This is page numbers 3763 – 3804 of the Hansard for the 17th Assembly, 5th Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was land.

Lessons From A Decreasing Population
Members’ Statements

February 19th, 2014

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The NWT is a fantastic place to live. People that were born here love it and visitors who come for a few days end up spending a lifetime. Yes, some people are leaving, but my sense is that many are leaving reluctantly.

But an increase in population should not be a goal on its own. We should not look at every resident as a cash machine or as part of a funding formula. Rather, a decreasing population is an indicator. It shows we are failing to meet our people’s needs.

First of all, spending to build our numbers by 2,000 over five years is a waste of resources. Most provinces, especially our neighbours, as we’ve heard today, are desperate for workers and they offer a much lower cost of living, job and travel opportunities, proximity to family, and the option to base there and work here.

In recent years this government has invested big money in large and costly infrastructure, gambling that mines and power lines will be attractive to provide more jobs and sustain our economy. Clearly, it is not working. Will we learn something here?

The current mines cannot meet their northern hiring targets. Every qualified Northerner who wants to work in a mine already is. Most remaining people are either not qualified or they don’t want to work on a two-in/two-out rotation, and mines do not attract people to live here. Increasingly, workers fly in and out again.

Syphoning off key program dollars to mega-infrastructure projects does not serve. In contrast, my colleagues today have made many practical suggestions to address real needs with real solutions that will encourage people to stay in the North. If daycare was affordable, people would stay and work and pay taxes. If power and heating bills were affordable, people would stay, invest, raise families. If our social safety net actually helped people get out of poverty, they would thrive. If we invested in educating versus just training them for entry-level mining positions, people would be engaged. With jobs and business opportunities in their home communities, they would choose to stay.

Let’s get real and start by getting our house in order first. Let’s build on our strengths, our vibrant communities, our progressive diverse cultures and beautiful northern land, and let’s restore our quality of life. Let’s invest in a society that treats every resident with respect, reduces our dependence on expensive imported food and energy and is a responsible caretaker of the northern land that is our home.

Mr. Speaker, the population issue will look after itself. Mahsi.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Northerners As A Priority
Members’ Statements

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have also been thinking about the question in the budget statement where the Minister wanted to look at how we increase our population. Actually, the number was 2,000 in five years. When you look at it from an economic standpoint, the less amount of population we have in the North we get a decrease in our revenue. So, to increase our revenue, we need to

have more people coming into the Northwest Territories.

I thought about that and I said to my colleagues here, first things first. Let’s get our northern people, who are trained and educated in the Northwest Territories, up to a level where we know that once they finish Aurora College or some education institution in the Northwest Territories they are actually guaranteed to go into a path of their career choosing. Let’s put them into schooling where they know they’re supported.

We still have nine communities without full-time nurses. We have to focus on them. You know, what makes them go to school. Actually, this week is Aurora College Week. Those students are going to school under some pretty tough challenges, as we already heard from the past meetings with Aurora College just at the Yellowknife Campus.

When you look at this whole situation, you learn a lot from animals. You know, what attracts the animals to a place where they can eat, live and continue on around that area. It’s the environment. What type of environment do we have in the Northwest Territories that would attract people to the Northwest Territories? For example, in Quebec they have a $7 a day subsidy for families with child care. We should be seriously looking at something like that, and coming together to a think-tank and putting out some suggestions and asking the people in the Northwest Territories what we can do to attract people, attract Northerners to come back. Is it…(inaudible)…our fishing, our trapping, the oil and gas? Whatever it is, we need to know how to attract these people.

I’d like to say, let’s get our house in order by first tracking our own people to come back north and stay here and raise their families.

Northerners As A Priority
Members’ Statements

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Frederick Blake Jr.

Frederick Blake Jr. Mackenzie Delta

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to also join my colleagues on this theme day today on population growth initiatives.

As I mentioned earlier this week, we do have to do a lot of things different to try to get our people to stay here in the North. One of the things that we really need to do is find a way to keep our cost of living down in the territory. As any Northerner knows, the cost of living here in the North is very great, and I believe that’s why a lot of people from the South just come up here to work and fly back every two weeks.

Over the last week I believe some of the mining companies have made some positive changes as they work with the government to find ways to encourage people to stay here in the North, to work

here and live here in the North as they work in the diamond mines.

We also have other opportunities that this government could partake of, and that’s filling a lot of the positions that need to be filled here in the Northwest Territories. We have a lot of people that are going to university and college down south. We have to encourage those people to come back, work in the summers, make sure they’re very familiar with the positions they want to take on once they graduate, and ensure that they know that those positions are available to them once they do graduate university or college.

As I mentioned earlier this week, we also have to increase our infrastructure in a lot of the communities. Yes, most of the regional centres do have facilities for recreation, yet in the small communities it’s very challenging. I know we do have the infrastructure funding available to communities, but I believe that over the next couple of years we have to increase those funds to ensure that communities can build what they need in the communities to attract Northerners and the people to come and work in the communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

Robert Bouchard

Robert Bouchard Hay River North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize Wally Schumann, a good friend of mine and president of the Hay River Metis Association. Thank you.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. Mr. Bromley.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize Bob Wilson, a long-standing member of the Weledeh riding. Welcome to the House. I’d also like to recognize a couple of hardworking Pages, Linnea Stephenson and Harvey Fells, and thanks to all of the Pages that are serving us here today.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Mr. Hawkins.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to acknowledge Mr. Wally Schumann, who is also the owner of Poison Painting. It’s good to see him. As well, I wish to acknowledge Mr. Bob Wilson who is a good friend and certainly a dedicated Yellowknifer and an amazing photographer as well. Thank you.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Miltenberger.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, as well, would like to take this opportunity to thank the Pages and recognize two

from my constituency, Mr. Ryan Dumkee and young Mr. Ian Gauthier, who are here and their dad is also here with them as their chaperone. Thank you.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

Yellowknife South

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Premier

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to recognize a Page from Yellowknife South, Carson Asmundson. He’s been here a few times before, and I also want to recognize all the Pages that are here today. Thank you.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Welcome everybody here in the public gallery today.

Item 7, acknowledgements. Item 8, oral questions. The Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Jane Groenewegen

Jane Groenewegen Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. We’re having somewhat of a theme day today on how we’re going to grow our population, retain and grow our population here in the Northwest Territories. I’ve been kind of talking about that pretty much since the beginning of session on a day-by-day basis. I didn’t have a Member’s statement on that today, but I do have some questions.

When we talk about raising the population and we talk about what this government can do, we’ve been very focused on how we can get NWT residents into the public service, but not everybody can work for the Government of the Northwest Territories, not everyone can work for the government. We also need to think about people who have skills and interests that would lead them into working either for small business or for big industry, or working in the private sector in general.

I’d like to ask the Minister of ITI what initiatives that he’s aware of have been undertaken by the GNWT to work with the private sector to enhance their hiring capacity of Northerners. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Government of the Northwest Territories has the Come Make Your Mark Campaign and I know the Member spoke of working in partnership with industry and businesses across the Northwest Territories and that’s integral, and thus attracting 2,000 people here over the next five years is something that we have to continue to do. Through

the Come Make Your Mark Campaign, we had partnered with over 60 businesses and organizations around the Northwest Territories in our efforts to promote the Northwest Territories as a place to live and work and we will continue to focus our efforts on that partnership model. Again, it’s very important that that happens. We also have been in steady contact with the operating diamond mines here in the Northwest Territories. Work continues to focus our efforts on how to attract people to live here in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

Jane Groenewegen

Jane Groenewegen Hay River South

That’s very interesting to hear. I personally was not aware that the Come Make Your Mark program had worked with 60 businesses. On an ongoing basis, I’d like to ask the Minister what is the vehicle for continuing that liaison with the private sector when it comes to recruiting and retaining people in the North. Thank you.

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

It would be through that campaign, and we do need to focus our efforts on that campaign, again, working with the operating mines here in the Northwest Territories and the fact that we are going to require a workforce if we are going to open seven to nine new mines in the next decade, we are going to need more of a workforce here. So it’s important that we continue to work with the mining industry on efforts to get people to live here in the Northwest Territories through the Cabinet committee of Employment and Economic Development chaired by Minister Miltenberger. We are begging, again, a dialogue in earnest with the mining companies to see what we can do to attract people to live and work in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

Jane Groenewegen

Jane Groenewegen Hay River South

It’s also been mentioned in this House, suggestions to the government of where we can hire summer students from university who can then get some experience in the area that they’re studying in, but I’d like to ask, and again, that works really well in the public service, but I’d like to ask the Minister what is in place right now for the government to partner with the private sector so that the private sector could also have the ability to identify the post-secondary students and so on who could come to work in their businesses. There used to be a program, and I’m not sure of what the status of that is now, where the government would actually cost share part of the wages for summer students. I’d like to ask what the status of that program is. Thank you.

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

Workforce development falls under the mandate of Education, Culture and Employment, and certainly the Member is right. I think going forward it’s incumbent upon the government to work together, all the departments, all the Ministers and this government to come up with a game plan. I’ve heard many Members talk

about our young folks that are out at school and trying to get them back here to the Northwest Territories and not lose them to opportunities in the South. That’s something that’s very important to me and I know it’s important to the government. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Jane Groenewegen

Jane Groenewegen Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, I understand that any such a program would not fall under the Minister’s mandate. That would actually fall under Education, Culture and Employment, but I’d like to just ask the Minister is he aware that there still is an ongoing summer program where the GNWT partners with the private sector to create employment for students? Thank you.