Good afternoon, colleagues. Item 2, Ministers’ statements. Honourable Minister of Lands, Mr. McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, Northwest Territories residents take great pride in the beauty of their land and want to see the Department of Lands managing it in a fair, transparent and consistent way. The development of new recreational leasing policies that respond to the needs of our residents is a priority for the department.

Lands is committed to finalizing its Recreational Land Management Framework by mid-2016. This framework will apply to both Commissioner’s land and newly devolved Territorial land. The policies and planning that make up the framework will address the current and future recreational needs of residents across the NWT and will be consistent with the Land Use and Sustainability Framework.

Over the past two months, departmental staff have held public meetings to ask residents what matters most to them about recreational land management. Nine public meetings were held in eight communities. We also collected online submissions. The information gathered from NWT residents will guide the writing of the draft policies and plans for the Recreational Land Management Framework. The Department of Lands will share the draft policies later this year with Aboriginal governments, the public and other stakeholders for additional feedback before finalizing the framework.

This past fall the department committed to evaluating options for managing vacant previously surveyed lots in existing subdivisions along the Ingraham Trail that have become vacant for a variety of reasons. The research, consultation and

public engagement work done to date has informed the department’s review of its options with these subdivisions. Residents have told us that they care deeply about environmental sustainability and also want more access to recreational areas.

After consulting with the Akaitcho and Tlicho governments, the NWT Métis Nation, the North Slave Metis Alliance, the general public and other stakeholders, and upon further review and research by the department, I would like to announce that Department of Lands will be making 22 vacant parcels in previously surveyed recreational subdivisions along the Ingraham Trail available for lease. The lottery process for leasing these lots will be done in an open, fair and transparent manner in the early summer. Information on the lot locations and lottery process will be posted on the Department of Land’s website on May 1st and will

be advertised through the local media.

This decision is only possible because already-surveyed lots have become available. There is still a moratorium on issuing new recreational leases within the focus area along Highways No. 3 and No. 4 until the Recreational Land Management Framework is completed.

Mr. Speaker, the Department of Lands’ Recreational Land Management Framework will ensure a clear and fair process for recreational leasing of rural land across the Northwest Territories. Once completed, the department’s goal is to identify potential new areas suitable for leasing or sale. We will ensure Aboriginal rights are respected. As well, we will ensure rural land across the NWT is used responsibly and sustainably. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mr. Speaker, I wish to advise Members that the Honourable David Ramsay will be absent from the House today due to illness. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’d like to return to my concerns about Moose Kerr School in Aklavik. Last week I noted the school was built in 1969. That’s exactly the same year as Samuel Hearne Secondary School in Inuvik. That school was demolished and replaced a couple of years ago.

Moose Kerr School was one of the oldest buildings in the Northwest Territories. The school did get a major retrofit in 1999 with an extension of the senior high wing and the addition of the library.

Last week the Minister of Public Works and Services confirmed the government’s policy to replace buildings at 40 years of age, or 20 years after major renovations. Since Moose School underwent renovations in 1999, it will be replaced in 2019.

I was glad to hear the Minister of Public Works confirm this. I would like to confirm that Moose Kerr School is on the five-year capital plan, and I will have questions for the Minister later today. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. GNWT employees who are charged and suspended without pay is breaching Canadian common law of innocence until proven guilty. The GNWT, as an employer, must adhere to this principle of law.

In Canada, Section 11(d) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom states: “Any person charged with an offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty according to law in a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal.”

The presumption of innocence is the legal right of any accused in a criminal trial. The law in Canada applies to everyone, including police, judges, politicians, employers, and employees of our government. The main purposes of our laws are to provide order in society to provide a peaceful way to settle disputes and to express values and beliefs of a civilized society.

Everyone in Canada, citizen or permanent resident, has equal access to the justice system. I have a fairly low level employee who has been suspended without pay for a few months, potentially losing his

job as a result of us, as his employer, waiting for his court case. This is completely wrong. In fact, I don’t know where they got that policy from.

In 2010 the deputy minister of Human Resources said publicly that there is no government policy on dealing with employees who are charged or convicted of crimes. He said the department handles each case individually, depending on the nature of the charge and nature of the position.

I don’t believe we should be suspending people without pay. Should we not be, if anything, like the RCMP, suspending them with pay until the case is resolved, or even continue employment with other duties? Suspending them for months without pay before they have legal proceedings is completely not the way to go, according to our Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

I will be asking the Minister of Human Resources questions on this later today. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will continue on with my theme of economic development in the Northwest Territories, particularly in the Sahtu region.

Today I would like to talk about the potential for minerals, for mining in the Sahtu region. The amount of land related to mining exploration within the Sahtu, there are 397 mineral claims covering approximately 301,000 hectares, 14 mineral leases covering approximately 5.8 hectares, and 1.08 percent of the total Sahtu area is occupied by active mineral tenure.

The land claim was negotiated in 1993 and became law in 1994. The land claim asserts jurisdiction to the Sahtu people as to the development that’s going to happen in the Sahtu region. It gave them sovereignty. It also gave them institutions such as the Sahtu Land Use Plan. The Sahtu Land Use Plan allows development to happen in areas that are agreeable by the governments and by the Sahtu people where development can happen.

Mining has been an issue with the Sahtu people ever since the uranium mine was mined and the content was taken down the Bear River to southern parts of the United States where it was developed. As a matter of fact, there is a report by the federal government that states that from the mining from the Great Bear Lake, 700,000 tonnes of waste was dumped into Great Bear Lake and they’re still working on it to clean it up.

Today we have these types of examples. We have mining that has a high potential in our regions, and today the Sahtu people would like to see if there

can be a conference on the potential of the remediation, a potential for mining and what we need to do to look at the mining issue in the Sahtu region. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mr. Speaker, constituents living at Prelude Lake report extensive and chaotic proliferation of unauthorized ice roads plowed on Prelude this winter. In the words of one, “Anybody with a plow has put in a road to their cabin and from cabin to cabin, criss-crossing the lake.” People travelling the lake by snowmobile, as they have safely done for decades, are being injured. Safety, environmental and transportation issues need regulation.

Foremost is safety. Traditionally residents have travelled to and from their cabins by snowmobile, but now it is almost impossible to cross the lake by snow machine because of the density and randomness of roads plowed and the six-foot snow berms as solid as cement that accompany them. Snowmobilers are being injured, including one lady this week.

These roads are not authorized or profiled for ice thickness, so the loads they will bear are unknown. Transport of large trailer loads of construction material and fuel thus represent a huge environmental liability. Illegal dumping and burning of garbage on the ice adds to the environmental damage being done. People say they use lake water for drinking and that unregulated dumping and road building could make that impossible.

More people are using Prelude, both recreationally and residentially, than in the past. With lands and waters now our responsibility, this government has an obligation to make sure that regulations are in place to manage their use for the safety and benefit of all. The proliferation of private ice roads on Prelude is, at best, inconvenient and, at worst, dangerous for the people living there and recreating there and the health of the land.

Issues raised here stretch across the departments of Lands, ENR and Transportation. As lead, the Minister of Lands has pointed out that there are legislative gaps for addressing this situation. There is a need for the development, implementation and enforcement of new regulations regarding land use, access roads and rules surrounding safe disposal of garbage.

While the people around Prelude unfortunately seem to have hit the road running, GNWT is just now getting up to speed in their new regulatory role. The Minister is committed to creating an

interdepartmental working group with Lands, DOT and ENR to delve into the issues and legislative review in the long term. We will undoubtedly continue to rely on band-aid solutions as issues like these arise, until we undertake a comprehensive review of devolution legislation. Will Lands at least immediately begin the thorough review the Premier promised but failed to deliver?

I will have questions. Mahsi.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On February 22, 2013, in Committee of the Whole, I asked the then-Minister of Health and Social services, during the review of the main estimates, questions on the right to a second medical opinion. There were some good questions and there were discussions of the review of the right to a second medical opinion. I bring this forward again today only because I’ve had discussions with people who were concerned about their medical results and their diagnosis and weren’t sure if they were getting the right treatment. Every resident in the Northwest Territories should have this right, the right to question medical test results and their diagnoses, because getting the right treatment depends on getting the right diagnosis that you’re entitled to.

We all know this. We all see it in our communities. We all have aunts, uncles, grandmothers, even kids who are afraid to ask, or there might be a language barrier, or they might not know the medical terminology, and they also put a lot of faith and trust in the physicians or the nurses who are giving them the medication or the treatment that they need.

I know mistakes, although uncommon, can be made. As a result, we have to make sure that every resident in the Northwest Territories does know and have the ability to get that right to a second medical opinion. When we talk about this right, it’s the health and the life of our residents in the Northwest Territories that’s at stake. Also, getting that second medical opinion might, in fact, result in us not having to send people out of the territory or getting them on high medical costs.

I will follow up to some questions that I asked almost two years ago in this House and see where we are in terms of providing that right to a second medical opinion for residents of the Northwest Territories, see if there’s a policy, see if there’s an act in place and how can residents access that right to get the proper treatment that they need. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I want to speak about how we, the GNWT, treat some of our employees. I think we generally do a good job, but certainly I and all Members, I expect, have had constituents who have not been treated well by government.

To explain, here’s an example. I use the government’s actions with staff whose job it is to be decentralized. There are two issues here. One is how we advise our employees about the decentralization of their job. It’s done respectfully, but well before the job will actually change location. Staff are notified more than a year in advance of the decentralization of their job. Some may think that’s a good move, but I suspect the majority of the employees involved see it as a year to fret, to worry and to endure an uncertain future with no options to fix the situation until two months prior to the moving date.

That brings me to the second problem, that of how we handle our staff who will be decentralized and the policies which govern their circumstances. I’ve looked at the Human Resources policies and manuals that govern staff hiring and firing. I found it most interesting that the term used for someone who refuses to move to a new community is “voluntary separation.” I expect the affected person does not see their situation as voluntary. The employer says your job is moving, you’re agreeing to give up your job. I don’t think this is an apt term for the situation.

It was extremely difficult to find the appropriate info for voluntary separation on the HR website, or any other affected employee info for that matter. There is an HR Manual, so it would seem logical to go there to find out all there is to know about affected status, how the employee can expect to be treated and the options available to him or her. But the HR Manual has no information on voluntary separation. For that one has to search for and find a number of policies that apply.

Why is that info not all in one place? Why are the policies not part of the HR Manual? Perhaps it’s too logical.

Admittedly, we have HR staff who can help employees who are affected, but I’m sure many employees and the public want to find the info out for themselves, to study it before they meet with HR. We certainly don’t make it easy for them to find out about the circumstances of their voluntary separation.

In response to my questions earlier this sitting, the Premier responded, “We look after our affected employees.” I say letting them stew about their uncertain job situation for 10 or 12 months is hardly

in their best interest and it’s hardly looking after our employees. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise once again to continue the conversation of power costs and the cost of living for all Northerners. You’ve heard from me and other Members about how important this subject is, and we certainly know the problem. We know the problem is affordability for Northerners. We also understand how complicated this problem is because we know the system must generate the money to cover its costs and that cost falls upon the folks who need power.

So we know what part of the problem is, but what do we do if we don’t do anything? Well, we know it hurts working families trying to get by day to day. We know it affects our population because people can’t stand to live here anymore. We know it hurts the success of business trying to get along and provide services to Northerners in every single community. Whether you’re in a big community or a small community, whether you’re a big business or a small business, the cost of power has a huge impact on what you do.

If we’re not helping the bottom line of the everyday family, I question what we are really doing here. If we’re not helping the bottom line of business, I wonder what risk we put them at and ask myself, what are we doing here? Are we doing enough?

We must look at the bigger picture and ask ourselves how are we pulling this all together. As I understand as we’ve started the discussion here, we must focus in on how to bring the bigger picture together in a matter that focuses in on delivering a better bottom line for Northerners, whether you’re a family trying to get by day to day or you’re a business trying to meet the bottom line so you can make enough money to pay employees to be working there.

It’s been said by experts that the Northwest Territories has the most complicated 65 megawatts around. It’s not me saying this. It’s an expert saying this. In this modern world we’ve heard how important power generation is, because it touches every element of our lives, whether it’s kids using iPads in schools, whether we charge our cell phones, whether we go to the library to turn the lights on so we can read books. That power turns on to make sure that you can stay warm or you can keep your important things cold in the refrigerator.

Power is essential, just like food, water and shelter. We must be asking ourselves the right questions: is it time to restructure now and how would we do that? Is it time to ask ourselves how do we develop

the generation piece and pull all our distribution networks together?

There was a plan called Creating a Brighter Future and it asked how do we do this and which way are we going. It’s time we had the real policy discussions such as do we need the PUB, what future does the Power Corp hold before us, and does our energy policy meet the needs of Northerners?

I’ll be asking those questions and more later today.

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

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. In the past I’ve stood up in the House to celebrate the hardworking town of Enterprise, our gateway to the NWT. Even though it’s a small town with a population of just over 100 people, and in spite of recent economic challenges, Enterprise is home to great civic enthusiasm and a number of exciting ideas for economic development.

Just this past December the hamlet elected a new counsel including two counsellors in their early twenties. It’s great to see young people participating in their communities like this. While we were sad to say goodbye to Winnie’s Restaurant, a staple both for residents and for visitors and travellers, a new shop specializing in Dene arts and crafts featuring artists from the Deh Cho and the North and South Slave is an asset to the community. The community also hosts a new design gallery. The hamlet’s artistic streak shows a real enterprising spirit.

I’ve also spoken here before about the new and potential economic initiatives for the community of Enterprise. For example, a new fire tower. Also, in 2014, a portion of Highway No. 1 was dedicated as the NWT Highway of Tears commemorating Canadian veterans.

I’ve said before that our visitors centre at the site of the old Enterprise weigh scale could not only celebrate the hamlet, it could also tie into this highway initiative as well as other tourism possibilities including connections to outfitting and maybe even a bison interpretive centre.

Just this past year two Enterprise residents won a 2014 Parks Hospitality Award for their work at the 60th Parallel Visitors Centre. Residents are also

looking forward to the possibility of a new wood pellet plant to bring jobs to the region.

It’s clear that the residents of Enterprise are eager for new opportunities. It’s also clear that they are actively pursuing these opportunities both as a hamlet and in private business ventures. But right

now many of these opportunities are still in the future and the hamlet can’t afford to wait.

Later I will have questions about the support for hardworking NWT communities.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’d like to talk about one of the Northwest Territories most valuable assets. I’d like to talk about seniors. I’ll have questions for the Minister responsible for Seniors. That’s correct. We have a Minister responsible for Seniors. We have so many issues in this area that we need a Minister responsible for it.

This is an expanding part of our population. The cost of living affects this group greatly. We need to work on how we can reduce the cost of living for seniors. We know that there is elder abuse out there. We know that there is a lot of need for the seniors and medical support systems, medical travel, dental care and, obviously, in Hay River we know about the seniors health facilities that we’re looking at building this year. We know the expansion of this population requires that we’ve got to look at the needs for more facilities.

Seniors need assistance with housing and how they get on to those housing lists. The seniors who are staying in their homes, we need to support them more. We need to look at the fuel subsidy that we have for seniors and we need to look at increasing that. We haven’t looked at that for a long time.

I know the government works closely with NWT seniors, but we need to look at the funding of NWT seniors and funding regional seniors’ groups to help them support seniors throughout the Territories. We need to work harder to improve seniors’ quality of life in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m not going to beat around the bush; I love beer and beer loves me.

---Laughter

I know in just a couple more months, Yellowknifers will get a chance to enjoy the brewing sensation of local Old Town start-up of Miranda and Fletcher Stevens’ NWT Brewing Company.

In recent years, the micro-brewing industry has grown across Canada, and while micro-breweries comprise a small percentage of national beer

production and sales, this manufacturing industry has grown substantially and the North is ready to once again enter into production.

If you were around in 1992, then you would remember Victor MacIntosh and Doug Strader who opened the Arctic Brewery Company, which was the first micro-brewery in the Northwest Territories. Although the quality of beer improved during its production years, it was better known for its peanut bar atmosphere and unique airplane wing as its serving bar. Its closure did spark some concern in the day as to why the government would not do more to preserve such a unique tourism attraction, and questions still remain today that beg us to ask what more should we be doing to support entrepreneurial start-ups like the Fletcher’s.

While following the news in December of 2014 about the GNWT easing restrictions on the flat rate manufacturing tax on every litre of beer sold in the territory, I still saw this as a serious threat for a new manufacturing business.

Small-scale brewers across Canada have identified obstacles to their business and beer tax regimes. Cited most often is not keeping pace with changes to the industry, and I have to agree with them.

So, after a thorough review of the Canadian landscape on micro-brewery tax regimes, which I tabled yesterday in the House, it became evidently clear that although the GNWT offered some easement in December of 2014, its current amended formula is still one of the highest formulas in the country and I want to know why. Why would this government impose a tax program that would set the bar higher than the rest of Canada? What good is it for the success of economic development when targeting a new start-up business with such a high manufacturing tax?

What does this higher tax regime say about the government’s value to support tourism potential or enhance economic innovation and diversity to allow competitive market penetration or, better yet, employment opportunities? Clearly, we have the power to do not what is easy but to do what is right and give this business a leg up on what could potentially be the biggest success story of manufacturing in our northern history.

I’ll have questions later today for the Minister responsible. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Mr. McLeod.

Thank you,Mr. Speaker. I have a return to oral question asked by Ms. Bisaro on February 9, 2015, regarding municipal information and privacy legislation.

On September 18, 2014, the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs distributed a discussion paper to community governments and other stakeholders including the Standing Committee on Social Programs, the Standing Committee on Government Operations and the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Infrastructure of the Legislative Assembly for comment. In addition, the discussion paper was made publicly available on MACA's website.

Through this consultation, MACA received responses from six community governments on the discussion paper. MACA is concerned that developing potential options based on this limited response will be problematic. Accordingly, the department is now engaging in personal interviews with senior community government staff in order to develop a broader perspective. The intention is to then work with the Municipal Access and Privacy Working Group to complete the survey of the feedback received from stakeholders. The report will be sent to the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Infrastructure and will be made available publically within the life of the 17th Assembly.

Mr. Speaker, I am also mindful that at times community governments can be inundated with requests to engage on issues that the GNWT is attempting to advance. As a result, I feel it is important that MACA takes the necessary time to gather the appropriate information from community leaders, so I do appreciate the patience of the Member, this House and the Information and Privacy Commissioner as we continue to investigate this issue.

Once the summary feedback is completed, MACA will use the information to develop options to address the recommendations of the Information and Privacy Commissioner. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. I would like to welcome everybody here in the public gallery. Thank you for taking an interest in our proceedings here today.

Item 6, acknowledgements. Item 7, oral questions, Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is a follow-up on my Member’s statement regarding the issues out at Prelude Lake and the dangerous proliferation of unauthorized ice roads and the difficulty people are having navigating on it with their snowmobiles.

What regulations are in place to control and regulate the building of ice roads on NWT lakes, to make sure that roads are built and used rationally and safely for both people and the land? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Minister of Lands, Mr. McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, I’m not sure what the regulations are. I would have to check with the Department of Transportation because I’m not quite sure what the regulations are. So, I will commit to working with Transportation and see what those regulations are and share that information. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Sorry for the confusion there. I should have stipulated Minister McLeod. I have been working with Minister McLeod on this and still some questions remain, but I understand that in fact we don’t have regulations, but I’ll wait for that to be confirmed.

People are being injured on Prelude Lake travelling to their cabins and homes by snowmobile because of the six-foot concrete-hard berms associated with roads that have appeared overnight and are basically chaotically placed on the lake.

I’m wondering what this Minister proposes to do before this issue arises again next winter as a land use issue, to regulate the building of private ice roads and ensure that Prelude Lake is safe for snowmobiling, both for recreational and commuting travel. Mahsi.

We will work with the Department of Transportation and ENR. I think we’ve already formed a working group, and we will attempt to find some resolution to this issue before next winter. In my correspondence with the Member, and conversations with the Member, he has been pointing out that it is getting to be quite an issue around some of the lakes with all the trails that are being made there. So, I’ll work closely with my colleagues and we’ll see if we can put a plan into place before the next winter season.

I appreciate the fast work of the Minister. The Minister recently held public meetings about recreational leasing regulations in several communities. This was a good initiative and I applaud it. Presumably, access roads on land and

ice would be part and parcel of any new rules regulating what may or may not be done by people holding recreational leases.

Did the Minister hear any references or concerns from the participants in these meetings about the building of ice or land roads to their leases, or casual users of the common concerns about interference from roads? Mahsi.

I have not heard personally, but I haven’t had an opportunity to review some of the comments that came back. But I would assume it would be a concern of a lot of residents out there, especially with so many people getting out on the land now and the ability to make trails to these lands. I know, back where I’m from, we have a few trails out to some of the cabins out there. There aren’t as many as around here because of the higher usage here. But I will review that, and again, I will relay that information on to the Members. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Devolution legislation has not been reviewed at all by people as being referred to as having northern tools and things like that. We’ve heard “devolve” and “evolve.” Perhaps we should have “revolve.”

There seems to be a few legislative gaps in our Lands legislation that needs filling. Despite promises from our Premier, serious review will only occur when departments take it on. A new department in a supposedly democratic government guided by legislation with absolutely no vetting from the citizenry, that’s the Department of Lands.

When will the Minister begin the consultative process to make inherited legislation relevant, that the people of the Northwest Territories were promised, in a way that people were promised? Mahsi.

Mr. Speaker, that will happen. On the Lands side of it, we’ve inherited the Territorial Lands Act, which is a huge piece of work. We also are working with the Commissioner’s Lands Act that we had worked with previously. That is a huge undertaking, and I can commit to the Member and all Members of this House that that work, I think, in the life of this government anyway will have to do the initial work. The bigger piece is going to have to be done, I think, in the 18th Assembly, to amalgamate those two acts. It’s a huge undertaking, but it’s one that we’re aware of and one that has been brought to our attention, and the work is going to get started on that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will have questions for the Minister responsible for Seniors, Mr. Abernethy. As I indicated in my statement, seniors are a valuable asset in the Northwest Territories and we know there is an expanding group of people. What is the Government of the Northwest Territories doing to improve the seniors’ quality of life in the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. Minister responsible for Seniors, Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m not sure there are enough minutes on the clock to outline all the things the Department of Health and Social Services in addition to the Housing Corp, Education, Culture and Employment and all the other departments are doing to support seniors. But I will go into a few of the items that the department is undertaking.

We do have Our Elders, Our Communities, which is a framework for action on improving the results for seniors in the Northwest Territories. Our Elders, Our Communities outlines priority areas that will be used to guide future programming and design for older adults to assist them to remain in their communities for as long as possible. Some of the priority areas that we’re working on include healthy and active aging, home and community care services, integrated and coordinated services across the continuum, caregiver supports, elder-responsive communities, accessible and current information as well as some sustainable factors, Mr. Speaker. I can go on and on but I’ll defer to the Member. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I could have asked this question to several Ministers, as the Minister indicated, but my question to the Minister responsible for Seniors is: What is the connection? Is there a committee that gets all the departments together that are linking seniors together that have seniors issues, whether it’s the Department of Finance for taxation, whether it’s Health, whether it’s MACA, whether it’s Housing? Is there a group of people who get together and discuss seniors specifically? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

A number of requests do come to me from organizations like the NWT Seniors’ Society, which I absolutely share with the individual Ministers responsible. But we also have the Ministers’ Social Envelope Committee of Cabinet where there’s an opportunity for us to discuss issues across multiple departments. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

My question is about that committee. Does that committee get together on a regular basis to talk about seniors along with the

Minister responsible for Seniors, to actually just sit down and discuss, or do they come up just on specific topics? Does this group get together regularly regarding seniors? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Social Envelope Committee of Cabinet meets on a frequent but not scheduled basis and we talk about topics that have come up either in the House or directly from other individuals from outside of the government itself, and we’re topic based. We have had issues or topics specific to seniors but we don’t have a seniors standing agenda item.

As the Minister responsible for Seniors, like I said, I do have a lot of different groups, different seniors’ societies coming to me on a regular basis with issues that are cross-departmental and I do bring those forward to the respective departments and work with them to get responses back to the individuals who are looking for answers.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s hard to get all of the questions in because there are a lot of issues that we deal with as Regular Members here on this side. I guess my question would be concerning funding.

Has the department or the Minister looked at the funding that we give to seniors, whether it’s through senior groups, whether it’s through fuel subsides? Are we looking at expanding funding that we give to seniors?

When you add all the programs together, whether it’s housing or education or health and social services, there is significant money going into this particular area. I will commit to getting some more quantified, sort of, results or numbers for the Member and provide that to him as soon as I can.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Public Works and Services. Will the Minister confirm when a planning study will be undertaken for replacement of the school in Aklavik?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I indicated earlier, that school will be scheduled for replacement or a major upgrade about 20 years after the last mid-life retrofit, and that would be in 2019. If we work backwards, I’m assuming that construction will begin in 2019. Then the planning

study, if we’re following the cycle, should start in 2017.

Last week the Minister did confirm that we were going to go ahead with construction for a new school here. My question pertains to the community consultation.

Will the Minister assure me that his department will consult with the community members to ensure a new school building accommodates their needs?

We have a capital planning process and the capital planning process takes the department’s requests for new infrastructure through five different filters and then once the projects are categorized they will go through five more filters. At that point it is determined that we are going to move forward, that this was the project that was highest on the points, and then we move to a planning process. After the planning process is complete, actually the following year, we go to design detail. It is during the design detail that there is community consultation that will occur. There’s a schematic design and then when there’s a detailed design, then there will be a community consultation process. But there are discussions with the communities through the organizations that are responsible for the infrastructure from the very beginning of the process.

There are a number of problems with this school here, whether it’s the foundation, electrical, plumbing, a number of issues. This building was built in 1969. That’s well over the 40 year mark. It’s time for a replacement. We had confirmation last week. Will the Minister live up to his confirmation that there will be a new building?

Thank you. We know that Moose Kerr building is actually in pretty good physical shape. We are going to run it through the capital process. There’s no doubt we have been maintaining the building and it is in good shape, so we’re pleased about that. Even though the schedules have time periods as to when the buildings should be replaced, sometimes the buildings are in very good condition and then, in that case, for the sake of the money, we could effectively do a major renovation. But as I indicated, there is a plan to replace that building in 2019. The process leading up to that, I’m indicating that the process will start in 2016 and then a planning study in 2017. From there it just flows to when the building is commissioned, which would be, I guess, between 2019 and 2020.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final closing, Mr. Blake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The policy kind of conflicts here. First it says whether the building is over 40 years old you will get a new

building. Then it says 20 years after major retrofit, which will still be way over 40 years.

So I’d like to ask the Minister, will the Minister ensure that Moose Kerr School is put on the right flag list? Thank you.

The Department of Education is going to put this into the capital planning process. What we essentially do is compare project to project using various filters, protection of people, protection of assets, protection of environment, financial investment, and the need for programs and so on. After that we do the scale of the impact, the severity of the impact, the urgency and also the mitigation factors. So those are filters that we use for all capital planning. In that way we’re able to compare one capital project against another and it makes sure that the process is an objective process. Thank you.

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I want to ask the Minister of Human Resources some questions about the department’s position on employees who have been charged. I’m not too clear if they’ve got a policy or a guideline or a procedure or how it works when it comes to our employees. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The Minister of Human Resources, Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Each case is quite specific. It would depend on whether or not the individual was management, excluded, union. In the case where an individual was unionized, then what we’d recommend to the employee, if there are issues that they’re not happy with if they’re to be charged and not feeling that they’re being treated fairly by the departments, is they have the option to deal with their union. Thank you.

Earlier in my Member’s statement I spoke about the presumption of innocence, which means, of course, you’re innocent until proven guilty. I’ve got a scenario where an employee was actually suspended without pay, pending the court case. If there’s no policy or guidelines, how can this happen? Like, we’re an employer, we’ve got beautiful policies on maintaining and keeping and expanding on our employees, yet when somebody gets in a situation like this we suspend them without pay. How can this happen? I’d like the Minister of Human Resources to answer that. Thank you.

Aside from any court situation, we have a code of conduct with our

employees. So, employees are expected to follow a code of conduct. There is also a possibility that individuals could be new employees and still be under probation. Therefore, there’s a possibility that the department could be looking at rejection based on probation. Thank you.

Natural justice must prevail. I clearly laid out in my Member’s statement with regard to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms that people are innocent until proven guilty, yet here the Minister is saying perhaps they are breaching a code of conduct. They’re actually not. It has to be proven in a court of law. I would like to cover off in other departments, Justice, maybe RCMP, people are actually not suspended without pay. They are delegated other duties in their department.

Why are we taking a hard-line position, especially when we’re not following any natural justice process? I think we’ve got to be fair to all our employees, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

It is very difficult to speak in an open forum like this about individuals’ employment status. My best advice to the employee or to the Member, and the employee has gone to the Member for advice and support, is to actually discuss with the union the situation the employee is encountering. He is likely a union employee. In that case, then the union would provide the support necessary so that when he feels he is being treated unfairly, the union will represent that individual with the management of the department. Thank you.

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I know that the Minister thinks I’m trying to be specific, but I’m trying to be general about this. When it comes to treating employees fairly, it means treating them all fairly.

Why would we want to treat one employee more unfair than other employees, especially when he’s not management, he’s not an excluded employee and he’s fairly low level as an employee? So just generally, he’s sitting there, he’s the Minister of Human Resources, the law and natural justice must prevail and everybody must be treated equally, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

To be general, in the Public Service Act, Section 29 allows the deputy head to suspend individuals in the public service that are considered to have misconduct. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I mentioned back in February of 2013, I asked then-Minister of Health and Social Services about the right to a second opinion. He mentioned that they were hiring a policy officer to review the health benefits. The review of a second opinion is within that review.

I would like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services, what is the update on that review of the health benefits? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Since the Minister made his initial set of questions in 2013, we have hired a clinical advisor within the Department of Health and Social Services who is helping us to determine or quantify some of these results and questions in these areas. I just want to be clear to the Member, in some complex areas, medical diagnoses, some patients clearly would like to get a second opinion from another doctor. Doctors will respect a patient’s request, reasonable request, for a second opinion from a physician of the patient’s choice. This is consistent or is straight from the Canadian Medical Association Code of Ethics, paragraph 26.

NWT residents can also ask the doctor who’s given the original diagnoses for the name of another expert, someone with whom he or she is not actually associated with where the patient can go and get a second opinion.

I would just like to throw something out there for residents of the Northwest Territories, and that’s not to be worried about offending your doctor. They won’t be offended. They understand their obligations and they understand the importance of a second opinion, so please don’t be worried about offending the practitioners.

The cost of the visit itself for a second opinion is an insured service paid for by Health and Social Services. So the visit itself is covered. However, if a doctor for the second opinion is not located in the patient’s home community, the medical travel costs would not be covered or would, rather, be the responsibility of the patient itself. Depending on the outcome of that second opinion, some of the travel costs may be eligible for reimbursement. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would like to thank the Minister for that very comprehensive response to a second medical opinion. They’ve done a lot of work and I agree that residents shouldn’t be afraid to offend any medical practitioner or physician in seeking a second medical opinion. He did mention something and I was going to ask a question in terms of the

lack of physicians in the Northwest Territories in some of the regions and the medical costs. He understands the situation we are in, where some of the regions don’t have physicians and we have locums who continue to come through.

Would he be looking at reviewing that medical travel for someone who needs a second medical opinion? I know Members on this side have all heard our constituents who have gone to the hospital and been given Tylenol or something and told to go back home and not to worry about it. Would the Minister look at reviewing that medical cost for people who need that second medical opinion? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As I indicated, depending on the outcomes of a second medical opinion, if an individual did have to travel to get that second medical opinion, we would be willing to explore covering some of the costs. I do hear the Member and I have heard other individuals express concern in this particular area. I can confirm that this topic is part of the medical travel modernization. This is a topic we are looking at as we modernize medical travel here in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Some of our highest rates of health risks and health incidents are in the Northwest Territories and fall into the area of people who live in poverty, who live on income assistance and housing, who can’t afford to go to Yellowknife or Edmonton to get that second medical opinion. Some of them are even afraid to go to the hospital and will take their word as trust.

I’m asking the Minister if he would be willing to look at paying costs up front for individuals to have the right to go get the specialized medical diagnoses in areas that might provide those such as Edmonton, who I know we have contracts with. Will the Minister be looking at doing that? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As I’ve already indicated, our policy doesn’t currently do that, but we are willing to reimburse if a second opinion is determined to be necessary upon completion of the second opinion. I have already indicated it is part of the medical travel modernization and this is something we’re looking at. We need to make sure we are detailed on this assessment because not everyone needs a second medical opinion and we want to be careful about how far we put ourselves out there financially. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I mentioned in my Member’s statement, a person’s health and life is at stake when we go this route. I don’t think putting ourselves at a financial risk should be the indicator for seeking a second

medical opinion. The policy in itself is a barrier for this second medical opinion. He mentioned, and he is going to say again when I ask again, that I’ve stated that it’s in our policy that we will reimburse upon return.

I am asking the Minister if he would look at reviewing that policy so we don’t reimburse upon return, but be able to support someone to go seek that second medical opinion. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Member is right; I’m going to say exactly the same thing again. We are doing medical travel modernization and we are including this as one of the areas that we are hoping to address, or intend to address for that program. Right now our policy is such that it allows us to do reimbursements where a second opinion is justified. But it could be that people may choose to go out for second opinions if they know their trip is going to be paid for when they don’t actually need a second opinion. So we need to be cautious. We can’t just say we’ll pay for everybody that wants to go anywhere for a second opinion. We encourage people to use the system that is at hand. We encourage people to work with their doctors and continue through normal processes.

But at the same time, if somebody is frustrated with the treatment they’re receiving or not convinced that the treatment they’re receiving is appropriate, I strongly encourage them to go to the quality assurance individuals and staff within each of the authorities. These quality assurance individuals can do a review of the situation, which actually allows us to get good feedback so that we can continually improve the system. So there are other mechanisms where people can express their frustrations. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just following up on my Member’s statement in terms of recognizing the local employment opportunities for the tiny hamlet of Enterprise, recently the community was quite excited to experience the construction of the fire tower in the vicinity of their community.

Can the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources provide an update on the construction of the Enterprise fire tower? Mahsi.

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

I can, Mr. Speaker, and I’d be happy to make sure the

Member gets it as soon as I get that update for him. Thank you.

This community receiving a fire tower wasn’t a random decision. I know ENR considers the geography and the location of these towers.

How was it determined that Enterprise would see a fire tower? Mahsi.

There was a range of vision, there was a need to replace, there was a discussion with the community looking for appropriate land, and then working through the logistics in terms of the actual project to get it built. Thank you.

Just in terms of the experience of last fire season, which was fairly significant, the biggest on record, is there anything special that the Minister and his department will undertake to involve the community in terms of preparing for this fire season? For example, perhaps considering some strategic locations of communities for fire bases, or amassing, perhaps, a camp of personnel, ensuring that communities are involved and perhaps ensuring that communications are very clear in terms of involving communities. Mahsi.

ENR has been doing work all winter and is concluding that work in the coming months to work with the communities, work with stakeholders, getting feedback on last fire season, as well as going around, along with MACA, to look at communities getting fire smarted, getting ready with their emergency measures plans.

We’ve learned from last year. We’re going to be bringing our emergency firefighters on stream sooner, and we’re going to be standing ready, especially in light of the indicators that we’re now getting in regards to snowpack and those types of things, which look to be below normal at a time when we’re in the fourth year of the most severe drought. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think the Minister just alluded to perhaps an indication of some environmental factors in terms of snowpack, in terms of trying to predict whether we’re going to have another dry season or not.

Can the Minister at least give an indication to the House in terms of his efforts or department’s efforts to try and forecast whether we’re going to have another drought season or not? Mahsi.

We’ve been looking at talking to the people we have on retainer, the meteorologists that take long-term forecasts. NTPC, in the next couple of weeks, is going to be doing testing of the snowpack in the Snare system just to check to see what they anticipate the runoff might be. Of course, we’re monitoring. With the

benefit of satellite imagery now, we’re monitoring the snowpack and we can tell, from everything I’ve heard, that what has fallen so far this year is less than a normal year. To have any positive effect, we need at least double the snow we currently have to date. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are to the Minister of ENR. In my Member’s statement I talked about the mining industry impacts. Today I want to focus on the environment and the cleanup, and later on I’ll focus on the business opportunities and the potential opportunities and challenges to date.

I want to ask the Minister of Environment, has this government been working with the federal government in regards to the Bear Lake remediation cleanup of the mines that have been happening in that area? It’s been reported that 700,000 tonnes of waste was dumped into Bear Lake. Is the government working with the community of Deline on that cleanup?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are well aware of that. From what I recollect, that is one of the waste sites that the federal government has kept to be remediated. Thank you.

Mining has been pretty active in the Sahtu, and I’d like to continue my question. In the Mackenzie Mountains across from Tulita, I think the Minister is aware that there’s a lake called Drum Lake where the Drum Lake Lodge is situated. In that area there is a small site that’s been abandoned by, reportedly, a Shell company there that needs to be cleaned up.

Has the Minister looked at this small site at the Drum Lake area?

If my memory serves me correctly once again, I do recollect the Member sending me pictures of the site, which I sent to the department. We’re aware of the circumstance, but there’s been no active ability to put funds towards the cleanup at this point. Thank you.

Thank you. I’ll continue working with the Minister on this issue. I want to look at the other areas in the Sahtu.

Have there been any other sites in the Good Hope/Colville Lake area in regards to mining

activities that are left for remediation by this government or the federal government?

I’ll commit to the Member to get him a complete list of sites in the Sahtu, federal and territorial, as they currently exist today. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I look forward to that list. The Doi T’oh Territorial Park and the Canol Heritage Trail are 942 square kilometres. Can I ask the Minister if he would provide a remediation, contamination report on the cleanup, because this is in discussion with this government here, as regards to our responsibility once all the checks and balances have been signed off and we take ownership of those two areas?

I once again recollect flying down, having the benefit of being able to take a tour of partway into Doi T’oh Canyon into Godlin Lake with the Member, and it is truly spectacular country. You can see the remnants from World War II. That is still a federal area. As the Member has pointed out, there is a considerable amount of remediation that has to be done. When that is done to the satisfaction of all parties, then the territorial government will look at taking over the remediated site. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today I raised the concern of the overbearing micro-brewery tax system being imposed on our brew pub manufacturing starting up in Yellowknife. When one should be supporting this entrepreneurial start-up business, the GNWT, even by cutting its rate by half, still has one of the highest micro-brewery sin taxes in all of Canada. Sadly, when production increases, many fear with the tax regime being proposed, this will do very little to enhance the true potential of this new industry.

I bud my questions today for the wiser Minister of Finance. There is no denying the huge tourism and employment potential of a northern micro-brewing industry.

Can the Minister indicate, has the department undertaken, or plan to undertake, any studies of tourism and employment of this new industry? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We need to look at this issue. I would

suggest a broader perspective of why we have placed such a high cost on alcohol. Having spent a good number of years in social services, five and a half years as Health Minister, I can tell you it’s because the abuse of alcohol costs this government over $100 million a year, probably more if you add in all the costs related to hospitals and FASD children. We just approved in this House, I think about $11 million for residents down south, the majority of which, if you checked the case files, would have alcohol abuse in there somewhere.

So, we have deliberately placed the high price on some of the things that are causing the most trouble in our jurisdiction. Those two things are alcohol and tobacco. Northerners have a prodigious thirst and a fairly prodigious propensity to smoke or use tobacco, all of which we know, when they’re abused, can be deadly.

We have made a conscious decision for many, many years now to stick to that. It’s the same concept as a carbon tax. If you make the price high enough, it’s supposed to drive down consumption. It hasn’t quite worked yet, but it’s still something we see as a very, very big issue.

So in regards to this issue, we have offered up an incentive, as the Member has indicated, 50 percent, but the bottom line rationale is what’s the impact of alcohol on our society and our government and our coffers as a government, and it’s dramatic, and that’s why we are where we are. I’m not sure there would be the public will to start cutting taxes for alcohol. Thank you.

A very thorough response, but again, we’re trying to start a start-up company. While the admitted markup for beer produced in the NWT has been substantially reduced, as we indicated, it still stands out in significant contrast to lower rates for micro-breweries in every other Canadian jurisdiction.

Can the Minister indicate, what is the competitive advantage of having the highest micro-brewery tax rate in the country while trying to encourage business manufacturing, jobs, tourism potential and attracting what he has proposed, a 2,000 population growth? Thank you.

The direction that has been chosen by the government consistently over the many Assemblies that I’ve been here and prior is to see the need to try to control the abuse of alcohol. One of the ways we’ve chosen to do that is to put a tax on it that would be a disincentive to use, in addition to all the education and all the programs we have trying to work with communities for healthy babies and smart choices and active living.

So, we have two issues. The Member wants us to have a very modest tax regime to encourage the

production of alcohol, and I’m saying I think we have a broader societal obligation and a governmental obligation, and that’s to try to manage the devastation that’s caused by alcohol abuse.

We do recognize the value of this type of business. We do provide some incentive. But if, once again, we’re going to make a decision to cut taxes on alcohol, we can’t just pick the micro-brewery. I would suggest we need to have a very broad policy discussion about what is our approach going to be across the board, because it would be a dramatic shift if that’s what we decide to do. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As of December 2014, the GNWT updated their tax regime to a three-tiered system. This was allegedly to match the start of production of the new brewery. However, after speaking to the manufacturers myself, they feel that the 2,500 hectolitre maximum threshold would be met in no time and just when this company is considering market penetration to the South.

Can the Minister indicate how can our local manufacturer, a micro-brewery, expect to be competitive with southern micro-brewery producers when we have the highest energy costs of production in Canada, we have high transportation costs, and now we have the highest micro tax regime in the country?

If there is consistent will expressed by committee, SCOPP, for example, that we need to have a review of the tax rates on alcohol production, beer production, and if they make that clear to us, we will have a discussion about that. But I would suggest to the Member you can’t just pick a micro-brewery and talk about some kind of modified favourable tax rate. We would have to be prepared to talk about taxes on alcohol, what’s our position on alcohol, how do we want to manage the business piece along with dealing with the incredible social impact that we know exists in every one of our communities. In fact, the Member for the Sahtu just passed a private member’s bill to make sure that people in his region would have a say and a right to some direction being provided in terms of access to alcohol. This is a very, very important, sensitive subject, and I don’t think it would be good management, good government for us to talk specifically about let’s look at a specialized rate for micro-breweries.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m very much aware of the social impact of alcohol in the Northwest Territories. Sitting on the standing committee, I see all too well all the issues around the Northwest Territories. I believe that this is not impeding this. We’re talking about an industry.

Cleary, this government has an opportunity to do the right thing and to re-evaluate this tax regime on micro-brewery manufacturing in the Northwest Territories.

Will the Minister commit to re-examining this tax regime and to bring our tax system with what is considered standard best practice for this type of small-scale brewery?