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

Mr. Speaker, over the past few years, we have seen remarkable political development in the Northwest Territories. Land, resources and self-government agreements are being negotiated and settled. In April we concluded devolution and have seen the smooth transition of federal powers to the Government of the Northwest Territories. As a result of these efforts, Northerners have taken greater control over their social, economic and political destinies, have found new ways to work together and have greater national prominence than ever before.

Each summer, Canada’s Premiers meet to discuss matters of common concern. At this year’s meeting in Charlottetown, Premiers discussed the aging population and infrastructure, along with energy, developing a skilled workforce, and Aboriginal child welfare. At this meeting the Northwest Territories led the discussion on the benefits created by access to stable and affordable housing for Canadians, families and communities. Premiers called on the federal government to reinvest in social housing and emphasized the need for strengthened collaboration among the federal, provincial and territorial governments to address this important issue.

While there, Premiers meet with leaders from the five national Aboriginal organizations. Work with the national Aboriginal organizations continues throughout the year in the Aboriginal Affairs Working Group, which includes national Aboriginal organizations and Ministers of Aboriginal Affairs from all provinces and territories. The Northwest

Territories formally assumed the chair of this working group in Charlottetown and agreed to co-lead some progressive work on Aboriginal children in care with Manitoba.

I look forward to leading a national dialogue on issues impacting Aboriginal peoples across the country through the working group and sharing some of the successful ways that our government is engaging and partnering with Aboriginal governments in the Northwest Territories.

Missing and murdered Aboriginal women is an important area of concern for the Aboriginal Affairs Working Group. Through Canada’s Premiers, the Government of the Northwest Territories has supported a national round-table discussion on missing and murdered Aboriginal women, and we are encouraged by the federal government’s apparent willingness to participate. This initiative is being led by the national Aboriginal organizations, and our government recently agreed to help host a round-table in conjunction with Aboriginal Affairs Working Group meetings next February.

The overrepresentation of Aboriginal children in child welfare systems is another area where Canada’s Premiers and the Aboriginal Affairs Working Group has focused their attention. Together with Manitoba’s Minister of Family Services, we will develop action-oriented solutions that seek to reduce the number of children in care and improve the situation of Aboriginal children and families across Canada.

Other Ministers are also taking leadership roles at both the national and international levels. Nationally, Minister Lafferty co-chairs the Aboriginal Education Initiative on behalf of the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada. This initiative is aimed at improving Aboriginal educational achievement, and Minister Lafferty’s position reflects both his experience and the groundbreaking work our government and the Government of Nunavut did on the residential schools’ curriculum.

Internationally, Minister Ramsay recently took on the presidency of PNWER, the Pacific Northwest Economic Region. This forum brings together government and businesses from several US states and Canadian provinces and territories in the Pacific Northwest to promote common economic

interests. Minister Ramsay’s leadership of this forum will be an important opportunity to advance awareness of the Northwest Territories’ economic potential and take advantage of the relationships and partnerships we continue to build with our neighbours of the Pacific Northwest Economic Region.

Maintaining a strong relationship with our neighbours, like the western provinces, is also important to ensuring that regional issues are identified and addressed. The Western Premiers’ Conference, held in Iqaluit this past July, gave Premiers from the seven western jurisdictions an opportunity to discuss Aboriginal child welfare, developing the labour market, exploring solutions for off-grid communities, disaster management and assistance, improving access to markets and modernizing internal trade. Given the importance of housing for Northerners, I was pleased to again lead the discussion on this topic.

Because we share similar circumstances and issues, strengthening pan-territorial relationships is a key intergovernmental relations activity. This year the Northwest Territories hosted the 12th annual Northern Premiers’ Forum. Discussion included how to move forward on a range of issues important to Northerners, such as mental wellness, housing, energy options for northern Canada, infrastructure, climate change and the work of the Arctic Council.

At this year’s forum we launched A Northern Vision: Building a Better North, which updates the collaborative vision of the three territories originally released in 2007. A Northern Vision outlines how our three territories will work together to develop the North as a region of vibrant, healthy communities with economies that offer sound investment and diverse employment opportunities, a flourishing private sector and protection of the environment for future generations. We also renewed the Northern Cooperation Accord, which formalizes our commitment to work together to advance shared northern interests.

Strengthening relationships with Aboriginal governments is one of this Assembly’s priorities. Devolution has given us a new forum for building relationships in the Intergovernmental Council, which enables the Government of the Northwest Territories and Aboriginal governments who have signed on to devolution to collaborate on matters related to lands and resource management. This council allows Northwest Territories governments to share ideas and discuss common priorities and interests and will greatly benefit the Government of the Northwest Territories as it considers potential changes to lands and resources management in the Northwest Territories. This approach is unique in Canada.

The Intergovernmental Council held its first meeting on September 19th . Leaders and officials gathered

in Yellowknife and talked about processes for future meetings and priority areas for work in the coming year. With this first meeting of the Intergovernmental Council, we are seeing a new, and very welcome, era of cooperation between the Government of the Northwest Territories and Aboriginal governments.

Mr. Speaker, Northerners have worked hard to ensure they have control over their daily lives and to highlight the unique circumstances of the North at the regional and national levels. We are seeing improved collaboration and cooperation with Aboriginal governments through our work in the Northwest Territories. We have positive lessons to share with our partners at the national level. We do some things differently with made-in-the-North approaches and can offer a model for intergovernmental relations with Aboriginal governments other areas of Canada can learn from. We are seeing the results of hard work undertaken by the Government of the Northwest Territories, and we look forward to sharing our successes with a greater leadership role at the national level. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mr. Speaker, supporting a diversified economy that provides all communities and regions with opportunities and choices is one of the main purposes of forest management agreements.

The first two agreements were signed this year with Timberworks in Fort Resolution and Digaa Enterprises in Fort Providence, jointly owned Aboriginal development corporations in each community.

Timberworks is owned by the Deninu Kue First Nation and the Fort Resolution Metis Council, and Digaa Enterprises is owned by the Deh Gah Gotie First Nation and the Fort Providence Metis Council

These are the first of several agreements this government hopes to sign with local Aboriginal corporations in areas where there is a sustainable supply of timber for harvest and a viable commercial use for the wood.

Mr. Speaker, this is a new concept in forest tenure for the Northwest Territories that provides for the kind of integrated, multiple use of forest land that is compatible with sustainable forest harvesting.

Forest management agreements give a local Aboriginal corporation non-exclusive rights to harvest timber from Crown lands for the purpose of

sustainable forest business development and growth.

Agreements respect settled land, resource and self-government agreements, interim measures agreements and land use plans. They do not affect the rights of persons to harvest or use the forest for subsistence or traditional practices. The agreements require the parties to follow all established regulatory processes and obtain necessary authorizations.

Forest management agreements benefit communities by supporting the development of profitable, locally managed businesses and increasing training and job opportunities for local people. Communities will be able to determine the growth of their business based on markets and their capabilities.

They also support the use of woody biomass as an alternative energy source and an economic opportunity for the community. An increased use of wood and wood pellets as an alternative source of energy supports the Government of the Northwest Territories’ goal of an environment that will sustain present and future generations.

The agreements also offer opportunities to transfer knowledge about forest management planning and operations, the sustainable development and cooperative management of our northern forests and long-term access to timber supply in support of forest industry development.

Mr. Speaker, communities wishing to develop a forest management agreement must establish an Aboriginal corporation to negotiate terms with our government. The corporation should be community-based and include engagement with local Aboriginal groups.

It needs to establish a wood fibre supply agreement with a wood products facility, and both the corporation and the community need to participate in the development of a timber harvest plan for the agreed area.

Aurora Wood Pellets, a wood pellet mill to be located north of Enterprise, is expected to create an annual demand for 125,000 cubic metres of wood.

More than 40 people will be employed at the Enterprise site, with the potential to create additional jobs in the region.

This northern owned and operated business will purchase sustainably harvested timber from Timberworks and Digaa Enterprises and contribute towards a sustainable northern economy.

As a result, timber will be harvested, turned into pellets and directly supplied to residents and businesses right here in the Northwest Territories.

The timber harvest plan provides a framework for the sustainable management of the timber

resources and takes other values, such as biodiversity, into consideration.

Work is underway now to help Timberworks and Digaa Enterprises develop a strong business model and to work together in building a timber harvest plan.

Forest management agreements are a major tool that will help us encourage and support a viable forest industry that encompasses the full range of forest values. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Item 3, Members’ statements. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The Northwest Territories has an opportunity to cater to the world. Morel mushrooms that fetch hundreds of dollars on the international markets thrive in areas burned by forest fires and attract harvesters from far and wide.

It was encouraging to see residents tap into the local resource this summer and finally the government step up with some response. ITI held workshops and orientation meetings in the Deh Cho this past spring, including walking workshops where participants go out in the field and learn the steps involved in harvesting morels, from locating the species to processing them for markets.

ENR provided maps to help target productive areas, and ECE supported the Fort Providence entrepreneurs’ efforts to train local harvesters. The government was aware of as many as seven buyers active in the region this summer. Best estimates suggest that this year’s harvest was worth approximately $1 million to $1.5 million. An anecdotal report suggests a family in the Deh Cho may have earned as much as $25,000 from their harvest this year. At the outset, local residents imagined they might easily match experienced pickers, but quickly discovered it takes at least two full seasons to develop the skills.

Draught was also a killer this year, and due to the summer’s hot, dry conditions, the harvest didn’t reach its maximum potential. A constituent had a total of 41 people working with him this summer, and in spite of the setbacks, many of them are eager to come back next year and pass on their skills to family and friends. Communities all around Great Slave Lake were affected by forest fires, and the government is planning to help residents capitalize on what could be a bumper crop of morels next year by distributing information booklets on mushroom harvest and offering more orientation visits and workshops throughout the

winter and spring. This is a great start, Mr. Speaker, and the GNWT needs to regulate mushroom harvest in a way that benefits residents of the NWT.

Aboriginal organizations should be encouraged to step in to help their community members. One of my constituents recommends including the harvest of non-timber forest products in the Fur Program, noting that the sale of mushrooms can generate enough profit to make this policy initiative well worthwhile.

We need to ensure buyers have business licences, that species are not overharvested and that people harvest species that they can correctly identify. We need to follow the example of other jurisdictions that have already carved a path through the fungal jungle and are using mushrooms and other timber forest products to diversify their economy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m the first one that will stand up in this House and say that I’ve made a mistake, and I would like to retract a thought and a theory that I put forward in this House last Thursday.

The Minister’s plan and the Department of Education’s plan for Junior Kindergarten is not only going to hurt the regional and large communities, it is going to be a disaster in all communities, including small communities.

You cannot move an initiative like this forward with no resources. I know I may be repeating myself, but you can’t do it. You can’t throw $15,000 at a small community and say, here, invite all the four-year-olds into your school program.

The Education Renewal Initiative, which the department touts as a great document and a great piece of work, the very principles of this particular document are that the community and the school are connected. The active involvement and role of all partners, students, families, communities, school staff, educators, Aboriginal governments and business are highly valued in the learning that occurs in and outside of the school walls. Mr. Speaker, I would like to suggest to you that this principle of the Education Renewal Initiative has not been adhered to by the department or considered by this Minister when talking about the implementation of Junior Kindergarten.

I hate, as a legislator, to see things torn down that people have toiled and volunteered and struggled to build for years and years and years. I had a chance to be home in Hay River this weekend. It is not just the regional centres, I heard from Kakisa; I

heard from Lutselk’e; I heard from Deline; I heard from Fort Providence; I heard from all of these communities who have existing early childhood development programming which is working.

When we had the folks from Education come to Hay River and we had our workshop about the Education Renewal Initiative, we talked about the importance of things being driven from the community up, not from the government down. This Junior Kindergarten program is a prime example of the government dictating to the communities what they’ll have.

I would rather see them pool the resources, if there are any, and it’s very little, but pool the very limited resources for Junior Kindergarten into some kind of a pot of money and then allow communities that don’t have early childhood development on a community-by-community basis to apply for, make a case for that and what they can do. Is it better in the school? Is it better in some other infrastructure within the community? Is it better in a church basement? Where could we best deliver early childhood development in those communities, instead of dictating to everybody? So, it’s a no win. It’s bad for the communities that already have something established, and it’s not enough resources for the people who don’t. It’s a lose-lose all around.

Mr. Speaker, may I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement? Thank you.

---Unanimous consent granted

Mr. Speaker, like I said, I hate to see things regress; I hate to see things torn down; and we are going to throw away federal money for Aboriginal Head Start; we’re going to throw away the community participation and the dollars, the volunteers, because we’re saying we’re going to take over educating the four-year-olds, and we’re not going to do a very good job with the plan that we have in hand.

I’m going to ask the Minister today, later on, if he will go back to the drawing board. Let’s start again, let’s find out where the need is, let’s identify the resources, and let’s come up with a much better plan. Take it back to the drawing board. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last week we heard several Members’ concerns around the new Junior Kindergarten program which started in small community schools this fall. We’ve again heard from Mrs. Groenewegen today.

This year, in both the winter and spring sittings, Regular MLAs spoke out very strongly against beginning Junior Kindergarten without new funding. The Minister steadfastly refused to consider any suggestions for change, and he and the department forged ahead to implement the program at the start of this school year.

As with any new program or service rushed into implementation, problems are beginning to surface. But all is not lost with this program. The Junior Kindergarten program initiative is a good one. It can be a great one with a few changes, as the second and the third phases of the Junior Kindergarten rollout are implemented.

The Minister wants to provide Junior Kindergarten in communities without any existing daycare or preschool programs. Great, let’s do that, but let’s not at the same time force Junior Kindergarten on communities which already have daycare and/or preschool programs for four-year-olds.

The Minister wants the Junior Kindergarten to be free and optional. Great, let’s do that in one of two ways. The Minister can subsidize existing four-year-old programs to make them free to clients, or he can provide subsidies to parents who now pay market rates for preschool or daycare so the program is free.

The Minister gets his wish for a free optional program for four-year-olds no matter where they live. Daycares and preschool programs in regional centres and Yellowknife, like Montessori, Treehouse in Hay River and Aboriginal Head Start in eight communities will not be decimated but will thrive and be able to expand their programming. The Minister’s goal can be met without destroying businesses and NGOs. The goal can be met by focusing on the communities that need programming for four-year-olds. By doing so, the Minister can ensure that the children who most need early childhood development do actually get it.

What say you, Mr. Lafferty?

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is not a theme day, but I will speak about Junior Kindergarten as well.

It is frustrating on this side. We have talked about this; we have all talked about this from this side of the House. We’ve made motions. We’ve talked in committee rooms about Junior Kindergarten and how it’s being rolled out and how we’ve heard concerns from our education leaders, from our constituents on how this Junior Kindergarten program is being laid out. Still, we get the same

responses, and I know we’re getting frustration from this side. Some Members don’t even want to ask questions anymore. They don’t feel like we’re getting any results on this side.

We cannot paint all of the education systems in the Northwest Territories with the same brush. Like my two colleagues earlier talked about the Head Start program, talked about junior programs in the communities, we need to look at each community and how it’s being implemented.

The frustrating part is we’re supposed to be a consensus government. How is this type of process being implemented on consensus government? All the Members over here have talked about Junior Kindergarten and support the content, but not the way it’s being rolled out, not the way it’s being jammed down and bulldozed over other organizations.

My questions today will be for the Premier of the Northwest Territories. How can an issue like this continue to not be respected and not see results in a consensus government? I hope all of my colleagues from the Cabinet side are listening, because we need Cabinet, I know they’ve had this discussion, I know they’ve talked about Junior Kindergarten. They need to find a better way to roll this program out. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last weekend in Colville Lake a family’s house burned straight to the ground. The chief, Alvin Orlias, and his predecessor and I have been asking for a fire truck for over six years. Yes, Colville Lake has no fire truck and no fire department.

Last weekend residents were forced to watch helplessly as that house turned into coals. The outcome might have been different if a fire truck had reached their home in time.

However, there’s more. For example, why in 2014 is the trapping capital of the Northwest Territories, Colville Lake, a have-not community? Yes, it is one of our smaller communities with a population of 157 people, but don’t they deserve basic emergency services like the rest of our vast territory? The community has no help in delivering health infrastructure, no permanent nurse. Residents must either travel to the Fort Good Hope Health Centre or wait for a doctor or nurse on monthly visits. Colville Lake has no RCMP detachment. I’ve spoken time and time again about the need for better policing service, but our government doesn’t have the cash.

Another matter is the employment rate, which hovers around 40 percent in Colville Lake

compared to the 80 percent here in Yellowknife. Housing is another have-not indicator. Seventy-seven percent of Colville Lake homes are in core need. That means over three-quarters of the community meet the low-income threshold and live in a dwelling that fails in one or more of these categories: suitability, adequacy and affordability. The community has no cell service. It has a single grocery store, which serves limited options for buying healthy foods and other household needs.

Of course, Colville Lake isn’t the only have-not community in the Northwest Territories. My colleagues Mr. Blake and Mr. Menicoche have communities in their ridings, like Kakisa, Tsiigehtchic, Jean Marie and Nahanni Butte, whose residents face many challenges the same as here.

Anyone with eyes can see we live in a double standard, or a two-tiered society. When will our government at this level and the federal level quit having double standards and help ensure equality and dignity for all?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s been almost two years now since we’ve had a commitment in this House to have a full-time licenced practical nurse in Tsiigehtchic. The fall and breakup season are the only times of year that we in Tsiigehtchic have a full-time nurse in our community. Many times they count the days until freeze-up and breakup just to have that resource in our community, a little more income into the community, whether it’s rent or the companies there.

Our people need to feel safe. The only time that our people feel safe is during the freeze-up months and also breakup. So I have questions for the Minister later today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

MR. MOSES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last week the Minister of Justice tabled the NWT coroner’s report here in the House and it was one report that I kind of take into consideration when we’re looking at creating legislation or looking at ways we can help these affected families move forward. After he tabled the document, I was also very pleased to attend a meet and greet with the coroners of the Northwest Territories.

Currently, there are about 34 of them in the NWT doing really great work. These individuals go above

and beyond the call of duty outside of a regular job in most cases. They get call-outs in the middle of the night, sometimes on the weekends, to go and do work, and in some cases the incidents that they go see are directly related to them, whether they are family, friends, relatives, and it can be very hard on them.

One of the training opportunities they did this past weekend was something in the area of compassion fatigue, to ensure that our coroners get the proper services and counselling that they need and how to deal with these kinds of issues.

It was really great to see that the RCMP was there as well as the Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission being. Like I said, these coroners go above and beyond to do their jobs, and in the uniqueness of our small communities, it can be very hard for these individuals to do their jobs.

Looking at the coroner’s report, one thing that I’d really like to address – and I will be asking questions on it today – is the number of cases that we have dealing with suicides. Once again, this report signified and showed that in the Beaufort-Delta we are leading again in the area of suicides, something not to be proud of. Actually, it is not only in the suicide area, it’s in homicides, accidents.

One thing is that in the coroner’s reports indicate, not this year but in the previous years, going back to 2009, alcohol and drugs was a big factor. At what point is this government going to address these issues, so that when we see the 2014 Coroner’s Report, we’re not going to have a high incidence of suicide rates in the Beaufort-Delta region again, and that any of the issues or any of the statistics in the report aren’t going to be associated with alcohol and drugs? We have to take a big stance in that area. Like I said, I go back to 2009, and in most of the high cases of suicide, a lot of it is directly related to alcohol and drugs.

I will be asking the Minister of Justice as well as the Minister of Health and Social Services how we are affecting this and how we are changing things for the Beaufort-Delta. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With WSCC safe advantage penalties well over three-quarters of a million dollars with claims growth mounting through the roof, the GNWT announced, a year ago, a promise, a promise of a new culture of safety with a renewed comprehensive Occupational Health and Safety Training Program for all GNWT employees.

Sadly, this was too good to be true. We must ask ourselves, what has changed in the past year to our culture of safety? Did we adhere to the safety promise? Did we in fact provide the required leadership and management for this higher obligation of safety? Were we accountable to our own safety laws? Or did the GNWT and its senior management ignore all the warning signs and disregard their legal obligation to provide the implementation and administration of their own occupational health and safety policy?

I believe the courts have answered these questions for us loud and clear. Recently, in a Territorial Court, where the GNWT was a defendant in a health and safety case, presiding judge Garth Malakoe ruled on action 2013-000272, “The ultimate goal of workers’ safety legislation is to create a culture of safety within the organization. Those organizations which incorporate such a culture will avoid breeches of such legislation and the accompanying monetary penalty.”

Now, to be clear, the GNWT pleaded guilty at a relatively early stage of this case and was fined heavily. However, not before Judge Malakoe reminded us again, “The GNWT has a responsibility to all the workers in the Northwest Territories. Part of this responsibility is to ensure that lawmakers pass laws that protect the workers. The other part of this responsibility is to ensure that the operational departments of the GNWT obey these laws.”

Judge Malakoe further went on to say, “The GNWT has a heightened responsibility compared to that of the private corporation.” So, in essence, the GNWT must be held to a higher standard than the industry, and if we don’t respect our own laws, how then can industry be expected to obey the same laws? Clearly, we owe no less than that to the industry and workers we represent.

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

---Unanimous consent granted

Which brings me back to my original question today: With a working industry of over 5,000 employees, the GNWT, led by our senior management, appears to consider safety as an optional program with little or no regard for respecting or obeying our own laws.

The reality is, the GNWT should pay very careful attention to the courts, as the law applies as equally to deputy heads as it applies to the GNWT as a whole. With a number more cases pending in the courts, I fear these lessons of ignorance will become a more transparent reminder of each potential guilty verdict.

Mr. Speaker, being irresponsible and ignoring the law is no excuse for failing to abide, providing the proper resources for a safety culture. We need to

stop placing roadblocks of resistance and set the proper course of correction, of change, change that hopefully brings us on the right path to safety for all Northerners. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to congratulate the Ministers of Justice and Health and Social Services on the implementation this fall of the long-awaited and brand new Territorial Wellness Court. This alternative court will reroute people with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, cognitive challenges, mental health issues and addictions away from the conventional court system into situations where their underlying issues can be addressed in a healthy way. It is appropriate for these people that are not being well-served in jail and are better served through treatment programs and community-based services.

I appreciated a visit this summer from Judge Ruddy of the Yukon Community Wellness Court, who shared their relevant experience with their similar court. Yukon Wellness Court results have been stellar. The Yukon recidivism rate of 90 percent dropped for those completing the community wellness court programs to an astounding 11 percent. Equivalent reduction to 30 percent was achieved for people who partially completed the program. What a difference. It is my hope that our program will be just as successful and that continued improvements will be made.

For many years, offenders in need of treatment were warehoused with high-risk and violent offenders in correctional facilities, with predictable results. People who needed programs were put into a situation that nearly guaranteed that they would be put back into society, possibly with greater criminal skills rather than with the skills needed to cope as a responsible member of society.

The Wellness Court gives people who need our help to navigate our modern society, the tools to get to a place where they feel they belong and are valued. Less recidivism makes society a safer place, makes our jails less full and keeps families together and able to support each other. It’s also much more cost effective and humane, as opposed to a policy of one-size-fits-all incarceration.

To date, many of our people have rotated back into our jails as soon as they got out, often due to mental health issues or addictions. Hopefully, the Wellness Court will break this vicious cycle. However, to be successful, we need to ensure that required medical resources are in place and that

monitoring systems and statistics are collected to ensure evaluation and adjustments as needed.

My kudos, once again, to all who have contributed to the start-up of the Territorial Wellness Court. I will have questions. Mahsi.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Opportunities are everywhere, but unfortunately, when opportunity knocks, it doesn’t always wait for Northerners to get up and grab it. That’s why we must look very closely at what has happened over the last summer.

As Northerners have passed this recent tragic situation of many, many forest fires, and as we will be paying for them for years to come, we must look towards the opportunities that will be bountiful across our territory. As my colleague for the Deh Cho had said, the mushroom opportunities will be there.

We all know that the opportunities of accessibility and renewable foods such as mushrooms and the morel industry will bring Northerners, but when I look and hear and talk to people in these communities, they see the opportunities as their only chance. When you have an employment rate that is struggling to get up to 50 percent, they need every chance they get. When I talk to families in Fort Smith, Fort Providence and even Hay River, they’re really looking forward to this chance. If this government doesn’t realize what this chance is, I’ll certainly remind them. It’s called a job.

In small communities it’s tough to find opportunities, but don’t let this one slip by. As the government sits by and does nothing, may I compliment them on their ability to do nothing. I’m calling upon them to get some action and get some fire in their bellies again. It’s time to create some territorial legislation that does set up a network that creates picking opportunities for the morel industry that allows Northerners to be working and benefit first, because we all know when those southern pickers show up, they are known as a very nomadic group. When those nomadic groups show up in large communities, as the group, that is, we know that they tend not to spend a lot of money on the local economy. This is a tragic circumstance that they’re self-contained. The question is, when it gets to that $1.5 million of harvest last year, how much has entered the hands of Northerners.

Other governments have found a way. I encourage this government to find the wisdom of Saskatchewan and even BC. The Nisga’a tribe is known for having great regulations to ensure that

their people benefit from this opportunity. It’s time to develop regulations that make sense and further protect local economies that are trying to get on their feet. Let this government not watch the situation roll on by, by southern pickers who show up and invest nothing in the North and leave us with no opportunity.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Item 6, acknowledgements. Item 7, oral questions. The Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to address my questions today to the Minister of the Department of Justice in regard to the chief coroner’s office and recommendations that do come out of her reports.

I’d just like to ask the Minister, what is his department doing to address the recommendations in this year’s report that was tabled last week but also previous reports that give good recommendations to this House, and what is the department doing to address these?

Thank you, Mr. Moses. The Minister of Justice, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Many of the recommendations contained in coroners’ reports are acted upon, and we continue to work with other departments as necessary. I mean, a lot of the reports reflect alcohol abuse or drug abuse. Those issues are dealt with by the Department of Health and Social Services and we certainly communicate with those departments that are involved as well.

In regard to working with the other departments, are any reports brought to this House or to committees or even a report given back to the coroner’s office on how those recommendations are made, because it’s just hearsay to us when we hear the Minister saying that he’s working with other departments to address these recommendations but we don’t see an action plan, we don’t see any timelines, we don’t see any measurable goals or outcomes.

Can the Minister, I guess, elaborate a little bit further in detail how he’s working with the departments to address these concerns?

Across Canada, similar to the Northwest Territories, coroners’ recommendations are not binding, and we don’t believe they should, in fact, be binding. Making

recommendations binding would change the fundamental role of the coroner as we know it. They would have to consider the binding nature of their recommendations before putting them forward. They may limit the kind of recommendations they can make. It would also require them to be very specific so that their recommendations can be followed.

Again, we do work with other departments. As far as a report that is put forward, I don’t believe there is, but I could certainly go back to the department and ask them about that.

I stated in the House before, when we had our last chief coroner’s report that was tabled in the House that it’s more than a report and it’s more than recommendations. We’re talking about people’s lives here. We’re talking about families and relatives and communities that are affected by such incidents as deaths and those kinds of things that are happening in the communities.

Would the Minister be looking to making any kind of amendments to the Coroners Act to ensure recommendations coming out of the chief coroner’s report do in fact become binding and do in fact become legislated? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned earlier, across Canada the recommendations contained in coroners’ reports are not binding, and here in the Northwest Territories we feel that they shouldn’t be, in fact, binding. If the recommendations were binding, they’d have, in some cases, some pretty heavy financial practicality issues associated with those recommendations. Again, it would fundamentally change the role of the coroner if we were to make recommendations binding. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Moses. I think when it comes to the costs of a life, you shouldn’t be putting financial implications on decisions that we make in this House moving forward.

As stated earlier, alcohol and drugs is a big factor in a lot of these deaths, whether it’s homicide, whether it’s suicide, whether it’s accidental. I want to know what the department is doing working either itself or, because it’s the chief coroner’s report, maybe they could take the lead in trying to address some type of media layout or some kind of awareness campaign to address the high levels of alcohol and drug use that are related to deaths in the NWT.

Would the Minister be looking at taking the lead on that, since it’s his department that work with the chief coroner’s office? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, we do take recommendations that coroners provide us seriously. We do work with other departments. The Member is correct; the prevalence of alcohol and drugs as they relate to sudden deaths here in the Northwest Territories is certainly something that we need to pay attention to. Seven out of the eight suicides last year were alcohol related. So it’s very important that we continue to work with the Department of Health and Social Services on addressing those root causes of alcohol and drug abuse across the territory. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I indicated in my Member’s statement, my questions are to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. I’ll try and be very, very clear. I know that if the public is watching, it may get a little bit hard to follow at times because there are so many different programs out there funded in so many different ways. I guess what the common denominator is, is that if Junior Kindergarten proceeds, it’s going to pull four-year-olds out of a program, which is a significant removal from any program that’s already out there, existing and successful. I think the Aboriginal Head Start program is one very prime example of an early childhood development program that’s been around for many years, proven, funded by the federal government, and when we move the four-year-olds because the Government of the Northwest Territories all of a sudden says, oh no, we’re taking on responsibility for early childhood development for those four-year-olds, and to pool resources, it gets complicated.

I’d like to ask the Minister of Education, how much thought, analysis, consultation into the impact of removing four-year-olds from all early childhood facilities in our communities and programs went into the initiative to roll out Junior Kindergarten. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. When it comes down to meeting with the general public, the stakeholders, as I stated in this House on numerous occasions, there’s been a lot of discussion that took place at the regional level. That was part of the process, as well, with the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative and now we’re talking about the Early Childhood Development Framework. That’s a 10-year agreement that’s before us. Part of that process,

obviously, is engaging the daycares, the home operators in the communities on how, if there’s going to be an impact on them, we work with them because we provide subsidies to them.

There have been numerous discussions that have taken place and we continue to do so. We have to re-evaluate our stance, as well, on delivering in the 23 communities. So, we will continue to make that a priority and engage the general public as well.

The Minister refers to very, very broad initiatives like the Aboriginal Achievement Initiative. These are laudable and good goals to have, Aboriginal achievement, but when it gets down to the details about how we achieve that, there has to be more analysis than talking to people and consulting people at a regional level. We need to know what is on the ground; we need to identify what is already going on in every community. Every community is different, every community has a different level of resources already being dedicated to early childhood development. So it needs to be on a community-by-community basis, not on a regional level.

What work did the department do community by community to identify what was already in the communities in consideration of the Junior Kindergarten initiative? Thank you.

Mahsi. Throughout our engagement with the communities, a list of dates have been identified, such as developing a response team that’s made up of regional representatives, early childhood development consultants, ECE superintendents and also the departmental headquarters, as well, when it comes to dealing with the small communities.

At the beginning of the 2014-15 school year, all JK students were given information as well. Since we’ve been discussing the rollout of Junior Kindergarten in 23 communities, since September 26th to 27th , we hosted a forum, a symposium and

had the educators come into Yellowknife. There have been approximately 75 operators.

September 30th was the NWTTA conference. That

was another 900 or so teachers that came and they had a lot of social interaction in that respect.

October 13th to 17th is another one that the ECE

director of early childhood development and learning division has called each of the communities to provide more detailed information.

So, there are lists of information that I will be sharing with the Members. Mahsi.

Thank you for that long list of symposiums and forums and meetings that the department engaged in, but consultation is a two-way street. Sure, the department may have been telling educators and telling people who run

daycares and telling people that are in this line of work what their vision of Junior Kindergarten was. I understand that we were telling them. I’d like to ask the Minister, what were they telling us? Thank you.

Mahsi. Part of the engagement with the educators, we want to hear their perspective, as well, because they’re the ones who are delivering Junior Kindergarten to our communities, the 23 communities that we are currently delivering Junior Kindergarten and hearing their perspectives. Just recently I met with my department. Why couldn’t we have a survey done in the communities, as well, because we’re into three months of Junior Kindergarten being delivered in our communities and we haven’t heard much from the 23 communities. So, I as the Minister responsible want to hear their perspectives. Not only that, but from the regional perspective and also Yellowknife. So, I’m looking forward to those types of discussions coming my way. Mahsi.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s interesting that the department and the Minister are not hearing what the concerns are because we, as MLAs, are certainly hearing them and the responses that we are getting are completely understandable. We hear from people. I know this is supposed to be a short supplementary – I could stand here all day on this topic – so let me just go and ask the Minister a final question.

How much analysis went into the cost of adding Junior Kindergarten to existing schools on a community-by-community basis? Because when we, as the Standing Committee on Social Programs, heard about this initiative, we thought, wow, where’s the money, a question that we never got an answer to and neither have the DEAs and DECs.

I’d like to know, where is the analysis on the cost of something like this? I say the money is not there and that’s one more reason why it’s not going to succeed. Thank you.

When we first decided to roll out the Junior Kindergarten, obviously there was a discussion at the board level. I met with the board chairs back in 2013, in October, and introduced the JK. At that time we were talking about the cost factor, how much it was going to cost us. Obviously, throughout the time, we talked about how we were going to subsidize the JK as we move forward. We said, well, there’s $150 million going to the school boards already, how can we best utilize that funding to get the best results? Those are the discussions that we’ve had with the 23 communities that will be delivering Junior Kindergarten, working with the board chairs as well.

So, there has been a lot of analysis done on this particular JK delivery, and we just learned from Quebec, as well, that the universal daycare is not really working well for them. Now they’re turning their focus on junior kindergarten for the province of Quebec. So, we are learning best practices from other jurisdictions as well.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today my question will be for the Premier of the Northwest Territories, and it’s related to Junior Kindergarten and how it relates to consensus government.

Can the Premier indicate to me how we deal with a topic like this, that’s been before this House for over a year, talking about the funding requirements. How does consensus government deal with this issue, one issue that keeps repeating itself with no results? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d be very pleased to try to explain how we got there from here. As the Member may know, in the previous Assembly we had a Program Review Office, which still exists, and I was glad to hear one of the Members say that as a government we have to adhere to our own legislation, and I think that’s what we have to do.

The Program Review Office reviewed the education system. The Program Review Office pointed out to us that we were not adhering to our own legislation; we were overfunding education by over $17 million a year. It was pointed out that we should invest more in early childhood development, and that’s what this government has done. We have invested in Junior Kindergarten. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I’m just wondering about the concern, and I see the concern is not Junior Kindergarten and the fact of whether it’s needed or not.

How do we deal with this consensus when we’re talking about how it’s being rolled out? The concern is from different communities, from different leaders throughout the Territories saying that this program is not being rolled out properly when there’s other organizations and other programs, such as the Head Start program, that are being overrun by this Junior Kindergarten program. How do we deal with that in consensus government?

Aboriginal Head Start program is a federal program and it’s federally funded, and I don’t see us interfering in any way

with Aboriginal Head Start. Where there are Aboriginal Head Start programs where Junior Kindergarten is being introduced, we’re working it out so that they can coexist.

I understand the situation, but I understand that these kids are being removed and they’re being put into the public system. Who wouldn’t take that on? It’s a free program, but it’s a program within some of the communities that’s not necessarily needed. I guess the rollout is the question.

How can we change the rollout going forward in consensus government?

In consensus government we pride ourselves in being open and transparent and working things out. We’ve just rolled out Junior Kindergarten. It’s only been in place for three months in communities where they have nothing. They don’t even have daycare. So, as we do in consensus government, we are surveying the program, how it’s working, and we will be reviewing it as early as the next session of this Assembly. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I understand that Cabinet is proud of this program and I understand that Junior Kindergarten is going to be a good thing for some of the small communities that don’t have anything. The question that I have is, it’s being rolled out now, it’s being implemented. Some of these organizations, some of these small communities already know those concerns.

Will the Premier commit to doing some sort of general meeting on Junior Kindergarten with all those people that are being affected, a Junior Kindergarten charrette let’s call it, will the Premier commit to that?

We are always open to the very innovative suggestions from all of the Members of this Assembly. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are addressed to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. I wasn’t going to ask questions on education today, but in listening to my colleagues ask the questions and the answers that haven’t been forthcoming, I feel that I need to ask some questions.

Mr. Bouchard just asked whether or not the government would pull organizations together, and

that was my last question but I am going to go with it first. We need to get the organizations together that are currently providing programming for four-year-olds and ask them how we can accommodate Junior Kindergarten and their programs together without the one destroying the other.

I would like to ask the Minister of Education, will he commit to meet with all organizations that are currently providing early childhood development to four-year-olds in the NWT, with a view to finding a solution that works for both ECE and the NGOs. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The Minister of Education, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I’m glad the Member asked that question, because we met this morning on that particular topic. We were talking about the communication dialogue with the 23 communities and having some sort of forum or symposium for the whole Northwest Territories. It’s a matter of bringing all the organizations to Yellowknife. I guess you would have to have it here, from the regional perspective. It would take some time to arrange that.

But as the Premier alluded to, we are open to these types of forums, to listen to the general public. It is already on our website as well. I like to hear from the general public as well. We are trying to be as open and transparent as we possibly can, to reach out to those individuals at the community level. Mahsi.

Thanks to the Minister. I have been listening to some of the words, and the Minister, earlier, said that he wants to hear the perspective of the people that are involved. My question to that is: Is he actually listening to what the people are saying to him?

He mentioned the teachers’ conference on social interaction, and this is an opportunity for him to hear from the people that are in the program. That is not an evaluation. What we need is an evaluation. I think he also mentioned the survey of schools that are currently doing Junior Kindergarten. A survey is not an evaluation. We need to have an evaluation of the program. Every community, every school that is currently delivering that program needs to be looked at, the pros, the cons, the good, the bad and the ugly.

So I would like to know from the Minister, what evaluation is he speaking of? When he talks about evaluation, exactly what does he mean besides some kind of a forum? Thank you.

I’m open and I want to hear from the general public’s perspective. Whether it be a symposium, a forum, the survey that I have just committed to, I want to share with the 23 communities, the regional centres, even from the Yellowknife perspective. If JK is coming to them, I

want to hear them, the parents. I want to hear the parents. Right now I am just hearing it from the school boards, but I want to hear from the parents’ perspective, because what we are hearing now is 23 communities with Junior Kindergarten is working fine for those communities that are delivering it, but at the same time I want to reach out to those individuals. So when we talk about the evaluation of our Junior Kindergarten program, we’re only into three months of delivering Junior Kindergarten into our communities, so we need to re-evaluate what we have learned since the delivery of the Junior Kindergarten. Those are just some of the discussions that I am currently having with my department.

Anytime something new is implemented there are always growing pains at the beginning, and we are obviously experiencing growing pains, but what I hear the Minister saying is, yup, nothing’s wrong, but where anything is wrong we’re going to wait a year before we do something about it, and I think that’s very much the wrong attitude.

I’d like to know from the Minister, if he can tell me, does he have any intention or will there be any consideration for making changes to phases two and three of the rollout of Junior Kindergarten? Is that an option that he will consider and that we may possibly see in the future?

It was the Finance Minister, our Premier and I who have stated that we are going to re-evaluate our situation. We still have time until the next delivery of JK into our regional centres and also to Yellowknife the following year. This is a situation where we are seriously looking at and also to share some perspectives from the 23 communities, the regional centres and from Yellowknife’s perspective. We’re doing what we can to reach out. Whether it be the taskforce that we established, the toll-free number, the website, we’re doing what we can to reach out to the communities.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To the Minister I would say that reaching out and hearing and surveying is not an intention to make changes. I did not hear one word from the Minister that tells me that he has any intention of making any change to the programming.

I’d like to know from the Minister, he needs to tell me, he needs to tell us on this side of the House, what does he need to understand that changes to the Junior Kindergarten program will make it better? What can we put in front of the Minister to convince him that there needs to be some change going forward?

Those are just some of the surveys and also the inventory that

we’re going to be collecting from communities, and based on that, obviously, the decision needs to happen, or if there are going to be changes, obviously, I would have to bring it back to my Cabinet colleagues and say there is an outcry in this area. That is the input that I’m seeking from the general public, because we’re responsible for the whole Northwest Territories, not just 23 communities but for regional centres and also for Yellowknife in order to deliver a successful Junior Kindergarten.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. Just recently I talked about the fungal jungle in terms of the potential of the morel mushroom industry to more than likely experience a bumper crop after the forest fire season that we experienced this summer.

My question to the Minister is: Buyers of wild mushrooms are typically from out of territory. What is the department doing to ensure buyers have business licences?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In order to operate in the Northwest Territories, you would require a business licence.

Is the Minister willing to make an effort to engage Aboriginal governments and other organizations in supporting local mushroom harvests?

Mr. Speaker, the answer to that is yes. We have done a lot of work. Last summer, I think the number of the harvest generated about $650,000 locally, so that’s a big number. We want to see that number increase. The Member is correct; with the number of forest fires last summer we do expect a bumper crop of mushrooms next summer. We are moving forward with plans to get into communities over the winter. We don’t want to wait until the spring. We’re developing pocket booklets. They’re like a how-to booklet informing people about morel mushrooms, where to find them, what they look like, maps of the burn areas, harvesting methodology, harvester/buyer interaction, tools and equipment required and what to watch out for, including bears. So you have to watch out for bears. We also will be doing orientation visits. I talked about the visits to communities and we expect to get into communities between November and February. We want to get

into communities like Kakisa, Fort Providence, Fort Simpson, Jean Marie River, Enterprise, Hay River Reserve, Hay River, Fort Smith and Fort Resolution, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

The Forest Management Act is in need of renewal. Would the Minister, in cooperation with the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, consider some creative interim solutions for regulating mushrooms and non-timber forest products such as including them in the Fur Harvester Program? Mahsi.

I believe we’ve made a commitment to the Member to have a look at that, and it is certainly something we will be doing. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister had indicated that yes, indeed, that businesses that operate in the NWT must have a business licence. We’ve seen when communities pop up over the course of the end of May going into June, we have villages out there and it was perhaps almost like the Wild West.

Can the Minister assure this House that potentially people who come up from down south, they will be checked and officials from departments will be on site to ensure people are operating legally in the NWT by showing their business licence? Mahsi.

Yes, we certainly will take a look at the policing aspect of whether or not operators that show up in the Northwest Territories next summer have a business licence. They are also required, I believe, to carry Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission coverage, as well, to operate in the Northwest Territories because they do have employees working here. That’s something where we have the winter to develop a game plan for next summer, and certainly I think we’ll put a plan in place that will see a policing aspect to the best we can. The Member is correct; regulation falls under the FMA and that’s something that we need to address. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was going to ask questions about the morel issue, as my colleague Mr. Nadli brought up, but there is so much to talk about with the Junior Kindergarten issue. I can’t miss an opportunity to highlight the importance of this.

While I was in the communities on the weekend, Mr. Speaker, someone had told me they didn’t want the Junior Kindergarten program, but the Minister over-wrote that community and so he used his authority to tell a community you’re getting what you’re getting. So, at the end of the day, what’s the point of having community input and the community people managing their own school system? So let’s get this clearly on the record.

What circumstances allow the Minister to override a community’s decision and direction to want to do their own thing rather than being forced to accept Junior Kindergarten? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My understanding is the Member visited a community and there was one organization that may not be supportive of the JK, but there are other organizations in the community that we’ve been dealing with on constant occasions. Not only that but the school board that’s responsible for that particular community, we deal with the school board. So the DECs, the school board, make the decision working with us to deliver Junior Kindergarten into their community. That’s the avenue and the protocol we follow. The decision is from the DEC. Thank you.

This is the same Minister when I asked him to direct Aurora College to make them have e-mail so they are accessible to the students is now overriding a decision by the DEA in Fort Providence. They passed a duly qualified elected board motion that doesn’t want this particular case.

Maybe the Minister can explain why he has ministerial authority and he wants to execute it and direct it at his own will, yet ignores the will of community people trying to take care of their own community in a fashion that’s best for them. Can you explain that to the House?

When I speak to DEAs, we have an agreement in place where when it comes to rolling out the K to 12 programming and not only that, even post-secondary, we have a representative on there from the local DEA onto the DECs. I deal with the board chairs. Any issue brought to my attention comes from the committee perspective as well. By the end of the day, Mr. Speaker, it is the board that decides which community will be delivering JK. Some of the community decided not to pursue it.

Again, it was me that provided the flexibility whether it is optional, full time or part time. Initially it was mandatory full time. I listened to the general public, the board chairs, when they asked me to consider flexibility, which I offered. As I stated before, there

are always changes along the way. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

When the Minister keeps saying how he keeps listening to all of these people, I’m certainly glad that’s the case. I’m sure the Minister listened very carefully when we went from one end of the Assembly on this side of the House to the other and all 11 Regular Members loudly, clearly and very passionately spoke that we didn’t want Junior Kindergarten implemented in the manner as described by the Minister because it would affect Aboriginal Head Start, it would hurt day homes and it would have all these types of problems all related to funding and perspective.

So when the Minister says he listens, why is he not listening to the DEA that says they don’t want it served up in the manner it’s being served? Thank you.

When it comes to the delivery of Junior Kindergarten into the regions, the 23 communities, we’ve worked with them since day one, even as far back as October when I first met with board chairs first introducing Junior Kindergarten. This is an area where we, again, have to evaluate our programming for the 23 communities and what have we learned from them. It’s only three months into the delivery of Junior Kindergarten. It’s not, like, a year into the programming, but now we have to re-evaluate. So that’s where our situation stands. Again, it’s our DECs that we have to work with. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Whether it’s the DEA or DEC or MLA, I would be hopeful that the Minister would take our opinions into account. I trust the community people that have made a good decision.

The Minister keeps talking about having to examine what we’ve learned. It’s been three months, next month it will be four and we’ve all reached the point where we say it’s been too far, we might as well continue or we’ve done these communities, wait until we get to the next set. The bottom line is we have a DEA that passed a motion that says this is not right for them.

Would the Minister be willing to reverse his directive today in this House so the people of communities just like Fort Providence won’t be imposed on by this Minister that want a different method? Thank you.

Anything we do has to be documented. So if there’s a letter from the DECs saying they don’t want Junior Kindergarten in their communities – because I provided the option – whether it be Fort Providence or other small communities, then we have to act on the

correspondence that will come to my attention, Mr. Speaker. Mahsi.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I spoke about Colville Lake and the have and have-not communities in the Northwest Territories and two-tiered systems of standards of programs and services in the communities. I’m going to ask the Minister of MACA, given the fire in Colville Lake last weekend and that the Minister certainly heard through this Assembly that the fire marshal met with Colville Lake people. I understand that a fire truck is on the list of infrastructure that’s going to be coming to Colville Lake.

Is the Minister looking at a type of fire training program for Colville Lake’s newly developed fire department?

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The Minister of MACA, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’re pleased to hear of Colville Lake moving some of their priorities around and getting a fire truck. So we would be pleased to work with the community in getting some training and that, once their fire department is established, we will, on their invitation, go in and work with them and get some training for their recently formed fire department. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister McLeod. I understand the Minister clearly heard me, he heard me about the capacity building in our small communities and that’s the name of the game.

We often hear from our communities, our SAOs and band members that they’re under pressure to look at community emergency plans.

Can the Minister of MACA tell us how often these training sessions happen to help our volunteers, be it firefighters or search and rescue folk, be ready for real emergencies?

Thank you. We try and work with the communities. We’ve been working with them the last while to update their emergency preparedness plans and we work with the communities, we don’t try, we do work with the communities to upgrade any training that they might need, upgrade the equipment that they might need. The people at our disposal, we use their expertise to work with the communities to help them come up with a plan to deal with a lot of the situations that they’re dealing with. Thank you.

Given that November 1st is the

opening of the trapping season and the Colville Lake people are out on the land setting up their

traps and camps, would the Minister consider working with the band manager as to looking at some possible dates, so when the community is prepared and ready, to have a firefighter training program come into Colville Lake?

We’d be happy to work with the community. Again, we will wait to hear from the community and what some of their timelines are. They know what’s going on in their community. So once they extend the invitation and give us a definite timeline, then we will make our people available to go in and assist with the training of their fire department. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Looking at old Hansard from 2006, that was the last time I asked for a fire truck in Colville Lake. I said these are some of the necessary emergency services that we’ve been asking for in our small communities. There are have and have-not communities in the Northwest Territories. That’s the reality.

I want to ask the Minister the same question I had in the 2006 Hansard in regard to assessing homes to see if they are prepared to deal with any type of emergencies such as fires in the small communities.

Thank you. The New Deal took effect in 2007. That’s when we devolved the responsibilities for the communities to look after their capital purchases. A number of communities have taken us up on that, they’ve made some really good decisions on addressing some of their priorities. So in 2006, when the Member asked the question, we were still responsible for a lot of the capital that went into the communities and it usually had to wait in line to get through the capital process. Since the communities have the responsibility now, they are identifying a lot of their priorities, and if a fire truck is one of their priorities, then the communities do have the authority now to purchase their own pieces of equipment, their own infrastructure. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today I raised the seriousness of our definite lack of safety culture and a clear failure of our Occupational Health and Safety Policy. Recently the Territorial Court, under presiding Judge Malakoe, drew public attention to the GNWT’s offending behavior and levied significant fines under the Safety Act. Considering these facts alone raised concern of our own responsibilities as deputy

heads and government as a whole for the people we injure and to the overall safety of our public service, my questions today are for the Minister of Human Resources.

On November 28, 2013, almost one year ago, the Minister announced a significant milestone for the GNWT to fulfill its mandate and commitment to a safe, healthy workplace for all of our employees. Can the Minister update us as to what’s transpired since that announcement? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The Minister of Human Resources, Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Members can appreciate, this is a very complex issue with many employees scattered across the North doing many things, and many other people working for the GNWT that are not necessarily employees, but contractors, even down to people who are doing the custodial work in our buildings and so on. So, as I indicated, a complex issue.

The Department of Human Resources is working with all of the departments to strike occupational health and safety committees in the regions and in headquarters and are having regular meetings, trying to put as many safety programs on as possible through the GNWT training programs that we deliver across the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

Thank you. The Minister is, indeed, right; it is a very complex issue and, interestingly enough, for a workforce of over 5,000 employees, the GNWT does not have a safety department, no apparent safety program, no safety manual, no training and no contractor management system.

Can the Minister inform the House by what tools or divine intervention, how does the GNWT support our Occupational Health and Safety Policy, our so-called safety program and, of course, our missing contractor management system? Thank you.

Thank you. Kind of a multifaceted question. The GNWT does have a website. We have various forms that are filled out by the staff that are taking courses. I indicated there are some committees in place. We have an orientation for new staff, we have safety meetings, guidelines, we deliver inspections on the worksites and then again with the contractors, another matter again. Contractors are required to have a safety program when they’re on-site. There are various types of contractors that build for us, contractors that build roads and buildings and, like I said, custodian contractors. So each of those contractors are required to have safety programs. Thank you.

At the sake of not repeating all the findings of the recent GNWT guilty case by our territorial Judge Malakoe, can the Minister inform

the House, is pleading guilty the new cost of doing things these days, or in other words, is the GNWT’s inaction deemed as an acceptable accounting loss? Thank you.

This particular case was a maneuver that had been performed various times by the contractors under the supervision of the Government of the Northwest Territories. The reason that we had received the lion’s share of the fine was because we’re the owner of the contract and that we also owned the ferry. They made a decision in the courts that only a small portion should be administered to the contractor because of the injury that was received on-site. Thank you.