This is page numbers 4881 - 4900 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 budget. View the webstream of the day's session.

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Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery
Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

Page 4883

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

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

Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery
Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

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Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Merci, Monsieur le President. I have three Pages who are from Mildred Hall School who are working with us during this sitting and who are residents of the Frame Lake riding, Josephine Seagrave, Austin O'Neill, and Amabel Zoe. I want to thank them very much for all the work that they do on our behalf. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery
Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

Page 4883

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Hay River South.

Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery
Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

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Wally Schumann

Wally Schumann Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to recognize a couple of Pages from Hay River South, Jon Tatti and Shaelyn Mabbitt. Thank you.

Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery
Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery

Page 4883

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery. If we missed anyone in the gallery, thanks for being here with us. It's always great to have an audience as part of our proceedings. Masi. Item 6, acknowledgements. Item 7, oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.

Cory Vanthuyne

Cory Vanthuyne Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today in my Member's statement I talked about the relationship between Canada and China, and what is at risk if the relationship doesn't stay as a positive one. I'd like to take this opportunity and ask the Premier a few questions: can the Premier advise if he has expressed concerns to the federal government about the impact on the NWT economy of the dampening of Canada's relationship with China? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. The Honourable Premier.

Question 565-18(3): China-Northwest Territories Relations
Oral Questions

February 14th, 2019

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Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Our relationship with China goes back a long way and, if anything, the recent tightening of the Chinese government on subnational investments and business has had a limited effect on our territory. Most of the investments were in mining. We did have some business investment and, with the crackdown on a number of areas, some of the Chinese businesspeople who were here, we haven't seen in a while, but as far as I can tell, the most visible Chinese visitors are the Chinese tourists. I have not seen a decrease in their visitation. It could be a concern. The Chinese could see fit to revoke the designation of Canada as an approved destination status, but we haven't seen any evidence of that yet. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Cory Vanthuyne

Cory Vanthuyne Yellowknife North

Thank you to the Minister for his confidence that things appear, at this point in time, to be fairly secure and that we are not seeing any direct impact so far. I would like to ask the Premier: what, if anything, has the Government of Canada indicated to our government that our relationship and investments with China will not be disadvantaged?

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

Other than what we see in the media, there has been no reaching out by the Government of Canada to us. I believe that, the incident at Huawei, Canada was following the rule of law. The fact that a number of individuals were apprehended in China gives us pause to think. We were planning a trade mission to China for this year, but we have since put it on the back burner. We are waiting to see what happens.

I have met the Chinese ambassador to Canada, but it was before some of the latest incidents happening.

Cory Vanthuyne

Cory Vanthuyne Yellowknife North

As the Premier has indicated, we continue to build upon the relationships with China. It was looking as though we were going to travel there once again, but already this relationship between Canada and China has been having an effect. We have put a pause on that now. Let me ask: has the government reached out to reassure our friends and business partners, both here at home and in China, that, regardless of international matters, we remain open for and interested in their business?

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

Yes, we certainly are prepared to do that. We are still in contact with the Chinese, People's Republic, friends of the people who usually host us when we go to China. There is still a possibility that we could go there before the end of the term of this government. With regards to tourism, we continue to market the Northwest Territories to Chinese tourists, and I think that we are prepared to look at further investment.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.

Cory Vanthuyne

Cory Vanthuyne Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I appreciate the response from the Premier. Just lastly, can the Premier indicate if there have been any communications locally, here, with our Chinese business owners, and have we encouraged the tourism operators here or assured them that we are still open for business, that any concerns that they might have are certainly being paid attention to and that we are going to continue to build positive relationships with China?

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

We have done a lot of work with the Chinese over the past. We have developed a China Strategy for the Northwest Territories. We have also been looking at investing in sister cities or provinces. We just recently had a Chinese counsellor visiting us, meeting with the Minister of Economic Development, and he assured us that it was business as usual. Destinations Canada, who have offices in China and Beijing, have also reassured us that it is still business as usual, at least in the tourism business. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.

Herbert Nakimayak

Herbert Nakimayak Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, on languages. Mr. Speaker, the action plan on languages commits to supporting NWT schools and early childhood programs to offer Indigenous language instruction and programs. Mr. Speaker, my question is: what is this going to look like in practical terms, and to what extent does it include language-immersion curricula? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am actually glad to speak about our languages because, as the MLA stated, our languages are in danger and they need to be preserved. I also want to recognize that, within the Northwest Territories, we still have a fair amount of speakers, and we need to preserve that. We need to promote that and revitalize.

We did do the action plan in May of 2018, but, in honesty, we have been working on this before last year. We have been working on this for many years. Our curriculum is being piloted right now in 40 of our schools across the territories. We have 40 out of 49. When I have gone into the schools, I have heard nothing but good news. They are bringing in elders. They have got language teachers in there. We are developing resources for them. Once this pilot is finished, then we will be compiling all of the results. We will be making a firm curriculum, and that curriculum will be implemented throughout the Northwest Territories.

I should also mention, though, that in our schools is one thing, but we also provide monies to Aboriginal governments to do their own language revitalization. It's important. We need to put our efforts into it.

Herbert Nakimayak

Herbert Nakimayak Nunakput

It is good to see that elders are being recognized. Earlier I was at the Dene Nation Assembly and they recognized all of the interpreters and language-holders, so kudos to that, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the plan also commits to supporting professional development for language instructors and offering language-instructor training. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister tell us more about these, and any other actions that the department is willing to do to build capacity in current language speakers and to ensure our traditional languages are kept alive into future generations?

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Yes, it is important that we reach out and train as many people in developing language revitalization teaching. It is actually an embarrassment, being a Metis woman and not being able to speak a word of my language, except perhaps "mahsi," which is common. I am not the only one that is Indigenous and can't speak their language, so we need to put a lot of effort.

Last year alone, approximately 75 of the Indigenous language teachers and support staff came together for the very first training in our new languages curriculum. That included training on learning how to use the new curriculum and how to use the resources and the assessment tools. It is important that we evaluate this as well. We also trained our regional Indigenous language education coordinators to support the teachers, as well as offering video conferencing training and in-class training throughout the year. As well, we have trained the principals, and we are starting to work closely with our program support teachers so that they have the skills to support the development of Indigenous languages.

Finally, as well, we are partnering with the University of Alberta and the University of Victoria to offer training and capacity-building opportunities to current language speakers. We need as many as possible. This is a serious effort, and we need to pay a lot of attention to it.

Herbert Nakimayak

Herbert Nakimayak Nunakput

It is good to hear that the department is allowing Indigenous governments to work at their pace. Mr. Speaker, I know that the department is currently hard at work with stakeholders, working on improving curricula for the Northwest Territories education system. Mr. Speaker, I would like the Minister to seriously consider incorporating a heightened focus on language immersion in this work. Mr. Speaker, can I get the Minister's opinion on this proposal?

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

I think it is no secret that I think, like I have said many times, that this is really important, and it is critical. Language is culture, and culture, in my opinion, is health. It's about wellness and making people feel good about themselves, and that is critical in making good choices. That's from my social work background. For the full immersion programs, ideally, all activities and learning would be done in their Indigenous language. That is the ideal. Currently, now, we have two communities that are doing immersion programs, one in Fort Providence and one in Behchoko. Those communities will provide some leadership and hopefully some support as other immersion programs begin.

Unfortunately, the reality is that not all schools in our communities have the capacity to offer a full immersion program, but that is not okay. We need to work towards fixing that. We need to work with the Indigenous language speakers to help them so that they can become teachers in our communities. We need to support Northern language speakers to become teachers so that they can pass on the knowledge.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.

Herbert Nakimayak

Herbert Nakimayak Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the response, and I see the reality of the issue of the capacity across the territory, seeing the residential school impacts have had a great impact, negative impacts, on all Indigenous peoples.

Mr. Speaker, my final question to the Minister is: in the long run, as we build our five-year or 10-year or 25-year plan, I think I would like to see more of a commitment since language is not in this Assembly but into the next Assembly, working towards bringing Indigenous language into grade five, grade six, and grade seven. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.