Mr. Speaker, I would like to welcome all Members back to the continuation of the second session of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories. I am looking forward to hearing from all Members during this brief sitting as we continue our work together to create a strong and sustainable future for the people of this territory.

Settling land claims is essential for creating this future for the Northwest Territories. Settled claims both advance reconciliation with Indigenous communities and create the foundation for social development and economic growth that can generate benefits for Indigenous people and all Canadians.

That is why it is so important for this Legislative Assembly to succeed at its priority of advancing, finalizing, and implementing land, resources, and self-government agreements, and that is why I have also made settling outstanding claims during the life of this Legislative Assembly a personal priority.

Our government has made a commitment in its mandate to work to resolve outstanding claims with the Akaitcho, Dehcho, NWT Metis Nation, and Acho Dene Koe.

We continue to make real progress at many tables, including in Tulita, where negotiators recently initialled a self-government agreement-in-principle. Other tables, however, have encountered issues that have slowed progress. Our government wants to change that, and we have taken steps we hope will ensure residents of regions like the Akaitcho, Dehcho, and South Slave are able to enjoy the benefits that settled claims are providing in other regions.

To help us advance negotiations in these regions, Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada Carolyn Bennett and I appointed two ministerial special representatives last year. The MSRs, one for the South Slave and one for the Dehcho, were mandated to speak to all parties to the negotiations and report back to us on current challenges and make recommendations for resolving them.

On April 5th, Mr. Speaker, Minister Bennett and I met in Ottawa with leaders from the Dehcho, the Akaitcho, and the NWT Metis Nation to discuss the reports of the MSRs and their recommendations. I am hopeful that the work of the MSRs will give all parties a path forward and lead to the resolution of these longstanding claims.

Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories is committed to settling these claims by taking innovative, flexible approaches that will result in fair and equitable agreements in these regions. I expect to update Members further on this issue during this session.

A predictable, efficient, and integrated system for making decisions about land use and development that reflects the interests and priorities of Northerners is another essential building block for a strong and sustainable future, Mr. Speaker.

Our government has made a commitment in its mandate to evolve our legislative, regulatory, and policy systems in order to advance the territorial vision of land and resource management in accordance with the Land Use and Sustainability Framework. Reviewing, updating, and modernizing this territory's land and natural resources legislation will be an important part of this work.

Mr. Speaker, we have long held that decisions that influence our territory's economy and environment are better guided and managed by the people who live here. The devolution of authorities over public lands, water, and resources gave this Legislative Assembly the power to update, align, and create new legislation for our territory.

Over the next several years, the Government of the Northwest Territories will be updating legislation and regulations in the areas of mining, land administration, parks, oil and gas, and water and environmental protection. We will be seeking input from Members, the public, and stakeholders, who will have multiple opportunities to shape and influence our work so it best meets the needs and priorities of the Northwest Territories.

Through these updates, we will create a made-in-the-Northwest Territories legislative model that ensures sustainable, responsible development, while respecting the rights of Indigenous people and the agreements we have reached with them.

Members will begin to see some of this work later in this session when the government introduces proposed amendments to the Environmental Protection Act. Work in this area will continue throughout the term of our four-year mandate as the Ministers of Lands, Environment and Natural Resources, and Industry, Tourism and Investment develop and bring forward proposed amendments to several acts in the coming years.

The Government of the Northwest Territories continues to make progress on the mandate adopted by the Legislative Assembly, Mr. Speaker. Of 200 commitments made by this government, 153 are in progress, seven are being planned, and 40 have been fulfilled.

Among the accomplishments guided by the mandate are investments and funding in areas such as infrastructure projects, film and the arts, family violence shelters, early childhood programs, and local housing organizations.

Several strategies and implementation plans have also been completed under the mandate, including agriculture and commercial fisheries strategies, the Recreational Leasing Management Framework, the Skills 4 Success Action Plan, and a strategic framework for mental health and addictions. We have also contributed to the development of the Canadian Energy Strategy and the Pan-Canadian Task Force on reducing diesel. To increase the number of women running for elected office, we have held our first campaign schools in Hay River and Inuvik and are currently evaluating our approach.

The mandate has also guided work to develop and expand programming in all the priority areas of the Legislative Assembly, including governance, cost of living, education, training and youth development, community wellness and safety, and economy, environment, and climate change.

The mandate was meant to guide the work of the Government of the Northwest Territories throughout the four-year term of the 18th Legislative Assembly. Mr. Speaker, several initiatives are on the horizon, and I am confident that we will remain on track to fulfill our commitments by late 2019. I plan to table a report later in this sitting that will provide Members with a more complete update on the status of our mandate commitments to date.

Mr. Speaker, while the mandate is the primary guiding document of our government, we cannot ignore the need to act when circumstances demand it, or fail to take advantage of opportunities to address other longstanding needs of Northwest Territories residents. The mandate also does not eliminate our obligation to carry on the typically expected planning and management work that any government must conduct.

Some of that extra work has been thrust upon our government by federal government priorities, including work toward the implementation of the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change, and the development of a Pan-Territorial Sustainable Development Strategy. Work to support the legalization of cannabis and negotiation of a new healthcare funding agreement has also been driven by federal priorities.

Responding to emerging needs of Northwest Territories residents where we are able has led us to begin work on establishing a territorial 911 service, and ground ambulance and highway rescue services. We have worked toward developing a youth community wellness pilot program in Fort Good Hope, and to increase the Senior Home Heating Subsidy and Senior Citizen Supplementary Benefit.

Our government also stepped in when it became clear that there would be no commercial replacement for the marine shipping service of the former Northern Transportation Company Limited. This service provided an essential link to several small communities that would have been left with no affordable alternatives for receiving fuel, building materials, and other essential dry goods without our intervention.

Mr. Speaker, this sitting will be our last before we begin the review of the mandate as required by our Process Convention on Priority Setting. That review will be an important opportunity for us to make sure that the mandate set near the beginning of our term still reflects our shared priorities and the needs of Northwest Territories residents.

I look forward to hearing from and meeting with Members over the coming months as we consider whether our priorities have shifted, whether there are new challenges to be addressed, and what we can reasonably expect to accomplish together in the remaining two years of this Legislative Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Item 2, Ministers’ statements. Item 3, Members’ statements. Member for Frame Lake.

Merci, Monsieur le President. There has been a lot of shock and uncertainty over the closure of the Northern Frontier Visitors’ Centre here in Yellowknife. I firmly believe this could have been avoided through adequate and equitable support from our government. We have been without a visitors’ centre for 10 days now. A temporary home has been found, until summer’s end, at the museum. Now we need to concentrate on a longer-term location to support the large, growing, and sustainable tourism sector in Yellowknife.

Aurora tourism has soared from a $6 million industry in 2010 to $40 million in 2015-2016. A recent study indicates that our visitors’ centre boosts tourist expenditures by about $5 million annually. Our centre received over 50,000 visitors last year, far more than all of the other centres in the NWT put together.

It is inconceivable that Yellowknife would not have a tourist information and interpretive centre, and a world-class one. We must find a new permanent location. So who is to pay for that?

Figures supplied by the Minister show that visitors’ centres at the Highway No.1 border crossing in Inuvik and in Dawson are owned or leased by the GNWT. GNWT also pays over $100,000 for the staff and operating costs of each of these centres that are only open over the summer. Here in Yellowknife, the centre was owned by a non-profit society that received only $160,000 in GNWT core funding support last year, and it was open year-round, seven days a week.

This is not only unfair, it is poor support for this success story and economic diversification in general. The current emergency situation has been looming for years, with no effective or proactive support from this government. We can’t allow that to continue. We need to get to work now on costing and identifying funds for a new, permanent location, operated with GNWT funds. I will have questions for the Minister later today. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Members’ statements. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this month, some of the Yellowknife MLAs and I have met with the three school boards to hear their concerns, and it is a long list of concerns. Today, I want to highlight just one that is common to them all, and that is busing junior kindergarten students to school.

During the last session, the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment said his department was, “working with education authorities to ascertain the incremental costs of providing transportation for junior kindergarten students, and will be undertaking a review of the busing component of the School Funding Formula.”

The education authorities have preliminary numbers of both the students who need busing and the costs of the buses. About 20 per cent of students will require busing, and the cost estimate is a mind-boggling $10,000 each per year. Just as a reminder, these are students who may be as young as three years, eight months.

The school boards receive money for busing from the territorial government, but about two weeks ago, the department informed the boards that busing JK students was not mandatory. It’s at the discretion of the boards, and so the cost is theirs. To put some numbers to this, JK1 and YCS are together looking at spending upwards of $500,000 on additional busing costs out of owned source funds. This, Mr. Speaker, is for a program that is “fully funded.”

The school boards are apparently going to have to make a difficult choice: either make additional cuts to come up with the money, or don’t provide busing. They shouldn’t have to make this choice at all. JK is billed as a grade of school. It should be fully funded, including busing. If busing isn’t funded, the program isn’t universal and low income families are barred.

It has long been apparent that JK has been grafted on to the school system as an extra grade without the necessary resources. There are no dedicated resources for inclusive schooling, none for Aboriginal and cultural education, and none for busing. This situation is unacceptable. I will have questions for the Minister. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Members’ statements. Member for Nahendeh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to welcome everybody back and hope you all had an enjoyable few months either back at home working for your constituents doing committee work or as a Minister doing their work here back home.

Today, Mr. Speaker, I stand in the House to recognize my former constituency assistant, Leona Norwegian, known to everyone as Pearl. It is a bittersweet day that I recognize her today. If you know Pearl, you will recognize that she was never one for the spotlight. She was a person behind the scene and did not want the spotlight on her. Well, with her retiring away from political life, I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Pearl Norwegian has served as a constituent in the Nahendeh riding for some 20 years. She has worked for the offices of former MLAs Jim Antoine, Kevin Menicoche, and now myself.

Pearl's devotion to the constituents of the Nahendeh riding did not go unnoticed. As the face of the riding, her friendly and open demeanour allowed her to be approachable, trusted by the public. Pearl is truly passionate about her riding and the six communities we represent. In her own way, Pearl was a counsellor, a confidante. She guaranteed advocacy for the less fortunate and ensured that no one’s concerns went unheard.

Mr. Speaker, Pearl’s years of constituent assistance in the Nahendeh riding has allowed her to get to know and care for two generations that have grown up throughout the riding. She was equally caring and kind towards our elders and youth. As an avid promoter of education and business within the riding, she also kept our constituents aware of opportunities and potential that they had.

Mr. Speaker, with her strong traditional ties and knowledge, Pearl had a high willingness to promote the culture and tradition of the Dene people. Her generosity was enormous and, whether it was for a wedding or funeral, no community feast goes without Pearl’s Papa’s fried bread.

Mr. Speaker, I’d like to highlight Pearl’s high commitment to her job. She displayed this commitment on several occasions, such as when she returned as a CA to assist me with the transition and when she took additional responsibilities for other former MLAs. I’d like to thank her for her time again. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Members’ statements. Member for Sahtu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to welcome back the colleagues of the House and the guests in the gallery. Now that conclusions are given to the federal and territorial budgets over the last several months, on November 4, 2016, I highlighted the many strategies and plans of this 18th Assembly moving forward and the additional ones recently completed.

One thing is to have a plan or a strategy and the next thing is the implementation or phase 2 of it. Tracking and progress properly implemented of these plans and strategies will show results throughout the progress reports and with the labour of the departments for the publication and the many efforts in doing so.

Mr. Speaker, reflection of previous decisions is a strong element of good management and, by this, I look forward to working with the 18th Assembly on monitoring and tracking the progress of these strategies as we conclude our next half of the Assembly. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Members’ statements. Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, devastating forest fires have had a major impact all over the Northwest Territories over the last few summers, altering the landscape and reminding us how vulnerable our campsites, cabins, communities, and other values are to forest fires. In my riding, assets have been threatened year after year. A 35-year-old lodge was destroyed along with thousands of hectares of surrounding trails and wildlife habitat within the last season.

Mr. Speaker, the Ingraham Trail has become home to an increasing number of year-round residents. It is heavily used by visitors to campgrounds and locals for recreational use. There are over 500 values at risk in the area that are vulnerable to forest fires. The popular Reid Lake campground, the Foster Family Coalition’s campsite called Camp Connections, and Highway No. 4 South have been closed on several occasions due to forest fires in recent years.

Mr. Speaker, ongoing drought conditions and the high to extreme risk of fires further highlight the need for a robust public communications plan, forest fire prevention measures, and emergency preparedness. I’ll give credit. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources has made progress in recent years on its website and social media platforms. The record-breaking 2014 fire season popularized Twitter as a public communications tool between the government and the general public, but there are still areas for improvement.

Mr. Speaker, what’s scary is that forest fires move very quickly and, in reality, ENR might not be able to respond in time to save properties. We have seen this in other jurisdictions as well as in our own backyards. We only have to think of Fort McMurray as the recent tragic example. We need to get the message out that there’s a responsibility on our owners to defend their properties against fires, but we have to be their partners and support them in doing that.

Earlier this month, ENR hosted an Ingraham Trail FireSmart barbecue where people could learn how to prepare for forest fires and reduce their risk. Commendable, but let’s do it more often. Let’s arm our residents with knowledge through excellent communication.

Mr. Speaker, ENR has dedicated and knowledgeable staff, a new air tanker fleet, and continues to develop forest fire fighting expertise. We need to ensure these resources are put to the best use and that lessons learned from previous seasons are fully applied in the future. I will have questions for the Minister of ENR at the appropriate time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Members’ statements. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, a few short weeks ago, 19 students from across the territories took the role of honourable Members in the 15th Youth Parliament. This is an event that is a great way to engage our youth in our unique system of consensus government, civic participation, and assist them in becoming the northern leaders of tomorrow. I would like to thank the Legislative Assembly staff that was involved in this program and the staff who worked tirelessly for months in order to make sure Youth Parliament would come together seamlessly. I can say with great confidence you succeeded beyond all expectations. Well done!

During the week, the young leaders got to see how "the sausage gets made," splitting into two different sides of the Chamber, Cabinet and Regular Members, with one temporarily filling your very honourable shoes, Mr. Speaker. They got to learn the dynamics we face while working with the consensus system through writing Members’ statements, introducing petitions and, of course, debating on motions before the House.

The subjects before them were not just softball motions, Mr. Speaker. They instead took debate on serious issues such as the legalization and regulation of cannabis and a more vigorous teaching of local Indigenous languages in our education system. Throughout it all, I had the pleasure of Paging for these young leaders and saw these debates first hand. I must say they conducted themselves in a manner far beyond their age. I have no doubt we will be seeing a few of them in the years to come as important leaders of the North and Members of this Assembly.

I must note, Mr. Speaker, the greatest honour of the week was working with the youth member for Kam Lake, Ms. Anusha Sivakumar, who showed great ability and integrity when serving the people of Kam Lake in this Youth Parliament. I was inspired by Ms. Sivakumar and expect to see her making real change for Northerners in the not-too-distant future.

Mr. Speaker, Youth Parliament is a great program put on by our Legislative Assembly. It’s exactly the kind of program we need to engage youth in order to hear their perspective on the issues of the day which, as adults, we often ignore. We have a responsibility to listen, and I can say I heard them loud and clear.

I was proud to participate in the 15th Assembly, and will be just as proud to throw on a Page’s vest for the 16th sitting of Youth Parliament. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Members’ statements. Member for Mackenzie Delta.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it took a bit of work for me to get into Yellowknife from Tsiigehtchic in time for committee meetings and the start of this sitting. When you’re travelling to and from our small communities, especially during freeze-up and break-up, you have to be ready for anything.

Spring and fall make our rural and remote communities especially vulnerable to isolation. That means that communities that don’t have resident RCMP officers might be stuck without them, and with no way to get them quickly and in an emergency. The people of Tsiigehtchic have brought these concerns to my attention. Although they don't have a regular RCMP officer, they've also reported to me that having RCMP in town on the weekends is working very well. It means a lot to residents to have that support and to work on those relationships.

To build on that, Mr. Speaker, I hope the Minister can keep working with the RCMP “G” Division to ensure that, starting this fall, the community can also have resident police support during freeze-up and break-up. The Department of Health and Social Services already covers community services like this. At the moment, we have a resident nurse who stays in the community during those times. Making sure Tsiigehtchic residents have that RCMP support would mean a lot to the community. It would improve safety and community services, and it would enhance residents' access to justice and to services that other, larger communities already enjoy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I will have questions later today.

Masi. Members’ statements. Member for Deh Cho.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, first, I'd like to welcome my colleagues back to the House and acknowledge my constituents, whether they're watching from home, listening on the radio, or sitting in the gallery.

Now, Mr. Speaker this is a short sitting, but there's a lot of work to do, so I'll get down to business. Mr. Speaker, the NWT Housing Corporation operates more than 2,400 public housing units in 30 communities. With our small population, think about just how many families those units serve.

Now, when you're in market housing, it might seem that something always goes wrong on Sundays or holidays, just when it's more difficult and more expensive to call a plumber or a furnace technician. When you're in public housing, though, it's even harder. Residents of the Deh Cho riding have come to me, seriously concerned that they are unable to access repair services after hours. If a furnace breaks down in the middle of the night in January and a family can't get immediate repairs, that's downright dangerous.

Mr. Speaker, families in public housing don't have money to spare. They can't simply pay out of pocket for urgent repairs. They can't even undertake major repairs to units, because they're tenants, not owners. The Housing Corporation is in the business of public rental housing in the NWT. To fulfill its mandate, it must provide after-hours services. This might be done through an on-call serviceman. Really, Mr. Speaker, addressing this problem would be a win-win: prompt repairs protect both tenants and the corporation's infrastructure investments. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Members’ statements. Member for Nunakput.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to welcome all our colleagues back to the Assembly, and yourself for the warm welcome. Mr. Speaker, spring is a busy time for traditional hunters across the Northwest Territories. Spring hunting is also very important to the people of Nunakput.

Mr. Speaker, spring is when the caribou migrate north to calve, arctic char can be caught in large numbers as they swim from freshwater lakes to the Beaufort Sea. Traditionally, the lnuvialuit cut a hole through ice and fish with a net or jigger with a line and lure. The fish were then prepared and dried for the winter.

We know it is really spring when waterfowl arrive from the South. Geese are hunted along the coast and spring is a time to collect eggs. Mr. Speaker, before the 1900s the lnuvialuit had very little contact with outsiders and were a completely self-sufficient people. They lived entirely off the land and sea. Everything they ate, wore, built, hunted with, and used for daily activities came from the plant or animal life in their surroundings.

Mr. Speaker, the lnuvialuit, like all traditional cultures, saw themselves as part of the environment, not separate from it. The plants and animals of the Arctic are still respected in our communities today, and that value needs to be passed on to the next generation. Nutritious meat from the animals that are hunted and fish that are caught is still central to many people's diet, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the Arctic landscape may look empty, especially to the people who are unfamiliar with it, but it is home to approximately 1,700 kinds of plants. When the snow melts, thousands of flowers and lichens grow on the tundra. Arctic summers are a time for berry picking. Mr. Speaker, subsistence harvesting makes a huge difference to people's health and well-being. Imported foods are expensive even in the southern parts of the Northwest Territories.

Pre-packaged and processed foods, like chips and cookies that are easier to transport, convenient and popular, especially with youth, aggravate problems such as diabetes, Mr. Speaker, but they are more affordable than imported perishables like fruits and vegetables.

Mr. Speaker, let's not forget where our traditional health foods are: on the land where our ancestors hunted. A traditional diet consisting of food from the land is healthier and less costly than a typical modern diet.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize all of my constituents who are out hunting this spring and the Indigenous peoples across the Northwest Territories who are keeping subsistence harvesting and our cultures strong. Quyanainni, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Marci cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, it has become a tradition of mine to do eulogies for the people who have passed from sitting to sitting in my riding. Today I have two such eulogies. I would first like to speak of Clifford Cardinal, who was born December 4, 1952, in Hay River and passed away on April 14, 2017, at 64 years of age.

Clifford had three brothers: Lloyd, the late Ross Cardinal, and Allan Cardinal, as well as three sisters: the late Stella, Clara, and Freda. Clifford was the son of Dora and Ben Cardinal. Ben Cardinal, I believe, was originally from Lac la Biche, where apparently a lot of Cardinals live, and Dora was a Beaulieu from Fort Resolution. Clifford was my cousin.

Clifford was a well-known individual in the community; a hard-working man. He went to school in Peter Pond, Grandin College, Akaitcho Hall, and went to school in Moose Jaw and Aurora College. Clifford was very well liked in the community and was very helpful to the elders in Fort Resolution.

Secondly, I would like to also acknowledge Harvey Mandeville. Harvey Mandeville was born on May 26, 1945; he passed away April 25, 2017. Harvey was the son of Adeline and Maude Mandeville. He was better known as Modeste Cho. His father was a well-known Metis leader for the Northwest Territories when the Metis Nation had first started in the NWT. Modeste Cho was one of the people that led the nation.

Harvey's wife was Lillian. Lillian was also from Fort Resolution, but spent many years down in Alberta. She had four children and Harvey had a son who lives here and attended the funeral. Herve was a long-time employee of the diamond industry, and Herve was 72 years old upon his passing. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Our condolences to the families as well. Members' statements. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery.