Good afternoon, colleagues. Welcome back, colleagues, as we reconvene the Fifth Session of the 17th Legislative Assembly.

Another beautiful autumn is upon the Northwest Territories. I hope you’ve had the opportunity to get out and enjoy it. As we return from a summer spent reconnecting with our communities, our constituents, our families and our land, we prepare for the busy session that lies ahead of us.

Members, on September 19th the Legislative

Assembly concluded our 20th anniversary

celebrations with the burial of a time capsule in front of the beautiful building that we call home. The capsule is scheduled to be opened in 30 years, during the building’s 50th anniversary celebrations.

Please join me in welcoming our Pages for this sitting. We will have students from Hay River, Inuvik, Yellowknife, and the Sahtu, Thebacha and Deh Cho regions joining us in the House. It is always a pleasure to have them here.

Members, October 15th is recognized as a Day of

Remembrance and Awareness of Pregnancy and Infant Loss. Although the House did not sit yesterday, I ask all Members to join me in honouring those taken from us far too soon.

I would like to take this opportunity to extend my personal condolences, and the collective condolences of the House, to all families who have suffered the death of a small child, infant or preterm baby.

Members, today I would like to extend condolences to families and communities who have lost loved ones in recent weeks. When we lose a loved one in our small communities, it is felt by all. I am sending thoughts and prayers to the families and friends of Troy Taylor, Joe Roy Kimiksana Jr., Sue Keevik, Martha Kudlak, John Gruben Jr. and Eddie Bourke.

Colleagues, it is now my duty to advise the House that I have received the following message from the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories. It reads:

“Dear Mr. Speaker, I wish to advise that I recommend to the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories the passage of •

Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), 2015-2016

•

Supplementary Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 4, 2014-2015, and

•

Supplementary Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2014-2015

during the Fifth Session of the 17th Legislative

Assembly.

Yours truly, George L. Tuccaro, Commissioner.”

Thank you, colleagues. I know we are all eager to tackle the work at hand, so let us begin.

Orders of the day. Item 2, Ministers’ statements. Honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.

Mr. Speaker. I would like to welcome all Members back for the resumption of the Fifth Session of the 17th Legislative Assembly.

Last month the Government of the Northwest Territories announced that it would cover the expected $20 million in increased operating costs that the Northwest Territories Power Corporation faces due to extremely low water levels in the Snare Hydro system.

Our government took this extraordinary step because we are serious about addressing the high cost of living people in the Northwest Territories face. Without this decision, the added cost of using diesel to supplement hydro generation on the Snare system would have been paid by electricity users in every community of the Northwest Territories.

As an Assembly, we share a vision of a strong, environmentally sustainable and prosperous Northwest Territories that provides opportunities for all its residents. Making the Northwest Territories an attractive place to live, work and do business is an essential part of achieving that vision. We

cannot achieve that unless we address the high cost of living and doing business in our communities. Energy is one of the biggest components of that cost and we have to do what we can to make it more affordable.

But we have to be clear that subsidizing consumers by taking on the additional costs of generating and distributing energy is not an effective, or affordable, long-term solution. If we really want to address the high costs of energy in the Northwest Territories, we need to make fundamental changes to how we approach energy specifically and how we think, more generally, as a government.

Identifying and harnessing new ideas is why the Government of the Northwest Territories will be hosting a second Energy Charrette early next month. The first Energy Charrette brought a broad range of energy experts and stakeholders together, including representatives from communities and Aboriginal governments. Together they discussed a long-term energy future for the Northwest Territories that resulted in an Energy Action Plan and a Power System Plan released late last year.

While those documents set out a long-term energy vision for the Northwest Territories, it is clear from recent circumstances that we also need to identify some more immediate and less expensive actions for addressing the high costs of generating and distributing energy right now. Our communities and businesses need the relief, and it will be critical to growing a strong, diversified economy.

A second Energy Charrette will give us the opportunity to identify those solutions, while accessing the input of stakeholders and good advice of energy experts. To help focus the discussion on finding practical solutions, we will be putting three questions forward: • Is there more that the Government of the

Northwest Territories can do in the short term to help Northwest Territories residents and businesses cope with rising costs?

• Are there new projects, programs or

technological solutions that could be effective in the immediate term?

• What should be the approach to transforming

our energy systems to ensure they are affordable and sustainable in the long term?

This charrette will look at generation options, rather than the large-scale transmission projects that emerged from the last one. We need to find ways to meet our energy needs closer to home, making better use of alternative energies like wind, biomass and solar. With ongoing advances in alternative energy technology, small-scale generation projects in communities, and even homes, are an affordable and feasible way we can help meet some of the demand, particularly in the North Slave where our current systems are at full capacity.

We need to do things differently, and the charrette will give us an opportunity to make a start in an area that is of great concern to all Northerners.

Mr. Speaker, energy is not the only area where the Government of the Northwest Territories needs to be doing things differently. We continue to face challenges that limit the choices we can make as an Assembly and hamper our ability to create the prosperous future we want for our residents. Even with devolution, the unpredictability of resource revenues will always affect our fiscal plans. Climate change will continue to affect our infrastructure and create challenges like longer fire seasons and low water levels at hydro facilities, placing more demands on our budgets and our people. Personal challenges like irregular school attendance leading to low educational attainment levels and mental health and addictions will continue to hold our people back.

We will only be able to realize our vision of a strong, sustainable and prosperous territory if we make some fundamental changes that free us from these external limits. We need to grow GDP and government revenues by transforming the territorial economy, creating something more diversified and less dependent on volatile resource revenues. We need to address the high costs of factors like energy that continue to be a drag on our economy and affect the standard of living of our residents. We need to effect social change that creates an environment our people can thrive and prosper in.

More money is not the answer. Increased flexibility in the form of a higher borrowing limit or more revenues would help address these challenges, but we cannot simply depend on finding more money that just may not be there. Increasingly, we need to realize that we will have to make managed and strategic investments calculated to make the fundamental changes we need for a successful future. At the same time, we need to maintain fiscal discipline, ensuring that we are not mortgaging our future at the same time as we are trying to transform it.

The growth and health of our economy depends on many factors. It depends on a skilled and educated workforce. It depends on competitive tax and royalty rates. It depends on affordable housing, energy and other costs that make it attractive for businesses to locate and stay here. It depends on vibrant, sustainable communities offering the kind of infrastructure and services residents and businesses need.

With so many factors in play, it is clear that we need to think creatively and broadly if we want to promote the kind of change in our economy that will create long-term, sustainable prosperity for our residents.

That is the kind of thinking that underlies our decisions to develop and implement an Economic

Opportunities Strategy and Mineral Development Strategy. It informs our decision to make strategic investments in infrastructure like the Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk highway and Mackenzie Valley Fibre Optic Line that will help support economic growth and development. It is what is behind our decentralization initiative and our objective to grow the Northwest Territories population to help sustain economic growth in all communities and regions.

At the same time, we continue to actively seek partnerships, recognizing that economic development is broader than just the Government of the Northwest Territories alone. We are particularly interested in seeking the opportunities that might come from engaging with forums that link governments and businesses with a shared interest in sustainable economic development and prosperity in our region.

Examples include the Arctic Economic Council, recently established by Minister Leona Aglukkaq in her capacity as chair of the Arctic Council, and PNWER, or the Pacific Northwest Economic Region. The Northwest Territories recently took over the presidency of PNWER, giving us a unique platform for promoting the economic potential of our region to a broad range of business and political leaders from several US states and Canadian provinces and territories in the Pacific Northwest and to gain the benefit of their experience.

New thinking and new ways of doing things are not just being applied to the economy. Our government is also taking new approaches designed to promote the same kind of fundamental, positive changes for the territory and its residents in the areas of education and health and wellness.

If we want the people of this territory to live healthy, educated lives free from poverty, we cannot simply address symptoms, we have to address causes. We have to create change at a fundamental level that positions our residents for success and we have to do it early on.

That is why our government has introduced the Early Childhood Development Initiative, Mr. Speaker. We know that the right kind of support provided to children in the years before they are five will pay off exponentially with long-term success in later years and reduce demands for more intensive and expensive interventions later.

The need to do things differently is also driving education renewal across the territory. We need to ensure our youth are prepared for the challenges of the future and ready to take advantage of the opportunities that a thriving economy will provide for them. Education renewal is working with our citizens to re-imagine the structure of the education system so it better reflects northern realities and leads to improved student achievement.

Our government has also been talking about the need to make fundamental change to the Northwest Territories health and social services system. We need to make sure that we are providing the best care possible to the residents of the Northwest Territories and that we are doing everything we can to encourage them to make healthy choices. We also need to make sure that we are using our resources wisely and that our system is as effective and efficient as it can be. We have been talking to people around the territory, outlining our vision for an improved and integrated system that will help ensure best health, best care, for a better future.

Our government has also been pleased to support the establishment of a Wellness Court by the Territorial Court of the Northwest Territories. This alternative to conventional court has been created to help offenders deal with the underlying mental health, addictions and cognitive issues they struggle with. By addressing causes and contributing factors, we hope to create lasting change that will allow offenders lead healthier lives.

Mr. Speaker, these are just some examples of how the Government of the Northwest Territories are doing things differently to help create long-term social and economic prosperity for all the people of this territory. It is going to take sustained and focused effort to do things a different way, but it is what we have to do if we want to achieve this Assembly's vision of a prosperous and sustainable territory with healthy, educated people and a healthy environment. As we prepare for the remaining months of our term, I invite all Members of the Legislative Assembly to join with us in creating a better future for the people we serve. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mr. Speaker, later today I will table “Building Stronger Families: An Action Plan to Transform Child and Family Services” as well as the formal response to Committee Report 6-17(5). This government is committed to a fundamental shift in how we deliver child and family services in the Northwest Territories. The action plan will guide necessary and transformational changes to improve the overall quality of these services and achieve better outcomes for children and their families when they require services under the Child and Family Services Act.

In the past four years, over 100 recommendations have been made with respect to legislation, policies

and practice in child and family services. The Standing Committee on Social Programs of the 16th Legislative Assembly undertook a comprehensive review of the Child and Family Services Act, and in March 2014 the Office of the Auditor General of Canada’s report was tabled in the Legislative Assembly. This was followed by the report of the Standing Committee on Government Operations, which was tabled in the last session.

“Building Stronger Families: An Action Plan to Transform Child and Family Services” forms the government’s comprehensive response to the Auditor General of Canada’s report on Child and Family Services and the report from the Standing Committee on Government Operations.

The action plan outlines three overarching goals of increasing accountability between health authorities and the department, improving service delivery, and better assisting children and families in our communities. The plan identifies three significant areas of reform. The first will be to make changes to service delivery and child protection practices. The second will focus on risk management and quality assurance, and the third will be to improve program administration and management.

We need to find ways to reduce the number of children taken into care, and at the same time we need to protect children and put their interests first. To accomplish this, child protection workers will receive additional training to assess risk, determine the strengths and needs of each family and develop responses that are appropriate to each individual situation. This fundamental change to child protection practice will ensure that children and families are provided with appropriate support.

To improve risk management and quality assurance, the department has already completed and implemented a number of items outlined in the action plan. The 2013-2014 Report of the Director of Child and Family Services will be tabled later this session. The format for new quarterly performance reports from authorities to the department has been designed, and reporting activity begins this month. The quarterly report covering October through December 2014 is due in January 2015. We have developed audit teams and a common audit tool for use by both the department and authorities when auditing child protection and foster care files. Annual auditing of each authority starts in January 2015.

Information is key to case management and service delivery planning. This year $3.5 million in capital funding was approved to replace the Child and Family Services Information System. This project spans three years, and the department is currently engaging professional services to oversee the development and implementation of a new electronic case management, information and data system.

Changes to program administration and management include the development of an improved accountability framework and the appointment of all health and social services authority chief executive officers as assistant directors under the act, creating clearer accountability in the system. The CEOs were trained and appointed in July 2014. We have also undertaken legislative amendments to the Child and Family Services Act that will support more community and Aboriginal involvement in child protection matters, including prevention and the development of a plan when we need to step in and assist families under the act.

In addition, the department has contracted the Child Welfare League of Canada to undertake a review of child protection caseloads and workloads in order to ensure we have the resources needed to provide adequate and essential programming across the NWT.

Finally, Mr. Speaker, “Building Stronger Families” acknowledges the role Aboriginal governments play in the delivery of programs and services and recognizes their future interests in this program area. We are committed to working together and to understanding the unique interests and challenges of each region and community as we improve our delivery of child and family services.

I look forward to working with Members as we transform child and family services in the NWT. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mr. Speaker, I wish to advise Members that the Honourable David Ramsay will be absent from the House today and tomorrow to attend the Federal/Provincial/Territorial Ministers responsible for Justice and Public Safety meeting in Banff, Alberta. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The extremely high cost of municipal services in Fort McPherson is ridiculous, Mr. Speaker. Over the past few years, the Hamlet of Fort McPherson incurred a deficit of over $2 million. The hamlet council took this expense upon itself to better the community services, only to be pulled deeper into

debt. The cost of municipal services dramatically increased. The average cost of water, septic and garbage services in March 2014 was $150 per household. Come April of 2014, the cost went through the roof and now Fort McPherson homeowners are paying, on average, $425 every month and upwards of $1,400 per month.

Constituents call me, asking why they now have to be the ones to pay back the amount the council overspent. The local housing authority is not getting an extra subsidy for the increase in water. Elders on a fixed income are not compensated for extra costs, and homeowners barely making it now have to pay almost three times what they were paying normally.

As it stands, we have a hard enough time keeping food on our tables for our children, let alone trying to keep up with paying sky high water prices.

I want to ask the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, where is the control? At what point does the department step up and say there’s something wrong here? Where are the auditors? Who authorizes funding to councils under such a deficit? The department needs to realize that the responsibility is shared.

My question to the Minister is: At what point would you step in again and revisit the situation? Clearly, something is not working.

The community members call me on a regular basis on the same issues over and over again.

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

---Unanimous consent granted

Is there a way the department can work with the community to lower the municipal services bills so that the residents can gradually adjust to the increase? The department and the hamlet should consider a five- to 10-year payback to the deficit, not try to recover it in one day and on the backs of community members.

There has to be a common goal of both the department and for my constituents. They are not happy paying such high prices to the hamlet. They are going into arrears and are given warnings that services may be discontinued, and some people have been refused water delivery.

Aside from the department coming into my community and telling people what will happen, can we sit down and come to an agreement to bring municipal service rates to a level where my constituents can hope to keep up with their bills? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Blake. Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it’s good to be back in the House with you and colleagues.

As we heard from our Premier today on all our accomplishments, it’s imperative that we take stock as we embark on the tail end of our journey of the 17th Legislative Assembly. However, in the midst of

human tragedy, such as the hangover effect of residential schools and the more recent call for murdered and missing Aboriginal women, we need to take stock of another kind.

Now, more than ever, we need to commit ourselves to our communities – all communities, big and small – because in the end, all politics are local. We need to meet our responsibility toward our fellow citizens with equal measures of restraint and passion for all needs. As a territory of new-found powers, we need to control who we are and who we can be. We know we need to overcome the shameful behaviours of our past, yet we need to stop the patronizing as a nation with the wooden spoon of ignorance and we must embrace the modern reality we live with today.

It’s imperative, more than ever, to create an environment of true belonging, a territory of achievement and a North capable of harmony. If we are to move forward in such fashion, as one territory, as brother and sister, with true forgiveness at heart, I ask my colleagues here today, let’s show it with the remaining time in this Chamber.

With that, I’m calling on all leadership, all community governments and all organizations in the Northwest Territories, to put differences aside and work together so we can achieve this greatness.

In closing, I reach out for the wisdom of a great leader of our generation, Nelson Mandela, who said, “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” Mr. Speaker and colleagues, I challenge you today, for the time remaining in the 17th Legislative

Assembly, let’s get these initiatives done for the residents we serve. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I too would like to welcome everybody back to the Assembly. It’s been a busy summer throughout the North, and with the record fire season this year, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the staff of ENR, the firefighters on the front, all the workers put together that helped protect this territory.

We had over 385 fires and three million hectares of forest destroyed. These people have been working hard for the public of the Northwest Territories, and I know the public appreciates them, especially in areas such as Kakisa and Reid Lake where the fires were right close to the facilities.

Other departments throughout the government need to be thanked as well: the Department of MACA for some of the services that they provide, as well as the Department of Transportation. I know some of the motor vehicle guys were on the lines for long hours controlling traffic, closing the roads. They were not popular at times, but I would like to thank them for their hard work.

As well, I’d also like to thank the departments. I think the departments all had to learn how to deal with certain situations, communications, getting out to the public.

While we’re speaking of fires, I’d like to congratulate Vince McKay of the Hay River Fire Department for receiving a Volunteer Firefighter’s Award this past week. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The voice of the NWT, the people of the NWT have expressed serious concern about fracturing the earth for oil. They’ve signed petitions by the hundreds, they’ve passed resolutions calling for comprehensive reviews or fracking bans in their areas via resolutions at the Sahtu and Gwich’in assemblies. By the hundreds they’ve written letters to authorities and asked their MLAs to call for a review, and indeed some MLAs have.

The Yukon First Nations banned fracking. Old Crow banned fracking. Our people with a new voice, supposedly devolved from Ottawa, have called for a comprehensive review. And this government’s response? No. We believe we can frack without significant impacts; we are the government, trust us. Your input? We’ll let you know.

The Minister of Finance’s frequent calls in the past for the government to respond to moral if not political responsibilities, the requirement for environmental review if there “might be public concern” according to the MVRMA or any newly enhanced responsibility to respond to the public are simply not on.

Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Quebec, PEI, Ireland, all those other states and countries with moratoriums or bans, the Council of Canadians Academy’s report? Unlike our Cabinet, the presumption is that these people are off track and

this government can regulate it better to avoid their concerns.

The Yukon process of a select MLA committee, public meetings and transcripts of proceedings with diverse experts in all relevant areas? Completely unnecessary. In fact, we just want to talk about how to frack and let’s not bother with pesky little questions like are the risks of fracking acceptable in the first place. Is this what we are hearing from a traditionally paternalistic, colonial federal government? Nope. Incredibly, this is our own government talking, our government with its brand new authority devolved from the federal government so Northerners’ voices can be heard more clearly and more effectively. Yet to so many, and myself included, this response is clearly colonial and paternalistic.

So now we know devolution gives greater power to the Premier and to the biggest promoter of fossil fuel development, Minister Ramsay. Taxpayers pay the Minister’s and Premier’s travels around the world to entice fossil fuel developers, declaring the NWT open for business.

I request unanimous consent to conclude my statement. Mahsi.

---Unanimous consent granted

Taxpayers pay the Minister’s and Premier’s travels around the world to entice fossil fuel developers, declaring the NWT open for business. Then the Minister returns home, dons his regulator hat and regulates these same corporations. I ask you, are there questions to be raised here? All this for fossil fuels whose combustion is known to be frying the earth and whose pursuit leaves the land and many people devastated in its wake. The people know what is needed, but they are being effectively silenced.

Citizens of the NWT, rest easy, your government is on the job. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. Still a question arises: Why? Why will this government refuse to take a transparent and objective look at this controversial practice? Addiction has been defined as knowingly indulging in something repeatedly when it gives short-term gratification yet devastating long-term harm. Could that be it, Mr. Speaker? I simply don’t know, but I know our record on dealing with addictions. I will have questions. Mahsi.

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

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The summer of 2014 was a record-breaking forest fire season. By the numbers, almost 3 million hectares of boreal forests burned and 384 fires. Suppression involved the efforts of more than 600 firefighters, 10 air

tanker groups, nine incident management teams and dozens of helicopters at a cost of around $55 million.

The greatest number of fires was in the South Slave and had a major impact on the Deh Cho riding. By late June the smoke along Highway No. 3 was so thick that the road had to be closed between Fort Providence and Behchoko, the first of many highway closures this summer. We heard reports of vehicles lined up three to four kilometres, waiting for the chance to drive through. The raging fires by Birch Creek almost had a tornado effect as fires swirled across the road, stretches of pavement and road signs melting, and warnings about air quality.

By mid-July the fires had consumed over 8,400 square kilometres of forest. That’s the size of Calgary and Edmonton combined. Kakisa was evacuated and Fort Providence was surrounded by three big fires, the Birch Creek to the north, the Kakisa fire complex to the south and the bison sanctuary fire to the east, familiar names to people across the North who were listening to their radios this summer.

There was a big fire camp at Kakisa and the Big River gas station in Fort Providence was extremely busy. People were stranded at Fort Providence and residents began to open their homes and businesses to travelers. The Department of Transportation organized convoys to escort drivers through areas of dense smoke and continually posted updates on road conditions on its website and Twitter feed.

By mid to late August, the fires began to subside and things got back to normal. Fires are part of a forest’s natural cycle, but global warming is making our climate hotter and dryer than ever before. This resulted in more extreme forest fire conditions.

I encourage the government to take lessons learned from the NWT’s most dramatic forest fire seasons yet and be prepared for the future. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. The Charles Tetcho School in Trout Lake simply has to be a stand-alone school. I’ve been speaking about this with the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, with my colleagues and in committee meetings. I would like to see it in our capital budget.

During my last visit to Trout Lake this fall, the chief and leadership were not happy to hear that a renovation was planned rather than the GNWT building a new school. The community’s wishes have been well known to the Minister and to this

government for many years. Trout Lake has grown in recent years. In fact, Stats Canada has shown this is a growing community, especially in the zero to 10 years age category, meaning that school enrollments have increased and will continue to increase. That’s good news, but we also need even better news: a new school.

The biggest concern is that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment is doing renovations to the building that do not take the community’s needs and wishes into account. The residents do not want to lose their valuable community hall and activity space, which they use six days a week.

Also, I am concerned that renovating the existing facility will delay and even defer the decision to build a proper school for the community of Trout Lake. The community has been waiting too long.

I will have questions for the Minister of Education at the appropriate time. Mahsi cho.

Thank you Mr. Menicoche. Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d also like to welcome all Members back into the House here.

The Premier, in his sessional statement, mentioned that personal challenges such as mental health and addictions will continue to hold our people back. Earlier in the 17th Legislative Assembly, all

Members of this government got together and we developed priorities that were going to lead us along this path for four years. One of these priorities was enhancing addiction treatment programs using existing infrastructure so we didn’t have to put more dollars into creating new buildings. We were also told at the onset of the 17th Legislative Assembly, one of the biggest cost-drivers to this government and previous governments was mental health and addictions. Today that continues to be the case.

We are three years into our mandate and, yes, we have done some work in this area. We have started creating things that are going to help those who are battling these addictions. We’ve developed a Mental Health and Addictions Action Plan, which some of those actions were already taking place during this past fiscal year. We’ve had the Minister’s Forum on Addictions, where we heard from residents of the Northwest Territories and took the recommendations seriously. We’re also looking at creating a new Mental Health Act so that those who are falling through the cracks get the help that they need.

I just want to point out that we do have a lot of facilities in the Northwest Territories where they are

government stock or facilities that are owned and operated by our Aboriginal partners, so we can still look at addressing one of these priorities that we as a government agreed to at the onset of this Assembly.

We have taken a few steps moving forward, but there is still a long way to go. There are still a lot of obstacles, challenges that we need to overcome, such as follow-up and support for people who go through treatment. Detox centres are another one that we really need to address.

I’m going to make a suggestion that moving forward – I know we are at a fiscal responsibility time within our government – this government take a look at taking a pan-territorial approach with our northern partners, Nunavut and Yukon, and create a northern treatment facility that meets the unique needs of Northerners in the North, for Yukon, for Nunavut, for the Northwest Territories, also working with the Aboriginal governments that can meet the unique needs of Northerners that desperately need this type of help and this type of service. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My statement today also is on mental health and addictions. In the Premier’s statement, he talked about reducing the people being held back by addictions and mental health issues. Like my colleague Mr. Moses, I do not agree. I don’t think this government is doing enough.

We were preparing for an Ebola epidemic, we were taking measures, but we have an epidemic in the Northwest Territories right now. All you have to do is read the newspaper every week and you will hear about one more person that’s been found dead as a result of falling through the cracks, the gaps.

Mr. Bouchard and I had a constituency meeting before returning to this House. We heard the Catholic priest from Hay River talking about the lack of emergency response to people in need. I know in Yellowknife…and kudos to the people in Yellowknife, the NGOs that have worked so hard and so many volunteer hours to get infrastructure in place for the residents of Yellowknife. But in our regional centres and in our communities there is a huge gap for emergency responses. If you need income support, you can go to an income support worker, but these are not quick and they’re more for long-term kind of planning. You can go to Housing and talk about social housing. You can go to family counseling and talking about needs. But we need

some emergency crisis type infrastructure on the ground in Hay River.

The gentleman who shared this need with us said that people look to the churches, even, in Hay River to try and meet this need. They have enough trouble keeping their lights on themselves. They don’t have infrastructure to take in people. People see the church as a haven of help and benevolence, but in fact they struggle themselves and that’s not the answer.

The priest also shared a story of a person who came knocking on his door. When this gentleman went to the hospital, they said sorry, you’re not sick enough. They went to the RCMP and they said sorry, you’re not drunk enough. But that person that night had no place to go and was in crisis and was obviously affected by things such as addictions and mental health issues.

So, Mr. Speaker, I also reminded the constituents at that meeting about our government’s effort a number of years ago to put a homeless shelter for men in Hay River, which met with great opposition from the neighbours who were going to be surrounding it.

Later today I’m going to have questions again to see if we could revisit that concept to help out with the people that are falling between the cracks.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Like my colleague Mr. Bouchard, today is an opportunity for me to say thank you to all the firefighters who kept us safe this summer, those who kept us safe during one of the worst fire seasons in over 30 years. I join many, many other NWT residents in thanking firefighters, firefighters from the NWT, from across Canada, and from our northern neighbours, Yukon and Alaska, who battled the hundreds of fires that burned in our territory this past summer, especially in the North and South Slave.

Firefighters are on call for us 24/7, ready and willing to do dangerous work if needed, and these men and women are trained and prepared for action, prepared for action at a moment’s notice. They have specialized skills and knowledge that enables them to do an outstanding job often in difficult weather and in treacherous locations. I know this summer it was extremely warm. They put life and limb at risk to keep us safe and to keep our communities, our homes and our businesses safe.

But not only were firefighters hard at work this summer fighting fires, but many other GNWT personnel were working hard, as well, dealing with the impacts of the fires. ENR, DOT, MACA, all three

departments were especially involved in fighting the fires, keeping the public safe, monitoring road conditions and assisting communities when fires threatened.

This past fire season was a situation that could not be predicted and one that is, all being well, not the norm. Now that it’s over, like my colleague Mr. Nadli, I can only hope that a long, hard introspection takes place and evaluation of every action and non-action taken during the 2014 fire season. There were lessons to be learned by one and all, and we need to examine the circumstances and learn the lessons. If a comprehensive analysis is done, policies and processes adjusted, we will be better prepared should another disastrous fire season hit us again.

Today I recognize and honour all NWT emergency personnel as they go about their jobs. To each and every one I say thank you for protecting us, thank you for taking risks for us, thank you for the job you do every day. To my colleagues, as you return to your communities over the next few days and weeks, take the time to search out and visit your local firefighters, and if you haven’t done so already, please thank them personally.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

[English translation not provided.]

I’ve been practicing. Mr. Speaker, on February 5th of this year the Finance Minister proclaimed an aggressive yet ambitious target to attract 2,000 new residents to the NWT. Our most current publication from the Bureau of Stats says the NWT’s population fell by 218 persons. Now, that is a negative 10 percent shortfall on that particular number.

In the Finance Minister’s words on February 6th ,

again, it said our fiscal future is closely linked to economic prospects and healthy population growth. The Minister continues to go on by saying we are also aware the risk of low economic growth and declining population poses on the territorial financing grant. Furthermore, he continues by saying the most effective way we can grow our revenues is to grow our economy and our population.

I can continue to quote the Finance Minister at length, but the fact is we’re not growing our population. If this government was serious and committed to growing our population, it’s time to be bold yet responsible. I’d like the government to consider ideas like this.

If this government committed today by putting two teachers in every school across the NWT, what would that do? Well, that would do wonders for

education. It would do wonders for population growth. It would do amazing things for community vitality, every single community.

Now, a fiscally responsible person would easily and quickly say, where’s the money going to come from? Well, that would be a very good question. I estimate that if we put about approximately 70 new teachers on the ground, that would cost us approximately $7 million. If each teacher brought a spouse, two children, as a matter of fact, the net federal transfer would cover that cost.

In comparison to the fires this summer at a million dollars a day, that $7 million cost to cover those teachers would equal seven days of firefighting. Let’s put money out there that really means something and does something, so if you have a school in Paulatuk, you have a school in Fort Good Hope, give them two new teachers, put money in that small community. It’s a real resource to help our kids, help our families, help our communities. Those people spend real money. That real money will help revitalize that community and it will continue and continue. This is called genuine investment. So, if we want to support our communities, it’s time to support the base, we support the foundation as we build a future for everyone.

I’ll have questions later for the Minister of Finance, who made those bold statements, to find out where we are on this prospect of attracting 2,000 new people, because I can tell you today we’re already behind on that target. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to pay tribute to the late Mary McKay of Fort Resolution. Mary was born August 9, 1938, and passed away on July 6, 2014, at age 75. Mary passed away from natural causes.

Mary was born and raised in Fort Resolution and lived in Pine Point for a number of years with her late husband, Louis McKay, who worked at the mines. After Pine Point shut down, Mary and her family relocated to Fort Resolution.

Mary was always a stay-at-home mother and enjoyed being there for her family. She liked to cook, bake, visit with family and friends and pass the time as she played bingo and cards. Mary had many friends all over the NWT and enjoyed keeping in contact with them. Her sudden passing shocked her family and friends.

Mary was predeceased by her husband Louis, children Vern and Louis, parents Johnny and Alice Beaulieu, siblings Therese, Doris, Gilbert, James, Rodney and Percy. Mary is survived by her

daughter Margaret, Margaret’s husband Charles Larocque, Delores and her spouse Daren, numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren, sisters Violet Bailey, Martha Beaulieu, Margaret Miersch, Velma Delorme, Elizabeth Beaulieu, brothers Tommy, Leonard, Howard, Robert and Wilfred, and numerous nieces and nephews. My sincere condolences go out to the late Mary McKay’s daughters, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, sisters, brothers, nephews and nieces. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Item 4, reports of standing and special committees. Item 5, returns to oral questions. Item 6, recognition of visitors in the gallery, Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize a constituent of the Great Slave riding and the president of the UNW, Mr. Todd Parsons.

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize a constituent of Yellowknife South, Gayla Thunstrom, the first vice-president of the Union of Northern Workers; and also Jack Bourassa, regional executive vice-president north with the Public Service Alliance of Canada. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize one of the members of the union contingent, as well, Ms. Lauraine Armstrong, a family friend and a berry picking and swimming companion of my wife. Thank you.

---Laughter

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize a delegation in the gallery. First I’d like to recognize NWTTA president Gayla Meredith here with us today, and also executive director Dave Roebuck that’s here with us, as well, from the NWTTA. Also, we have two distinguished guests from the communities of Gameti and Whati and they’re a part of the MACA School of Community Government law course they’re taking. I’d just like to recognize Judal Dominicata, SAO of Gameti and also Lisa Nitsiza, SAO trainee in Whati. Welcome to the gallery. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to welcome constituent Val Robertson to the gallery, as well as Mr. Sonny Greenland to the gallery, and Mr. Lafferty pointed them out before, but there were a number of people here from the Community Management and Finance Training Program. I believe they’ve all left, but I’ll read their names off so they’re on the record: Judal Dominicata from Gameti, Dennis Buboire from MACA in Fort Simpson, Chris Chai from the Hamlet of Tulita, Lisa Nitsiza from the Government of Whati, Judi Wall from the Hamlet of Ulukhaktok, Alison Brown, Department of Municipal and Community Affairs in Fort Simpson, Patricia Modeste from Deline, Mary Rose Yukon from Deline, John Yukon from Deline, Jodie Doctor from the Community of Deline and Valene Kenny from the community of Deline. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr.

Menicoche.

Thank you very much, Mr.

Speaker. I just want to welcome Mr. Ken Stewart of Fort Simpson to the gallery. It’s great to see you in the gallery, and hopefully you enjoyed the Members’ statements and Ministers’ statements. Thank you very much. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Mr.

Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to

welcome all the residents of Weledeh that are in the House today, I know there are many. I’d like to mention in particular Ms. Jennifer Young, co-founder of Face2Face, a local organization that helped the House recognize Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day, as mentioned earlier, which was yesterday. As a result, all the Members are wearing pins that recognize that day. Ms. Young I know has requested that all MLAs wear the pins for the rest of October. In fact, they are planning an event tonight at the Yellowknife River at seven o’clock and all Members are invited to join that.

I’d also like to welcome to the House Frank Walsh, the second vice-president of the Union of Northern Workers executive, as well as regional vice-president for North Slave, Chris Potyok, if I got his name pronunciation correct there.

The Union of Northern Workers executive are here in Yellowknife to attend the UNW’s 16th triennial

convention that starts tomorrow and goes through Sunday. Welcome to Yellowknife; welcome to the House. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Mr.

Moses.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to

recognize a constituent from back home, Mr. Sonny Greenland. Welcome to the House.

I’d also like to recognize Ms. Val Robertson, who is also from Inuvik and does a lot of work over at the school and for the UNW.

I’d also like to recognize all the UNW members and all members from the Northern Territory Federation of Labour. Welcome to the House, and I hope you enjoy the proceedings this afternoon. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Moses. Ms.

Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I too would

like to welcome the executive of the Union of Northern Workers who are here for their convention, and I wish them well in their convention in the next couple of days.

I specifically want to recognize two constituents of Frame Lake, Mr. Ivan Landry, who is the regional vice-president Kimberlite; and Ms. Miriam Gordon, who is equity vice-president for the UNW. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Mr.

Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m

going to take the opportunity to recognize constituent Julie Green. She’s been a wonderful woman, she does a lot of great things in the city and I think she spends a lot of time with the YWCA. At this time I’ve forgotten her position so I won’t try to name it, but I will say that she has an enormous impact in the North for women and their rights.

I’d like to recognize two missionaries in the back of the gallery I can see there. They are both from the United States doing good work here in the Northwest Territories. They are Elder Ames and Elder Anderson, and although I am not Mormon per se, but I can say that getting to know them very well, that they have done wonderful things for people here.

The final thing I’d like to mention, too, Mr. Speaker, I’d like to recognize the collective group here today who’s recognizing their concern, their democratic rights and certainly bringing to bear the pressure of their focus on Bill 12, and that they’re doing it in such a respectful manner I want to give them recognition for that and I’ll, finally, say that I share their concern. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr.

Bouchard.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I

would like to recognize constituent Mr. Roy Courtoreille, member of the UNW and a long time Hay River resident and a member of the large Courtoreille family that are distinguished in Hay River. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. Mr.

Dolynny.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like

to introduce to you and through you a number of people here in the gallery here. First and foremost the UNW executive, thank you for joining us here today. It is always nice to have people in the gallery.

Of course, up there from Range Lake I have the regional vice-president of the Somba K’e area, Ms. Marie Buchanan. Thank you very much, Marie, for joining us.

We have Mr. Chris Johnston, who is also from the riding. Thank you, Mr. Johnston, for joining us.

As Mr. Hawkins alluded to, we have two young Mormon boys here who are spending their spiritual journey, the last tail of it here in Yellowknife. Great young men and thank you for joining us today.

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Mr. Blake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to recognize Bruce Noksana, one of my friends I believe who now lives in Tuk. Welcome to the House.

Thank you, Mr. Blake. I too would like to welcome Mr. Bruce Noksana, one of my good friends I grew up with back home in Tuk. I’m glad to have him move back to Tuk from Inuvik. It’s all good.

I’d like to welcome all visitors here in the public gallery today. Thank you for taking in our proceedings and taking an interest.

Item 7, acknowledgements. Item 8, oral questions. Mr. Moses.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would just like to follow up to my Member’s statement and ask the Minister of Health and Social Services, in regard to our priorities that we set in the 17th Legislative Assembly, has the department gone out in the Northwest Territories and identified any existing infrastructure that we can potentially turn into a treatment facility for residents that are battling addictions?

Thank you, Mr. Moses. The honourable Minister of Health, Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Following up on the Mental Health and Addictions Action Plan, we have contracts with four facilities in southern Canada. We also have $1.2 million in the Northwest Territories budget that we’re going to be using for on-the-land programming, and we have gone to the Aboriginal

governments to distribute those dollars and we’re looking for plans.

With respect to facilities in the Northwest Territories, what we’re hoping to do is have a mobile treatment option program where we have a program in the Northwest Territories that can go to different regions at different times in different facilities that happen to be located throughout the Northwest Territories. There are a number of buildings or facilities that would be appropriate for mobile options, but before we actually finalize any of those locations, we need to finalize the work we’re doing on the mobile treatment program. We have made some progress on that. It has been slow. I will admit, we haven’t got as far as we would like and we’re not ready to roll out a program, but that will be where we’re able to use local facilities throughout the Northwest Territories and provide yet another option for our residents who are seeking treatment.

The mobile treatment unit sounds like a great idea; however, if the mobile treatment is going to the community of Inuvik but we have somebody, say, in Norman Wells or Hay River that needs that treatment program, we need that one facility, functional facility that’s stabilized that will provide the services that will bring people from across the North to a place that’s safe, a functional facility.

If the mobile unit is going to Hay River, you know, why do people in my community have to wait for that mobile unit to get to Inuvik to get the treatment that it needs? Can I ask the Minister, is he looking at creating one facility here in the Northwest Territories?

We’ve actually done that a number of times and it’s failed every time. Right now we have contracts with four southern facilities that have massive economies of scale and can provide programming that has never been able to be delivered here in the Northwest Territories just by the sheer size.

I do disagree with the Member. If we have a mobile treatment option that’s going to different communities at different times, anybody can go to that program at any point in time regardless of what community they’re in. But what we’ve heard is people do want to have options in their communities, so we could run a mobile treatment program in the Sahtu for a 48 day period, then we could run it in the South Slave, Hay River as an example, for 48 days, then we could run it in Inuvik for 48 days, but because it’s run in a different region does not mean that we are excluding people from other regions from participating while it’s being run. There are options for people. When we finalize the program, the mobile treatment program, we will be utilizing northern facilities.

What I heard in those answers is that the department is not looking at creating a treatment facility in the Northwest Territories due to the costs, but as I mentioned in my Member’s statement, mental health and addiction is the biggest cost-driver for this government. We have four contracts going down south.

Can I ask the Minister, has the department looked at streamlining our residents who are applying for treatment? Is that process streamlined? I know in the past we’ve had residents who have had to wait 30 days or been sober for 30 days before they can even look at treatment. We don’t have those facilities, and our counsellors are already overworked to get that opportunity. Is he looking at streamlining the process, so we get people who are battling addictions who really need it into the treatment that they need right away? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, we’ve already done that. We’ve streamlined the application process for individuals who are seeking treatment. We normally require residents to go through four counselling sessions, but we acknowledge that clearly sometimes now is the right time. So, we have put in a modified process, an expedited process. An individual would go to their counsellor or other professional that happens to be available to them, and a referral can go to the department and we can have literally 24 hours turn-around time on approval of the application. Through that we’ve been able to direct people into one of our four treatment facilities in as short of a turnaround time as 48 hours.

Now, I will acknowledge that I have had an opportunity to travel throughout the Northwest Territories this summer. I have talked to people throughout the Northwest Territories about the modified process and I have had some health professionals come to us and say we weren’t aware that there was this expedited process, so clearly we needed to do a better job of helping our professionals understand. I have directed the department to put a little bit more of a communication strategy together, so that our staff know and they can respond to those individuals in a timely manner. We still do suggest that people do try to attend four sessions, but as I said, we know that sometimes now is the right time. We’ve had residents in treatment programs in facilities as early as 48 hours after they’ve come to a professional. Sometimes it takes a little bit longer, but we can get quick turnaround. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Moses. In my Member’s statement I talked about doing a unique approach, a pan-territorial approach with our northern territorial partners, Nunavut and Yukon,

and look at using one of our existing facilities and getting funding to look at creating that facility where Northerners from Nunavut, Yukon and the Northwest Territories can get the treatment and services that they need.

Will the Minister be willing to look at that option for all Northerners, Yukon, Nunavut and Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

This was actually an idea presented to me by committee. I believe it was the Member, during business planning. Since then I have had an opportunity to attend the federal/provincial/territorial of Social Services Ministers throughout Canada. I did have an opportunity to briefly mention the concept to my counterparts in Nunavut and Yukon. No decision has been made, but we’ve asked our officials to start having conversations about the possibilities.

I do recognize that each of those jurisdictions has plans in place for their own treatment as far as sending people south or having on-the-land or other programs available. We have actually begun having some of that dialogue. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When the Department of Health and Social Services shut down Nats'ejee K'eh and first came up with this idea of referring people to southern placements, I bought into it and I’m still not saying that it’s not good and doesn’t have a place, but for a territory that has a problem with mental illness and addictions to the proportion that this territory has a problem, we need something here. We need a flagship. We need a centre of excellence. We need some place that we as a government can say we are committed to working with our residents to solving these problems.

Not everyone wants to go south. Some do, some go with success, and some go many times and don’t come back. It’s a huge transition. I agree with my colleague from Inuvik. We put so much money into infrastructure for so many different things, and yet, as the Premier said today in his statement, we’re being held back. Our people are being held back by this.

I would like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services again, could there be a facility for the Northwest Territories on the horizon of this government, given the size of the problem? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When the Minister’s Forum on Mental Health and Addictions had their conversations, they heard clearly that programming and services was what people wanted and what people needed. We are looking at putting in a mobile treatment option, which allows us to use different facilities in the Northwest Territories. The important part of any program or of any mental health and addictions facility is the programming that exists within, so we want to make sure we have solid programming for a mobile treatment option that we can go to different communities in different regions and offer our residents yet another option for addictions treatment. So, we are looking at using facilities, multiple facilities with a solid core program. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As I mentioned in my Member’s statement, people are dying. Oftentimes we need a very critical intervention on an emergency basis. Right now there is nothing, nothing in those communities.

When is the mobile treatment program coming to Hay River, because we need it there. Thank you.

I disagree with the Member that there’s nothing in the communities. Throughout the Northwest Territories we have counsellors and many NGOs that do incredible work to support residents. We’ve got communities developing community wellness plans and trying to put in options. We are supporting on-the-land programming that is designed by the people for the people. We do have access in a timely way to southern facilities, and yes, we are looking at mobile treatment.

As I said to the Member from Inuvik, we are a little behind on making progress on the mobile treatment program. We haven’t finalized any programming around that. We’re still negotiating with a potential provider. Once we have a program, a solid program in place, we will start to roll that out in the Northwest Territories.

There are multiple facilities in the Northwest Territories where a mobile treatment program could work. There are facilities in Yellowknife, facilities in Hay River, facilities in Inuvik. We will move it around. It will be a multiple-day program. We believe probably around 48 days before it moves.

So I can’t tell the Member when a mobile treatment program will be utilized in a facility at or near Hay River, but it will come. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

To the Minister’s point that there’s nothing, let me retract that and say yes. If you want to get into long-term planning for housing or treatment or income support or all kinds

of support, yes, there are people in offices that you can go to. But in the situation of an emergency or a crises, the person… Mental health and addictions is very much related to homelessness, and so to the guy that’s standing on the front door of the parish priest’s residence because he has nowhere to go and he’s got serious, serious mental health and addictions issues, where does that person go on any given night in Hay River? Thank you.

I think we are now talking about something slightly different than a treatment program; we’re talking about immediate response to individuals who happen to be homeless or in a different type of crisis. I heard the Member when she was giving her statement, talking about the possibility of some sort of housing or an overnight shelter for individuals in Hay River. I don’t believe that exists at this point in time, but I would be willing to talk to the two Members from Hay River about a possibility and what we can or can’t do at this time. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, which department would be looking at putting something on the ground in a community like Hay River for people who need some kind of immediate crisis type of intervention help? Which departments would be working together on that? Thank you.

As the Department of Health and Social Services, we are happy to work with the community on any proposals they’d like to put forward. Recently I’ve had the opportunity to travel to many communities, and many communities and their leadership actually approached us and said we want to participate, we want to do something in our community, and we’ve had ideas like respite houses or places where individuals can go when they are returning from care, some work that can be done up front. So we’re open to any idea. We’re happy to talk to the leadership in your community. We’re happy to work with the Housing Corporation, who may be able to assist us identify facilities. We’re happy to work with anybody who can get us to where we need to go. I’m happy to work with both Members from Hay River. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Back in July of this year, the Department of Health and Social Services apparently mailed 195 personal NWT health care cards to the wrong addresses. According to the department’s own words, “This was due to a spreadsheet sorting error.”

Interestingly, the department immediately claimed that there were no privacy concerns with this mistake. Today my questions will be for the Minister of Health and Social Services.

This is the first time the Minister has been able to comment on this privacy breach since July. Could the Minister clearly inform the House what exactly transpired with these 195 personal NWT health care cards? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Minister of Health, Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. One hundred and ninety-six health care cards were actually delivered to the wrong address and what happened is exactly what the Member identified, is addresses were messed up on a spreadsheet. One hundred and ten of those 196 cards were returned to us having never been opened, which means that there were about 86 that were not received back.

We, as a government, as a department, are monitoring the use of those cards and trying to make sure that they are not being used inappropriately by the wrong person. Everybody that was affected, all 196 were notified so they knew that had happened. So we will continue to monitor those 86 outstanding cards and the problem has been fixed, it was a human error and we’ve changed the process so it won’t occur again. Thank you.

I appreciate the Minister’s reply, but to the question of privacy, why is it that we’re not considering this a breach of privacy, and again I’ll ask the Minister, why does he not address that question of privacy breach? Thank you.

The wrong addresses on the card would not give the individuals who received the card the ability to access any of the actual individual’s health care information. Thank you.

Thank you. I tend to disagree with the Minister here. The reason why is one only has to do simple Internet searches to see that stolen health care cards are linked to serious fraud-related and false health care claims from every part of Canada, costing taxpayers millions.

So again, to the Minister, what steps were taken to ensure, now we’re hearing 195 or 196 cards, not 195 cards, were collected, were redistributed to the proper owner or destroyed? Again, we heard that there are still 86 outstanding. Where are those cards? Thank you.

One hundred and ninety-six cards were mailed in error, 110 of them came back, 86 of them are outstanding. We have made efforts to get those cards back. We have notified all of the affected individuals and we will

continue to monitor those cards to make sure that there is no unusual activity on those cards. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess we’re getting nowhere fast here. We know that the Information and Privacy Commissioner is conducting some sort of audit on these misdirected health care cards.

While we’re waiting for the results of the investigation, what assurances can the Minister provide this House that this mistake won’t happen again? Thank you.

Thank you. As I indicated, this was a human error. We have reviewed the processes that were being utilized in that particular office, and we have put in safeguards to make sure that there’s now a process of double-checking the cards and double-checking the data to make sure that anything that is printed on the cards is accurate. So we have actually made the changes to the steps and the protocols on those cards. It should not happen again. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Following up on my Member’s statement about the forest fire season, I have questions for the Minister of ENR.

Now that all the smoke has cleared, does the department know exactly what the costs of this season’s firefighting was to the government?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That final calculation is still being compiled and we’ll have that in the coming weeks. Thank you.

Does the Minister know how these extraordinary costs can be covered through the GNWT finances?

Thank you. The extra funds are covered through borrowing the money. Thank you.

Thank you. I’m just wondering if the Minister believes or has evaluated whether we have actually a large enough base in our fire suppression budget so that we don’t have to always come back to this House. I know typically this is an exceptional year, but have we evaluated the base budget for fire suppression?

Yes, we are aware of the committee’s concern and of course, from a business perspective, we know that that number is too small. We have looked at sort of a 10-year rolling average and it would be about $10 million. So we’re going to look, based on our work and committee’s recommendations, we’re going to be looking at how we can have a base budget that’s more reflective of the reality. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My last question is on maybe an evaluation of the existing or the operations this year.

Have we seen anywhere we can do some cost savings, economies of scale when we have larger fire seasons, and going forward, how do we evaluate that?

Thank you. We are at work in terms of a review, cleaning up after fire season, doing the final accounting and then doing the critical debrief is underway. Then early in the new year, we’ll have that work done and we expect to be able to go forward with those findings to committee to have a thorough discussion in anticipation of the upcoming fire season. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement today I spent a bit of time highlighting some of the words the Finance Minister had provided this House on February 6th . It was

really talking about embarking on a new adventure of trying to create this initiative that would draw 2,000 new people to the Northwest Territories over the next five years, but as our NWT Bureau of Stats has clearly said, outlined – and I put great faith in their hard work – we’ve had a drop of 218 people in this last year, which puts us about 10 percent below that greater mark.

So, what I want to hear from the Minister today is what is he doing as an initiative to draw new people to the Northwest Territories, because we’ve lost 218 thus far. This has a serious impact in Yellowknife, but it has a crippling impact on every small community. When they lose those jobs, it is devastating, that financial economy is taxed, it hurts the community and we have to put every single effort into building resources in those areas. So, what is the Minister doing? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The Minister of Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’re not, in effect, losing jobs. What we’re trying to do is find people to fill the jobs that we have that are in many cases going begging. We have met as a government now numerous times.

We have a working committee that’s looking at a whole host of things, very simple things like the issue that has bedeviled many of us in many of the departments from following up with our students has been this issue that ECE had with confidentiality and an inability to share the information on students in school, where they are, what they’re studying, so that we can in fact make sure that we stay in touch with them and make the job offers and recruit them the same way that the private sector is doing. That issue has been resolved and it’s going to open significant opportunities for us.

We are doing very common sense things like working with industry to jointly go south to job fairs and we combine our efforts to recruit into the North, collectively.

We are looking at, once again through Education, a nominee program, integration program. There’s a new express program coming out from the federal government. We’re looking at that as a way that we can get folks on the ground here, where you can now reach out for specific occupations and get guaranteed from the federal government that within six months you’ll be able to get these folks landed on the ground and in the communities where the jobs are.

We’ve had now two meetings with industry to talk about the further work that they’re doing, the challenges that we collectively have with housing, and there’s more work underway as well. Thank you.

I was proudly educated in the Northwest Territories, growing up in Fort Simpson and in Yellowknife. My education taught me that negative 218 persons is a lot. So when the Minister says to me – and remember, this is the gentleman in charge of our books and our finances – we’re not losing ground, perhaps the Minister of Finance can explain how a loss of 218 people isn’t a loss to the Northwest Territories and the Northwest Territories isn’t losing ground. Thank you.

Thank you. The Member is a fine example of the success of our education system. We’re not excluding the fact that it’s a loss. What we have done is started a program, an initiative that we’ve given ourselves a five-year time horizon, because we recognize that these things take time to sort things out, to turn things around, to do the work that’s necessary, to make the changes that are necessary, to do the things with HR, for example, where we want to be able to go south and enable the folks that go south to take interviews and do job offers on the spot so that we

can be way more timely in how we fill our positions. We don’t argue at all that it’s a loss and it’s setting us even further behind, but our goal still remains the same. We want to look at increasing the population by 2,000, in five years, or greater if at all possible.

Yellowknife’s population has relatively remained the same and we’ve been fortunate only on the principle that we’ve had growth from the communities. That’s terrible, because where the real impact is happening is in the communities. Getting the jobs out to the communities will have a positive effect on the whole territory, every single program we need.

In my Member’s statement today, I said let’s put two teachers in every single school. That would bring new families to every community; that would bring new job growth, new vitality and new cash on the ground where people spend money. There’s an initiative.

Would the Minister speak to that idea, because that would deliver immediate change to those communities and a seriously enormous, positive effect on everything that happens there.

There are a couple of initiatives that are intertwined here. We are looking at increasing the population of the Northwest Territories. That is one thing we’re trying to do. We are working, as a government, on decentralization to move positions outside of the centre, out to the communities. That work is underway. Phase three is now underway. We are also working to fill the very many vacancies we have, and we have approximately a split between Yellowknife and communities of vacancies anywhere between five to 800 positions that we’re trying to fill in both inside Yellowknife and outside of Yellowknife. If we can address those issues, I think we would be in fine shape.

The issue of adding potentially two teachers in every community, so 66 new positions to the government at a time of fiscal restraint when we also have all these other vacancies, would be a little premature.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I said in my Member’s statement that the net effect would actually be awash because our growth and our federal grant transfer would actually cover the cost of those teachers. May I also briefly remind the Minister that he had pointed out in his February 6th statement that in 2013 we continued to lose population? What’s happening here is, year over year over year we continue to lose population.

My last question is simply this: Where have there been any results of population growth in the

Northwest Territories under the tenure of this McLeod government?