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

Mr. Speaker, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission will be holding its closing events from May 31st to June 3rd in Ottawa.

This is time to reflect, and I would like to express my appreciation for the great work accomplished by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

The work that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission has done in the Northwest Territories and across Canada has been a critical step in the healing process for people suffering from the abuse and trauma of residential schools.

It has been no small task. The commission visited our communities, set up supports and provided a forum where survivors could share their pain and begin to heal.

I would like to thank the members of the commission, and in particular Commissioner Marie Wilson, a fellow Northerner, for her dedication and commitment during this process.

Residential schools have been the source of much of the pain and loss that many generations of Aboriginal people experienced. At the same time, schools can also be where some of that past is reclaimed, where some of the reconciliation that is needed can happen, where some of our hope for the future can be found.

There must be places dedicated to exploring this learning and reconciliation. Truth and Reconciliation Commission events and school curriculum are two examples of those places.

I am proud to say that the Government of the Northwest Territories has been a leader in Canada with the development of the residential schools

curriculum in partnership with the Government of Nunavut, the Legacy of Hope and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

A significant part of our history is in this curriculum, and the coursework and resources provide a deeper understanding of the impacts of residential schools on the Aboriginal peoples of Canada. This will give our students insight into the challenges faced by survivors, and a context for healing and reconciliation.

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Northwest Territories, I want to thank the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for helping us to put the events and the effects of residential schools into their proper place in Canada’s history. From now on, all people who go through our school systems will know what has happened and the impacts on the Aboriginal peoples of Canada. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Honourable Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.

Mr. Speaker, I do not wish to be the bearer of bad weather reports, but as Mother Nature may have it, and based on the reports from our meteorologist, we will once again experience drought over the summer of 2015.

The prediction for this fire season is for another year of hot, dry weather. The downturn in weather for the next two days is unlikely to make much difference. It will be getting warmer and drier in all regions starting on Wednesday.

This is the first time since 1998 that an El Nino winter is followed by an El Nino summer. In general, El Nino is known to produce warmer and drier weather.

The Northwest Territories has been under the effect of a blocking ridge through the month of May. All regions have been snow-free since mid-May, except for some areas in the Inuvik region. This is very early.

All regions witnessed record-breaking temperatures and very little to no precipitation through the month of May.

Most of our long-term seasonal forecast models indicate a high probability that these drought conditions will continue through August over at least portions of the southern Northwest Territories.

Indeed, five of seven weather models show very dry conditions across either all or portions of the Deh Cho, North Slave and South Slave.

These conditions will likely result in extreme fire behaviour and intense wildland fires, which can be difficult for crews to extinguish.

Everyone has a responsibility to prevent and protect their homes, cabins and communities from the risk of wildland fires. Property owners and communities should be using FireSmart tools to reduce their risk of loss from wildland fire.

FireSmart homes, cabins and neighbourhoods allow firefighters to concentrate on fighting the wildland fire, which ultimately protects more homes and lives. Information on FireSmart is available from local Environment and Natural Resources offices and local community governments.

As of today, 51 fires have been reported in the Northwest Territories affecting 69,320 hectares. Thirteen of those fires are out. Four were person-caused. This time last year, six fires had been reported with 31.5 hectares affected.

Environment and Natural Resources brought on its human and aviation resources early to deal with fire starts. Most crews had an early start in the southern regions.

Helicopter and air tankers have already been brought on to ensure wildland fires threatening communities or other values at risk are dealt with swiftly and aggressively. Infrared scanning of critical areas is being done to ensure these fires are out and there are no hold-over fire surprises.

As in previous years, we will continue to provide regular updates about wildfires both on our website and Facebook page.

Mr. Speaker, last summer was record breaking. There were 385 fires, 3.4 million hectares of forest land was affected by fire and several communities were threatened. The overall cost was over $56 million.

Environment and Natural Resources will be acting upon lessons learned from the 2014 fire season.

Work on several of the recommendations of the 2014 Northwest Territories Fire Season Review Report, which has been shared with Members of the Legislative Assembly, has begun. Most of the work will be completed this summer or through the next year.

Areas recommended for improvement included public engagement, safety, human resources, Fire Management Strategy and Policy, operations, and procurement and financial resources.

Despite the unprecedented challenges Environment and Natural Resources faced last summer in managing the wildland fires, there were no serious injuries or fatalities to firefighters, residents or visitors.

Environment and Natural Resources continues to actively monitor the fire environment and has plans to assess and respond to new wildfire starts.

Mr. Speaker, I know we all hope Mother Nature will cooperate this summer by providing much needed precipitation in regular intervals.

In the meantime, Environment and Natural Resources will continue to work with other departments and communities to improve the GNWT’s response to emergencies. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mr. Speaker, at the appropriate time today I will table “Working Together: An Action Plan to Reduce and Eliminate Poverty in the Northwest Territories.” This collaborative action plan demonstrates our government’s commitment to work in partnership with other stakeholders to tackle poverty in the Northwest Territories. It builds on the great work that produced “Building on the Strengths of Northerners,” the Anti-Poverty Strategic Framework, in 2013. Like the strategic framework, this action plan was developed by all levels of government working together with representatives from the private sector and non-government organizations.

In 2014 I tabled the Government of the Northwest Territories Anti-Poverty Action Plan, which outlined our government’s commitments to act and invest in this important area. But we already knew that government can’t do it alone. We also committed to work with non-government organizations, community and Aboriginal governments, business and industry and other stakeholders to develop a multi-stakeholder territorial Anti-Poverty Action Plan.

That work has rolled out over the last year. I want to recognize the efforts of all the partners who participated in two anti-poverty round tables over the past 18 months. The perspectives, knowledge, passion and commitment of all participants were instrumental in the creation of the action plan and will be critical to its implementation.

Mr. Speaker, the completion of this territorial action plan is not the end of a process but the beginning.

The action plan outlines priority areas for action under the five pillars of the Anti-Poverty Framework and demonstrates how these priorities link to those identified in community wellness plans. It outlines work underway in each priority area, setting the stage for annual updates. This living document will help all of us work together to ensure our actions have the maximum impact on tackling poverty across the Northwest Territories.

I particularly want to thank the members of the advisory committee who took on the work of leading the development of this action plan. They include co-chair Bronwyn Watters, and members Julie Green, Mark Heyck and Bob Simpson.

I also want to make special mention of the late Liidlii Kue First Nation Chief Minnie Letcher who, as co-chair of the advisory committee, was passionately committed to ensuring the community voice was represented in this action plan.

Mr. Speaker, this action plan is just a start. As our collective efforts evolve, so will this plan. I am confident that, working together, we can begin to truly make a difference to improve the quality of life of all residents of the NWT. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation, Mr. McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to inform Members about changes to how the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation calculates rent for public housing tenants.

In the coming months, Canada Child Tax Benefit payments and payments to foster parents will no longer be included as sources of income for the purpose of calculating public housing rents. I believe this change properly reflects the values of our people by supporting families who fulfill their responsibility to care and raise our children. In order to implement this change, I have directed the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation to update their policies and procedures and develop training material for local housing organizations to allow for full implementation by October 1st of this

year.

As Members are aware, the public housing rent scale was revised at the beginning of this government to improve consistency and fairness and address any disincentives to work. The further changes we are announcing today in the Public Housing Program builds on that work through improved consistency in our government’s approach to social programming. This treatment of income aligns closely with the policies of the

Department of Education, Culture and Employment and the Department of Health and Social Services.

In addition, Mr. Speaker, the NWT Housing Corporation will begin using the total income reported on the income tax returns of household members to calculate rent. This approach will reduce the burden of monthly reporting for tenants and is consistent with the decision to not include Child Tax Benefit and foster parent payments in rent calculations as the Canada Revenue Agency does not consider them as income.

Reducing the reporting burden is especially important for tenants such as seniors and single parents. Not requiring income verification every month respects the dignity of public housing tenants by treating them more like other tenants and supports their self-reliance.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that we can continue to make the public housing system responsive to the needs of our people and through this change further support our families and seniors, improve the consistency of government and foster self-reliance. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mr. Speaker, this is National Tourism Week and across the NWT we are celebrating with events ranging from the “Be A Tourist In Your Own Town” promotion here in Yellowknife to community picnics, film screenings, open houses and complementary tours of local attractions.

There is much to celebrate and I would like to take a moment to highlight some of the recent successes and milestones this vibrant sector of our economy has achieved.

Last October I shared with Members that over 90,000 visitors travelled to the Northwest Territories in the 2013-14 fiscal year. That is the highest number of visitors that we have welcomed to our territory in a decade. Visitor spending also rose dramatically, increasing by 24 percent in 2013-14, to over $132 million.

Growth and success seems destined to continue in 2015. Web traffic to the NWT Parks online reservation system doubled over last year when it opened on April 15th . Over $100,000 worth of

reservations were generated within the first five hours it was open.

Less than a year after its establishment, the NWT Conference Bureau has secured four conferences worth an estimated $1 million in future business for the NWT’s tourism sector. An additional six

conference bids could double this estimate by year end.

Mr. Speaker, these numbers tell us that our tourism industry is building momentum. It is vital that our government continue to support and grow this sector through the development of new products, community infrastructure and training and mentorship opportunities.

Tourism 2020, an extension of our two previous five-year tourism development plans, is expected to launch in the 2016-17 fiscal year and will guide the next chapter of our government’s work and investments to grow and advance tourism in our territory. It will focus on creating exceptional visitor experiences in the Northwest Territories, enhancing the skills of the tourism service sector and supporting communities to develop attractions, products and services for visitors.

Mr. Speaker, strengthening and growing our tourism industry is a collaborative effort. Investment and funding leveraged from Canada’s Northern Economic Development Agency serves to build community tourism capacity and create new tourism products. Destination marketing is expertly accomplished by Northwest Territories Tourism. Advice and guidance flows to our decision-making processes from the Tourism Marketing Advisory Committee and the Aboriginal Tourism Champions Advisory Council.

Above all else, our tourism sector succeeds on the basis of the hardworking individuals who operate and deliver our territory’s tourism products and services and provide the face and friendly smiles that welcome the world to our North.

Men and women, Mr. Speaker, like Toni and Henry Heron whose effective management, special brand of hospitality and willingness to share in their Aboriginal culture has contributed to the recognition of Queen Elizabeth Territorial Park near Fort Smith as one of the Top 25 Campsites in Canada by Explore Magazine.

Collectively, we are working to ensure that the NWT tourism sector will grow, continue to thrive and provide economic benefits across the NWT. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Premier McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to advise Members that the Honourable Jackson Lafferty will be absent from the House today and tomorrow to attend the Truth and Reconciliation Commission closing events in Ottawa. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Item 3, Members’ statements. The honourable Member for Beaufort-Delta, Mr. Blake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My constituents are very happy on upcoming work on the Dempster Highway this summer.

Last year we felt the impact of no construction on the Dempster Highway due to the end of the 10-year Building Canada Plan. This year we begin another 10 years of work on the Dempster and many other projects throughout the Northwest Territories.

I am concerned that this work has not been awarded at this time. From what I understand, we are awaiting the Treasury Board. It is very important we take advantage of the weather we get in June and July, as we usually get a lot of rain in August and September.

I will have questions for the Minister later today, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Blake. Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to point out the dire need for better housing in the community of Wrigley. When I say that housing in Wrigley is inadequate, I am actually agreeing with the NWT Housing Corporation.

A 2014 survey of community housing needs found adequacy problems with 38 percent of the community’s houses. This is worse than any other community in the Northwest Territories. Wrigley is also right down there when it comes to housing and core need; there are problems with adequacy, suitability, or affordability. Almost half of Wrigley’s houses are in core need, 46 percent of them.

I’m sorry to say, by this measure, Wrigley housing is not the worst in our territory but third worst. That is not something to be proud of.

During my recent visit to Wrigley, I heard many complaints about the neglect of housing problems. I heard about homes in disrepair. I heard about problems with mould, residents not being approved for housing assistance, and I heard about construction that was never completed.

When they are so widespread, these problems put stress on the community and everyone who lives

there. Housing is critically important to a person’s overall health and well-being. When housing is very bad, there tends to be an impact on both health and education.

People in Wrigley feel their housing needs are neglected by this government. I believe they are right, and I also believe the trend of neglect includes public housing.

In addition to the problems I just noted, as of last year there were only eight public housing units in Wrigley owned by the NWT Housing Corporation. It pains me even more to look at public housing units across Nahendeh. In last year’s annual report, the Housing Corporation reported only 125 public housing in all of Nahendeh. Compare that to 239 units in the Sahtu communities, 498 in the South Slave and 633 in the North Slave. The population differences do not fully account for that kind of disparity. These numbers also show that the problem has been going on for a long time. It takes years to build up a proper housing stock.

I would like to call on the NWT Housing Corporation to evaluate and come up with a plan to address the housing needs of the residents in Wrigley. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Hiking the Canol Trail is no walk in the park. Just ask the 142 people who have hiked the trail since 2006. These are world-class hikers. Not only do we have a world-class hiking trail, we have world-class oilfields, world-class fishing spots, a world-class painted church, world-class hunting areas and several world-class national parks.

In the past 10 years, we have had world-class hikers in the Sahtu that have hiked the Canol Trail, a 222-mile trail from the Mackenzie River to the Yukon border.

A snapshot of the Canol: The Canol was once the biggest construction project in the ‘40s in North America. It was bigger than the Panama Canal. Of the 142 hikers who went on the trail since 2006, some continue today to have walked about three to four hundred miles on that trail. Of the 142 hikers, we had 48 youth participate in the past nine years. This year will mark 10 years of hiking the trail.

Those who have walked the Canol know the true meaning of teamwork, cooperation, encouragement and determination. They’ve been tested in every facet of their entire being. Pain and soreness was the common theme of the hikers. The youth have walked through the old remnants of the past and saw and felt what it was like in the olden days. Living on the land is not easy. Without proper

monitoring and regulations, the youth experience how government did not care about our land. Read the Canol containment report. Better yet, Mr. Speaker, go and walk the Canol.

I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

Mr. Speaker, youth can better appreciate what we have today in our land claim and, more importantly, cleaning up the mess left behind. Without our great sponsorship of the Government of the Northwest Territories, the Aboriginal governments, the private businesses, the oil companies, the volunteers, the community councils and the hikers, this hike would have been but a dream. It takes committed people to make that commitment. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do not know whether our 100 percent publically owned Power Corporation should be competing for the Hay River power delivery franchise, but I guarantee Cabinet doesn’t know either. Big questions, incredibly and worryingly, remain undebated and unresolved. Despite oodles of opportunity, Cabinet has failed to lead a meaningful discussion towards a renewed energy policy that will reduce energy costs, provide direction when questions such as the Hay River RFP arise, enable other companies to provide power, such as Fort Liard Geothermal, and begin to mitigate climate change.

In the absence of thoroughly debated and carefully crafted policy, incorporating today’s technologies and potential for distributed energy, we actively kill sustainable opportunities, adopt an unaffordable and unsuccessful policy of massive subsidies and now propose to direct a Crown corporation that has failed to ever reduce costs, to compete for yet more monopolized responsibility for power delivery, all with zero consultation with MLAs or even with the current Hay River provider which has 60-plus years of doing the work.

I take great caution in supporting a large corporation in the delivery of power services. However, I am much more comfortable when the corporation is highly regulated by an arm’s-length public body such as the Public Utilities Board which is mandated to protect the public interest. The PUB has demonstrably saved both taxpayers and ratepayers millions of dollars through their rigorous review and oversight.

The board regulates to compensate utilities for 95 to 105 percent of their cost of service, including a profit in the order of 8 to 9 percent. A 2008 PUB

study of NTPC cost of service found that NTPC was being compensated 130 percent of costs for South Slave communities. Not only was this not corrected, government ignored this fact, increased their own legislative power over the supposedly arm’s-length PUB and crippled the PUB’s ability to do their job with government fiat issued this April. The directive limits the PUB to issuing rate adjustments of only 1 percent or less, with the result that NTPC’s 30 percent overcharge if still true today, will remain in place with only very minor adjustments perhaps for decades. So much for reducing cost of living.

As government flip-flops and makes murky policy behind closed doors, people pay ever-higher energy costs. Instead of a thoroughly debated energy policy that guides decisions and benefits people, the economy and the environment, Cabinet decisions are made in a policy vacuum and we let this happen.

I will have questions. Mahsi.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today is Intergenerational Day and the day is being celebrated in over 100 cities across Canada, including Yellowknife. This is where younger and older people come together for intergenerational immersion. The goal is to create respectful relations and better understanding between children, youth and older persons, and it’s good to see so many active elders in the gallery today. Welcome to you all.

Since time immemorial there have been generational differences, but the speed of change and the technological impacts on society in the last 50 years has widened the gaps in attitude and lifestyle between young and old. In recognition of these gaps, in 2008 a group of educators, health care workers, older adults, youth and parents created the i2i Intergenerational Society.

In addition, this month of June is Seniors’ Awareness Month, and June 15th , specifically, is

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, a day I try to highlight every year. It’s unfortunate that such a day is necessary, but the upside is that it is an opportunity to do something about elder abuse.

The mistreatment, neglect and financial exploitation of our elders is much more common than most of us would like to admit. Elder abuse does not discriminate. It’s found in institutions and private homes across all sectors and all societies.

Intergenerational Day is an opportunity to be reminded that our elders have made significant contributions to our communities in their younger

years. We can use this day to create better understanding, build empathy and disrupt the concept of ageism.

Our elders hold the wisdom, history and knowledge of our communities, our territory and of life in general. They should be respected, honoured and cared for in their later years, not abused.

As a government, we need to ensure measures are in place to recognize and address elders’ issues, and we need to bring elder abuse out into the open and eradicate it.

Kudos to Intergenerational Day for taking a grassroots, hands-on approach to the issue. Kudos to Yellowknife, Norman Wells, Paulatuk and Fort McPherson for recognizing and being part of the 2015 Intergenerational Day. Lastly, thank you to all my colleagues for their purple support today in the House. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The issue of poverty is very complicated, as we all know. Like a jigsaw puzzle being put on the table, you must first look at the problem by seeing the big picture, then you tackle piece by piece.

I view the challenge of poverty much in the same way. First you start by looking at the corners and the sides, or some even tackle the middle. Yes, poverty is something we can tackle. If we look at the big picture, we see problems and we must pick away at them piece by piece, whether it’s putting our energies into housing, jobs, affordability, or even other types of necessities, such as affordability of food and their expenses.

There are many organizations out there that take seniors’ poverty very seriously and they put their finger on it. The Canadian Centre for Poverty Alternatives will tell you that the lack of affordable housing is detrimental to many seniors because they can’t afford to pay for their accommodations or their food or their drugs or their transportation or other types of necessities because something always falls off the table and their money never goes far enough.

Research continues to tell us that seniors need supportive living. Many other sources, all through the government, point to the fact that two-thirds of our seniors are not getting enough income in their old-age years through their OAS or CPP to help them meet the bottom line. In fact, seniors are more vulnerable than ever. Poverty among our seniors I wish was a rare occurrence, one we never spoke of, but the reality is, it is the reality.

I could go on with CMHC stats or other types of government stats, but the bottom line is our senior population is growing. In the Yellowknife area alone, if you’re a senior between 65 and 74, in 11 years there’s going to be an almost 400 percent increase in the growth of seniors. If you’re in the age category of over 75 in the Yellowknife area, there is over a 400 percent growth in the next 11 years.

I often hear from seniors about the challenges of affordability, how they live in poverty, how they want to continue to live independently, but this just becomes so impossible. I often, again, hear from seniors that they thought these would be their golden years, but they’re more often described as the lead years, because they’re carrying around the lead weight of affordability and poverty, one that they never asked for but they struggle with day to day.

In short, this may be a puzzle, but I think if we all work together, I don’t think any of these poverty issues are insurmountable. We must pick away at these problems piece by piece. Affordability, housing, food, we can do more. I certainly believe it’s not an impossible task.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Reading the newspaper a couple of weeks ago, I saw some startling images: photographs that showed a skinny moose with tufting fur and grey patchy shoulders crossing Highway No. 3. This didn’t look like a healthy animal. In fact, tufting hair can be a sign of ticks. While moose can carry a few hundred ticks without serious harm, major infestations can cause discomfort and over-grooming, leaving moose underfed and vulnerable to weather and predation. This should concern us.

The moose, Alces alces, is an important animal for Aboriginal people in the NWT, including the people of the Deh Cho. A 2009 study found that moose in this region were productive and in good to excellent condition, but these animals may be subject to new pressures. Cold winters and summer forest fires have managed tick populations in the past, but if winters continue to become warmer and shorter as our climate changes, this problem will grow more severe. When infected animals move north, warmer weather means more insect larvae survive. As Northerners, we’re familiar with annoying bugs, but unlike us, animals can’t seek shelter indoors, spray repellent or use a fly swatter, and insects like ticks and mosquitoes can stress moose, including vulnerable calves, impacting their health and also their birthweights.

The forest fire season brings its own challenges. Fires may help forest regrowth, not to mention bring delicious morels, but they also damage animal habitats.

Let’s think about that skinny, patchy moose again. Fortunately, these ticks don’t threaten humans, and meat from infected moose is still edible. Fortunately, too, we haven’t had to impose hunting restrictions like in some parts of Manitoba. Still, I hope that the GNWT will closely monitor moose health and take steps to ensure that moose populations remain strong and healthy. We must ensure that these important animals get the respect that they deserve.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As you are well aware, Hay River has a long history as being the NWT fishing industry capital. It’s exciting to hear that this government is investing $1.3 million through its Economic Opportunities Strategy to this industry.

Last week, along with members of the NWT Fisherman’s Federation, I was glad to hear a plan go forward on how we’re going to revitalize this industry and how we are going to implement a new fishing plant in the community of Hay River. This is a great renewable resource that we have in the Northwest Territories. We need to take full advantage of it. We need to make sure that all this fish is sold in the Northwest Territories. We need to get fish back onto the kitchen tables of the people in the Northwest Territories. We need to make sure it’s in every restaurant. We need to make sure that it’s in all our institutions, correctional institutions, hospitals, diamond mines, seniors facilities. We need to make sure that this resource is being taken full opportunity of.

Our quota that we have is a renewable quota. We are basically protecting ourselves. I understand that this is a multi-staged process. We need to find more federal funding to do this. We need to increase the prices for those fishermen. Some of the prices they’re currently getting are the same prices they got back in the ‘40s and ‘50s. We need a plan to go forward to get this industry revitalized.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last week, on May 28, 2015, in question period with this Member, the Finance Minister took certain liberties

to talk about this new special relationship the government has with NWT Power and its Hydro Corporations. In the Minister’s own words, “that relationship has become very close,” and that, “we should look at how we should change our reporting relationship.”

Upon review in edited Hansard, the Finance Minister mentioned not once but three separate occasions to the Member’s questions, one of them: “the fact that the Auditor General himself has pointed out that we need to change.”

Now, let’s validate these comments to what was actually said by the Auditor General of Canada during the formal public audit review of the 2014 NWT Public Accounts and let’s see if indeed the Auditor General told this government the need for a relationship change, or simply some cleanup in their accounting practice.

On January 22, 2015, the Auditor General of Canada met with Standing Committee on Government Operations and on January 23rd held

an open public review. In both presentations the Auditor General stated the NWT Power and Hydro Corporations were not self-sustaining and required ongoing financial support. This merely prompted the management to adopt proper Canadian Public Sector Accounting Standards, or PSAS, and a change of classification for the hydro corporations from business enterprise to what is referred to as “other government organization.”

In the Auditor General’s own words, “NWT Hydro will be accounted for on a line-by-line basis as opposed to a summary basis in 2015.” That’s all. There was no suggestion by the Auditor General about the GNWT’s relationship change with NTPC, other than simple accounting cleanup. Nothing more.

So, the Finance Minister is spinning this to sound much different than what the Auditor General has presented to standing committee or the public. The question is why.

This goes back to my earlier questions last week. What is the secrecy behind this Cabinet, this Minister and this new hidden energy policy, but ultimately, when is this Minister going to come clean from behind the iron curtain? Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I have the honour of speaking about a great Northerner and a great human being. George Doolittle was born on August 11, 1944, in Edmonton, Alberta, to Jane and George Doolittle Sr. He attended Colorado Springs College for a year and then went to the University of Alberta to

pursue engineering. However, George decided to seek adventure after a year of engineering. He travelled to several American and Canadian cities before settling in Inuvik, where he acquired a stationary engineer certificate.

George met Violet in Norman Wells in the fall of 1965. They fell in love and were married on June 10, 1967. He was welcomed by and became part of the vast McDonald family and had three children, Roy, Yvonne and Charlene. George and Violet raised their family in Inuvik, Fort McPherson and Norman Wells.

George has many grandchildren and several great-grandchildren whom he inspired and treasured. George was very proud of his family and all of their accomplishments.

George worked for the NWT Power Corp for many years and then for the Department of Transportation of the GNWT. During this time he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree by correspondence. He then retired, only to become busier than ever. He taught computers, which he himself was self-taught. He was a liquor inspector, an RCMP guard, a coroner and a commissionaire. Education and work ethic were very important to George. He was also not one to shy away from getting involved. He ran for the MLA for Inuvik at one time and was also on town council for many, many years. He really loved all the people that he worked with.

George had a great and unique sense of humour. He often told jokes, sometimes corny, accompanied by an expression, gesture or even a dance. He also enjoyed comics such as Dilbert and especially The Far Side.

If anybody knew George, they knew George enjoyed his coffee and coffeeing with his buddies. In Inuvik he could often be found at the Cafe Gallery, in Yellowknife at the Tim Horton’s.

George had a triple bypass in 1992 and struggled with heart disease later in life. He passed peacefully on May 26, 2015, surrounded by his loving family in Edmonton at the Royal Alexandra Hospital. The family was happy to have those last few days together to laugh, to talk, to share, to comfort and to say anything else that needed to be said.

George lived a full and beautiful life. He was many things: a gardener, a carpenter, a techie, a car and motorcycle enthusiast, an endless volunteer, a traveller and an adventurer. But most importantly, he was a beloved son, husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, brother, brother-in-law, teacher, mentor and friend. George had touched so many people’s lives over the years.

George was a mentor to me when I was first involved in politics, when I had the opportunity to serve with him on the Inuvik town council. He has

left a great legacy to his family and will be truly missed by many, but continues to live in all those he touched with his kindness and wisdom.

Today the Doolittle family will lay to rest George Doolittle in the community of Norman Wells. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of this great man. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Moses. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m pleased to recognize my niece Kathy Makela, who is visiting from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Kathy is a lawyer with the Native Law Centre there.

I’m also pleased to recognize the presidents of teachers’ federations from across Canada here today. Carol Jolin, president, Association des enseignantes et des enseignants franco-Ontariens; Mark Ramsankar, president, Alberta Teachers’ Association; Dianne Woloschuk, president of the Canadian Teachers’ Federation; Susan Swackhammer, first vice-president of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario; Norm Gould, president of the Manitoba Teachers’ Society; Peter Fullerten, president of the New Brunswick Teachers’ Association; Guy Arseneault, vice-president-elect of the New Brunswick Teachers’ Association; James Dinn, president of Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers’ Association; Shelley Morse, president, Nova Scotia Teachers’ Union; Gayla Meredith, president, Northwest Territories Teachers’ Association; James Ryan, president, Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association; Ann Hawkins, first vice-president, Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association; Rian McLaughlin, president, Ontario Teachers’ Federation; Gilles Arsenault, president, Prince Edward Island Teachers’ Federation; Bethany MacLeod, president-elect, Prince Edward Island Teachers’ Association; Colin Keess, president, Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation; and Carol Sherlock, acting president, Yukon Teachers’ Association. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize the members of the Minister’s Advisory Committee on Anti-Poverty who have joined us today. They’re the individuals who have worked together, worked hard to consolidate all the information from residents across the Northwest Territories in the development of working together on an action plan to reduce and eliminate poverty in the Northwest Territories. So, I’d like to

take this opportunity to both recognize and thank Bronwyn Watters and Julie Green as well as Mark Heyck.

June is also Senior Citizens Month and June 15th is

World Elder Abuse Day. Although today is not June 15th , Members of the House have joined me in

wearing purple today to recognize this important issue, and I’d like to take this opportunity to recognize a few members of the NWT Seniors’ Society who have joined us here today: Merlyn Williams, who is the president; Joyce Williams – both Merlyn and Joyce are constituents of the Great Slave riding; Margaret Marshall; Bill Reid; Joan Hirons; Bill Adkins; Darryl Bohnet, who is also a resident of the Great Slave riding; Dick and Loretta Abernethy, who happen to be my parents, welcome; Joe Walsh; Carole Robinson; as well as Jeff Renaud, CEO at the Avens, A Community For Seniors; and Kimberly Doyle, the executive director of YK Seniors. Thank you all for joining us today.

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize Mr. Gerry Wood. Gerry is an MLA from the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly in Australia, representing the riding of Nelson. He’s been the MLA since 2001. He’s been visiting, sharing some of his stories, and we had an opportunity yesterday to visit and tell him about how we conduct business here in this Legislative Assembly. So, welcome to Canada and welcome to the Legislative Assembly.

I’d also like to recognize Mayor Mark Heyck. Welcome, Mark.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize all the visitors that we have in the gallery today. I guess our tourism numbers are going to continue to rise, as a bunch of folks are visiting us from across the country. Welcome to Yellowknife and welcome to the Northwest Territories.

I also wanted to recognize Merlyn Williams, the president of the YK Seniors’ Society. I also wanted to recognize a former Bantam and Midget hockey coach of mine – he was a real inspiration for me as I was growing up – and his long-time involvement in minor hockey in Yellowknife, Mr. Joe Walsh. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d also like to recognize some constituents from Weledeh today: Joe Walsh, who has just been mentioned; also Lois Little I see up there, and Carole Robinson,

Joan Hirons. There may be others. Welcome to the House.

Mark Heyck, our mayor. It’s always great to see him here when he can get here. I’d also like to recognize the MLA for Nelson, Mr. Woods from the Northern Territory. It’s really great to have him in the House as well. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s a pleasure to see so many seniors here today. I would like to recognize specifically one from the riding of Frame Lake, Yvonne Quick. It’s always good to see Yvonne here. I want to just mention, as well, Carole, Loretta, Wendy, Joe, Darryl and there are many more up there who I can’t see.

As an ex-teacher, I would also like to specifically welcome the presidents of the teachers’ associations across the country. Welcome to our home. Welcome to our territory. I hope you have a grand time. I’m sure that Gayla will show you a grand time. Gayla Meredith is the president of our NWT Teachers’ Association and is hosting all the other presidents.

Lastly, I’d like to recognize the mayor of our fair city, Mr. Mark Heyck. I think that’s about it. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are so many people out there to recognize, I just want to say welcome to the majority of them, and I’ll focus my specific recognition to our seniors. For seniors from the Yellowknife Centre riding, I would first like to recognize Ms. Margaret Marshall, Mr. Bill Reid and Mr. Bill Adkins as well as I believe I see Ms. Wendy Carlos up there as well. If I happened to miss any of the seniors who are up there, I’m sure they can understand. I can’t quite see that far anymore. My eyes are starting to give up on me as the days go on. Welcome to everyone and thank you very much for coming today. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. I’d like to welcome everybody in the public gallery here today. Thank you for taking an interest in our proceedings.

Item 6, acknowledgements. Item 7 oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I mentioned in my Member’s statement, the request for tenders closed on April 1, 2015, for the widening

of the Dempster Highway. I’d like to ask the Minister, why is this contract not awarded yet? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are several stages of approvals that we go through when we’re dealing with the Building Canada Fund. The next step is to take all of the money that we have over the next 10 years and put them into bundles under $100 million, and we had submitted our first bundle to the federal government and right now it’s going through a review. We feel it’s very close to being approved.

Because the bundles have negotiated contracts in them, it was important that the federal government ran it through the Treasury Board. What we’ve done is we’ve been providing information to Infrastructure Canada. In turn, they’re providing it to the Treasury Board. So, we’re at the very final stages. Our Minister of Infrastructure has been in contact with Infrastructure Canada and is also trying to assist us to move that approval along, but at this time we are expecting approval on June 4th , actually.

As I mentioned, with the weather we have in August and September, it’s really important that we begin this work in June and July.

Will the Minister ensure that future contracts be awarded at least by the end of May in the years to come? Thank you.

This bundle that we submitted is four years’ worth of projects. Next year it will be approved, so we would be able to go through the tender process a lot quicker. We have tendered in advance in anticipation of approvals from the federal government. So, at this point, as soon as the approvals come, we would be in a very good position to make the awards. As soon as we get approval we’ll make the awards. Thank you.

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I just want to follow up on my Member’s statement on the housing issues in the community of Wrigley. I’d like to ask the Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation what kind of follow up is being done from the results of the 2014 Community Housing Survey, which prove what my constituents are saying about the dismal state of housing in the community of Wrigley. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Minister of NWT Housing, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We use the results of the survey to assist

us as we plan our capital budget going forward. We do recognize that there is a need in a lot of smaller communities, especially in the Member’s riding. There has been a reluctance in the past for them to welcome public housing into the community, but we’re seeing that attitude start to change now and they realize that the best way to house a lot of their residents is to go through the public housing portfolio. So we needed those numbers to assist us with our planning. Thank you.

I’m glad the Minister, during our last tour which he attended with me in Nahendeh, knows that people were in favour of public housing. What is the Minister doing to beef up the role in Nahendeh communities that will result in more public and even better housing? Thank you.

We have a number of programs to assist homeowners especially in upgrading some of their houses, and I think in the Member’s riding we’ve had some fairly good uptake on that. A lot of them do live in private homes.

We did hear from a number of the Member’s communities, when we did our tour, that they felt there was a need for public housing. We had a number of units that we had put there on speculation that we would have suitable clients for and that didn’t pan out. So our plan is to convert whatever units we have there into public housing.

Again, we will look at the numbers and plan it as we go forward to possibly adding more public housing into the communities because we see that’s the direction that they feel is the best direction to go at this moment. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Just specifically it’s for Wrigley, the needs of better stock of public housing.

I’d just like to ask the Minister going forward, what kind of plans does he have with the department in addressing the concerns out of Wrigley? Thank you.

In the next couple of seasons I believe we have a couple of affordable housing units that are going into Wrigley. We would have to go in there and do a complete survey as to what the inventory is like in there. I think we have maybe eight public housing units in the whole community of Wrigley and I think we’ve got a couple of affordable housing units.

So, again, we will have to use the numbers from the community survey in assisting us as we plan our capital budget going forward. Thank you.

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Even though there was a recent survey, I

really believe that Wrigley has got to be reassessed.

Just in general, I know that we increased our borrowing limit. I’d just like to know, is the Minister going to approach Cabinet and see if we can get additional money from our borrowing limit to help address infrastructure shortages in the community?

We’re always looking for opportunities to secure more money from not only our government. We’ve been very fortunate in the last couple of years that this government has stepped forward and I think we’ve put almost $20 million into affordable housing units to try and address some of the challenges we face in the small communities, and also this government has stepped up in providing, I think, an additional $1.2 million to try and offset some of the loss that we’re facing with Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s declining funding. This government has stepped up and, again, any opportunities we have, if there are any federal opportunities for more public housing money through the Affordable Housing Initiative in the past and the Public Housing Initiative, I think it was called, we try to find every opportunity we can to secure more money that we can put into housing across the Northwest Territories.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of ITI. I want to ask the Minister on the Canol Heritage proposed Doi T'oh in the Sahtu region. The Minister has been aware that there has been work by the federal government remediation and contamination team. Their assessment report has been dealt with. There are discussions with the land claim organizations. There is a park management committee framework set up.

I want to ask the Minister, what is his department doing in regard to working with the land corporations, the federal government and the remediation team to clean up the mess that’s on the Canol Heritage Trail?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member is correct; the federal government has made a commitment to remediate the area. They say it’s going to take five years. Sometimes they say one thing and it may take, in fact, longer than the five years that they’ve committed to. But the other issue here is we had wanted them to take the class 1 sites – there are four of them to be

remediated – but the fact remains that they have that entire stretch of 222 kilometres, one kilometre on either side of it. It’s a big area and it’s going to require a lot of work to remediate.

We continue to look at that as an opportunity to put in infrastructure. This summer we are going to be putting in a cable crossing at the Twitya River. I had the opportunity to travel with the Member into the area recently. We are making those investments.

We’ve also worked with local organizations on some willow clearing on the first 25 kilometres. That work, I believe, has been completed or will be complete soon.

We’re continuing to move forward, but again, one of the big hang-ups for us is the remediation that the feds have committed to on the Canol Trail itself.

Just for correction, it’s 222 miles. I want to let the Minister know.

The remediation sites that need to be cleaned up, I want to ask the Minister, is this part of the transfer of lands from the federal to the territorial in the context of the territorial government taking over these lands? Is the territorial government in discussion with the feds so that these lands then can be transferred over to the territorial government so the Sahtu Dene and Metis can own, manage, develop and run the Canol Heritage Doi T'oh Canyon Park?

The federal government excluded the transfer of the entire section of the Canol Heritage Trail – and the Member is correct; it is 222 miles, not kilometres – reserved for the Doi T’oh Territorial Park from the final Devolution Agreement. Subsurface rights were, however, transferred to the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories. The Government of the Northwest Territories can still apply for transfer of administrative authority from the federal government, and the Government of the Northwest Territories will be seeking to have the land transferred for the Doi T’oh Territorial Park before the end of this projected timeline of five years that I mentioned earlier.

The contaminated areas, if you look at the report, it’s pretty thick but it’s very, very interesting. Just on the pricing of the fuel, one of the statements in the report says if they were to do the project, in costing out the project, a barrel of oil would cost about $1,000. You know, the expense of doing business in that area.

I want to ask the Minister, given what we know from the remediation assessment and the contamination and work that’s been done on the 222 miles of that stretch and what happened in the 1940s as of today, does the Minister, does his department understand the enormous step that we’ve taken to protect our lands and also the enormous amount of energy and effort it will take to clean up these

specific sites along the Canol Heritage Trail? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The proposed park, of course, follows the now defunct Canol Pipeline built during World War II, of course. It includes several waste sites with abandoned buildings. I know the Member and I have toured some of those abandoned buildings, equipment and vehicles interlinked with an old roadway. These sites present hazards to human and animal health, including oil spills, exposed asbestos, structurally unsafe buildings as well as almost 650 linear kilometres of copper coated steel telephone wire. There’s a lot out there that needs to be remediated, needs to be looked at.

I think for us, we need to continue to impress upon the federal government the desire to have that remediated. I guess looking at it in a positive view it will be economic activity hopefully for some companies in the central Mackenzie Valley in the Member’s riding, to help remediate the Canol Trail. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Does the Minister have an estimated dollar figure as to what the possibilities are the federal government is looking at? I say this because at one time the federal government said, looking at the Canol and funding, it is almost close to what it costs to clean up that we’re still cleaning up the Giant arsenic mine here, and that’s the equivalency of cleaning up the Canol Heritage Trail, and that’s just on a hiking-type of discussion I had with the federal government representative.

Can the Minister tell me if he has any type of numbers?

The Member probably knows the area better than anybody, having spent as much time up there as he has. He would also know that there is an infrastructure there. Sometimes the only way to get in there is to hike in or to take a helicopter. The cost of remediating and cleaning up, you know, what are remote sites, is going to be very, very expensive. I wouldn’t want to hazard a guess today on what that would cost, but it will be a tremendous figure to clean and remediate the old Canol Trail.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to follow up on my Member’s statement on energy

policy, and I direct it to whichever Minister takes responsibility for the current energy policy vacuum under which we are operating.

The government, as a regulator, needs to provide and be seen to provide a level playing field for businesses to be able to fairly compete and thrive.

How fair and level is the playing field when a private, highly regulated utility must bid against a publicly owned business directly and indirectly subsidized by over $100 million in recent years? And I mean this. On what basis has this Cabinet possibly met and decided that there’s a fair and level playing field here? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The Minister responsible for the Power Corporation, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are cost of living issues here. There are decisions being made in a community that’s interested in lowering those costs of living challenges, and it’s an issue for the territorial government. The Power Corporation is a vehicle for all people in the Northwest Territories, a Crown corporation with 42,000 shareholders. That’s the underlying impetus here. Thank you.

I will let that stand for itself. Government has decided to support communities in opening their franchises for power delivery and distribution, suggesting that there is money to be saved, as the Minister just said, and that the cost of living will be lowered significantly through competition. The cost of power generation is as significant, or more significant even, than distribution.

Is the Minister now also prepared to give communities the discretion to open power generation to competition in order to fully address power costs for both our consumers, the environment and our communities? Mahsi.

We already have the practice of entertaining power purchase agreements and buying power from folks who are generating it. For example, the people of Lutselk’e.

There wasn’t an answer there, but I do congratulate Lutselk’e by taking the bull by the horns and finessing a power purchase agreement, a rare animal indeed, from the Power Corporation.

Cabinet has severely restricted the power of the supposedly arm’s-length Public Utilities Board to protect the public by restricting their ability to adjust power rates by more than 1 percent per year. This change means correction to the 30 percent excess NTPC charges South Slave Power was assessed in 2008, the last time they did a cost of power study, could take decades.

As the government has arbitrarily taken this regulatory power away from the PUB, are they

similarly prepared to arbitrarily roll back this unfair windfall for the Power Corporation at the expense of power consumers in the South Slave? Mahsi.

Nothing has been arbitrarily taken away and we provide a role, as government, in an orderly measured way when we think it’s required to make sure that the system that we have before us functions to the best efficiency possible.

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

I will take that as a no, they won’t protect the people of the South Slave from that excess power charge.

This government seems willing to make decisions in a policy vacuum and without input, any input, an iota of input from Regular Members or Aboriginally owned communities, companies and consumers or communities, for that matter. As a Regular Member, I am acutely aware of the lack of such a policy and am uncomfortable, to say the least, to leaving such decisions to Cabinet’s most recent whims.

My question is: When can we expect a rigorous, comprehensive and collaborative process to develop the umbrella energy policy on which to base the decisions, transparent decisions, that so greatly affect our communities, our cost of living, which the Power Corporation has never addressed, and our environment? Mahsi.

I would suggest that for the last eight years now, we’ve been hard at work with our evolving energy strategy, from the time we put $60 million in our last government to a serious investment, $60 million towards alternative energy that we’ve come up with an energy plan. We’ve had energy charrettes that have helped structure and focus that energy plan. We’ve had another energy charrette last November and there is going to be a response tabled in the House this week. We have a power system plan from NTPC power as it was looking at infrastructure for the transmission line expansion to see if that was a viable option. We have a Biomass Strategy, a Solar Strategy, all of which have involved MLAs, have involved committees with regular briefings. So, the Member is erroneous in his assertions. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I have questions for the Minister of Human Resources with regard to how we hire our summer students. Every year we get summer students who come up from post-secondary school, whether it’s

in Alberta, BC, Yukon, even here in the Northwest Territories, Aurora College.

My first question is: How many government summer jobs are filled with post-secondary students? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As of May 28th , we had hired 249 that have signed

offers, 242 of those people are either finishing first year, second year, third year or in the fourth or fifth year. Seven of the 249 students will be starting university this fall. Thank you.

When putting out these jobs for competition with the students, has the Minister been working with the other departments or even with his department and looked at doing a coordinated start date for all post-secondary students so it creates an equal opportunity for all students who come back up to the North and for northern students, as well, to have the equal opportunity of applying on these jobs?

As we know, some schools, some colleges, some universities let their students out sooner than others. Obviously, those ones who are let out sooner have a greater advantage of putting their resumes out and possibly securing jobs while others are still in studies.

Has the Minister looked at creating a coordinated start date for all post-secondary students so that everyone gets an equal opportunity for these jobs? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The government starts accepting applications from university students, post-secondary students, any time after December 1st . We run the application phase right up until

August 15th , when some of the students are not

starting back immediately at the beginning of September. So, we try to coordinate it so the first group who usually finishes university for the year, end of April, we hire a few of the students, a majority of the students then, and we realize there are more students finishing at the end of May and at the end of June. We try to coordinate it so those students are given opportunities as well. Thank you.

I think the Minister mentioned earlier that there were about 19 pending applications out there, job offers. I don’t know what process they are in with these offers.

It’s June 1st already, so I know some students

would have gotten out of school at the end of April or even mid-April. We’ve still got some job pending offers here. As I mentioned, we still have Grade 12 students who are still taking studies, so they aren’t going to have the equal opportunity to get some of these government jobs.

What is the Minister doing to speed up the process so some of these jobs get filled a lot faster, giving our post-secondary students more time in the job so they can save their money for when they go back to school in the fall? What is the department doing to speed up that process to ensure our post-secondary students get into the jobs a lot sooner? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Last year we hired 212 students at the GNWT. This year, as I indicated, we have 268 students working, plus pending. So, if you compare it to last year, we are slightly ahead of the number at this point than we were last year.

What we’re doing is we are marketing ourselves in several ways. We have the e-mail messenger that goes out. We have a website. We looked at the human resources centres. We advertise in band offices. We talk to government services officers – we have 19 government service officers – and they are also involved. We have newspaper advertisements, et cetera, as an attempt to try to bring the students in as quickly as possible. So, we are fairly happy with the pace at which the students are coming in. We anticipate that we’ll be at least around the number that we were last year, or maybe a little bit better than that.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Within our public service system there are jobs that we have that are hard to fill, and I know at that meeting with Aurora College last week we talked about how do we look at creating programs for those hard-to-fill jobs. We talked about mentorship for our post-secondary students.

What is the Minister doing to address our mentorship problems when we have jobs that are hard to fill? If we have jobs that are hard to fill and we have a student that is trying to get into that program, what is he doing to accommodate those students to practice what they’re going to school for? Should we not have somebody in a position to mentor them?

We have been reviewing our vacancies and we have what we consider hard-to-fill positions of around 60 to 65 positions in the GNWT. Although not specifically targeted to those actual jobs, we do have some internship programs the government provides to the various departments, depending on the size of the department, a certain amount of money to get interns, and we provide enough money to have 32 interns in the GNWT. We usually end up filling all of those jobs. We also have a Progressive Experience Program within the student hires. We have 80 of those positions and currently we have 69 of them filled. The Department of Health and Social Services has the relevant experience programs for students and they have 24 of those positions in the

department and currently they have 15 of those positions filled.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions, as well, today are addressed to the Minister of Human Resources. I’d like to start off by asking him about an event that was held about two weeks ago, not that long ago. It was open houses that the Department of HR held in seven different communities across the NWT. I haven’t heard anything since they were held as to what sort of success there was from these open houses, what were the results of the initiative, so that’s my question to the Minister initially.

Were these open houses successful? Does he have any results that he can share with the House as to the success or failure of this initiative?

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The Minister of Human Resources, Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member is correct; there were open houses held across the North, and the idea would be to try to provide information to individuals who are interested in coming to work for the Government of the Northwest Territories. I don’t have the matching amounts for the number of individuals that have come to the open houses and whether or not that resulted in us hiring more individuals as a result of the open houses. I know that it has been a good avenue for disseminating information from Human Resources and several departments that do participate to getting people in the communities who are trying to get work with the GNWT.

So far the information I’ve got is it’s been successful, but I don’t have the particular numbers on each of the open houses that results in actual people coming to work for the GNWT.

I look forward to seeing the numbers that the Minister can pull together at some point in time. I’m not surprised he doesn’t have them. It was only two weeks ago, after all.

We’ve held open houses or career fairs, job fairs, whatever you want to call them, in the South as well. I would like to know from the Minister, my understanding is that when we hold a career fair or a job fair in the South that the staff that are attending these fairs are able to offer a job on the spot to applicants who they think are credible and could take a job. I’d like to know from the Minister if I’m correct in that assumption, and if that’s the case, was the same ability given to staff at the career fairs or the open houses that we held in the NWT? Were they able to hire people on the spot?

We are looking at the hard-to-fill positions, as the Member refers to the open houses in the South. We are looking at jobs that have been vacant for at least 18 months and have been advertised at least two times in the North and still with no success of filling the positions. Now we are trying to develop a team that will go down there and make job offers on the spot in those hard-to-fill positions. In the NWT, our open houses, we’re not dealing with the same group of people. These jobs are not considered hard to fill. We will go through the regular process of the departments working with HR to go through the advertising process. The people who are attending the open houses do not have the authority to hire people on the spot at open houses in the NWT.

To the Minister: That’s rather unfortunate. We have so many jobs in the GNWT which are unfilled, whether they’re hard to fill or whether they’re just “regular jobs,” so I fail to understand why the department wouldn’t want to hire as many people as possible, fill as many positions as possible, particularly in the North, but whether they be hard to fill or not.

One of the things that we have heard much about but have yet to see written on paper is the Population Strategy that this government is working towards bringing 2,000 bodies to the NWT to try and beef up our population.

I’d like to know what the Department of Human Resources is doing. What is their part in this Population Strategy to contribute to bring more residents to the territory?

The Department of Human Resources works with all of the departments and we are thinking that reducing the vacancy rate is something that will increase the population in the Northwest Territories. I referred earlier on in my response to hard-to-fill positions that where we will be actively trying to hire individuals from the South and giving the people the ability to hire on the spot. In those positions we’re expecting to increase the population by that.

As far as vacancies go, a year ago we had over 1,100, well, 1,175 vacancies six months ago. We’re down to 1,038 vacancies, and today we’re at 917 vacancies. Each time we do a vacancy we actively try to reduce the amount of vacant positions in the GNWT, and I think that we’re being fairly successful.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final, short supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks to the Minister. I totally agree. It seems like a no-brainer that reducing the vacancy rate is going to bring more people to the Northwest Territories. But I guess I would like to know from the Minister, if we’re trying to reduce our vacancy rate – and I

have to say, I have to give credit to the department for reducing the vacancies by 200 or so, as the Minister mentioned – or we’re trying to fill jobs, why would we not, at these open houses, albeit we’re giving out info, but why would we not give our staff the ability to hire on the spot to fill as many jobs as possible with Northerners?

To give them the authority to hire at the open houses within the Northwest Territories would not really be something that would be necessary. That’s the reason we’re not doing it. We could look at talking to departments that may want to go there and be prepared to look at applicants of certain positions that they may talk about in the open houses. But at this point we find that the departments are being relatively successful in trying to reduce the vacancy rates and do the hiring using the current method of how we are hiring people in the Northwest Territories. For that reason we had not contemplated the idea that individuals who are attending the open houses, we had the ability to hire on the spot.

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