Good afternoon, colleagues. Item 2, Ministers’ statements. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, the 17th Legislative Assembly has a vision of a territory where strong individuals, families and communities share in the benefits and responsibilities of a unified, environmentally sustainable and prosperous territory.

The path to that vision has its obstacles and challenges. Now, as Northerners, we do not shy away from challenges. Our territory is built on the strength and resilience of people who have persevered and survived despite harsh climate and the sometimes harsh reality of northern living. However, there are times when the load can be lightened, the challenges met and the vision seen more clearly.

Mr. Speaker, this week Members of the 17th Assembly will have the unprecedented opportunity to clear the path to our shared vision of a unified, environmentally sustainable and prosperous territory. We are ready, Mr. Speaker, to lighten the load all Northerners carry, to bring decision-making and resources where they belong: home, to the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, to that end, I will be tabling the results of the public engagement on the proposed Devolution Agreement and the Northwest Territories Lands and Resources Devolution Agreement. It is also our intention to introduce a motion seeking this Assembly’s support for the approval of the Northwest Territories Lands and Resources Devolution Agreement.

Should this motion pass, we will then sign the agreement that will see new responsibilities transferred to us on April 1, 2014; new

responsibilities, Mr. Speaker, and a clear path to our vision. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mr. Speaker, we all know the terrible toll that addictions take on our people and our communities. Widespread addictions are one of the biggest barriers to achieving the vision and priorities of this Assembly. It is a driving force behind family breakdown, incarceration, homelessness, and developmental delays in children.

As a government, we have invested millions of dollars into tackling this issue and commissioned numerous reports, but we haven’t seen much improvement.

This is why I convened the Minister’s Forum on Addictions and Community Wellness. I believe that our communities and our people have the answers.

Mr. Speaker, at the appropriate time today, I will table the report and recommendations of the Minister’s Forum. I want to thank the members of the forum and acknowledge their efforts, and I especially want to commend Mr. Paul Andrew, who chaired the forum and provided leadership to this important initiative. The forum members have produced an excellent and comprehensive report.

The forum’s conclusions and recommendations are consistent with what we have heard in other consultations over the past several months. Communities are telling us that their top priority is for more investment to support on-the-land programs for community healing. A second priority is more programming for youth.

Mr. Speaker, the forum’s recommendations on improving addictions treatment in the Northwest Territories are consistent with what I have heard from MLAs. Communities told us they want to see residential treatment improved, but more importantly, they want to see a greater emphasis on aftercare and detox programs.

Over the summer I will work with other Ministers to develop a detailed response to the report that will be coordinated with other action plans like Early Childhood Development and Anti-Poverty. But we will not wait until that response is finalized to take action.

This year’s budget includes new funding to address some of the forum priorities, including enhancing on-the-land programs, improving residential treatment programs and aftercare, and focusing on youth addictions. That important work is already underway and will continue. Through the business planning process, we will target priorities for increased investment throughout this government.

The recommendations of the Minister’s Forum will help us to build on the commitments in our existing Mental Health and Addictions Action Plan, and help us to target priorities for increased investment. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mr. Speaker, elders play a vital role in integrating languages and culture into school programming, and provide valuable skills and knowledge to our children and youth.

I am happy to announce that, beginning in the coming 2013-14 school year, we will be launching the NWT Elders in Schools pilot program to strengthen and increase elder involvement in our schools. While there are currently a significant number of elders already involved in many of our schools, this program seeks to enhance and formalize elder involvement within our school system. This pilot program will run in all schools across the territory for the 2013-14 school year, after which we will gather feedback and input from the schools on suggestions for improvements.

Mr. Speaker, the NWT Elders in Schools Handbook provides details to superintendents and school principals about how to adopt the program, and answers to commonly asked questions about how to bridge the gap between generations and between tradition and technology. This handbook was modeled from the successful Nunavut program, and will be completed early in June.

We will develop an evaluation framework to monitor the program’s effectiveness and ability to meet program objectives to ensure the program actually works.

Mr. Speaker, we have a vision of strong individuals, families and communities sharing the benefits and responsibilities of a unified, environmentally sustained and prosperous Northwest Territories. Achieving our vision requires a balanced approach

that supports our citizens, preserves and revitalizes our cultures and languages, grows our economy and helps us protect our environment. This project is one of the ways Education, Culture and Employment is working towards healthy, educated people and complements work our government is also doing on the environment and the economy.

I look forward to seeing the territorial pilot in action this upcoming school year. It is imperative that we connect our generations to ensure the preservation of our languages, cultures and traditions. I will keep this Assembly apprised of the progress of this valuable program. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day is a day of remembrance for pregnancy loss and infant death. Although this day is observed in many places around the world, it is still not well known. The Canadian Foundation for October 15th , known

as CFO, is an official foundation leading the campaign to recognize October 15th as Pregnancy

and Infant Loss Remembrance Day in Canada.

The goal of the CFO is to obtain an official day of remembrance – October 15th of each year – to

ensure that all Canadian families who experience the loss of a child during pregnancy or shortly after birth are given the opportunity to acknowledge their loss, seek support and honour their child’s memory in an understanding and supportive environment.

The CFO works to promote national and international pregnancy loss, and infant death awareness remembrance and support, enabling the larger community with the knowledge and skills required to assist and meet the needs of families who experience pregnancy loss and infant death.

This special day is already observed in many countries, provinces and states, through participation in the International Wave of Light, a candlelight vigil starting at 7:00 p.m. every October 15th . The result is a continuous wave of light that

spreads around the globe for 24 hours, and it is a beautiful image.

A Pregnancy and Infant loss Remembrance Day is a small but important gesture for every family and community, but especially those who have felt this loss. It shows our support and our sympathy, and reminds us of the research and prevention work that needs to be done.

New Brunswick was the first province in Canada to honour October 15th as Pregnancy and Infant Loss

Remembrance Day. This is where we can help in this Assembly, and that is by designating October 15th as a day of remembrance for infants lost

through miscarriage, stillbirth and SIDS. I would like to see our territory join other jurisdictions in honouring this day each year, in support of those who have suffered the pain of losing an infant during pregnancy or shortly after birth.

I bring this topic up today in the House at the request of a young mother in Hay River who lost her first child at 24 weeks, and has subsequently happily given birth to another healthy child, but that loss and that remembrance of that child that she lost – and many other people have experienced the same thing – never really fully diminishes. It never really fully goes away, and yet, when people go home from the hospital, sometimes with empty arms, there isn’t much knowledge or support or, even in our society, a good understanding of how we can support and remember and help those families.

I will have questions later today for the Minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’d like to introduce to the House a group of students from Ecole J.H. Sissons School. These students in particular, who are all here in the gallery today, are an amazing group of young people who, through hard work and dedication, decided to invoke change within their community. What change do you ask? Well, these students decided that they were going to do something about homelessness.

In December of last year, Miss Anna Pontin approached her principal, Mr. Bennett, and expressed an interest in helping the homeless people in Yellowknife. Anna, a Grade 4 student at J.H. Sissons, was inspired by the work of another young person who was determined to make change: Ms. Hannah Taylor from Winnipeg. Although Ms. Taylor is now at the ripe old age of 15 years old, Ms. Taylor started helping the homeless when she was just five years old, and today she now has an organization called Ladybug Foundation that has helped homelessness across Canada in many major cities. That should remind us that you are never too young to start.

With the determination and energy like no other, Ms. Pontin enlisted five of her cohorts, five particular young people that she knew would bring

special skills to this movement she was changing. Although, through this collaboration, these young folks were able to launch and focus their mission. The first thing they did, knowing it was an enormous topic, they called upon Mayor Heyck, who met with them to discuss the issues so they could learn more about homeless people in our city, about the programs and the partner organizations.

After learning a fair bit about this particular issue, and at the same time realizing how large this issue really was, they decided they should focus their efforts specifically at the downtown day shelter. As such, these students then called upon Ms. Bardak to meet with them to talk about what they could do to help.

One particular area that they found that could make an immediate difference was they found that many of the clients had no access to crafts and music, so with an unwavering focus before them, they now were off and running with their mission.

The students decided to first raise some funds for this project for providing crafts, arts and music to the people at the downtown day shelter. As such, our young homelessness team, or crusaders, went on to present to all the other classes at J.H. Sissons, and they did this with such excitement, I’ll say that their excitement drew out enthusiasm, and it certainly was utterly changing and infectious.

May I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement?

---Unanimous consent granted

Their enthusiasm was infectious. Within a few days, these students raised $576, with several donations of musical instruments, but it didn’t just stop there. Since their initial presentation, they have pledged many other types of assistance. One particular student said, please don’t bring gifts to my birthday party; make a donation. She was able to raise $120.

The kindergarten kids proved that they are not too young, as well, to provide an additional $30 with their fundraising. They collected many things, such as winter clothes, mitts, gloves and toques for the shelter. Further, they continue to raise money for craft programs. They continue to have a weekly fresh bread drive that gets dropped off at the shelter once a week. Finally, these individuals continue to collect dry goods and canned goods for the Food Bank.

If you have been keeping tabs, which I know you have, you will now realize that they’ve raised over $700, along with collected musical instruments, new clothes, weekly bread drives, and they donate to the food shelter. The result of these young people is profound and has had an enormous positive effect, including on myself.

To bring this to a close, this all started with one student’s determination to do something, to lead a life-altering project strengthening partnership with six amazing students. They work together with their school and their community. In Rehtaeh Parsons words, everyone deserves dignity. The work of these fine students is bringing some dignity back.

To close this off, later today I will recognize the hard work that these individuals have done, and I will be asking for the attention of this House to recognize them individually. The work of the homelessness continues. Thank you to all of these fine students for reminding us how important it is and how young people can make change in their community. Thank you one and all.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don’t know how I’m going to be able to follow that one. With just under 500 apprentices in the NWT, a recent ITI Economic Opportunities Panel reaffirmed the North needs more skilled workers but, more importantly, that these workers be Northerners.

I say this is a great observation, but no one really wants to talk about improving the process of our apprenticeship programs. We keep hearing the promise, finding the people committed to the trades. I say let’s fix and tweak the process and hopefully the people will step forward.

To achieve this, one must take the time to talk about our current apprentices and ask them what have been the roadblocks, what have been their barriers.

With limited time today, I will focus on one such barrier, which is the current Targeted Wage Subsidy Program. Currently there are four wage subsidy programs through the Department of Education, Culture and Employment. While the programs differ slightly in their targeted audience, the spirit of the subsidies is to provide employers with incentives to create implemental employment opportunities for Northerners.

Now, this may appear to have all the rigours of a well-oiled machine, yet when you peel back the fundamental of this incentive, the employer is in the driver’s seat and not the apprentice. Why is this of concern? For starters, the control and leverage of wages lie in the hands of the employer. Now, I wish I could say all employers are equal in design, but I can assure you that some employers will use this opportunity to their advantage at the sacrifice of the apprentice.

Knowing your employment contract money in your future education is in the hands of the employer

offers little hope for those apprentices in not-so-favoured situations. Of course, like any employee, you can give your notice, but now your record book, your logbook, and your Apprenticeship Program is now put on hold until you are able to find another employer willing and able to take you on as an apprentice. I can tell you that many apprentices just say they will tolerate what they have. As well, your new employer would then have to reapply for funding, causing even further delays in the apprenticeship process. Again, most apprentices just can’t afford the delay.

What we have currently, in the eyes of northern apprentices, is a grin and bear it program when it comes to the Targeted Wage Subsidy Program. It is this barrier to the program success. The solution, I say, is let’s tip the process on its head and make the apprentice employee the one in the driver’s seat. Let this apprentice have the ability to assign wage subsidy certification with the employer of their choosing. Let the apprentice decide which employer is best suited for the success for their continued program.

I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement. Thank you.

---Unanimous consent granted

Furthermore, let’s make sure this Targeted Wage Subsidy Program is owned by the apprentice and not the employer.

I will have questions later today for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment on finding better ways to achieve a better balance that we currently see with the Targeted Wage Subsidy Program and our Apprenticeship Program as a whole. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mahsi.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m taking the opportunity today to go down memory lane, like my colleague Mr. Miltenberger, who often talks about history.

Back in 1992, while I was taking my business degree in finance at the University of Lethbridge, I had the opportunity one summer to get a position as the economic development officer trainee, before I completed my last year of university. I returned to Hay River, became the economic development officer there, and since then purchased a home in Hay River and have lived here in the Northwest Territories since then. I think this is one of the draws that kept me in the North and kept me as a productive Northerner.

As students return from universities and colleges this summer, often the issue of employment comes up, whether it’s summer employment or some of them who are completing their education are looking for permanent employment. This government knows these students. We have financial assistance programs for them. We should be linking something to the students we know we have out there to the current jobs and what the government is looking for.

We have an aging population. We know there are going to be demands in the future of how many employees we’re going to need. The government is one of the major employers in the Northwest Territories, so we should have a direct link to those students when they first start their education, to what the opportunities are there, what the opportunities are for employment. We need to link that, because we are seeing in our riding, as well as hearing stories throughout the North, where there are students coming back and they don’t have a job. They could be lawyers. They could be doctors, teachers. We have teachers who are Northerners but don’t have any full-time employment. We’ve had a lawyer, recently, looking for a job in the Northwest Territories. Couldn’t get a job in the Northwest Territories; finally she was able to line one up.

Whether you’re a teacher, lawyer, welder, mechanic, we should be supporting our youth and getting them jobs, and linking our education system with the human resource commitment to the Northwest Territories government.

I will have questions for the Minister of Human Resources on how we can create this kind of a link between the Northerners who we’ve given financing, and finding them jobs out there. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Since being elected, I have been pointing out some of the ways people in small communities are at a disadvantage when it comes to receiving services provided by our government. Medical care is one of the biggest and most important. As we all know, there are many medical services that are not available in the small communities, so people have to travel. In my region, that often means going to Yellowknife.

There are no commercial flights and people can only travel by road, either by taxi or by private vehicle, and it is a pretty rough trip for someone who is in pain. Many travel by taxi. It is a pretty good business for taxis. There are often up to three people riding in the cab with different appointment

times. It is common for them to wait in the cab and bring their own lunch. The trip takes at least three hours each way, so unless the medical appointment is very well timed, it can easily turn into a two-day trip.

Use of private vehicles seems to be discouraged. In such cases, the Medical Travel Policy does not make any allowance for meals and accommodation. Most hotel rooms in Yellowknife cost between $150 and $200 a night, and with the price of meals you’re looking at close to $300 a day. It’s a lot of money and many people can’t afford it. I’m sure some people decide not to go to their appointments at all unless their condition is pretty serious.

In the long run, this results in more medevacs, which are far more expensive to our government than travel allowances. NWT residents who get medical care in their hometown don’t have to bear these costs. Why do people from Fort Providence and other small communities have to pay for their meals and accommodations when others do not? This is a clear example of unfairness and the way government discriminates against people living in small communities. We have to do better, Mr. Speaker.

I’ll have questions in this regard later. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As pointed out in a recent report from the Northwest Territories Teachers’ Association, teachers are turning down job offers for small NWT communities because of a lack of adequate housing. The report goes on to say that in the past 11 years, the Department of Education has spent $13.9 million moving teachers out of these communities, and that doesn’t include the added cost of recruiting new teachers to replace those who have left.

Since 1996, when the GNWT got out of providing teacher housing, there have been many things tried but, unfortunately, most of these solutions have not been successful.

Currently most districts in the NWT do have some sort of off-the-books arrangement for housing and have had for years. Here’s a snapshot of housing options that are out there in the eight district education councils and authorities that we have.

Both Yellowknife Catholic Schools and the Commission Scolaire Francophone do not provide any form of housing to teachers. Yellowknife Education District No. 1 owns Nordic Arms, an apartment block here in Yellowknife. In the Sahtu,

specifically in Colville Lake, the DEA either owns or manages the teacher housing there through a creative arrangement. In the Deh Cho, GNWT assets were turned over to the education council years ago, when no one locally would purchase them. There are houses in Trout Lake and Nahanni Butte, and a lease with the First Nations in Jean Marie River was turned over to the board. At Kakisa, Education, Culture and Employment gave the district education council about $60,000, and the council built a house. Public Works and Services has since taken over the maintenance and associated costs for that house. There have been a few ups and downs with that arrangement, but the best part of the deal, the council still collects and keeps the rent.

Alternatively, the Tlicho has housing in at least Behchoko for nurses. We have housing for RCMP in all of our communities where they’re stationed. To be honest, the GNWT and its agencies, departments of Health and Justice, do provide housing. The government can argue that they are locum nurses and that the RCMP are contracted but, in my mind, it’s a matter of semantics. Government money is being used to supply housing for people who supply services in NWT communities.

We struggle to solve the teacher housing riddle. Can we not find a solution that works? I have a suggestion: One potential solution would be amending the current regulations to allow authorities and councils to own property.

I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

DEAs and DECs who are allowed to own property can then legally set about acquiring housing for their teaching staff. Education districts need many options to help them deal with housing. One solution will not work for every one of them. The GNWT needs to be flexible and supportive, and good, strong northern housing must be available, well maintained and reasonable in price when it comes to rent.

Teacher housing in the NWT is hampered by regulations which forbid educational authorities to own properties, and this is perhaps not a solution for all of our communities, but as ECE consults with their partners on this housing issue, they must seriously consider revising the regulations so DECs and DEAs can maybe begin to solve their own housing woes. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On Friday I had the opportunity to attend a ceremony here at the Legislative Assembly, which was near and dear to my heart, and that was the World No Tobacco Day on May 31st of every year. It was really nice to

see, although I missed part of the ceremony. It was nice to see that the Department of Health and Social Services and its partners were promoting not only talking about the commercial uses of tobacco but promoting the cultural and traditional uses of tobacco that we have in the Northwest Territories, and promoting spirituality, healing, respect, offering prayers, but also talking about the commercial use and what that causes: the cancers, the strokes, heart disease and even death.

The ceremony finished with the feeding of the fire, and everyone that was in attendance participated and they all got to say a few words. But some of the strongest words were from our elders. Actually, the Stanton Territorial Health Authority Elders’ Council was there, a very strong voice. They didn’t have to read from a paper to tell us what they knew and how they grew up, and a lot of it wasn’t in terms of commercial tobacco use. They talked about the traditional uses. Very powerful words, very strong words, very wise words, and those words were that we’ve got to start focusing on prevention and promotion and educating our people to live healthier lifestyles.

I was very happy to hear that, and although we still do have a very high prevalence rate of smoking in the Northwest Territories – I think second across Canada – the numbers have been dropping. What has been increasing is the amount of people that don’t start smoking and that’s what this government needs to promote, educate and continue to strive for. In fact, it will lead us into that new generation of healthy, educated adults with the youth coming up and educating our youth.

Actually, in terms of education awareness, this morning in one of our public sessions, we heard from Mr. Wise Old Yakeleya here. He made a comment. He did say give a man a fish, feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime. This government has got to start educating and teaching our residents to live a healthier lifestyle so that we can create lifelong healthy, educated people and residents of the Northwest Territories.

I thank our wise colleague here, Mr. Yakeleya, for those words.