Good afternoon, Members. Item 2, Ministers' statements. Minister responsible for the Status of Women.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge International Women's Day. International Women's Day is held annually on March 8^th to celebrate women's social, cultural, and political achievements throughout history and across nations. International Women's Day also provides an important opportunity to showcase commitments towards women's equality, to raise awareness, and to highlight initiatives towards gender parity.

The theme of this year's International Women's Day is "Better the Balance, Better the World." As the Minister responsible for the Status of Women, I am committed to achieving gender equality throughout our society. To me, the theme "Better the Balance, Better the World" means having women at the table making decisions that affect our everyday lives for the benefit of all. Women make up half the population of the Northwest Territories and the world. It is only reasonable to expect that half the people in a position of power should be women.

Mr. Speaker, gender equality is something many nations aspire to. Far too often, we fall short of achieving that goal, but it is not impossible. We have to work together to get there. Here in the Northwest Territories, we are taking steps towards gender equality. When we passed a motion in March 2018 to increase women's representation in the Legislative Assembly, we collectively said we support this initiative. When we set up the Special Committee to Increase the Representation of Women in the Legislative Assembly, we demonstrated our willingness to work together to improve the gender balance in this House and to open important public discussions on how best to do this.

There are many exciting initiatives both within and outside government right now: the Trail Blazer event, campaign schools, Ted Talks, and various leadership events.

Our young women and girls have great potential to be our future leaders. We need to provide them with the support and tools to reach that potential. Providing better access for women to education, affordable housing, healthcare, employment, and childcare helps women, but it also helps build a sustainable economy and benefits our society as a whole.

Mr. Speaker, we recognize that women continue to face gender-based barriers and discrimination. These obstacles make it difficult for women to get an equal footing. We must continue to work together to develop and implement strategies to eliminate these barriers, prevent violence against women and girls, update policies and programs to promote the development of women in leadership positions, and continue the momentum to take action to achieve gender equality.

I thank all Northwest Territories' women for their invaluable contributions to our society today and throughout the year.

Mr. Speaker, I invite each Member of the Legislative Assembly to join me in recognizing International Women's Day. Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Ministers' statements. Colleagues, I would like to draw your attention to visitors in the gallery. Here with us today is Lynn Turcotte from Gameti. With her are Anita Turcotte and also Bridget Huff, both from Toronto. Welcome to the Northwest Territories and welcome to our Assembly. [Translation] We also have Violet Camsell-Blondin here with us in the gallery. Welcome. [Translation ends] Item 3, Members' statements. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Today we celebrate International Women's Day. The purpose of this commemoration is to bring attention to and advocate for the advancement of women in all areas of our society. On this day, we acknowledge gender inequalities and celebrate the empowerment of women. According to the official website for International Women's Day, this year's theme is "Balance for Better," which is a call for action for improving gender parity across the world.

In honour of this theme, Mr. Speaker, I would like to discuss the issue of women representation in electoral politics. This issue has been studied by many bodies, including the United Nations, the Parliament of Canada, and our own Legislature of the NWT.

Mr. Speaker, the United Nations determined that, in order to achieve significant policy change in government, all parliaments must attain a 30 percent threshold for women.

Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, our current Legislative Assembly in this Assembly does not meet that threshold. Our legislature consists of just 10.5 percent women. However, there are other political arenas within the NWT that have exceeded 30 percent, and I would like to highlight some of them today. For example, in our last 10 federal elections from 1988 to 2015, five of 10 elections were won by a woman, and that candidate was named Ethel Blondin-Andrew.

More presently, Mr. Speaker, since 2015, our capital city of Yellowknife has had a city council consisting of 37 percent women. In addition, as of 2018, four of the most populated communities in the NWT all elected women as mayors, with Rebecca Alty in Yellowknife; Kandis Jamieson in Hay River; Natasha Kulikowski in Inuvik; and Lynn Napier-Buckley in Fort Smith. In addition, there are five Dene communities where they are currently led by female chiefs, which includes April Martel of K'atlodeeche, Becky Cayen of West Point, Wanda Pascal of Tetlit Gwich'in, and Bernice Furlong of Inuvik Band and Freida Martselos of the Salt River First Nation. Mr. Speaker, I speak unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

Marsi. Also, two of five of the regional grand chiefs within the Dene Executive Council are women, with Bobbi Jo Greenland as Gwich'in Grand Chief and Gladys Norwegian as the Deh Cho Grand Chief.

Mr. Speaker, while these stats have improved over the years, both within the territory and across the country, I know that our society can do better. In fact, in our upcoming territorial election, I hope to see women running in every single of the 19 ridings in the NWT. Even better, I hope to see at least six or more women elected to our Legislative Assembly to meet the 30-percent benchmark that all parliaments should aspire to attain. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Like most of my colleagues, I want to say something in respect of International Women's Day. In past years, for International Women's Day, I have spoken about my mother. She was an independent businesswoman, a single mother, and I couldn't imagine there was anything my mother couldn't do. When you grow up in that kind of household, there is no doubting how capable women are.

We are fortunate in the North, Mr. Speaker, that we have plenty of strong examples of women in leadership. I am not just talking about the women in this room or the women who were chosen as mayors and chiefs in elections last fall. Certainly, they are important role models and examples of successful women, but that is just the tip of the iceberg. I am talking about the strong, articulate visions that were presented at the independently organized TEDx conference in Yellowknife just before Christmas. Visions of academic and professional achievement and success, visions of strong balance between roles in family and leadership in the community. I am talking about the strong representation that emerged through the public consultations of our Special Committee on Increasing the Representation of Women. Those hearings identified some of the inherent barriers to increased participation of women in politics, barriers we must all be aware of and commit to confronting. Our role as leaders should be a look forward, Mr. Speaker, and to imagine: what is the best that we can do? What is the best that our family, our community, and our territory can be? Once we have a vision of what that is, Mr. Speaker, it should be on us to design a means to get there. I believe our territory will be stronger, fairer, and more capable if we have more women in positions of leadership and power.

It is an election year, Mr. Speaker, both in our territory and across the country. Maybe that is an opportunity to take some steps forward in representative democracy. Maybe it is a chance to get a little more balance on the ballot.

Mr. Speaker, on this International Women's Day, I would like to encourage more women to get involved, get to the meetings, share your ideas, put your name forward. It is time for every level of government to more accurately reflect all the people we serve. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Nahendeh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, I would like to speak about a very special young lady from the Nahendeh riding. I have had the pleasure of witnessing her grow and develop into a leader since she was in grade seven. The person I am talking about is Janelle Bruneau. She is a daughter of Doris Pellissey and Daniel Bruneau. Her mother is from Wrigley and her father is from Fort Smith. She is very thankful for their continued support and guidance.

After graduating, she wanted to see what Canada had to offer, experience a different culture, face new challenges, and meet new people. McGill University gave her all this and more. Janelle is in her fourth year and is taking Geography as her major. She explained it is a diverse program that focuses on the physical and social environments that shape people's lives. She finds the courses very interesting. Her minor is in Indigenous Studies. It is about critical engagement in the Indigenous topic. It is about how Canada engages with Indigenous people and about the diverse history of all Indigenous people across Canada.

Beyond her studies, Janelle has been part of a group that is trying to make the campus safer and more inclusive for Indigenous students, since the university is well-known across the world for their programs. Unfortunately, sometimes a university doesn't seem to understand the difficulty Indigenous students face.

Another thing the group is trying to do is change the men's varsity team's name, the Redmen. The group has been working on this for the past year or so. It is about educating the masses about how offensive the name is for Indigenous people. Because of her advocacy, she has faced pushback from alumni and the varsity teams. Despite the reaction to this initiative, they have been successful in the principal of the university seriously looking at their concerns. A decision will be made in April.

Janelle feels that there is a need for more support for students who choose to study in the South. The support is vital for success in academics and essential for students to return to the North as effective members of our northern society.

Janelle encourages all students to have the strength to face adversity while chasing their dreams so you can become successful and proud of yourself. I wish her all the best and look forward to seeing her become one of our future leaders. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today is March 8^th, and that means it is International Women's Day, which gives us a clear opportunity to celebrate the contributions of women. As an ally, I do not wish to put words in the mouths of others, but wish to stand behind and support the actions, initiatives, and fights that are being led by women leaders from coast to coast to coast and around the world. Our society, cultures, country, and lives are enriched daily by the tireless efforts of women with whom we co-exist. Today is a chance for all of us to celebrate the achievements of the all-too-often unsung heroines in our lives and to renew efforts to achieving greater gender equity and equality.

I want to commend the honourable Members of this House for making women's political equity a top priority of this government, and in particular recognize the ongoing leadership on this and so many other issues by the honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre and the honourable Member for Range Lake.

The political lives of women have often been fraught with challenges. In the Canadian context, I must note the work of five incredibly strong Albertan women for speaking truth to power, Canada's famous five. Henrietta Muir Edwards, Louise McKinney, Nellie McClung, Irene Parlby, and Emily Murphy fought tirelessly for many issues, but their most long-lasting and wide-ranging struggle was for women to be recognized as persons under Canadian law. Now, this might seem quaint today, but the struggle is not over. It has merely become more nuanced. I want to thank and show my reverence to the battle these women fought for their common-sense acknowledgment that yes, indeed, women are persons.

In more recent news, the honourable Jody Wilson-Raybould is in the middle of her own battle. The truths and facts are battling out, and we have seen here many of the same talking points by her opponents as we have heard in the past. Whatever the outcome, Ms. Wilson-Raybould's belief is she is "always willing to speak truth to power" is a lesson that we can all use a reminding of. It is not easy to stand against one's colleagues, but it is important to stand one's ground, have your perspective heard, and to work tirelessly for meaningful action for change.

Mr. Speaker, I will conclude my statement today in the words of another woman who advanced her understanding of radiation and who ultimately paid the price for her work, and I hope that that serves as a reminder to us all that the road to progress is long and must be fought for. Madame Marie Curie: "I was taught that the way of progress was neither swift nor easy." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Frame Lake.

Merci, Monsieur le President. On the occasion of International Women's Day, I would like to speak about what we are doing to promote women in leadership. I attended the lively public hearing in Yellowknife on January 17^th by the Special Committee on Increasing the Representation of Women. There were about 30 participants, including media, and I would like to commend everyone for the respectful dialogue and the ideas that were put forward.

There were three main themes presented. One idea was to run elections for a woman and a man in each riding in the NWT to ensure that half of the MLAs are women. This is an interesting idea, but would probably not work, because not everyone identifies as binary.

Several presenters said that guaranteed representation of women through temporary seats raises issues of tokenism, may not address the root causes, and may lead others to request guaranteed representation.

Last and not least, some participants endorsed the idea of temporary special measures, where guaranteed seats is the only way to create the revolutionary change that is needed to ensure that women take their rightful place in decision-making here in the Northwest Territories.

There was also some discussion of how we can make the Legislative Assembly a friendlier place for those with young families.

This special committee has its work cut out for itself, and I thank all of the Members who have volunteered to serve on it during this last busy stretch of this Assembly. I participated in some of their meetings and truly appreciate the work being undertaken by the Members who have volunteered to serve.

The special committee is still accepting written submissions. I look forward to their report and encourage further input from Frame Lake residents and everyone in the Northwest Territories. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Sahtu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today is International Women's Day. This day was first recognized as a global event by the United Nations in 1975, but its origins go back to the early 1900s, as women fought for the right to vote.

It is a day for celebrating the socio-economic culture and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for gender equality. It is a day to acknowledge and support women's rights and to celebrate their many significant achievements.

Over the last 100 years, women in many countries have made advances towards gender equality by fighting for labour rights, protection from violence, access to sexual and reproductive health, equal pay for equal work, as well as reaching the highest positions of leadership.

However, there is still a long way to go. As of 2017, there were only 15 female world leaders. While the number of current female leaders has more than doubled since 2000, these women still represent fewer than 10 percent of the 193 UN member states. According to the World Economic Forum, 33,000 girls under the ages of 18 become child brides every day, and women in rural parts of Africa spend 40 billion hours a year collecting water.

At the current rate of progress, they estimate that it will take 108 years to close the gender gap. This is a notable statistic, given that the theme of this year's International Women's Day is "Balance for Better," which acknowledges that everyone benefits in a gender-balanced world. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

Thank you, colleagues. Mr. Speaker, there is some positive progress to take note of. More girls than boys now complete their secondary education in 32 of 34 OECD countries. We are seeing a growing interest for women in all aspects of society.

In this past October 2018 territorial municipal election, four of six mayor positions were taken by women. I hope to see more women serving as elected MLAs in the House by this time next year. Mr. Speaker, I want to acknowledge all women in the NWT and their important achievements on this International Women's Day. Mahsi.

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Deh Cho.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I wanted to honour a late elder on this day, International Women's Day, the late Elder Elise Gargan. She was quoted in sharing her stories in the Book of Elders, Nahecho Keh, and usually I read it in Slavey, but this time I wanted to read it in English.

These are quotes from Elise Gargan. Elise Gargan was born on March 12, 1926, up river from Fort Providence:

"When I was young, I really loved the elders. I used to wash their clothes and heat water for them so they could wash, just as if they were the parents I never had. I believe that, for every cup of tea I placed before them, I gained one more day on this earth for myself. I enjoyed doing these things for them out of love.

"No one ever taught me to work. I watched others, then I'd try. If I didn't sew something properly, I'd undo it and try again until I could do it. If you keep on trying, eventually, you'll succeed.

"I married when I was 15 and really had a hard time struggling to survive. Nowadays we live in luxury compared to how it used to be.

"Life was especially hard for the woman. When the man is away, the woman had to feed the children. No matter how cold it was, I had to check the snares. Before I left the children, I had to tie a leather thong around the waist of one and tie the end to something stable, put another in their swing cradle, and leave the elders to watch them all. That's how we used to live.

"The low points of my life were hunger and sickness. We didn't know how to help each other when there was sickness and there was no doctor. Sometimes we boiled herbs. Sometimes just thinking of getting better helps you overcome.

"When you're out in the bush, you sometimes experience real physical pain. It was especially difficult giving birth. Sometimes you didn't know what to do, and you're very thankful if your child is alive."

"The land gives less now. Once it was so new and very beautiful. I wonder if our children will ever have the experience of living on the land as we did, but the loss of this way of life has come in their generation. Education will give them a chance at another way of life now that many of them are no longer able to survive in the bush." Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Nunakput.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize a youth advocate from Nunakput.

Ms. Chukita Gruben is a 24-year-old Inuvialuk from Tuktoyaktuk who loves her culture, family, and the people who call this northern region home. Chukita comes from a very culturally oriented family who taught her the values of her traditional lifestyle, yet the importance of education that is needed in today's world. She recently completed a two-year term in December with the Tuktoyaktuk Community Corporation as a director, and during that time, she was working with the Hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk and for the Tuktoyaktuk District Education Authority. This young woman used these opportunities to grow and learn, utilizing her young voice and taking action.

Mr. Speaker, Chukita has helped contribute in tourism development projects with the Hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk and has done a lot of work around climate change by collaborating with scientists, researchers, politicians, and the media to showcase the impacts of climate change and how it is affecting their lifestyle, causing them to adapt. There is now a community-based monitoring program that was recently launched by the Tuktoyaktuk Community Corporation to help educate the people and be a part of the environmental concerns, adding into the Mangilaluk School curriculum and colliding traditional knowledge and western science data together.

Mr. Speaker, this young woman with her passion has had a lot of support and help to make these initiatives possible. Chukita has also volunteered a good amount of her time to visit schools and inspire youth to take advantage of opportunities that come up in this region. She has supported them by filling out paperwork and helping them to fundraise to travel for youth conferences in Canada.

Mr. Speaker, Chukita herself knows that these positive initiatives and knowing her cultural identity make an impact and are meaningful. She has travelled to many places in Canada and abroad to Alaska attending meetings. Mr. Speaker, in 2017, she was our youth representative for the Canada C3 expedition that went from coast to coast to coast for Canada's 150^th birthday. She was on leg 12, and the ship left from her home town, Tuktoyaktuk, and ended in Prince Rupert, BC. Ms. Gruben has sailed for 20 days, stopping along communities to help build relationships, connect and educate Canada on key themes such as diversity, inclusion, reconciliation, youth engagement, and the environment.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank her for her remarkable contributions to our society. Quyanainni, Mr. Speaker

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Mackenzie Delta.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources works with communities on plans to reduce the risk posed by summer wildfires. Implementing these plans is really important. We all know of communities where residents had to be evacuated when the fires were burning too close.

It is typical for communities to cut a firebreak around the community, which is a widely accepted way to reduce the risk to both life and property. Cutting firebreaks is especially important in our small communities, which have limited resources for fire departments, let alone capacity to take fast action to defend against wildfire moving in.

The department knows of this, Mr. Speaker. In 2015, its review of the previous year's terrible fire season resulted in a number of recommendations. One of the most important was the need to encourage communities to fire smart to protect their valuables at risk. I want to be clear. The valuables at risk are lives, homes, businesses, community halls, offices, schools, and gyms. There are a lot more, but you get the idea.

It seems that it is far easier for communities to get encouragement than it is to get money to actually do the work. The reality is that the fire smarting of a community costs money, and our communities do not have it.

Mr. Speaker, I am told that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources used to fund communities for fire smarting but now expects the communities to use their capital funding to do it. I want to say the department passed the buck on this, but it is more like the department is not passing on any bucks to do the job.

We all know about the huge shortfall or the funding gap that communities have faced for years when it comes to capital funding. Communities are already being short-changed on funding to meet pressing infrastructure needs. Telling communities to cover the cost of fire smarting is just adding insult to injury. It won't get the work done. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement. Thank you.

---Unanimous consent granted

This leaves communities scrambling for dollars through funding proposals to various outside governments. This is a haphazard, high-risk approach to protecting lives and property, Mr. Speaker, and I will have questions for the Minister later today. Thank you.

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. This year's International Women's Day comes at a time of heightened interest in the role of women in politics. This interest started at the time of the last presidential election in the United States, when the most qualified candidate ever to run did not win. It has continued to the present day, when Cabinet Minister resignations in Ottawa have highlighted the highs and lows of political life for women. None of this has gone unnoticed by the women of the Northwest Territories. The Special Committee on Increasing the Representation of Women in our own Legislative Assembly has had great turn-outs at its community hearings. Women want to know how they can take their place in this Assembly.

Mr. Speaker, there is a pool of women in the Northwest Territories who are eligible, qualified, and willing to run. Meeting the eligibility is simple. Women need to be 18 years old, a Canadian citizen, and a resident of the Northwest Territories for a year. They are qualified to run by virtue of their life experience. "Just come as you are, ladies," said a friend of mine recently elected to the Yellowknife city council. None of us came here knowing everything we needed to know to do this job, but, since women worry about whether they are qualified, it's worth mentioning that women in the Northwest Territories graduate from high school in greater numbers than men and are more likely to have a university degree. For most women in the Northwest Territories, the biggest consideration is being willing to run.

Mr. Speaker, I want to talk about why it's worth running. I ran after many years as an advocate for housing and women's issues. I wanted to talk about those issues in this House and push for change. Research says other women often run for the same reasons. They are advocates, and they want to pursue those policy issues that are important to women, issues that are not being discussed as often or even at all by men. That does not mean that women cannot or will not talk about economic development, financial policy, or land management. Of course they can, but their male colleagues are less likely to talk about pay equity, universal access to family planning, or violence against women.

Mr. Speaker, this is where women's voices can make a difference, and the more the better. Research indicates elected women promote gender equality and strengthen democratic institutions because women are often willing collaborators. Women also make substantive contributions to the consideration of government spending and population health. In short, women can change the world, not only for women, but for everyone. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

Mr. Speaker, women have a right to be in this Chamber, whatever their priorities. They have a job to do shaping policy and making change, but, perhaps most importantly, by being here, they show other women what's possible. If you can see it, you can be it. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is my pleasure today to recognize Arlene Hache, who is a constituent of Yellowknife North who is also a very well-known and very well-recognized social advocate, and especially for women. I just want to welcome you here and say thank you for being here on this International Women's Day.

Masi. [English translation not provided.] Member for Range Lake.

Mr. Speaker, I am also pleased to recognize the attendance of the board of the NWT Status of Women Council and their executive director here in the House today: Ms. Violet Camsell-Blondin, our president; Rita Arey, vice president; board members Catherine Mackeinzo-Taylor, Andrea Steed, and Arlene Hache; as well as the executive director, Louise Elder. I would also like to thank them for their ongoing contributions to improving the lives of women in all of our communities and for being here today, along with the other women in the gallery, to help celebrate International Women's Day. Your presence is very much appreciated. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. [English translation not provided.] Member for Frame Lake.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I, too, would like to recognize my friend, Violet Camsell-Blondin, and I have had the pleasure of working with Violet for probably 30 years. She now serves as the chair of the Status of Women Council, and I thank her for her public service. I would like to recognize Frame Lake constituent Louise Elder and thank her for her work as executive director of the Status of Women Council. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. [English translation not provided.] Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, I recognized a couple of Pages who we had from Inuvik Twin Lakes. Today, I would like to recognize their chaperone. Blair Conley brought them down here. I would also like to take a minute to recognize Rita Furlong Arey from Aklavik, who I affectionately call Rita B. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. [English Translation not provided.] Member for Sahtu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to recognize the lady leaders of the NWT Native Women's Association in the gallery, and also Kathy Mackenzie-Taylor from Deline and Rita Arey from Aklavik and my CA, Corrine Ferdinand. Mahsi.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize a Thebacha constituent, Andrea Steen.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize a couple of the Pages for Hay River North who have been helping us out through some of these long nights, Ms. Taylor Giovanetti and Ms. Lizzy Rimer. They have been with us all week, and I really appreciate their assistance. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. [English Translation not provided.] Member for Mackenzie Delta.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to recognize Rita Arey from Aklavik, my constituent and also vice-president of the Status of Women, also a retired social worker after many years of service. I thank you for that and all the work that you do. Mahsi.

Masi. [English Translation not provided.] Member for Yellowknife South.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize three Pages from Yellowknife South, Tyson Lafond, Janica-Lei Silverio, and Ryley Steinwand. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to recognize Ms. Violet Camsell-Blondin. We have run into each other at a lot of Indigenous events and organized working groups around the territory. I appreciate the work that you do. Also, to our friend Arlene Hache, welcome to the Legislature. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. If we are missing anyone in the gallery, thanks for being here with us. It is always great to have an audience as part of our proceedings. Masi. Item 6, acknowledgements. Item 7, oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. The federal government has introduced Bill C-92, An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit, and Metis Children, Youth, and Families. The purpose of the act is to acknowledge that Indigenous governments have the right to create their own laws to regulate child and family services. I realize this legislation was introduced only a week ago. Can the Minister tell us how Bill C-92 will apply in the NWT, if at all? Thank you.

Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The department has had the legislation for about a week, and we have been going through and trying to determine how it will impact here in the Northwest Territories. I think there is still more work that needs to be done on that analysis. However, through our early analysis, it is not expected that the proposed legislation will significantly impact how CFS is currently delivered here in the Northwest Territories. It is important to note that the key principles in their legislation remain generally consistent with the principles set out in our NWT Child and Family Services Act, as well as Building Stronger Families.

As the Member said, the purpose of the proposed legislation is to affirm the rights and jurisdictions of Indigenous peoples in relation to child and family services and sets out some principles applicable at a national level to the provision of child and family services to Indigenous children. I would like to note that the Government of the Northwest Territories, both before this legislation and after this legislation passes in Ottawa, has been and will continue to be in support of Indigenous governments exercising jurisdiction in the area of child and family services when they choose. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It seems that the reserves in the Northwest Territories and the Tlicho Community Services Agency may be the most likely entities to want to implement this bill. Does the government plan to provide any particular help to these organizations or Indigenous governments in order to put themselves into a position to implement this act if passed?

Currently, there are two different Indigenous governments that actually have the power and the authority to draw down child and family services today. We are working with all of our Indigenous partners. If these Indigenous governments choose to draw down those authorities now, we will certainly work with them in cooperation with Canada to ensure that those services are drawn down and devolved in a way that gives them the ability to provide high-quality services for all their residents.

I wonder what this legislation might do to federal transfers for health to the NWT. Would transfers to specific Indigenous governments go via the GNWT, or would they go directly to the Indigenous governments?

Honestly, we can't answer that question yet. One of the issues that has been raised at the national level about this legislation is that there are no dollars tied to it. If dollars come in phase 2, and I believe that is where the federal government said money might come, we would be happy to work with them, with our Indigenous partners. The bottom line is we all want the same thing, which is fewer Indigenous children in care. We want to build and support stronger families. I think we are all trying to do the same thing. We are prepared to work together.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the responses from the Minister. It is my understanding that the bill allows Indigenous governments to negotiate coordination agreements with provincial and territorial governments as well as Ottawa. Is this an approach GNWT will work with if the bill becomes law? Mahsi.

Our current legislation requires us to work with the Indigenous governments and Indigenous communities here in the Northwest Territories if a child from their community were facing apprehension. We are committed to continuing to do that. If the Indigenous governments choose to draw down these responsibilities, of course, we want to work with them and with Ottawa to make sure that those responsibilities are transferred effectively.

At the end of the day, we want the same thing. We want a system that supports families to stay together where it is appropriate. Where children have to be apprehended, we want to make sure that it is done in such a way as to maintain connections with culture, community, and residents. We all want the same thing. We are prepared to work together with all of our partners to make it a reality. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I recently read the 2017-2018 ITI Grant and Contribution Report. I was happy to read that $17.6 million was provided to more than 500 individuals, entrepreneurs, businesses, and groups with an economic interest in our territory. Can the Minister of Infrastructure, Tourism and Industry explain how they report on the use of these fund? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Minister of Infrastructure, Tourism and Investment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. ITI supports the economy in a bunch of different ways. The grants and contributions document is a testament to that. It is a roll-up of various ways that we invest in industry, businesses, and entrepreneurs across the Northwest Territories. That said, we also have appropriate but different ways of reporting out of each of these funding areas. We presently have various accounting spending in this House. I have tabled the BDIC report in this House, community futures, investments in the Northwest Territories Tourism Marketing Plan. Staff and myself regularly get out and talk to the chambers across the territory to be able to talk about some of these documents. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Can the Minister verify if these individuals, entrepreneurs, businesses, and groups need to apply yearly, or can they get multi-year funding through this program?

For the most part, applicants to the ITI programming, like the Support to Entrepreneurs and Economic Development Policy, do have to generally apply each year.

I noticed that, on page 4, table 2, "Contributions by clients exceeding $100,000," the NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines received $190,600, and on page 8, the table "Contribution funding by major program activities for 2018," there is $100,000 for Aboriginal Development Support Program and $90,600 for the NWT Chamber of Mines. Can the Minister advise if these funds are the same funding?

That is a fairly detailed question. I don't have the document in front of me. If I remember right, we list by client, by region, by sector, by program area, and so on in the document, but I think that I can confirm that there are two different accountings of the same funding.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Minister giving the answers here today. My final question is: from what I understand, the NWT Chamber of Commerce is responsible for providing funding for the Aboriginal Development Support Program. Can the Minister explain why the department uses a third party, the NWT Chamber of Mines, to allocate these funds? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

This is something that I can talk about for hours, how we are trying to build capacity and participation of Indigenous governments in the mineral resources sector in the Northwest Territories. One of the ways that we are doing that to help grow our economy is through their participation in a number of these industry events. I particularly participate in Geoscience AME Roundup and PDAC. In fact, at PDAC just last week, the chamber hosted an investment event at PDAC. That included presentations and different discussions with Indigenous business leaders and representatives in the mining project sectors across the Northwest Territories by the Chamber of Mines. This is one of the reasons that we have done this through the chamber. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a few questions for the Minister responsible for Environment and Natural Resources. I would like to ask the Minister: what is the department doing to make sure that communities can implement and fund their Wildland Fire Protection Plans? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As we know, we have issues with fire around some of our communities, and ENR tries to work with the communities to deal with it. Through, I think, the community access program through MACA, there is some funding there that the communities can use if they want to fire smart their communities.

During this past fire season, it was a fairly quiet fire season for us, so we actually had some members of our fire crews, just to keep working, do some fire smarting around the communities, cut some brush. As we are able to do, we will assist them, but there are some monies out there, I think, through the small community fund that comes through the rural and remote committee. There is funding available there, too, so if a community wants to do some more fire smarting, they have access to some funds. I think we greatly enhanced those funds during this session. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I mentioned earlier today that ENR used to fund fire smarting in the NWT communities, but has since offloaded the burden onto the communities themselves. Why was this decision made?

Actually, I don't think that we have offloaded that onto the communities. I think that the communities have taken the responsibility for that on, because who knows the communities more than the community, Mr. Speaker? It is not another pot of money that we have. The small community employment fund had, I believe, about $4.2 million, of which $3 million went to a lot of the smaller communities. Through the process that we are going through right now, we have added more money onto that because it has been such an important tool for a lot of the small communities. They have that opportunity to access that funding, and the communities make the decisions as to what is best for their communities, and they have the funds available to bring some of these projects to life.

It is good that the communities took on this responsibility, but we are talking in the neighbourhood of $200,000, for example, to do a community the size of Fort McPherson. That is competing with capital projects. What is ENR's estimate of the cost to cut firebreaks around the three communities in the Mackenzie Delta?

The exact cost, I am not sure, but a $200,000 investment, you would think, would save significant dollars if there is damage to the community as a result of the fire. I know that we are in negotiations with Canada on the disaster mitigation funding. That would be another pot of money that communities would be able to access to help with disaster mitigation. We feel that there is significant investment in this particular area, again, so we leave the authority to make these types of decisions up to the communities. You will find that communities do make good decisions. Where there are opportunities, as I said earlier, Mr. Speaker, with some of our crews that, thankfully, have had a quiet fire season, they are able to assist on this, as well.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Seeing as how the Minister is also the money man in the House, fire smarting can save lives and very valuable property, and the cost of doing it is a lot less than many projects that our government routinely delivers. Will the Minister identify funds that communities can use to implement their Wildland Fire Protection Plans by cost-sharing? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am the Environment Minister, so I will speak with the Finance Minister and see if there are opportunities to access more money, but again, through a number of the programs that we have, such as disaster mitigation, there are funds that we will be able to access to assist with the communities. The communities, again, have those funds at their disposal if they choose to use them to do some fire smarting, with the folks that we have, because of the quiet fire season, assisting them. There are a number of opportunities there with the small community employment fund. I believe, in one community, they did a lot of fire smarting, and they did a lot of cutting of dead brush around their community. That's a good thing. More than anything, we recognize the importance of saving lives, and I think that the communities do as well. If we can, we will work in cooperation with the communities to try to assist them wherever we can to fire smart their communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have some questions for the Finance Minister that I am just going to spring on him. I didn't give him any heads-up. There have been a lot of announcements about funding to examine some of these big projects that the territory is looking at, whether it's the Slave Geological Province road or it's Taltson Hydro. There is a lot of federal money, but we are also putting our money into it as well. When these announcements are made, is there any sort of commitment on the part of the feds that, in addition to giving us the exploratory money, they are going to be paying for major parts of these potential projects? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are always prepared when there are opportunities for funding from the federal government. One of the things that I have told this House in the last three years is that a lot of the potential savings that we had so that we can match federal money as federal government money becomes available. A lot of the work that the Member is talking about is building a case for these potential projects. Normally, there is the exploratory building a case to try and access the bigger pots of money. When the bigger pots of money are accessed, then I feel that this government is in a fairly good position to do our cost-share of the project. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I appreciate that answer. I know that, you know, the feds aren't going to come out right and say that they can commit right at the beginning here, but I am a little bit concerned because, as we are going through this budget here, our last budget, I see what the debt limit is. I see where we are at, and we are pretty much maxed out. It was about a month ago in the south the Minister said he had initiated some talks with the federal Finance Minister about increasing our borrowing limit and about possibly talking about territorial formula financing, and I know that the Minister hasn't had any time in the past six weeks because we have been here, so I know he hasn't met with the federal Finance Minister, but have we set a date for these talks to begin so we can really get into the meat of the issue?

I have, as I said, initiated talks with them. We have not been able to sit down yet. We have been in session for awhile, now, but our next Finance Ministers' meeting, I believe, is in June. There might be opportunities for me to have a conversation with the federal Finance Minister beforehand and see if we can work on -- we are fortunate right now that, with the borrowing limit that we do have, most of our project, we are able to fit under there, but if there are announcements for bigger projects that might need more of an investment from the Government of the Northwest Territories, then we need to work with Ottawa to increase our borrowing limit. As we stand right now, I think we are in fairly good shape with the projects that we do have.

I am looking forward to the next Assembly and the Assemblies after that because these are big projects. They are long-term projects. They are not even going to get started in the life of this Assembly and the piggy bank is almost empty, so can we get assurance from the Minister that he is going to have those talks with the Finance Minister in the life of this Assembly so that, going into the next Assembly, we might have the money to complete some of these projects? Because we are spending territorial funds in addition to the federal funds, exploring this project, but if they are never going to get off the ground, we are just wasting our money. So can we get a commitment that those talks will happen and we should see some results this Assembly?

I said I was going to have discussions with the federal government. I was going to have the meetings with the federal minister. I'm a man of my word, and I will initiate those discussions. I think, with the work that we have done in the last three years in the Assembly with some of the corrections we have made on the budget, I think we positioned ourselves very well to be able to match it. I take the Member's point, and as I've said a number of times, a lot of the work that we do here has set the table for those coming after us, so they will be in the position, if there are bigger announcements to be made, they will be in a good position to take advantage of that with our matching dollars. If there are discussions, and I will, and I have said I will, I will initiate those discussions, have those discussions with the federal Finance Minister before the end of this Assembly.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, we have set the table, then we ate all the food. There is going to be nothing left for the next Assembly. So just so we know what is going on, would the Minister be able to provide us with a list of projections, cost projections, for these future projects over the next five or 10 years, just so we have an idea so that, you know, when people are considering entering politics next year, they know what they are in for? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Most departments have 20-year infrastructure acquisition plans, and as money becomes available, they are able to put those plans in to do the actual building. You know, there are Members who are coming after us and I think we are going to position them to come and realize that there are some decisions that were made in this Assembly, I think, that made their work a little easier, and we hope it is a little easier, and if they are in a good position to match a lot of the federal projects, I don't know what is coming on. I mean, we have had some of the projects that we have been working on or we have been proposing, we have been working with Ottawa, and the departments have 20-year infrastructure needs assessment to have plans, so I think the next government, the 19^th Assembly, is going to be well-positioned to take advantage of any federal dollars that become available. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.

Merci, Monsieur le President. Last week, I made a Member's statement about the great post-devolution resource giveaway, where the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment issued 10 significant discovery licences that tie up petroleum resources forever without any benefits to NWT residents. The original exploration rights were issued by the federal government. Can the Minister tell us whether the federal government made any provision for fees or work requirements in the issuance of those original rights? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The federal government has never charged rental rates on significant discovery licences, provided there was a significant discovery declaration in place when the STL was issued. Among the terms and conditions tied to exploration licences, a 25 percent work bid deposit was paid and drilling activity was required in order to maintain the licence for a full term. Interest holders are also required to pay rentals in the second period of an exploration licence as part of a condition to hold an exploration licence for nine years. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Well, it is my understanding that, when the federal government issued those original rights, they made provision for fees to be charged as a rental rate. Perhaps the rental rate wasn't specified, but at least it was in there, so why did the Minister not include any fees or work requirements in the 10 significant discovery licences that he issued?

These interests were tied to exploration licences issued by the federal government prior to devolution. It has been the policy of our government to hold companies doing business here to the terms they negotiated with the federal government. Future STL rental rates were not stated in the terms and conditions of the original call for bids documents issued by Canada prior to devolution. The GNWT would have been in a high-risk litigation.

I thank the Minister for that explanation. It was a fear of risk of litigation, so that we now don't get any benefits from these significant discovery licences. The Minister last week said that we should not, "set rules without a transparent and open process." The Minister also said that he will consider charging rental rates under the terms and conditions for future bids in the Northwest Territories when we put out plans for petroleum exploration in the future. Can the Minister tell us who is consulted in setting those rates and what they will be?

The topic of rentals and other STL policy elements, such as terms, have been discussed with all current interest holders in the Northwest Territories and representatives of the intergovernmental council during the development and amendments of the Petroleum Resource Act and Oil and Gas Act.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for confirming that for me. For a government that says it is open and transparent, consulting only the industry and perhaps Indigenous governments, only consulting industry, I don't think that is a great idea, and I think that is a clear definition of regulatory capture. Can the Minister make public the work requirements and rental rates for future significant discovery licences and the rationale that he used in setting them? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

The proposed amendments that we have put forward for the PRA do include a requirement for the Minister to make the text of any significant discovery licence publicly available, future STL rental rates, and how STL work will be credited. It will also be specified in the future call for bid documents. Whether or not we publicly release the rationale for the rates that we might apply is more of a policy decision at this time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I would like to follow up again with the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. He talked about two different ways of capturing some benefits from significant discovery licences. One is in the initial call for bids, and second, in the actual issuance of the significant discovery licence itself. In the call for bids, has a decision been made by the Minister on what the rates would be for significant discovery licences in the future? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the interim, we have laid out some rates that are detailed, and we have shared that information with committee.

Thanks to the Minister for that explanation. Is the Minister prepared to make that information public?

I don't see why we can't do that. We can certainly have a conversation with the Member. I will talk with the department, but I don't see why we would not make those rates public if we are going to impose them on industry.

I thank the Minister for that commitment. Can the Minister give me an idea as to when he expects to make this information public?

I will have to talk to our officials and see when we can get that out there and let the Member know.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that commitment again. Can the Minister commit also that, when he puts this information out, he is prepared to accept public comments on it? Because he has already made up his mind perhaps about this without any public input, but I would like to know whether he is prepared to accept public comment when he puts this information out. This is about having an open and transparent government and not just consulting with industry in setting these kinds of rates.