Good afternoon, colleagues.

Before we begin today, I’d like to draw your attention to the Canadian flags on your desks. In 1996, February 15th was declared National Flag

Day of Canada to mark the introduction of Canada’s national flag.

It was on February 15, 1965, that the first flag with its distinctive red and white maple leaf design flew proudly on Parliament Hill in our nation’s capital. Since then the flag has become an iconic symbol of Canada, known the world over and associated with the Canadian ideals of democracy, freedom and respect.

Although we don’t see maple trees in this part of the country, we proudly fly our Canadian flags across the Northwest Territories as a symbol of our unity with our fellow Canadians across this country, our Olympians representing Canada in Sochi, Russia, and proud Canadians across the world.

Members, please join me in celebration of National Flag Day of Canada.

Minister Miltenberger.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I rise on a point of order today under clause 23(m) which states, “In debate, a Member will be called to order by the Speaker if the Member introduces any matter in debate that offends the practices and precedents of this Assembly.”

I’ve waited until today, Madam Speaker, to look at Hansard to make sure of the remarks. Yesterday during question period and I quote from page 18 of the unedited Hansard from Wednesday, February 12, 2014, “We’ve heard that deputy ministers will move money that is intended for human resources over to projects because they want to fulfil their mandate within their department. My view is they are actually breaking direction laid out by the

Legislature. In essence, it’s tantamount, in my view, of breaking the law.”

On the same page, Mr. Hawkins also said, “I’d like to ask what the Finance Minister is going to do if we know that deputy ministers are signing off human resources money that is designated, protected and passed in this Legislature by a duly elected body when they go behind the scenes and re-appropriate the money for their pet projects.”

Madam Speaker, Mr. Hawkins has clearly accused deputy ministers of deliberate criminal behaviour and, in doing so, I believe violates the established practices and rules of this Assembly. There have been explicit rulings on this matter in the past.

On March 25, 1995, in a landmark ruling, the Honourable Sam Gargan ruled, “The respect in which Members hold this institution is clearly evident. In order to uphold and enhance this respect, I will not permit comments, whether written or spoken, in this Legislative Assembly that have the tendency to question the personal integrity of others in this House or impute motives to those unable to respond or which have had the impact of adversely reflecting on those persons outside the Legislature.”

More recently, on February 15, 2007, Honourable Paul Delorey ruled, “It is both the rule of this Assembly and a common courtesy to not make reference to persons who are not Members of this House and do not enjoy parliamentary immunity. This includes reference to Members of the public specifically by name or in such a way that there can be no mistake as to the identity of the individual involved. The parliamentary immunity that we all enjoy within this Chamber comes with certain responsibilities. I would ask that Members respect the rights of those who do not have direct voice in this Chamber both in formal session and in Committee of the Whole.”

On that basis, Madam Speaker, I respectfully request that Mr. Hawkins be directed to withdraw his remarks and apologize to the House. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Miltenberger. I will allow some debate on Mr. Miltenberger’s point of order. Anyone who wishes to is allowed to speak once. Is there anybody who would like to speak to Minister Miltenberger’s point

of order? Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Before us here today, we have an interesting situation which reminds me of an almost identical circumstance that happened on February 16, 2006, to be exact. I raised a point of order and it is described as such: I felt a Member of the Assembly used unparliamentary language to insult me. However, it’s important to note that this was not brought up in a timely way. I quote Speaker Delorey of the day and his quote is as such, when he ruled that it wasn’t a point of order: “I’m going to rule the point of order should have been brought up at the time, so I’m going to rule that you do not have a point of order based on that it should have been brought up at the time the comments were made.”

Madam Speaker, I didn’t raise my point of order of my concern of the language used against me in a timely way. I did it later in the day. Then Speaker Delorey’s ruling, which I accepted, is also precedence, which reminds us, simply stated, that a breach must be brought up in a timely way at its first opportunity. If it isn’t, then the details of the specific grievance, in the end, matter little.

Proper process is the key, Madam Speaker, and I certainly agree. Minister Miltenberger, in his view, is telling the House here today that this is his first opportunity to raise this concern, which in essence, in my view, is wrong. I draw the attention of the Assembly towards the simple fact that these words, if they cause such grievance, why he didn’t call a point of order in a timely way at the first opportunity. Why do I say that, Madam Speaker? Because which yesterday was, as a matter of supporting fact, I call everyone’s attention to yesterday’s Hansard. Minister Miltenberger expressed his grievance with my comments and rebuts them repeatedly during several responses to my questions. Not once, Madam Speaker, but five times. Surely if it was such an offence yesterday, a skilled, if not an elder parliamentarian, as he respectfully is, would have made note of the grievance and called a point of order in a respectable time, as highlighted by Speaker Delorey’s earlier ruling.

This reaffirms that this was drawn to his attention at that particular time. It furthermore says, as the rules state, he should have risen to a point of order to address them at that time, but he didn’t.

To tie it a little tighter, Madam Speaker, under Section 319 of Beauchesne’s, “Any Member is entitled, if not bound, to bring to the Speaker’s immediate notice of any instance of breach of order. The Speaker’s attention must be directed to a breach of order at the proper moment, namely the moment it occurred.”

If we respectfully boil this issue down to what it is, Minister Miltenberger didn’t use the words I used to

express my feelings on how I feel, which I stressed “in my view.” These are my feelings, in my view, and in my view, they are still my feelings, how I feel. I’m not going to be in any position, Madam Speaker, here to judge Minister Miltenberger’s thoughts or suggestions, perhaps, to the situation. Only he can clarify and he’s welcome to do so.

I’m going to quote two small passages from Beauchesne’s to finish up. Under Section 24, “Parliamentary privilege is a sum of particular rights enjoyed by each House collectively, and its Members, and its Members of the House individually without which could not discharge their functions which exceed those processes by any bodies or individuals. The privileges of Parliament are rights which are absolutely necessary for the due execution of the powers.”

Finally another quote, Madam Speaker, from Section 75, “The privilege of freedom of speech is both the least questioned and the most fundamental rights of a Member of Parliament on the floor of the House and in committee.” Of course, we all know that expands to the Legislature here.

Finally, I say this, Madam Speaker, in closing, we could clear all of these comments up if the government would simply offer sanction and confirm the witness statements made at the in camera meeting held on February 11th to which I

cannot specifically refer to because they were made in camera and that would be a breach of the House’s rules. So, we could ask Minister Miltenberger if he would authorize that and we can let the public be the final judge of public accountability on this measure and allow the court of public opinion to make their ruling in their view. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Would anyone else like to speak to the point of order? Premier McLeod.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I think the Member has acknowledged the breach and now he’s trying to use process to not withdraw his remarks.

In this House, the process has always been you raise it at the first opportunity and almost every instance that I can recall, the 17th Assembly, the

16th Assembly, invariably the Member waits until

the next morning so they have a chance to review Hansard. There’s no process for trying to find out how a Member feels when he’s making the remarks, but it’s very clear that if people outside this House can’t speak to protect themselves and it’s not normal process for them to do so, I think that the Member should withdraw his remarks because it’s inappropriate use in this House. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Premier McLeod. Any further comment or debate to the point of order? If not, I will take the point of order and the comments that have been made subsequently under advisement and withhold any ruling on that until a future date. Thank you.

Back to orders of the day, we have item 2, Ministers’ statements. The honourable Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Thousands of our residents and visitors enjoy the parks and campgrounds across the territory. In particular, the beaches located within the territorial parks contribute enormously to the quality of life for many families on hot summer days.

The 2014 parks season formally opens on May 15th and the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment is making important changes to beaches in Fred Henne Territorial Park and Hay River Territorial Park that I want to share with you. These changes will help to ensure everyone enjoys the beaches in a fun, safe way.

This past summer the department contracted the Lifesaving Society of Alberta and the NWT to perform aquatic safety audits on the unsupervised waterfront beachesat both territorial parks. The Lifesaving Society is a charitable organization working to prevent drowning and water-related injury. The purpose of these audits was to analyze and provide recommendations to maximize the safety of beach users.

The Lifesaving Society has made a number of recommendations they have told us will make the beaches safer. ITI is putting all of these recommendations in place that will move the beaches up in the level of safety. They include easy-to-read signage alerting parents, guardians and other beachgoers about beach rules and hazards. Providing emergency equipment such as a reaching pole and throwing assist was also a direct safety recommendation. We will ensure those are available, and we will post emergency contact numbers.

Madam Speaker, a main focus of the recommendations is on public education. We will be engaging with our partners in the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, Transportation, and Health and Social Services to plan a territory-wide water and beach safety campaign, through the Injury Prevention Working

Group, to help ensure beachgoers are prepared to use and enjoy their beaches safely.

The Lifesaving Society has repeatedly stressed the importance of direct and constant supervision for children at the beachfront and in the water. We are making public awareness a major focus of this safety campaign.

In addition, the department is contracting the Lifesaving Society to deliver basic training in basic waterfront and local emergency procedures. This will be provided to park staff at Fred Henne and Hay River territorial parks. In the event of an emergency, parks staff could provide assistance until fire or ambulance crews arrive on scene. Programs and training can be customized to suit the waterfront and staff comfort level.

These plans are in addition to the lifejacket loaner station that was installed at the Fred Henne beach last summer, and we will install another at the Hay River beach during the 2014 parks season.

Madam Speaker, in addition to these safety audits, we also contracted the Lifesaving Society to do a study on what would be required to put lifeguards on Fred Henne beach. We expect to receive the report very soon and I look forward to reading it and sharing this information.

Throughout this process, the department has encouraged feedback and comments from NWT residents, and I want to thank people who have taken the time to comment and share their concerns and suggestions. We want to hear their feedback on these safety measures and to ask questions about these recommendations.

Our on-line survey about beach safety at Fred Henne has been available for a few weeks now and we have already had over 300 responses. I would encourage people to visit the ITI website to complete this survey and give us your feedback as it will be closing at the end of this week.

In addition, we are holding a facilitated public forum in Yellowknife tonight at the Yellowknife Ski Club at 6:00 p.m. We want to talk to people about the Lifesaving Society’s safety recommendations, current safety issues at the beach, and potential ideas and solutions to addressing these issues. We will work in small groups to ensure all ideas are taken into account.

Another forum is scheduled in Hay River in early March. We will be able to confirm the date with you shortly.

Madam Speaker, safety at the beach is everyone’s responsibility. By putting these safety measures in place as recommended by the Lifesaving Society, we hope even more residents – especially families – will come and experience the natural, spectacular beach facilities we have right here in our backyard. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister of Transportation, Mr. Beaulieu.

Mahsi cho, Madam Speaker. [English translation not provided.]

Madam Speaker, the new Highway No. 4 realignment opened to traffic on January 31st .

Residents now bypass the remediation work underway at the former Giant Mine site and travel on a safer highway with better turns and sight lines. It is an important infrastructure investment toward ensuring responsible stewardship and providing jobs and business opportunities to dozens of Northerners.

This work started last summer with the construction of a new entrance. More than 250,000 cubic meters of rock were moved to use as sub-base and base materials for the road. The department thanks residents and users of the nearby Fred Henne Territorial Park for their cooperation during the necessary drilling, blasting and crushing operations.

A temporary lighting system is in place at the Highway No. 3 intersection. Later, a permanent system will be installed this summer when we upgrade the Ingraham Trail between the Vee Lake access road and the Yellowknife River and finish applying chipseal.

Madam Speaker, administrative, engineering and construction jobs for this project have largely been filled by our very own Northerners. As of the end of November 2013, the bypass project had created 8,677 person days of employment for northern and local workers. The contractor, Det’on Cho Corporation, is wholly owned by the Yellowknives Dene First Nation. Several local companies were subcontracted to complete the design and build the project successfully, with an overall average of nearly 86 percent local and northern employment. Madam Speaker, it is good to see the opportunities for skill building and success through this project.

Madam Speaker, the new alignment means that residents are able to enjoy a new view of the territory’s natural surroundings. The Department of Transportation has been working closely with the Department of Industry, Tourism, and Investment to modify the Prospector’s Trail to include a new pullout, provide access to a new mining heritage location, and create a new lake trail loop so residents can stop to appreciate the land.

Madam Speaker, I am confident that the bypass project will contribute to the safety and enjoyment of residents for many years to come. Mahsi cho, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Minister Beaulieu. The honourable Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation, Mr. Miltenberger.

Madam Speaker, during December's power outage in the city of Yellowknife, it became apparent that communications from the Northwest Territories Power Corporation did not meet its customers’ expectations or its own standards. It is our goal to keep power outages to a minimum. The corporation has taken

steps necessary to improve

communication during both planned and unplanned power outages in the territory and will continue to do so.

This incident made it clear that we needed a more coordinated,

timely and consistent approach to

communicating power outages. We immediately updated our communications protocol in response to concerns from our customers, and our new manager of communications will manage its implementation. The improved protocol sets new thresholds for the declaration of a Northwest Territories Power Corporation emergency as well as timelines and methods of communications that may include web notices, social media, radio, or even going door to door.

This protocol also sets the foundation for strengthening our relationship with our distribution partner, Northland Utilities Limited.

We will keep communications open before, during and after power outages, and wherever possible, we will coordinate our outage communications plans. This will give NTPC a more active role in communicating during outages in Yellowknife whenever the outage is the Power Corporation’s responsibility. There will still be situations where an outage is related to Northland Utilities’ infrastructure.

The Internet plays a major role in providing information to the public, and in late January NTPC launched a new customer-focused website that includes all pertinent information about outages such as who is affected; the cause, if known; and an estimate of when power will be restored. We will also be posting updates on social media before the end of next month.

Our ultimate goal is to avoid power outages altogether. NTPC is researching the possibility of investing in a large battery at the Jackfish plant that would provide a 15-minute window to bring additional power generation on-line without the customer losing power. This could cut the Yellowknife outage rate in half, but it would be a

significant investment and we need to do due diligence before making that decision.

In the meantime, NTPC continues to improve its overall communications to meet the ever-growing and changing needs of its customers. Along with power outage information, conservation information and being able to apply for NTPC jobs, the new website will soon provide the option for customers to pay their power bills on-line as well. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Minister Miltenberger. Item 3, Members’ statements. Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. The rivers, the air, the fish and caribou, lines on the map mean nothing to them. Where they go is where they belong.

The Gwich’in people know how important the Peel River Watershed is to the land around it and all the wildlife and people who depend on it. I want to voice my disappointment in the Yukon government for losing sight of this when they decided to alter the Peel Land Use Plan before it was released last month.

Residents from Fort McPherson, Aklavik, Inuvik and also protestors in the Yukon walked on January 28, 2014, in support of the Land Use Plan that was originally recommended, which would have provided permanent protection for 80 percent of the Peel River Watershed. The modified plan protects a mere 29 percent. That leaves 71 percent open to development.

I can’t sit back and not voice my disappointment in the Yukon government and its lack of understanding for the people who live in and near the Peel Watershed and all those who are affected downstream. It seems the Yukon government did not listen to the people who spoke from their hearts and from their experience about why they don’t want development in the Peel River.

Last February more than 200 people in Fort McPherson crammed into the community hall to discuss their strong historical ties to the Peel Watershed. The Gwich’in have traditional lands in the Yukon, as stated in the Gwich’in Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement.

The transboundary overlap agreement is being ignored by the Yukon government. This is just not right. We have worked for years developing our land claims, only to have it shelved in the Yukon Legislature.

Decisions made in the Yukon affect the portion of the Peel Watershed that lies within the Northwest Territories. Our government must do all that it can to protect our land and waters. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

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

Thank you, Madam Speaker. As the government is constantly changing and we’re adding more and more on-line items, I had the opportunity the last couple of days to take advantage of the Department of Transportation’s on-line drivers and motor vehicles services. I must commend the department on an effective on-line service. I was able to register my vehicle through this on-line service. The first time is obviously a little bit more cumbersome; you have to register your ID and your driver’s licence, wait for an e-mail to be returned that they’ve got your proper information and then you go ahead and register. This allows individuals and people to register their vehicles, basically out of the comfort of their home, offices, with their feet up on the couch, maybe even with my bunny slippers on, yes, Mr. Hawkins.

All you need is some of the basic information: obviously your driver’s license, a copy of your insurance form, your license plate number. I think it’s very effective that we’re doing this for people. It gives us an opportunity to speed up the process and not wait in lines and not slow down the general public, and as more and more people are using this, it’s more effective.

The other thing that it does, and it’s good to hear, is – back to the notices – through e-mail you get a notice when your driver’s licence is about to expire, so that you don’t show up to some sort of event and your driver’s license is expired. This is what the government used to do. This is back in the old days when they used to send you out a mail notice that your driver’s license or your registration has been expired. This system allows us to get back to the good old days when the government is actually informing the public of vital information. Through Internet, through the on-line service, obviously, but today we’re going forward but we’re also going back to a service that we used to provide.

I will have some questions for the Department of Transportation Minister on just how we evaluate this going forward, what have we done, and basically, where can we see any pitfalls, if any.

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

Thank you, Madam Speaker. The program review office of the GNWT was established in 2008-2009 for the executive branch of the day to undertake a number of targeted programs and reviews. Its role was to clarify and confirm mandates, determine program effectiveness and recommend modifications such as the elimination, reduction and service improvements. Now, I’m sure when the concept of this office of the executive was cleverly conceived, it had all the poise and promise of the day. Who wouldn’t want their own private army of ombudsmen working feverishly to support your strategic initiatives? It sounds good. It even looks good on paper, but since then, has it been effective? Let’s take a look.

If you go to our GNWT website and search for program review office, you get a very simple executive summary under the banner “refocusing government.” Not really finding this beneficial, I went to our new NWT Legislative Assembly website, which is very cool, by the way, typed in a general search for program review office, and nothing. Well, there must be at least a tabled document from this office, so I searched through all the tabled documents since 2008. Guess what. Nothing. Nothing. I took to the Internet on a wide search with different combinations of words to try to find something reported by this office. I found one hit. It was a copy of the key activity summary during the 2009-2010 annual business plan, but I found no reports, no findings and definitely no recommendations.

To the question: For over six years and at millions of dollars to operate, what value has this office provided in finding program effectiveness, or to eliminate, reduce or improve service? The only thing of late from what this House has managed to piece together was the recent data on PTR – that’s pupil-teacher ratio – that is being used for the junior kindergarten rollout. Other than that, the jury is out. We’re not sure. In fact, the last time Regular Members had any interaction with this office was under the request of Premier McLeod asking for Regular Members to identify priorities for this program review office to undertake within their three-year work plan. This has been over a year now and Regular Members have never heard back from the Premier.

I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

Today I want to ask the Premier of the Northwest Territories what this program review office has been doing since giving our list of priorities for review back in 2012, but more importantly, is it not time we should take a critical

look at the structure, the mandate and the transparency of this office for the people of the Northwest Territories, because clearly, it is not living up to its intended purpose.

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

Thank you, Madam Speaker, I’d like to congratulate Aurora College and Mary Rose Sundberg for offering Wiilideh language lessons this year.

The course started on January 20th and continues

until February 24th . Hugh Moloney, an instructor of

the college, recently spent a year with his family, living and teaching in New Zealand. They were inspired about how the Maori language and culture have come to have an important role in New Zealand’s national identity. When Hugh came back to Yellowknife, he wanted to learn more about the Wiilideh language and culture.

Fortunately, he found that Aurora College was supportive and, further, Mary-Rose had been developing teaching materials at the Goyatiko Language Centre in Detah. Within a few days of advertising the course, it was fully booked and there is now quite a waiting list. Most of the students are not Dene.

Language, culture and the land are intertwined. By learning the Wiilideh language, the students learn about the Wiilideh culture, the Dene way and their land. Learning the language will also build new relationships and strengthen cross-cultural ties.

I’m proud to report that about half of the students are Weledeh constituents. I have often said the Weledeh riding represents a special part of Yellowknife and the Northwest Territories. It is a place where many cultures thrive and interact. There is an interesting and well-known saying amongst the Tlicho people originating from Chief Jimmy Bruneau, I believe, that speaks about the relationship between the old ways and the new, between the Dene way and the “white man’s way.” They say being adept at both ways can make them strong like two people. Perhaps that can be applied to everyone.

I certainly hope that teaching and learning the Wiilideh language will build stronger connections within our community, stronger connections with the land, a stronger sense of pride and better understanding of our different ways of knowing.

Just a brief note, Madam Speaker, that my constituency assistant, Andrew Robinson, is attending Mary Rose’s lessons and I’m sure he would welcome the opportunity to show off his

Wiilideh proficiency with any Weledeh speakers who would like to chat with him. Mahsi.

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

Thank you, Madam Speaker. My statement is on the upcoming territorial long-term care facility in the Sahtu and a new wellness centre that’s going to be built in Norman Wells. I listed out this week, the number of potential students who are going to be graduating this year, next year and the year after in the Sahtu and I also listed out some of the numbers of students who have gone through some form of post-secondary education institution training. There are 81 in the Sahtu, according to the list provided to me by the Department of Education, Culture and Employment.

We’re very happy and very pleased in the Sahtu. Hopefully the construction will start sometime this summer, if the plans are in place. More importantly, staffing this long-term care facility, a territorial facility in Norman Wells, I’m looking for the opportunity for the department to start advertising, start setting up training programs and have proper training eligibilities for jobs in that facility where people can apply. We will encourage all students to bring up their marks, to stay in school. There is health care employment there and it’s a lifelong commitment to that job, if their heart so desires, to look after people through cooking or caretaking or even becoming a nurse or doctor or some kind of specialist.

I want to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services what types of plans have been put in place, because that facility is supposed to open in 2016. What type of preparations do we need to do in this facility and get our students ready and get them excited for a health care career? Thank you, Madam Speaker.

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

Thank you, Madam Speaker. It has been awhile since I’ve stood up in this House to address the continued concern that plagues most of our communities, and this concern is of those who continue to feed off our vulnerable residents and those who are battling with addictions: the drug dealers and the bootleggers.

I’m speaking here today because of concerns that I’ve heard from residents throughout the Northwest Territories recently, and talking about the issues

that still arise with the intimidation from families, from friends. We need to empower our residents of the Northwest Territories to speak up and speak out about these people who continue to live in these communities and continue to be the ones driving the nice skidoos and the fancy cars at the price and the health of the people who they grew up with.

We have campaigns such as the Not Us! campaign, we have Crime Stoppers, but that still doesn’t seem to be having a strong effect because we continue to see this problem, especially in the areas where we’re having some of our economic wealth and economic growth. We’ve seen it up in Inuvik when we were busy and in regions where we’re getting more work developed. I think this government needs to take more of a focus and put some of its resources in these areas in these communities, especially the ones that are accessible by road and by air that we start taking a bigger stance on this and addressing the issue with the drug dealers and the bootleggers.

This government needs to look at also creating better incentives through us or in partnership with the federal government to those who want to speak up, but we also have to provide support and safety for those who want to speak up in our communities. That way they know that this government supports them when they want to get an illness out of their community.

It’s not only us who need to work; the government can only do so much. We need residents of the Northwest Territories to speak up, to let us know and to let the RCMP know and the concerned members, the leadership in the community know who these drug dealers are, who these bootleggers are and get them out of the community and start building a more healthy community for the NWT.

I support these people who are trying to do this right now and I support their actions. Even though they might be feeling a little bit unsafe when they do speak up, I for one am a Member who supports these individuals who speak up for a healthier community. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

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

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Yesterday I spoke briefly about the change in the advertising practice by the Department of Human Resources. I would like to further discuss our government’s recent decision to move all government job recruitment on-line.

As of October 1st , the Department of Human

Resources stopped putting individual job ads and job listings in print media publications, instead opting for a half-page ad promoting itself as an

employer and telling people to go on-line to look for openings.

As I said yesterday, I am concerned that this action will make it more difficult for NWT residents to apply for jobs. Many people in our smaller communities have no computer access or do not have reliable Internet or computer service.

The Minister has acknowledged there may be individuals in smaller communities without reliable access to the e-Recruit website and he’s indicated the department is taking action to ensure these residents are made aware of job opportunities through other means. But it’s not simply enough to provide printed job posters to local First Nations, hamlet and Metis offices and community stores. There must also be trained individuals who are prepared to sit down with NWT residents at government service offices and learning centres to assist them with access to on-line job postings.

The new e-Recruit system requires a level of computer literacy and computer access currently not available to many of our territory’s residents. This is a great opportunity for adult learning centres to offer training and computer literacy. It will employ one of the most successful principles of successful adult learning: learning for a purpose. The direct result of the students’ increased skills will be the ability to navigate the e-Recruit website.

Lastly, as it currently stands, you cannot apply for a job with the GNWT unless you have a valid e-mail address and that causes me additional concern. I’m not the only one concerned. In usual direct style, well-known Northern News Services Ltd. columnist and Sahtu woman warrior Cece McCauley recently asked, “What about the poor who can’t afford Internet or computers?” Not only must access to computers and the Internet be made available but the need for an e-mail address must be reconsidered and a way found around that requirement.

It’s been pointed out only 3 percent of applicants apply for a GNWT job in any way except on-line, so the move away from print advertising is probably justified.

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

---Unanimous consent granted

: Thank you. The move is probably justified, but I’m not in favour of spending for the sake of spending and if on-line advertising for jobs saves unnecessary expenditures, that’s a good thing, but my support is qualified. The GNWT, particularly the Department of Human Resources, must ensure that all residents can easily know of and apply for any NWT job. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I rise again today to continue to raise the issue that Northerners want to apply on these mystery jobs. In some ways I view it more as they’re being denied the right to apply on jobs by their own government.

This is something that you would hear of in a Third World country, something maybe in a dictatorship or who knows what; I can’t describe it. But these are circumstances where people are telling me how they feel and certainly I say that I agree that how they feel is right.

In the crux of the problem we keep digging deeper, or as I said the other day, the further you peel this onion back, the stinkier it gets. We try to track down where this human resource money goes. The Cabinet sits over there and laughs at the questions I pose to the government. Now, that’s okay if they want to laugh at my questions, but what it does is continue to reaffirm the cavalier attitude towards accountability that they have to Members like me and certainly questions that come to me by the public. So they’re not just laughing at me, they’re laughing at all 11 Members on this side of the House and certainly they’re laughing at the public at large. This is just not right.

I would say it’s not just one Minister, it’s all seven and they all had bellyfuls of laughs yesterday when I tried to ask about where the money is, but yet they show no interest. As a committee, the other day we received a briefing and it was an in camera briefing, and for the public that means we can’t talk about it because it’s private. However, I will draw the attention of the Assembly, not specifically, but will say that I have an audio recording and, furthermore, a page from the briefing that would help clear this whole matter up. All we need is Cabinet’s approval to table this before the House. This would bring clarity to the whole issue about helping us track down the money.

This is so important. What has happened to accountability? Have we brokered it away for a few trinkets? I don’t know. I can tell you right now the broad perspective out there is accountability is lost and yet it becomes more and more stressful, but I can assure you, Madam Speaker, and I can certainly assure the public these things would help turn those bread crumbs into solid facts, concerns I will continue to raise. But I assure you these facts would turn them into crystal clear principles that people would be asking, saying what’s happening over there.

So when I ask the questions, continue to laugh. Laugh as hard as you want, but do not forget you are laughing not at me but the public. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. I’m not sure if that recording Mr. Hawkins referred to

would be considered a prop in the Assembly, but let’s remember that we’re not allowed to bring props into the Chamber to use them for the effectiveness of our statements and such. Thank you. The Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Good afternoon. We’re well into the second half of the 17th Legislative Assembly. I’d like to highlight some

of the significant accomplishments in my beautiful Deh Cho riding and the important work that remains to be done.

Progress has been made on the new Fort Providence Health Centre. The foundation is ready and the construction will resume in April. Community members and especially front-line workers look forward to the completion of the new facility.

I would like to congratulate Mr. John Leskiw, the new mayor-elect of Enterprise, on winning the recent election. Strong municipal governments are important to all the communities. Along with the constituents, I look forward to the leadership that he will bring.

The K’atlodeeche Reserve continues to advance its fibre optic project and plans to extend the line further. The community continues to express concerns surrounding income support and, like all other communities in the Deh Cho, is concerned about current unemployment rates and the lack of job opportunities, especially for local youth and people who are not available to work in the mining sector.

Kakisa wants to build a new community hall and revitalize its fish plant. I’m pleased to see the commitment to a commercial fishery in this year’s budget and hope that Kakisa will benefit from this investment.

The biomass industry holds great potential for the Deh Cho communities. My constituents want to see projects and advance wood pellet manufacturing and similar initiatives. Forest management agreements have been signed or are being negotiated with a number of communities and we hope that leads to the development of a viable industry. The hope that during the remainder of this government that important groundwork is laid for renewed forest management legislation that will assist the Northwest Territories in diversifying its economy through forest resources.

The Deh Cho is the first community visitors see when they come to the NWT, and their first impressions are important. There is huge opportunity for the development of tourist attractions. Initiatives such as a bison interpretative centre, promotion of the Deh Cho Bridge and the

Deh Cho Connection could help this spectacular part of the NWT reach its tourism potential and bring welcome activity to our communities.

In the final year of the 17th Assembly, I encourage

the community members, leadership and governments to work together to reach the goals of healthy, vibrant, sustainable communities in the Deh Cho. Mahsi.

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

Madam Speaker, I would like to use this opportunity to recognize my wife of almost 35 years. It will be 35 years in July. I would like to recognize my wife, Judy. Welcome to the gallery.

Since Minister McLeod has recognized his significant other in the gallery today, may I also take this opportunity to send our collective best wishes to our significant others, partners, spouses on the eve of Valentine’s Day today. Minister Lafferty.

Mahsi, Madam Speaker. I’d like to recognize all the Pages that are here with us today, all this week, for all the hard work that they’re doing, but more specifically from the Monfwi riding. I’d like to recognize Shaylynn Mantla that’s here with us, and also Noelene Nitsiza that’s here with us. They both came from Chief Jimmy Bruneau School in Behchoko. I’d just like to say thank you for your hard work. Mahsi.

Thank you, Minister Lafferty. Minister Ramsay.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I just wanted to recognize one Page that’s a resident of Kam Lake, Mr. Chris Yurris that’s with us in the House this week. I also want to recognize all the other Pages that put in the hard work here for us during this session. Thank you.

Item 7, acknowledgements. Item 8, oral questions. The Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. As a follow-up to my Member’s statement earlier today, I question the current effectiveness of the secretive program review office that now reports to the office of the executive. Many have questioned as to what this office has been up to for the past couple of

years and many think it’s time that we take a real critical look at its structure, mandate and accountability for the Members of this House and for the residents it services. My questions today are for the Premier.

It has been over one year since Regular Members have heard back from the Premier’s office as to the workings of the program review office. Can the Premier indicate to the House what this office has been doing, and especially what has this office done with the list of priorities it received by Regular Members?

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

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I’m very pleased that the Member has raised the matter of the program review office. They have been very busy working on the priorities that were developed and the projects that were developed in conjunction with committee. Also, I’m very pleased that their recommendations have and will result in this government saving hundreds of millions of dollars. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

: It’s shocking to hear about all this money that we’ve saved, because again, we’ve had no report. Not everyone would agree that we’ve got proper communication, and of course, transparency is the key to accountability. So, if one was to go on-line, there is only one public document found, which is a 2009-10 annual business plan and under key activity two of the executive operations, it states under program review, “Results of the ongoing monitoring and reporting process will be updated and made available to the public by on-line publication.”

Can the Premier indicate to the House where can one find this on-line publication? Thank you.

I’ll check with our website designers to see where you can find it. We’ve done better than that. We’ve written committee and updated committee on a regular basis and we’ve even had responses from committee commending us on the work and asking us for more detail on why we are moving the program review office from the Department of Executive to the Department of Finance. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Of course, the Premier is aware that he’s quoting some of the backroom programs, correspondences that I didn’t want to bring here to the House. Clearly, this program review office is working in a shroud of secrecy. Members have seen very little in the last year and it’s definitely not available to the public as was conceived by the previous Assembly and the current House.

Will the Premier commit that it’s time for this program review office to be reviewed, to find better structured input from Regular Members, a clearer mandate of delivery and, more importantly, a better

and transparent platform to broadcast its results? Thank you.

This government is always interested in improving all of our programs and services, so we’d be very pleased to undertake a review. But just to make sure that everybody understands some of the work that they have done: the results of the K to 12 school programs and pupil-teacher ratio and inclusive schooling; the general office space evaluation; the health programs and services evaluation; the adult and education training programs evaluation; rationalizing phones, faxes and printers; harvesters’ support program review; single-window service centres and I should also indicate that we are prepared to look at the structure. The structure is not the problem, as I see it. The program review office makes recommendations and it’s very hard to get agreement or even get a decision on the recommendations that they make. If that’s what you are interested in looking at to find a better way to deal with the results and the recommendations, we are all for it, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Premier. Final supplementary, Mr. Dolynny.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Some of the recommendations that we’ve heard from the Premier today is news to many of us here, as you can see the shock and awe on our faces here.

When will the Premier be able to table these fine results and recommendations for Regular Members to see? Thank you.

I believe it has all been shared with the Members, but I will resubmit them to committee. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Madam Speaker. My questions are to the Minister of Transportation on the launch of the new on-line motor vehicles website and registration. I am wondering: in the development of this, is there an agency that the department uses to make sure we have consistency in presentation? That’s for all departments, but especially in this one, I see that it’s been effective and how do we spread that contagious event?

Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. The honourable Minister of the Department of Transportation, Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. The department is using some organizations in some of the smaller communities. For the most part, we have built our own infrastructure up in the department to be able to provide these services. Thank you.

As we do more and more items on-line, I am wondering about the duality of running a manual system where somebody can come into an office or they can do it on-line.

When are we expecting to go only on-line? What savings are we seeing by just doing on-line and when will we be eliminating, if we will be eliminating, some of the offices we currently go to?

The on-line services at this time are something that we will be running for three years. Then we are looking at re-evaluating or evaluating the service at that time. Currently, we have minimum walk-in services in most places where we do have walk-in services. For example, we have one station in a place like Inuvik where individuals have the option to walk in to do their registrations and so on. If we went to a full system to save some money, we would have to shut that one down. So, we’re thinking of continuing to run a dual system and that system is designed to make things more efficient, especially to provide a better service to the people of the NWT. Thank you.

I wonder if the department is actually seeing any savings by implementing this on-line service or if it’s just for convenience of the general public.

We do not intend to close any of the walk-in services. We would probably not gain any savings. Again, it’s for more efficiency for people who are trying to do their registration. It’s not a huge cost to add this system. On the other hand, the intent is not to save money by closing down the walk-in service. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final supplementary, Mr. Bouchard.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. As I indicated, I am pleased with the service. It is very effective. I guess when we have these types of programs, when we start them, do we have an evaluation process in place to start from the beginning? The Minister indicated three years. Is that the evaluation time period? Are we doing an evaluation after one year, two years and three years? Maybe you could just speak to the evaluation process of this service.

It’s not a huge operation, so if we wish to do so, it would be easy for us to evaluate after year one, after adding the vehicle registration, document replacement, registered permits and some self-management for some of the other tolls and so on. Once we are able to do that through year one, we can actually do a bit of an

evaluation on it. We were thinking that we would add everything before we did a thorough evaluation. It looks at the outset that it’s going to be a very good system and people seem to like the ability to register their vehicles at home. So this is something we would maintain, but we can do an evaluation at any time. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Beaulieu. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I have some questions addressed to the Minister of Transportation today. I’d like to get an update on the Deh Cho Bridge

It was my understanding that it was to be completed in the summer of 2013. I’d like to first of all ask the Minister, is the bridge considered completed, and if it is not, what is left to be completed and at what cost? Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. There is no further outstanding work to complete the bridge. Thank you.

Thanks to the Minister for that confirmation. I’d like to go back to December of 2011 when the then Minister of Transportation said in a Minister’s statement, December 13th it was, “At

this time I also want to reiterate the commitment of the previous government, which was to undertake a retrospective analysis of the project after it’s completed. The analysis will include total project costs as well as lessons learned.”

I’d like to ask the Minister, now that the bridge project is considered completed, the Minister in 2011 stated that that analysis would take place within six months of completion. I figure we’re probably at about six months of the summer by now.

I’d like to know from the Minister of Transportation if the Department of Transportation is in the process of doing an analysis of the Deh Cho Bridge Project. Thank you.

The Department of Transportation is aware of the full cost of the bridge and whatnot and the evaluation will be based on the tolls that we’ve put in place for the crossing of the bridge at one point. At the end of I think the last fiscal year, we had completed an analysis of the cost, the toll costs and the revenues that we’ve received from that and we have that information available. Thank you.

That only goes partway to what I had understood was going to be the analysis of the

project. I think the previous Minister spoke to lessons learned. Certainly, there were a lot of things to be learned from that project. It started off as a P3 project, it did not end up as P3 project. Certainly in the 16th Assembly there were many

comments about what we needed to do to do a comprehensive analysis of the project, where things went right, where things went wrong. I understand that the Minister says there are costs there, but I’d like to know whether or not there’s going to be a further analysis, a comprehensive analysis of the project including all aspects of the project and provide that response to Members and to the public. Thank you.

I will talk to the department about what extent the bridge has been evaluated in as far as looking at the bridge for lessons learned and so on from the time the bridge was approved until the time the construction was completed and provide that information to the House. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Beaulieu. Final supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Thanks to the Minister, but I want to reiterate that what Members were asking for in the 16th and the

17th and what we’re now expecting is a full analysis

of the project, as the Minister said, from the time that it was contracted…actually, from the time that I think the act was passed to when it was fully completed.

I’d like to know from the Minister, if that has not been done, when he responds, will he please advise when Members can expect that kind of analysis and report? Thank you.

Thank you. I don’t have a timeline on that. What I can do is go back to the department and they will provide me a timeline of that full analysis that the Member speaks of and then provide that timeline to the House. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I want to follow up with questions to the Minister of Justice today in regard to my Member’s statement.

Concerns were brought to my office, phone calls, e-mails, in regard to some of the issues that we continue to face in our small communities. All you have to look at are some of these coroner’s reports of the alcohol and drug-related fatalities that we continue to see over the years every time a report is tabled in this House. If you look at where some of these alcohol and drug-related fatalities have taken

place, and they’ve taken place in communities where there are no liquor establishments, there are no liquor stores, so the alcohol and drugs had to get there somehow.

My first question today will be: Has the Minister of Justice worked with any partners to develop stiffer penalties for those that are caught bootlegging in their communities? Thank you, Madam Speaker.

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

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Stiffer penalties were introduced a number of years ago. I think it was three or four years back for bootleggers in the Northwest Territories, stiffer fines and a possibility of incarceration as well.

We continue to work with the RCMP to ensure that we have the patrols, especially on the winter road, that we are trying to get the drug dealers and bootleggers off the streets and out of our communities. It’s really incumbent, especially in the smaller communities where folks in many cases know who the drug dealers are, they know who the bootleggers are, that they say something about it. I’d encourage the Member to keep promoting Crime Stoppers and the anonymous way that folks can call Crime Stoppers to report a crime, report bootleggers, report drug dealers and we’d make our best effort to ensure that our communities are free from the bootleggers and drug dealers. Thank you.

If stiffer penalties were introduced four years ago, we’re still continuing to see these issues in the communities. Obviously we need to address the situation but, as I said in my Member’s statement, government can’t do it alone. We need the support of our residents to speak up and speak out on this. In that case, some of our residents are afraid to say anything or be a witness or go to court to provide some of this information.

What is the government doing to provide that support to our residents who want to speak up and how are we going to keep them safe? Does he have a plan to assist those that want to get the drug dealers out of their communities? Thank you.

We need to, again, extol the reality that Crime Stoppers is an anonymous vehicle for folks to make a call. They can also text a complaint to Crime Stoppers. They won’t have to go to court. I served some time previously on the Crime Stoppers board here in the Northwest Territories. It is an anonymous program and it’s a program that works. Tips that are phoned in to Crime Stoppers will be investigated and I would encourage the Member, we can get him a poster for his office in Inuvik, a Crime Stoppers poster. I’d encourage all Members to keep supporting Crime Stoppers here in the Northwest Territories and the good work that program can do. People can make

anonymous tips to the RCMP so they can be investigated and, again, in many cases, especially in the smaller communities, community members know who the drug dealers are and who the bootleggers are. Thank you.

The Minister referred to Crime Stoppers and it is an anonymous way to get the information to those that need it to see about some type of case or some type of file.

Does the Minister have statistics on the amount of times that Crime Stoppers has been used over this past fiscal year, the year previous? Does his department collect stats on Crime Stoppers so that we know, as a public, that it’s actually being used and it’s actually being utilized by people of the Northwest Territories? Thank you.

I don’t have those statistics with me today, but I would certainly go back to the department and get the statistics. Also, I’m curious myself to find out what marketing efforts are currently underway for the Crime Stoppers program around the Northwest Territories, especially in the smaller communities, and I’ll get that information for the Member and for the House. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Madam Speaker. During our most recent community committee trip to the communities, we heard a lot of startling statistics and facts. Obviously, there has to be some kind of marketing strategy out there to empower our residents to speak up, and I look forward to seeing some of those details.

One of the other ways that we do it is a program called the Not Us! campaign. A lot of communities across the Northwest Territories use it. I just want to ask where the department is in terms of this campaign. How many years has it been running, how successful is it and specifically how many communities across the Northwest Territories access this Not Us! campaign that’s very effective? Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Madam Speaker, the Not Us! campaign has been very successful. The department is undergoing an evaluation of the program. We’ve got money out to a variety of communities all across the Northwest Territories.

Getting back to the bootlegging question, a lot of times communities want to focus on the drugs with the Not Us! campaign. But certainly, if the community wants to work with us, we can tailor a Not Us! program to bootlegging, as well, and incorporate that into the Not Us! program. We’re interested in hearing from communities if that’s what they want to see in a program.

In our estimation – and again, we’re doing an evaluation – we believe the program has been hugely successful in a community like Hay River and in other communities around the Northwest Territories, and we look to be doing more of that type of work at the grassroots levels, to try to root out bootlegging and drug dealing in our territory. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I want to use today’s opportunity to ask certain questions regarding the consumer affairs division. Sorry, I’m going to change topic for Cabinet and I’m sure they’re disappointed.

On March 6, 2013, the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs committed to me in the House several items, but perhaps the issue really boils down to simply this: I was concerned, and many people in the public are concerned, that the consumer affairs division is anonymous, just like those 571 jobs as a matter of fact. Incidentally, I should say. But that said, I asked the Minister what he would do to promote to profile this office and certainly to access that, and as such, he provided several commitments to the House which are basically to say that they’ll make sure information gets out there, they’ll publicize it, they’ll do outreach and it goes on and on and on.

I guess my question to the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs is: They’ve had almost a year – because that’s from Hansard of March 6, 2013 – what have they done to promote this idea when consumers are tired and exhausted, whether it’s gas prices, cell phone prices, other areas of complaint that they legitimately need to bring to an office to complain about to research and get something done for consumer protection? Thank you.

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

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Our consumer affairs office is actually all of two people. As far as communicating to the public, if there’s a slippage there, that’s on my part. I’ll wear that. But I will see what kind of information we have out there and relay it on to the Member. Thank you.

Madam Speaker, a commitment was made in the House about developing a communications plan to get out there, we want to promote phone numbers and access points. In my view, the consumer affairs division may not need a

singular street window type of office where people can walk up to, but the fact is, it needs to be publicized in a way that people know where to bring their concerns.

Does the Minister see this as important, or should it be nestled away in some area of government that it’s kept anonymous, as it seems to be? Thank you.

Madam Speaker, our consumer affairs office is not nestled away. If there’s a slippage in promoting it – and I did make the commitment and I will follow up with the department as soon as we’re done here – but it’s not nestled away. We don’t receive many complaints at the moment, but again, that’s still no excuse for not communicating as well as we should that the office exists and what the numbers are. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Madam Speaker, perhaps they don’t get any complaints because no one knows they exist. That could be part of the issue.

I guess my question would be: When would the Minister be able to address this problem? He says he’s going to go back to the department. I heard that; that wasn’t lost upon me. But he did say almost a year ago that they would get on this, so I would like to know if he could have an action plan sent to my office before the end of next week as to how they will address these issues.

The action plan doesn’t mean they’ve done it. What the action plan clearly states is these are the issues we see as a problem the Member has been raising and we’re going to tackle them in this type of approach, and that could at least get me through to at least next week and we can leave it at that. Thank you.

As I stated before, I will follow up with the department and I will ask for an action plan and have to it to the Member by the end of March.

Thank you, Minister McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Perhaps my calendar is different than the Minister’s, although he’s laughing and I think he did it as a joke and I’ll accept it in the way it was delivered with some humour. But let’s just be clear. Let’s work off the February 21st date, if that’s

agreeable.

Again, I’m looking for an action plan on direction. I’m not looking for a 20-page report, I’m just looking for a couple pages that say this is how we’re strategizing and we will work toward achievables. Thank you.

I’m glad the Member took it for the way it was intended, and we were all laughing with him. I’ll have some information for the

Member by the end of next week. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Minister McLeod. Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Before Christmas I asked the Minister of Environment a written question on the cost-effectiveness of the various initiatives his department is funding as part of the Greenhouse Gas Strategy. At the time, I got the impression that the Minister was surprised by the question, which was not my intent. So I wanted to check, was the Minister surprised to be asked about the cost-effectiveness of his department’s greenhouse gas reduction initiatives? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. I’ll let Minister Miltenberger answer the question. Technically speaking, you’re asking the Minister not about the content of what’s in the purview of his department but you’re asking about his feeling about something, his opinion. It’s a little bit close to the edge, but I’ll let Minister Miltenberger go ahead. Please, Minister Miltenberger.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. After the number of years we’ve been in the House together, nothing the Member asks surprises me any further. Thank you.

---Laughter

Thanks for the Minister’s response. I appreciate that and I also appreciate being close to the edge. That means I’m doing my job.

Madam Speaker, the Minister may or may not have been surprised, but I’m fairly sure I have not seen an analysis like this before. While the response left out an analysis of the rebate program that was requested, some programs are clearly more cost-effective than others.

Why, after running greenhouse gas reduction programs for over a decade, has the Minister never presented us with an evaluation of the cost-effectiveness of these various greenhouse gas reduction programs? Mahsi.

Madam Speaker, there is work underway to in fact produce such a document. Thank you.

I don’t know whether it’s in your purview to direct a Minister to answer a question, but that certainly did not answer the question.

The Diavik Diamond Mine has done some great work in reducing their emissions by installing wind turbines up at their mine site and they deserve full

credit for this. Yet, in his response, the Minister claims the emission reductions from the Diavik wind program go to GNWT.

Did the Minister get permission from Diavik to claim credits – and these are very valuable credits – for their actions? Mahsi.

Madam Speaker, we are collating all the greenhouse gas savings that we can across the territory. Absolutely, Diavik deserves full credit. If the Member says they are valuable credits, if it’s political credit, absolutely. If they’re using them for some type of carbon trading credit, that’s totally their purview, but when we look at the success in the Northwest Territories, we can’t just look at government. We have a very significant private sector and industry, the diamond mines, and Diavik has, in fact, invested money. It’s saving millions of tonnes of greenhouse gases and it’s something that as a territory we constantly point to with great pride. Not only the GNWT but private industry, as well, stepped up to the plate.

Thank you, Minister Miltenberger. Final supplementary, Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Madam Speaker, and thanks to the Minister. If I had wanted the private emissions reductions cost efficiency, which I suspect would be a lot higher than GNWT, then I would have asked of that, but in fact, I asked for the government data.

I want to be sure that I do not surprise any other Ministers when I ask about the cost-effectiveness of their greenhouse gas reducing initiatives. We need to be sure that we are getting the best bang for the rare dollar that is allocated to this programming.

Will the Minister commit to working with his colleagues in ITI, Public Works and Services, NTPC and the Housing Corporation to ensure that the cost-effectiveness of greenhouse gas emissions initiatives is included in future programs, evaluations and updates? Just a note, I do appreciate that there will be a report coming forward and I’ll very much look forward to that.

We will incorporate the issue of cost-effectiveness of greenhouse gases as we look at doing things like LNG, like hydro, like biomass, solar, wind. We will look at those and make sure we include that in our calculations.

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

Thank you, Madam Speaker. My questions are to the Minister of Health and Social

Services. It’s my understanding that the new wellness centre in Norman Wells is going to be started soon, having a territorial long-term care facility there, and the construction is supposed to start sometime this summer and completed by 2016. More importantly, the facility will be staffed with trained health care professionals, and I’m hoping that the Minister can enlighten the House and constituents in the Sahtu on what type of plans are there and put in place to start training these workers and what type of opportunities would the schools, colleges and other institutions have to bring up their grade marks or their required courses to take part in some form of training that’s going to be needed in the health centre and the long-term care facility.

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

Thank you, Madam Speaker. The health centre and long-term care facility in Norman Wells are scheduled to begin operations in 2016. We know that there are a significant number of positions that will come along with that facility, and the types of positions include registered nurses, licenced practical nurses, resident care aides, activity coordinators, physiotherapists, dietitians, cooks, cooks helpers, housecleaning, laundry, as well as some admin support, so there are a variety of types of jobs that may be there.

With respect to one of the areas, we know that we need to train some local people on the personal support workers, which basically prepares individuals to be resident care aides or home support workers. We are working closely with authority staff to plan training for the new long-term care facility as well as the health centre ensuring that personal support workers can receive the training appropriate for the work that we need them to do when these new facilities open. The authority has met with a number of representatives from Aurora College in Norman Wells and they have all agreed that for this year what we need to focus on is preparing potential candidates to meet the qualifications for accessing the personal support worker. That work is going on now, and that includes working with Aurora College, community learning centres and the Sahtu Secretariat to encourage potential candidates for the Personal Support Worker program to enrol, and adult education courses so that they’re ready to take the Personal Support Worker program when it is delivered.

The Minister outlined various numbers of positions and requirements to get into these types of health careers.

I want to ask the Minister, is he working closely with the Department of Education, Culture and

Employment and any other institutions to get the awareness, the presentations in the high schools? Because the construction will be completed in 2016, preparing our young people, like I said, the potential number of candidates that are going to graduate this year. There are a number of students who are now in post-secondary institutions. This is a facility that’s going to be completed in two years.

Is the Minister working to see if we have almost like a career fair in our schools that the students can now start preparing to take the required courses to get into the program?

The majority of the work, as I indicated previously, has been between the Sahtu Health and Social Services Authority and the Aurora College, and they have been working with individuals in the community to encourage students to develop the qualifications they need to enrol in the Personal Support Worker program. But I hear the Member, and I hear the Member indicating that we need to do a little bit more, because it’s not just personal support worker positions in the community. There will be nursing positions as well as other positions.

What I will commit to now is having somebody from the department talk to Education, Culture and Employment and see what we can do in the school to help the young people recognize the types of jobs that will be coming and how these jobs can offer long-term, meaningful employment in their communities. Some of them are statutory so they obviously require some secondary education, so I will certainly have the department talk with Education, Culture and Employment and work with the Sahtu Health and Social Services Authority and Aurora College.

Given the level of, say, for example, personal support care workers, is there a location that this training possibly could take place given the location in Norman Wells is… I know there’s some complexity about bringing that training to the region. Are there locations that we are looking at so that students then can be prepared potentially, you know, that if they want this type of training these are the locations we’re looking at right now? Nothing yet has been determined.