Good morning, colleagues. Welcome back to the Chamber. Item 2, Ministers’ statements. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Minister Lafferty.

Mahsi, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, the first five years of a child’s life are critical to creating a foundation for their healthy physical, emotional, social and cognitive development. Supporting child care programs is one of the priorities of this Legislative Assembly. The departments of Education, Culture and Employment and Health and Social Services worked in partnership and developed the Early Childhood Development Action Plan. It will provide accessible quality early childhood and parental programs and services for all Northwest Territories families.

We will implement about half of the actions in close collaboration with our partners in Health and Social Services. The others are within our own department’s mandate and I would like to focus on some of those today.

Madam Speaker, the phased introduction of junior kindergarten in all of our schools marks a significant milestone in creating access to free, quality early childhood education for four-year-old children. It will provide young children with a hands-on, play-based program to support their development and learning.

The department will introduce this optional, full-day Junior Kindergarten Program in September 2014. This program is of no cost to parents, will be offered in our schools as part of the K to 12 education system, and will roll out over three years. The first wave will be where the need is greatest: in the NWT’s 29 small communities.

We are revamping our Aboriginal Language Nests program to make sure it aligns with the needs of our communities. These programs are delivered through our licensed daycare centres and expose children to an Aboriginal language at an early age. Research shows that the best way for a young child to learn any language is to be in a rich language environment. It is therefore essential that all licensed early childhood programs reflect the language and cultural backgrounds of the children they serve.

Just like junior kindergarten, licensed daycare centres are important delivery agents of quality early childhood programs and services. Our job as government is to make sure they have the support and resources they need to deliver high-quality programs in safe environments. That is why we have implemented the NWT Child Daycare Standards Regulations to set consistent standards across the territory for all licensed daycares. We will also be working with our licensed early childhood programs to eliminate red tape, so they can focus on programming and development, rather than paperwork.

One of the most critical success factors of any daycare is having qualified people in whose care we entrust our children. To acknowledge that very fact, we plan to introduce a wage subsidy for early childcare practitioners in our licensed daycares to address the issue of comparatively low wages of that critical profession. As of April 1st , we intend to

institute a tiered wage top-up plan for all current practitioners. We are also putting in place a credentialing system, scholarships and incentives for early childhood development professional training and certifications.

Madam Speaker, all of our early childhood investments are linked and we are building to a critical mass. This is work no one can do alone and with our partners, we are confident that we have the building blocks in place to provide a foundation for accessible high quality programs and services for healthy, successful children. Mahsi, Madam Speaker.

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

Thank you, Madam Speaker. This Assembly’s vision of healthy, educated people contributing to a strong and prosperous northern society starts in early childhood. The departments of Education, Culture and Employment and Health and Social Services have worked collaboratively to craft a renewed Early Childhood Development Action Plan based on best practices, national and international research and the wisdom of our elders.

This action plan is the companion document to the Early Childhood Development Framework tabled in May 2013 and we will be tabling it later today.

The framework identified the need to emphasize the whole family, improve and expand existing services, and improve communication and awareness of available services. It also identified the need for qualified and dedicated staff, culturally appropriate services and, in some cases, increased funding. The framework built on existing successful programs, including the Healthy Family Program.

Madam Speaker, based on the seven commitments made in the framework, our departments have identified 22 areas for action that will show results over time. A major focus of the action plan is healthy development in the zero to three age group. It identifies how we will implement new programs, or strengthen existing programs, to support this age group right from prenatal and healthy infancy through to early intervention programs.

The action plan calls for the establishment of regional early intervention workers, who will work with families at risk to support and promote healthy child development.

Another priority will be educating parents on the importance of early childhood development.

However, we also realize that those in greatest need are often the ones who do not take advantage of facility-based programs, whether they are offered in a health centre, a child and family resource centre, or a daycare program. If we are going to truly make a difference, we need to improve our ability to reach the parents and caregivers who are at risk, including pregnant moms, and parents and caregivers suffering from addictions issues.

We need to change the way we do business so that we can improve our ability to reach those families. We will refocus our communications and social marketing campaigns to connect with those families in ways that address their needs and concerns.

We will work through our regional wellness staff and in partnership with other regional and community stakeholders, to build on existing community wellness plans and promote local

initiatives that engage families at risk. This can only be done through a collaborative interagency approach.

We will also review job descriptions of key community staff, including community health representatives, to build in a greater emphasis on community work in this area.

We must gradually develop new programs and services based on evidence. We will pay close attention to the results of the one-time baseline assessment of children born in 2009 and identify areas where more formal programming may be required to address gaps.

Healthy, educated people enjoying the benefits of a thriving economy are essential to the future of the Northwest Territories. Investing in our young children is one of our most valuable investments. It is through early intervention, development and education that our children will grow into healthy, productive adults. We must provide them with a strong foundation on which to learn and grow, and support our families, caregivers, professionals and communities with the information, resources and services needed to provide that foundation.

Our action plan is one of several strategies this government is working on to support our people and develop our economy, including the Anti-Poverty Strategy, Mental Health and Addictions Report and Education Renewal Initiative. We look forward to keeping the House informed on implementation and results of the Early Childhood Development Action Plan. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

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

Madam Speaker, it is with great pride that I stand to address Members today on the incredible achievements of three northern Olympians.

I am, of course, referring to biathlete Brendan Green of Hay River, speed skater Michael Gilday of Yellowknife and cross-country skier Jesse Cockney, who was born in Yellowknife and now lives in Canmore, Alberta.

---Applause

Brendan made us all proud when he made his Olympic debut at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics as a member of Canada’s 4 x 7.5 km relay team. That team matched Canada’s best performance ever at a Winter Olympic Games.

Brendan’s perseverance through a significant injury and back surgery in 2012 has inspired us all. He made an incredible comeback by qualifying for the

Sochi 2014 Olympic team only four months after his full-time return to competition in August of last year.

Michael Gilday is competing in his sixth international season as a speed skater for Team Canada. His career has included a string of medals and world records and a fifth place finish at the Team Canada trials for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

Michael’s career has also been challenged by injuries, including a 2012 shoulder injury and a 2013 concussion in the lead up to Team Canada selection trials. His determination and work ethic have motivated many a young athlete across the NWT.

Jesse Cockney has lived in Canmore, Alberta, for most of his life. He was, however, born in Yellowknife and is of Inuvialuit heritage. I would like to recognize him for his Olympic achievements as well.

Jesse will be a part of Team Canada at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games. This is his third year on the senior national cross-country skiing team and we are extremely proud of his accomplishments.

Madam Speaker, these role models and others have inspired countless numbers of young northern athletes to go out and do their best. They join Denise Ramsden, who competed in the London 2012 Summer Olympic Games; Sharon and Shirley Firth, who competed in four Olympic Games; and others like Roseanne and Roger Allen,

Dale Anderson, Bert Bullock, Fred Kelly, Ernie Lennie, Karen Legresley, Bert Squires, Joan Groothuysen and Jarl Omolt-Jensen.

The Government of the Northwest Territories is proud to support them along the way. In total, just over $1 million has been provided to these athletes and others through the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs’ High Performance Athlete Grant Program since its inception in 2003.

The goal of this program is twofold. First, it is important to support our sport heroes so they have the resources to reach the competitions where we will all cheer them along to what we hope will be podium finishes.

Secondly, and more importantly, the program inspires thousands of other youth through role model programs, speaking tours and other events where our high performance athletes have an opportunity to give back.

Madam Speaker, the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games begin on February 7th . On behalf of the

Government of the Northwest Territories and all Members of the Legislative Assembly, we wish Brendan Green, Michael Gilday, Jesse Cockney and all of Team Canada the very best in their competitions. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Item 3, Members’ statements. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I rise today to say goodbye to Billy “Boy” Cholo of Fort Simpson. In December 2013 Billy Cholo, sadly and tragically, passed away in Fort Simpson.

Billy wasn’t famous, important or rich, but he was just as big a part of our lives and our communities. The important thing I want to say, on behalf of his family and our community, is that he will be deeply missed.

Billy “Boy” Cholo will always be remembered for his sense of humour and being a jokester. Just as important is that he came from the land and thoroughly enjoyed our Aboriginal culture of hunting and trapping.

During his eulogy, people quoted some of his favourite jokes. My personal favourite is “Mary had a little lamb. Boy, the doctor was surprised.”

---Laughter

Many years ago I realized his contributions to us. He loved to make people laugh. We always get busy with our lives, lots of pressures, family, finances, health. He would come up to you and make you laugh, thus giving you a brief reprieve from your troubles. He himself never complained of hardships or troubles, he just enjoyed life.

The family also asked me to thank everybody who helped in the search: the RCMP, LKFN chief and staff, and the Village of Fort Simpson. “It just shows what the community can do,” said Edward “Cheeky” Cholo, his uncle.

There was a huge turnout for his funeral. People from far and wide came to pay their last respects. This was one of the biggest funerals I have attended, about 300 in all.

In a final joking comment, his uncle Edward said, “Billy would have liked this. Almost as much people attended, just like Mandella.”

Goodbye, Billy Cholo. Thank you for making us laugh. Thank you for making us smile on a daily basis. You will be sadly missed. Mahsi cho.

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

Thank you, Madam Speaker. The Northwest Territories is proudly represented by three of its finest athletes at the 2014 Winter

Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. Please join me once again in recognizing the achievements of Yellowknife speed skater Michael Gilday, cross-country skier Jesse Cockney and Hay River biathlete Brendan Green.

Not far behind them are the young athletes counting down the days to the Arctic Winter Games in Fairbanks, Alaska. Each one of these Olympians got their start at the Arctic Winter Games and, more importantly, at NWT schools.

This past year the Yukon government implemented a sports school program at the Whitehorse high school. Based on BC’s Canadian sport school program, students at F.H. Collins Secondary School spend half a day focusing on sport training and the other half on academics. The curriculum is further supplemented with guest speakers on a variety of health and fitness topics. The program also recognizes that unique training and competition demands of elite young athletes need special accommodation so that their academic and athletic success remains compatible.

Healthy people are active people. As we face the ongoing challenge of stimulating the development of healthy, educated people, I strongly encourage the Government of the Northwest Territories to consider a similar sport school initiative. Our government funds after school physical activities, multisport games, awards high performance athletic grants and contributes generously to the Pan-Territorial Sport Strategy and sport and recreation organizations, but will NWT own the podium?

Most other provinces dedicate significant resources to programming for high performance sport, and we should be on board with the sport school concept.

Olympic athletes are developed out of broad-based support at the community level. Not all our youth will become Olympians and that is not the goal of the Yukon sport school. But Team Canada in Sochi and Team NWT heading for Alaska next month show that we have a lot of homegrown talent and bright up-and-comers whose efforts we should nurture.

Sports are an excellent incentive to stay in school, develop self-discipline and make lasting positive lifestyle choices. Whatever the outcome, the strength, courage and determination that young people apply in training to win are tools for success in all aspects of life.

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

---Unanimous consent granted

A sports school shouldn’t be confined to one institution. Using existing resources, the program could easily be adapted to other schools in a number of our NWT communities.

Let’s own the podium and give our youth the best chance to win. Thank you very much.

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

Thank you, Madam Speaker. It’s definitely a Green Day. Thanks to all the Members for wearing green today. This morning I’d asked Members of this House and residents of the Northwest Territories to join me in an Olympic send-off to Hay River biathlete Brendan Green.

Brendan is in Sochi, representing Canada in his second Winter Olympic Games. Born and raised in Hay River, Brendan started skiing at the age of three and became a biathlete at six. He long dreamed of becoming an Olympian at a young age and set out to achieve this goal. He competed at the Hay River track meet on a regular basis and used the great Nordic facilities to begin his journey to the Olympics.

He excelled at international championships in 2005 and 2007, and in 2010 he took his place at the start line in the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. His relay team matched Canada’s best ever results.

A series of back injuries jeopardized Brendan’s chances of competing at this year’s Winter Olympics. He underwent two surgeries and has since made a remarkable recovery. This past fall Brendan had reached most of the things that he needed to get to compete at the Olympics. He won a spot on Canada’s World Cup team and took a silver medal at the prestigious International Biathlon Union Race in Norway early this season.

Brendan trains full time at his base in Canmore, but is quick to remember his northern roots. His sponsors include Kingland Ford and the NWT Power Corporation.

Hay River is going all out to celebrate Brendan’s success and cheer him on at this year’s Winter Olympics. To mark the opening ceremonies today, the community was invited to join students of all the Hay River schools at a Brendan Green Day Rally starting at 3:00 p.m. at the new fire hall. Everyone will be wearing green and ready for an Olympic send-off. This event will be recorded and sent to Brendan and his teammates in Sochi.

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

---Unanimous consent granted

The Ptarmigan Inn will be hosting a pancake breakfast tomorrow morning along with a live broadcast of Brendan’s first race. In an Olympic bid presentation to the Town of Hay River, Wally Schumann of Poison Painting has

created a giant Olympic banner celebrating Northwest Territories Olympians past and present. Thanks, Wally. The banner will be proudly displayed on the tower of the new fire hall. The inuksuk front the town hall will be decked out in skis and in a Canada hat.

Watch Brendan race hard and shoot clean over the next few weeks during live broadcasts in the morning on CBC. On February 22nd everyone is

invited to gather at the Don Stewart Arena in Hay River to watch Brendan and his teammates compete in the men’s 10 k relay event. This will be an excellent moment in NWT Olympic history.

Please join me in cheering Brendan Green and Team Canada as we watch their Olympic dreams unfold. Go, Brendan, go! Thank you.

---Applause

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

Thank you, Madam Speaker. The community of Enterprise needs to be better prepared for medical emergencies. Right now emergency ambulance services are based in Hay River and it costs at least $400 to take someone to hospital, if the ambulance gets there on time.

Like most communities in the NWT, Enterprise has an aging population. It’s location on Highway No. 3 near the Alberta border means there is greater risk of medical emergencies. If an accident occurs on the highway north of High Level, essentially the closest community would be Enterprise. As the larger community, Hay River is well equipped to respond, but it is possible that Hay River emergency personnel and vehicles might be busy responding to a call when someone in Enterprise needs help.

Public safety is a high priority for municipalities and for this government. Each community is responsible for developing emergency plans as the Government of the NWT plans to expand services and resources for ground ambulance and highway rescue. Enterprise cannot be overlooked. The government needs to work with the community to determine the level of need and plan the best response.

A proactive approach to emergency services will help us avoid tragedies and the regrets and finger pointing that is too often part of the aftermath. As a responsible government, we must do all we can to promote public safety, from accident prevention to effective response.

I urge the government to work with Enterprise toward a reliable solution for emergency medical needs. Mahsi.

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

Thank you, Madam Speaker. It gives me great pleasure to speak to the issue today, and I want to thank the Minister for acknowledging how important the role of education is to our young people, but some of the stuff I heard today did cause great concern. I know not one person who doesn’t believe in the first line of principles talked about, whereas the community is very concerned and certainly supports the physical health, emotional health, social and cognitive development of children. I think, as well, equally strong, that the Early Childhood Development Action Plan is a great concept, but like all great concepts, there’s always the old unfortunate “but.”

Minister Jackson Lafferty did say, well, by the way, it’s all free. As well as he went on to say that there will be wage subsidies, they will be helping current practitioners process their paperwork, credentials, scholarships and incentives. The question really comes down to how are we going to pay. Somebody has to be asking these questions.

I almost think it’s irresponsible to be launching such a great initiative without somebody asking the barebones question. All of this stuff for free comes at a cost. I know yesterday we had heard the chair of the YK No. 1 school board concerned over are the costs going to come down to the school boards.

If I may describe it as children and young people receive 13 years of school. That is kindergarten with the additional grades 1 to 12. Are the school boards now going to be forced to provide a 14th year, one additional year without appropriate funding or, of course, will they just shuffle around the PTR ratio? That’s the pupil-teacher ratio, for those who are not familiar with that.

This is a great initiative and I do not know anyone who would balk against it. The issue is how we are going to pay for it. Although it may be welcome news that it will be free, but nothing is free. As Members sit over here and wonder what is going to happen, again, I cite that it is irresponsible to launch such a major initiative without the facts of how we’re going to pay for it. We’re all too familiar with the old saying sometimes you have to steal from Peter to pay Paul. I can tell you, the school boards right now are dreading the next phone call from the Minister wondering if they will be Peter. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I have to start off by saying go, Brendan, go!

I would like to congratulate the Finance Minister on the 2014-15 budget he presented yesterday. It’s the culmination of many, many man and woman hours of work across the government, and I look forward to debating the budget in the coming weeks. But there were disappointments in the budget, most notably the lack of any significant new revenues again, and that only 5 percent of our brand new resource revenues will go to the Heritage Fund. It’s not like the Finance Minister and his Cabinet colleagues were never advised that 5 percent was not enough.

Last June this House passed a motion that recommended 25 percent of resource revenues go to the Heritage Fund. On October 28th of last year, I used a Member’s statement to tell the Minister and the public that a minimum of 25 percent of resource revenues should go to the Heritage Fund. Last fall the Minister consulted with residents in 10 or more communities. There are different views of the conclusions of the report from that consultation, but I believe residents indicated that 5 percent to the Heritage Fund was not nearly enough.

The Minister has heard from other MLAs and via committee correspondence that 25 percent to the Heritage Fund is a more realistic and preferred option. In response to oral questions yesterday, Minister Miltenberger said several times, choices had to be made, and he was speaking in relation to the allotment of resource revenues. But when did Regular Members have the opportunity to participate in that choice? To take part in the vote that led to that choice? We didn’t, and that galls me.

All input except that of Cabinet was ignored, and yesterday’s budget planned around 5 percent of the resource revenues going to the Heritage Fund. That decision was made long before any consultation with residents or MLAs took place.

Why bother to consult? Why bother to spend the money to consult? Why bother to give residents and MLAs hope that their opinions matter?

The Heritage Fund was established to capture and hold for our children’s children and their children’s children the revenues from the NWT’s non-renewable resources. When our resources are depleted and revenues from them are gone or drastically reduced, the Heritage Fund will be able to replace some of the foregone revenue. It will allow future governments to continue to provide the needed infrastructure and programs and services to NWT residents.

The difference between 5 percent and 25 percent of our resource revenues is about $9 million. What is

so vital in this $1.6 billion dollar budget that demands we use that $9 million now rather than saving it? Thank you.

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

Thank you, Madam Speaker. On January 9th I was fortunate enough to attend an

event here in Yellowknife acknowledging nine of our future leaders across northern Canada, of which four were from the Northwest Territories. In fact, one of them works here in the Legislative Assembly.

In 2010 was the launching of the first Jane Glassco Arctic Fellowship Program, which included 12 recipients from across northern Canada.

In January this was the second group that were recipients to the program. This fellowship is aimed at young Northerners, especially Aboriginal Northerners, aged 25 to 35 who want to build a strong North that benefits Northerners.

The recipients look for additional support, networks and guidance from mentors and peers across the North as they deepen their understanding of important issues facing their regions, their communities and try to develop policy ideas to help address them.

The fellowship will build on the recipients’ experience during and 18-month-long program of both self-collected and collective sharing of knowledge and skills with the incorporating of traditional knowledge into the research process.

Recipients will then share their research and ideas publically and strengthen their ability to build a healthier, more self-reliant and sustainable North.

These candidates work on some of northern Canada’s greatest policy opportunities and most pressing challenges, including resource developments, climate change, water protection, language preservation, health, education, and leadership in governance. Of our four NWT fellows, some areas of focus will be on indigenous women taking leadership roles, source water protection, housing policy design, and traditional knowledge in northern communities as well as indigenous stewardship in the North.

These fellows develop these research papers with the recommendations that do go to governments and our public.

I will have questions later for the Premier of the government, to see what these recommendations, how they are worked on or how they are pointed to.

Lastly, I wish all the fellows across northern Canada the best of luck and encourage them to continue with their hard work, action and dedication in making the North a better place to live. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

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

Thank you, Madam Speaker. The Northwest Territories Medical Travel Policy needs a major revamping and overhauling and hopefully it will be done within this Assembly.

There are many stories on medical travel from our small communities, on the medical escorts, to the medical travel, to appointments either here in Yellowknife or in Edmonton. For example, a medical travel appointment was scheduled in Edmonton; however, there was an unexpected illness with one of the relatives in Edmonton, so this medical travel client of Tulita flew down to Edmonton to be with her sister, who was on life support, to support her, on her own expense, even though she was scheduled for an appointment in Edmonton. She tried to have her surgery appointment rescheduled; however, the doctor said that wasn’t going to be the case because the procedure had to get done.

She stayed down there, and after surgery there was no assistance for her to get anywhere. Medical travel said that since she paid her way down there, she was responsible for paying her way back to Tulita. After much stress and much agony, finally medical travel gave in. They said, okay, we will cover your costs from Edmonton to Norman Wells, but find your own way home to Tulita. So, on the bumpy road in the wintertime, after surgery, her husband had to drive to Tulita and pick her up and bring her back. This was very stressful. It was hard on her.

This is only one of many stories in the Northwest Territories. Medical travel has to have some heart and look at some of the unique situations with the people in the small northern communities where we have a lack of infrastructure, lack of programs and services. We don’t have all that they have in the larger centres.

I will ask some questions that this type of treatment is totally unacceptable, and I ask the Minister, would he look into this case specifically to see what happened and so we can adjust these policies to fit the uniqueness of medical travel in our small communities? Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Item 6, acknowledgements. Item 7, oral questions. Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. My questions today are addressed to the Minister of Finance. I would like to follow up on my Member’s statement and ask him some questions about the amount of money that is not going into the Heritage Fund.

My first question to the Minister is a question that I asked in my statement. I’d like to know from the Minister, where was the opportunity for Regular Members to take part in a vote to determine how much of the budget – the 5 percent, 25 percent, whatever – how much of our resource revenues for this year’s budget would be going into the Heritage Fund. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Minister of Finance, Minister Miltenberger.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. In our system of government, we do annual budgets and the government puts a budget before the House. In effect, the government proposes and the Legislature disposes.

We started this process, as the Member said, many long months ago to set this budget in place. We’ve talked about what we were putting forward as what in our estimation was the best way to move forward to balance all the demands with expenditures, revenues, projects, infrastructure versus programs and services, all those issues. We have put before this House a document that lays that out, and now we’re engaged in the process to review and, at the end of the day, approve a budget. So, the process the Member talks about and asks about is now underway. Thank you.

I understand the Minister is saying that one side proposes and this side disposes. Understood, but there has been an awful lot of conversation about resource revenues over the last year, and there has been a lot of information to the Minister and to Cabinet. There was public consultation. There was a motion passed in this House last June. I want to say that… Well, I’ll say what I said in my statement, that that input was ignored.

I’d like to ask the Minister how he can justify the cost of the consultation, and I can’t remember how many thousands it was but it was a goodly amount of money – hundreds of thousands – when he basically ignored the input of NWT residents. Thank you.

Madam Speaker, we have undertaken consultation. This is now my sixth budget as Finance Minister. In the last

government, in fact, we did consultation, but it was based on Yellowknife. We’ve gone around the territory now to talk about the budget and budget consultation. As I pointed out in the communities, as well, there’s a $1.6 billion budget we are talking about. The resource revenue piece is $45 million. It’s a significant issue, but it wasn’t the only issue by far in terms of sheer quantum and we had ranging discussions about other things, about the future of the Northwest Territories, things we need to do to build our economic base… Some of the vision was needed as a territory to in fact move forward. We didn’t ignore the advice.

There was overwhelming support for the Heritage Fund, there was overwhelming support for not putting that money into programs and services, there was overwhelming support to put money into the Heritage Fund, infrastructure and doing debt repayment. All three of those things we are doing.

So the Member’s absolute statements are wrong and we intend to go back out next year. I think it’s a very good investment of dollars and there is a price for democracy. I’m willing, as Finance Minister, to go community to community every year to talk to the people and have that discussion, and there was a wide range of opinion about the Heritage Fund. At the end of the day, the government has to look at that input, plus all these other factors before us, these financial variables, the $350 million Stanton Hospital, the drop in revenues, the significant demand-driven supplementary appropriations, and we have to look at how we manage all of those and we’ve done that. Thank you.

The Minister has gone to my next question. I was going to presume that he was going to consult again and I’m glad to hear that he will, but I guess my question goes to – and I think it’s one that residents are asking as well – if you’re going to consult again next year, whether it be on the budget or whether it be on some other financial matter, will you take the views of the residents of the NWT into account when you develop the ‘15-16 budget? Thank you.

Thank you. That, of course, is a given. We have a very able group of MLAs that bring forward those opinions and, yes, I will do the rounds. In the first budget dialogue and the feedback sessions we had, for example, we talked about where we should put our focus with the limited funds that are available, and they gave us some good advice that we’ve built into our first budget and our second budget. We’ve received some very helpful advice on this go around, as well, including on the Heritage Fund. So, yes, we will obviously, and clearly, commit. We always take that feedback into consideration when we do the budget proposals, keeping in mind that there are other things that we have to consider as

well. We can’t just look at that piece in isolation. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Thanks to the Minister. The Minister mentioned, in answer to one of my previous questions, that the budget is now before us and that we will be deliberating the budget, and I heard a suggestion that there can’t be changes to the budget. So if there was a motion to come to this House, and the motion stated that 25 percent of our resource revenues for this ‘14-15 budget and onwards should go to the Heritage Fund, will the Minister take that as the will of the House and adopt the budget that way? Thank you.

Thank you. The goal that we have is to stay on a fiscal path that we’ve laid out for ourselves, a sustainable path. We’ve had discussions, and very clearly, as we go forward with the budget that’s before this House, it’s going to require about a $20 million reduction of government services. We have to find the money to meet all these things we said we would do. If we want to in fact add to the mix, the 25 percent, then we have to find roughly another $10 million. If we want to do the Heritage Fund, the 25 percent, plus other committee asks, then that number goes up to $40 million. So, we will have that discussion with committee, we will lay out information that we provided yesterday in this House, for example, about understanding vacancy rates and what they actually look like when you drill down and look at them closely. We will have the discussion about if we want to put 25 percent in, then we have to find $10 million and we’re prepared to have that discussion. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Miltenberger. The Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. Increasingly, seniors in the NWT are choosing to stay at home for as long as they can, of course, with their children being in the support capacity. However, we’re facing a dilemma in terms of the increased traffic on the public highway system between down south and up here in the North, especially with the establishment of the Deh Cho Bridge. However, there needs to be fundamental services that this government needs to maintain.

My question to the Minister is: I’m aware that MACA has been leading some efforts into trying to provide ground ambulances, so what emergency medical

services are currently available for Enterprise and its residents? Mahsi.

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

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Through the Government of the Northwest Territories, we don’t provide any medical services to the community of Enterprise. I think the service they do get provided is from the community of Hay River. But I can assure the Member that through our Interdepartmental Advisory Committee we are looking at the whole issue of ground ambulance highway rescue, as we’ve heard from Members before, so we have that work underway right now, and we’re hoping to have something out to the Members soon.

I’d like to thank the Minister for giving me a brief understanding in terms of the progress that MACA is leading. Surely at this point governments must have a framework of possibilities in terms of how local communities and organizations could at least dovetail the efforts of the GNWT with community initiatives.

How does Enterprise coordinate emergency ambulance services with Hay River to ensure that Hay River is always available to respond to emergencies in the community?

That’s an arrangement that the community of Enterprise would have to work out with the community of Hay River, but I can commit to the Member that our department will work with the community of Enterprise again.

These are initiatives that are normally community driven. We will work with the community, and I think, later on when we debate the budget, we might be debating some funds for ground ambulance and highway rescue services, enhancing the funds that are already there so it gives more communities an opportunity to provide training and other initiatives along those lines. We will work with the community of Enterprise to see what options they might have.

I’d like to thank the Minister. My final question has to do with seniors. Obviously, seniors that have a pension are on a fixed income, and so, increasingly, seniors are choosing, with the support of their families, to stay with them in their homes as long as possible. When an emergency arises, an ambulance has to be dispatched to their community and brought to the closest health centre or hospital. Recently, a resident had to incur their own personal cost of paying for that ambulance service.

Would MACA at least investigate and at some point commit to ensure that residents that have to pay for these costs will be reimbursed for those expenses?

That is an issue that they would have to work out with the provider. I can’t commit to saying that MACA will reimburse these clients that have to be taken by ambulance; however, I can commit to working with my colleague at Health and Social Services and see what options might be available to them through Health and Social Services.

The quick answer is no, we don’t reimburse costs for ambulances.

Thank you. Final supplementary, Mr. Nadli.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Other than the encouraging words that the Minister has provided, what are some of the immediate reassurances that he can give to the residents of Enterprise along with other northern communities that don’t have access to ambulance services? Mahsi.

The assurance that I can give them is that it is an issue that we’re working on with our interdepartmental group. They have come up with many suggestions. One of the big ones we’re looking at is we want to be able to help the communities be able to train personnel in the communities to respond to emergencies. One of the issues we hear is there is no point in having an ambulance if we don’t have trained personnel. We have heard that, and again, as I said, as we debate the budget that’s before the House, we will be debating some enhancements made to the funds that are available to the communities again. Once the budget is passed, then we will have to work with communities and see how the money can be distributed. But we do recognize the fact that it’s a concern across a lot of the small communities and we’re taking steps to try and address that, Madam Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister McLeod. Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. I would like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services questions about the Stanton Territorial Hospital.

I do visit many constituents as I pass through the hospital and some of them are there for extended stays. One of the common questions they do ask me is that they have their smartphones, they have laptops, et cetera, so they are asking me to raise the issue why they cannot get Wi-Fi or wireless feed into the hospital. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

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

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I have been in the hospital, too, and have been asked to turn off my phones as well. It’s my understanding that the technology interferes with some of the technical equipment in the hospital, which is why they encourage patient residents to turn off their phones. But for the technical specifics, I will certainly follow up with the authority to find out the exact reason. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Probably no point in going on, but I will just ask the Minister if he can follow up with my office and I can let my constituents know if there is a technical reason. If there is any way at all, perhaps I can ask the Minister, is there a way that patients can get Internet? Thank you.

Absolutely, I will follow up with the Member and his office and explore options. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Madam Speaker. We are going to follow up to my Member’s statement. I would like to ask the Premier of the Government of the Northwest Territories, with the Jane Glassco Northern Fellowship and supporting our young northern leaders, those up and coming and those out there doing some great work on behalf of government as well as for their communities, for their Aboriginal governments, I want to ask the Premier, what role does our government play in supporting these young northern leaders with the work that they are doing in the communities and across northern Canada? Thank you.

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

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I’m not sure if you’re referring to the Jane Glassco participants directly or all youth across the Territories, but as a government we certainly support youth leaders. We have a Minister responsible for Youth and we also have youth programs.

For Jane Glassco participants specifically, we get invited to some of their events. On occasion we are asked to speak and I think most of the participants from the Northwest Territories, I think they are working for the Government of the Northwest Territories either before, after or during. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Yes, I am referring to all the young leaders that are currently enrolled with the Jane Glassco Northern Fellowship through the Walter & Duncan Gordon Foundation.

Aside from speaking and also speaking at the events and showing events through attending events, does this government offer any type of financial support to this foundation to support our young leaders, specifically here in the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Madam Speaker.

The Jane Glassco Fellowship Program is an initiative from the Walter Gordon Foundation. They have not asked us for any financial participation. Most of these types of charitable foundations prefer to do it on their own because they recognize that if our government became involved and contributed financially, we would obviously want input into the program. Most of the foundations would prefer to do it on their own. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

I would like to ask the Premier, in the first launch of this program, there were 12 discussion papers that were brought forth. I believe four of them were in the Northwest Territories; however, we have jurisdictional issues, northern challenges we face right across northern Canada.

Does the Premier or any of his Cabinet look at these research papers, look at the recommendations and act on the recommendations? As I mentioned earlier, they focus on things like climate change, land stewardship, education, health, a lot of these pressing issues that face northern people. Does the Premier and his Cabinet look at any of these papers and address some of these recommendations? Thank you, Madam Speaker.

The lead in this area is ENR, and ENR has developed a partnership with the Walter Gordon Foundation in other areas. So they monitor and review the reports that come out. I know I’ve met and had a question and answer session with the Jane Glassco participants. They do send me packages and we have the Department of ENR review them and disseminate recommendations or information that is helpful to our government. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

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

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I was just going to bask in the green glory here, but I do think I need to follow up with some questions that my colleague MLA Bisaro brought up to the Minister of Finance about the Heritage Fund and budget issues.

My question to the Minister of Finance is: He indicated that if Members on this side want to put 25 percent into the Heritage Fund that we’re going

to have to find that money. I’m just wondering why the Minister of Finance feels we need to find that money. This heritage resource revenue sharing money is brand new this year. Why are we finding money that is brand new? This is money that we should be spending as extra and it should not be an issue to find that money. It should already be available to us.

Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. The honourable Minister of Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. As I tried to lay out in the budget yesterday, we look at what our revenue is, what our projected revenue is and look at what our expenditures are. Within the budget, we’ve already committed to fund, in capital, over $200 million of capital projects. This O and M budget, because we are required under our Fiscal Responsibility Policy to put aside the required amount to offset that, we are supposed to put half our money in savings. We’ve done that. So all our expenditures and the borrowing we’ve done to fund all the projects, all our expenses, leave us at $142 million between us and the borrowing limit, the current $800 million.

So, clearly, we don’t have a lot of room to move. One of our priorities is to maintain a $100 million cushion which is absolutely critical to give us the flexibility to be responsive to unanticipated events, crises, expenditures.

So in order to keep on our target and on our path, we need to make sure that we hit these numbers. So if we want to increase the Heritage Fund, we’ve done our budgeting on 5 percent of those revenues being in the Heritage Fund, which won’t actually start to flow into our coffers until 2015-16, then we need to find offsets. We’re prepared to do that, but it’s not just a case of just spending more money because, in effect, we would be borrowing money at a higher interest rate to put into the Heritage Fund, which would generate a lower rate of interest than we have to pay to borrow the money. It doesn’t make sense at this point. We can afford 5 percent and do all the other things that we’re asked to do and we need to do as a government. Thank you.

I understand what the Minister is saying. I guess the Minister didn’t get the message that we sent in the fall when we sent a motion forward saying we wanted to indicate 25 percent to the Heritage Fund, 25 percent to reducing debt, but they went ahead and built a budget based on 5 percent. Now we’re asking them to answer to that and why they went ahead and spent that money before we even had a chance to put our wishes forward. I guess the question is: Did they ignore the 25 percent request we did in the fall?

No, we did not ignore that request. We have spent a lot of time

consulting, working with committee on the main estimates that are before this House. In my budget address, we laid out what we used in calculating and determining that budget, and one of those factors was as we looked at all the variables that are before us, the challenges, the financial issues, we saw the way forward as a government with 5 percent, recognizing that we had to meet these other objectives as well.

The committee recommended to us 25 percent. We heard that, as well, in other parts of the territory as well as we heard other specific numbers in other parts of the territory. At the end of the day we had to make choices.

We have come forward with this budget and now we’re going to be here for six weeks having the discussion. We are tasked, sent away, build a budget and bring it to this House so we can have that debate and now we are having that debate. Thank you.

I do realize we are going to be having this discussion because I think on this side we are determined that that 25 percent is something we need to see for the future generations of this Northwest Territories. These resources are being taken out of the Northwest Territories and won’t be available for the future generations.

The 25 percent, Madam Speaker, is what we’re debating. They’ve indicated that we won’t get the money until 2015-2016, yet we are going ahead basing capital budgets on that money.

Can the Minister explain to me how we are doing that if we don’t have that money yet? Are we borrowing against money that we are expecting to have?

Yes, we are engaged in short-term borrowing and some long-term borrowing, as I laid out in my budget address yesterday. When you look at all the numbers and when you look at the capital plan, the O and M budget, the things we are trying to do, we end up with $142 million left between ourselves and the $800 million borrowing limit. We’ve added to our borrowing to meet some of the objectives that we’ve laid out as a government and as a Legislative Assembly. So for the next five years, we are going to be in a cash deficit situation to manage our way through what are going to be some very big projects, things like the concluding of the Tuk-Inuvik highway, but of even more and greater cost is the $350 million that we have to put towards Stanton at $40 million a year over four years with a balloon payment at the end.

We’ve had a drop in our income tax, corporate and personal income tax, and we are coming forward with some appropriations to look to offset or pay for some of the significant increases we’ve had in

demand-driven services provided mainly to Health and Social Services. So, as we manage all those factors, this is what we are putting before the House as we move forward. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Madam Speaker. The Minister of Finance has indicated all these issues and all these projects that we have on the go and, granted, we are doing great things with a lot of them, but I think the essence comes down to the $30 million loss of revenue that we’re seeing in corporate income tax. He’s indicated that the department didn’t anticipate this. So why is it that we do not know what we’re receiving in income tax from one year to the next where we have to receive that last minute and make us on this side of the House look like the bad guys for wanting to put money away for the future generations? Why can’t we see the revenue projections farther ahead?

Thank you. I don’t think it’s a case of anybody being bad guys. We are looking at a budget. We agree on the Heritage Fund, we agree on keeping the money out of programs and services, we agree to put some in the Heritage Fund, some in capital and some for debt repayment. Now we’re having a spirited, healthy debate about how much and how do we manage that along with all the other obligations we have and the factors and the variables we have to look at that are financial pressures on us.

In terms of corporate income tax, as we’ve laid out a number of times, it’s a very complicated process. The corporations, businesses can reach back many years to decide when they’re going to file, what they’re going to file, where they’re going to file, and we always are operating on projections. We have indicated to MLAs that rather than wait for the projections from the federal government, we’re going to start using our own five-year projections to give us a better idea of what the potential corporate income tax will be, and in some cases we have businesses and industries, mines that have yet to pay any royalties because they’re writing off all of their expenses. So there are a lot of factors when it comes to corporate income tax and why it’s such a hard-to-predict number. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Miltenberger. The Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. The construction of the new Highway No. 7, No. 4 bypass on Ingraham Trail started in October 2012. Work continued through the winter of 2012-13 and into the summer of 2013. Now, I’ve been critical of

this project from the onset, for good reason. At approximately $2.5 million per kilometre made this one of the most expensive pieces of road construction in the NWT. With delays and the opening almost four months overdue, it does beg me to ask questions to the Minister of Transportation for some clarification.

The construction of Baker Creek Bridge started approximately in mid-July 2013, yet progress was halted. There appeared to be issues that caused delays in the completion of this bridge way late into the fall of 2013.

Can the Minister elaborate why these delays were pending for the bridge and if there was a design issue? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. There was not a design issue; the issue was with the installation of the bridge. The bridge was installed and the panels that sit on top the bridge were not totally lined up with the installation of the sides of the bridge. It took some time to make the correction, so that has been corrected. There’s no issue with the safety of the bridge or anything. The corrections have been made and the bridge is now properly installed. Thank you.

Thank you. Sorry, I may have said Highway No. 7 earlier. Sorry. Freudian slip. Highway No. 4 bypass. Sorry to the Member.

I appreciate the Minister’s response here, but we know that the designs of bridges are very, very intricate. There’s a lot of engineering designs, it has to go through a flurry of testing before this bridge would be put on any type of abutments or any type of structure. From the sounds of it, it almost sounds like what the Minister tried to elaborate – and I may be wrong in assuming – that this thing almost went in backwards.

Now, if indeed I’m in error, I’d ask the Minister to correct me, but if it’s true, there is definitely… It sounds like extra costs to engineering, it sounds like there could have been extra costs for materials and possibly extra costs in general. With these extra costs and these delays, out of curiosity, were there any extra costs to the taxpayer? Can the Minister elaborate on that? Thank you.

Thank you. This was a guaranteed negotiated contract. There have been no requests from the contractor for any change order to increase the costs of the work that was done on the Highway No. 4 bypass. Thank you.

Thank you. It’s good to hear that we’re still on target for costs. It appears that there are still some chipseal requirements to be done. I took a drive the other day and there seems to be some temporary electrical work there. So,

obviously, we’re waiting for some electrical work, and it does appear that some of the guardrails may be still missing here.

Can the Minister indicate to the House who is assuming legal responsibility for this road if there’s still work to be done? Thank you.

Thank you. A public highway is a public highway. Any public highway, once it’s officially opened, is the responsibility of DOT. It’s fairly standard practice to put down the base of the road and not put the chipseal immediately, and in this case there would be driving on it and when it is appropriate and the weather allows, then it will be chipsealed, but up until the chipseal is completed, the contract is still there, but legally, at the time it was opened it became a DOT asset. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. Beaulieu. Final supplementary, Mr. Dolynny.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Again, I just wanted to make sure that liability, if there was ever indeed an issue on this road, if we’re still waiting for pieces of pertinent parts of this road to be completed, that the taxpayers won’t be having any type of surprises in the near future. That leads me to my final question.

When can we expect a full assessment of this project being presented to this House of its total completion? Thank you.

Thank you. The chipsealing will be done this summer during the summer construction season. Once that is completed if there’s a request from committee for us to debrief committee on the contract, then the department is prepared to do that. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Beaulieu. The Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services on medical travel. I spoke earlier about the incident with the person from Tulita on her experience with the Medical Travel Policy. This is only one incident of probably many across the Northwest Territories and from the smaller communities.

Can the Minister tell me how soon the Medical Travel Policy revision will be before the House so we can have some good discussion and have this type of incident be looked at with the revisions of the new Medical Travel Policy? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. We have more than 13,000 patient cases that are managed by the medical travel system a year, so it’s a significant load. For the individuals that are going through medical travel, I mean, for the most part, they’re focused on their diagnosis and treatment. For many of them, most of them, the medical travel system seems to work, but as I’ve heard from Members, as I’ve heard from the public, as I heard from the MLA again today with the particular case that he’s brought forward, there are people that are frustrated with the medical travel system. We know we can do better, and we need to do better for our residents.

The Medical Travel Policy is currently under review. We want to have a Medical Travel Policy that is hassle free for all of our patients. In part of the modernization we’re looking at improving our patient experiences, we’re looking for developing a clear policy that allows for change and some flexibility. We need to create a program, efficiencies to help us with cost control and cost containment as we move forward.

On January 16th I had an opportunity to meet with

MLAs and talk about the review, and I committed and showed at that time a bit of a work plan. We are committed to having that review done and a policy for discussion with the MLAs early in the fiscal year. It’s going to be a multiple approach. I mean, we’re going to work on a territorial policy, but there are also sub-categories that we need to look at, things like escorts, things like co-payments, things like patient boarding as well. We’re looking at having an appeal process that doesn’t currently exist. All of that’s going to happen starting in the fiscal year coming. We will have some policies to have the discussions with MLAs on.

As part of this Medical Travel Policy revision, I want to ask the Minister, would he commit to talking to this person or have the department talk to this person on her experience after surgery and what type of frustration she had to undergo and the agonizing speaking to medical travel to get her back? That’s not even getting her back to Tulita. She had to get her own way back from Norman Wells to Tulita, and this is only one of many incidents.

Is there a place where people that go through this type of experience can say this is what’s happening now with the Medical Travel Policy today? This is in real time. I’m hoping that this incident will not repeat itself in the history.

The Medical Travel Policy requires that travel must originate in the Northwest Territories. However, for the case like the one the Member is talking about, there is a process to consider exceptional circumstances, which I know the department is doing. They are aware of this situation. They will be in touch with

the individual and they will work with the individual to see what can be done to address this particular concern.

This is the type of information that is helping us have an informed discussion around medical travel as we move forward, and a significant amount of work has already been done. Much of the information is manual, so significant manual evaluations and reports and audits that have been done previously have been done by the department. We’ve had to pull out data to help us make informed decisions. As I indicated, there has been a work plan developed which we have shared with Members, and significant personal resources within the department are being invested in trying to improve this policy for the residents of the Northwest Territories.

When patients are sent to Edmonton, and in regard to this patient from Tulita, are our patients given a phone number, a contact person in Edmonton where sometimes it might be out of the Medical Travel Policy but they’re down there for, like, this instance, which is unique? Are they given some type of support down there? Because this person went through her surgery, and after surgery there was no assistance and no support for her. She basically was on her own, and she had to fight medical travel to get her ticket paid back to Norman Wells. That’s not even getting her back to Tulita. Her husband had to come from Tulita and bring her back from Norman Wells to Tulita after surgery. Is there any type of special circumstances like that where patients know that they’re going to get support? Basically, she was left abandoned in Edmonton. I want to ask the Minister, is there any type of process in place right now?

With respect to this particular case, I’m certainly willing to have some conversations with the Member. I also know that the department is working and will work with the individual to explore these exception opportunities.

When an individual goes on medical travel, they work with the medical travel unit. They usually get a pamphlet with contact numbers, who they can contact within medical travel should there be any problems with their plans. In this case, it was my understanding that this person went down and something happened to them when they were down there, so they weren’t taken down on medical travel, so they may not have had those contact numbers. We will certainly be working with that client.

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Final supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you. I appreciate that from the Minister, to look into this specific case here, and again, looking forward to the type of new policies that are going to be put in place and have in our discussions. For example, patients come to

the Wells to Yellowknife and then they find that there is a cheaper way to get back to their community. They make a suggestion and medical travel say no, you have to go back on this type of route there, so there is some uniqueness to our situations in our small communities.

I want to ask the Minister, does he foresee that this medical travel will be put in place within the life of this government so that it will be implemented within the life of this government here?

We’re always looking for opportunities and ways to help contain costs around medical travel. We know that medical travel is a significant expense on the taxpayers of the Northwest Territories, and we are committed to completing the review and having the policy forward for discussion within the life of this Assembly.

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

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I really had questions for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, but of course, after hearing the Minister of Education’s statement on Early Childhood Development Action Plan, I think he deserves the honour of my questions today.

My question, first off, is we shouldn’t be calling this an action plan. We should be more or less calling this the early childhood development vision.

I’d like to ask the Minister, how does he intend to pay for this vision? He’s pointed out that there is no costing, no assessment, whether it’s new money, whether it’s re-profiled money, or will the pressures be coming down on our school boards, forced to find the money for this additional year of education? Who is paying for it and where is the money coming from and how much money?

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

Mahsi, Madam Speaker. This is an area that we are embarking on, a new initiative. We’ve been talking about this junior kindergarten since the Aboriginal Student Achievement a few years back now, and it’s based on the engagement process that we’ve heard from the parents, the Aboriginal leadership, the community leadership, and the past and present MLAs that were part of the process. These are the discussions that we’ve been having for quite some time now.

It’s before us through the Early Childhood Development Framework. The action plan will be a tabled document today. It does capture an area that junior kindergarten is part of that action plan.

Through the budget process there’s been an earmark of funding allocated to that, new money, and there’s also re-profiling, as the Member alluded to. The re-profiling, we’ve been discussing that with the school boards, the school board superintendents, and we’ve had their feedback, and so those are discussions that we’ve been having.

We are rolling out the program this fall, 2014, and capturing the small communities, 29 communities at the get-go and then phasing it in over three years. That is the overall plan to cover all communities throughout the Northwest Territories. That is the overall plan. These are some of the priorities of this Legislative Assembly’s goals and objectives, so we are moving forward. Mahsi.

Madam Speaker, the next question of course is: How much money is the Minister talking about? He said there is new money in the budget; he said there would be re-profiling, so let’s get down to the nitty-gritty and let’s find out what this is going to cost.

What is the program going to cost? How much new money is being put into this potential budget that may or may not be passed – and I’m not sure it has the support of all Members thus far – and how much money is being re-profiled and what are the impacts of re-profiling of those dollars? Thank you.

Madam Speaker, when the Member first came out with the question, there were a couple of areas that he touched on, a wage top-up subsidy was one, new money that is coming in, approximately $511,000, pending approval of this budget through the Legislative Assembly. With junior kindergarten we talked about re-profiling of funding, and again, working very closely with the school boards. This is an area that I am pleased to announce the implementation is starting this fall. It is phased in over a three-year period. The funding that we’ve been talking about is over a three-year period and is a small impact into our overall PTR that we have been talking about with the school boards.

We have to keep in mind that through the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative and through our engagement with our Aboriginal leadership, the community leadership, they want us to do something different within our overall departments, what we can do better with what we have, the funding. We have to be creative and innovative. That’s why we came forward with the standing committee presentation this fall about the various initiatives that we want to undertake. One of them was this whole establishment of junior kindergarten. Over the three-year period, we’re going to be looking at approximately $7 million. What we’re looking at is the impact on some of the school boards will be upwards of 1.2 percent of the overall budget, so there are areas that we need to seriously look at as well. There’s surplus that we

need to seriously consider. I can show the surplus of all the school boards for the Northwest Territories, and here we have fiscal constraint within our budget, so we have to gather all the information, take all those into consideration as we move forward. But we are moving forward on this junior kindergarten, 29 schools to begin with this fall and other regional centres next year. The following year will be all Yellowknife schools. We are going to be capturing all Northwest Territories schools with the junior kindergarten. Mahsi.

Madam Speaker, just using my good old NWT simple math here, I divided $511,000 into 29 communities that they plan to roll this out to, and I guess $17,000 really goes a long way, the way this looks, and I’m not really sure what this is doing. In other words, this is more discovery money, really, at the end of the day, with little result.

I have yet to find any Member who believes in the idea that re-profiling money from the school boards is right. I have yet to find a Member who thinks that the PTR ratio needs to be adjusted.

What type of support does this Minister have from actual Members of this Assembly on this side of the House? I have yet to find out. It seems like they tend to forget about what it’s like to be over here. I think they have told committees that they’re going to do this, not hey, what do you think? Can I get an answer on that, Madam Speaker?

Madam Speaker, as Legislative Assembly Members we’re obligated and also responsible for the people of the Northwest Territories. We’ve reached out to the people of the Northwest Territories, the 33 communities, the leadership, the parents, the grandparents, through the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative. This is building on that. The Early Childhood Development Framework, the action plan that has been brought forward will certainly highlight the importance. We have all these stats, through the renowned researchers across Canada and internationally. Those are some of the areas that we continue to focus. With our department working with the Assembly Members, this is an area that Members refer to $511,000 and 33 communities, that’s an area that I wish top-up for those staff or early childhood workers. That’s separate from junior kindergarten that we’re introducing into the school system.

This is a new initiative that we’re embarking on based on the input from the parents, based on the input from the general public. Members ask if there is any support. We sought support, we sought guidance from the general public and there is support. Based on the feedback we are going to be receiving from the MLAs, at the end of the day we’re going to see how much support there is when going through this budget.

There is support from the general public in the Northwest Territories to move forward, especially in the small, isolated communities. Ten of the communities do not have a licensed child care program, so it will certainly benefit them. With Yellowknife, they currently deliver they call it pre-kindergarten but it is a Junior Kindergarten Program within their existing establishment at cost for the parents. This will be at no cost for the parents, what we are pursuing. Mahsi, Madam Speaker.

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

Sorry, Madam Speaker. I thought it was my third question, but the Speaker is always right. Even when the Speaker is wrong, the Speaker is still right.

I said even when, not when. I said she is still right. So, Madam Speaker, who is always correct, I still don’t think the Minister gets this. He calls it an action plan, but really it’s a vision with no action. He says he has support for the program. Of course, he can have support from everybody. I want to give you more. Yes, everybody is going to say, “sounds great, give us more,” but it’s our job to ask the question, how are you going to pay for this? Where do these crazy ideas fall out of the sky and how do you plan to implement it? It’s not about giving better education. The question is really about how you are going to afford this. You just keep saying we are going to give you the best things in the world. Well, who wouldn’t want it?

Madam Speaker, the Minister has no idea how he’s going to pay for this. He has reached out to the public, of course the public likes this idea because we’re going to give them more.

What support does he have from the school boards about cutting their PTR and the effects that might have, and what support does he have from Members on this, because I’m not hearing an action plan, I’m hearing dreams of sugarplums and fairies and everything will work out fine, and don’t worry, we’ll get it done. Thank you.

Thank you for that short, final supplementary. Mr. Minister.

Mahsi, Madam Speaker. As I stated before, the overall $7 million that we’re talking about over the three-year period, dealing with all the schools across the Northwest Territories, the 33 communities that we are going to be servicing is re-profiling from the PTR. We’re still above the legislative target that we have for PTR, so what we’re proposing is delivering this this fall and then continuing on to other regions, other communities in the following year and all Yellowknife communities in year three from now.

Again, I have to reiterate that Dr. Stuart Shanker gave us the stats that junior kindergarten is the way to go. Not only him, a renowned international researcher, but other researchers have indicated to us. We made a presentation to Regular Members, as well, that this is the way to go. It’s not just us as a department saying that, it’s not just the Minister standing here saying that, it’s the parents that are saying that as well as the grandparents and now we’re moving forward.

I believe this is a very beneficial initiative that we want to move forward on. Mahsi.

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

Thank you, Madam Speaker. In the budget address yesterday, there was mention of a pilot rebate program for the film industry. That’s new to me. It wasn’t brought up when we were going through our main estimates, but it has been a concern for myself, working with people in the film industry. Seeing that there is a pilot rebate program, it kind of shocked me seeing it in the budget address yesterday.

I want to ask the Minister of ITI if he can just elaborate and give us a little bit of detail on this program that’s going to be coming out in this next fiscal year. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

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

Thank you, Madam Speaker. The $100,000 rebate program is something that was developed through the development of the Economic Opportunities Strategy that we put together. It was identified as an area where we could move forward. It’s a pilot project. It is going to be expenditure-based and in year one it will be at a value of $100,000.

It’s important that we continue to ensure that the momentum that we’ve built up in the film industry here in the Northwest Territories is continued forward.

We also have been recently successful in attaining $60,000 from CanNor, which is going to allow us to move forward in the development of an NWT film strategy, which will ensure that we do get that momentum carrying us forward. Thank you.