Good afternoon, colleagues. Item 2, Ministers’ statements. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Abernethy.

Mr. Speaker, cancer rates have increased slightly over the last few years. Even one case affects dozens of people. Cancer sharing circles have been held in Fort Good Hope, Fort Resolution and Fort Liard to share information, facilitate dialogue and inform the development of local action plans to address this important issue. The cancer sharing circles showed us that we need to do more work on the services available for cancer patients and their families. Our smoking and drinking rates remain too high, and further improvements are needed with regard to healthy eating.

We have a number of initiatives that prevent cancer, including nutrition programs and anti-tobacco campaigns targeting schools across the NWT. We have made a lot of progress in our fight against cancer. We are able to better treat it, and through early screening and detection, more and more people are surviving this disease.

Mr. Speaker, cancer is a complex disease with many risk factors and causes. People want help in understanding cancer rates and how to lower their risk. Later today I will table a new report on cancer in the NWT over the 10-year period 2001-2010. This report examines the rates of new cancer cases, deaths due to cancer, ethnicity, stage of cancer at the time of diagnosis, and screening programs.

Key findings in the cancer report indicate that cancer rates in the NWT have increased very little over the 10-year reporting period.

The cancer report will help us address gaps in the system. It will be part of a new comprehensive and

culturally relevant strategic plan to reduce cancer in the NWT and improve patients’ quality of life. It shows us that we need to promote cancer screening and prevention under the leadership of the chief public health officer.

Communities will continue to be key to our approach. We will continue to work with them to raise cancer awareness, improve access to cancer screening, and support individuals and their families throughout their cancer journeys. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Mackenzie Valley winter road continues to serve our territory as a seasonal solution to community resupply and economic development. Today this road is more important than ever as industry prepares to tap into the enormous resource potential in the Mackenzie Valley.

Increased traffic along the Mackenzie Valley winter road due to industry activities means increased maintenance requirements for the Department of Transportation. During this time, the safety of the travelling public is the department’s first priority.

Mr. Speaker, education, awareness and outreach are important to fostering a safe environment. The Department of Transportation seeks to ensure that commercial vehicles are prepared for the unique conditions of winter road travel. A document entitled The Mackenzie Valley Winter Road System 2013-14: Safety and Reliability for the Public and for Industry has been distributed for this very purpose and is available on the DOT website. This document provides commercial carriers with speed limits, vehicle regulations, contact numbers for emergencies and road reports, and detailed maps for their travels.

Mr. Speaker, the Department of Transportation works closely with industry to ensure the needs of both parties are met. Pre-operation meetings have been held with carriers to review safety measures. This winter a contribution agreement with ConocoPhillips provided funding toward the

construction of ice bridges and road maintenance along the route south of Norman Wells.

The presence of highway patrol officers along the Mackenzie Valley winter road continues to help enforce safe driving behaviour through conducting commercial vehicle inspections. For next year, the department is proposing to hire additional highway maintenance supervisors and highway transport officers to respond to higher traffic volumes. This will provide additional monitoring and enforcement resources to ensure the continued safety of the travelling public.

Mr. Speaker, over the past decade the department has constructed 36 permanent structures at major stream and river crossings throughout the Mackenzie Valley corridor. These bridges, which increase the winter road’s reliability and stability, are located on the alignment of the proposed all-weather highway. We would also like to note ConocoPhillips have contributed $400,000 to the winter road.

Corridors for Canada III, the department’s federal infrastructure funding plan, proposes additional funding opportunities for improving the Mackenzie Valley road.

Mr. Speaker, the Department of Transportation asks drivers to respect the posted speed limits when travelling on winter roads. Drivers should ensure they are well prepared by checking road conditions via the department’s website.

We wish residents safe and efficient travel for the remainder of the winter road season. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Item 3, Members’ statements. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This afternoon I wish to mention to the Assembly that over the weekend, February 27th to March 3rd , a

very memorable trip took place in Fort McPherson. Fourteen snowmobiles with 18 travelers left Fort McPherson to Curtain Mountain, which is about 170 miles into the Yukon from Fort McPherson, traditionally known as Moses Hill.

The late Chief Johnny D. Charlie travelled extensively in his early years back and forth to Old Crow, Yukon, where the Charlie and Tetlichi family originally came from. Later in his life, he travelled by snowmobile with the younger people, teaching them about the importance of tradition, showing them significant landmarks, and speaking to them

about leadership and respecting the land and all it has to offer.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to acknowledge the group of travelers that went on the four-day voyage, breaking trail through the creeks, travelling through the overflow, climbing the LaChute Mountain and setting tents in the evening.

It’s a tough life living on the land, Mr. Speaker. The people of Fort McPherson make an effort each year to keep this trail open just to make sure the Vuntut Gwitchin people of Old Crow and the Tetlit Gwich’in people of Fort McPherson can see each other and spend family time together.

Traditional livelihood is special to all of us in the North. It’s a means of survival and the more we invest in cultural trips such as this, the more we are encouraging our youth to take pride in going on the land, hunting, fishing, trapping and gathering.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and Members for supporting our efforts on keeping our cultures alive. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Blake. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is a program called Recycle My Cell, which is Canada’s national recycling program for mobile phones and cell phone accessories. I know a few people at least who would like to recycle my cell phone, but actually it’s still working quite well.

Today I would like to recognize a Hay River school, Princess Alexandra School, that was recently announced as the winner of the 4th National

Recycle My Cell Student Challenge. In collaboration with the 2013 Waste Reduction Week in Canada, the challenge invited students from kindergarten to post-secondary to collect as many old wireless devices as possible, including cell phones, smartphones, wireless PDAs, pagers, accessories and cell phone batteries.

More than 140 Canadian schools from across the country participated in the 2013 edition of the challenge. The schools collected more than 3,500 wireless devices along with some 200 kilograms of wireless accessories and batteries.

The school that collected the most wireless devices in each participating province and territory based on student population received a $500 donation to support the school’s green initiatives.

The 13 winning schools in the 2013 Recycle My Cell Student Challenge were schools from cities clear across Canada including larger centres such as Calgary, Montreal, Charlottetown and Winnipeg.

It is exciting to see Hay River on this impressive list of schools and the students and staff at Princess Alexandra School can be proud of the work that they have done taking on this challenge and receiving the notable recognition of being one of the small number of winners of this program is a huge accomplishment.

The goal of this program is to inform Canadians about the environmental and social ramifications of wasteful practices with a take-action message to empower all Canadians to adopt more environmentally conscience choices.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in extending congratulations to Princess Alexandra School and to the residents of Hay River who participated by dropping off their used cell phones and accessories. Their efforts have been encouraging and I trust all of us will be prudent in disposing used equipment in an environmentally friendly manner. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to address the detailed reports in the tabled report on the GNWT contracts over $5,000 in the 2012-2013 budget year and the response to my written questions received on February 25, 2014, by the Minister of Finance.

I have said on more than one occasion that we are dealing with an antiquated, outdated and ultimately unconstitutional negotiating and sole-source contracting policy with this government. It’s abundantly clear that the taxpayers are holding the bag in its shortfalls.

I have always said the devil is in the details. With that in mind, let’s examine the results of my inquiry that pay credence to my statement of fact.

Fact: of the approximately $300 million in GNWT contracts, negotiated and sole source contracts represent 29.7 percent or approximately one in three contract dollars to the tune of almost $100 million.

Fact: we spend $36.9 million in sole-source contracts, almost half of this number is change orders.

Fact: alarming still is the total dollar amount in change orders of over $34 million, which accounts for 11.4 percent of all contract dollars.

Fact: of over the $34 million in change orders, about 59 percent of this overage is attributable to negotiated and sole-sourced contracts.

So, what is to be made of all these facts? Clearly, something has to give in how we approach our contracting environment in the Northwest Territories. Legally, expecting the taxpayer to pick up the tab of $34 million in change orders when companies fail to live up to their contractual and binding obligations should be something of a good debate in this House. However, in reality, this government is facing a debt wall and wall of worry, especially with the recent admittance of over $38 million in miscalculation of our personal and corporate tax revenues.

If the Minister of Finance wants to find ways to mitigate this department’s taxation revenue faux pas, the answer is right under his nose, which is modernize this government’s negotiated and sole-source contract policy and do away with taxpayers picking up the tab in overall GNWT contract change orders.

In other words, make companies accountable. Yes, Mr. Speaker, it is that simple. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Alexandra Falls was recently named one of the top three waterfalls in western Canada by Ehcanada.com Travel and Adventure. This on-line travel magazine and blog selects its annual Travelers’ Choice Award winners based on the number of travelers who visit the waterfalls and contribute to the blog.

Ehcanada.com gets over two billion contributors per year and they gave Alexander Falls and Twin Falls Gorge Territorial Park rave reviews. Tripdavisor.com also gave the park a five star rating.

Mr. Speaker, Twin Falls Gorge is what we call a destination park, and with good reason. It is the first park, travelers reach when they drive into the NWT on Highway No. 1, also known as the Waterfall Highway. Visitors posted on-line descriptions of the spectacular scenery, excellent camping facilities and well-maintained and accessible trail system.

The park has three main areas located along the Hay River just off the Mackenzie Highway linked by a beautiful and dramatic trail, the Alexandra Falls day-use area, the Louse Falls full service campground and day use area and the Escarpment Creek group campsite.

Each one is well marked with road signs going north from the 60th parallel at the Alberta-NWT

border or south of Enterprise. The features of all areas are easy to access and enjoy. Visitors of all walks of life express enthusiasm for the Alexandra Falls day use area’s large RV-friendly parking lot,

picnic spots, fire pits, grass lawns, ready firewood, trails, viewing benches, kitchen shelter and interpretive signs highlighting the culture and traditions of the Dene people and features of the surrounding ecosystem.

Dene storyteller Doug Lamalice, a member of the K’atlodeeche First Nation and the Aboriginal Tourism Champions Advisory Council, offers walking tours in the park, taking visitors on a special journey through the history and culture of the area.

Twin Falls Gorge Territorial Park is an ideal destination for anyone looking for road-accessible outdoor adventure and incredible scenery, whether it’s for a day trip or a longer stay. I encourage the GNWT to use this national recognition of Alexandra Falls as one of Canada’s top waterfalls to enhance the promotion of the Twin Falls Gorge and tourism throughout the Deh Cho region. Let’s make this coming park season the best one yet. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I listened with interest last week as the Minister for the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations informed us, in a Minister’s statement, about the signing of a number of agreements. I would like to congratulate the Premier and the government on the progress made and the accomplishment that these agreements represent. It has been a lot of hard work by all parties, not just the government.

The Premier’s statement highlighted the Intergovernmental Agreement on Lands and Resource Management and mentioned that government will be meeting with, discussing with, and hearing from Aboriginal residents about lands and resource management through their governments who have signed that Intergovernmental Agreement. It will, as stated by the Premier, “…let us build the best possible land and resource management policies and practices together and share ideas for legislation and policy covering our respective lands and resources.”

I applaud the cooperation evidenced by this agreement and I look forward to many more years of that cooperation and working together, but… There’s always a but, eh? My but is this: I am concerned for our non-Aboriginal NWT residents. Will there be an opportunity for them to provide the same kind of input to government as the GNWT cooperates and meets with our Aboriginal governments?

In his statement, the Premier quoted the Wildlife Act and the collaborative work that took place during the consultation on that act. He has to be aware; it was obvious at the time that there were some serious concerns expressed by non-Aboriginal residents during the consultation and negotiations around the Wildlife Act, that the opportunity for input into that process was lacking for them. To give the GNWT credit, an avenue basically acceptable to all was eventually established.

But my question is this: Will the GNWT set up the same type of representative group to allow for consultation and input around the management of our lands and resources? Yes, I know, the government tells us all the time that the GNWT represents all NWT residents. I’ve heard it many times. But to be truly represented, if we, as the Premier stated, want the best possible management of lands and resources, the best policies and practices, then the government must find and develop an avenue for non-Aboriginal residents to have meaningful input into that process. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday at noon we historically marked the first public review of the Northwest Territories bills related to the devolution of responsibility of lands and resources from Canada to our government. More history will be made next week with the passing of third reading of these bills and others.

The Standing Committee on Priorities and Planning reviewed three bills: the Reindeer Act, the Archeological Sites Act and the Surface Rights Board Act. Like all devolution legislation, these bills have to mirror the existing federal legislation just as the GNWT will mirror the administration themselves after April 1st .

The committee’s review was thorough, but limited. Usually committee can improve and amend the bills it considers, typically after holding public consultations and seeking advice from the public. In the case of the devolution bills, we could not amend them because then they would not mirror the current federal laws as per our Devolution Agreement.

I want the public to know that we are listening. It is not lost on us that they want changes. We cannot change these bills today without jeopardizing devolution, but we will be able to change them once they become territorial law. Speaking with constituents, I know that they understand this.

In some ways the colonial type of distant government of our lands and resources in Ottawa will now be closer to home on April 1st of this year.

We can make northern decisions with northern tools to address northern priorities.

I was very pleased during the committee’s public hearing on Wednesday that the Premier committed to a public process for reviewing and understanding the devolution legislation soon after it passes. Involving all of our Aboriginal partners is critical.

Along with a lot of my MLA colleagues, I am focused on the future of our lands and resources under our own laws. I look forward to improving a management system that really works for our people and protects the lands and waters.

Later today I will have questions for Mr. Premier. Thank you very much.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My Member’s statement is about an incident that happened in Fort Good Hope and it will talk about a few things.

A young lady was struck by a skidoo, which at the time had four people on it. It was considered a hit and run incident and at the time when she was hit, she was transported to the local health centre where she was assessed.

It wasn’t until a few days later that she was finally medevaced from Fort Good Hope to Yellowknife for treatment. So the question is: Why two days waiting in Good Hope when she was hit by a skidoo?

When she finally arrived in Yellowknife for treatment, she was told the incident shattered her leg. The question is: Why did it take two days to be transported to Yellowknife? Due to the delay in the medical treatment, she was told now that her leg was infected and she now had to be medevaced to Edmonton. When she got to Edmonton her doctor told her that she was very lucky to be alive and asked why they didn’t medevac her from Fort Good Hope to Edmonton. Even from Good Hope to Yellowknife she did not have an escort, but from Yellowknife to Edmonton there was an escort available. She actually requested an escort from Fort Good Hope, but the health centre denied that request.

Today she’s unable to walk due to the incident. She’s on medication. She’s asking for help from the health centre and she has these questions that as an MLA here to represent her she wants to know what’s going on with the health centres, the local travel and what’s going on with the safety of young

people driving snowmobiles all over the place. There are a lot of questions and she’s crying out for help. Actually, when she called my constituency office, she was crying on the phone as she was giving her story. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I continue looking at our income security system by seeking ways to avoid the creation of poverty traps. In my last two statements I described how Charles ended up in a system that leaves him struggling to feed his family and that pulls him back down every time he tries to make a bit of money on his own. Charles is not a real person, but we all have constituents, family members and friends in such situations.

The experiences of Charles and his family lead to obvious recommendations:

1. We need a realistic definition of a poverty line

based on the actual costs of living in each community. It is obvious from the number provided by Nutrition North that the amounts defined by income support are too low to keep a family out of poverty. The Housing Corporation did some good work on this when they created three zones based on the cost of living.

2. We should not claw back payments and income

from people living below the poverty line. Therefore, we must stop clawing back GST rebates, child tax credits and other payments that are intended to help people out of poverty.

3. We should encourage people living below the

poverty line to earn money on their own and support them through a zone of income above the poverty line. As people start to become self-supporting, we should then gradually reduce income support instead of clawing back up to 85 percent of their earnings right from the start. Again, the Housing Corporation has done some good work on this with their graduated rent scales.

4. Treat people who apply for income support the

same way we treat people who fill out their taxes. Ideally, we should use the same tax forms. This would make the whole process less stressful and reduce the burden on our own staff.

5. Don’t require people to hit rock bottom before

we help them. It is much more costly to help lift people out of poverty when they have absolutely nothing left than to prevent it in the first place.

6. Focus special effort on children and in particular

on single parent families. Yesterday the Minister of ECE implied that Charles should just get a job. Single parent families are doing the most important job I can think of, looking after their children. If we want anything to be different 30 years from now, we need to provide our children with stable homes.

I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

We spend a lot of time and money dealing with the symptoms of poverty: $5 million approved just yesterday to top up payments for child placements outside the NWT, child protection orders resulting from neglect, high rates of alcoholism. These are all symptoms of poverty. We need to deal with the root cause itself: poverty. Substantive changes in income support such as those suggested will yield returns on such investments through savings in education, health and social services and corrections, and enhance economic activity.

I will have questions.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last night the community of Hay River had another meeting about the school swap. This one was at the Ecole Boreale with the parents, teachers, some students and some residents of Ecole Boreale, and as well, some regular members of the public.

The people there indicated that they did not support the swap. They felt that Ecole Boreale was going to get a benefit, but they didn’t want to see that benefit on the backs of other students in the community. The other reason that they didn’t support the idea is Ecole Boreale has ownership to that school. They’ve been there since the school was created. That is their school. The students indicated that, the parents indicated that, as well as a lot of the staff. Our government has to understand that Hay River does not support the school swap.

As well, I know some of my friends here from Yellowknife do not support the school swap in Yellowknife as well. Our government has to find the funds to do the expansions to the French schools sooner than later.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and recognize the hard work and efforts of the NWT Recreation and Parks Association. From January 7th to March

4th , residents of the Northwest Territories

participated in the event, The Walk to Talk Challenge. With records this year, we had 102 teams participate, and out of the 102 teams that participated, 73 had actually made it to Tuk, and I understand there were other teams that did make it but didn’t have their times submitted on time as well.

The grand total of kilometres that were logged was 207,808 kilometres.

---Applause

Now, to put it into perspective, the circumference of the earth is just over 40,000 kilometres, so, really, NWT residents collectively walked around the earth circumference five times. Good job. Way to go to the NWT residents and way to go to the NWTRPA for putting this on.

I have a couple more stats to share here. The hours of walking equaled 48,918 hours of walking. On average, each participant accumulated 245 minutes of weekly exercise. Now, the Canadian physical activity guidelines suggest that each individual at least put in 150 minutes weekly in some type of activity. NWT residents went above and beyond that and put in 95 more minutes weekly, so good job to them.

I just want to make note that this program happens during some of our coldest and darkest months of the year, when some people might be going through depression, might be suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder, so this program gets people out, active and healthy.

I would just like to take this opportunity to thank the NWTRPA for their ongoing hard work, dedication and commitment to the health and active lifestyles and well-being of the residents of the Northwest Territories. I would also like to congratulate all teams and all residents who participated in this great program. Good job and way to go. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Moses. Item 4, reports of standing and special committees. Item 5, returns to oral questions. Item 6, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Item 7, acknowledgements. Item 8, oral questions. Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Health and Social Services. I spoke about the young person who was hit by a skidoo and I wanted to ask, after she was taken to the local health centre and assessed, it was only after two days.

Do you know any reasons why it took two days to get her medevaced out of that community?

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Minister of Health, Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have been briefed on the situation. I would be happy to have a conversation with the Member, but I’m not prepared to speak about an individual or her individual case here in the House. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, on the medical travel, is that common practice when somebody is seriously injured in the community in the Northwest Territories that it takes a couple days to medevac the person out? Is that in the policy?

Mr. Speaker, medical travel and medevac are two different policies. With respect to medevacs, obviously we want to get the individuals out of the communities and to appropriate care in as timely a manner as possible. There are obviously some situations where timing might be affected, but we do attempt to get individuals out as quickly as possible.

Once again, I would be happy to talk to the Member in private about the individual case. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. I’m just looking at the situation here for a medevac. Quickly as possible is probably two days in this situation to get this young lady out in a life and death situation. Then when she gets to Edmonton, the doctors give a different assessment. Are the assessments communicated with communities when there are serious incidents like this? Are these doctors notified and saying, get this person out as quick as possible? In this case it was two days.

What type of situation is there with the health centres when a situation is an emergency where the person needs to get out as quickly as possible?

Mr. Speaker, it’s difficult to answer the questions without getting into the specifics of the individual and I’m not prepared to speak about the individual case. If an individual is injured in a community, usually the community health nurses will be in touch with the Stanton

emerg if that’s the particular location where a doctor is available and where somebody needs to go to.

We are moving forward with Med-Response, which is actually a program that will give all the health centres and all the communities direct access to a physician who will then help coordinate medical travel and expedite the process where appropriate. That system goes live on April 1st and we’re looking

forward to that system. Once it goes live, I would love to invite the Social Programs committee to come to the location where it is and meet the staff and look at the types of services we’re providing. But it will improve this type of response in the future, recognizing that there are always outside influences, such as weather and other things, that could possibly affect medical travel.

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

I look forward to the review of the medical travel in this situation. It has certainly failed her in this case here.

I want to ask the Minister, is it a policy when a patient from any community requests an escort in this type of situation, is an escort then automatically granted or is it within the power of the nurse to deny the medical escort for a patient?

Thank you. Once again, medical travel and medevacs are different things recovered under different policies. We are currently doing the review, which I’ve talked about a number of times in this House, on the Medical Travel Policy and I look forward to sharing those results and that progress with Members as we move forward.

With respect to medevacs, we are currently out for an RFP. The RFP closed last week and we hope to have a provider for air ambulance in the coming while here, but when it comes to medevacs, the ability to have an escort could be dependent on a number of things, plane sizes and all these types of things. So the answer isn’t immediate and it isn’t an immediate yes. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to follow up on my Member’s statement with questions for the Minister of the social envelope today, Minister Abernethy. The Minister has been working hard on an Anti-Poverty Strategy and more recently an Anti-Poverty Action Plan. The strategy and plan are based around five pillars.

Could the Minister explain which pillar addresses the poverty traps that are built into our income

security programs that I’ve been talking about for the last three days? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Minister of Health, Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have the Member’s comments and I appreciate his perspective. I agree that we need to do more to support the individuals, to break down the barriers to keep them out of poverty. We do have five pillars: children and family support, healthy living and reaching our potential, safe and affordable housing, sustainable communities and integration of services. I think all of these combined start addressing the issues. Maybe not to the degree the Member would like to see. Clearly, some more work is necessary and I’m happy to work with the other Ministers on the Social Envelope Committee to try and break down some of these barriers to benefit all of our residents and keep them out of that poverty trap that the Member continues to refer to. Thank you.

I appreciate the Minister’s openness here. I know the Minister has stated that he’s committed to eradicating poverty and I believe him and fully support this goal. But I’d like to know, how will we know we have reached that goal? The income support system traps people in an income zone that does not even provide people enough to eat.

Will the Anti-Poverty Action Plan develop a definition of a poverty line or perhaps a poverty zone, income zone, that will allow us to know what we are aiming for? Mahsi.

Thank you. I’ve had that discussion, that exact discussion with people all over the Northwest Territories, including on Cabinet and Members themselves and members of our original action team that put together the framework. I’ll have that discussion with the group that’s actually working on the territorial action plan, as well, but the feedback I get on a regular basis is how do you truly define poverty, and I hear that that’s what the Member is asking us to do, but many individuals who might fall under what one person might consider a poverty line don’t feel like they’re living in poverty. It’s about an ability to live life to its fullest, depending on the expectations of the individual.

So it may be really complicated to come up with that true definition. If the Member has something in mind, I’d love to hear it. Thank you.

Thank you. I think there are a lot of people out there that could make suggestions that are caught in these poverty traps, but I’ll take the Minister’s offer and work with him on that.

I know the Minister and I have the same goal here, so I hope he takes these points as constructive and friendly suggestions.

Would the Minister commit to including the six recommendations I made this morning on income support in the anti-poverty work that he is doing? Mahsi.

I have a copy of the statements that the Member made today and I’m happy to take it to the Social Envelope Committee of Cabinet to have some further discussions. I’ll also share it with the working group that we have working on the territorial action plan and we’ll continue to have those discussions. I’m not committing to necessarily doing these things, but I think it’s important to have the discussion and finding a way to get to the same goal that the Member and I share. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks to the Minister. I don’t claim to have all the answers. A critical look is more than fair.

This morning the Minister was on the radio talking about child protection with the greatest source factor being neglect. Does the Minister share my assessment that child protection issues and many of social, health and corrections issues are actually symptoms of families living in poverty, and investing in poverty reduction will address this underlying cause saving us money in the long term?

The Member and I were both on the review of the Child and Family Services Committee in the 16th Assembly, and that

was one of the clear recommendations, and we believe that. I still believe that is one of the key findings of that review that we did and is one of the reasons that I’ve worked hard on the Anti-Poverty Action Plan and the Anti-Poverty Framework. I continue to champion for the territorial development of a territorial action plan. The answer is yes, I think we can do better in that area. This morning I talked about neglect on the radio and that we need to move forward with some fundamental change on how we’re providing supports to families to avoid having children apprehended.

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Earlier in the day I mentioned in my Member’s statement about devolution and some of the legislation that this House will be passing. Mr. Premier committed to a public review of the devolution legislation starting soon after it’s passed or after April 1st .

Could he describe how he expects the process to unfold so that the public knows what to expect?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The honourable Member will be very pleased to know that we’ve already started that process. We have started a process of informing the public, educating the public with a media blitz whereby we are putting inserts about devolution in the media outlets, and as we go forward, once we know devolution will, in fact, happen on April 1st , we will

expand that so that we can have more interaction with the general public.

The Premier has done well to engage the four Aboriginal groups. How does the Premier prepare to propose to involve the other Aboriginal governments, especially the Dehcho and the Akaitcho regions, in the review process?

We are having active discussions with the other Aboriginal governments who have not signed on as of yet. Our objective is to have 100 percent of the Aboriginal governments sign on. The federal government has indicated that their financial contributions will cease after one year, but as a government we will welcome the Aboriginal governments that have not signed on yet. Preferably, our objective is within a year, but I think it will be a standing offer.

We have in place with the Dehcho, a working group of senior officials with oversight provided by myself and the grand chief of the Dehcho First Nations, and I think we’re making very good progress. We’re both going through our different processes to do the due diligence and we’re hoping that we will be able to do the same thing with the Akaitcho Government.

I’m pleased to hear progress on the Dehcho and Akaitcho fronts there.

Just with respect to the bills, are there any significant restrictions on amending the devolution laws, and if so, what are they and what are these limits?

For the bills that are passed and given assent to by this government, this government has the authority to deal with them like any other legislation. Obviously, our expectation is that we should at least let them run, have us implement them so that we can get them going. We said we always want a seamless transition, and we recognize that we have some very important responsibilities so that we have to work with the people and also with the third parties and the other Aboriginal governments that are out there so that we can have some certainty and we can have some due process. But the way this government works, any legislation that we have, this government can change it. Obviously, there’s due process for doing that as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. The Premier has indicated that he’s already doing a public awareness campaign, but just in terms of a public review, I know there are many bills and, of course, I don’t expect for them to review them all, but after April 1st when would the

Premier begin a more extensive public review process? Thank you.

Obviously, when we discussed this we talked about involving Aboriginal governments. I know that committee also has some ideas of who should be involved. We will take all of those ideas and work with committee to come up with a process that would be acceptable to the majority. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, like many residents, am concerned with this government’s antiquated negotiated and sole-source contracting policy and how the taxpayers are forced to be holding the bag of its mismanagement. The recently tabled response to my question on GNWT contracts over $5,000 does raise awareness of this concern. My questions today are for the Minister of Finance.

Can the Minister comment why taxpayers were forced to pick up the tab of $34 million in the GNWT contract change orders in 2012-2013? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Honourable Minister of Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Change orders often result from when you’re doing major renovations and things are uncovered during the course of a project that were not anticipated or seen by anybody, including engineers or the architects or the people doing the project management. It’s all tied into required work to complete the project according to the schedule and according to the agreed to project plan. All the capital plan is funded with taxpayers’ dollars, as are our O and M budgets for the most part. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the negotiated and sole-source contract policies were designed years ago when there were all but a handful of Aboriginal companies and they wanted to build capacity in the Northwest Territories. Today we have well over 500 with the same mandate.

Can the Minister indicate to the House why the government has not tried to modernize this policy? Thank you.

In fact, there were changes in the last government, I believe. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, this is news to me. I have not uncovered those changes.

The issue of companies dealing with market saturation or market economy is all too real in many jurisdictions of our territory, yet the negotiated and sole-source contract policy makes no mention of such.

Can the Minister of Finance indicate by what policy this government judges when a market is oversaturated with competing Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal businesses and still grants a negotiated or sole-source contract? Thank you.

In the last government there were changes made to BIP and to the Negotiated Contracts Policy which we follow. We also have criteria that we use that are part of that policy. As well, in the North we have had agreements in the past in terms of agreements with the Aboriginal governments when it comes to contract use and allotment in their areas. So the issue of market disruption and the issue that the Member referred to as saturation, I’m not quite sure what the Member considers market saturation with Aboriginal businesses, but we try to consider all the variables. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Dolynny.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have no problem explaining my term of saturation with the Minister in his office, but my fourth question is: Will this Minister commit to the House that the negotiated and sole-source contract policy will undergo a robust review by Cabinet, by committee and the public during the life of the 17th Assembly?

Mr. Speaker, a simple yes or no will suffice. Thank you.

It’s difficult to just say yes or no to an extensive array of questions the Member just presented. What I will say is this with regard to his last question, if there is an interest from committee, we’re going to be starting the business planning cycle for the next budget year, ’15-16, and if it is the wish of committee, we would be willing to fully discuss and review whatever policies any committee wants to during that process. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I did request some concerns from constituents back home regarding some of the HR practices being presented to people who want to get into the workforce and also with some members that want to access some of their HR files.

I want to ask the Minister of Human Resources what is the policy for any GNWT employee, current or past, that would like to access their Human Resources personnel files. Is there a policy and how does one go about accessing them? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The process is current or former employees of the GNWT wishing to review their files have access to them. They are able to go to a Human Resources office where their file is contained and they are able to review their file with a human resources officer. They are free to look at their entire file if they wish to do so. Thank you.

Most recently, I heard that we had some GNWT employees who were trying to access their file and were told they had to go through ATIPP and pay the fees to access their own personnel files, which I believe under the UNW Agreement they have the right to look at their files.

If so, when did this practice come in, GNWT employees now having to pay $25 to access their own personnel files? Is that something new that HR has implemented and when did it occur? I’m sure committee hasn’t heard anything on that, so I would like a little more information on that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As I indicated, if the employee then wishes to have a copy of the entire file or is asking for the entire file to be given to, say, a lawyer or something, for that process the entire file will be copied to the employee through an ATIPP request. Thank you.

Just moving on with more of these human resources issues that have come to my attention, when we’re trying to get casual employees into the workforce, in some cases the individuals have to go through a criminal records check and there’s a cost to that. Most recently, I’ve heard when people are seeking employment with the GNWT, when they are filling out their forms and applications, now they have to look for a Commissioner for Oaths to sign off on the new forms.

I just want to know if the Minister would look at waiving those fees or if there is a process and how we can get this done a lot quicker? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Department of Human Resources has many employees who are a Commissioner for Oaths. We are able to provide the signatures or signed documents for people who are looking for employment or need some documents signed in front of a Commissioner for Oaths free of charge by our employee who are commissioners. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Moses.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In regards to signing off on these forms, if the Commissioner for Oaths is not available to sign it off or they might be working or out of town – some communities don’t have too many of them – it seems that an easy fix to this may be to have someone in the Human Resources department sign off on these forms.

Could the Minister look at developing a position or giving someone in the Human Resources department authority to sign off on these? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Commissioners for Oaths are trained by the Department of Justice. They are given the circumstances under which they sign off on statements or declarations by various individuals. I’m positive that if a person is to receive the required training from the Department of Justice and recognizes the responsibilities and knows the responsibilities of signing off declarations under all circumstances, then we would work with any communities or any groups of people who wish to try to get a commissioner to sign off on documents. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last week I did a Member’s statement on a parking lot for Moose Kerr School. I have some questions for the Minister of Public Works.

I would like an update on what’s been happening with the need for parking at Moose Kerr School. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Blake. The honourable Minister of Public Works and Services, Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don’t have any recent updates on the parking lot at

Moose Kerr. I know that we have passed information on to the department and we had asked for some information. So as soon as the information is available, I can pass it on to the Member. Thank you.

When can the community expect to see a parking lot in place at Moose Kerr School?

I don’t know what date or if there would be a parking lot at the school at this time. I have indicated to the department that it appears as though the community feels, for safety reasons, that there should be an area where individuals are able to pull off of the main road in order to pick up their children. So, that’s something the community considers a priority and we are taking a serious look at it.

As I mentioned in my statement, the community is very concerned about the safety issues that traffic has on that facility.

Would the Minister commit to having a parking lot in place for this coming fall? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would certainly like to get some feedback from the department if there are any detriments on putting a parking lot at the Moose Kerr School in Aklavik. If there isn’t any and the money is there, I do believe it is part of maintenance. We’ll take a look at it for sure. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Blake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That sounded like a yes. I’d like to ask the Minister, was that a yes? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I certainly am committed to having the department work with the Department of Education to put a parking lot at Moose Kerr School. It appears to be a priority for the community and we’ll work with the community to try to make it happen as soon as possible. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to ask the Minister of Transportation some questions about the Mackenzie Valley road. He had a Minister’s speech about it today, and last week I was asking questions on the maintenance of the road.

My first question for the Minister is: What is the current status of the Mackenzie Valley road? Is it closed to nighttime only or have we been able to keep it open all week?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Due to the current temperatures, all of the ice roads that are in our system are currently under normal operations.

Thank you. In the Minister’s statement he talked about ConocoPhillips and industry participating in the road construction. I’m just wondering what kind of feedback we’re getting with these closures from industry. Are they concerned about the length of time and the early closures of these roads?

We are not anticipating early closures. In fact, each year as we build the winter roads they improve. Sometimes it is extreme warm weather for the season and then there could be some problems, but this year we’re not anticipating any problems. We have sent out a communicae saying that there was a possibility, because we want to give industry as much warning as possible. People don’t like to be told things at the last minute. So we like to kind of forecast a bit in advance of what we think we’re going to be doing, but at this time normal operations. Cold weather doesn’t seem to be an issue. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the importance of these roads is obvious. In the beginning, getting them open and then keeping them open as long as we can is very key. That’s the success of the road.

So I guess the question to the Minister is – I also questioned last week about the maintenance – are we continuing to maintain these roads currently or are we shut down on maintenance and letting the weather take its course?

Thank you. All of the maintenance is contracted out to the various contractors in the area and their job is to keep the maintenance up on the road right up until the time when we determine that the road is no longer open and closed to the public. So we’re expecting that the maintenance will continue with normal operations right up until we announce that the road will be closed due to weather. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m a little frustrated with those answers about the maintenance because I’m getting a different story from the Sahtu than what the department is giving us.

But I guess my next question is: What is the department’s communication protocol? I know the Minister indicated in his speech about the website, but how else is the public to know that these roads are shutting down to nighttime only and eventually when they’re getting ready to close? What kind of

information are we giving them and what kind of lead time are we giving that it’s going to be shut down within 24 hours or when it’s going to be shut down? Thank you.

Thank you. I think the first vehicles that usually quit running on the roads are the heavy traffic when the season changes and the weather gets too warm where we can’t maintain the road for heavy traffic, but at this time if any industry looks on the website they will see that if we’re talking specifically about the road between Wrigley and Tulita it’s at 64,000 kilograms right now and there’s one detour that’s also marked at Steep Creek, there’s a detour. The road access into Deline is at 50,000 kilograms. Tulita bypass is at 64,000 kilograms. Also, from Tulita to Norman Wells the road is open up to 64,000 kilograms. That’s the highest rating or weight that we have on the winter road, so all of the roads in the Sahtu seem to be functioning normally. The road from Norman Wells to Fort Good hope is at 50,000 kilograms. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. Is the Minister aware of the Alexandra Falls recent designation as one of the top three waterfall destinations in western Canada and what is being done to recognize this award? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Nadli. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’ve been getting a lot of accolades lately for our waterfalls here in the Northwest Territories. I know the Member spoke of Alexandra Falls earlier today as well as Virginia Falls. Certainly in the South Slave region with the Waterfalls Route along Highway No. 1, we have a tremendous opportunity to market that award and certainly look forward to if the Member has suggestions or Members have suggestions on how we can enhance and promote that waterfalls route, we’d be happy to hear those suggestions. As far as the department having any specific plans to build upon that award, I certainly will be working with the department to ensure we get everything we can out of that accolade. Thank you.

I like the idea of trying to build up on the positive. What is being done to enhance tourism in the Deh Cho, including Twin Falls Gorge Territorial Park in 2014, this upcoming season? Mahsi.

Thank you. We have the Deh Cho Connection, which is a partnership with Alberta and British Columbia on the Deh Cho Trail. We continue to build upon that. There’s a diamond giveaway on an annual basis and a passport system that folks get stamps along the route. That’s one way that we promote the opportunities to camp and visit our parks and attractions in the South Slave part of the territory and also into the Nahendeh riding as well. Thank you.

Thank you. Will the department work with NWT Tourism to assist their work to promote the waterfalls highway and the Twin Falls Gorge Territorial Park? Mahsi.

Thank you. I’ll certainly talk to my officials at ITI and Northwest Territories Tourism to see how we can build upon that accolade for the waterfalls route, Alexandra Falls. We certainly have the attractions, we just have to do the best we can to market those and attract more people here. That’s exactly what we’re going to do. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Nadli.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister had indicated an effort to market some of the wonderful tourism and parks that we have in the NWT. I wanted to get an indication of when we can expect an effort to market similarly to try to promote the Deh Cho Bridge. Are there any plans for that? Mahsi.