This is page numbers 6699 – 6756 of the Hansard for the 17th Assembly, 5th Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was going.

Topics

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

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

---Unanimous consent granted

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

For the sake of our young families, I hope the Minister will confirm real progress and certainty on moving forward with territorial midwifery in Yellowknife soon. I will have questions. Mahsi.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I want to talk about the exciting partnership that is benefitting the people of the Deh Cho. Aboriginal language revitalization is an award-winning and accessible four-year certificate program taught out of the University of Victoria but based here in the NWT. It pairs fluent speakers with adult students interested in learning Dene Zhatie, also known as South Slavey. I wanted to take the opportunity to briefly say something in my language as well.

[English translation not provided.]

This program is innovative because, unlike a traditional classroom setting, students get the opportunity to speak their language frequently, and not just when they are in class. Students must put in 100 hours of conversation with their mentors over the duration of the program with no English allowed. The groundbreaking program was featured earlier this year on CBC, at which time 17 students were participating.

This language program is being hosted by the Deh Gah School in Fort Providence in collaboration with the University of Victoria. I think it is a great program to preserve an Aboriginal language. I want to congratulate this year’s graduates and encourage anyone who wishes to learn or improve their Dene Zhatie to consider this exciting program.

Student Dahti Tstetso says…[English translation not provided]…anything is possible, one day I will speak really good Dene. Mahsi cho.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Diabetes In The NWT
Members’ Statements

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The main cause of death, disease and disability in Canada and the Northwest Territories today are chronic diseases and injury. However, a large proportion of chronic diseases, disabilities and injuries can be prevented or their onset can be delayed.

Today I’d like to speak to one particular chronic disease that we have in the Northwest Territories and that’s diabetes. Anybody that knows anybody who has diabetes or has suffered from diabetes knows that

it can lead to such things as kidney failure, blindness, lower limb amputations as well as risk of heart disease.

Currently, there are about 2,900 NWT residents in the Northwest Territories who are living with diabetes and every year it’s expected that 200 new diagnosis will happen. We do have a high prevalence, and with the increase in childhood obesity as well as obesity throughout our NWT residents, it only puts more people at risk. As well as the personal lifestyle choices that residents of the Northwest Territories have for themselves it also puts them at risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

The Canadian Diabetes Association recommends that diabetes care is patient-centred and is delivered by a multi-disciplinary team with specific training in diabetes, and focuses on such things as prevention, effective screening and management.

The Canadian Diabetes Association also recommends things such as a Pharmacare program so that people living with diabetes can access medications, devices and supplies they need to manage their disease. They also talked about possibly putting a sugar-sweetened beverage tax on such things as sports drinks, pop, diet pop, juices and, something that we see more prevalently, energy drinks. There is a clear connection between the high consumption of these drinks and the development of type 2 diabetes.

As I mentioned earlier, we do have a lot of NWT residents living with the disease. It’s very prevalent in the Northwest Territories.

I will be asking questions of our Minister of Health today how we’re treating the people with diabetes, but how we’re trying to prevent it and promote the education and awareness. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Diabetes In The NWT
Members’ Statements

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. For the past 35 years, the Yellowknife Day Care Association has been providing quality daycare services in a downtown GNWT-owned building, but now they’ve reached the absolute critical impasse and they need our help more than ever.

ECE has come to the strange decision that it is now time that the daycare has to go, and they’ve given them their notice. That’s right. Minister Jackson Lafferty is telling these kids it’s time to go. So, as each kid, as the daycare starts the day by turning on the lights and they get the important services of child care up and running for 55 kids, those kids will now have to find a new home.

The Yellowknife Day Care Association is a treasure to the downtown. They provide quality, reliable, affordable options for parents. But Minister Lafferty has determined as of July 31, 2016, that’ll be their last day. That’s right, Mr. Speaker. Next summer these kids will be kicked to the streets. Why? Well, I can only speculate as to why, but the truth is we haven’t really heard a solid or honest answer why they need to be rushed out the door. To be fair, the YK Day Care knows and certainly agrees that the building that they’re in is coming to the end of its useful life.

So while the smiles and laughter may be singing away in the air of the daycare each and every day, it’s true that building may be tired, but there are no, and I repeat there are no health and safety issues with that particular building, even the GNWT’s own studies say that that’s true. Yes, it has gone along and its useful life may be coming near the end, and the building may be older, true, but by seniors’ standards, it barely is a senior. It’s not that old. So why now? Why rush the daycare out the door before it’s ready to take the plunge in the open market and buy their own building?

They have been saving money for years, but they don’t quite have enough yet to do it on their own. So, if Minister Lafferty would support this daycare so they could get set up right, they would be in a position to succeed, but not just that, they could also expand a desperately needed area such as a daycare our community needs.

Let me remind Minister Lafferty that this daycare offers 55 child care spaces each and every day. The Minister personally knows about children and how important they are. He’s got a lot of kids, for goodness sakes. He should know. All I can tell you is that we have 12 out of the 24 licenced spaces allotted for children between the ages of one and…

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

I’m sorry, Mr. Hawkins, your time for Member’s statement has expired.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was just trying and squeeze in the last couple of words before I asked. I seek unanimous consent to conclude my Member’s statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

What I was trying to say is this daycare has 12 out of the 24 licenced allotted spaces for children in Yellowknife between the ages of one and two years old. Those are precious spaces because they’re critical so parents can go back to work, otherwise what would they do? So I’m asking the Minister to stop and think about what they’re doing before they kick the kids to the street.

There are solutions. This government has given money to other daycares. A couple years ago, our government gave $1 million to one that needed it desperately. So the fact is there are solutions out there and we have to stop trying to make them all fit the same mold.

In closing, the solution would be less than half a kilometre of highway, and I choose the kids over the highway. The last thing I’ll say is the Minister knows how much he loves his picture in the paper with kids each and every time. Perhaps we should get a picture of the kids from this daycare on the street with their lunch bags and their little suitcases with nowhere to go and we can shame this Minister into doing something. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Junior Kindergarten Review
Members’ Statements

Wendy Bisaro

Wendy Bisaro Frame Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. About 12 months ago the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment promised, in this House, a review of the Junior Kindergarten program. Oh, that phrase sounds kind of familiar. Promised in this House. I’ve heard that before.

The Junior Kindergarten review was to be in done in July of 2015, and at the time of the announcement, I thought it was an ambitious timeline. Education, Culture and Employment has had a very full plate the last couple of years with Education Renewal Initiative and all the other reviews that they have been, and are, doing. But I took the Minister at his word and waited for notice of completion of the Junior Kindergarten report.

With all ECE is doing these days, when July came and went and there was no indication to either committee or Regular Members that a report was coming, I wasn’t surprised. I heard rumours suggesting the report might be done by the end of August, then the end of September. Well, we’re into October now and still no sign that a Junior Kindergarten report is on the horizon.

Obviously, the expected report is not going to have any impact on junior kindergarten operations for this school year. Obviously, there’s not going to be an opportunity for this Assembly to see the report and comment on it before the 2015 election, and that’s too bad. The 17thAssembly Standing Committee on Social Programs and several other Members invested considerable time, effort, thought and advice to government on the subject of junior kindergarten. All that experience will now be lost when it comes time to review the promised Junior Kindergarten review report, if it ever comes.

I know departments are busy. I know this report was intended to be comprehensive and so would take more than a bit of time. But the government should not make promises it cannot keep. I sincerely hope that Minister Lafferty’s promise is not as hollow as that made for the Deh Cho Bridge Project review.

I will have questions for the Minister at the appropriate time. Thank you.

Junior Kindergarten Review
Members’ Statements

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Mr. Lafferty.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. [English translation not provided.]

Mr. Speaker, I realize there is no Tlicho interpretation, so I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement in English.

---Unanimous consent granted

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. As Members are aware, there has been a real tragedy in the Tlicho region; more specifically, in the community of Behchoko. There have been three tragic incidents with three family members involved that also brought us together as a community the last two days. I’ve been a witness to that. I participated. I supported the family which brought us together as a community to discuss what’s been happening in our community.

Not only that, there’s been some of the family of the victims and the family of the accused in one building. There has been a lot of emotion and discussion, lots of grieving. At the same time, there has been overwhelming support from family members. They forgave each other, the family members that were most impacted. That provided opportunity for the community to be united once again, and this is the opportunity for communities to move forward.

We’ve been told by elders; elders made some statements in the cultural centre that this is a time to reflect on what’s happening in our Tlicho nation, how can we move forward. We need to have gatherings such as this very important gathering. As we move forward, we need to continue the dialogue, stand united, come up with some solutions to deal with our tragic loss in the communities.

My heart goes out to the family members, and our prayers as well. We just recently, as late as yesterday, lost an elder, Mary Rose Charlo. She was an elder parliamentarian in this House two years ago. It is a huge loss for the community, a very well-respected elder. Our prayers go out to her family. There has been a gathering all this week, as well, and it will continue until Thursday. I just wanted to say that so the Members are aware of what’s happening in this House. Mahsi.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Thoughts and prayers go to the community of Behchoko from the House.

Item 4, reports of standing and special committees. Item 5, returns to oral questions. Item 6, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Mr. Beaulieu.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

October 5th, 2015

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to take this opportunity to recognize a student action group from Yellowknife’s St. Patrick High School called Students Against Drinking and Distracted Driving.

---Applause

Originally, the focus of the student organization was on impaired driving. Now students are also working to prevent destructive decisions, with a focus on making impaired driving and distracted driving socially unacceptable. The students are here in the gallery today to support Bill 60, An Act to Amend the Motor Vehicles Act, No. 2. The bill includes several provisions meant to reduce distracted driving.

I welcome the 30-or-so students and I offer them my best wishes in the coming academic year as they plan events and activities to promote safe and positive choices.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Mr. Abernethy.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the gallery today I would like to recognize Ms. Fernanda Martins,

relationship development coordinator; and Nikki Groebbecker, the revenue development coordinator with the Alberta/NWT Division of the Canadian Cancer Society and I’d like to thank them and the society for their ongoing advocacy and support of people with cancer. Thank you so much. Welcome to the gallery.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Mr. Bromley.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to welcome and recognize a bunch of young constituents and future leaders from the school in Ndilo, the K’alemi Dene School, and I wonder if they could stand up as I mention their names. We have here David Sangris, D.J. Drygeese, Aurora Fraser, Kaiya Goulet, Amy Betsina, Devon Vogel, Justin Lafferty, Cheyenne Lafferty, Stefon Franki, Nick Beaulieu, Kaydens Abel, Dakota Mackeinzo, Donovan Black Quitte, Riel Komrie, and they are accompanied by Tiffany Smith, education assistant; and teacher Anna Hernandez.

I’d like to just mention, when I asked this bunch of young folks if they like to read, just about everyone put their hands up. These are a literate bunch and they’re bound for great destinations, so I appreciate them being in the House today.

Thank you very much. I’d also like to recognize the Students Against Drunk Driving, the St. Pat’s School and Weledeh School in the Weledeh riding. Thanks very much for all the work that they do. Very good stuff. Mahsi.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Mr. Hawkins.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Minister Beaulieu did a good job introducing the SADD group we have here in the gallery and I, too, wish to add my support and accolades to the work they do. MLA Dolynny and I have spent many a cold morning waving with them, bringing in hot chocolate and donuts, and they always have our full support anytime the school needs. As well as with the SADD group is the ever-amazing Michelle Thoms. She’s the teacher/advisor to the group. I know she doesn’t do it alone, but she certainly deserves a great pat on the back. She’s certainly the driving force of this organization, I’m sure, and I want to thank the school and the school district.

I also want to recognize, forgive me, I’m not going to recognize every student up there, but if the House would allow me to recognize my own son, who is a Member of the SADD group. So, McKinley Hawkins, thanks for coming along, buddy, glad you joined SADD.

Just to finish off the SADD issue before I recognize the other constituents, I just want to say that the Minister mentioned 30 constituents. That’s a demonstration of great leadership. Under Mildred Hall we have two Pages here today, Carter Yakeleya and Ryan Lafferty. I want to thank them both for participating here today, and from my hometown of Fort Simpson I want to acknowledge the students who are participating here today. So, thank you very much.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Yakeleya.