Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This being International Day for Women, I thought every day was a day for women.

I want to say a few things about our women. No, I’m not going to sing the Shania Twain song, titled “Man, I Feel Like a Woman.”

---Laughter

Our women have come a long way in today’s society. From the traditional roles of raising and guiding our precious little children to becoming world leaders in our country, there has been a cultural change. As a matter of fact, it was a woman who helped save a nation of Aboriginal people in the Southern Plains tribe legend, according to the elders’ story about the white buffalo woman.

In our small communities, growing up, our aunties, our grandmothers, our mothers, our elderly women, our cousins, we were given instructions by our grandmothers, how women were to play a role in our men’s lives in our communities.

Change has happened and our women have adapted to that change and life changes too. Our women have become community leaders, regional leaders and Canada’s leaders. We have two sitting in this House right now. We have Ms. Ethel Blondin-Andrew, we have Ms. Nellie Cournoyea, as Mrs. Groenewegen eloquently named a lot of good women who are in the political life, and we also have community leaders. All made a choice to better their families and communities, and the families are the seeds of the future.

It’s time to reflect on the role of our women today as they continue to raise their children, work today in government, private business or just volunteering their time. At the same time, they have time to cook, wash clothes, shop and, at the end of the day, to be a good partner. Surely today is their day.

I want to say women have a role in life. As my late grandmother would often say, they have a role in life. Respect them.

I’ll have questions later today about how women have a role our government. Thank you.

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I think today there was an outstanding shout out for women on International Women’s Day

by my colleagues here and I, too, share the recognition, but my shout out today is to express my thanks to social workers for all the hard work they do in our communities.

While I have chosen to say thank you during National Social Work Month, their work is really appreciated in Nahendeh communities all year round. The reality is that our social workers are on the front lines of changing history for the better. Many of the problems they help people with stem from residential school experiences, racism and substance abuse. Being a social worker is one of the hardest jobs out there. I’m sure it is very rewarding each time someone or a family does well with a little bit of caring help and counselling, but it is tough when hard decisions have to be made, sometimes unpopular decisions. The day-to-day workload is unpredictable. You just never know when you’ll be in the middle of a crisis.

Last year’s Auditor General report noted that very thing. In the course of daily duties, social workers are exposed to traumatic and stressful situations and they are tasked with making life-altering decisions about the welfare of children. So it takes real courage, strength and good judgment to be an effective social worker. They are key people in our communities. I am not sure what we’re paying them, but it’s probably not enough.

This leads me to another point: retention. Given the challenges of the job, social workers deserve strong support and training to succeed wherever they work, but especially in the smaller communities. We need to offer cross-cultural training on a regular basis. New social workers, if they are also new to the region they service, should receive a thorough orientation when they arrive, coordinated with the local leadership. This is not asking too much.

We expect a lot from our social workers and they have a lot to offer. We owe them all our thanks and all the tools they need to succeed. Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the new year I met with the leadership in Tsiigehtchic and they expressed the need for a women’s shelter in Tsiigehtchic. Like many small communities in the Northwest Territories, this facility is needed. There is no safe place for women to go when they are faced with violence, yet in the regional centres we have these facilities.

It’s time we start working in the small communities to ensure that women in violence have a safe place to go.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will have questions later today.

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. It gives me great pleasure to recognize the hearts of my life, Ms. Lucyanne Kendo and Miss Brittany Jewel visiting us here in the gallery today. I’m glad to see you here, watching me at work and all my colleagues. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize a few different individuals. First, I would like to recognize Dr. Pertice Moffit who is the manager and instructor of health research programs at the Aurora Research Institute as well as at Aurora College and also the recipient of the 2015 Wise Women Award for the North Slave. I would also like to recognize Brianne Timpson who is an instructor in the Bachelor of Science in the Nursing Program here at Aurora College. Just for the record, both Dr. Pertice Moffit and Brianne Timpson are co-authors of the report of Influences on the Quality of Life of the Older Adult in the Northwest Territories that I will be tabling later today.

I would also like to recognize Barb Hood, who is the executive director of the NWT Seniors’ Society; Wanda Roberts, member of the NWT Network to Prevent Abuse of Older Adults; Amy Mercredi, president of the Enterprise Seniors’ Society; and Sandra Taylor, board of directors of the NWT Seniors’ Society and president of the Yellowknife Seniors’ Society. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Mr. Nadli.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It gives me great pleasure to recognize Amy Mercredi, who is the president of the Enterprise Seniors’ Society. Welcome to the gallery. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Nadli. Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am very pleased to recognize the NWT Wise Woman Award of the North Slave region, Ms. Pertice Moffit. Along with Pertice is Linda Golding and next to Linda is Barb Hood, as we’ve heard, the director of the NWT Seniors’ Society. To all the other ladies up there, welcome on the two days prior to the International Women’s Day. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also would like to join my colleagues in recognizing Ms. Moffit and her award of the Wise Woman of the Year. Fantastic. Also, I would like to recognize Barb Hood, resident of Weledeh and also NWT Seniors’ Society executive director, and of course Sandra Taylor and all of the ladies in the gallery who are clearly leaders in our communities and in the House today. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Mr. Yakeleya.

I would like to recognize Ms. Barbara Hood, also, and the other ladies and the recipient of the Wise Woman Award for the North Slave in the House here.

I would like to recognize again the two young Pages from Deline on this historical week for them, Miss Faith Gaudet, daughter of the chief negotiator, Danny Gaudet; and Miss Hannah Beyonnie, whose mother is Rita Beyonnie who is shadowing the students from ?ehtseo Ayha School in Deline. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. 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. Mr. Nadli.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to acknowledge the recipient of the Wise Woman Award for the Deh Cho region, Caroline Bonnetrouge.

Caroline Bonnetrouge was born at Tathlina Lake in 1932. As a young child she was taught traditional skills by her parents, Madelaine and Philip Simba. She loved to hunt, fish, trap and sew.

She married her husband, Albert. They had eight children and many grandchildren.

Caroline is a Deh Gah Gotie Dene elder who helps her people who need guidance. She believes in working with the sick and provides traditional beliefs such as spiritual praying and feeding fires.

Caroline passes on her knowledge and skills to the youth at Deh Gah School and, when required, to teach at traditional youth camps. She loves to dance to jigging tunes and enjoys travelling by boat.

Mr. Speaker, if we could all take a moment just to congratulate and acknowledge Caroline. Mahsi.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Nadli. Item 7, oral questions. Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Mr. Speaker, I talked about women in general, and specifically in our communities, and the changing roles that women have with today’s society. I want to ask the Minister of Human Resources in regards to women in government positions specifically in senior management. I want to ask the Minister, in regards to the number of women in the Aboriginal Development Management Program, what type of percentage do we have in that program?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The indigenous Aboriginal women in all of management constitutes about 12 percent of all managers in senior management in the GNWT, and for senior managers it’s 8 percent, and for other management, middle management it’s at about 14 percent. Of course, the Aboriginal Development Program also includes women. Thank you.

In the Aboriginal Development Program this is something that programs choose to support women into senior management, and I’m speaking more for the senior Aboriginal women into the programs.

Does the GNWT have a succession program planning to help the Aboriginal employees move into management or senior management positions?