This is page numbers 3721 – 3766 of the Hansard for the 18th Assembly, 3rd 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 women.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I mentioned in this House, we're not taking any intakes into this program until the foundational review is done. Then from there with the Skills4Success, with the labour market information needs and assessment that we also have, we will develop a strategic plan and the direction for the college moving forward, but right now I think it's important we get the foundational review done, and also provide these students with alternatives such as other colleges that we do have some of our northern students going to, such as Alberta, the Yukon, or even in Saskatchewan. It will give them some options. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Kieron Testart

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

The question I spoke of was: what if kids want to stay here and do those degrees? The option is to make them leave the territory? That is kind of counterproductive to that questioning. The Minister just said that this is a foundational review, not a program review, and yet he is telling us now that he is frozen on these two programs. So which is it? Is it a foundational review or a program review? Because we have these programs that are currently unavailable to northern students who want to take training in these careers here in the Northwest Territories.

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

The Member is right. We've stopped intake into those two specific programs. As I've mentioned many times, I don't know how many times I have to mention it, but we are doing a foundational review. We have to make sure that that gets completed. In the meantime, when that foundational review is complete, as I stated yesterday with the management response, and I gave a timeline that we should have something at the 2018-2019 academic year moving forward, then we can use that foundational review, that management response, along with our Skills4Success document, and our labour market needs assessment, and move forward into a strategic plan for the college. That's the timeline, the direction that we're moving right now.

Kieron Testart

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

What other programs has the Minister halted intake on in the college currently since the foundational review started?

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Well, just the two programs that were discussed that we brought up in this House over and over and over again and many times, so just the two programs.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.

Kieron Testart

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to ask the Minister: why were these two programs the only two programs that were affected by the foundational review? Thank you.

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

As I've said in this House before, it was the enrolment rates and graduation rates on that program. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Item 8, written questions. Item 9, returns to written questions. Item 10, replies to Commissioner's opening address. Item 11, petitions. Item 12, reports of standing and special committees. Item 13, reports of committees on the review of bills. Item 14, tabling of documents. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following three documents entitled "Annual Report 2016/17 Hay River Health and Social Services Authority"; "NWT Health and Social Services System Annual Report 2016-2017"; and "Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority 2016-2017 Annual Report." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Tabling of documents. Item 15, notices of motion. Item 16, notices of motion for first reading of bills. Minister of Finance.

Bill 7: Chartered Professional Accountants Act
Notices of Motion for First Reading of Bills

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I give notice that, on Monday, March 12, 2018, I will move that Bill 7, Chartered Professional Accountants Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Bill 7: Chartered Professional Accountants Act
Notices of Motion for First Reading of Bills

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Notices of motion for first reading of bills. Item 17, motions. Member for Yellowknife North.

Cory Vanthuyne

Cory Vanthuyne Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. WHEREAS section 48(1) of the Human Rights Act provides for the establishment of an adjudication panel composed of at least three persons, appointed by the Commissioner on the recommendation of the Legislative Assembly;

AND WHEREAS Section 48(4) of the Human Rights Act provides that the members of the panel hold office, during good behaviour, for a term of four years, with the exception of the first members appointed;

AND WHEREAS there is currently one vacancy on the adjudication panel;

AND WHEREAS the Board of Management is tasked with recommending individuals to the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Assembly is prepared to make a recommendation to the Commissioner;

NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River South, that Mr. Paul Parker of Yellowknife be recommended to the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories for appointment as a member of the Human Rights Adjudication Panel, effective immediately for a term of four years. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. The motion is in order. To the motion.

Some Hon. Members

Question.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? Motion carried. Masi.

---Carried

Motions. Member for Yellowknife North.

Cory Vanthuyne

Cory Vanthuyne Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. WHEREAS section 16.(2) of the Human Rights Act provides that the Northwest Territories Human Rights Commission is composed of such members, between three and five in number, as may be appointed by the Commissioner on the recommendation of the Legislative Assembly;

AND WHEREAS there is currently one vacancy on the commission;

AND WHEREAS the Board of Management is tasked with recommending individuals to the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Assembly is prepared to make a recommendation to the Commissioner;

NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for lnuvik Twin Lakes, that Ms. Gail Cyr of Yellowknife be recommended to the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories for appointment as a member of the Northwest Territories Human Rights Commission, effective immediately for a term of four years. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. The motion is in order. To the motion.

Some Hon. Members

Question.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? Motion carried. Masi.

---Carried

Motions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. WHEREAS women comprise half of the population of the Northwest Territories;

AND WHEREAS women have been under-represented, accounting for no more than 15 per cent of Members of the Legislative Assembly in any given Assembly;

AND WHEREAS the lack of representation by women may have resulted in the creation of legislation and policy that does not take their needs and concerns fully into account, to the detriment of all Northwest Territories residents;

AND WHEREAS the Northwest Territories has the lowest percentage of women Members of a Legislative Assembly in Canada, while representation has increased at the federal level;

AND WHEREAS the United Nations has determined that a critical mass of at least 30 per cent women is needed before legislatures produce public policy representing women's concerns, and before political institutions begin to change the way they do business;

NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Range Lake, that the Legislative Assembly supports the goal of increasing women's representation in the Legislative Assembly to 20 per cent by 2023 and 30 per cent by 2027;

AND FURTHER, that Members of this Legislative Assembly work together and individually to identify and implement a wide range of strategies, including positive action, public debate, and training and mentoring for women as leaders, to achieve these goals. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. The motion is in order. To the motion. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as you are well aware, some distinguished women have served in this Legislative Assembly, including Nellie Cournoyea, the first and only woman Premier of the NWT, the second woman Premier in Canada, and the first Indigenous leader at this level. Jeanie Marie-Jewell of Fort Smith, Sandy Lee from Yellowknife, and Jane Groenewegen of Hay River all served in Cabinet, as my colleague Caroline Cochrane does today.

All told, there have never been more than three women in any single Assembly, representing 15 per cent of the total Members. Not to put too fine a point on it, Mr. Speaker, the NWT has the worst record for electing women in the country. Legislatures in British Columbia, Ontario, Alberta, and Nova Scotia all have representation of at least 30 per cent women, as well as the Yukon. What do they have that we don't?

One factor is a lack of party politics where parties can choose candidates and mandate a specific proportion of women. For example, there is a bipartisan initiative in New Brunswick to have women as 50 per cent of all candidates in the provincial election coming this fall.

What we do know is that the more women who run, the more will get elected. Last year, there were 20 candidates running for the 10 councillor positions on the Behchoko community government. More than half of the candidates were women, and eight got elected.

The challenge is to get women to run at the Territorial government level. They have always been reluctant to do so, averaging no more than 15 per cent of candidates since 1951. While we are at it, hats off to the 110 women who have run in the last 66 years. Mr. Speaker, last election, only 17 per cent of candidates were women, and no women ran in 10 out of 19 ridings.

Let me turn to the question: what prevents women from running? A 2013 American study about the gender gap in political ambition among girls found that, first, boys are more likely than girls to have been socialized by their parents to think about a career in politics; second, young women tend to be exposed to less political information and discussion than are young men; third, young women generally get less encouragement to run for office than young men do; and fourth, young women, consequently, are less likely to think they will be qualified to run for office, even in the not-so-near future.

From my own experience, I would also add two more reasons: women give more consideration to the toll politics will take on their families, especially their children, when they will work long hours and may be away from home for weeks at a time; secondly, women worry about the cost of paying for a campaign out of their own or their family's financial resources.

In short, women have to be talked into running, and it usually is a hard decision for them to make. The Status of Women and now the Women's Advisory section of the Executive and Indigenous Affairs have been helping to equip women to run by offering campaign schools free of charge to any woman who is interested in running for office at any governmental level. The school offers practical advice about creating a message, budgeting, fundraising, and honing networking skills, among other things.

There were campaign schools in Inuvik and Hay River last winter, in Fort Simpson last weekend, and in Yellowknife this coming Saturday and Sunday. The Minister responsible for the Status of Women and I have been at all of them. We are on a mission to get women into this building.

Why do we need more women? Women are voters and taxpayers. We hold important roles in the courts, public service, and business. We want to share the power. We want to present our own perspectives on the issues of the day. These are different than hearing a man talk about a woman's perspective. The two of us here bring our unique gender perspective to the work we do, including budget review, creation of policy, and legislation.

Women tend to highlight areas of work that men may not emphasize, such as promoting the need for available and affordable childcare and advocating for action on violence against women. That doesn't mean that women don't care about economic or environmental issues. Of course, we do. It doesn't mean that the men here are doing a bad job. They aren't. We are allies working together for the good of the whole of the NWT.

Research has shown that having women at the table provides for faster decisions, more effective actions, and better financial outcomes. Mr. Speaker, we need a Legislative Assembly that is truly representative. Gender equality is a human right. Women are half of the population, but have only 10 per cent of the seats. Imagine if this was the other way around, and men had only 10 per cent of the seats. They wouldn't feel adequately represented here. What we want is equality.

This isn't a perfect comparison, because it deals with diversity rather than equality, but what if this House had two Indigenous Members and 17 non-Indigenous Members? Indigenous people, naturally, would not feel adequately represented. They are half of the population. Women, Indigenous and non-Indigenous alike, are underrepresented in this House.

In an ideal world, women would have half of the seats here. The reality is that there are only a couple of countries in the world today that have true equality. The UN has set a goal for women's representation at 30 per cent. That is the threshold at which there are enough women to produce public policy representing women's concerns. It is time for all of us to share responsibility to achieve gender equality.

To bring this idea home, 30 per cent of representation by women would be six Members in this House. That is where we want to be by the 2027 election, if not sooner. Twenty per cent representation by women is four Members. That is double where we are now, and that is our goal by the election in 2023. Mr. Speaker, these are modest goals, but we have to start somewhere.

As the 18th Assembly, we committed in our mandate to supporting initiatives designed to increase the number of women running for elected office in the NWT. That support can take a number of forms; promoting women's leadership, encouraging women to take part in public debate, responding to requests for mentoring from women who want to become candidates in any level of government, to appreciate and work to remove all of the barriers women face in becoming candidates.

As I said in my statement today, equality won't happen by itself. Our starting point for making it happen is to support the goals set out in today's motion. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.