Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A number of years ago when the Dene K’onia Young Offender Facility in Hay River was closed down, a need came to light which the GNWT responded to, and a facility called the assisted living facility in Hay River was built for adults who needed to be in residential care. It was an excellent addition to the infrastructure and the economy and to the service spectrum in Hay River and in the North for adults primarily with intellectual challenges.

This facility is managed by the Hay River Health Authority, and I believe it is doing an excellent job. They have 10 permanent beds and I believe that they have two placements for respite care for intermittent use by others.

This organization is involved in the lives of these adults living in this facility. They can be seen out doing recreational activities, out in our community, going out for lunch, participating in community events and being cared for by the numerous people who are employed at the assisted living facility. I would like to thank these folks for the good work that they do and say that I’m very proud to see Northerners being cared for in the North by Northerners.

It raises the issue of how many other adults and children who are Northerners are in the care of southern placements and southern institutions at this time. I will have questions later today for the Minister of Health and Social Services.

When we take our residents and put them in southern placements, they lose out by not living in their home territory. We lose out on the economy of the jobs that are created by caring for them, and I think that there could be a tendency for out-of-sight, out-of-mind. We have to ask ourselves regularly as a government, what are the opportunities for repatriation of those NWT residents that are living in the South? Sometimes I think that, like I said, out-of-sight, out-of-mind, we may forget about them and forget about the opportunities that may arise to bring them home and have them in all regions of our territory.

Later today I will have questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services for more specifics about case management and about how often we review the opportunity for economies of bringing these folks home to the North to be cared for and to live here with us. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Canadian Education Association’s 2014-2015 Ken Spencer Award for Innovation in Teaching and Learning recently honoured seven award-winning programs from across Canada that challenge and rethink our traditional concept of schooling. This year’s Ken Spencer Award winning programs tap into students’ passions which lead to increased motivation through meaningful, relevant learning. These models exhibit well-nurtured growth, creativity, flexibility and potential scalability to additional classrooms and schools. Their success relies upon trusting relationships built between students and teachers, mentors, business leaders and parents, which serve to reconnect many disengaged students to a love of learning.

This is the sixth year of the award. The Ken Spencer Award for Innovation in Teaching and

Learning was established with the generous contribution of Dr. Ken Spencer, to recognize and publicize innovative work that is sustainable and has a potential of being taken up by others, to encourage a focus on transformative changes in schools and to provide profile for classroom innovation within school districts, schools and the media.

Today I am honoured to recognize the East Three School gardening program with their honourable mention for this award in receiving $1,000. The East Three School gardening program, entitled “Growing Student Engagement Under the Midnight Sun” was originally developed to combat poor diets and a low level of nutritional understanding among the student population. This gardening and ethnobotany program was gradually grown into a multi-faceted educational experience.

Students grow several dozen crops, from herbs, heirloom tomatoes, First Nation beans, lentils, rye, along with einkorn and other heritage grains. Last fall students grew, harvested, processed and prepared as well as consumed over $1,000 worth of produce.

Food grown has been used in the healthy lunch program and in a local dinner fundraiser featuring wild and local foods such as char, muskox and reindeer. Students also participated in other service learning projects using produce that they’ve harvested as ingredients in meals for the local soup kitchen. This program represents a model for other northern schools wishing to increase student engagement while improving attendance and nutrition.

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

---Unanimous consent granted

I’d like to acknowledge the departments of ECE and ITI for their contributions and beginning to build strong support for school food initiatives and also recognizing the important role that health and nutrition have played in learning and development.

Some future projects that East Three School gardening program plan to do include a traditional food snack program as well as an ethnobotanical garden with medicine and food plants. They’re also looking at doing a cultural lunch program featuring northern games as well as knowledge sharing and looking at creating prototypes for indoor aquaponic and hydroponic veggie production as well as creating a mini school greenhouse and planters.

I’d just like to take this opportunity to thank teacher Mr. Patrick Gauley-Gale and his staff and students who have committed to healthy living and nutrition for their peers and staff at East Three Secondary School and for their kind-hearted community outreach initiatives. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

In the gallery today, colleagues, we have with us from the office of the Auditor General of Canada, Mr. Ronnie Campbell. I welcome Mr. Campbell to the Assembly. It’s always a pleasure to have you here.

Colleagues, I’d like to take this opportunity to recognize the impending retirement of Mr. Campbell. Mr. Campbell was recruited in Scotland by the Hudson’s Bay Company and began his life in Canada and his Canadian career in the North.

Ronnie, the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories is very grateful for your expertise and your insight and candour over the years. On behalf of all Members of the Legislative Assembly, I would like to extend our warm wishes for a long and happy retirement. Thank you very much.

---Applause

Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize my constituent from Ndilo, Brent Betsina, also winner of the national level silver medal from the Canada Games.

---Applause

More on that a little bit later. Welcome, Brent. Also, of course, my constituency assistant, Bob Wilson, resident of Weledeh. Of course, I’d like to join you, Mr. Speaker, in welcoming Ronnie Campbell to the House. It’s been a pleasure working with him, and I also wish him all the best in retirement. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I too want to welcome Mr. Campbell. It’s been a great pleasure to work with him over the years that I’ve been here. I know that he’s approaching retirement with the same mindset as I am: looking forward to it. I wish him well and thank him for all the work that he’s done for us over the years. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Mr. Moses.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I too would like to recognize Mr. Ronnie Campbell and thank him for all his hard work working with committee, especially for his guidance, his experience and knowledge in helping us guide and direct government into making some good decisions and making programs a lot better in the Northwest Territories.

I’d also like to recognize and acknowledge Mr. Brent Betsina. Good job. You’ve made the NWT

proud during the Canada Winter Games. Good job. Thank you.

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

Item 6, acknowledgements. Mr. Dolynny.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to acknowledge a Range Lake constituent who needs very little introduction to Members of the House. I wish to acknowledge and congratulate the Honourable George L. Tuccaro, who has been reappointed as Commissioner of the Northwest Territories for a term of one year, from May 11, 2015, to May 10, 2016, and this will be his second term.

Mr. Tuccaro, who is a member of the Mikisew Cree First Nation of northern Alberta, has played a prominent role in the lives of Northerners, even prior to his initial appointment as our Commissioner.

Mr. Tuccaro enjoyed a long and illustrious career in public broadcasting with CBC North in Yellowknife, and we are the lucky few to get to hear his silky voice and smooth delivery when the Commissioner joins us here in the Chamber to open sessions of the Assembly or to provide assent to legislation passed by this House.

On behalf of all Members, I wish to extend my congratulations to Mr. Tuccaro and his wife, Marilyn, on his reappointment to our 16th Commissioner of the Northwest Territories. It’s a well-deserved honour and we wish him every continued success. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I rise to acknowledge and congratulate my Ndilo constituent Brent Betsina on his outstanding performance in the sport of judo at the Canada Winter Games in Prince George, BC.

Master Betsina, an active member of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation, is 18 years old and competed in the over-100 kilograms category at the Games. Brent has been active in the sport of judo for eight years and contributes his success to his role model and coach, Mario Desforges.

Brent went into the Games with a goal of having fun, having a positive attitude while competing and doing his best. Winning the Northwest Territories first medal since 2007, a silver medal in judo was a sweet bonus to these goals.

I invite all Members to congratulate Brent on his national achievement on behalf of the Northwest Territories at the Canada Winter Games – I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in this chair one year – and say well done, Brent. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Item 7, oral questions. Mr. Blake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just in follow-up from my Member’s statement, I have a few questions for the honourable Premier. I’d like to ask the Premier, as stated with this latest injunction that effectively has put on hold the superboards, can the Premier confirm that the Gwich’in Land and Water Board will be maintained like the Wek’eezhii Board until the related court cases are decided?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can confirm that the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories suspended Section 253(2) of the Northwest Territories Devolution Act with regard to the MVRMA, all plan to come into force April 1, 2015. This will result in the preservation of all the regional land and water boards for now, including the Gwich’in Land and Water Board, and a delay in implementation of regional studies and cost recovery authorities.

As I mentioned, the regional boards, including the Gwich’in Land and Water Board, were scheduled for elimination as of April 1st .

I’d like to ask the Premier, how will the board’s effective operations be maintained and supported while the court case is being decided?

There will be no change in the operation of these boards and we have confirmed with AANDC that they will be assessing not only the court decision but also how to keep the current system functional. Our Department of Lands will also be doing a preliminary scan of significant projects that are currently within the MVRMA.

Can the Premier confirm which board members will be able to continue their work and how will any empty spots be addressed to ensure smooth operations? For example, with the Gwich’in, we don’t have a chair at the moment, so how will that position be filled?

My understanding is that all of the boards that have vacant appointments, they’ll fast track the appointments. The Gwich’in Land and Water Board has total members of five. They need three for a quorum. There is one current vacancy of a chair, one appointment expiring in the next year on November 8, 2015. With the fast-tracking of board appointments, we expect that it will be business as usual.

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