guidance with respect to organizational design and workloads and work flow, but at the end of the day, ultimately, it’s the responsibility of every department and the deputy head to do that analysis and make sure that analysis is done.

As a note, I think in the last vacancy report that was provided to Regular Members, it identified at least 180 positions that need to be deleted within the Government of the Northwest Territories as they are no longer utilized and are sitting vacant with no expectation to fill. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Abernethy, in his fulsome answer, actually went on to some of the other questions I was going to ask, like when was the last time we actually identified obsolete positions within the public service. I’m not just thinking about those that are vacant. There may be some that are occupied that are obsolete, if that may be possible. The Minister is saying that it is the deputy minister’s role. From what we see of deputy ministers around here, they are pretty busy people. Deputy ministers are pretty busy folks. I’d like to ask if there is any other way of monitoring this to ensure that everybody that is in one of those government cubicles has enough of a workload to constitute a full-time job. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the Member is absolutely correct; deputy ministers are incredibly busy. But in every structure, as everybody would know, there is a delegation of responsibilities and there are ADMs, directors, managers and line supervisors. All of those individuals are responsible for ensuring that staff is adequately resourced and that they have work to do. When they don’t have work to do, that’s an analysis that has to be shared up the chain of command so that the individuals at the higher levels can make informed decisions.

With respect to individuals in jobs that may no longer be required, we as a public service have an obligation and responsibility to our employees to keep them busy. If we can’t keep them busy in their jobs, they’re redundant, then we have policies and procedures to move people to different positions. But before we can ever delete a position like the 180 that I have previously referenced, we do have to have them deleted or vacant before we actually officially delete them from our system. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I will try and be more brief. I’m sorry. It doesn’t seem like there would be much incentive for directors or people in management positions to identify obsolete positions within their organization. Really, I don’t know what incentive there would be to report that because that means less people working for them. That might diminish their role as director. I know that sounds like kind of a sinister conclusion, but what incentive would senior managers have to identify positions that are no longer needed or not busy enough to constitute a full-time job? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I’d say that that’s one of the first things they’re looking at, especially in times of passive restraint or when we’re trying to make sure that we have the dollars to deliver programs. We need to make sure that every dollar we spend is being spent efficiently and effectively, so deputy heads would be pushing that pressure down into the bureaucracy to make sure

the people are utilizing the resources to the best benefit. We have a lot of programs and services we have to deliver here in the Government of the Northwest Territories. The vast majority of our dollars are going to salary, so if we want programs, we have to look internally and where there’s no work, we have to make the hard choices to eliminate positions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Has the government and has the Minister ever contemplated an outside review of positions by department to ensure that we are not overstaffed in various departments? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, we already have the program review office which has reviewed different divisions and different sections and different functions, so they can provide us advice on eliminations if they think they’re necessary. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to use the occasion of oral questions today to reaffirm my concerns I highlighted in my Member’s statement, which were the cost of the royalties associated with the gravel cost. The issue is quite simple as far as I’m concerned. I would like the Inuvialuit to agree to waive their royalty fee. Now, that doesn’t mean they don’t get to charge for the gravel. I think fair market rate is fair in whatever they decide to do, but it is the royalty fee to be very clear. That would also, in my view, demonstrate two things. The first one, it would show that they have skin in the game on this particular project. To my knowledge they are not investing in this project. Second of all, this would be something so critical that we’d be putting the money into the construction of the road rather than paying for the royalty fee. It would actually cause me to sway towards supporting this particular highway initiative.

My question is, of course, to the Minister of Transportation. At this point, what is the estimated royalty fee that the Inuvialuit would demand for the construction of this highway on the gravel fees? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister of Transportation, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The granular royalties are part of the Inuvialuit Land Claim. It’s their right to charge granular royalties on that material. Today we continue to try to work with the Inuvialuit on a royalty regime for the Tuk-Inuvik

highway and we are trying to negotiate the best deal for both parties. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I’m trying to phrase this in a manner that makes the most sense. I’d like to support this highway. I’d like to have reasons to support this highway. We have clear issues. Last week the Minister of Transportation said we had a $299 million estimate for this particular highway construction. So the royalty fee must be built into that estimate as the cost of the highway. We have a $299 million estimate to build a highway, so we must know what the royalty fee is and that’s what I’m asking the Minister to lay before the House. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the Member would know the answer to that question. He was at the briefing two weeks ago. Again, we are trying to negotiate with the Inuvialuit. We hope to get a discounted rate on the royalties that would enable the Member to be swayed to support the project. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, last week I was asking him questions, or maybe it was the beginning of this week. After five weeks the weeks and days roll together. The other day I was asking the Minister to lay this type of detail down in a public document, one that everyone can see, but the way it’s looking at this point is nobody is going to know the details of the information until the deal is done. How is that fair for public accountability? That’s why I’m asking once again. It’s the Minister’s right to put this number out in the public. It’s not a confidentiality issue with committee; it’s the Minister’s choice. Would the Minister finally lay this price out on the table so we know what we’re talking about in reference to the $299 million fee? What is he afraid of? I dare him to do it.

It’s a good thing it’s not truth or dare, Mr. Speaker. We have our Premier discussing it with the Inuvialuit. We haven’t got a negotiated settlement on the royalties. When we do have, we fully intend to make all of the information public. The Member was privy to the discussion at committee two weeks ago. As soon as we get a completed deal – we don’t negotiate in public, we don’t do that – we’ll share it with the Members, we’ll share it with the public, and everybody will know exactly what it is we are getting ourselves into. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m trying to demonstrate the public’s right to know on this particular issue. The Minister is the one who has coined the dollar amount at $299 million for this project. He’s now saying, oh, don’t worry, the details will follow. The problem is the details follow after the project has been approved and the wheels are already moving.

Again I ask him, tell the House the cost of these particular royalties and demonstrate what is the Inuvialuit’s skin in the game on this particular project. Because as it stands today, they have zero investment in this game and all the game. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the Inuvialuit have significant skin, as the Member calls it, in this game. The road program goes entirely over ISR lands in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region. They have significant impact on this. They have a future need and requirement for granular materials. They have every right to charge royalties to people using granular materials from ISR lands. We, again, continue to negotiate with the Inuvialuit. We will get the best price. We’ll get a fair price. Like I said, hopefully the Member will be swayed by that price to support the project. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to let you off where the Member for Hay River North was going on here with the efficiencies in our public service sector. The Minister of Human Resources left off on the program review office as being an outside review means of the process.

Can the Minister of HR indicate by what virtue would the program review office be considered an outside source? This is manned by internal personnel. Can the Minister clarify that, please? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Minister of Human Resources, Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I didn’t indicate that the program review office was an external, I said it was a means of view and that’s what it is. The program review office is designed to review or intended to review programs and services delivered by the GNWT, and it is a source for review. So that was my statement, Mr. Speaker.

I appreciate the Minister now clarifying, because I think I was a bit perplexed that this was an outside review. Coming from the private sector, we look at things a little differently. We look at efficiencies and scales, and you look at actual savings and design. The question that I need to ask is: Why can’t the public sector look at outside review to find efficiencies in our public service sector, especially in the city of Yellowknife? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I think we’ve got highly competent professionals within the public service. We’ve got HR professionals, we’ve

got technical analysts, we’ve got people who understand the business of government and do a regular risk, review and assessment to the services that we provide. Deputy heads are accountable and, at the end of the day, we bring the budget before this House, which includes all position counts, and the MLAs and the Ministers have an opportunity to talk about the positions, where they’re located and the types of works they do. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I don’t think the competency of our public sector or senior management is the question here. What we’re looking for, and the question, is the impartiality and the unbiased reporting structures. For example, time in motion studies is a baseline used in a lot of businesses to find efficiencies in design. The question to the Minister of HR here today is: Why are we reluctant to look at an outside source?

The program review office is no different than the police monitoring the police. That’s the question. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, in the history of the government, we have used external resources to help us review program areas and we will do that again. We may not have any currently happening, but it’s not something we’re adverse to. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. At least we’re getting down to the heart of the matter, and I think the Member for Hay River South said it, is will we look at an outside review process that we can look at finding efficiencies in design in our public sector?

I have indicated that we have no problem doing that; however, doing one for a public service of 5,400 employees might be a little excessive. We might be more interested in doing certain program areas. That has been done in the past and we’d be happy to do that again. On top of that, we have competent staff that are doing it on a regular basis, we have the program review office and we have the Legislature. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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