Good morning, Members. Item 2, Ministers’ statements. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, last June in this Legislature, I expressed our government’s formal commitment to a set of principles and key actions to strengthen and renew our relationships with our Aboriginal government partners. “Respect, Recognition, Responsibility” is a foundational piece upon which all of our actions and commitments are built.

A cornerstone of our approach is our commitment to work with Aboriginal governments who are interested in formalizing their government-to-government relationship with the GNWT.

Mr. Speaker, on Thursday, May 23, we met with the chiefs of the Akaitcho Territory Dene First Nations in Yellowknife and signed a memorandum of understanding.

The MOU formalizes our relationship with the Akaitcho and allows us to work together on matters of mutual interest. The agreement also describes the way our governments will share information.

After the signing we held our first government-to-government meeting under the terms of this agreement. We talked about the potential to work together to address unauthorized occupancy of land in Akaitcho Territory, and school facility planning.

Mr. Speaker, over the course of the past year, our government has concluded separate but similar intergovernmental agreements with the Tlicho Government, the Gwich’in Tribal Council and the Northwest Territory Metis Nation. We have held similar government-to-government meetings twice with the Tlicho Government and once with the

Gwich’in Tribal Council. I believe all governments are pleased with the way that these meetings have been unfolding. We have made progress together on our shared priority issues.

With or without a formalized government-to-government agreement in place, this government continues to meet with all Aboriginal governments in all regions of the Northwest Territories. We continue to work with Dehcho First Nations; senior GNWT officials have been engaged in weekly bilateral meetings with Dehcho officials on governance and land related issues, strengthening our relationship through a better understanding of each other’s aspirations.

Mr. Speaker, strong, effective and efficient governments are essential for helping Northerners achieve their social, environmental and economic goals. Aboriginal governments play a role in this and are important partners with the Government of the Northwest Territories. Formal agreements between us help our governments address issues that matter to our people and work together more effectively. I look forward to continuing to strengthen our relationships with all Aboriginal governments in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mr. Speaker, bullying is a broad societal problem and a very serious issue in our schools that Education, Culture and Employment is dedicated to addressing.

On February 16, 2012, the Legislative Assembly passed an anti-bullying motion, calling on the department to establish a territory-wide campaign to denounce bullying, and review anti-bullying legislation in other jurisdictions and bring forward a bill for consideration by the Assembly within 18 months.

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to announce that later today I will move first reading of a bill to amend the Education Act that will include bullying prevention measures. But legislation alone, as many of you

have told us, will not be enough. In collaboration with an interdisciplinary team, we will finalize our Territorial Safe Schools Action Plan to address bullying and develop regulations, policies and procedures that will create safe learning environments. This is a long-term investment with many partners, including Aboriginal governments, the Northwest Territories Teachers’ Association, school administrators, other government departments, families and communities.

The Safe Schools Team will assist in the development and direction of a Territorial Safe Schools Plan, for use by all schools in the NWT, and will be piloted next school year. This plan includes legislation, tools and resources, an educational training plan, along with new regulations, policies and procedures. It will help district education councils, authorities, and schools to monitor, measure and evaluate bullying-prevention initiatives. We will also continue to research best practices for safe schools, work collaboratively with educational partners, and collect, analyze and use data to support future decisions.

The department is committed to doing its part in addressing this complex issue and we believe that the legislation and action plan will support a safe learning environment for NWT students. This will help us take steps to address all forms of bullying, including cyberbullying. Bullying is a global issue, and we will continue to work with our partners across Canada to ensure we have a strong, collaborative approach to bullying prevention and to safe schools for all students.

A strong, prosperous territory begins with a strong society sustained by a healthy environment. We need to get it right from the start. This is an investment in a future where all of our children grow up to become healthy, educated members of society and can participate in creating sustainable, vibrant communities. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Minister of Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.

Mr. Speaker, this Legislative Assembly has a vision of strong individuals, families and communities sharing the benefits and responsibilities of a unified, environmentally sustainable and prosperous Northwest Territories. Achieving that vision requires a balanced approach that advances our economic, environmental and social priorities and this government is moving forward on all those fronts.

Supporting economic development for Inuvik, and the whole Northwest Territories, by facilitating the construction of a fibre optic line up the entire length of the Mackenzie Valley to Tuktoyaktuk is one of the priorities of this Assembly and this government. The Mackenzie Valley fibre optic line would allow communities, businesses and residents along its route to benefit from the internet age of the 21st century.

One of the ways that we can help finance this important project, diversify the economy of our territory and the town of Inuvik, and free ourselves from the ups and downs of the resource development sector we have depended on, is to support the growth of new industries, such as the Inuvik Satellite Station Facility.

Mr. Speaker, this facility has the potential to become one of the pre-eminent satellite ground stations for remote sensing not only in North America but the world.

Currently there are two satellite antennas in Inuvik, one owned by the Swedish Space Corporation and the other by the German Space Agency. The Government of Canada, through Natural Resources Canada, will begin construction of their own antenna this summer. At this point, Mr. Speaker, this is likely the maximum number of antennas that we will see in Inuvik without a fibre optic link to southern Canada and the rest of the world.

Mr. Speaker, the limitations of our current communications infrastructure are preventing our government from providing better programs and services to our residents, particularly in the areas of health and education. This lack of infrastructure is also preventing our businesses and residents from accessing non-government services and connecting, in real time, to the rest of the world.

In order to obtain a better understanding of how growing the Inuvik Satellite Facility can help the construction of a fibre optic line up the Mackenzie Valley, I led a delegation to Kiruna, Sweden, where the Swedish Space Corporation operates one of the largest satellite ground stations in the world, and to Munich, Germany, where the German Space Agency is located.

Our delegation was comprised of representatives from Aboriginal governments that are considering partnering with our government to build the fibre optic line and a representative from the Town of Inuvik. Travelling with me were:

• Mr. Daryl Dolynny, MLA, Range Lake,

representing the Standing Committee on Priorities and Planning;

• Mr. Denny Rodgers, general manager of the

Inuvialuit Development Corporation;

• Ms. Amy Thompson, board member, Gwich’in

Tribal Council;

• Mr. Danny Yakeleya, Sahtu Secretariat Inc.;

• Mr. Jim MacDonald, deputy mayor of Inuvik;

• Mr. Mike Aumond, deputy minister, Finance;

• Mr. James Tolley, my executive assistant; and

• Mr. Stuart Salter, our invaluable expert

consultant.

Every member of our delegation learned a great deal from our meetings and has a better appreciation how important the fibre optic line up the Mackenzie Valley is.

Specifically, Mr. Speaker, we saw first-hand the significant positive benefits the satellite ground station and remote sensing industry have not only on the economy of Kiruna, but also the important role they play in facilitating advanced learning at the Institute of Space Physics. The potential impact of an expanded satellite ground station in Inuvik on the Aurora Research Centre is significant and could make this facility one of the “the places to be” to conduct space-based Arctic research.

In Munich, the German Space Agency clearly articulated the geographical advantages that make Inuvik an ideal location for remote satellite sensing. They told us that if they decided to further invest in the Inuvik Satellite Facility, they would seriously look at undertaking significant data processing in Inuvik, creating jobs and providing training for local residents.

It is evident that both the Swedish Space Corporation, the German Space Agency, the Government of Canada and others will seriously consider investing to expand the Inuvik Satellite Station Facility and make it a world-class leader in remote sensing if, and only if, they have access to a fibre optic link to provide a real time connection to the rest of the world.

Mr. Speaker, it is time that as many of our communities as possible enjoy the benefits of 21st century communication infrastructure that Yellowknife, Hay River, Fort Smith, Edmonton, Ottawa and most of the world take for granted. We can make this happen with the construction of the Mackenzie Valley fibre optic line. I want to thank the Standing Committee on Priorities and Planning for its strong support of our government’s commitment to see this project advanced and completed.

Mr. Speaker, we continue to take productive steps towards implementing the Mackenzie Valley fibre link. We are in the process of finalizing the project description report by the end of June; we undertook a request for expression of interest process in April that demonstrated a strong level of interest in the project; we are currently preparing the request for qualifications for release in June 2013 and planning on starting the request for proposal process later this fall. Based on this schedule, we anticipate

construction will start in winter 2014 to have the fibre operational by the summer of 2016.

This timeline will support the current growth of the Inuvik Satellite Facility, which includes the new antenna I had mentioned earlier and provide the confidence needed to support future anticipated growth to a total of five antennas by 2016 and 10 antennas by 2020.

Mr. Speaker, I will table a detailed report on our visit to Sweden and Germany in upcoming October session. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Recently, the Standing Committee on Priorities and Planning had an opportunity to have a retreat in Inuvik – and I hadn’t been up to Inuvik for a while, not since the new school was built – and it was our opportunity while we were in Inuvik to tour some new facilities that were built there. Sitting here in the Legislature, I had heard a lot about the new super-school in Inuvik. I expected to be amazed. Now I can tell you the only thing that amazes me about that school is the price tag.

I hate to rain on anybody’s parade, but right from the outside of that school, it has an exterior very similar to this Legislative Assembly. It has some kind of metal cladding. It is a very cold looking building. It could be mistaken for, I want to say a penitentiary, but something like that.

When you go in the door, you go in and there are long, grey, cold hallways. Maybe there is more work to be done, I don’t know. But it clearly told me that Public Works and Services needed to come up with standardized things that are required in schools.

We saw the children’s indoor shoes in clothes baskets inside the door of the classrooms because there were no shelves built into the program to store their shoes. Now, everybody knows we are living in the North; it’s cold weather. Kids are going to wear their boots to school and they are going to have indoor shoes. No cabinetry, no millwork, nothing for children’s shoes inside the classroom.

No bulletin boards in the classrooms, Mr. Speaker. Twenty-five pages, eight and a half by eleven like this, pinned up on a drywalled wall with pushpins. You walk in there and it kind of leaves you feeling… Like, we all like to have nice homes that are well decorated and well-appointed and you go in there and you see that. It doesn’t make for a nice environment.

So many things. Janitorial equipment in the hallways. We asked about it – no janitor’s room. One whole end of the school and no janitor’s room. Great big floor cleaning pieces of equipment sitting in the hallway.

We went into the library. It’s a beautiful library, but I don’t know how this could meet any kind of energy code or energy efficiency code. The windows in the library are so massive – and I am not making this up – the librarian has to wear sunglasses and they are about to spend $60,000 on new blinds to cover up the windows, because they wanted to put so many windows in this new facility. It’s a challenge for them operating in there. The teachers told us that they can’t see their computer screens for all the glass that they wanted to build into this school. I’m sure they will work out all these kinks, but for $126 million, I have to say I am rather disappointed with the thought that went into this. We need standards for things like shoes, bulletin boards, the janitor’s room.

I would like to seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

Like I said, I’m not trying to rain on anybody’s parade on this, but we did spend a lot of money on this. We heard about all the consultation that went into the school. I just don’t know how such basic things that a school needs could have possibly been overlooked in this school.

On the same tour we saw the Children’s First facility, which I must say was amazing and lots of thought went into that. That was a Cadillac of early childhood development centres, but I have to say I’m disappointed with the school. They’ve got lots of things to work out, so I hope Public Works will get on that. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Regardless of the conditions of the school and environment this weekend, I would like to focus my Member’s statement on celebrations and successes of the graduation celebrations that will be going on in Inuvik this year.

Regardless of how cold the halls may be and how dismal the school may look, I’m very pleased to say that the East Three School is going to have 34 graduates this year, which is historical and also one of the highest graduating classes that came out of Inuvik. You can’t put a price on education. You can’t put a price on the future of our students and our communities. I’m very glad to see the great

accomplishments that the students that are graduating from East Three High School have made.

As we all know, graduating from high school is a big moment in any of our lives. Probably one of the biggest moments that we ever experience is graduating from high school. I’d like to offer my congratulations to the 34 students, and thank all the teachers and staff for all their hard work and efforts, and making that transition from the old school to the new school, and being able to be successful in graduating these 34 students.

At the same time, the Aurora College will be having a completion ceremony. This completion ceremony will be graduating young adults as well as adults who have decided to make a change in their lives and also take that step in developing and educating themselves to high standards, become educated and become better members of society. I would like to congratulate each and every one of the students that will be graduating from this completion ceremony in the learning centre in Inuvik with the Aurora College centre and the great program that they do. It is a big moment in their lives and shows that this government is putting in the efforts, the resources, and making sure that our people that are out of the school system have that opportunity to thrive and succeed in life and we have those opportunities. In Inuvik we’re lucky that we do have the facility to do so.

I know that there have been a lot of challenges over the last year within the high school and in Inuvik with the economy, and to be able to overcome those challenges and to get to this day of completion and graduation, that’s a big accomplishment, and I’d like to congratulate all the graduates this weekend in Inuvik.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Economic Opportunities Panel report is affirmation of our citizens’ grassroots priorities for economic development. My thanks to all those who took time to contribute and share their views.

In reading the report, it often seemed I was reading my files of correspondence from people across the NWT or, indeed, in entreaties from this side of the House.

A few highlights:

• widespread interest in more agriculture,

recognizing the importance of small subsidies and empowerment of local capacity;

• strong support for development of commercial

fisheries, recognizing unused capacity and marketing this special world-class resource;

• increased development of our forestry potential

and an end to importing biofuel;

• expansion of tourism with training and

marketing help for small operators and consideration of a Yellowknife runway extension to accept international traffic;

• even greater emphasis on the grassroots arts

and craft industry with action to improve the supply of materials so we don’t lose traditional skills;

• take advantage of unused capacity for hydro

energy to cut the burden of energy costs on our businesses and families and grow a greener economy;

• greater emphasis on training and employment

development and cutting back the fly-in, fly-out workers commuting from afar;

• emphasis first and last on made-in-the-NWT to

stop exporting our dollars and nail them down in our local economies;

• there’s a critical need to integrate labour

development with economic development and get government back onto effective socio-economic benefits agreements;

• from government services people want strong

action on import substitution and an effective Business Incentive Policy with tightening up of support programs to eliminate confusion.

• I would also push for a long overdue renewable

resource forum in parallel to the Geoscience Forum.

People did not emphasize megaprojects and big developments. Those players are well resourced to further their projects, but the need for considerable focus to actually benefit widely from such development was clear. The largely local common sense folks contributing their views knew what they wanted for ensuring healthy families and healthy communities, a strong emphasis on small local businesses and use of local resources to meet basic needs and build local economies.

Our citizens are optimistic and confident in our ability to control our economic destiny and grow a sustainable economy. I look forward to the government’s next steps in giving life to this direction. Mahsi.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have the pleasure and honour today to speak about our Pages who provide excellent, courteous services throughout session. In particular, I’d like to acknowledge the many Pages from Range Lake constituency who are with us during this sitting.

Aleah Bergeron’s favourite school subject is math. Her interests are swimming, volunteering, and animals. She wants to be a Page because it’s a new experience and she can use the experience for applying for future jobs.

Ashley Peddle likes English in school and enjoys reading and writing. She also likes playing soccer and volleyball, she’s an incredible pianist and in her rainy time she likes to draw and paint. Helping people interests her. So being a Page, as she said, is a natural step for her.

Dylan Roesch loves gym time at school. His interests are hockey, soccer and baseball. He is looking forward to spending time at the Legislative Assembly during his time as a Page.

Matthew Curtis enjoys volunteering and helping others and is looking forward to doing a good job as a Page. Math is his favourite subject and he also enjoys musical theatre and acting, racquet sports and computers, and he boasts that he can solve the Rubik’s Cube in less than one minute.

Michelle Lee likes language arts and reading and writing. She also enjoys swimming, piano and cadets and is looking forward to learning more about what MLAs do. She thinks a job in politics would be cool.

Simon Von Allmen likes math best in school because of the idea of an infinite amount of numbers. Reading and hanging out with friends remain his interests. He wants to be a Page to help earn money for summer holidays.

Mr. Speaker, as you pointed out earlier this year, the Legislative Assembly’s Youth Outreach Program is aimed at educating northern youth about consensus government and with an emphasis on the Assembly’s functions, operations and its history and the important role that this institution holds in the NWT.

I see the Page Program, combined with our Youth Parliament, as an excellent way to promote developmental opportunities for youth and potentially open doors to employment in the political field, or perhaps someday to an elected position with us.

Furthermore, we just recently completed the successful Youth Parliament, where 19 school students from across the NWT debated issues important to them. Mr. Speaker, you add all this up and youth from across the NWT are gaining

valuable life experiences with the Assembly and with Members here, and of course through your stewardship and leadership, and making connections that will indeed last a lifetime. I’d like to thank them again. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There’s a better way to live and the people of Fort Good Hope want to help their young people find it. We have elders centres, we have recreation centres, we have health centres, and the youth today in Fort Good Hope want to have a place to call their own.

Today we need to focus on establishing strong youth centres in Fort Good Hope. A youth centre would give young people a place to go in town and outside of town after school where they can be held accountable to running their own centres, whether it be in the bush or in the community of Fort Good Hope. They will learn about responsibility and accountability. It will provide a place for them to do things and also to learn.

Fort Good Hope’s Community Wellness Plan identified the need for a recreation and youth and elders program. It is hoped that the departments of Health and Social Services and MACA will support this plan.

Fort Good Hope’s acting CEO also says a good education will help many youth overcome their problems. If not, they may not be able to get a good job or go to university if they don’t get the education they need in the community. Then they start a road of hopelessness and have no purpose in their lives. The community is forming a support group to give youth a place where they can set some goals, stay accountable make some lifestyle changes. It will also give young people a safe place to talk about what they’re going through, a place of hope, a place of encouragement, a place of learning and a place they can call their own.

Earlier this year students went to Vancouver to see what college and university life is like. The trip inspired the students to get an education instead of getting drunk. Youth need to be grounded in a good life and life skills, and learn how to handle situations when they are being pressured to drink before they become adults. We need to remind our youth of the consequences of their decisions and to be held accountable for their actions. If you want a good life, you need to live a good life. It’s simple. Residents, led by the elders, want a traditional camp to bring people back to the land. The land is where we come from; it reminds us of who we are and why we were created.

I seek unanimous consent to conclude my Member’s statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

The band council began constructing the camp this spring. The community hopes it can be a wellness and healing camp where people and youth can be comfortable, learn about the traditional Dene ways of life, reconnect to their roots and give them strength for the future. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. It truly is that time of year again to speak about graduations, when hard-working students put on their ties and tassels and walk up to get their diplomas.

The Thomas Simpson School graduation ceremony is taking place in the school grounds in Fort Simpson this Saturday. This year’s ceremony is going to be very special. There are 26 prospective Grade 12 graduates, the biggest graduating class in the history of the school. I send congratulations to all the teachers and parents who made this happen.

The students come from Fort Simpson and also other communities in the Nahendeh, and I can’t fault them for ambition. The theme this year’s grads have chosen is, “To Infinity and Beyond.” Perhaps someday one of them will become another Chris Hadfield, orbiting high above our planet; or maybe some of them will settle in Yellowknife Bay. Yellowknife Bay, Mars, that is, Mr. Speaker.

I do hope that infinity includes the Northwest Territories and especially the Nahendeh riding. But Infinity and Beyond is the right theme because these students have so much potential. They will become community workers, tradespeople, entrepreneurs, parents and professionals the people need to build this Northwest Territories.

Congratulations to all the graduates, the proud families, their teachers and the staff at the Thomas Simpson School. As well, congratulations to Karilene Isaiah, the only grad from Fort Liard this year.

It also gives me great pleasure to recognize my niece, Shermayne Menicoche-Moses, who is graduating today with a B.A. in management.

---Applause

I wish all Thomas Simpson High School graduating students infinite success wherever their future plans may be. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can’t say enough about the importance of community radio stations to the fabric of small town lives. I wish I could show Dennis Allen’s great film about CBQM radio in this House. I would recommend it to all the Members and everyone listening. In fact, I would recommend it to everyone in Canada. It’s that good and it shows the real life, humour and spirit of our communities. Someone else wants to talk.

Of course, anyone living within earshot of Fort Providence should tune in to CHFP radio, operated by Zhatie K’oe Friendship Centre. Someone else wants to talk.

Community radio stations keep everyone notified about local events, often host programs in Aboriginal languages, and foster communication. Many good stories are shared over our airways.

These stations are all run on a shoestring. If you can believe it, many survive on a $6,000 a year grant from Education, Culture and Employment. That has to cover the cost of a part-time coordinator, any music or supplies they have to buy, you name it. Oh, and that is supposed to fund local access television as well.

If memory serves me, the grant has not increased in the past 20 years. I know that the current budget of $52,000 per year is the same as it was in 2001. Community broadcasting has clearly not been a priority of this government.

The backbone of the community radio system was built by the Native Communications Society. I’m happy to say that its signal, CKLB radio, reaches 33 communities. Someone else wants to talk.

NCS installed most of the equipment for the stations and has tried, against all odds and without much money, to maintain them.

A crisis is brewing for our community stations due to the age of existing equipment, the state of facilities and the speed that technology is changing. NCS is struggling to keep up. In some communities it’s already a challenge to stay on the air. I’m told that critical improvements can be made for $7,000 to $27,000 per community, depending on the existing setup. This is an investment in the future that is very much worth making. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My statement today is about the Department of Education, Culture and Employment proposal for minimum wage adjustment, specifically to the

committee that has been established by the Minister to review the NWT minimum wage.

Don’t get me wrong, Mr. Speaker. I’m very glad the Minister sees the need for a regular review for the minimum wage, but I can’t agree with the Minister’s suggestion to strike a committee to review and set regulations.

I feel it’s overly bureaucratic and, quite simply, unnecessary. I have concerns with both the makeup of the committee and the length of the proposed terms for committee members. As was originally proposed, the Minimum Wage Adjustment Committee would be comprised of five members: one business owner, one employee and three GNWT employees.

Since the announcement of the committee makeup, two groups have written to the Minister expressing their concerns. Both Alternatives North and the Northern Territory Federation of Labour voiced their disapproval of the committee makeup. I’m pleased that the Minister has responded positively to those concerns. Both the NWT Chamber of Commerce and the Northern Territory Federation of Labour have been in invited to appoint a member to that committee. They are a business and labour organization respectively. Alternatives North has been invited to submit a nomination for committee member. Whether that means they will have representation on the committee or whether they are invited to nominate a candidate who will be considered along with all other candidates is not clear to me. The other three committee members are proposed to be GNWT employees.

But seriously, Mr. Speaker, what do our employees know about the impacts of minimum wage? I don’t think this will be in the realm of their experience. It’s best stated by Ben McDonald of Alternatives North who wrote, “We consider that the committee should have a more diverse representation including a labour representative and an individual who has lived in poverty.” That said, Mr. Speaker, if this committee is structured properly, they would set the minimum wage at a living wage rate, make themselves redundant and we wouldn’t need a committee anymore.

Both Alberta and the Yukon currently peg the annual increases to the minimum wage to the Consumer Price Index. Minimum wage concerns are addressed to the Employment Standards Board or the Department of Labour. It’s a great system that works well for them and it could work well for us. I fail to understand why the NWT has created an extra level of bureaucracy and paperwork.

We say we strive for efficiency in government. This is a step towards inefficiency, in my view. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have spoken before about the difficulties families in Tsiigehtchic face in finding good homes for their children when they have to complete high school in Inuvik. The local district education authority has a potential solution for the problem. It plans to bus students in grades 10 and 12 to Fort McPherson each day. Busing would not be first on all students who cannot complete high school studies in Tsiigehtchic. It will be an option for those who find Fort McPherson a more appropriate choice. It is difficult for high school students to leave home, and busing would keep families together longer.

It was a very practical idea, Mr. Speaker. The two communities are only 57 kilometres apart. Family and cultural ties are very close. I am pleased to point out that there is a precedence for daily short haul busing of students. This has worked out very well for students from Enterprise who go to Hay River. That is a 42-kilometre commute, so it is fairly comparable to the situation in Tsiigehtchic.

Of course, there’s a modest cost to begin busing students to Fort McPherson. An appropriate vehicle, driver and insurance will be needed, but I believe it will eventually prove cheaper and better than sending students to Inuvik, at least some students. I will be asking the Education Minister to fund a pilot project through the Beaufort-Delta Education Council.

Mr. Speaker, I want to comment briefly about traditions. We support many traditions, but some are not very great. Delta communities have a tradition of sending their students to Inuvik. It’s now automatic, that’s what we do. But where did that come from? It began with residential schools. We all know it’s a very painful period in our history. Our people, our schools and our governments are moving beyond that now. I am very glad with all the progress we’ve made.

The DEA’s idea to bus students from Tsiigehtchic to Fort McPherson is one step in that progress, and we should support it.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today with concerns that I’ve expressed in the House before about NWT commercial vehicle issues.

I continue to hear complaints about how there are inconsistencies between the jurisdictions of NWT and Alberta, where we get the majority of our commodities from. In this House I’ve talked about tri-drives, and the fact that the GNWT and the NWT motor vehicles don’t recognize the tri-drive vehicle heavy truck. There’s an extra axle, but it’s supposed to be better for the roads. Some of the government departments actually request this type of truck when they’re transporting some of the heavy equipment that’s on the highways out there today.

Other inconsistencies between jurisdictions are we currently require them, in our jurisdiction, to have a commercial licence plate on the front. In Alberta they require that in the back of the truck where, in theory, the person, the trucker is supposed to get out of the vehicle and change licence plates when he gets to the Northwest Territories. When he goes back into Alberta, he’s supposed to turn around and put it back on to the back end of the vehicle. Also, wide load sign regulations are completely different in Alberta and the Northwest Territories.

There are other areas in the regulations that are affecting people in our jurisdiction. I have heard some of this is due to the new bridge tolls, but commercial vehicles or commercial pickups that are over 4,500 kg require a class 3 driver’s licence. That means if you have a one-ton pickup pulling a trailer, you are now required to have a class 3 driver’s licence. There are a lot of companies out there that have people that have a class 5 driver’s licence doing whatever commercial work, driving a one-ton pickup, just the pickup, but it’s pulling a trailer, so now it’s over 4,500 kg. Now those people, they have to get a class 3 licence in order to do that. That’s very ineffective for people to work. In Alberta, a pickup is a pickup. It doesn’t matter what it’s pulling.

The way it’s set up right now is those people could take their driver’s licence under that configuration.

I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

Under current regulations they could get a class 3 driver’s licence driving a one-ton pickup pulling a trailer, and then turn around and jump into a gravel truck fully loaded with gravel out on our commercial highways, and if they got the air brake endorsement, they could jump in that gravel truck, but only getting it with a pickup truck.

It just seems that we have too many inconsistencies and our regulations are not conducive to business in the Northwest Territories. We need to look at these regulations. It just seems like the Department of Transportation seems to be slowing down the working class in this territory.

I will have questions for the Minister of Transportation later today.

Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. The Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to talk today about a bunch of real estate concerns that I’ve seen go by without any particular attention that needs to be brought to it. Most people in the Northwest Territories will know that there is no current legislation or regulation that oversees real estate appraisals, which is kind of a weird situation because if there’s no regulation or legislation, who knows how these things are being performed? In other words, who’s keeping an eye on industry, and certainly, who’s keeping an eye out for hard-working families.

There can be many problems that can arise from that particular situation. For example, banks and lenders rely on accurate appraisals to ensure that these things are done properly. The ramification can be serious. The impacts, we have to look no further than south of the Canadian border to see what happens from a bad ripple effect of unappreciated, unaccredited over-financing linked to bad appraisals.

There are remedies, and the Appraisal Institute of Canada has brought forward initiatives and, of course, high-quality professionalism and training since 1938, but these regulations and legislation requirements aren’t here in the Northwest Territories. However, Alberta, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick all require this.

Real estate concerns don’t end there. In this House I’ve asked for disclosure agreements. As most people will know, I think the only thing that a person has to disclose is if somebody died in a particular house. But what happens if someone is covering up mould? What if someone is covering up a cracked foundation? Other jurisdictions require this, again, for the hard-working families that are put into jeopardy if these types of things emerge, because the person selling the home covers it up and pretends they were never there.

Again, I think mentioned by Member Dolynny not too long ago, real estate sales people can represent both sides. So the bottom line is: Who is representing the interests of which person, whether they’re representing the seller, whether they’re representing the buyer, and does the new buyer realize that and fully understand the fact that the real estate person represents the seller?

The final issue I want to talk about under real estate concerns are a new home warranty. Many jurisdictions feel it’s very important, such as Ontario, that they protect their citizens by ensuring

that new homes built come with a new home warranty.

So there are a lot of things that need to be done. Again, I call upon this government to start watching out for the hard-working Northerners who work hard to raise as much money as they can to buy their family home, the biggest treasure in their life.

I will have questions later today for the MACA Minister. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Along with my colleague from Inuvik Boot Lake, I want to offer my congratulations to those that are graduating from high school in Inuvik, the first graduating class of the new East Three School, which may have some challenges but the students surely enjoy it.

Also, he talked about the learning centre completion ceremony, and it’s always one ceremony that I never have an opportunity to make because we’re normally in session. But it’s a very important ceremony because many of these students have left school, they’ve gone back and got their grades upgraded and then they can get into mainstream college programs. So I’ve always been quite proud of the students that have gone through that program. I know a number of them that have gone through Aurora College and gone on to bigger and better things and I totally commend them for that.

Also, the Aurora College in Inuvik had their graduation recently and, unfortunately, again I was unable to make that event, but my colleague and I will be at the Inuvik graduation ceremony tomorrow. I think as an Assembly we have so many opportunities coming down the line.

You’ve heard Mr. Miltenberger talking about the fibre optic line. We’ve got the Inuvik-Tuk highway; we’ve got, potentially, the Mackenzie Valley Highway and all the work going on in the Sahtu. There’s just a tremendous amount of opportunity out there for our students, and I think as leaders from across the Northwest Territories, I think we should do what we can to encourage our students to take advantage of those opportunities. With devolution coming, that’s going to open up many more new doors.

So I’m very proud of the students of the Northwest Territories. Many of them have overcome challenges to get into the position where they are and I think their efforts – and as long as you put some effort into it, you will get something out of it – should be commended and should be applauded. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. I, too, would like to congratulate the students in Inuvik. My god-daughter is there. Nicole Jacobson is graduating there tomorrow and I’m sorry I couldn’t attend due to business here. All the best to her and all the best to the graduating class.

Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Item 6, acknowledgements. Item 7, oral questions. The Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, and I want to follow up on my Member’s statement in which I said I was very impressed with the way the Economic Opportunities Panel heard and documented our citizens’ grassroots visions for the future of our economy. We have the input and now we must put it into action.

Can the Minister explain the process and timing for bringing this input to a final strategy and confirm that the strategy will include an action plan of costed, concrete measures to put the ideas into action? Mahsi.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have to congratulate the advisory panel in the work that they did around the Northwest Territories in meeting with stakeholders. This is all about partnerships and building those solid relationships. We had a number of partners in this effort.

We are going to be moving the work forward. The What We Heard report that was tabled will be turned into an action plan. We hope to have that action plan to the House and to standing committee sometime toward the end of September.

You don’t get into an effort like this with the partners we have and not put something forward that we are going to be able to accomplish in the life of this government. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I’d like to thank the Minister. I’d also like to thank very much all the public, our citizens who took the time to participate and contribute to our ideas.

A major point raised in the continuing economic drain of fly-in/fly-out employees from other jurisdictions has been raised before. We have socio-economic agreements with hiring targets, but the targets aren’t being met and government isn’t being firm, insisting on better results.

How does this government intend to move now to call the big companies to book on their performance and up their proportion of NWT resident employees? Mahsi.

My belief is that we have to do more training; we have to get more of our own people trained and ready for the jobs that are coming in industry, and my belief is we can do that. Some of the recommendations contained in the What We Heard report would suggest that the government needs to address the training component. If we can train more people, we’ll keep more people at home and have less of the fly-in/fly-out type of workers.

I should also mention that the new ownership at Ekati, Dominion Diamond Mining Corporation, certainly is looking at ways to try to keep their workforce here in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

I’ll look forward to a lot more fleshing out in the weeks to come here. For our community residents, mega projects clearly aren’t the priority, though. Our citizens stress the benefits of locally controlled, sustainable businesses that will take us through boom and bust. Yet this government’s focus continues to be the huge developments local people can least control, and as we see from fulfilment of hiring targets and fly-in workers aren’t delivering full benefits here.

I’m wondering: How does the Minister intend to really take this input to heart and turn the super-tanker approach of government policy towards a local fleet of small but priority opportunities and benefits? Mahsi.

Mr. Speaker, I’m not quite sure how the Member believes that we’re only concentrating on mega projects. With an effort like the Economic Opportunities Strategy clearly in place, we are planning to move forward with diversifying the economy. We know we can’t do it on large projects alone. That’s why we started this effort and that’s why we’re going to see it through. That’s why we’re going to come up with an action plan that’s going to see us move forward on areas like agriculture, forestry, fisheries and the traditional economy here in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks for the Minister’s comments. The renewable energy development to cut the costs for families and businesses were also emphasized by the public. At a time when electricity rates are guaranteed to increase by 7 percent per year and heating costs have soared, how will the Minister ensure that the strategy reflects an emphasis on shifting from

expensive imported fossil fuel to renewable energy? Mahsi.

Mr. Speaker, that goes without saying. I mean, that is always something that this government is continuing to pursue.

We’re developing an Energy Strategy and we need to find ways to get communities off of diesel. Our intention is to do just that. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement today I talked about real estate problems from appraisals to disclosure agreements, real estate sales people working for both ends of the transaction and, finally, new home warranty.

My question to the Minister responsible for the situation or this area of governance would be R.C. McLeod from MACA. What I’m going to ask him to do is rather than try to explain why we’re not doing stuff, would he be willing, as Minister, to look into the situation to see if we can balance some of these concerns and report back to the House with a bit of a plan, not necessarily bringing forward legislation or regulation, but a plan or strategy on how we can deal with some of these anomalies in our system that aren’t protecting our Northerners at this time? Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will commit to the Member that we will gather some information and report back to the Member and Members of this House. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In follow-up to my Member’s statement today, I have questions for the Minister of Public Works and Services. I think we as the government, through the Department of Public Works and Services, should allow for a local interpretation and local input into how they want their community infrastructure to look and the kinds of things they want to accommodate. But, Mr. Speaker, we pay top dollar for architects and engineers when we build these kinds of projects. I guess Inuvik particularly stands out in my mind just because of the sheer cost of it.

I am not in any way trying to discourage the staff or anybody of that school, but we as a government, when we build a building, have to give the staff the kinds of things they need to work in a tidy and a useable and functional environment.

I’d like to ask the Minister of Public Works and Services, when building a school, quite apart from what the architects want to do or things should be done, do we not have standard things that would be built into a classroom, like a shelf to put shoes on, blackboards, bulletin boards? Are there not standard things that we set out as at least a minimum before the architects take them and add their flavour to it? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The Minister of Public Works, Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I hear the Member’s point. We do planning studies with the department that is leading the build. In this case it was Education, Culture and Employment, and they identified the requirements, the things they would like to see in the building, the input from their staff, the input from the boards, the input from the community. All that is incorporated into the design. We build what is asked of us to build.

In the case of the school, we heard clearly from the board of education, from the Department of Education, and we incorporated state-of-the-art kitchen facilities, music rooms, theatre capacity so community groups could do those types of things. We put in state-of-the-art gym and physical rooms, so that the students could be healthy and well. We also incorporated a significant amount of light and open space that the community, the students and the staff all indicated they wanted.

So we do try to incorporate community input as much as possible. If you look around the Northwest Territories, every school in the Northwest Territories is different and they’ve all had input from the communities. A good example would be Diamond Jenness. If you go into Diamond Jenness in Hay River, clearly the community has had input into that facility and the types of things they would want to see in that facility. It, as well, with the upgrades, is a state-of-the-art facility.

The people of Inuvik are very proud of their school. They are very proud of the facility that was built and it is a state-of-the-art facility with tons to offer. Are there sore points for certain individuals? I’m sure there are. Are there things we can do better? Absolutely. We will learn from these experiences and we will take the Member’s point. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I’d like to thank the Minister; good answers. There are always going to be deficiencies with new construction. Any new building, there is going to be a list of deficiencies of

things that need to be addressed. I am just disappointed that such fundamentally required things like millwork or cabinetry to store things like kids’ shoes… All the way down the hallway, there were those $1.99 plastic boot trays on the outside of the hallway. Inside the classroom door, literally, were Rubbermaid white laundry baskets with all the kids’ shoes all chucked in there in a pile. I’m sorry, I’ve been in a lot of schools in the Northwest Territories and that’s not standard. It’s not conducive to a tidy and workable environment for me. When I go into a school and the first thing I want to do is start cleaning it up, straightening it out and taking papers down and putting things on bulletin boards, maybe it’s just me.

They have a dental facility in the school. How amazing is that? That is beautiful, but they can’t use it because the door opens the wrong way. It’s completely unusable.

There are things that somehow, someway when the translation between what the community and the staff and the DEA wanted and everything, and what was delivered, there are deficiencies. I guess, suffice it to say, I hope that these things can be addressed so that the residents and students of Inuvik can enjoy this new facility to the utmost.

I’m not familiar with the door issue, but I’ll certainly have Public Works and Services take a look at it.

With respect to the other items, they weren’t part of the original design. I’m happy to work with Education, Culture and Employment, and if they are interested in putting in those types of things, we, as the facilitator of building in the Northwest Territories for government infrastructure, will be happy to work with them and do as they ask.

There also seemed to be a question about snow removal. This school is located on a very large lot, and of course, you get a lot of snow. Like anywhere in the North, you get a lot of snow there. But I guess in the old school maybe they had like a shed for snow removal equipment. I know this is a problem in Hay River too. I’m not even sure whose responsibility it is to clear the snow. Is it the schools or is it Public Works and Services? That was another deficiency that we observed and heard about when we saw the new school in Inuvik. Maybe the Minister of Public Works could answer that for us. Who is responsible for the equipment and the actual removal of snow on school property?

Ultimately, the authorities are responsible for the schools themselves, but we do a lot of maintenance work for schools as negotiated. In the case of Inuvik, I’m not sure what the situation is with the snow, but I will certainly look into that and get back to the Member.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today my questions will be for the Minister of Health and Social Services. After quite a lot of advocacy work done in BC province, on March 14, 2013, the BC Premier and her government amended what is referred to as their Medicare Protection Act, which now allowed for the coordinating of regulations to formalize the extension of out-of-country stays, from six months to seven months.

Once those regulations will come into effect, what this means is residents in that province will be permitted to spend up to seven months outside of their province and still maintain their health care coverage.

Keeping our seniors in the North and those who wish to enjoy the fruits of their labour means we have to offer the same level of commitments many other provinces are offering.

For my first question: Is the Minister of Social Services prepared to consider similar provincial regulation changes to formalize an extension of health coverage for out-of-province stays, from six to seven months?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The department would be prepared to look at other jurisdictions to see what all the jurisdictions across the country are doing in as far as coverage and the extent of which the person can be a resident in another part of the country or another part of the world. We would be prepared to look at that and to look at the cost of that.

No further questions.

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

Mr. Speaker, in follow-up to my Member’s statement, I will have questions for the Minister of Transportation. I heard him talking about economic development today with his other hat, and I have concerns about how open for business we are here in the Northwest Territories.

My first question is: What is the department doing to recognize the configuration of a tri-drive truck that we currently do not recognize but Alberta does, the jurisdiction right adjacent to us?

Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’ve got a balancing job to do here in the Northwest Territories. With all the gravel and chipseal surfaces here in the Northwest Territories, it’s important that we protect the integrity of those road bases from harm. Some of these larger trucks may, in fact, be damaging our road surfaces here in the Northwest Territories. We’ve done some research and we’ve listened to the concerns of Members, and we are going to be moving forward with a two-year trial period changing regulations on tri-drive configurations here in the Northwest Territories. We expect that these changes will come about in the next month and we look forward to watching how our roads are impacted as a result of this change, but we’re certainly listening. We understand that trucking companies want to bring those types of configured vehicles into the Northwest Territories and we are going to look at changing regulations so we can allow that to happen over a two-year trial period.

That’s great to hear; and my friends in the trucking industry will probably be happy to hear that as well.

My next question is all the inconsistencies I was speaking of today in the two jurisdictions, whether it has to do with licence plates, whether it has to do with wide load signs, whether it has to do with truck qualifications, whether a pick-up is 4,500 kgs and the class of driver’s licence you require for that. What is the department doing to try to get the jurisdiction, considering it’s mainly with Alberta, but because we are so adjacent and that’s where the majority of our stuff comes from, what is this department doing to meld or mirror our legislation between us and Alberta and make it consistent for the trucking industry so they feel like we’re helping them out?

It’s, in many cases, in our best interest to look at harmonizing regulations with other jurisdictions, but as I mentioned earlier, the Northwest Territories has roads that are gravel, chipseal. Sometimes the regulations that may work in southern Canada aren’t going to be able to work here in the Northwest Territories, but I do believe, if the Member has some examples, I know he’s spoken about a class 3 driver’s licence for the one-ton pick-up hauling a trailer, if there are others the Member speaks of.

Perhaps what I could suggest is a meeting with the EDI committee that the Member is on and we can go over the regulations that they have concerns with. We’ll get department officials there and we can try to chart a course forward, because we do want to listen to the concerns of Members and the public as well.

As a Member of the EDI committee, I’d be interested in that, and I will follow that up with my colleagues and see if we can get a briefing on that. Obviously, my concerns are definitely the fact that there is that inconsistency in the class 3 driver’s licence because there are businesses out there that are dependent upon unskilled labourers that only have a class 5 driver’s licence. Now they’re having to get a class 3 driver’s licence, which is more expensive and not conducive to doing business in the Northwest Territories.

Will the department look at this regulation of pick-ups requiring class 3 drivers’ licences, and if it can be changed to meet and mirror the Alberta legislation?

I know we are looking at that situation the Member outlined for us. As soon as we get some work done on that, I will be able to get that back to the Member as soon as possible.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Your final, short supplementary, Mr. Bouchard.

That’s all, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. At one point or another, everyone here, I think it’s probably safe to say, grew up with radio in the background, in the bush or else in their homes. Radio continues to be an effective medium of communication for Aboriginal languages. It’s a vital net that bonds everyone together in the smaller communities.

My question is to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. The $6,000 a year grant has not increased since 2001. That’s very concerning. Why hasn’t ECE supported community broadcasting and not increased it for so long, especially trying to even consider it perhaps in terms of inflation as well? Mahsi.

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

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I agree that radio is an effective means of communicating throughout the Northwest Territories and we must support that in any means we possibly can. There’s also a federal partnership. The federal government contributes to NCS and we contribute up to $6,000 per community for the operation. The Member is asking why it hasn’t been increased. This is an area that we can definitely look at. Again, it’s based on our agreement with the federal government and our funding within the GNWT. So this is an area we can definitely look at. Mahsi.

It’s encouraging that the Minister is committing to review such a priority for small communities. Has ECE taken the steps to review or evaluate the community broadcasting program, and if so, when was it done and what was the conclusion? Mahsi.

Mr. Speaker, when it comes to community broadcasting, we work closely with the NCS. NCS does the overall Northwest Territories broadcasting in Aboriginal languages. Those are the avenues that we work with.

In re-evaluating our own programming, I’ll have to get back to the Member if there has been a review of all programming. If not, then we’ll need to pursue that in those areas. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, in the spirit of trying to lay the foundation, and this government has indicated, quite publicly, it’s partnership principle of working with communities and agencies such as NCS, would the Minister commit to ensure that that partnership is developed and supported, and at the same time, would the Minister increase the maximum grant per community and the overall budget of the Community Broadcasting Program? Mahsi.

We are putting a lot of pressure on the federal government. We’ve met with the CEO of NCS. There’s another meeting on June 3rd to deal with that matter. There’s been a

proposal submitted by NCS for upgrading equipment and so forth. Part of that discussion is the $6,000 maximum that we’ve been allowing to the communities.

Again, the Member has raised a point of possibly reviewing the program. That’s a commitment I’m making, that we’ll be re-evaluating our contribution. Mahsi.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s encouraging, once again, to hear the Minister commit to a working relationship with NCS. I know this, perhaps, could take a medium- to long-term solution, looking at trying to draw the federal government in as well.

In the interim and in the immediate need, would the Minister work with NCS to set up a maintenance and technology fund to address the immediate needs of long-term health of community equipment, especially with communities that right now are not able to access the House and be aware of what’s happening in the NWT? There are some communities that don’t have radio stations because the equipment is down.

Would the Minister step in at this point and commit to work with NCS immediately? Mahsi.

Mr. Speaker, as I indicated, June 3rd is a meeting with the CEO of

NCS. I do believe that type of discussion will take place. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are addressed to the Minister of the Department of Human Resources. I’d like to ask him some questions with regard to northern allowance that’s paid to our employees.

As a matter of course, the northern allowance is determined under the Collective Agreement between the government and the Union of Northern Workers, but the northern allowance is based on a base rate at Yellowknife rates and I do have some concerns with that. I don’t know that Yellowknife necessarily is the cheapest location in the territory. It is in some areas, not in others. I realize that this is a difficult problem because it is in a Collective Agreement, but I’d like to ask the Minister initially if he could explain the methodology that is used to determine the northern allowance and what’s the rationale for using Yellowknife prices as a base. Thank you.

Minister of Human Resources, Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is a long question or a question demanding a long answer, but I’ll do my best to do it in a short period of time. The northern allowance is a negotiated benefit and it cannot be unilaterally changed or reduced or eliminated by the GNWT.

Many, many years ago – in the ‘90s – we used to have a housing allowance and a vacation travel assistance allowance. Those were eliminated as part of a negotiation. As a result, housing was rolled into the salary. At that time, there was a significant increase in salary, whereas VTA wasn’t. VTA became part of what is known as the northern living allowance.

On top of that, we’ve also calculated in a transportation component, which is the old VTA plus a cost of living component, which is based on a basket of goods and includes things such as food purchase from store, household operations, house furnishings and equipment, operations of automobiles and trucks, recreation, clothing and footwear. It does not compromise housing or electricity.

This is, as I’ve indicated, a negotiated amount. Yellowknife was selected as the base, and the bottom line of the northern living allowance is it’s intended to equalize the communities that are outside of Yellowknife to the rate and cost of doing

business and living in a community like Yellowknife. It is for the North, it’s about the North, and it’s trying to provide equal opportunity for GNWT employees. And remember that the northern living allowance is just for GNWT employees who live outside of the centre. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

It’s “Mr.” Speaker, Mr. Abernethy.

---Laughter

I want to thank the Minister for that explanation. I realize that this is a difficult topic to discuss, but I am a little concerned that Yellowknife employees may be at some kind of a disadvantage. So one of the things that the Minister referenced was a basket of living expenses, I guess you would call it. It struck me that this basket does not include transportation. Transportation is outside of this basket. The other thing that is outside of this basket is mortgages.

So can the Minister explain, from his experience in negotiating this particular issue, why transportation and mortgage expenses are not included in the basket of living expenses? Thank you.

I indicated in my previous response that transportation is one of the primary components of this. There are two components. There is transportation, which used to be the VTA, and then there is the cost of living component.

If you go back and look at the history of negotiations over time, when we got rid of the housing allowance in the Government of the Northwest Territories in the ‘90s, that amount was negotiated by way of an increase into the base salaries of all GNWT employees. So housing has already been incorporated in. If you look at the increases that have occurred to the salaries over many years, the increases that have been negotiated exceed CPI by over 10 percent over the last 12 years. That is where that particular thing is negotiated.

We also need to remember that northern allowance is non-pensionable. The union has – and it makes sense – focused on increases to areas that are pensionable as opposed to non-pensionable. This allowance is intended to equalize the communities to Yellowknife rates, and it works and it is a negotiated formula and the union hasn’t sought to renegotiate that formula. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I totally agree with the principle for equalizing rates for our employees across all of our communities.

The Minister mentions that the union has not asked to evaluate or do any kind of revisiting of this particular methodology. I’d like to know from the Minister when the last time was that this methodology was reviewed. When was the last time it was looked at across the territory and was there

an evaluation to determine if the fact that Yellowknife is the base rate is actually appropriate still? Thank you.

Once again, going back in time into history, the VTA that we used to have in the ‘90s became part of the component of the northern allowance. When we factored in the transportation component, that transportation component works out to about $3,400 in Yellowknife and we’re trying to equalize to those rates. Those are no longer realistic rates. The cost of getting out of Yellowknife has actually decreased in the last number of years as opposed to increased. So if we were to actually base the rates on the cost of getting out of Yellowknife, it would be a drop, and that hasn’t been negotiated.

I know for a fact we haven’t negotiated northern allowance changes for the last two Collective Agreements, but I can’t tell you for sure when the last time that occurred. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Minister. My last question has to do with transportation, as he just mentioned. I appreciate that the transportation costs are rolled in. I appreciate that the living allowance has been rolled into salaries. It’s my understanding that transportation is weighted fairly heavily in the criteria that make up the methodology that determines northern allowance, so I’d like to know from the Minister why transportation is weighted so heavily compared to, say, living costs.

The transportation component provides compensation to communities relative to the value of the cost of return transportation between Yellowknife and Edmonton via air and/or road. The cost of living component provides compensation to communities relative to the average expenditures for a food basket of goods and services compared to Yellowknife. Yellowknife would be a base. We would be looking at the cost of goods or the basket of goods in every other community as part of the formula to determine what other communities are getting, but if we’re using Yellowknife as a base, we need to make sure that it is an appropriate cost, and that cost was negotiated between the Government of the Northwest Territories and the UNW. As I have indicated, the cost of transportation out of Yellowknife has actually decreased but they haven’t bothered to negotiate down the price.

Right now, we have a formula – it works – that we use, and the union is supportive of that formula.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m just going to follow up to a Member’s statement I made earlier this week, and it’s in regard to the gas situation that’s happening in Inuvik. We’re looking at finding solutions and actually making things a little bit better for our businesses and our residents in Inuvik. Actually, my questions for today are for the Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation.

I’d like to ask him, in regard to a statement that he had made March 13th of this year, in regard to the

policy review considered in terms of replacing the net billing with the net metering program. I’d like to ask the Minister responsible if he can give us an update on where that policy review is, whether that’s in place now so that our businesses, our residents can start looking at these alternative energy sources that would cut down the cost of living in some of our higher communities.

Thank you, Mr. Moses. The Minister responsible for the NWT Power Corporation, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That review is pretty well done. We’re migrating from net billing to net metering. That work is underway. We’re going through the process. We anticipate that by this fall we will be ready to move to go to the PUB and such. We, as well, have a briefing scheduled next week with committee to update them on the status of this particular initiative.

Glad to hear that the policy has been reviewed and looking at something in the fall. For businesses specifically that do create a lot of power and energy that will go back into the grid, would the Minister be able to give us an exact time and date so that these businesses can start looking at investing in some of these alternative energy sources that would lower their costs but also be able to get a return with the net metering? Would he be able to give us a specific date so that some of our businesses, our residents can start looking at investing in some of these alternative energy initiatives?

I’m sticking to a seasonal target at this point, but by fall, September, October, we expect to have all the necessary steps covered. We want to, of course, do our briefing with committee, get feedback from committee, and it’s going to apply to standby charges as well. I would point out that the net metering and the change is going to be focused on thermal communities and initially to look specifically at solar.

The Minister did touch on another question here that I was going to ask about the

standby charges, and he did mention that they‘d be looking at possibly getting away with the standby charges, which is also great. Seeing as we’re at the beginning of summer here and we’re into 24-hour daylight here, and any businesses in the Northwest Territories that want to access this solar energy while we have a longer day period, seeing as we’re going to be passing this policy in the fall time, is there any chance that any businesses that might try to get an initiative now be able to recoup any types of savings come the fall, get that back over the summer months? Knowing what we know today, from this day forward if they get into the alternative energy sources, would they be able to recoup some of those costs back when the policy goes through?

I would suggest that if folks are interested, businesses are interested, that they look to the subsidies and grants that are available to start up and assist with alternative energy infrastructure; solar, biomass and that type of thing. Those have been increased; the amount of money has been raised; the ceilings have been raised so that the level of support, and I believe where it was $25,000 is up to $50,000. So if they’re just wanting to get started today and they want to think about it, then they’ve got to do their plan and they’ve got to buy the infrastructure and I think that would be the first port of call, and then as we get down the road with the regulatory changes, that will be the fall.

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

The way it currently sits, there’s no incentive for these businesses or residents to really go into this with all the energy going back into the grid. I want to know with the subsidies, outside of the subsidies, would any of these businesses that are ready to go now, would they be able to get any kind of retroactive payback from knowing what we know now and when it comes through in the fall? Yes or no?

In this case I would suggest that virtue would have to be its own reward, the savings that they would have in their own businesses, and the answer would be no.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of MACA. I could also ask other questions to the other Ministers, but this one I want to focus on with the Minister of MACA and ask him what types of resources are available for a youth centre in Fort Good Hope. At the same time, I want to congratulate the communities of Ulukhaktok, Fort Resolution and Deline in regard to

their youth centres. I want to ask similar types of questions to the Minister on a youth centre for Fort Good Hope.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The community of Fort Good Hope could do as some of the other communities across the Northwest Territories have done. Through their capital infrastructure money that they receive through MACA, they’ve determined that a youth centre is one of the priorities in their community. Therefore, the community has taken it upon themselves to build that community youth centre, and as the Member mentioned, there is a number of communities that have done an excellent job in putting some good projects on the ground.

It is said that it takes a community to raise a child. It also takes our government and the community government to raise a youth centre. So I want to ask the Minister if he’s had any type of discussions with the Minister of Health and Social Services or the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, and even the community of Fort Good Hope, in looking at how can we put a comprehensive plan together to support a community youth centre in Fort Good Hope, where different programs and different funding from all the governments and Ministers to put an overall comprehensive plan together that would support a youth centre concept in Fort Good Hope?