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

Mr. Speaker, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission is an important milestone in Canada's history. The release of their report, Honouring the Truth, Reconciling the Future, this past June has moved the national discussion to reconciliation and provided tangible actions that need to be taken.

It has compelled Canadians to recognize and accept the history of our young nation. The discussion is no longer about whether the residential school experience happened or not. What it is about is this: Aboriginal people in Canada have suffered from and continue to suffer from the direct impacts of residential school abuse. There is a growing understanding that we must address this legacy now. It is our duty to help support those with lifelong scars to find closure.

Half of the population of the Northwest Territories is Aboriginal. We all know someone who has suffered the direct impact of residential school abuse. Many of their families and loved ones continue to be affected due to the physical, mental and sexual abuses endured at the hands of the residential school experience. It is imperative to the success of the Northwest Territories and its people, socially, culturally, economically, and spiritually, that reconciliation takes place. No one is immune to the impact of our shared history nor should anyone be left out of our shared future.

The Northwest Territories continues to be a model for the rest of the country not only through our policy

of respect, recognition and responsibility but through our many programs and services. Reconciliation is about building a nation where mutual respect between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples exists. In order for this to happen, there must be recognition and acceptance of the past, acknowledgement of the harm inflicted, atonement for the causes, and action to achieve change. The need for reconciliation in Canada is urgent.

Mr. Speaker, included with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's final report were 94 recommendations as Calls to Action. Since its release, our government departments have looked at each of the recommendations and have considered how we could - and should - respond to those not only directed to the Government of the Northwest Territories but also those where a national dialogue and response is needed. While we are already responding to many recommendations, we recognize much work still needs to be done.

Later today, I will table Meeting the Challenge of Reconciliation: The Government of the Northwest Territories' Response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Calls to Action. This document is a way for our government to value the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and for us to say that we have heard and we will continue to take actions. We owe it to our people. We owe it to Aboriginals across this country.

Meeting the Challenge is intended to be our initial response to the recommendations outlined in Calls to Action. The response highlights the many actions that the Government of the Northwest Territories has taken, from recognizing Aboriginal languages and funding Aboriginal governments to revitalize them, to mandating curriculum on the residential school experience. However, this response is just the beginning and there is more work to be done in the Northwest Territories and in Canada.

In our response, the Government of the Northwest Territories commits to further action aimed at achieving reconciliation. We will work with our residents and Aboriginal governments in our territory. We will work with our partners throughout Canada, including sharing with them the residential schools curriculum we developed in partnership with Nunavut. It's long overdue that we work together, as one nation, to encourage positive and concrete steps forward along the path of reconciliation.

As the 17^th Legislative Assembly comes to a close, I am certain that our government will continue to play a role in other ways that support Aboriginal people not only in the Northwest Territories but across Canada. We will continue to participate at national forums such as the Roundtable on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, to build relationships with Aboriginal governments in the spirit of respect, recognition and responsibility.

Mr. Speaker, I want to acknowledge the contribution of Commissioner Marie Wilson to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, to the people of Canada and to the people of the Northwest Territories. On their behalf, I would like to thank Marie for her service and assure her the people of the Northwest Territories will continue to be partners in reconciliation.

I look forward to seeing the benefit of reconciliation in our communities and across our country. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Premier. Honourable Minister of ENR, Mr. Miltenberger.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, or ENR, Strategic Plan for 2015-2020. This strategic plan, which will be tabled later today, establishes a vision, mission, values, goals and objectives for the department. The strategic plan incorporates the new responsibilities of ENR post- Devolution.

The 2015-2020 ENR Strategic Plan aligns with government policies, including the ENR Establishment Policy, and the GNWT Sustainable Development Policy and the Land Use and Sustainability Framework.

The development of the ENR Strategic Plan was a collaborative exercise. Opportunities were provided for all ENR regional and headquarters staff to engage and provide input into the development of this planning document for the department.

An action plan, which sets out strategic program priorities and key action items with measurable targets, is planned to be tabled during the February session to ensure alignment with priorities set by the 18^th Assembly. ENR will continue to engage and consult with its partners on programs and services, consistent with its past and current approach.

The 2015-2020 ENR Strategic Plan sets the stage for ENR to better coordinate its various responsibilities and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of program and service delivery. The strategic plan and associated action plan will replace the Framework for Action. These documents will be flexible and adaptable to changing circumstances and priorities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Honourable Minister of Transportation, Mr. Beaulieu.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to provide additional information to supplement my responses given during oral question period on September 29, 2015, regarding dredging the port of Hay River. The Department of Transportation has received a response from Fisheries and Oceans Canada to our most recent letter requesting dredging and federal marine facility maintenance.

The Government of the Northwest Territories is keenly aware of the critical need to restore the east channel of the Hay River and its approaches from Great Slave Lake back to safe marine navigating conditions.

The Department of Transportation has repeatedly identified Canada's responsibility for maintaining safe navigation conditions throughout the Mackenzie River Corridor in numerous contacts with the federal government.

In the mid-1990s, the federal government accepted the recommendation of the federal Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities that the private sector and entities benefitting financially from dredging should assume responsibility for this work. As a result, the national dredging program was discontinued, except in international waterways where Canada has a shared responsibility with the United States.

As a result of this decision, Canada stopped the dredging program on the Mackenzie marine system in 1993 and transferred the dredging equipment to the Town of Hay River, who eventually sold the equipment to a variety of private interests. The federal government has not performed any dredging since this program was cancelled.

In 1995 Transport Canada issued the National Marine Policy divesting itself of major ports. Ownership and responsibility for the remote northern marine facilities critical to the supply and delivery of essential goods to communities, the military and industry was transferred to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

The federal government constructed and still owns the community resupply facilities in the NWT. In the early 1990s, Canada and the GNWT entered into a memorandum of understanding to conduct the annual maintenance of these federal facilities on their behalf. The MOU arrangement continued until 2013-14, when Canada advised the GNWT it would be cancelled

Mr. Speaker, while the Northwest Territories no longer maintains the marine system on behalf of the federal government, we still have a role to play.

We recognize the importance of a viable harbour in Hay River to the economic well-being of the community, the region and the territory. In the upcoming months, we will convene a meeting of all parties with an interest in the harbour and begin working with them toward solutions. This includes accessing other sources of funding that might be available from the federal government, while continuing to respect the ongoing roles and responsibilities of all levels of government, the private sector and other stakeholders. Dredging is not just a Hay River issue but a territorial one. Other communities have dredging needs as well.

In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, the Department of Transportation will continue to work with our partners to maintain a safe and effective marine system for the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mr. Speaker, I wish to advise Members that the Honourable Jackson Lafferty will be absent from the House today to attend a funeral. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Item 3, Members' statements. Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My Member's statement today is on one of my very favourite topics. That is the hospital in Hay River, not the new hospital but the old hospital.

Mr. Speaker, every time we have anticipated what we are going to do with that piece of infrastructure once the new hospital is fully occupied, I have adhered to my belief and my philosophy that just because it's old doesn't mean it's no good, and it's actually not even that old. I was there for the ribbon cutting. I never thought about the meaning of that.

---Laughter

I really do believe that. Anyway, Mr. Speaker, I've hit a brick wall because they say, “Hey, you want a new hospital? You got a new hospital. Surely you don't expect the government to maintain the old one.” Then I was in a briefing about the Stanton Hospital and finally a light came on in my head. Guess what? They are going to build a new hospital in Yellowknife but they're going to give the developers of the new hospital the old hospital. I thought the precedent has been set, the template is there. So now we, in Hay River, need to get together a partnership, a coalition, a group of people in the community, perhaps some NGOs, and we need to look as a group at what the old hospital could be used for. I believe the government might even participate in the old Stanton Hospital to a certain level that they've capped off.

If we were going to actually demolish the old hospital in Hay River, there would be a technical review. There would be the cost of demolition and other costs associated with that. What I would like to get a commitment for is could we get... Now the Minister of Health is pointing at the Minister of Public Works, and that's why I laughed. Sorry.

So, if we could get a commitment that would allow us to go into this project and consider what it could be used for. There are many things that the old hospital could be used for. The other good news is that we have a window of opportunity, because there's 10 extended care beds in the old hospital right now and there's been a slight delay on replacing those 10 extended care beds at the new wing of Woodland Manor, and thank you for that. We're going to move those over there. That means we're going to have this empty building, and there are so many needs in the Northwest Territories, even the need for a territorial treatment centre. I know treatment centre is not a word that this government wants to hear about, but it is still a need. It is an expenditure. It's an operations expenditure of this government to send people to institutions in southern Canada. There is money there.

So, I don't know where this would go, but I want to go back to Hay River with my colleague Mr. Bouchard. We would like to talk to people in the community who may want to think about what we could use that for and then I would like this government to commit to giving Hay River the same consideration they gave Yellowknife in terms of giving this coalition in partnership the old Stanton Hospital. We would like the same consideration. You've set the precedent now; the template's there; we would like to move on that. We might just need a little money to hire a consultant to put our whole proposal together, but we'll be in touch with you on that. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In keeping with my continuing evaluation of the current administration, today I wish to talk about our growth in the GNWT workforce.

It is a known fact that managing the size of government is an important component of fiscal performance. Compensation and benefits for government's departments, boards and agencies account for approximately 40 percent of the GNWT's spending on operations. With the 2015-2016 average costs of compensation and benefits for a government employee at more than $100,000 per year, we should give this some attention today.

The GNWT workforce, which includes boards and agencies, has grown 30.7 percent from 2000 to 2015 to a total of 5,438 employees projected for the 2015-16 year. But when you isolate just boards and agencies, they have grown somewhat more than GNWT departments at the 33.1 percent respectively, although this rate of growth is significantly lower than the growth of operation spending, as I said earlier, at 115 percent, and our revenue at 149 percent during that same period.

Mr. Speaker, looking at this all from another angle, we need only to review GNWT employees as a percentage of the NWT population as a whole. If you look back to the 16^th Legislative Assembly, we witnessed a decrease in this relationship, and it's not until the start of the 17^th Legislative Assembly where we see a steady and modest trend upwards in our workforce growth.

We all know this administration was saddled with devolution responsibilities, so we need to evaluate how well all this managed in comparison to the trends in workforce growth. Understandably, we saw a substantial growth in the number of GNWT employees with devolution implementation. This is a given. But this contributed to the GNWT's workforce to rise above 12 percent of the total NWT population for the first time in our post-divisional history.

However, as I indicated earlier, even before devolution this percentage of workforce growth was rising moderately and trending at a much higher percentage than the previous three Assemblies. It is therefore my conclusion that although we saw reasonable stewardship of the devolution responsibilities as a percentage of workforce growth management, it is with the overall trend and management that I have a concern with. It is under this evaluation framework that I recognize the management of growth of the GNWT workforce for this McLeod government to be at a B minus grade. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's been four years since I've wanted to see a Minister's statement on dredging the port at Hay River. Amen. Hallelujah. We've finally got a statement that made that point.

We know the federal government is still not there and now at least the territorial government is listening. The crack of the door is open. Now we need to kick that door open and get this project going.

Last week I was talking about the fact that we are building roads, which used to be a federal responsibility, 75 federal, 25 for the territorial. If our federal partners aren't going to kick in the door and get this thing going, let's throw our 25 percent in. Let's get a project where we can get this dredging of the Hay River done.

I appreciate the statement and I appreciate the gesture, but a meeting? In four years it took us to get a statement that we're going to have a meeting? We need to get more results than that. We need to have a plan. I've been asking this territorial government to come together with a plan on the costs and how we can go forward from there. We need more than just a meeting. We need to get results.

I will have questions for the Minister on how we get this done sooner than later. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Today I must raise a serious concern brought to me by some of my constituents. The Hay River Committee for Persons with Disabilities and the NWT Council for Persons with Disabilities work together to provide handivan services to Hay River residents.

This essential transportation service helps people with disabilities or reduced mobility. With handivan services they can attend appointments, take job interviews, shop for groceries and complete other daily activities, all with ease and at reduced cost.

Once, Enterprise residents also had access to these services, but the hamlet has had this access cut off for more than the last year. That's not because the organizers want to. It's because the organization can't afford it. They are in a funding crunch.

There is absolutely no doubt that these services are much needed and well used. It's estimated that there are more than 100 pick-ups per month and more than 30 regular users, plus other clients who use a service on and off.

In the past the GNWT has said that this type of funding would be a municipal responsibility, but the GNWT must reconsider this position. Handivan services in Hay River and surrounding communities, including Enterprise, provide a specialized transportation service to individuals with unique medical needs. We must find a solution that will reinstate these services for our residents. Without the handivan, what other options do residents with disabilities have?

I'll have questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services at the appropriate time. Mahsi.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In May of 2001, the Premier of the day then tasked a steering committee to develop a partnership that would work on the issue of disabilities to promote inclusion of persons throughout the Northwest Territories through their disabilities. With that task force, they devolved through their Disability Steering Committee, they developed a partnership that identified five key areas, and I suspect my good colleague to my left, Ms. Bisaro, will be referring to them as well.

Under education: ensuring the...(inaudible)...free lifelong learning opportunities that maximize the potential of individuals with disabilities are realized.

Under employment: enhance the employability of persons with disabilities, encourage re-entry into the labour market and support more work opportunities.

Under income: design a system that is representative to the needs of persons with disabilities and provides for an income safety net which rewards individual's work efforts to the greatest extent possible, but which provides financial assistance if self-support is impossible and insufficient to meet the basic needs.

Under disability support the goal was to ensure that disability support provide for an active participation at home, at school, in the community and they maximize personal and economic independence.

Finally, the fifth area was housing, a goal to ensure that persons with disabilities will be provided with a range of housing opportunities that are affordable, accessible and that maximizes their independence.

At the time it was very forward thinking and all those involved should be applauded, but in 2008, when the Minister of the day presented to the House the NWT Action Plan for Persons with Disabilities, it was a leap forward. But that's as far as it went. Since that time, begrudgingly, the NWT Council for Disabilities has been trying to follow up to find out where it's gone. They had one question, which was: what's been accomplished? Other than a flurry of activity and scrambling for a little bit of excitement, little has been shown for the great report that was put together to change and improve the lives of people with disabilities.

The NWT Disabilities Council took it upon themselves to get out there into the communities, talk to service agencies, reach out and find out what's really happening on the ground. They found that there are so many people in the Northwest Territories - in the range of 16 percent, I believe it is - 14.6 percent of the population has a disability.

Although time is running out, this issue is still vibrant and very important. Rather than me extending my Member's statement, I'll have my good colleague to my left, Ms. Bisaro, pick up where I've left off. But it's an important issue all the same.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The history on this particular issue bears repeating, so there may be some things which are said twice here.

Fourteen years ago the Premier of the day recognized the importance of providing services for persons with disabilities in the NWT. There was an acknowledgement that there were gaps and that something needed to be done to close those gaps. By 2004 a framework had been developed and some 100 needs identified, and those needs were placed into the five building blocks of the framework, as mentioned by my colleague: education, housing, employment, income, and disability supports.

Sometime after 2004, work began on an action plan to address the needs of disabled persons. The NWT Action Plan for Persons with Disabilities was published in 2008. The plan's intention was to remove barriers for persons with disabilities in the NWT. Alas, that did not happen. Since 2008 we've seen and heard of very little action on the action plan. Why is that? Is it the same situation as homelessness was in a few years ago? No one has full responsibility, several unconnected people and departments doing what they can off the corner of their desks? I suspect so.

In 2012 the executive director of the NWT Disabilities Council highlighted the lack of action on the items in the action plan at the council's annual general meeting. Again, no action by government.

My colleague Mr. Moses asked questions of the Health and Social Services Minister in June of 2013. Again, no action on the action plan.

Recognition that something needs to be done for NWT's disabled residents seems to have disappeared into a black hole. Last year a frustrated Disabilities Council set out to evaluate the 2008 plans and conducted a very extensive survey of the state of disabled persons in the NWT. They reached into every community but one, and heard from 321 respondents. Their findings were published earlier this year.

Unfortunately, of the 100 needs identified in 2001, most have seen little or no action since 2007. The NWT Disabilities Services Project was provided to government some months ago, but the council has heard nothing back on either the contents of the report or the five recommendations in it.

I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

The government mindset from the previous decade seems to still exist where the issue of services for disabled persons is concerned. The issue is still in that black hole. But it must be removed from that black hole. The decade of inaction has to be replaced with a commitment to action. We have 5,000 to 6,000 persons with disabilities in the NWT and about 50 percent of them are seniors. We have a half-finished action plan. We have residents who need better programs and services so they can lead a better life.

It's not too late to act. This Assembly can send a message to the 18^th Assembly. We can tell them, make a commitment to our disabled persons, make the provision of programs and services a priority, take steps to address their needs. We can do this, and I look forward to Members sending this message when we debate the motion later today.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Over the course of this Assembly I have stood up on many occasions to speak to a very serious issue throughout the Northwest Territories. That is dealing in our small communities, specifically in the areas of bootlegging and the drug deals that continue to plague our residents of the Northwest Territories and continue to target our youth and our most vulnerable in our small communities. Obviously, as a result, there are devastating effects not only on our residents but our families, our communities, and the territory as a whole.

When we hear about tragedies, whether they're accidental, suicides, homicides, crime, violent crime, it all hits everybody very close because we're a small territory and a small population. When you think about some of these crimes where people are profiting off of some of our most vulnerable in the communities, you only have a handful of liquor stores in the Northwest Territories, yet we still continue to have crime and other issues happening in our small communities. Somehow the liquor is getting in there, the drugs are getting in there and we've got to find a way to address this issue a lot sooner than later.

I bring this up only because we continue to see it, we continue to hear about it and we need people in the Northwest Territories to speak up. We need people in the Northwest Territories to empower and support one another to let the RCMP and their leaders know who are doing these acts of crime in the community by bootlegging, selling to our youth, selling to our elders, selling to those who are battling addictions.

We can start by pushing a lot of funding, a lot more work into prevention and promotion, doing the education, creating more awareness within our people to get them understanding how they can take a big step against this issue. I know we've done stuff here in the House such as the Victims of Crimes Act, seizing property and those kinds of things. Plus we've done a really strong campaign in the Sahtu and here in Yellowknife. We've got to get people in the Northwest Territories to understand, and the drug dealers and the bootleggers, that this is not acceptable, it's not going to happen in the Northwest Territories.

I will have questions for the Minister of Justice later about how he can support our small communities to get the bootleggers and the drug dealers out of the community. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Premier's proclaimed legacy of the 17^th is devolution of powers from the federal government to the people of the North, but this claim remains a mirage, something shaky and blurry seen on a far off horizon. Like so many of the pickles we find ourselves in and leaving for the 18^th to deal with, we allowed Mr. Harper to dictate our actions. The results are no surprise: First Nations groups left out in the cold, federal legislation on which to manage our lands and resources, a government that listens to Northerners worse than Ottawa does. Are our people better off now than before devolution? I think not.

Devolve and evolve, the Premier said. We will make it made-in-the-North legislation entirely our own, and once the federal legislation had been adopted, he even sponsored a website over the summer so people could give up their time to wade through the highly technical laws and sets of regulations. So, dedicated souls actually did comment, but to no effect. The public soon discerned that this was a hollow offer, a political gesture and the McLeod government had no intent to make this legislation our own.

It remains incomprehensible to me that we can mirror federal legislation without any plan to have an immediate and thorough review of it by the people of the Northwest Territories. What concerns me now is that this government is finding the Harper approach of control and direction much more to their liking than taking things to the people and responding to the public voice. We now hear our leaders parrot the same old things as Ottawa. We need to streamline, reduce regulations that were designed to protect the land and ensure local control of the pace and scale of development. We need to pass laws that subsidize multi-nationals and allow us to get in bed with them to build them big costly infrastructure, or even to train wee children's minds with corporate logos seen from birth onwards, all to let the extractive industry have their own way rather than to maximize public benefit.

How about distributive income, addressing disparate income? How about environmentally and socially responsible development? So, what is required?

Legislation inherited from the federal government needs to be redrafted and assigned to the respective committees of this Legislature for review. It needs to be assigned to committees and presented to the people in plain language for community hearings, discussions, debate and amendment. Until then and until all First Nation governments have signed on, any declaration of devolution is premature and, indeed, misleading.

This government is leaving an awful lot of heavy lifting for the next Assembly. Sadly, it is clear that making devolution a reality can be added to that list. Mahsi.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Some time ago when I was reading a book, one of the sentences that I read from the author asked the audience, he said to the audience, “How do you eat an elephant?” One piece at a time was the response. I want to use that phrase in the ways how do you build a highway? One section at a time.

The Sahtu is hungry for a highway. We've been waiting. It's about time that we come into the 21^st century.

Over the weekend I went to Norman Wells. I purchased 10 kilograms of flour here at Walmart, $11.97. In Norman Wells it's $45. Same bag, same kilograms, big difference. People in the Sahtu need a highway. We have heard from the federal government: one highway at a time. So, I ask this government, get that highway to Tuk built so we can start in the Sahtu region. Open up our resources. There's a huge population of young people who want to work. We have a potential of wealth of resources sitting there: our people. That's the potential. There's potential in resources. Our people are hungry for work. They want a highway.

I know there was a submission made to the Minister of Transportation's government to start doing section by section. People are needing to work desperately. It's time to unleash the potential of the people in the Sahtu. Connect us to the rest of the Northwest Territories. Bring down the cost of living. Families want to go out, but you can only go out during the winter months, but then it means the cost of education, or taking time off.

People want to develop their skills, build their roads, build their destination. They want to be part of the Northwest Territories, not always sitting on the sideline.

I'll have questions for the Minister on where is our highway for the Sahtu. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Myself and residents of Fort Simpson are looking forward to the completion of the planning study for the replacement of the Fort Simpson Health Centre. During this session, while we deliberated the capital plans, I was very disappointed to see the project on the books seven years from now during the budget of 2022-2023.

This is a 40-year-old building that needs to be replaced sooner than later. A new facility will improve the quality of health care delivery to Fort Simpson and region. With a new building and new modern health equipment, we can deliver better services.

The health centre was red flagged for the past two years, meaning that the facility was to be built at the next opportunity. It was our own engineers who recommended a replacement due to its age and increasing maintenance costs, so we all are on the same page. We all believed in the importance of replacing this facility. Why is this facility now moved seven years into the future?

I'll be asking the Minister of Public Works and Services questions at the appropriate time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last year the hamlet council in Aklavik issued a notice to all public places in the community to provide safer parking areas to protect people and property. This is an urgent concern at Moose Kerr School.

As I told my colleagues in the House last week, Moose Kerr School can only offer parking on the road. This makes navigating the school property dangerous for students, teachers and visitors, not to mention more difficult for drivers.

The hamlet council has obtained a quote for the work needed to solve this problem. Costs are estimated at $27,000, but the budget of the Aklavik District Education Authority is limited, with no extra money to take on a project such as this.

As I said last week, we must be proactive, not reactive. This kind of roadwork can't wait until a student is injured. It has to be done now to prevent accidents and injuries and to make Moose Kerr School a safer place to be.

My questions today will be for our Premier. I will be asking the Premier to direct the department to look into this urgent need and find a way to help build angle parking that will solve this problem for a safer school in Aklavik. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Blake. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery.

Before I open up the floor, I'd like to welcome my sister-in-law, Ms. Vivian Edgi-Manuel, to the House. Welcome.

Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have stood up many times and talked about the value of our Youth Ambassador Program. I'm very proud today to have a number of our youth ambassadors up in the gallery. They were receiving, I think it was the 2015 Pan Am Games team was receiving the Minister's Culture and Heritage Circle Award, so we're awfully proud of their accomplishment. We have four youth up there representing the youth ambassadors. We've got Jacob Peffer from Inuvik, we've got Ryan Tourangeau from Fort Smith, Karl Gardlund from Yellowknife, and we have Stacie Bengts from Yellowknife, and we also have two staff members who work very hard at making sure the program runs smoothly. We've got Colinda Blondin and we have Dawn Moses. So, we'll welcome all to the gallery and recognize the achievement.

We also have, from Inuvik Twin Lakes, Jeannie Snowshoe. Welcome to the gallery.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to take this opportunity to recognize all of the Pages who are providing us such incredible services here in the Legislative Assembly. They liquidated us well. That's not the right word, but you know what I mean. Hydrated. Properly hydrated. Liquidated, that's good, eh? You like that? They keep us properly hydrated; they keep the information flowing; so I really want to take an opportunity to thank all the Pages and, in particular, a Page from the Great Slave Riding, Kelsy Nayally. Welcome to the Chamber and thank you so much.

I also want to recognize a constituent of the Great Slave riding who has joined us the last couple of days, Mr. Kieron Testart. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Mr. Beaulieu.

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Today we celebrate the 5^th Annual Minister's Culture and Heritage Circle. In Minister Lafferty's absence, I would like to recognize the recipients of this year's awards. In the Youth category: the 2015 Pan Am and Parapan Am NWT Youth Ambassadors. Of the 32 youth ambassadors from across the NWT, there are four here today representing the group: Stacie Bengts of Yellowknife, Ryan Tourangeau of Fort Smith, Jacob Peffer of Inuvik, Karl Gardlund of Yellowknife. In the Elder category: Jeanna Graham from the Hay River Reserve. Individual category: Berna Beaulieu from Behchoko. Group category: Yellowknife Ukrainian Association. The award was accepted today by Donna Marie Ouellette and Trisha Graham Minister's Choice category: Vivian Edgi-Manuel of Fort Good Hope. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Mr. Dolynny.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, through you and to you, I'd like to introduce one of our recipients, we've heard earlier today, for the Ukrainian award, and that is a member of Range Lake, Trisha Graham. Thank you for joining us today.

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would also like to congratulate Ms. Vivian Edgi-Manuel for her prestigious award on the Minister's Choice for Culture. She has done a wonderful job.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to recognize Jasmine Hardisty, my constituency assistant from Fort Simpson who is chaperoning the Fort Simpson Pages this week. Welcome to the gallery.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It gives me great pleasure to recognize a couple of people quickly. First off, I'd like to recognize a constituent of mine, Ms. Karen Wright-Fraser. I've know her for a very long time. We all know Karen is a wonderful woman who is a timeless talent of the ages in the art of Gwich'in traditional arts and crafts, so she is certainly a hero to her community and women alike in her amazing talents. To that, I give a great nod.

The other person I'd like to quickly recognize is Denise McKee. She is up in the gallery here today and I suspect she is here for the motion that will be on the floor later today. She is the executive director of the NWT Disabilities Council. If Denise doesn't pull you aside, I'll remind you that the 2015 Annual Benefit Auction is November 20^th at the YK Inn. See you soon.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Nadli.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to recognize Ms. Jeanna Graham from the K'atlodeeche First Nation. Jeanna is an elder who was recognized in the Minister's culture awards. At the same time, Jeanna serves on the band council, as well, on the K'atlodeeche First Nation. As well, to all the recipients of the Minister's culture awards, I'd like to extend congratulations.

Thank you, Mr. Nadli. Mr. Bouchard.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to acknowledge Elsie Bouvier, one of my constituents, who is proud to be with her friend Jeanna, who won an award today at the Culture and Heritage Circle Awards.

Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to recognize Weledeh constituent Dawn Moses. Dawn I don't think is the sister of my colleague here. Dawn is actually a Jane Glassco Northern Fellow of the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation in policy and leadership development, so I am very proud to have her as a constituent.

I'd also like to recognize any other Weledeh constituents I'm not aware of in the audience and also, of course, congratulate all those who are winners of the Culture and Heritage Awards.

I'd also like to recognize Denise McKee and all her work on behalf of the people with disabilities. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Mr. Moses.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are a few people I'd like to recognize here today. First, a young gentleman who has really come a long way and is a good role model in the community of Inuvik, Mr. Jacob Peffer, as well as all the other youth ambassadors receiving the Minister's Culture and Heritage Circle Awards today. Obviously, that program could not have been done without great leadership. I'd like to recognize Ms. Colinda Blondin and Dawn Moses for all the work that they do. In a previous job, I know the hard work that goes into making the program successful.

I'd also like to recognize Ms. Jeanna Graham. In another job that I had as a CHR and tobacco coordinator for the territory, we did a lot of work together, and she was a very strong advocate for the people of Hay River and Hay River Reserve.

As well, a couple of relatives of mine, Ms. Jeannie Snowshoe and Ms. Karen Wright-Fraser. Welcome to the proceedings and congratulations to all the award winners here today.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to recognize Ted Blondin, the chair of the Tlicho Community Services Agency. Welcome to the Assembly.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Also, I'd like to welcome Mr. Jacob Peffer, my friend and ordering all my skidoo parts every year. Thank you for all the hard work. Then my daughter Kirstin Jacobson here in the House today.

Item 6, acknowledgements. Item 7, oral questions. The Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to follow up on questions I started last week with the Minister of Public Works and Services on the Energy Efficiency Act and discussion paper. The other day the Minister outlined some of things we have done to reduce energy consumption. I was pleased to hear of that progress. However, we've got a long overdue Energy Efficiency Act and a commitment to getting that in place. Since we didn't do that, we committed to at least doing a discussion paper. Where is that promised document for our review? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The Minister for the Department of Public Works, Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you. The discussion paper on the Energy Efficiency Act has been drafted. The Department of Public Works is now consulting with the other departments that are impacted by the act. After that they will then be discussing that more broadly. I think that by the time the department finishes looking at the discussion paper it will probably be in the next Assembly, but the discussion paper has definitely been drafted. Thank you.

Another commitment not made and this is what's slowing us down on our work to deal with the cost of living, environmental issues and so on and causing people to leave or not come to the North. So, very disappointing.

I'm wondering: will the paper, should it be done soon, as the Minister indicates it might be, actually prepare the 18^th Assembly to efficiently do what we have not done, and that is put an effective and timely act into place.

So, will the promised discussion paper be comprehensive, ready and waiting and enabling for the 18^th Assembly as they begin their work? Mahsi.

That is the plan, that we do present a discussion paper that's thorough to the next Assembly and that a lot of the legwork will be completed in the discussion paper. Hopefully, once that is done, soon after the next government they will start to move forward with the act. Thank you.

Given that the whole government can see this except this side of the House, I'm wondering if the Minister could share with us what are the major elements that the paper will address when finally delivered. Mahsi.

I don't have that information with me, but I am prepared to have the department share the major elements. I can provide a briefing in written form to the committee that will highlight all of the major elements that we're looking at in this Energy Efficiency Act.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister has indicated he was prepared to answer my questions, so I'm wondering how the Minister sees this legislation helping us to reduce our cost of living, our energy and electricity bills and our energy consumption. Mahsi.

As a result of the act, the department will be able to develop a lot of the policies that would be directed to corporations, to be directed to the government, directed to the public on ways that they can reduce energy costs right across the territory and all aspects of our business. I'm hopeful that this act will allow government to work with the public and with industry in all areas to allow everybody to become more efficient energy-wise. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know that there is a pre-set method by which capital assets are disposed of by this government. To the fact that the hospital in Hay River, the old hospital, at some point in the next two to three years, two years perhaps, will no longer be used by this government, I would like to ask the Minister of Public Works and Services if this government would entertain an unsolicited proposal from a community partnership coalition in Hay River for the acquisition of that building and land. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Minister of Public Works, Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I didn't believe that would be part of the regular disposition process. That would be first released by the Department of Health and Social Services, the building, then the second part would be to see if any departments in the government have any use for it, then after that it would be available for NGOs. Thank you.

We also know that there's been a precedent set many times whereby the government has made a contribution to create a proposal for a program or activity, and a proposal would have to identify revenue sources, potential sources of grants and contributions to run a program.

Would the government also entertain, please, a contribution agreement to such a coalition or partnership in Hay River to develop this property? Thank you.

I can't make a commitment from the Legislative Assembly today to contribute to a proposal, but we would be pleased to look at your proposal. If there's a proposal coming forward, the government would be pleased to look at the proposal. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My first question will be to the Minister responsible for disabilities. In 2012 the NWT Disabilities Council asked for an update on the NWT Action Plan for Disabilities. Part of their launch of the action plan originally identified a hundred concerns and they were further refined down to five particular themes. Of course, things like education, employment, income, and disability supportive housing were the themes that they had refined them down to.

The question to the Minister is: When will there be a progress report on the success of that action plan and when will we see it either tabled in this House or tabled publicly for us to move forward on this initiative? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins, Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The departments have taken a number of actions to address a number of recommendations that were in that report. The Department of Health and Social Services, as an example, has included a number of the recommendations in many of the different strategies were dealing with, like early childhood development. But I'd be happy to pull together a summary of what we've done with respect to each of the action items in the different areas within the department and I will certainly work with the other departments to pull that together.

We probably won't be able to get that done in the next four days, but I will commit to having that available for the future government and the new Members coming in early in the life of the next Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I certainly appreciate that answer. In 2014 the NWT Disabilities Council decided on their own initiative to conduct their own territory-wide survey. So, they reached out to clients, caregivers and certainly professionals obviously connected to disabilities. Their survey reached out to more than 320 people in all communities but one.

My question for the Minister of Health and Social Services is: What is the Department of Health doing with that valuable survey information gathered by the NWT Disabilities Council, and are they able to put it into some type of use and action, because it is incredibly important information. Thank you.

I've reviewed that, as well, and it is an incredibly good document. I do want to applaud the NWT Disabilities Council for their initiative and incredibly hard work.

As I've indicated, we've taken action on a number of items that were in the initial action plan that was provided and they've been included in a different strategies or different action items that we've been moving forward, like the early childhood development. We've done a significant amount of work around respite. Moving forward, the type of information that was provided to us is going to help us inform these different program areas so that we're meeting the needs of persons with disabilities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As my colleague had said, this is a multi-disciplinary issue. So, in other words, what that really is, is government jargon that's spread across multiple departments and it's difficult to nail one person as responsible.

The initial action plan identified five key areas. I won't go through them again, but maybe the Minister can talk about how the department has helped facilitate better housing for people with disabilities and found ways to help them work through poverty to ensure we can get them back into the workforce to do better things, because they want to be in a meaningful role in society and we should be facilitating that. So let's target the area of housing and how we've made their lives better.

We are always working with the other departments, sharing technical expertise and information.

With respect to housing, we have occupational therapists who are available to do some assessments for individuals to determine what, if anything, they need in their individual homes, grab bars, ramps, many other things. So we do work with that. The Housing Corp has put in a program - I believe it's called CARE, but I'm not 100 percent sure and I will confirm that later - where people can actually apply for money to do those ramps. We have occupational therapists and others who can come in and do assessments to determine what is needed in those homes.

Mr. Speaker, the Member may want to ask the Minister responsible for the Housing Corp a couple of these questions, but they are also putting in housing throughout the Northwest Territories and much of it is accessible so that individuals who are living with disabilities can have homes and access to living units. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It was on the tip of my tongue on the last question, but I was trying to find out if the Minister of Health and Social Services was tasked with the lead role on the Disability Steering Committee for these initiatives. So, he is somewhat responsible for all the areas.

My last question is really focused around employment, and some people say the best poverty plan is jobs, an action plan, creating employment for people. I did talk earlier in my statement about stabilizing income and helping people so they can have a meaningful quality role in society that they so truly deserve and desire.

What is the Minister doing and what can the Minister explain to this House that the department has done to help provide opportunities for employment initiatives to help people with disabilities live meaningful lives while they can contribute and make an income? Thank you.

The Department of Education, Culture and Employment has taken the lead on the Labour Market Agreement for Persons with Disabilities. The labour agreement was signed with the Government of Canada in February 2014 to provide funding to better support education and training and to put more employment participation for persons with disabilities. This agreement is one of a series of labour market agreements successfully negotiated between the GNWT, particularly the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, and the Government of Canada with some targeted initiatives for some older workers and others. So, the Department of Education has taken a lead on this and has negotiated the agreement. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to ask my questions to the Minister of Transportation about transportation in the Sahtu region, specifically the Mackenzie Valley Highway. I know that the Tulita district has submitted a submission under the Community Access Program in an effort to see that some work can get done in the region to prepare the young workers to be ready once the Mackenzie Valley Highway is under construction, which is an initiative the federal government has undertaken.

Can the Minister update this House and people in the Sahtu as to this community access proposal that has been submitted by the Tulita District Corporation?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are many aspects to the Mackenzie Valley Highway. I recognize that each of the groups are interested in having an opportunity to train some of their people and start to build some access to materials that they would need to build a Mackenzie Valley Highway should we see approval. The Tulita district, I recognize that their proposal, I believe is what the Member is referring to, was to come south from Tulita to access the first gravel access further south, which I believe is 32 kilometres. They are also looking at the possibility of staging the Mackenzie Valley Highway, should we get approval. That is staging the highway so that the Bear River Bridge would be the first piece of the Mackenzie Valley Highway from Wrigley to Norman Wells. That would give them a closer access to the first bit of material, which would be on the other side of the river from Tulita and not too far away from Tulita.

With that, I know the department has been looking at all of the access road proposals, which is beyond the scope of what we would consider community access. These are access roads, more capital, that is working towards the eventual construction of the Mackenzie Valley Highway. Thank you.

Over the years the people in the Sahtu, specifically the Tulita District Corporation, have worked for a number of years on a proposal to look at building infrastructure. They have looked from Norman Wells south to Tulita. They actually put in the Canyon Creek proposal.

Where is that proposal within the federal government's infrastructure, capital planning? Where is it in this government? What can the people expect from that proposal in the coming years from this government and our government? When can we start building our roads in the Sahtu?

Another important part of the Mackenzie Valley Highway has been the Canyon Creek Road. Canyon Creek Road will give people the ability, who are eventually going to be building the highway, to access material for the highway. Canyon Creek proposal has been reviewed, approved at our level, GNWT. We've now included it in the overall Building Canada Plan bundle number two. We are presenting three different bundles to the government. We had bundle one approved last June. What we are hoping to do is have bundle two approved anywhere between January and March of 2016, and we're hoping as soon as that's approved, we will be able to start some construction on the Canyon Creek Road. Thank you.

That is good news and that it comes through from bundle two and the approved Build Canada projects.

Does this give enough incentive for this government to say we can look at a proposed highway transportation office in the Sahtu? Will that give enough to move your thinking to start planning a transportation office that's needed in the Sahtu? I have asked this question over 100 times and I got 100 different reasons why this government said no to a regional transportation office in the Sahtu. Is this enough? Thank you.

Prior to potential construction of a Mackenzie Valley Highway, we will have probable opportunities to have year-round or an independent region in Norman Wells would be of all of the major access roads. We are talking about the access road and the new proposal that's taking the access from Good Hope to Jackfish Lake, and the new proposal that would take the next step from Tulita south, and also Canyon Creek. If all of those were funded, there may be a lot of summer work that may be required in conjunction. If that Mackenzie Valley was approved, there would be probably enough work to have a highway section based in Norman Wells that could ultimately become a region on its own.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So that's 100 no's so far. I want to ask the Minister, given that the lights are going to be closing pretty soon on the 17^th Assembly, and this is going to be my third government that I've been asking for a regional transportation office - this is the third one now - I want to ask if this is enough, you know that the work that is going to happen in the Sahtu, to put even an interim or a part-time or something to show that maybe the next government will have the might and determination to say yes, we can do this. I want to ask him if that's something that's going to go into some report, because after 12 years you still get a no from this government, as much as we could show it will be a while if you follow the Minister's projection, it will be a while before we get a full-time transportation office in the Sahtu.

I wonder how it would be if we had something like that in Yellowknife where the regional office was in Behchoko or Gameti or Lutselk'e and see how they like it.

It's more an issue of the volume of work. Right now, all of the airport divisions, the airports in the regions all report to a regional superintendent. One of the solutions that the Member at one time proposed was that perhaps the first step would be to move the airport operations in the Sahtu to report to headquarters here in Yellowknife, and we had looked at that. Right now that would be a bit of hybrid from what we're doing. What we wanted to do was continue to move forward on the Member's demand to have basically a highways section, a marine section and an airport section all in a regional office. When we come to that conclusion, the only highway basically is the winter road. So far what's been happening is by servicing the winter road out of Simpson, and placing people in the Sahtu throughout the whole winter road season seemed to be an effective way to deal with all of the DOT operations in the Sahtu at this time.

As I indicated, if there was more highway, like the Mackenzie Valley Highway, for sure that would become a possibility where there would be enough volume of work in the Sahtu that we could have an office in Norman Wells, but today there just isn't.

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

m Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just in follow-up to my Member's statement, I have some questions for the Premier. Will the Premier ensure the Department of Education, Culture and Employment meets with the Aklavik District Education Authority and Moose Kerr School to investigate this problem with parking and to find the funds needed?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As a government and the Department of ECE takes the concerns raised by the school representatives very seriously, and of course, our children and our students' safety is of utmost concern. For that reason, we are working closely with the Aklavik DEA as well as Public Works, and certainly, we will facilitate that work gets done to deal with this issue.

I'd like to thank the Premier. That sounded like a definite yes that this work will be completed. But we've had four months to ensure that this work is completed, and in the Mackenzie Delta the ground is starting to freeze. We are running out of time to build this parking lot. We'll be lucky if we have another week or two before everything starts freezing up, the material. You know, that makes costs go up slightly. I'd like to see this work completed within the next week or two if the Premier can ensure that that happens.

We first became aware of this issue in the summer of 2014 when the hamlet raised concerns with potential public safety issues. When ECE met with the DEA in February of 2015, the hamlet indicated that they would use signage to restrict parking in the area around the school, and they put up appropriate signage to that effect. But to fix the problem longer term, the hamlet has advised that they need to do some drainage improvements, so we see the solution as being part of that, and certainly, we will follow up with them to see if we can get the work done this year.

Just so I'm very clear, will the Premier ensure that that $27,000 is provided to make sure this work is done?

The hamlet advised us that they needed to make some drainage improvements along one of the streets near the school, and they see it as an opportunity to make some further enhancements to allow for some off-street parking. The total cost for the drainage improvements including creating a leveled area for parking is in the order of $32,000. This work will be done by the hamlet, and the hamlet has infrastructure money to do that. Our Public Works and Services will contribute surplus gravel for the angled parking area and they will contribute something in the neighbourhood of $3,000 worth of surplus gravel.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is clearly the government's property here. We're putting a lot of burden on the community that have those funds designated for other projects. They have done all the work to the drainage that is needed. This property is Public Works' property and I feel that these funds should come from this government, from Public Works, because that is their building.

Public Works consulted with ECE and the DEA. We have received confirmation that the hamlet is agreeable to establish some off-street parking in conjunction with the proposed drainage improvements. Now it's a question of the timing. As the Member indicated, winter is coming, so we will follow up to see and to try to make sure that the work is done on a timely basis.

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Earlier I spoke about the much needed Fort Simpson replacement health centre. I'd like to ask the Minister of Public Works a few questions on the planning study and, as a result, the capital planning process as well.

I'd just like to ask the Minister, what stage is the planning study at currently?

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In February 201, an RFP was issued for phase one of the planning study, including needs assessment, operational plan and a functional program and feasibility analysis. A planning study services was awarded to Western Health Planning and Associates since then.