Good afternoon, colleagues. Before we get started today, I’d like to pay tribute to and acknowledge my elders who live a healthy lifestyle and are resilient role models. In Paulatuk, Marcus and the late Ida Ruben celebrated their 54th anniversary, May 5,

2014. In Sachs Harbour, Frank Kudlak will turn 85 on December 24, 2014. In Tuktoyaktuk, Persis Gruben turned 96 on October 20, 2014; Bill and Lucy Cockney celebrated their 60th anniversary on

May 1, 2014; and Adam and Annie Emaghok celebrated their 63rd anniversary on August 24,

2014. In Ulukhaktok, Jean Kagyut turned 94 in September 2014. We’re not sure of the exact date; her parents told her it’s when it snows and melts. Andy and Mary Akaoakhion will celebrate their 51st anniversary on December 15, 2014.

My riding of Nunakput is blessed to have the knowledge, culture, language and wisdom of my elders.

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

Mr. Speaker, over the last few days, the future of energy and the approach of the Government of the Northwest Territories to energy in the Northwest Territories has been explored, deliberated and discussed at length.

The 2014 Northwest Territories Energy Charrette has generated a great deal of interest throughout our territory and beyond. Over 120 people participated in the entire charrette and there were many more who attended the public discussion held on Monday, November 3rd .

We had representatives from communities and Aboriginal governments from every region of the territory and attracted experts in the field of

renewable and sustainable energy from across Canada and even as far away as Germany.

The focus of discussions was on what we can do today to address the high energy costs that contribute to our cost of living and the approach we need to take to ensure we have sustainable energy systems in the long term.

I would like to emphasize that there was a strong project focus to these discussions. This is why the Government of the Northwest Territories invited Mr. Axel Lambion from Germany, whose company specializes in biomass energy systems. Lambion Energy Solutions has been operating for 100 years and has developed over 3,000 projects across the world. Other participants, such as Marlo Raynolds from BluEarth Energy and Anouk Kendall from Decentralized Energy Canada, provided their perspectives and experience with regard to renewable energy projects on the ground today. These include projects that could be built in the short term, including solar, biomass and combined heat and power systems.

I would like to thank all Members of the Legislative Assembly who participated in these discussions. I would also like to acknowledge Minister Miltenberger for his efforts to ensure this charrette was a success and his commitment to change our approach to energy in the short term to ensure communities have access to affordable and sustainable energy systems in the long term.

Mr. Speaker, there will be outcomes from the 2014 Energy Charrette. A report on the charrette discussions will be released within a month. The government will circulate the report widely and ask for additional input and include residents who expressed an interest but were unable to attend the charrette.

The government will then look at developing a response to the charrette report that could include changes to the current Energy Plan early next year. We would like to work with all Members of the Legislative Assembly on this initiative and will be following up through the standing committee process to further engage Members in the discussion. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister of Lands, Mr. McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, as part of devolution, the Government of the Northwest Territories took over responsibility for the management of environmental liabilities and securities for resource development projects in our territory.

The regulatory system in the Northwest Territories provides for environmental protection, including terms and conditions within various authorizations. Security provides additional protection to ensure that there are funds to address environmental liabilities if proponents fail to take remedial action.

Several departments are responsible for managing financial securities under individual licences, leases and permits. Our government recognizes that these responsibilities must be closely coordinated and effectively managed on a whole-of-project and territory-wide basis in order to have a full picture to reduce financial risk to the GNWT and to protect our land for generations to come.

On September 12, 2014, I announced the establishment of a dedicated division in the Department of Lands to oversee the management of financial securities. The liabilities and financial assurances division will provide for strong and effective collaboration between departments with legislated responsibilities for security deposits, as well as central agencies such as the departments of Finance and Justice. This division will also lead and coordinate short and longer term policy development concerning the government’s management of securities.

Mr. Speaker, the establishment of this new division is well underway and it has already taken steps towards providing support to other departments managing environmental liabilities and financial securities.

Our government has reviewed the fall 2012 Report of the Commissioner on Sustainable Development and the Environment, which considered the federal government’s management of securities that were transferred to us under devolution. The audit provided practical recommendations on improving governance, risk management approaches and controls. The report provides a useful starting point where we can learn from federal experience and build approaches to improve securities management and protect the GNWT from financial risks.

Mr. Speaker, the Department of Lands has already initiated the development of a securities information management system for the GNWT. This system will address the handling and processing of securities and support departments’ analysis of ongoing reviews of financial security. This analysis

is necessary for evidence-based policy development and securities interventions which will balance the needs of government, taxpayers and proponents.

In the interim, the department is leading and coordinating the establishment of a cross-departmental interim protocol for security management addressing the operational handling requirements for securities.

Mr. Speaker, it is essential that our government also have the right tools to support informed decision-making. To this end, the division has started the necessary baseline policy reviews to inform both short- and long-term policy development.

Although individual GNWT departments continue to develop interventions and review proposals with significant reclamation obligations, the Department of Lands is taking on the additional responsibility related to security management and assessment for individual projects. By doing so, Mr. Speaker, it is gaining valuable insight that will lead to an informed policy baseline that considers both operational realities and the needs of our government.

In addition, we are developing important partnerships with our industry, academic and public sector counterparts, including resource management boards. These partnerships will also help support a broad-based and informed policy basis for our government moving forward.

We also need to make sure our investment climate is attractive, while our environment is protected. The GNWT has noted industry’s concerns about the risk of double bonding if there are potentially overlapping securities requirements. Our new division will help ensure we can address this concern, while managing any potential environmental liabilities and, at the same time, encourage sustainable land use to ensure strong economic development in our territory.

Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to protecting the land and environment of the Northwest Territories while supporting responsible, sustainable development consistent with our Land Use and Sustainability Framework. Consistently assessing appropriate securities for developments is one of the ways we will do that. The creation of the liabilities and financial assurances division will support us in this goal and ensure that potential environmental liabilities can be remediated so the northern environment is protected. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister of ENR, Mr. Miltenberger.

Mr. Speaker, as a result of devolution, much of the lands and waters of the Northwest Territories are now the responsibility of our government. We had prepared for this eventually by getting our policy house in order through the development of the NWT Water Stewardship Strategy and its action plan. We built these documents collaboratively with our partners, in particular the Aboriginal governments of the NWT. They represent a huge success, and they demonstrate how innovative we are here in the North.

I am very pleased to report another critically important success.

Our post-devolution responsibility for water and our commitment made in the NWT Water Stewardship Strategy was to negotiate transboundary water management agreements with our neighbouring jurisdictions in the Mackenzie River Basin.

As of yesterday, our negotiating team has reached a stable intentions document with Alberta. This is following having reached agreement on an intentions document with British Columbia earlier this year, in June. So, we have now accomplished a critical stage with the two key jurisdictions upstream of us. These two agreements cover over 85 percent of the Mackenzie River Basin. With these two agreements in place, we can confidently say that we are protecting the vast majority of the Mackenzie River Basin, and because the Mackenzie River Basin is about 20 percent of the land mass of Canada, these agreements are of also national and international significance.

Both intentions documents meet the strategic outcomes for these agreements that were approved by Cabinet in 2012.

First and foremost, they are ecological agreements that protect the health of the aquatic ecosystem while allowing for development by both parties. This has only been negotiated in one other place in the world, in Australia, and in the face of drought they were not able to maintain their commitments to the aquatic ecosystem. Because we will absolutely fulfill our commitments, we will be the first jurisdiction in the world to demonstrate how to truly protect the health of the aquatic ecosystem while allowing for development.

Further, the Alberta and BC intentions documents also create an adaptive framework for cooperative management of transboundary waters, set out cooperative decision-making processes and create clear notification, consultation and information-sharing requirements. With these agreements in place, we will no longer find out about upstream developments and events in the newspaper. We are building a much closer, more productive

working relationship with our Mackenzie River Basin neighbours.

Throughout the negotiating process, the opinions and values of Aboriginal governments and other stakeholders were critical. Environment and Natural Resources has engaged deeply with Aboriginal governments over the last seven years as we worked together in meetings and regional workshops throughout the NWT to develop the NWT Water Strategy, and we worked even more closely over the last three years as negotiations proceeded.

We continued to engage repeatedly with Aboriginal governments, updating and briefing them, and then revising our positions to take into account their views. The NWT Water Strategy Aboriginal Steering Committee was also updated regularly on the progress of the negotiations. Just last month, on October 6 and 7, we brought all Aboriginal groups to Yellowknife to consult on the NWT-BC Intentions Document, and we received strong support that we will continue to build upon as we work with Aboriginal governments in implementing the agreements. Following that meeting, we met with regulatory boards and NGOs from both within and outside of the NWT.

Traditional and local knowledge workshops and community-based monitoring have added valuable information to the engagement and consultation process. People in the NWT are experts on the place where they live and work, and we have and will continue to ensure they have a voice and opportunity to speak during this process.

We have discussed different elements of the intentions documents with governance and ecosystem science experts from across Canada. They have all expressed strong support for what we have accomplished.

Aboriginal consultation and public engagement regarding the BC and Alberta agreements are coming to an end. A highlights document that includes the comments and concerns we heard during consultation meetings and responses to those concerns is currently being distributed to Aboriginal groups. A FAQ document has been published recently to provide residents of the NWT with additional information to better understand concepts included in the intentions document.

We will continue to pursue transboundary water management agreements with Saskatchewan and the Yukon and are also planning on beginning the discussion with Nunavut.

Both Alberta and British Columbia are committed to signing these agreements in February, after they have completed their consultations. This will be a highly anticipated celebration, one we hope to host here in Yellowknife.

I want to recognize our small but very powerful and effective water team that got us these agreements, one of the best water teams in the country. They drove the process and showed the other jurisdictions just how things are done here in the North.

Mr. Speaker, we are on the verge of taking a major step towards achieving the vision we developed for the NWT Water Stewardship Strategy: to develop transboundary water agreements that ensure the waters of the NWT will remain clean, productive and abundant for all time. We did this by working together. I am proud of the work we have done, and I believe that this work will be a legacy for future generations. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mr. Speaker, entrepreneurs and small business owners in the Northwest Territories are committed, passionate and extremely hard working.

I would like to take the opportunity to recognize a particularly dedicated business owner, Mr. Francis Anderson. Mr. Anderson has been the owner and operator of Saville Enterprises, a thriving hardware store in the Hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk, since the age of 19.

Maintaining a business in one of the most northern communities in the Northwest Territories may have its challenges, and Mr. Anderson’s business is a great example of how they can be overcome. His work to provide the products, services and knowledge needed by his community is renowned.

Mr. Anderson opened his business over 30 years ago and his is a success story and part of the foundation of the made-in-the-NWT business community.

Business people like Mr. Anderson empower the entrepreneurial spirit of the Northwest Territories. Those who are starting in business or thinking of following the path to entrepreneurship will benefit from his leadership.

With the construction of the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk highway, access to these communities will improve and opportunities to invest and grow our economy will be realized, particularly in our small business and tourism sectors. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Premier. Mr. Premier.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to advise Members that the Honourable Glen Abernethy will be absent from the House today to attend the Canada Northwest FASD Partnership Ministers’ meetings in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. [Translation] Did you know a Dene man passed away suddenly on Sunday, November 2nd ? He was born and raised in

the Hay River area. “Watch, learn and teach” was his motto. He was taught traditional survival skills by observing, getting involved and practicing bush skills from the time he was 10 years old

He came from a family of 17. He often talked about how his dad made him a boat and bought him two hunting guns when he was 15 years old. He lived outdoors all the time, working, hunting and trapping. Jim believed that if you watched and listened to your elders, you would live a good and long life. That was self-discipline and being resourceful.

Mr. Speaker, Jim worried about his grandchildren and younger generations losing their ancestral language. Children need to listen and understand their language so they can keep their language and speak it. Jim, Daniel Sonfrere, Pat and Ted Bugghins first started the Katlodeeche First Nation to establish the Hay River Reserve in 1972.

Funeral services for the late Jim Lamalice is today at 2:00 p.m. in the town of Hay River at the Pentecostal Church. The feast is at the Chief Lamalice Complex following the laying to rest at St. Peter’s Cemetery on the Hay River Reserve. Mahsi.

Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am taking this time today to congratulate the newly elected leaders from the community of Fort McPherson. Elections for one president and four councillors were held in 2014 and I look forward to working with the new community leadership in the coming year: President William Firth and his council Glen Alexie, David Krutko, Abe Wilson and Leslie Blake.

This new council will oversee daily operation of the Designated Gwich’in Organization which is a community organization operating under the guidance of the Gwich’in Tribal Council. I trust that our territorial and community governments will work positively towards a healthier and stronger community and territory.

Mr. Speaker, I want to extend best wishes to all communities throughout the territory. Let’s continue to work together as leaders. As leaders in today’s economy, we pledge to our people that we will serve them in our upmost dignity. I look forward to working with you on community issues, concerns and comments. Congratulations and all the best for you and the community.

Also, Mr. Speaker, on November 17, 2014, the Gwich’in Nation will elect a president for the Gwich’in Tribal Council. I would like to wish both candidates, Richard Nerysoo and James Wilson, all the best, and I look forward to working with you in the future. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Today I want to continue a familiar theme: health care for my people. I don’t want to give the impression that our health care system is fundamentally flawed. It isn’t, Mr. Speaker. But as the Minister of Health says himself, there’s definitely room for improvement.

One of the goals of our health system is to deliver services as close to home as possible, and I’m all for that. A simple change would really help out the people of Fort Liard and, at the same time, probably lower the costs of health in my region.

People of Fort Liard are already getting some of their health services in Fort Nelson, British Columbia. Liard residents often use their own resources and drive south for certain services. It’s only 210 kilometres from Fort Liard to Fort Nelson, compared to 284 kilometres towards Fort Simpson and then an additional airplane ride to Yellowknife. The road to Fort Nelson is in better shape, too, because it’s Highway No. 7, Mr. Speaker.

What’s more? Fort Nelson is triple the size of Fort Simpson, so it has more services. It is not uncommon for Fort Liard patients to be flown to Yellowknife, which is almost 800 kilometres away. Instead, why not send patients south to Fort Nelson General Hospital?

Each year, tens of thousands of Canadians cross provincial or territorial borders to receive health care. Oftentimes it is a simple matter of patient choice because it is more convenient to skip across

the border. This is made possible by the in-Canada portability provisions of the Canada Health Act.

I would like to see a formal agreement between the Department of Health and Social Services and the BC Ministry of Health that allows Fort Liard residents to receive health care in Fort Nelson.

Across the country, agreements of this kind are very common. With expanding the use of electronic medical records, it should be easier than ever to manage this type of arrangement. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the fall of 2012, Choice North Farms of Hay River began exploring the option of developing a manure compost facility. The facility would see the composting of approximately 5,700 tonnes of manure annually. In addition to the manure composted, there would be a significant amount of paper and cardboard required to mix in the manure that’s reducing the amount being sent to our landfills each year.

After selecting the site with the assistance of AANDC, the first federal application was sent directly to Lands administration office in Yellowknife in early 2013, but the application was rejected for lack of an agricultural policy in the Northwest Territories. I want to stress that.

A second federal land application was made to the office of Municipal and Community Affairs in Fort Smith. That application was rejected for lack of an agriculture policy in the Northwest Territories. Further discussion around the issue identified that MACA should have sent their own application to the federal department, not the application from Choice North Farms, and then have worked to establish a lease agreement between Choice North and the territorial government. There seemed to be confusion as to how the process worked and this was the first application of this kind. There was further concern about the lacking agriculture policy to allow MACA to lease land for this purpose.

Mr. Speaker, there is a few more paragraphs here about the long, convoluted path that my constituents had in trying to secure land, but in 2014, October 2014, just recently, my constituent attended the NWT Lands administration office in Yellowknife to discuss property that he had applied for. Because the land was unavailable, they were willing to look at another parcel but they had been informally told that if they continued to pursue a new site for this compost project, the application will be turned down because there is no mechanism to develop agricultural lands outside of municipalities.

Until the NWT Lands or the Commissioner or Lands department establish a mechanism, Choice North Farms can expect the same results.

The situation has been communicated up through the department by the lands officers that have they have been working with, so there is an awareness of the issue.

Currently, they are working with Ecology North and GNWT ITI waste management on a pilot project. Technical requirements for this project have been completed. The manure is ready for compost, and they are prepared to move forward with this project, pending access to land.

The compost could and would be used for agricultural small scale farming, landscaping, mine reclamation and a host of other land and food-based projects. This compost could be shipped to other communities that are unable to grow food due to soil restraints, and Choice North Farms sees this as a vital…

Excuse me, Mrs. Groenewegen. Time for your Member’s statement has expired.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. May I please seek unanimous consent to conclude the last little bit of my statement? Thank you.

---Unanimous consent granted

This compost could be shipped to other communities that are unable to grow food due to soil restraints, and Choice North Farms sees this as a vital support piece for local food production in all communities.

This is a viable project and much has gone into it. I will have questions later today for the Minister of MACA and maybe the Minister of ITI, I’m not sure, but I can think of a whole lot of topics, a whole lot of titles for this Member’s statement on manure composting. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Member for the Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Next Tuesday is November 11th , Remembrance Day.

The year of 2014 also marks the 100th Anniversary

of the Great War, the war to end all wars is what they said back in the early 1900s. Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, they were wrong.

While we have no veterans from the First World War in the Sahtu, and few from the second, I wish to pay tribute to all the veterans and those who bravely served in the Canadian Armed Forces including people from the Sahtu: Swaine Bavard, Wilbert Cook, Darrel Cook, Wayne Lennie, Hughie Kenny, Stanley Cook, Tim Cook and countless others I have not named today.

I would also like to salute our Canadian Rangers and the Junior Canadian Rangers patrols across the Sahtu and the North, and to encourage all the little Cadets in our communities to keep up the good work and your training. Volunteering and services are where you learn the most as a leader. These men and women, whether at the Battle of the Somme, Juno Beach, Korea or Afghanistan, have suited up and some have paid the supreme sacrifice.

This year Remembrance Day will have an even deeper meaning for Canadians after two tragic attacks in Quebec and Ottawa that have taken two of our soldiers from us. As Northerners and Canadians young and old don their poppies, we are taking part in a national display of pride and respect, a visual pledge to never forget those who made the ultimate sacrifice. According to the Royal Canadian Legion, more than 18 million Canadians wear a poppy to honour, thank and remember Canadian fallen veterans and those who continue to serve today.

I would also like to salute our First Nation Aboriginal vets from coast to coast to coast. Some lost their status, like the late Tom Eagle. We must pressure Ottawa to continue to overturn that injustice. In fact, it was the veterans of World War II who fought Ottawa to give the Aboriginal people the right to vote in the ‘60s.

While poppies are free, the Legion poppy campaign supports retired members...

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Sorry; your time for your Member’s statement has expired.

I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

Our donations directly support Canadians serving and retired veterans and their families by ensuring we never forget the horrors of war but remember what they stood and did for all of us. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wanted to keep my last sessional statement of 2014 with a simple message of thanks and gratitude. First and foremost, we’ve just heard Mr. Yakeleya mention a very beautiful rendition for our fallen soldiers, and as we approach November 11th , it’s important that

we give thanks to our fallen heroes, past and present.

Our success as a nation stands on the shoulders of their sacrifice. Let’s unite as an Assembly and grant them a moment of silence.

---Moment of silence

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and colleagues. It’s hard to believe that this will be the last Christmas holiday season for the 17th Legislative Assembly. I wanted

to send an early and heartfelt season’s greetings to all residents of the Northwest Territories, and for my hardworking colleagues in this Chamber, I wish you a special time of meaning and cultural tradition with your family and friends. Thank you, colleagues. Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A diverse and committed arts community exists in the Northwest Territories with literally dozens of groups in the areas of dance, theatre, music, film, visual arts, crafts and many more. Organizations may be small, but they are big on hard work, enthusiasm, commitment and inclusive programs that reach out across our communities.

Artists understand and acknowledge how the arts function to support our social strengths, our health and well-being. Hill Research Strategies in Ottawa reports reveal the link between the arts and student engagement and education, positive economic impact and cultural tourism, improved quality of life, importance in Aboriginal health and well-being, the list goes on.

Beyond these, at a time when social changes and challenges are many, the arts provide a valid way to engage community learning, exploration, idea exchange and critical dialogue that ground our culture and identity. These same artists are seeing gaps, key gaps, that are limiting the role the arts can play in diversifying and strengthening our territorial economy. One is the lack of a properly funded arts hub, typically found in every other capital in Canada. Another is a fine arts school. The two could easily go together. A proper gallery could showcase the work made in the regions as well as a place to foster and develop a more sophisticated arts discourse. A place for research, exhibition, education, and documentation of contemporary and modern visual arts. A place to attend screenings, to learn how to felt, paint, sculpt, to participate in group shows, to see contemporary art exhibitions, to hear artists speak and participate in group projects. A place where artists can learn, inspire and be inspired; a place that can expose and motivate people through art made here and elsewhere in the world. An arts hub would enrich our community by celebrating what we do while displaying great works from the past and present, from near and far.

Exhibition opportunities absolutely essential to an artist from the NWT are woefully lacking. We need to develop an NWT arts centre from the grassroots, with guidance from the diverse arts community already here, and developed through partnership and vision from our vibrant community. An NWT arts hub is a place that will require start-up costs and financial support. It can move forward through partnerships of public, governmental and private funding. This is a huge opportunity and the time is right, the players are ready.

Will the Minister take this as a priority, lead the conversation towards realizing this goal, filling this gap and strengthening the NWT community and economy with an arts centre? The talented bunch of artists across this territory, our society and our people deserve it.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Colleagues, before we hear our next Member’s statement, I would like to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery this afternoon of Mr. Jean-Christopher Fleury, Consul General of France. Welcome to the Assembly.

The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Each year the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse, CCSA, joins organizations across the country in observing National Addictions Awareness Week. Organized by CCSA, National Addictions Awareness Week highlights issues and solutions to help address alcohol and other drug-related harm. It provides an opportunity for Canadians to learn more about drug prevention, to talk about treatment and recovery, and to bring forward solutions for change.

In 2014, National Addictions Awareness Week will be held November 17th to the 21st , a little over a

week from now. CCSA will also mark the National Day of Remembrance for Road Crash Victims on November 19th , during National Addictions

Awareness Week, by drawing attention to the growing problem of drug-impaired driving.

Preventing youth from using drugs is a priority for CCSA and our partners, so this year’s theme for National Addictions Awareness Week is youth drug use prevention, especially addressing the use of alcohol, cannabis and prescription drugs among our youth.

I encourage Members and NGOs to join the dialogue, a dialogue to help create a healthier society, one free of harms of substance abuse and misuse. You can follow CCSA on Twitter – some of us are doing that – @CCSAcanada, and you can use the hashtag #NAAWCanada to help support this year’s activities during National Addictions

Awareness Week. You can also share resources on your social media channels.

There are several activities that I am aware of that are planned for Yellowknife during National Addictions Awareness Week. One is the kickoff of National Addictions Awareness Week: a sober walk. Students, staff and community members will march through the downtown streets of Yellowknife on Monday, November 17th . As well, the Tree of

Peace will be hosting an information fair on the first day of National Addictions Awareness Week. Many organizations around Yellowknife that deal directly and indirectly with addictions will be there at the fair.

I invite everyone to take part in National Addictions Awareness Week events in your community, and remember, if you need help, it is available to you. Take advantage of it.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to finish off this session with a real good, feel good news story. It’s about a small office in the Northwest Territories that has been doing great work in getting Northerners very active and can potentially have a big impact across this nation.

The most recent Walk to Tuk Challenge involved over 1,600 NWT participants from 17 communities on 102 teams. Seventy-three of those teams were successful in reaching Tuktoyaktuk, walking a grand total of 207,808 kilometres. Calculating in hours of exercise equalled about 48,918.5 hours of exercising. On average, each participant accumulated 245 minutes of weekly exercise, which is 95 minutes more exercise than the 150 minutes that are recommended by the Canadian Physical Activity Guidelines for adults aged 18 to 64. This was all done during the darkest and coldest times of the year.

As the NWT embarks on the fifth anniversary of this successful program, it is my pleasure to announce that the NWT Rec and Parks Association’s Walk to Tuk Challenge has been selected as one of six finalists in the Play Exchange program and will be showcased on a national television show in January 2015 and will be eligible for up to $1 million to launch this program nationwide.

This is huge not only for the NWTRPA and addressing active living in some of our health issues but it also has a big impact for possible tourism in the Northwest Territories.

The Play Exchange is a national online challenge that was launched in February of 2014, to fund and support creative ideas to get Canadians living

healthier lifestyles. Some highlights of this Play Exchange challenge, in fact the Walk to Tuk Challenge was chosen out of over 400 submissions from across Canada, and the top six finalists each receive mentoring and support from the LIFT Philanthropy Partners to develop a strategic plan for their idea.

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

---Unanimous consent granted

As I said, the challenge will be featured on a CBC Television program and it will be won by voting online.

This is a made-in-the-NWT event that can affect all Canadians from coast to coast to coast.

I would like to personally encourage all Northerners and friends of the NWTRPA to vote when voting starts. I would also like to thank Sheena Tremblay, Geoff Ray and all the staff and volunteers of the NWT Rec and Parks Association who have made this challenge a success. We should support this program and be the national leaders in addressing high obesity rates and mitigate the high chronic diseases and conditions that affect all Canadians. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When we started the 17th Assembly, we set up some

priorities, and one of those priorities was decentralization. Yesterday Mr. Bromley referred to decentralizing his position to Hay River.

---Applause

Seriously, I know Mr. Bromley works hard in Detah and Ndilo, small communities that need his support.

When we started this journey about decentralization, the government gave us issues that we had: housing issues in small communities, office space requirements and residential issues. The government has indicated to me and given us some stats that they’ve created 158 jobs outside of Yellowknife. Mr. Speaker, we would be celebrating that if those were all the facts.

The other facts are we know they started and devolved over 200 in Yellowknife, so decentralization is not happening, Mr. Speaker.

We need to be committed to decentralizing, putting more jobs out into the communities, not only to the regional centres but some of the smaller communities. We need to solve those issues of housing and office space. We need to know the next phase. We’ve had our three phases, but what’s the next phase? What’s happening next

year? We still don’t have a plan coming forward, and we know that this is the last statement for 2014. What is going to happen in February and March? What are we going to hear about a continued decentralization?

We need to get this done. This is the 17th Assembly

and something this Assembly set as a priority. We need to be committed to it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

[English translation not provided.]

I am practicing my French, and some days I practice better than others.

Mr. Speaker, what I was trying to say there was today’s final statement will be on fracking technology. Our environment, our water and our land are very important.

Industry is working very hard to reduce the environmental impact of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. General Electric and Statoil, a Norwegian oil and gas producer, are working on waterless fracking. Instead of water, these companies plan to use supercritical carbon dioxide to enable the flow of gas and oil to their wells.

Supercritical carbon dioxide is between its gaseous and liquid states. It could be supplied under high pressure in a tank. There are some challenges yet. Collecting carbon dioxide and hauling it into fracking sites is currently more expensive than using water. That statement alone probably says we might not be putting the right price or the right value to what our water really is worth.

GE and Statoil hope to actually inject carbon dioxide into the well and then recapture it at the wellhead. It would then be used again at the next well. If this technology was used widely, much more carbon dioxide would be needed than is readily available. That probably means we could find new ways to capture carbon dioxide from those coal-fired power plants and we’d have a reason to put it somewhere else rather than flaring or venting it.

Two companies have just started a three-year project that would cumulate in a technological demonstration before full commercial launch. This strikes as very promising to me, because with the exploration efforts involving fracking currently on hold in the Northwest Territories, time will be certainly on our side.

It may be that fracking might be done here one day, and perhaps this is the technology for the North. This may not be the complete answer or the only solution, but what it does is it demonstrates that

people are looking in the right direction to the right types of solutions. They’re putting the environment first.

So as I said… [English translation not provided.]

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Your time for your Member’s statement has expired. Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Item 4, reports of standing and special committees. Item 5, returns to oral questions. Item 6, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize a Page, Diana Rockwell. I recognized her yesterday, but she pulled a fast one on us and wasn’t here, so I would like to recognize her for her work for the past couple weeks. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Mr. Moses.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to take this opportunity to recognize Ms. Sheena Adams. She’s the regional energy project coordinator for the Beaufort-Delta and she’s also worked in the past with the Great Northern Arts Festival and also at the Inuvik Community Greenhouse. She did great work there and most likely will do a great job in her current position as well.

I’d also like to take this opportunity to recognize two Pages that have been with us this week: Ms. Britany Gabriela Prieto and Julia Rogers. I’d like to thank them for all their hard work this week and I hope they’ve enjoyed their experiences helping out Members of the Legislative Assembly. As in the past, I’ve always asked them what they liked best about being a Page at the Legislative Assembly, and they said meeting new people, and they said they’d also recommend the Page Program to all students in the Northwest Territories. They’re also interested in the upcoming Youth Parliament and they’re also very intrigued with the work that goes on in this Chamber. I’d like to thank them for all their work that they’ve done this week. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Moses. The honorable Premier, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am very pleased to recognize two Pages from Yellowknife South: Bryanna Steele and Emma du Plessis. They are from Yellowknife South. I also recognize all the Pages who are here. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I too wanted to recognize the Consul General from

France, Monsieur Fleury. Bienvenue. I also wanted to recognize Andrew John Kenny, former chief and well-respected elder from the community of Deline. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Dolynny.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to introduce, to you and through you, someone who is very familiar to the House and a resident of Range Lake, Ms. Carmen Moore. Thank you for joining us. [English translation not provided.]

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize the elder from Deline, Andrew John Kenny, known as the Don Cherry of Deline, coming from the birthplace of ice hockey in Canada. Welcome, Andrew John. Andrew John is also my constituency assistant as an elder in the Sahtu region. I would also like to say welcome to Josh Campbell, the CA for the Sahtu, to the office. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just wanted to use this opportunity to recognize and thank the Pages for the work they have been doing. Alfred already recognized Sheena and I would like to recognize Sheena as well. I would also like to recognize one of our hardworking interpreters, in the back there somewhere, Lillian Elias, who is doing the Inuvialuktun from Inuvik. Oh, there she is. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Blake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I too would like to recognize Mr. A.J. Kenny. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Blake. I would like to welcome everybody here in the public gallery today. Thank you for taking an interest in our proceedings here today.

Item 7, acknowledgements. Item 8, oral questions. Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment as the lead on the arts.

The NWT, as we know, is blessed with amazing artistic talents. Every jurisdiction in Canada has an arts centre with their artisans, and public can enjoy

art from the perspective of both the artist and the citizens. The NWT does not. Artists in the Northwest Territories have extremely limited options for the display of their finished work and very few options for collaboration and learning.

Has the Minister been hearing what I have been hearing? Is the Minister aware of this groundswell of need and support for an arts centre in the Northwest Territories? Mahsi.

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

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Those are just some of the areas of discussion that have been addressed through our department and through various venues, as well, even working with the NWT Arts Council, because we provide annual funding to them.

We, as a department, recognize that there are no dedicated public arts spaces or display in the Northwest Territories; however, there are many opportunities for art expression display in our schools and also in our communities. My department will continue to support the community-based arts and cultural organizations through partnership. Member Bromley addressed this on several occasions on partnerships. It is very key; it is very important to have partnerships in the Northwest Territories, so I am working very closely with Industry, Tourism and Investment on this particular matter as well.

Also, we are working with other agencies to improve the accessibility of art activities and facilities in the Northwest Territories. Mahsi.

Thanks to the Minister. I know in our communities we have a lot of facilities that are very supportive of their artists, but of course, their facilities are overworked and overused. What we are talking about is an NWT arts centre. I appreciate the Minister looking into this. The arts contribute to the economies, social debate, culture and identity, as we have said. In fact, in Nunavut the production of art is often the major local economicengine. Every jurisdiction in Canada seems to realize this and support their artists with a fine arts school or equivalent program. The NWT does not. Again, with the amazing talent we have, where is the fine arts school that helps people realize their gifts?

Will the Minister commit to exploring the feasibility of establishing a post-secondary fine arts school, possibly in conjunction with an NWT arts centre?

Mahsi. Just to touch base even further, the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre also provides a public exhibition venue for NWT artists and also for temporary displays outside the NWT as well.

In the last five years, the Heritage Centre has hosted over 40 arts exhibits, with 34 of these presenting NWT artists from all regions. These are just some of the collections that we continue to promote in our schools and also with the general public.

The program that the Member is referring to is an area where I need to meet with Aurora College to see if that is part of their vision for the Northwest Territories either short term or long term. We will be addressing that with the college in the immediate future. Mahsi.

I appreciate the Minister’s response there. The artist community and the public, indeed, hugely appreciate the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre’s display of art, both from within and outside the NWT, but of course, it’s woefully inadequate for the need. That’s well recognized by Prince of Wales as well as the arts community and the public. The arts community, which is a diverse one, with dozens of genres representing the various forms across the NWT, their focus varies and their voices are diverse.

The conversation acknowledging the need for an arts hub, a centre that can provide both display and education, engagement and entertainment, has gone on far too long without government acknowledgement.

Will this Minister commit to promoting and leading this conversation towards the realization of an NWT arts centre that can serve these needs, something every other jurisdiction does? I recognize partnerships could be key. Mahsi.

Mahsi. That is exactly what we’re doing; we’re promoting arts in the Northwest Territories, again, in partnership with Industry, Tourism and Investment. We are, as a department, collaboratively working diligently to implement the NWT Arts Strategy and Action Plan. Not only that but we’re also working with the NWT Arts Council for the whole Northwest Territories. They are our key partners in delivering those areas of interest for the Northwest Territories when it comes to arts delivery.

So, we’ll continue to play those partnerships and have ongoing dialogue with the departments of ITI and Public Works and Services and with my department and work very closely with the NWT Arts Council as well. Mahsi.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate, again, the Minister’s response and commitment there. As we know, interest and potential for partnerships to develop a strategy to build an arts hub is high, and with a clear vision, a business plan and government support, this immense opportunity indeed could be realized. It

can play a huge role in our territorial economy, and it’s been proven in many jurisdictions.

Will the Minister put out a call indicating exactly how partners, the latent partners out there, the many talented NWT artists and arts organizations, the private sponsors in the NWT and the educators and fine arts professionals, can contribute to the process? How can they participate in the Minister’s exercise here? Will he make that clear? Mahsi.

Mahsi. I did already commit that we will be reaching out to potential partners, along with ITI and Public Works and the NWT Arts Council. So those are key partners that we currently have. Through the connections with the NWT Arts Council, we have all these different agencies, as well, that are working very closely with us. We provide funding to them on an annual basis. So those are the key partners and we will be reaching out to them. I will be getting back to the standing committee on the result of our findings as well. Mahsi.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I mentioned in my Member’s statement, our numbers of veterans from the Second World War and the Korean War are dropping.

Can the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment tell this House of any strategies our school divisions are doing to engage or to bring our veterans into our schools to tell our youth about these chapters in our history?

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The Minister of Education, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. It’s very important that we highlight our veterans. Remembrance Day is fast approaching. These are areas that we need to continue to push into our school system, not only our school system but also our communities, the regional centres. We do have regional representatives and even those seniors that have been part of the process, if they can be visible in our community schools. There are some areas of activities and events that are happening in the various communities and the school systems. The Member is raising a really valid question that we must address with the board chairs, and I will be addressing that on how can we expedite this process and even having those veterans more visible in our school system and even presenting to our students as well.

I’m certainly glad to hear that the Minister is thinking about expediting this process

and speaking to the board chairs. The point that I got was making it visible in our schools.

I want to ask the Minister if his department could look at school projects across the Northwest Territories to research and document in our communities all the vets that have served in the past, future and current, serving in our Canadian Armed Forces. All the vets, so that there can be a designated spot in our schools so that this could be proudly displayed as the veterans hall of fame for our veterans from our communities. Can that happen?

Some of those projects are already happening across the Northwest Territories when it comes to career fairs. There are areas of interest, even the history, heritage display, we see students displaying the Remembrance Day. We see students displaying their ancestors or their grandfathers who have gone to, whether it be World War II or other areas of impact in the Northwest Territories, veterans, the history. It is also part of the social studies, as well, the history program that we are currently delivering as part of the northern studies. Again, it’s an area that we need to address with the school system.

Just as recently there’s a residential school curriculum development, there’s a land claim self-government currently in the works as well. This is an area that has been brought to my attention just recently, so I will be making an effort to be part of the school process as well.

In my excitement, I said veterinarians. I meant veterans. Veterans, for the record. I thank my honourable colleague, Mr. Hawkins, for reminding me.

The veterans in our communities that have passed have served, and they are in the community. Sometimes they are the forgotten soldiers, and it’s very key and important that in our schools where the young ones look up to community members, it will be something for them to have in our schools, as the Minister, to say we want to designate a special spot in our schools for our veterans to be honoured. Young children will be proudly smiling as they see their family members honoured this way in our communities.

I want to ask the Minister to strongly push, given the time that we have today, that this piece of request could be implemented and ready for next year to open a spot in our schools to honour our veterans in the North.

Mr. Speaker, I agree with the Member that these veterans should not be forgotten. They are a part of our history and also our identity, so we need to honour them. This is an area that I will be pushing with my school boards, that I work very closely with, to have their

presence in our school system, some visibility of the history.

I will commit to the Member that this will be addressed. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know Veteran Affairs is a federal department. We should look into working with our vets, even those who are retired from peacetime or recent servants in Afghanistan.

Are there any educational credits for retired veterans that can apply to further their education?

Mr. Speaker, as I stated before, there is a variety of programs within our department, not only my department but other departments as well. We need to find out if there is such a program specifically for the targeted individuals. I’m making a commitment in this House that this is an area that we should seriously look at, because we go through the process every year, remembering our veterans on Remembrance Day. There could be some sort of a…(inaudible)…that the Member is asking about. It will take some time to get to that stage, but I will be following through with the stakeholders. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Mahsi, Mr. Lafferty. Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As we all know, at the end of March the Building Canada Plan expired and a lot of projects came to a halt.

I’d like to ask the Minister of Transportation, will the new Building Canada Plan be ready for the upcoming year and projects continuing? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Blake. Minister of Transportation, Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are continuing negotiations with Infrastructure Canada on the Building Canada Fund. The thought was that this actual construction season that just went by would be at the time we would be able to roll out that money, but that didn’t happen. So, we are continuing to work with them.

We’re very positive, as a department and as a government, that we will be able to sign the necessary documents and roll out that money for this upcoming construction season. Thank you.

I would like to ask the Minister again, come April 1st , will this new funding roll out and the

project continue over the upcoming summer? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

That’s certainly our hope. We can’t commit to something where we haven’t signed on the dotted line at this point. But like I indicated, we continue to work – our Minister of Infrastructure and their Minister of Infrastructure – and we’re sorting out the details. I feel that once all the details are sorted out and they have a clear understanding of all the projects that we presented in our plan are projects that the federal government Infrastructure is prepared to fund, I’m positive we will be able to roll out new money in the upcoming fiscal year. Thank you.

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I want to ask Minister Lafferty, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, a couple questions about Junior Kindergarten.

I just want to note that I feel the general population has understood the delays in the larger communities. It’s still going forward in the other 23 communities for this year that want it. I also want to say that I don’t believe the delays were caused by the middleclass, the low-income people and single parents out there that could not use the daycare or daycare operators anyway.

I’d like to ask the Minister, how well is Junior Kindergarten received in the 23 communities that use it? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Minister of Education, Mr. Lafferty.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The decision came down from this government to continue with the 23 communities this year and also next year. Part of the process, obviously, is to re-evaluate the programming that’s going to be happening over the coming months, within eight months. The feedback we’re getting to date has been positive overall, and there hasn’t been major issues pertaining to delivery of JK. There were some questions about specific areas of clarification, so those are some of the information and also calls and e-mails that came to my department. There may be others out there that we may not aware of, but what came to our attention is there haven’t been any major issues. Mahsi.

I know that we heard that there were funding fears out there.

I’d just like to ask the Minister, with the 23 communities that are using it now, how is it being funded and what are the plans for the future? Thank you.

Mahsi. Part of the decision that was made by this government is to

continue with the 23 communities this year and the following year based on the funding allocations from PTR of up to $1.8 million a year. So that will subsidize the 23 communities where the research has found it’s mostly needed in the small, isolated communities. So that’s where we are currently delivering Junior Kindergarten.

But keep in mind that we are in the process of re-evaluating our program delivery over the coming months as well. Mahsi.

When the Minister talks about evaluating in the next coming months, does he have a time frame that he can let us know? Is it in December and once again at the end of the school year? How frequent will the evaluations be? Thank you.

It’s very important that we reach out to the stakeholders, the parents and educators to share their perspective, the community members. Those individuals are currently delivering Junior Kindergarten, as well, in the communities. So, the Premier made a statement that within the coming months, within the eight months from now, we should have the final results of the overall review of our programing. Mahsi.

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I’m glad that we’re working towards evaluating it, because it’s a much needed program, I believe.

As we move forward, can the Minister know… Will he compile an overall report for this House? Thank you.

Once the review is completed, I would have to share that information with the standing committee, so that should be coming within the next coming months. Mahsi.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will do a follow-up to my Member’s statement about decentralization. My questions will be for the Premier of the Northwest Territories.

This Assembly is going into its last year. Is it a priority to do decentralization? Is the government any closer to solving some of the housing issues and some of the office space issues to do decentralization throughout the Northwest Territories?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, we are. We have identified $21 million over the next three years, and we’ll be, as well, investing in the housing market in the communities, so our expectation is we will have approximately 178 new houses in the small communities that are predominantly identified for decentralized positions. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, from the perspective on this side of the House, we haven’t seen the plan of where these jobs are going to be.

Is there a plan coming forward? We just completed phase three. Is there a plan to do a phase four and where and when will we see this plan? Thank you.

The Member will be very pleased to hear that we have just started phase three and we have decentralized 141 positions in this 17th Assembly. This is the most positions that

have ever been decentralized in the history of this government and we are just starting phase three. So the plan will be, when we roll out the business plans for 2015-16, they will be very clear and I am sure that the Member will be very appreciative. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, as I indicated in my Member’s statement, I do know about those decentralized positions, and obviously the numbers in Yellowknife have grown as well.

Does the Premier have that type of information of how many jobs were created and devolved into Yellowknife, to prove that we haven’t actually done any decentralization? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The jobs that were devolved from the federal government, there were 135 positions that were filled that were transferred to the Government of the Northwest Territories. I would say approximately 80 to 90 of them were in Yellowknife. One of the conditions for devolution of those positions was that we could not move them within two years, so we would have to wait at least two years to even consider doing anything with those positions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. From the information that I received from the Premier, phase three is a ‘14-15. When we come back to this Assembly in February, we will be in ’15. So I am looking for the next phase of what is happening in ‘15-16 for decentralization and what is the plan going forward.

Once we hit that two-year mark with the federal government, do we have a plan of how to implement more jobs out into the communities? Thank you.

As I indicated, the business plans for 2015-16 will be rolled out early in the new

year. It’s very difficult for us to be prescriptive to the next government, and certainly as part of the transitional planning, we will continue to identify decentralization as a priority and we will lay out our thinking on decentralization, but it will be up to the 18th Assembly to make those decisions subsequent

to 2015-16. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am going to direct my questions today to the Minister responsible for Industry, Tourism and Investment. The question of an agricultural policy for the Northwest Territories is one of those things on my list that I can now say I have been talking about for the last 19 years. It’s sad to say we haven’t seen much progress on it. We’ve had some very good news recently from the federal government in their support for agriculture in the Northwest Territories; we’ve been moving along with our Growing Forward programs and our different funding programs, but the time has come, we need an agriculture policy.

Would the Minister of ITI please update me on where we are at on a comprehensive NWT agriculture policy? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Out of the EOS, the idea of an agricultural strategy was born, and we are moving forward with the agricultural strategy. I agree with the Member; the Northwest Territories is one of only two jurisdictions in the country without a comprehensive agricultural strategy in place. We are going to change that. Work has started.

To advance and nurture growth in this sector as well as economic opportunity and benefits for the Northwest Territories agricultural industry, a definitive strategy and accompanying policy instruments are certainly needed to help guide decision-making, growth and capacity building and to attract and leverage future investment and funding in this sector.

We are moving forward with a strategy and certainly look forward to sharing the work along the way with Members of this House. Thank you.

That’s reassuring but, of course, it can’t come quickly enough, in my opinion.

As I said in my Member’s statement today, the lack of an agricultural policy is actually a barrier to a lot of… It is an impediment and a barrier to a lot of

activity that could take place in the agricultural area, whether it’s about taxation or purple gas or licensing of farm equipment. There are so many different things that our government does not have any framework or policy or legislation on.

The big one is land. In order to undertake and become involved in agriculture, we need land.

I would like to ask the Minister, how closely does his department work with the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs to ensure that the availability of land will come alongside an agricultural policy in tandem? How closely do they work together? Thank you.

A policy, a strategy on agriculture, I mean, it’s not going to be worth the paper it’s written on if we don’t have access to land, so I agree with the Member.

We are going to continue to work with Lands and MACA to ensure that where available, we will make land available for agriculture here in the Northwest Territories. The Members don’t have to look any further than in this room to see support for agriculture. Here in the Northwest Territories we’ve had a great deal of success in a lot of our communities across the territory. When it comes to growing this sector, we feel there is a really bright future for agriculture here in the NWT. We need a strategy, we need those instruments in place to make it successful, and we are going to do just that. Thank you.