This is page numbers 5649 - 5680 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 information. View the webstream of the day's session.

Topics

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

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Member for Nunakput.

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

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Herbert Nakimayak

Herbert Nakimayak Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize Ms. Jillian Brown, as well. In her past career, I have seen Jillian teach across the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. It's good to see educators making long-term goals in our territory, educating our children, so welcome, Jill. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Item 3, Members' statements. Member for Mackenzie Delta.

Fort McPherson Elders Facility
Members' Statements

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Frederick Blake Jr.

Frederick Blake Jr. Mackenzie Delta

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No one is more important in any culture than our elders. This government has shown over time that the money we put into the care and well-being of our elders is nothing short of positive. Our elders are more active, healthier, and, if I may state, are looking younger.

I want to touch on the elders' home that was started in Fort McPherson some time ago. I believe it's almost near completion, and the community is looking forward to the grand opening.

Mr. Speaker, it's been a long time coming. There are eight units in this building, plus one for a caretaker. This will give the community eight empty units to place other families in, ones who are on the waiting list for housing.

I have heard many times that keeping our elders in our home communities makes them stronger, and keeping them near families, where they can be cared for, especially keeping them in a home in their community where they feel safe makes them more comfortable.

Mr. Speaker, it's pretty exciting for Fort McPherson. We have had the local contractor finish the work, with on-the-job training opportunities for local labourers. Finishing touches are in the works, and we are anxiously awaiting the day our elders can move in. I will have questions for the Minister later today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Fort McPherson Elders Facility
Members' Statements

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Nunakput.

Herbert Nakimayak

Herbert Nakimayak Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As our days get warmer and the ice melts from the lakes and the rivers, residents of our remote coastal communities look forward to being resupplied by marine transportation services. The Nunakput communities rely on the barges each summer for essential goods, fuels, and services which can only be delivered in the summer months in a short operating window.

As this House knows, unfortunate weather last August caused the last barges of the season to be cancelled. This resulted in the already high cost of living to rise. I have spoken before about my constituents not being able to afford fuel to go on the land harvesting and hunting, which causes a vicious cycle of them being forced to buy expensive food at the store instead of providing for their families from the land.

It was for this reason that I was pleased to hear the Minister say that they are planning an earlier start to the shipping season. I encourage the Marine Transportation Services to use this season to do some long-term planning for future ice conditions, working with Transport Canada and other agencies that are experts in the Arctic sea ice and weather conditions on the western gate of the Northwest Passage so that they can maximize their chances of completing all the reply routes each year.

Mr. Speaker, one way to improve shipping times could be the use of the now-complete Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway to bring goods to the coast and then stage shipping from Tuktoyaktuk. This would have the advantage of cutting the sailing time. Goods could start to be collected before the sea ice has broken up, and sailing schedules may be easier to adjust to account for conditions in the Beaufort Sea.

Finally, Mr. Speaker, investing not just the physical infrastructure, the docks and wharfs of the coastal communities, but also by mapping the ports of entry into the communities and monitoring any changes to the seabed may also help ensure that the shipping season runs smoothly. I look forward to hearing from the Minister on any investments being made to improve marine shipping in the Beaufort Sea and the Arctic this year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Nahendeh.

Recognizing Volunteers in Nahendeh
Members' Statements

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Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday I spoke about a pay it forward program in Fort Simpson. Today I would like to speak about a second program established in the region. It is largely in part to Mr. Troy Bellefontaine. In the summer of 2016, Troy began researching Dolly Parton's Imagination Library and, in November 2017, he began accepting registration for this literacy program.

The Dolly Parton Imagination Library is a program that sends one book a month to children between the ages of zero months to five years. The program is partly dependent on donations, as the cost is $3.55 per child per month. All other expenses are covered by the foundation. Initially, Troy himself began the program by donating enough money to have the program run for five months. As well, he personally funded all the promotion associated with this program, along with accepting the responsibility for registering the children. Since November, he has received approximately 45 registration, and predicts it will continue to grow.

The Liidlii Kue First Nation, the Village of Fort Simpson, and other local businesses have donated to allow this program to become operational in the community.

After conducting research, Troy established there are 113 kids in the region who qualify for this program. His goal is to have each of them registered and receive books each month. He would like to expand his literacy service to the other communities in the region, such as Jean Marie, Wrigley, Somba K'e, and Nahanni Butte. To his credit, he has.

Troy's personal commitment to literacy is one of his key passions, so much so that he took time off work to attend a literacy workshop in Yellowknife. He returned with the initiative to hold local literacy workshops, giving parents tips and tools on how to assist and engage their children in the joy of reading. The books not only assist with literacy, but they contain valuable life lessons. Many of the books teach kindness, caring, and helping others.

Troy also operates a successful private business. In October 2016, he and his employee, Heather Greencorn, discussed giving back to the community and options for paying it forward. The discussion resulted in Heather offering free hairstyling to the residents of the elders' care home in Fort Simpson. Heather has been providing this essential service since that conversation to the elders monthly and remains dutifully committed to this program. I would like to thank both of them for their commitment and others who continue to do this work behind the scenes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Recognizing Volunteers in Nahendeh
Members' Statements

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Frame Lake.

Northern Frontier Visitors Centre
Members' Statements

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Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Merci, Monsieur le President. I will come back today to the too-long and too-twisted tale of the former Northern Frontiers Visitors' Centre and the lack of progress re-establishing a tourist information centre for Yellowknife. It's been more than two years since the facility closed.

Back in February 2017, the Minister of Infrastructure told me that his staff were working to stabilize the building and had "recently gone out for expressions of interest on possible design opportunities." Northern Frontiers Visitors' Association board produced a report detailing the estimated $5 million in additional tourism business generated by the centre and offered three costed options for redesign and relocation of the facility. Despite these efforts, the building closed in May 2017, and the visitors' operation hopped to the museum, then to the basement of Yellowknife City Hall, where it has been located ever since. When I asked the Minister a year later, in February 2018, what progress towards a new centre had come from the design studies, he said, "I think it's a bit early to make a decision on that yet. We are working with the City of Yellowknife to determine the long-term model of delivery of the visitors' information centre." So much for 2017 and 2018.

In the February 2019 budget session, I asked the Minister for a status report yet again and was told the building is still being stabilized and that the infrastructure department has "recently gone out for expressions of interest on possible design opportunities." Media reports have since informed us that $125,000 has been spent to stabilize the building that officials describe as "just barely surviving" and that $75,000 was split between three design companies for their ideas on building redevelopment.

Presumably, with all of these suggestions, in addition to the recommendations paid for in 2017, we have a lot to look at. Others use have proceeded in parallel, including the passage of a law enabling the City of Yellowknife to finance a destination marketing program, but that doesn't result in a storefront visitors centre helping our 70,000 annual visitors spend more money in Yellowknife and beyond.

Later today I hope to have questions for the Minister to find out what is going on with the building and how we can improve visitor services for Yellowknife moving forward. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Northern Frontier Visitors Centre
Members' Statements

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Deh Cho.

Affirmative Action Policy
Members' Statements

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Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

Mr. Speaker, the GNWT has the goal of employing a public service that is representative of the general population that it serves. The NWT's population is almost exactly 50 percent non-Aboriginal and 50 percent Aboriginal. This means that 50 percent of the GNWT's public service should ideally be composed of Aboriginal employees. Unfortunately, that is not the case.

According to the GNWT's 2018 Public Service Annual Report, only 30.5 percent of the territorial government's workforce is made up of Indigenous Aboriginal people, who are defined in the policy as people of Dene, Metis, or Inuit descent who were born or have lived more than half of their lives in the Northwest Territories. I agree with my colleague from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh that the Affirmative Action Policy has failed many Indigenous Aboriginal P1 candidates. The government has to make a commitment to turn this around now, not to leave it to the next Assembly.

Mr. Speaker, there has been no change to the policy in the 30 years since it was established. It still contains a commitment to do a policy review in 1994. The language is outdated, as well. In the policy, "Indigenous" means everyone who has lived half of their life in the NWT, whether they are Aboriginal or not. Everywhere else, the GNWT uses the word "Indigenous" to mean Aboriginal only.

The GNWT needs to get more jobs into small communities to bring the jobs to the people, instead of requiring people to abandon their families and their traditional lands to take jobs elsewhere. Most summer employment opportunities for post-secondary students are in the headquarters and regional centres. DMs, or deputy ministers, in every department should be challenged to ensure that students from small communities can get GNWT summer jobs. Their tenure and bonuses should depend on it.

Some departments are doing better than others. ENR has the highest rate of Aboriginal employees, at 45 percent, followed closely by Executive and Indigenous Affairs, at 44 percent. Departments at the bottom of the list, like Lands and Health and Social Services, at 22 percent each, need to prioritize this. I would like to see the Minister of Finance establish a firm commitment that Aboriginal residents of the NWT from small communities make up at least 75 percent of the GNWT workforce.

Human resources staff in the Department of Finance should be working hard to remove systemic barriers, not create them. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my Member's statement. Mahsi.

---Unanimous consent granted

Affirmative Action Policy
Members' Statements

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Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mahsi, colleagues. Mr. Speaker, I understand that hiring practices now include the requirement to do a written test to qualify for a job interview. If this is a standard approach across the GNWT, then it needs to change, because it discourages potentially dedicated Aboriginal employees who were deprived of good educational opportunities.

Mr. Speaker, the Affirmative Action Policy needs to be revised and updated, and the government's political leaders and top senior managers need to recommit today to making the policy's goal a reality. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Affirmative Action Policy
Members' Statements

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

NorthWords Writers Festival
Members' Statements

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Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I am rising today to celebrate a great community and cultural event, the NorthWords Writers Festival, which begins tomorrow.

The festival was created in 2006 as a three-day event to provide a stage for northern and Indigenous writers to welcome established writers from southern Canada. The NorthWords Writers Festival Society was established a year later, and workshops and other literary events were added to the program.

Today the four-day event attracts around 1,000 people. Emerging and established writers converge to develop their craft through public readings, mentorships, panel discussions, workshops, and a writing contest, as well as informal meetings with each other and guest authors. NorthWords promotes the development of young northern and Indigenous writers by sponsoring events for schools.

In 2010, NorthWords NWT began to reach out to writers in other NWT communities with a three-author tour of Fort Smith, Hay River, and Yellowknife. The festival now offers events in all three communities.

The festival took another step forward in 2012 with the publication of the anthology "Coming Home: Stories From the Northwest Territories." This anthology featured the work of 17 NWT writers, half of whom were being published for the first time. This anthology has enjoyed an extraordinary reception from the reading public and has been an important step in the development of NWT writers. It has resulted in increased participation and interest in northern literary events.

Mr. Speaker, the 14th Annual NorthWords Writers Festival runs from tomorrow through Sunday. Events include the open mic event "Flash: Your Five Minutes of Fame," the NorthWords Cafe, a gala and silent action, and "Blush: An Evening of Erotic and Sensual Readings." A line-up of more than 20 writers and authors, filmmakers, songwriters, storytellers, and performing groups will entertain from venues across the three communities. It is an event about and beyond words.

Congratulations to NorthWords, and keep on growing. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

NorthWords Writers Festival
Members' Statements

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Yellowknife North.

Polytechnic Potential
Members' Statements

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Cory Vanthuyne

Cory Vanthuyne Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. One of the most exciting opportunities currently before us is the development of advanced post-secondary education through a polytechnic university. I am proud that, in the 18th Assembly, we have taken significant steps towards making this a reality, but it is important that it be done right, so it demands our continuing attention and vigilance, even in the remaining months of this Assembly.

Mr. Speaker, I see a polytechnic university providing many benefits to the NWT, such as:

  • significant education dollars will stay here at home;
  • students can engage in a northern priority curriculum that will equip them to find career opportunities here at home;
  • promote affordable post-secondary education for all NWT students;
  • continuing success of existing Aurora College programs and campuses;
  • address labour shortage issues here at home; and
  • encourage and retain northern residency.

A made-in-the-North curriculum can be designed to meet the unique needs of both the northern economy and the student body. Programs can be designed with a staged curriculum to meet both the demand for vocational and trades-based skills and academic research, possibly leading to post-graduate work.

A polytechnic university campus based in Yellowknife is a logical choice because of human and civil infrastructure, as well as the demands for housing. As for Inuvik and Fort Smith campuses, I see their communities being enhanced by the increase in post-secondary activities generated by the polytechnic.

Mr. Speaker, the circumpolar regions of the world are gaining increasing international focus. There is huge potential for foreign students attending northern educational institutions. Foreign students pay tuition averaging three to five times what Canadian students pay. This is another area of huge potential growth.

Finally, partnerships with other northern, national, and international educational institutions can provide further opportunities, academic and otherwise. Important research is currently conducted by institutions across the northern hemisphere. Connections and collaborative partnerships among such agencies can be mutually beneficial.

Mr. Speaker, an NWT polytechnic institution should take its place among them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Polytechnic Potential
Members' Statements

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Kam Lake.

Regular Member Imbalance in Consensus
Members' Statements

May 29th, 2019

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Kieron Testart

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. According to the Legislative Assembly's own website, the role of Regular Members is to sit as the unofficial opposition. They are "responsible, through questioning in the House and the work of standing committees, for holding the government accountable and responsive to the people of the Northwest Territories."

For Regular Members to do their job effectively in holding government accountable and responsive to the people of the NWT, Regular Members require expedient and complete access to information of government activities. In our current system, all information requests by Regular Members must go through Cabinet and their staff, then to the department, and back again to Cabinet, eventually answering Regular Members. Cabinet members have extra staff to handle their workload, discretionary funds to appropriate as they see fit, and maintain a tight grip on access to departments, agencies, and information.

Simple requests for data sets will often be answered by an executive summary written by departmental officials, and in the past, Regular Members have had to pay for out of their own pockets and file ATIPP requests to get answers from the GNWT on legislative reviews of bills before committees.

Mr. Speaker, the House has the paramount responsibility to oversee the public purse, among other duties, and paramount is ensuring the laws of the land proposed by the government reflect the will, attitudes, and aspirations of the people.

Regular Members need a system that functionally permits this, and our current system places barriers and challenges in the way. Regular Members should not have to have their access to government information filtered through a Minister's office. As far as the membership of this House is concerned, in the much-derided partisan institutions of the South, there are backbench MPs who can speak directly to deputy ministers in those governments to get information. That is something simply not permitted under our current standing procedures.

The restrictions on Regular Members which currently exist in the operation of our consensus system ensure that they are left in the dark at the best of times, and typically, only one perspective in public policy as written by government is provided to them. This is inherently contrary not only to the values of consensus, but also wholly contrary to the values of good government.

Mr. Speaker, we desperately need to fix this system and make the job of Regular Members more consequential to the operations of government and more effective to their constituents, because they are first and foremost the reasons we are here, to represent their attitudes and not the will of government. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Regular Member Imbalance in Consensus
Members' Statements

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Sahtu.

Unlocking our Resource Potential
Members' Statements

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Daniel McNeely

Daniel McNeely Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. [English translation not provided.] Recognizing the Minister of ITI's statement a few days ago on the advancement of the NWT's resource potential initiatives and the number of strategies developed by this Assembly, the petroleum resource strategy, alongside the proposed amendments to the NWT Petroleum Resources Act and the Oil and Gas Operations Act, have been efforts by this Assembly to increase our competitiveness comparative to other jurisdictions and promote increased investment in the NWT oil and gas exploration and production, while enhancing transparency and public accountability. This Assembly has been working to create an environment where investors can be confident in, and proceed with, energy and infrastructure projects throughout the territory, and it's this confidence that will benefit the economic growth and prosperity in regions such as the Sahtu.

Mr. Speaker, we also must continue to support and identify opportunities for our energy resources to be developed locally to reduce the cost of living, displace diesel for a cleaner environment, and create good, long-term jobs. In this regard, we all have a role to play as we adapt to the realities of climate change and transition to a stronger, healthy economy, less reliant on fossil fuels, while benefitting all residents and the small communities, and large urban centres, as well.

I also appreciate that key infrastructure investments in the Mackenzie Valley Highway will help increase the viability of resource development in the Sahtu and support advancements in our territory. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to complete my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

Unlocking our Resource Potential
Members' Statements

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Daniel McNeely

Daniel McNeely Sahtu

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mahsi, colleagues. Mr. Speaker, the idle time we have can be used constructively through strategic planning and engagement that include all NWT stakeholders. It's through these collaborative processes that the NWT will create an environment for responsible resource development. Our post-devolution engagement on legislation modernization is in process and, as our term draws near, it allows all Members an opportunity to reflect on the progress and successes achieved.

Soon, we will be reviewing over 200 mandate commitments that were developed collaboratively at the beginning of the 18th Assembly. Although I look forward to the final report, along with the transition report for the next Assembly, I would be remiss not to highlight the successes this Assembly has made in key energy and infrastructure projects.

Lastly, Mr. Speaker, we should all ensure that with our remaining time, we will continue to look for opportunities to collaborate and create positive change for the people of the Northwest Territories. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Unlocking our Resource Potential
Members' Statements

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Members' statements. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 6, acknowledgments. Item 7, oral questions. Member for Nunakput.

Herbert Nakimayak

Herbert Nakimayak Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier I spoke about Marine Transportation Services, and my questions are for the Minister of Infrastructure. Mr. Speaker, my first question is: what is MTS doing to plan for this and future seasons to ensure that they don't run into the same issues as we did last year? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister of Infrastructure.