This is page numbers 2329 - 2354 of the Hansard for the 18th Assembly, 2nd Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was program.

Topics

Budget Session Reflections
Members’ Statements

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Deh Cho.

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in 1998, when I was the Grand Chief of the Dehcho First Nations, UN Rapporteur, Miguel Alfonso Martinez of the University of Cuba, visited the Deh Cho and the Hay River Reserve as a representative of the UN Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, which was a sub-commission of the UN Commission on Human Rights. The purpose of this visit was for the Rapporteur to take a look at Canada's treatment of its Indigenous peoples and gather evidence on the status of the Dehcho First Nations' self-government proposal, the Deh Cho Process.

Mr. Martinez was preparing a report on "Treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements between nations and their Indigenous populations." His work later informed the development of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

During the visit, the Rapporteur heard testimony from many esteemed elders, such as Ted Landry of Fort Providence, who is regarded as a Dene political historian, the late Daniel Sonfrere, Paul Wright, Leo Norwegian, Joa Boots, and Gabe and Mary Cazon, to name a few. They spoke of the negotiations of Treaties 8 and 11, which they understood to be peace and friendship treaties. They also spoke of the promises made by a colonial Government of Canada. Today, most of those elders have passed on and those promises remain unfulfilled.

Fast forward. Last year in June, the Government of Canada and the Government of the Northwest Territories announced the appointment of Anne Marie Doyle as a ministerial special representative for negotiations with the Dehcho First Nations. Ms. Doyle has produced a report to Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada Minister Carolyn Bennett and Premier McLeod that is expected to address issues such as land quantum, land access, and regulatory structures on the claimed territory.

Mr. Speaker, I believe UN DRIP paved the way for the work of the ministerial special representative by signifying that countries need to pursue participatory approaches in their interactions with Indigenous peoples that require meaningful consultations and the building of partnerships. It is hoped by all parties that this highly anticipated report of the MSR will find a way to get negotiations back on track and resolve outstanding land, resource and governance issues. I hope both Ministers will be willing to adjust their negotiating mandates if the report's findings point in that direction. The Deh Cho Process has been long and involved; it is time to bring it to a successful conclusion. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Frame Lake.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Merci, Monsieur le President. On March 8th our government issued the media release "GNWT Extends Key Mineral Exploration Support Program." The release describes the extension of the Work Credit Program, which sets the value of exploration work required to keep mineral claims in good standing. Claim holders are now credited $1.50 for every eligible dollar spent. The release says the program originally "arose from recommendations made by the Ministry Industry Advisory Board."

I fully recognize that mining is important here, so we want to protect the integrity of our decision-making on this section. This move to extend the program was made with no consultation with standing committee; part of a troubling pattern by Cabinet. This is not consistent with our process conventions, which state:

Except under extraordinary circumstances Members of the Legislative Assembly should be made aware of and have opportunity to discuss significant announcements, changes, consultations or initiatives before they are released to the public or introduced in the Legislative Assembly.

During the 17th Assembly, standing committee expressed concern about the non-inclusive nature of the board that recommended this measure and the potential for regulatory capture and potential conflicts of interests when mining company representatives give advice to the Minister responsible for Mining.

Several of the board members are from firms that hold active mineral claims in the Northwest Territories. There is a potential for those firms to directly benefit from any cutting costs of keeping their mineral claims in good standing, rather than having some lapse and open up for others.

The terms of reference of the board state that part of its objectives is reducing constraints "including regulatory constraints." The problem here is that the people advising the Minister are giving advice that may place them in a conflict of interest on occasion. There does not appear to be any requirement for disclosure of financial interests, and the board's recommendations are not made public. In fact, the terms of reference say that all communications are confidential except by mutual consent of the Minister and the board.

It's a far cry from the model of a similar board in the Yukon, which was established by regulation under their Economic Development Act, with publicly posted terms of reference and annual reports containing summaries of recommendations published since 2003. I will have questions for the Minister of Mining later today. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Hay River North.

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, last year when it appeared clear that the government had already determined the fate of the A New Day program, the Minister of Justice kept assuring us that the third-party evaluation report on the program would determine A New Day’s ultimate fate. The $40,000 report was completed last November. It’s actually quite interesting, and I encourage someone at the Department of Justice to read it -- preferably whoever is designing the new program.

I’m making a lot of assumptions about the new program because details are sparse, to say the least. The RFP that was released on the 7th of this month does tell us that program facilitators must strictly adhere to the curriculum as set out by the department. This requirement ignores the evaluation report’s recommendation that consideration should be given to the fact that the program is "more than a curriculum," and community outreach should be considered as part of any future program. The community outreach includes a workshop at the North Slave Correctional Centre, in adult education centres, for the YKDFN, at the Salvation Army, Bailey House and more, as well as training sessions delivered to nurses in Stanton’s psychiatric unit. Unfortunately, the department apparently sees no value in any of these activities.

The evaluation report also states that some men are not well suited for group counselling sessions, and future programs should include provisions for individual counselling based on A New Day’s curriculum. However, Mr. Speaker, according to the new RFP there are no provisions for individual sessions, and men who aren’t suited for group sessions are to be referred to outside counselling services.

The report also indicated that the lack of administrative support burdened the program providers, burdening them with paperwork and other tasks not directly related to counselling. The Minister mentioned that the GNWT Coordinator position was created to alleviate that burden. Mr. Speaker, the current providers asked many times to be funded for an administrative assistant position. Instead of this simple solution, the department’s solution was to bring the entire program in-house.

However, Mr. Speaker. The saddest thing about this whole situation is that this is the only men’s healing program in the territory, and even though it’s successful, we have to fight tooth and nail to keep it, instead of figuring out how to expand it. On the bright side, after my questions yesterday the department updated the RFP to include the missing Schedule A. It adds little in the way of details, but at least someone at the department is listening. I’ll have questions for the Minister at the appropriate time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Members' statements. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery.

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

March 9th, 2017

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Colleagues, I would like to take this opportunity to recognize the following pages from my riding. We had with us all this week Tylene Tsatchia and Autumn Football, both are from Alexis Arrowmaker School in Wekweeti.

In addition, all the pages who have done a great service for us during our session days since February until today. I would like to thank all the pages for their hard work. Mahsi.

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

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

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

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize our interpreter for the Chipewyan and the Denesuline language, Tommy Unka. His granddaughter is also a page who is from the Premier's riding, Kailyn Unka. Thank you.

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

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Recognition of visitors in gallery. Member for Frame Lake.

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

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize the elder who was here earlier who gave our opening prayer, Mary Louise Drygeese. She made my lovely vest and I'm very proud to wear it in this House. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

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

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Sahtu.

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

Daniel McNeely

Daniel McNeely Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to recognize the current pages and the previous pages who assisted us during the session, and the staff in behind the scenes, as well as the interpreters and writers of the Hansard who help us during the session. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Item 6, acknowledgements. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise to today to acknowledge my constituent Lydia Bardak. Ms. Bardak is the North Slave region Wise Woman award winner for 2017. Ms. Bardak came north to work with the Canadian National Institute for the Blind. Work with a blind prisoner led her into the career she is best known for, executive director of the John Howard Society. Ms. Bardak made a strong connection with the street population and remains an effective advocate for them in the justice system. Congratulations to Lydia Bardak for this well-deserved award. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Acknowledgements. Item 7, oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh

Marci cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have questions for the Premier. Mr. Speaker, yesterday at the rise of the House we had a presentation on the Taltson Hydro Expansion. I asked the Minister if they were going to do any consultation with Aboriginal groups that are affected by the Taltson River Expansion and he said no. So I would like to ask the Premier if that's the policy of this government not to consult with people on potentially the biggest project that this government is going to be taking on?

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. The Honourable Premier.

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can assure the Member that as soon as we have a project where we have a customer and where we have secured federal funding and support, we will be out there consulting. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh

Several other organizations, including the Saskatchewan government, are aware of what is happening obviously because they're going to be the main customer. What would be the issue with engaging Aboriginal governments now rather than later?

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

We've been down this road before. Previously we spent $13 million in the hopes of finding a customer. That project did not materialize and we do not intend to go forward without a customer or without an indication of federal support.

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh

That project that moved forward previously was Deze; that had Aboriginal partners. Aboriginal people were instrumental in moving it forward and supporting it so that the diamond industry could become a customer. Because of the life of the diamond mines we were unable to make a deal, this is a little different scenario. If they were involved in Deze, are we just living off the consultation from back then or are we planning on engaging Aboriginal governments sooner than later?

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

The Taltson River has 18 megawatts of installed hydro capacity but has 200 megawatts of hydro potential which could be developed over the next decade. The Taltson Hydro Expansion combined with a southern transmission link, could provide a green energy corridor that would stabilize power costs in the North, displace coal generation in the South and remove economic barriers to remote resource development. The first phase, if we go down that route, would leverage past work to build a 60-megawatt hydro expansion within five years that would double the Northwest Territories hydro capacity and eliminate 360,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually.

The Government of the Northwest Territories has engaged the Saskatchewan government and SaskPower to explore the costs and market conditions for a project linked with their jurisdiction. Alberta is also an area of interest. Our government has signed on to the Pan-Canadian Climate Framework. We have identified this as a priority with the Government of Canada. We have no indication whether they are committed to that. We are hopeful that we have a positive signal from the federal budget that will be out on March 22nd, and we have been criticized for advancing the House in projects. Until we have customers and until we have an indication of federal support, we do not think we have a project. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.