The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the Deline Land Corporation and the Deline First Nation whose members have voted to ratify the Deline Final Self-Government Agreement.

For Deline, this is the culmination of 18 years of negotiations. This is an historic moment for the Sahtu Dene and Metis of Deline.

The Deline Final Self-Government Agreement is the first community-based self-government agreement in the Northwest Territories to be negotiated in a region that has an existing land claim agreement.

Now that Deline has ratified their self-government agreement, the Government of the Northwest Territories will begin its consideration on ratifying the final agreement.

In the coming weeks and months, I will look forward to bringing the final agreement through the Government of the Northwest Territories ratification process. The Government of the Northwest Territories is committed to bringing the ratification process to completion in a timely manner.

I would like to acknowledge the work and dedication of the Deline self-government negotiating team in reaching this milestone, and thank the ratification committee for their work overseeing and conducting the ratification vote.

Northerners speaking and deciding for themselves has been a major priority of this government, Mr. Speaker. It is one of the principles behind devolution and one of the principles that we can see at work in this decision by the people of Deline.

A strong territory is founded on strong northern governments working together. This week the people of Deline have chosen a new, stronger role for themselves in our territory. I invite all Members to join me in congratulating them and I look forward to working with them and all community and regional Aboriginal governments to achieve our vision of a prosperous and sustainable Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

David Ramsay Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment

Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories is proud to support the NWT’s rich and varied NWT arts community through programs and initiatives delivered by the Department of Education, Culture and Employment and the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment. It is estimated that 20 percent of our population is involved in some element of arts and crafts production.

It is through artistic expressions captured in film, books, music, painting, photography, performance, sculpture and crafts that our residents share their stories and the natural wonders of our territory with the world.

In particular, Mr. Speaker, it is the time-honoured and traditionally created Aboriginal crafts, clothing and art that define, in large part, our identity as NWT residents to Canada and the world: • beautifully beaded moccasins, gloves and

accessories that portray the lineage and creativity of their designers;

• caribou and moosehide jackets with brilliantly

designed floral designs proudly worn by Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people alike;

• hand-crafted bark baskets sourced and created

by the Dene from local birch trees;

• stone, wood and bone carvings, moose hair

tuftings, quill work and fur products that take their inspiration from the traditional knowledge and experiences of our territory’s Dene, Inuvialuit and Metis.

As access to our North grows, the demand for our unique NWT art products is also increasing and, so too, business and employment opportunities for all NWT artists.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased today to highlight for Members the official launch of the recently improved NWT Arts Program, a foundation for future marketing and promotional efforts for the NWT’s arts sector.

The NWT Arts Program offers a coordinated and multi-pronged approach to telling and promoting the stories of our registered NWT artists. Over the past four years, the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment has invested over $400,000 in this program, to strengthen and promote potential markets for this very important sector of our territory’s economy.

Our newly redesigned website enables visitors to learn about the diversity, value and authenticity of all NWT art and to connect with registered NWT artists, retailers and organizations.

The website also provides an extensive on-line library of artist profiles and NWT art, complete with professional images of the artists and their artwork. An on-line forum connects artists with each other.

Point-of-sale materials, educational brochures, and marketing materials, such as tags and stickers, are available at no cost for artists registered with the program. Meanwhile, a redefined branding program, supported by print and on-line advertising, is helping customers recognize and distinguish authentic NWT art in the marketplace.

Mr. Speaker, in the interest of increasing opportunities in the arts, the NWT Economic Opportunities Strategy recommends actions to establish a recognized and trusted branding program, a means to promote and protect NWT art in local, national and international markets and to increase the profile of both the NWT and its art by celebrating NWT artists as an element of our territory’s rich tourism product.

I am pleased to advise Members that the updated NWT Arts Program addresses these recommendations and will continue to increase economic opportunities in the NWT’s arts and fine crafts sector for years to come.

I encourage all Members to help spread the word about the new program to their local artists, to encourage access to the benefits and supports the program will provide. In doing so, we will help to build and strengthen the NWT’s unique and creative arts culture and continue to strengthen and diversify our economy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister of Human Resources, Mr. Beaulieu.

Tom Beaulieu Minister of Human Resources

Mr. Speaker, to achieve the vision and goals of the 17th Legislative

Assembly and the Government of the Northwest Territories, we have, and require, employees who see challenges as opportunities, employees who value lifelong learning and employees who are engaged in becoming strong, capable leaders. To support employee learning, I am pleased to advise the Department of Human Resources has three new learning and development initiatives planned for 2014-15.

The first initiative is a Learning and Development Policy. This policy highlights that learning and development opportunities should be available to all employees consistent with their job functions, career aspirations and with learning and development plans undertaken as part of the performance appraisal process. It also identifies that some training, such as workplace safety, is mandatory for employees to reduce the government’s legal or financial risk.

The second initiative is a revised Leadership Development Program. This program was previously offered through a partnership with the University of Alberta. I am pleased to confirm that this partnership is again in place.

The Leadership Development Program continues to provide an academic perspective on leadership in the public service and incorporates competencies that are required in the GNWT workplace. A competency is a characteristic which enables people to deliver superior performance in a given job, role, or situation; they help focus on the characteristics that enable employees to consistently achieve high standards of performance. This program assists the GNWT in workforce planning by providing managers with opportunities to further enhance their existing management competencies and to prepare them for future roles and advancement within the public service.

The third initiative is the introduction of modules in a management training series. The modules feature a mix of mandatory and elective courses specific to the GNWT’s legislative, policy, financial and human resources framework. They also focus on skills needed to perform management duties. This training ensures managers have a consistent knowledge base regarding the GNWT framework, regardless of their occupational area. GNWT employees who are technical experts in their field will deliver the sessions.

Mr. Speaker, these learning and development initiatives help the GNWT fulfill its commitment made in 20/20: A Brilliant North – NWT Public Service Strategic Plan to value organizational and individual learning and develop employees to

succeed in leadership roles and contribute to the Assembly’s goal of an effective and efficient government. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

Mr. Speaker, this is an exciting time for the Northwest Territories. We are about to take a significant step in our economic and political development by acquiring new legislative authorities and jurisdiction over our lands and resources. The successful implementation of devolution is not simply a matter of transferring authority from one government to another. Equally important is retaining the experience and expertise of the regional federal employees who have been delivering these programs and services in the Northwest Territories. On April 1st , 132 regional Aboriginal Affairs and

Northern Development Canada employees will be joining our public service. This represents an acceptance rate of almost 100 percent of federal employees who received job offers from the Government of the Northwest Territories.

We look forward to welcoming these new employees to our public service. We already know them; they are our neighbors, friends and many of them have already been working very closely with their colleagues in the Government of the Northwest Territories to prepare for devolution. Soon we will be working together under one roof with the common purpose of responsibly managing the Northwest Territories lands and natural resources according to northern priorities and values.

Mr. Speaker, it has taken a tremendous amount of work to prepare for the transition that will occur on April 1, 2014. Yesterday we recognized the many contributions of Government of the Northwest Territories employees who are readying our government to accept and meaningfully implement these responsibilities.

It is equally important to recognize the collaboration, cooperation and hard work accomplished by federal employees, both in the region and in Ottawa. We knew from the start that we could not achieve a successful transition on our own. It has taken commitment, teamwork, patience and perseverance on all sides to get us to April 1, 2014.

Please join me in thanking the federal public servants, both those who are joining us and those who worked with us, to prepare for devolution. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

Mr. Speaker, I wish to advise Members that the Honourable Robert C. McLeod will be absent from the House today to attend to a personal matter. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Item 3, Members’ statements. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Junior kindergarten, or JK, is becoming our worst fear before the first child is in place. Putting preschoolers at desks, plans to merge them with kindergarten and grades 1, 2 and 3, in some communities; developing a combined curriculum for both JK and kindergarten that fails to distinguish developmentally between four and five-year-olds; JK start-ups before fully trained childhood educators are in place, as if study after study after study has not identified the essential need for high quality programs, at the risk of allowing an achievement gap that can last a lifetime.

Mr. Speaker, any attempt to postpone this program on merit is perceived or portrayed as an attack on small communities by Ministers or small community colleagues as if we don’t really care about children in small communities. This is insulting. We care about all children deeply in all our communities and thus the passionate pleas. There is clear evidence that if we get this wrong, we will be hurting children instead of helping them.

Rather than support the existing community services currently available for four-year-olds across the NWT, ECE is saying too bad, we’ll give you a few bucks for toys and you’re switched to two and three-year-olds. Instead, we should be focusing on zero to three early childhood development where the desperate need for addressing the achievement gap in early childhood development is many times that of at four years of age.

We’ve heard this week about the hollow communication ECE has with the Aboriginal Head Start staff. Let’s collaborate, they say, as they crush and render uneconomic these and similar services, as if a few toys make an ECD Program and care provider for children zero to three. You do it, ECE says to these current providers for four-year-olds. We’ll take over the easy stuff.

Jack Shonkoff, a leading early childhood development scientist in North America, says, while JK is better than starting at age five, by age four children are so old in terms of brain development that the big opportunities are lost. Much more critical are the ages zero to three and specifically working with the adults who provide care for these very young children.

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

---Unanimous consent granted

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Doing in the good services communities have already developed for four-year-olds, ignoring the biggest needs for an early childhood development focus on ages zero to three and their adult caregivers and trying to shift early years responsibilities to providers of four-year-old programs who are inadequately staffed, funded and prepared for younger children is irresponsible. Where is the leadership, the vision? Where is the common sense to follow the clear direction researchers are laying out?

For the life of me, Mr. Speaker, I will have questions. Mahsi.