This is page numbers 5679 - 5712 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 going. View the webstream of the day's session.

Topics

Members Present

Hon. Glen Abernethy, Mr. Beaulieu, Mr. Blake, Hon. Caroline Cochrane, Ms. Green, Hon. Jackson Lafferty, Hon. Bob McLeod, Hon. Robert McLeod, Mr. McNeely, Hon. Alfred Moses, Mr. Nadli, Mr. Nakimayak, Mr. O'Reilly, Hon. Wally Schumann, Hon. Louis Sebert, Mr. Simpson, Mr. Testart, Mr. Thompson, Mr. Vanthuyne

The House met at 1:30 p.m.

---Prayer

Prayer
Prayer

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Member for Frame Lake.

Prayer
Prayer

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Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Merci, Monsieur le President. I rise pursuant to Rule 21(1) of the Rules of the Legislative Assembly to make a personal explanation. In my Member's statement and oral questions of May 24, 2019, I said that large emitters of greenhouse gasses, the diamond mines, will get all their carbon tax back under the July 2018 proposal released by the Minister of Finance. The Premier corrected this statement in his response to my questions by stating that large emitters would be paying a carbon tax on any motive fuels purchased.

Double-checking the publicly available information from the Department of Finance, this is indeed the case that large emitters, the diamond mines, will receive rebates and individualized grants for investments that reduce greenhouse gas emissions covering all of the carbon tax paid on non-motive diesel. Carbon taxes paid by large emitters on motive diesel and gasoline will not be rebated or granted back.

I apologize unreservedly to anyone who may have taken offence with my error and wish to correct the public record. It was not my intention to mislead the House or to make incorrect statements. I wish to thank the NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines for bringing this matter to my attention. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for the opportunity to correct the record.

Prayer
Prayer

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Item 2, Ministers' statements. The Honourable Premier.

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to update this Assembly on negotiations toward the shared management of oil and gas resources in the Northwest Territories offshore.

Mr. Speaker, beginning in the late 1980s, the Government of Canada committed to negotiating a Government of the Northwest Territories role in the management of oil and gas in the Northwest Territories offshore. More recently, the Devolution Agreement of 2013 committed Canada and the Government of the Northwest Territories, with the participation of the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, to commence negotiations within 60 days for the management of oil and gas resources and the sharing of revenues in the offshore. Suffice it to say, the Northwest Territories has been waiting a long time, more than a generation, for these negotiations to start.

Despite previous commitments for negotiations, in 2016, Canada's unilateral federal moratorium on offshore oil and gas activity was imposed without any consultation. This action underscored the importance of the Government of the Northwest Territories seizing a role in decisions about Northwest Territories offshore oil and gas resources.

Mr. Speaker, the shared management regime that will result from these negotiations will ensure that decisions about offshore oil and gas are no longer made unilaterally. It will ensure that unilateral decisions like the one made in 2016 become a thing of the past. The negotiation of the management of offshore oil and gas resources and the sharing of revenues will also ensure that important decisions that directly impact the lives of Northwest Territories residents will include Northwest Territories decision-makers who have direct knowledge of northern circumstances.

Offshore agreements elsewhere in Canada have ensured these decisions are no longer driven solely by federal politics. These negotiations will provide the jurisdictional authority for the Northwest Territories to have a stay in how and when offshore development will occur.

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to report that, earlier this year, all four parties, Canada, the Government of the Northwest Territories, the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, and the Government of Yukon identified negotiators and readied themselves to begin negotiations. On April 12th to14th, the first negotiating session occurred in Inuvik.

Mr. Speaker, it is both significant and appropriate that negotiations began in Inuvik. Historically, Inuvik has been a service center for oil and gas activity in the Beaufort Sea. Many residents of Inuvik have a great deal of experience in the oil and gas sector, and have also worked alongside industry to ensure that our Arctic coast and waters aren't put at risk. They have experienced the benefits, and borne the impacts, particularly, as is the case now, during periods of low activity. It is important to remember that oil and gas activity in the Northwest Territories offshore is not new; these activities have been occurring in the Beaufort offshore for more than 40 years.

An offshore agreement is one of the final missing pieces from the complete devolution of province-like authority over natural resources. It will give us decision-making authority with respect to the offshore comparable to what our fellow Canadians in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador have been enjoying for decades. Further, that these negotiations include the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation as a party at the table is certainly a first for these kinds of negotiations in Canada.

Mr. Speaker, we are in the very early stages of these negotiations, but that they have commenced is important and we are committed to keeping the Assembly up to date as progress occurs. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Ministers' statements. Minister for Health and Social Services.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to recognize the World Health Organization's World No Tobacco Day, which is tomorrow, on May 31, 2019. This day provides us with an opportunity to acknowledge the efforts that the Government of the Northwest Territories is taking to promote the prevention of tobacco use and its cessation.

This year's theme is Tobacco and Lung Health. Having a healthy set of lungs is vital for living a healthy and active lifestyle. Our lungs play a major role in our body's overall health. Exposure to tobacco, both in its primary and second-hand form, can result in multiple chronic disorders, such as respiratory disease and lung cancer.

Mr. Speaker, the smoking rate in the Northwest Territories continues to be higher than the national average. In 2018, the Northwest Territories smoking rate was 33 percent, while the national average was 16 percent in 2017. In the NWT, lung cancer is the third most common cancer diagnosed in men and women and is the leading cause of cancer death for both men and women.

Nation-wide efforts to prevent tobacco-related cancer are in full swing. The recently published ComPARe study, supported by the Canadian Cancer Society, is the most comprehensive, up-to-date study on the prevention of cancer and the first of its kind in Canada. This ground-breaking study predicts the current and future burden of cancer in Canada that will ultimately impact future cancer prevention decision-making.

The ComPARe study, based on 2015 data, found that smoking tobacco is the leading cause of cancer in Canada, with 32,700 new cancer cases per year due to smoking tobacco. If the trend continues, there will be a projected increase to 46,900 in 2042.

The facts and figures don't lie, Mr. Speaker. Taking action to curb tobacco smoking is one of the greatest things that we can do as individuals, as communities, and as a government to promote healthy, active living in the NWT.

The Department of Health and Social Services' Strategic Plan 2017-2020, Caring for Our People, has made its goal to support tobacco cessation through promotion and prevention efforts, to reduce disparities.

Mr. Speaker, I want to take a moment to reflect on the recent progress we have made towards our goal of creating a smoke-free society. In February of this year, the government proposed both Bill 41, the Tobacco and Vapour Products Control Act, and Bill 40, Smoking Control Reduction Act. We also continue to provide the NWT Quitline, a 24 hour/seven-days-a-week confidential toll-free number providing NWT residents with support for quitting smoking. The Quitline is a useful tool for those ready to quit smoking, but who need guidance and support to achieve their goal.

We have developed additional resources to support NWT residents in their quit journeys. An example would be our Quitting Podcasts, where we hear NWT Quitline quit coaches discuss the important steps in creating a quit plan, as well as common triggers and barriers that prevent individuals from quitting. We also developed a series called Look Who's Quit Stories where local community champions answer questions regarding the challenges and triumphs that they face or have faced as part of their quit journey.

Additionally, we provide Tobacco Quit Kits across the territory for those who are looking to make every day a no-tobacco day. These kits include information on prescription medications, on-the-land programming, counselling, acupuncture, and Nicotine Replacement Therapy offered through the department's Health Services Administration.

Mr. Speaker, we know that promoting the prevention of tobacco use and supporting our residents who want to quit is one of the greatest things that we can do to support the health and wellness of our people. On this year's World No Tobacco Day, I want to encourage everyone to take a moment and consider how tobacco use affects their health and the health of their loved ones, and to take advantage of the supports to help us achieve our goal of a healthy NWT. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Ministers' statements. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Mine Rescue Competition has a strong history in the Northwest Territories. The first event took place in 1957, and the competition has been growing every year.

This weekend marks the 62nd Annual Mine Rescue Competition. Teams will come together from mines all across the Territories to test their skills.

There are six teams competing this year. The teams are from Rio Tinto's Diavik Diamond Mine; the Gahcho Kue Diamond Mine, owned by DeBeers Canada; TMAC Resources' Hope Bay Gold Mine; the Meadowbank Gold Mine and the Meliadine Gold Project, both owned by Agnico Eagle Mines; and the Baffinland Iron Mine, owned by Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation. They will be testing their skills in firefighting, rope rescue, and First Aid, among other events.

As Minister responsible for the Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission, I invite you all to join me in wishing good luck to those brave men and women who volunteer their time and risk their lives for the safety of others. The whole territory walks away a winner, knowing that our friends and our families at the mine sites are in the hands of safe, skilled, and tested leaders.

I also invite you and your families to come out to the Fieldhouse parking lot on June 1st from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. to watch and cheer on the teams as they compete. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Ministers' statements. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Mr. Speaker, these are exciting times in post-secondary education in the Northwest Territories. This government is meeting its commitment to expand opportunities for post-secondary education, trades-oriented learning, and northern educational institutions, while fostering the knowledge economy. This work is essential to ensuring that Northerners have access to quality post-secondary programs and supports.

Mr. Speaker, we have introduced new legislation to regulate post-secondary institutions, and we have engaged with residents, campus communities, and municipal and Indigenous governments to establish the first overarching vision and goals for post-secondary education in our territory.

Developing the vision and goals for post-secondary education will focus our efforts as we strengthen our system. It will also support our work with partner institutions and organizations to ensure that students have increased access to excellent programs. Together, we will ensure that Northwest Territories residents can get the skills and training they need to access meaningful employment today and in the future.

Our vision and goals must be rooted in the dreams, aspirations, and needs of our territory. To this end, I am pleased to say that 743 surveys from all regions of the territory were submitted during the engagement phase of the vision process. Nearly 200 of the submissions were from residents especially important to the future of our labour market, people under the age of 29.

I thank those who took the time to complete the survey and the organizations and institutions who took part in the Speaker Series on Post-Secondary Education throughout the month of March. I look forward to sharing the Post-Secondary Education Framework, including the final vision and goals, with Members of this House and the public in the coming months.

Mr. Speaker, over the past three months, the first steps in the transformation of Aurora College to a polytechnic university have been taken. Since assuming the role in March, the associate deputy minister of Post-Secondary Education Renewal has been working diligently to develop the terms of reference for the Academic Advisory Council. Initial contact has been made with individuals who have significant academic and administrative expertise to help support the transformation to a polytechnic university. The Academic Advisory Council will provide guidance to the associate deputy minister throughout the transformation. The terms of reference will be forwarded to Members of this House and posted on the Education, Culture and Employment website within the next month.

As well, a plain-language summary of Bill 48 is currently available on our website for those interested in learning about our proposed post-secondary education legislation that is currently before the House. This legislation is crucial to meeting our objectives to expand high-quality education programming and provide a variety of post-secondary opportunities for students. Quality assurance legislation is a key step in building a strong post-secondary education system for Northerners.

Mr. Speaker, strengthening the post-secondary education system is part of our larger plan to improve outcomes for students and help them reach their highest potential over the course of their lives. From early childhood through elementary and high school and all the way to post-secondary, we want to reduce barriers and empower residents to achieve their goals and aspirations.

A healthy, happy kindergarten student should become a well-educated high school student looking for challenging post-secondary opportunities. Education, Culture and Employment's new career and education advisors will help students to make decisions about their education and give them information on jobs in demand in the Northwest Territories. This government will continue to support post-secondary students, as it does now, through Student Financial Assistance, apprenticeship and trades programs, and labour market programs. All of these initiatives support the development of our economy and our people.

I am confident that the steps we are taking now to strengthen our post-secondary education system will provide increased opportunities for both in the near term and for generations to come. Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Ministers' statements. Item 3, Members' statements. Member for Mackenzie Delta.

Ferry Landing Infrastructure
Members' Statements

Page 5682

Frederick Blake Jr.

Frederick Blake Jr. Mackenzie Delta

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My constituents wants to know why the Department of Infrastructure keeps trying to recycle the gravel they use on the ferry landings.

A couple of days ago, my colleague was asking for dredging, and was told we don't dredge. Well, Mr. Speaker, that is exactly what is happening in Tsiigehtchic with the use of a backhoe. I've seen this personally, and to have that same material being used to make the landing ramps, this mixture of gravel, mud, and clay is making a mess of our ferry landings.

Just a few short years ago, the department used to stockpile 500 to 1,000 cubic metres of pit run. To be used on each landing, usually, that would last a couple of years, and we never had to wait until the water dropped to have ferry services in the spring like we now have to do. We have to go back to how we used to operate.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I'll have questions later today.

Ferry Landing Infrastructure
Members' Statements

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Kam Lake.

Cannabis Retail Privatization
Members' Statements

Page 5682

Kieron Testart

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to commend this government on its move towards eventually allowing for the privatization of cannabis sales, production, extraction, and purification. It is clear that the public wants to see entrepreneurs empowered to thrive and prosper, as they are no longer accepting of Crown monopolies or the failed policies of prohibition that have made criminals out of our citizens for recreational use of a substance with substantially less harmful effects than alcohol, while empowering thugs, gangsters, bootleggers, and smugglers to exploit our youth and communities.

However, it has been brought to the attention of Regular Members that, even though there have been nearly 20 bids submitted for the tender to establish a retail cannabis store in the territory, this government has, at the last minute, extended the deadline for bids until June 30, 2019, without explanation.

Mr. Speaker, given this government's trepidation towards privatization when the Cannabis Legalization Implementation Bill was debated by this House, I wonder if the GNWT actually wants to see the establishment of this market?

Sudden changes public to tenders like this may not be noticed by the average member of the public, but it has been noticed by investors, both those already invested in pursuing cannabis retail opportunities and those considering investing in other sectors of our territory's economy. The North must be at all times open for business.

Northern companies and entrepreneurs have already put forward cash as part of the tender process, and they have covered their costs, both legal and for the registration and compliance of their prospective new ventures. Make no mistake, the regulatory requirements are still too onerous for my likings, but nevertheless, these entrepreneurs have provided everything required by this government to move forward.

Mr. Speaker, this uncertainty is not good for business, the public, and, most importantly, our economy that requires much needed diversification and growth of private-sector markets. Last-minute changes to the privatization scheme shake investor confidence and inhibit the realization of new economic activity. It is imperative that this government deliver on its promises of the privatization of retail cannabis, and not put it off for a future government.

Now is the time to invest in our economy and let the private sector lead. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Cannabis Retail Privatization
Members' Statements

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Deh Cho.

Declining Education Resources
Members' Statements

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Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. It is often said that children and youth make for a smart investment, and that the best way to effect change is by educating our young people.

Over the years, we've seen the Department of Education, Culture and Employment shift directions and invest more resources towards achieving better student outcomes. as evidenced by a school attendance advertising campaign, the Strengthening Teacher Instructional Practices initiative, junior kindergarten, more counsellors in schools, and. most recently, proposed legislation that could lead to the establishment of a polytechnic university for the NWT.

While it's great to see these changes, Mr. Speaker, more is required. Specifically, I want to raise the concern I've heard from communities in my region over the decline of school enrolment and attendance rates.

Mr. Speaker, attendance rates in small communities continue to be far below than in larger communities like Yellowknife. In 2008, the average attendance in small communities was 83 percent, compared with 91 percent in Yellowknife and 84 percent in regional centres. In 2013, average attendance was down to 79 percent in small communities, while it averaged over 88 percent in Yellowknife and 82 percent in the regions. Average attendance rates last year showed a drop across the NWT other than in Yellowknife.

Students in small communities averaged only 75 percent attendance in 2018, while the average was 89 percent in Yellowknife and 79 percent in the regions. These low attendance rates, combined with other realities, like the need for many students to upgrade post-graduation in order to pursue post-secondary education, tell me that we are not doing an adequate job of preparing our youth for the challenges that life brings. On top of this, I am hearing that low attendance could affect a school's funding, which could result in the school seeing a reduction in teachers or fewer extracurricular activities for students.

Mr. Speaker, if we don't invest in our young people meaningfully and sustainably and provide them with adequate opportunities, problems like low graduation rates, poor labour market entry, substance abuse, crime, violence, and risky behaviours will continue to rise, and there will be a significant economic and social cost. This need for investment includes finding effective long-term ways to maintain student enrolment and to encourage students to attend school every day, fully engaged in their learning and motivated to succeed. I will have questions for the Minister of ECE at the appropriate time. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Declining Education Resources
Members' Statements

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Housing Support for Released Inmates
Members' Statements

Page 5683

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to offer my thanks to the Minister of Justice for the detail that he provided yesterday on the programs offered to inmates at NWT correctional facilities. One highlight is that over 500 participants have completed programs that address substance abuse, violence, and other negative behaviours. Another is that the programs are offered in probation offices throughout the NWT to reinforce the new skills and copying mechanisms. The department staff is obviously doing good work in this area.

Yes, there is a "but," Mr. Speaker: but what about housing for inmates when they are released? There was no mention of it. My concern is that, without a plan for housing, some former inmates will be at loose ends. They may have been homeless before going to jail, and so they are likely to be homeless when they come out. They end up staying in shelters, couch-surfing, or sleeping rough.

How hard must it be for homeless people to maintain their resolve to stay sober in these situations? Once they go back to using drugs and alcohol, much of their learning about violence will go out the window; then they will be caught up in the justice system again, and the cycle will repeat itself.

Mr. Speaker, in his statement yesterday, the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation said, "Research tells us that the chances of addressing the issues that lead to homelessness, mental health, addictions, and other social issues, are better when you have social housing." I concur, and I wonder if the Minister of Justice took note of this point.

When the Standing Committee on Social Development visited the Nanaimo Correctional Centre 18 months ago, we met with inmates who were taking part in a unique program. Guthrie House offered a peer-led 12-step program to help inmates conquer their addictions that had contributed to criminal behaviour. One feature of this program is that participants started looking for housing months before being released. They talked about how important housing was to their discharge plan. I also learned that some graduates of these programs stay in the south rather than coming back here, because they don't want to be homeless.

Mr. Speaker, the lesson for NWT corrections is that people who are released from jail need to have housing in place. Discharging people to a couch perpetuates the chaos that they have worked so hard to put behind them. Mr. Speaker, I am sorry, but I am going to seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement. Thank you.

---Unanimous consent granted

Housing Support for Released Inmates
Members' Statements

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Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Mahsi, colleagues. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. If we truly want to benefit from the investment that we are working in programming and reduce the chances of people returning to jail, former inmates need a stable place to live. I will have questions for the Minister of Justice. Mahsi.

Housing Support for Released Inmates
Members' Statements

Page 5684

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Sahtu.

Regional Leadership Training
Members' Statements

Page 5684

Daniel McNeely

Daniel McNeely Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am very encouraged by the Minister's statement earlier, the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, which leads me to a limited number of questions later on. However, Mr. Speaker, we are approaching June, graduation month. I am grateful to see that our Sahtu region is supporting approximately 35 graduating students in our communities, from the three Aurora campuses and institutions outside the NWT. This is very encouraging. However, there still remains a lack of post-secondary transitional supports.

Mr. Speaker, transitioning and planning are critical elements remaining in our term. Last year, the Department of Education tabled the Aurora College Foundational Review, a report that included 2018-2023 schedules, community consultations, engagements with 13 Indigenous governments, and recommendations. Education is a valued strength in our continuing efforts for a stable future workforce, community, and more importantly, youth capacity-building. It is our fiduciary obligation and responsibility to initiate regional leadership progress report engagements. This process will ensure continued improvements and create partnerships.

Mr. Speaker, leadership engagements can include, but are not limited to, progress on the foundational review and, in particular, funding options for the polytechnic university 2018-2019 academic year, and fundamental principles in developments for a renewed and tailored education system. Later, Mr. Speaker, I will have questions to the appropriate Minister. Mahsi.

Regional Leadership Training
Members' Statements

Page 5684

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Yellowknife North.

Cory Vanthuyne

Cory Vanthuyne Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The 18th Assembly has done good work and has had success in promoting economic diversification, but it is fair to say that the challenge of creating employment opportunities, especially in smaller communities, remains a big challenge.

Smaller communities, by definition, have fewer opportunities and bigger challenges. There is less economic activity and less of a base to build from. At the same time, employers are having a hard time recruiting and retaining northern employees. They sometimes feel that there is no choice but to turn to the larger fly-in labour market from the south. That doesn't serve anyone's interests, Mr. Speaker.

A recent report of the Conference Board of Canada suggests an approach to resolve the impasse. It is clearly in the interests of employers to engage with Indigenous communities. It is mandated by land rights agreements. It provides better working relationships with communities and can lead to a stronger workforce, higher quality of work, and, of course, happier employees. Employers know that failing to engage positively with communities will create obstacles for their projects moving forward.

Mr. Speaker, at the same time, the private sector recognizes the importance of the broad movements towards reconciliation and the UN Declaration of Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The private sector recognizes that one of the TRC's calls to action, number 92, urges it to conform to UN declaration. The Government of Canada is currently moving in that same direction through Bill C-262.

In this context, Mr. Speaker, we can encourage the private sector and our small communities to seek solutions together. Community challenges may include education and skills attainment, and family and community obligations. Employers' challenges are improving community inclusion and cultural awareness to create effective outreach, offer appropriate skills development, and guarantee fair compensation practices.

Mr. Speaker, our government needs to take up this mission. We need to connect employers with communities to work together to improve outreach and recruitment, balance work with community obligations, enhance educational opportunities, and match candidates to suitable jobs. We need to be the incubator that grows these initiatives with education, encouragement to business, and through leading by example.

Mr. Speaker, there are solutions to the challenge of creating employment and successfully growing the economy in small communities. We need to encourage creative thinking and collaboration to keep things moving in a positive direction. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Nahendeh.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Department of Infrastructure in Fort Simpson really should be commended for the work that they are doing to build capacity of residents in Nahendeh. They are hiring local residents and providing the requisite training to obtain the skills, knowledge, and ability to do the job competently.

Mr. Speaker, I have personally heard positive feedback from community members and visitors alike of the exceptional service done by these young people. A prime example of this are the following Fort Simpson residents who were hired as deck hands on the MV Lafferty in 2017: Ivor Norwegian, Cindy Edda, and Travis Hanna. I have had the pleasure of watching them work and interact with passengers on various trips across the Liard. They are always so positive and knowledgeable of the surrounding area.

It is my understanding that these employees continue to work with the department throughout the winter and are receiving training on the ground-penetrating radar ice measuring equipment facilitated by Sensors and Software. The training, along with experience gained through auger flooding and use of the new ice-spraying equipment throughout the season, will continue to benefit the community of Fort Simpson in the years to come.

Job-specific training has continued to be offered so these employees can continue to grow into their roles and accept more responsibilities related to their areas of interest. Opportunities for growth will include small-vessel machinery operators, boat captain, as well as various other marine certification, depending on each individual's interest. I am happy to say these three individuals are back to work on the Lafferty and use the knowledge they gained.

Mr. Speaker, it is important to recognize these efforts by the Fort Simpson regional office to build local capacity. Training younger generations to succeed in a dynamic working environment with the necessary skills will ensure the efficient operation of the department's operation for years to come.

In closing, I would like to thank the department for being forward-thinking in this area of development. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Nunakput.

Herbert Nakimayak

Herbert Nakimayak Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My first statement on the floor in this House in 2015 was on the United Nations Declaration of Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Mr. Speaker, the Northwest Territories was the first jurisdiction in Canada to support UNDRIP and continues to do so today, which I am very pleased. Also, the Government of Canada has now signed onto this agreement.

Given the importance of the Arctic coast and seas to Inuit people, culturally, historically, and economically for sustenance, it is essential that Inuit are engaged in any development of laws or regulations for Arctic coastal waterways. Canada should be engaging with Inuit in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut on any work done in the Northwest Passage under UNCLOS, or United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea, following the UNDRIP principles.

There should be a culture shift in Ottawa, Mr. Speaker. Indigenous people are not a Liberal-Conservative issue, nor an NDP-PPC issue. We should have consistent engagement from Ottawa on issues that impact our way of life, regardless of who is in power. We must continue to implement at all levels of government to ensure our rights and our land-claim agreements, which are not only ours but are the responsibility of the Government of the Northwest Territories and the federal government, as well.

Mr. Speaker, I will quote Senator Murray Sinclair, who has been advocating for Indigenous people throughout his career. He states, "The Senate is still debating this, and it seems to be stalling with some senators. People who use the concept of veto and the concept of free, prior, and informed consent as though they are the same thing are totally missing the point."

Last week, our Premier also stated, "I also think it makes sense that residents of Canada's three northern territories have a leading say in determining Canada's plan for the Arctic. We are the ones who live here. We are the ones who are repeatedly affected when decisions are made for us, rather than with us. We are an obvious partner for Canada when they begin to discuss what should happen next."

Mr. Speaker, if anyone in our territory should be leading and implementing UNDRIP, it should be our Premier. Being an Indigenous person myself, I am proud of the work that he and his team have done in collaborating with Indigenous governments and the federal government on projects from planning to implementation. The rest of the country and other countries should take note and follow suit. We have come a long way, but we have a lot of work to do together.

Mr. Speaker, later, I will have questions for the Premier. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Frame Lake.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Merci, Monsieur le President. My educational background includes a planning degree, and that is what brought me to the Northwest Territories on December 15, 1985, to become the land-use planning coordinator for the Dene Nation. I had the privilege of working directly with some great Northerners, including David Krutko, George Barnaby, Gina Bayha, Violet Camsell-Blondin, Raymond Jones, and Michael Nadli. I have maintained a keen interest in land-use planning and looked over the document "Finding Common Ground" tabled in the House a couple of days ago by the Minister of Lands.

The Tlicho Government completed a detailed land-use plan for their own lands in 2013, and it is very well done. The Tlicho Land Claims and Self-Government Agreement provides for land-use planning on other lands within the Wek'eezhii management area that are not owned by the Tlicho Government. Section 22.5.1 states: "Government may establish a mechanism for the preparation, approval, and implementation of a land-use plan that applies to all parts of Wek'eezhii, other than Tlicho lands, national parks, and lands in a community." Section 22.5.3 says, "The Parties may, by agreement, establish a land-use planning body and a mechanism for the preparation, approval, and implementation of a land-use plan that applies to all of Wek'eezhii other than national parks."

The GNWT Department of Lands, Tlicho Department of Culture and Lands Protection, and the Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada agreed to work together to design, cost, and develop a terms of reference to implement a land-use planning approach for public lands in Wek'eezhii. As a part of this collaboration the parties are proceeding on a government-to-government basis to establish a joint planning office in Behchoko and to carry out a land-use planning process for Wek'eezhii. This House approved a contribution of $726,000 towards this effort in 2019-2020.

It is my understanding that a committee is being established to develop their land-use plan and that it will be legally-binding. The deputy minister of Lands confirmed this in Committee of the Whole on March 7, 2019, when he said: "At the end of the day, it will be legally binding, signed off by the Tlicho government, the Government of the Northwest Territories, and the federal government will sign it, and it will be a legal document. As to legislation, I would have to get back to you on exactly how to see that going forward." I am still waiting for that response and will have some questions later today for the Minister of Lands. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

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

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As we all know, the highway between High Level and Enterprise was closed two days ago because of a fire near Steam River. The only rail line into the territory has been shut down for a week because of the fire by High Level. Many of my constituents, myself included, are concerned about the situation. I want to bring those concerns to this House so that the government knows that, even though the source of the problem is in Alberta, that highway is a lifeline for the entire territory and this issue has consequences for all of our residents.

If this closure goes on for any length of time, it will begin to have an effect on the cost of living. The vast majority of goods that come into the NWT come right up that stretch of highway. It is about 1,100 kilometres from Edmonton to Hay River through Alberta. The alternate route through BC is almost 1,900 kilometres. While it is a scenic drive, it basically doubles the driving time, which means doubling the cost of shipping, leading to higher prices on nearly everything. It is also going to be a hit for small businesses, who will have to absorb the cost of those increase, at least in the short term, and who may not be able to work and generate income if there is a disruption in their supply chain. That is the last thing we need in this economy.

Every day that highway is closed also cuts into our tourist season, which, in the South Slave, isn't that long, so every single day is important. The economic effects won't just be limited to the South Slave or even to just communities on the highway system. All the fuel that MTS ships into the communities up through Mackenzie and in the Arctic is transported to the terminal in Hay River by rail. These fires have the potential to once again delay the marine resupply or, at the very least, cause the cost of shipping to rise.

Mr. Speaker, this isn't just an economic issue. It's a serious public safety issue, as well. Conditions in the South Slave are dry. The fire danger is high or extreme in every community. We are only a three-hour drive from High Level and half that to Steam River. If the worst happens and the resident of Hay River need to evacuate, that highway closure means one of our main routes, really our primary route out of town, is cut off.

I have spoken with the Town of Hay River, and I am happy to hear that they are convening a meeting of the Community Emergency Management Committee tomorrow to figure out how they are going to address this issue. I will have questions for our Minister to find out what the GNWT is doing to deal with this situation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Members' statements. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh

Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. I am going to make a Member's statement on some of the work that we were doing in Committee of the Whole last Tuesday. Last Tuesday, I felt I was unable to communicate clearly enough to be able to get some answers. I am going to talk a bit about what I saw on Tuesday, much to my surprise and shock, the way that the mandatory or compulsory attendance for junior kindergarten and kindergarten works in the schools. My understanding, initially, before Tuesday, was that once a five-year-old, four-year-old student got to go to junior kindergarten and they had enrolled, at the point that they enrolled, it was mandatory for them to attend school on a daily basis like any other student who was enrolled in the school.

My understanding from the Committee of the Whole meeting that we had was that students can come and go as they please, whether they are enrolled or not. If they are enrolled in school and they choose not to go to school, then they don't have to go to school, but the numbers of enrolment mean that there could potentially be games being played where people could enroll a lot of four-year-olds and five-year-olds into the school and just concern themselves with students attending for the first couple of years until the numbers are counted, and then the kids no longer have to attend school. It also sets up a possibility that people are just using junior kindergarten as a childcare drop-off.

I became a bit concerned about that and started to think about all of the possibilities of our education development instrument, how all the time were working on the numbers, and the numbers were increasing, the vulnerabilities were increasing for the junior kindergarten and kindergarten students.

I will have questions for the Minister today, but I guess my understanding was that, if they are in school, then they are in school, but if they don't have to attend, then how are they going to increase the numbers? Maybe we should pick a different school to apply the education development instrument if kindergarten kids don't have to be there and, at any given day, they can wish to stay home. I am going to have some questions for the Minister on that today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

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

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Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Mr. Speaker, I wish to recognize Fernanda Martins, the health policy analyst from the Canadian Cancer Society, in the gallery today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Inuvik Boot Lake.

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Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is my pleasure to welcome to the House and to the North Mr. Michael Roberts, who is an author and motivational speaker. I just want to thank him personally for reaching out to our youth and giving some very strong positive messages, as well as to the residents and communities that he has visited. We do welcome him back up in the future. At this time, I would also like to thank the RCMP and the supportive staff for accompanying Mr. Roberts and getting him into our communities. Mahsi cho. Thank you.

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Yellowknife North.

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Cory Vanthuyne

Cory Vanthuyne Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to recognize a Page from Yellowknife North, Lea Schwarz, who is also a student at Ecole St-Cyr. I want to thank all of our Pages for the tremendous work that they do for us. We wouldn't be able do what we do without them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

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

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Kieron Testart

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to introduce two Pages from the Kam Lake riding, Ms. Katrina Butt and Ms. Belinda Formaniuk. It is great to have them in the Chamber helping us out, and all of the Pages. The youth are our future, and it is great to see them taking an interest on our procedures. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

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

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Louis Sebert

Louis Sebert Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize two Pages from Thebacha, students at P.W. Kaeser School, Anais Aubrey-Smith and Sarah Porter. Thank you.

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

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

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Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh

Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize our interpreters, Maro Sundberg and Tommy Unka. Mahsi.

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

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

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Herbert Nakimayak

Herbert Nakimayak Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize Mr. James Pokiak from Tuktoyaktuk. James owns and operates Pokiak Guiding and Outfitting. He has been operating this for over 40 years. When you talk about traditional knowledge in the House here, on the floor, and in forums around the territory and around the country, James is one of the people who you would naturally go to see to learn more. When you see him around, pull him aside, ask him a few questions, and gain some of his knowledge. It is nice just to be around some days, Mr. Speaker, so I would like to welcome James to the gallery. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Yellowknife South.

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Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize a Page from Yellowknife South, Andrea Geraghty, and all of the other Pages who have been here for the past three weeks. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

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

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to acknowledge the achievements of Patrick Clancy, recipient of the 2019 NWT Outstanding Volunteer Award in the Elders category. Since establishing the Yellowknife Wado Kai Karate Club in 2009, Patrick Clancy has nurtured the physical skills and mental discipline of territorial youth, sponsored master clinics and demonstrations, and he has generated 18 new black belts. He spends more than 400 hours of volunteer work per year to make the NWT karate scene a centre of national excellence and youth achievement. Congratulations and thanks go out to Patrick Clancy. Mahsi.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Acknowledgements. Item 7, oral questions. Member for Nunakput.

Herbert Nakimayak

Herbert Nakimayak Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier on, I spoke about the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and my questions are for the Premier. My first question is: can the Premier advise the House whether he has had any discussions with his Nunavut counterpart or Inuit leaders regarding the Northwest Passage? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. The Honourable Premier.

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have spoken publicly that the Arctic needs to be higher on the Government of Canada's agenda. The Government of Nunavut is supportive of this message. I am committed to raising the issue of strengthening Canada's position in the Arctic with Premier Savikataaq of Nunavut and Premier Silver of Yukon when we meet in early June. The geopolitical context of the Arctic is shifting, and I anticipate that recent events, like the statements made by the United States on the Northwest Passage, will be raised and create an interesting discussion. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Herbert Nakimayak

Herbert Nakimayak Nunakput

I appreciate the response. Can the Premier advise if he has had any discussions with the Prime Minister on how he plans to involve the Northwest Territories in any discussions moving forward regarding the Northwest Passage?

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

I had called for a national debate on the future of the Arctic a year ago, but I have not yet had any direct discussions with the Prime Minister on this issue, though I have been clear in my statements in this legislature and publicly that I think that Canada needs to take steps to strengthen its position in the Arctic.

Herbert Nakimayak

Herbert Nakimayak Nunakput

Our forum is always welcome to that. My final question to the Premier is: would the Premier be willing to include a question to party leaders on how they will engage the Government of the Northwest Territories regarding the Northwest Passage should they form government during the next federal election?

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

All of the major federal political parties should have platform positions on how to strengthen Canada's position in the Arctic. I am working to raise the profile of the Arctic, and will look at many opportunities including letters to the political party leaders to get this issue the attention it deserves in the upcoming federal election. I should point out that, four years ago, we wrote letters to all of the political parties and their leaders, and we had very good, detailed responses to the questions that we raised, so it's certainly a good way to getting attention during the federal elections.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have some questions for the Minister of Infrastructure. It might be better suited to the Minister of ENR, but I've been assured by his staff that the Minister of Infrastructure can answer at least part of these questions. It's about the highway closure on Highway 35 in Alberta. Now, there's a concern that Highway 35 leads out of Alberta, and there's really not a lot of Alberta infrastructure north of that highway, but for us in the territory, that highway is very important. There is some concern that maybe Alberta isn't putting the resources in there they could be to put that fire out so that we can open that highway up. Would the Minister of Infrastructure be able to give us an update on what the Government of Alberta is doing in order to put that fire out so that we can open the highway up? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister of Infrastructure.

Wally Schumann

Wally Schumann Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As we talked about this yesterday in the House, and I think this is timely to have this question anyway to inform everyone what's going on. The Alberta government has reassured us that they are in full response of this fire. They have their own incident management team managing the fires in Alberta. They are well aware of the situation that's going on there, and I think the whole country is quite concerned about what is going on down there. I have talked to an ENR minister in his department to get an update on all activities on what's going on, and the Department of ENR has a resource-sharing agreement with the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, and we have mutual sharing aid agreements across this country. The Government of the Northwest Territories has exported to Fort McMurray, because that's where the Alberta government has asked them to send them, but we have exported an information officer. We have exported one complete Fire Boss group consisting of an air attack officer and four air tankers and a Bird Dog plane. ENR is also committed at this time to offer four crews, which would be up to 20 firefighters, which are going to be available starting Monday, June 3rd, with the expectation that, every two weeks, we would be rotating out the firefighters.

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

It doesn't sound like we're directly dealing with the fire, but we're sending resources down there where they're needed so Alberta can put resources toward the Steam River fire. Is the GNWT coordinating with the Government of Alberta to implement a plan to begin allowing motorists to travel along that highway by night with a convoy, or at least to let essential goods down that highway?

Wally Schumann

Wally Schumann Hay River South

Again, to update the House, as of yesterday, the Alberta government, it's their fire. It's their jurisdiction, and they're in charge of things. They are escorting essential goods through this section of highway for the residents of the Northwest Territories as long as it's safe to do so, and as of yesterday, we're doing that. We are also communicating all these messages, as I said yesterday, publicly through Twitter, our online road map system, messaging boards and such, so the travelling public knows what's going on. There will be questions, I suspect, about Highway No. 7 through the Fort Liard region. That route is certainly open. I've had a few people phone me, and the Member made the statement today, it's double the mileage, but at this point right now, if you want to drive back and forth to either BC or Alberta, you're going to have to use Highway No. 7. That is the only available route at this point.

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

In addition to the highway being out, the railroad is closed, and not necessarily from the Steam River fire but from the High Level fire. As we learned yesterday, the rail bridge at Steam River was consumed by fire, apparently. Does the Minister know how long it would take CN to repair its railways after they have access to it? Because, if they have to rebuild the bridge, there might be other sections, and I'm just wondering how far behind this could put us in terms of the marine resupply.

Wally Schumann

Wally Schumann Hay River South

Yes, the Member is right. I got a picture sent to me today of the trestle actually burning to the ground there. Actually, the fire was so hot that it warped the railroad, so there's going to be significant work that is going to have to go into this, and we're in constant contact with CN, and keep updated on how they're going to address this situation.

As far as the fuel goes, we've already got hold of the fuel supplier, and they have activated their fuel response team. They reassure us that they've got a trucking solution already put into place to get the fuel to Hay River to try to meet our barge schedule and maintain it as close as possible. We don't foresee that as being a concern at this point right now. As it is going to have to be trucked in the short term, the fuel supplier told us and reassured us that they are going to do that, and they expect to have trucks rolling as soon as tomorrow. As I've said, at this point right now, essential goods and fuel will be escorted through the fire situation at this point unless it gets too dangerous, and we're also looking at a long-term trucking solution to be able to meet our sailing schedule and work with CN.

MR. SPEAKER: Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know, I think, rail is probably the cheapest way to ship goods, so there's probably an increased cost associated with trucking the fuel, I guess, around the Liard Highway. I know last year we discussed trucking fuel to Inuvik, and it was about an additional $600,000. Does the Minister know what the cost implications would be for trucking as opposed to using rail?

Wally Schumann

Wally Schumann Hay River South

Last year when we had those discussions, that was to meet the emergency need, what it would have been to truck it around. It was a hypothetical question, I guess, if we trucked our fuel and staged it out of Inuvik. This situation with delivery of fuel to the Hay River port, I'm going to have to check with our procurement people and see where the delivery of fuel is actually supposed to be. It may be that this extra cost might be burdened by the Government of the Northwest Territories. It might actually be on the supplier of the fuel. I'll have to get that information and get that back to the Member. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Recently, I had an issue brought to my attention about Student Financial Assistance. After doing my own research, I have some questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Mr. Speaker, some students exhaust all their remissible loans or supplementary grants. They end up needing to access student loans, which need to be paid back. In speaking with students, they don't have any issue with that. However, there seems to be a roadblock in the way. It's called an assessment of a student's income. I had one student after getting reassessed only get $120 per month. This did not help the student, so the person had to reach out for help. Can the Minister advise us why we need to do an assessment of a student's income if a student loan is what they are asking for? 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 do have to start by saying that we have one of the best student financial supports in the country. I know I've accessed student loans from other provinces and supplementary program for Indigenous people wasn't an option, so I do have to start with that. The other thing is that Student Financial Assistance isn't a basic right. It's a privilege, actually. The Student Financial Assistance isn't meant to provide unlimited financing to everybody in the world to access. It's actually meant to supplement income, and actually support people. It is income tested. We can't just give it to everyone who needs it. We just don't have that kind of money in our fiscal budget, so it is based on a needs assessment to determine how much the student would need.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

I don't think anywhere in my comments did I say anything about how bad our system was. Our system is one of the best in Canada, so let's get that straight. I understand that system. It works well. However, it's about a student loan that they have to pay back. It's right in there. It says how much you get. You get a maximum of this, so all of a sudden the student is put on the spot. We're talking about Northerners, and when we talk about income assistance and assessments and that, we're having struggles.

To streamline the process, can the department have a monthly amount students can access in loans instead of having an assessment process done?

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

As stated before, at this point, it isn't just a monthly amount that anyone can access. It is based on the needs, so we do do an assessment, and I think at this point we'll be staying with that because we just don't have the money to support everybody to do anything. I think that it should be income tested. I think that, if people can afford it, then they should help supplement. Like I said, it's something that we try to supplement, but we have to make sure the money goes across as many people as possible.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

I guess we should just tell our students to quit going to school, or go down south and don't come back, because that's what some of the students are saying, is that they cannot afford what they're getting with this assessment. When we do these assessments, as I said, I had a student who got $120. It's not that she has an elaborate rent, or anything like that; it's not because she's eating five-star meals. This is what her struggle was. She was looking at about $850, then it went down to $120. So this is the problem.

If the department is going to do calculations, then a minimum amount needs to be identified in the policy so that students are aware of this and don't plan on things that will not be available to them. Will the Minister direct the department to add this information to the policy or website?

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Yes, we will absolutely look at our policy and add the minimum amount, because, in some cases, people might even qualify. If we don't have that in, we should have that in, so I will commit to actually having that information in our policy.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Minister's commitment on that. During my research, I noticed that Form F has to be filled out each time a student applies for SFA. Can they Minister explain why this has to be done? Once it's done, shouldn't it be good enough? I mean, their status is not going to change, so can the Minister explain that? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

The Form F is actually a form that is signed to show either you have a status number, or if you're Metis, actually you're signed by your band or your Metis association. In fact, I don't see any reason why, once someone has been acknowledged as falling within the Form F that they have Indigenous rights based on being from the Territories, that we should be asking, so if we're doing that, I'm hoping it's a mistake. If we're doing that purposely, it should be fixed, and we will make sure that we look at that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.

Kieron Testart

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Members heard from my Member's statement, there is some concern around the commitment to privatize retail opportunities for cannabis in the Northwest Territories. Can the Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Liquor and Cannabis Commission give the House an update as to the privatization process to date? Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister of Finance.

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As we all know, cannabis has been legal for just going on seven months now. We did make a commitment that we were going to look at privatizing the sale of cannabis. It is a very long, lengthy process, and we make those who are interested aware of that. The Member was correct in his Member's statement before, I think he mentioned the date May 29th, that has been extended to June 30th. Part of that is at their request, because there was a criminal record check that was required, and rather than sticking to a hard date and possibly eliminating someone who might be potential retailers, we thought we'd extend the date and give them the opportunity to get that work done. So it is a lengthy process. Those who applied are made aware of that, and they understand that, and it's something that we're going to commit that we're going to do this right and make sure we have the proper people out there who would be retailers for cannabis. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Kieron Testart

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

That explanation is greatly appreciated and, again, sometimes investors are looking at these changes and don't quite understand them, so I appreciate the Minister coming forward with that information. To my knowledge, there are around 20 applications in. How many retail opportunities is the GNWT considering through their assessment so far? Are we looking at multiple stores in Yellowknife? Are we looking at single stores in Inuvik, where they do not have a cannabis retail outlet? Can the Minister provide any new content to that point?

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

As the Department of Finance, I don't believe we have a set number of the amount of stores that we might allow in each district or each community. We would work closely with the municipal governments. Obviously, they would have a very important say as to how many of these outlets they might want to have in their community, so we would work with them and see if we can come up with an agreeable solution. So, again, it's not one that we're going to decide, we're going to make the decision when it's final; we'll work with those who would be directly impacted by the number of retailers in their community.

Kieron Testart

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

I know that the Yellowknife City Council, for example, has had some debate around how this is going to operate, so it's good to hear that the Minister is working directly with distributors. There has been some movement on the production side of cannabis in Canada, with a number of boutique cannabis strains being approved by Health Canada, et cetera. Is the NWT Cannabis Commission considering expanding its inventory and bringing more strains and entering into more supply agreements so we can diversify our product base and give consumers more choice?

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

It is something that we would consider. If the consumers are looking for a particular type of product or if there is a particular type of product that is more popular than others, then obviously I think the commission would look at having that readily available. So, again, it's a new process. We've been going through it for a while now. We ran into some issues at the start with supply; those issues seem to have been resolved, and we're starting to move forward. Just for the record, I think that we've had about $1.6 or $1.7 million in sales so far; $1.6, I believe, in sales so far. Again, as to consumer demands and consumer choices, we will work and try to make sure we have those types of products available for consumers who are interested.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.

Kieron Testart

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I assume, once we have these private retail stores, we'll get a better sense of the consumer base out there. Many people have commented to me on the somewhat absurd situation where we will have private cannabis stores before we have private liquor retail stores. Is the department willing to consider the example they're setting by privatizing cannabis retail to extend that to alcohol? Thank you.

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

Not at the moment, Mr. Speaker. We have our liquor retailers in each region, and I think I'd be a little hesitant. Again, I'd be a little hesitant in expanding the number of liquor stores and making liquor a little more available to those who are feeling the effects of it. So, again, we may need to do a review of the whole operation, and I think it's one where we can provide some advice to the incoming government of the 19th, and maybe start some of the work now and doing a review of the overall liquor and cannabis distribution in the Northwest Territories, but at the moment, we're not looking to open a private retailer for liquor more than we need to. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Justice. I know the Minister is aware of the Guthrie House Therapeutic Community in Nanaimo, and his officials are working to set up a similar program at the South Slave Correctional Centre. Can the Minister tell us whether the program in the South Slave will assist inmates to find housing on their release? Thank you

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister of Justice.

Louis Sebert

Louis Sebert Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The reintegration of inmates back into society, of course, is a very important part of the correctional system. I also had the opportunity to go to Guthrie House. Currently there is no transitional housing specific to individuals. We could look at that, but there is a housing shortage throughout the Northwest Territories, and I don't know where this would be in our priorities, but we do realize the importance of reintegrating those who are incarcerated back into society. Thank you.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Thank you to the Minister for that question. Are there any supports in place now that would assist inmates to find housing on their release?

Louis Sebert

Louis Sebert Thebacha

Yes. Institutional case managers and community probation officers work with other government departments to assist an inmate in navigating and accessing community resources and housing upon the return to their communities. We are aware, of course, that there are housing shortages throughout the Northwest Territories, and this is an important issue for inmates being reintegrated.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Is there any possibility that the Minister of Justice could work with the Minister of Housing to look at alternatives to releasing inmates into homelessness, such as, for example, transitional housing, so that it is possible to stop the cycle of people failing because they don't have stable housing and going back into the justice system?

Louis Sebert

Louis Sebert Thebacha

I am always happy to work with the Minister of Housing with respect to issues such as this, but I think that we have to recognize that there are housings issues throughout the Northwest Territories. We do realize, however, that this is a particular problem for those who are attempting to reintegrate into their communities.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Minister for that answer. I wonder if the Minister would start on a small scale and try a pilot project in which staff could assist inmates to find housing, maybe just in one community, in order to maintain the department's investment in their wellness. I am thinking, in one of the communities where there is a correctional centre, that there be a pilot project and the Minister gauge the results of ensuring that inmates have housing on their release, in order to see whether, in fact, that brings down rates of people going back into jails. Thank you.

Louis Sebert

Louis Sebert Thebacha

As I have mentioned, case managers and community probation officers work with various departments as they attempt to reintegrate those who are in custody back into their communities. I don't think that I can commit to a pilot project. I will speak to the Minister of Housing regarding this concept, but I don't think that we can make any commitments at this time. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.

Frederick Blake Jr.

Frederick Blake Jr. Mackenzie Delta

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In follow-up to my Member's statement, I have a few questions for the Minister of Infrastructure. As I mentioned, over the last couple of years here, we have been reusing the material in our river system to be used for our landings. I would like to ask the Minister: why is the department reusing the gravel, even though it is mostly mud and clay? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister of Infrastructure.

Wally Schumann

Wally Schumann Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are a couple of things around this, and we have talked about the river levels in, particularly, the MLA's riding, how it has fluctuated, and then some flooding, then it's not flooding. We have low water.

The gravel landings are closely monitored to keep an eye on the situation, but to update this House, so that all Members know, we have to be in compliance, mostly, with our water licence use, which is given out by the Gwich'in Land and Water Board. We have to comply by that licence. That is the Member's riding; that's his people, the GTC, their land and water board, and we have to be in compliance with this. We tried to minimize the impact on the ferry landings, and we will continue to reuse the gravel for as long as it is still good to use, and then, when it is not, we will be replacing that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Frederick Blake Jr.

Frederick Blake Jr. Mackenzie Delta

The Minister answered my next question, so I will just move on to my third. Is the real reason why we are not using pit-run on our ferry landings because we now have to pay for this material?

Wally Schumann

Wally Schumann Hay River South

The department makes every effort to do what we can. If we have to reuse this gravel to save money, that is what we are doing, making sure that we are not wasting our money, but like I said, we have to follow the provisions in the land and water board's licence. We are trying to minimize the effect on this.

We had questions last year from people who live close to the ferry landing about the disturbances that are taking place there. We realize that people are making a living in that area, they are fishing in that area, and we have to minimize the use of gravel and reuse the gravel as much as we can and try to do the best that we can to comply with our licence.

Frederick Blake Jr.

Frederick Blake Jr. Mackenzie Delta

Over the last couple of years here, my constituents in Tsiigehtchic are getting frustrated because we now have to wait for the water to drop, like, over a matter of two to three days, or more, in some cases. That is because we don't have the material to build these landings like we did in the past. When I used to be a heavy equipment operator, for example, on the Fort McPherson landing, I have seen it where they have built out the landing about 100 to 150 metres, and that was just to get the operations going in the spring; so I know it could be done. Will the department go back to the practice that we have always done, using the best quality gravel for our ferry landings?

Wally Schumann

Wally Schumann Hay River South

I will have to find out exactly what spec of gravel we are using here, but I suspect that it is probably the same stuff that we are crushing and using at a lot of different locations around the ferry system. Another thing in our licence through the Gwich'in Land and Water Board is that they told us to keep the gravel to a minimum, and that is part of our licence. That is one of the reasons that we aren't stockpiling gravel in that region.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.

Frederick Blake Jr.

Frederick Blake Jr. Mackenzie Delta

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Now I will probably have to go and deal with the communities to talk to the RRCs; I know this was one of the concerns that came up there. We realized that it is having an impact on our community residents. Will the department, if the Gwich'in Land and Water Board say that it is okay to use this material, will they go back to that practice that we have always had? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Wally Schumann

Wally Schumann Hay River South

I could certainly have a discussion with the department to find out the history of this. As I have said in this House now, we are compliant with our water licence. That is what we have to follow, and if the Gwich'in come back with something different, then we can certainly look at the situation and make accommodations where it is fiscally responsible. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. This time of the year is time for graduations, and this department, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, aside from the Department of Health and Social Services, is the second-biggest department in the GNWT. Can the Minister please inform us of the results of the various education initiatives undertaken over the past few years to renew our education system and motivate our students? Mahsi, 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. We are just in the process, actually, of doing a review of our education renewal, all of the initiatives, but I can talk about a few that have been successful, not based on statistics, but just on what we are seeing.

Our Northern Distance Learning, huge success. Again, I don't have the stats to show that. We are just reviewing it now. I will use Ulukhaktok as one of my examples. I know there are other communities. Three students who graduated from Grade 12 in that community who would have normally had to take upgrading have now got the credentials that they can actually go to post-secondary. Two of them, I believe, went straight into post-secondary. That is a huge success, in my opinion, without the statistical background. Other communities are seeing the same.

Our six career and education advisors who we are just bringing in now, that won't be a part of the evaluation now. I think that is critical. These positions are just piloting the six. They are piloting our new pathways. Their whole job is to help get kids engaged, to keep them going forward, to actually help them pick out what career, what courses they need to get into the career that they do.

It is not limited to high school, which is another thing I like. It is actually up to age 24, so a part of that is getting kids back. Sorry. Anyone under 30 is, to me, a kid because I am old. Getting these students back in school is important. I think that is a huge success. Again, that won't be reviewed now because it is just starting, but I think that is a missing piece.

The other thing that I really think that we are working on and I am really proud of is Indigenizing our curriculum. We have seen that in the MLA's own riding, how it can be an advantage to students who have their language. It is part of self-esteem. It is part of giving us pride. I always say, as a social worker, when people feel good about themselves, they make better, not the best sometimes, but better decisions in their life. Indigenizing our education is part of that, and I am a huge proponent of that. Again, we will have to wait to see the results of that, but I think that most Members can say that that is a good step.

The other thing that I really want to focus on, too, is the partnership with Health and Social Services in bringing youth mental health workers into our schools. Again, it is a new initiative; it hasn't been tested yet. The rates of suicide, the rates of children dropping out of schools, the rates of kids developmentally, teenage-hood is a horrible time. When kids are teenagers, it is known, it is researched that they switch. They go from being that beautiful little child to, "Oh my goodness. There is a pimple on my nose, and everybody is going to be picking on me." Often with that, they need extra help. Sometimes, parents don't have that capacity, or the teachers, so having mental health teacher supports in the schools, I think, is going to be critical.

As well, we are doing things like looking at our Literacy in the Disciplines initiative. We are trying to get more literacy. We are trying to get more numeracy into the lower grades. I think those are some of the initiatives that we are working on that, personally, Mr. Speaker, I am quite proud of. This wasn't all my work. I know this was from Ministers before, but whoever brought them in, it was a great idea. I am hoping that we will continue them into the future.

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

Some very good initiative in that. I actually ran out of space in terms of writing about seven key initiatives that the Minister has undertaken. There are some challenges. One of the challenges that we are well aware of is attendance rates in small communities. Can the Minister please tell us why attendance rates are not improving?

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Attendance rates are a huge concern. I don't really have the answer to why they are not improving. Everybody, in my opinion, has been kind of blaming everybody else. Everyone is afraid of it. They are saying, "Is it the parents' responsibility? Is it the Aboriginal governments' responsibility? Is it the community's responsibility? Is it the teachers' responsibility?" Those questions are not okay for me.

I have actually brought it up at the Education Leaders, which has all of the chairs and the superintendents from all of the regions' 10 education boards, councils, authorities. I said this is an issue. I had to bring it up twice because I think they were afraid of it. I said, "It is an issue for me, and so I want it on the agenda." I said, "We need to look at possible solutions because it is easy to say, 'If the kids don't get there, it is not our problem,' but it becomes our problem because these children coming later, they might not have the qualifications. They hold up other studies. We have to spend more time. We need to tackle this."

Unfortunately, the last Education Leaders meeting has happened for this Assembly. I have brought it up to them. I asked it to be on the agenda, and I am hoping that the Minister in the next Assembly will carry this forward, because it is not okay that our children are not going to school.

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

Can the Minister please tell us whether she will support a reduction of funding to schools where attendance and enrolment rates decline?

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Currently, actually, the funding model doesn't impact if a student doesn't attend. There is no consequence. However, if the student doesn't register at the beginning of the year, there could be an impact in the funding formula because the funding formula is based on the first month of enrolment. Then after that, it is provided for the rest of the year. They are always kind of a year behind. I am not 100 percent satisfied with the funding formula. Other MLAs have asked me about that. In fact, other superintendents have had issues with that, and chairs.

I have actually committed to doing a funding review, looking across Canada to see what other jurisdictions are doing and seeing if there is a better way that we can actually provide this funding because the way that we do it now, it lays people up. If it is based on how many people are enrolled, this comes from superintendents, it can lead to schools actually falsifying their enrolment rates. That didn't come from me. That came from a superintendent.

The other thing, like I said, it can be penalizing for smaller communities. People are not having 10 children anymore. They are having two, three, maybe one, so our rates of children are going down. We have to look at that because it has the potential to really have a harmful effect on our smallest communities.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier in my questions, the Minister had stated that she has posed to the chairs of the various education authorities throughout the NWT in terms of addressing the attendance issue and who is responsible for it. My question is: can the Minister please advise of the department's plans to address the issues of low attendance with the proposed changes to our post-secondary landscape? Mahsi.

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

I am a bit confused because post-secondary education, of course, attendance is not mandatory at all. That is about the student actually applying for their own future. I don't think there is any post-secondary across Canada that makes attendance be a requirement. Like I said, though, there are requirements that say children who are over six and under 16 must be registered in school. Although it doesn't say they have to attend every day, they need to attend to be able to keep up and to be successful. It is an issue that we need to address. I am not willing to say it is parents. I am not willing to say it is because of residential schools. I am not willing to say it is teachers. What I am willing to say is that it is our issue as a society, and we have an obligation to take care of it. I am hoping that the Minister in the next Assembly will take this as a priority as I did and deal with this issue. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.

Daniel McNeely

Daniel McNeely Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As mentioned in my statement, I cut back on the questions here because I see a lot of answers in the Minister's statement for Education, Culture and Employment, and I was very impressed by the contents of that statement, which I will share with the Sahtu leaders. I see renewed vision in this statement, and that leads me to my first question, Mr. Speaker. In preparation for community engagements to the post-secondary framework final vision and goal, when is this material going to be made available? 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. We just finished collecting the data. I believe it was at the end of March, actually, that the survey was finished. We're compiling it. It was pretty open-ended, so it is a lot of work, actually, to get the 750. It wasn't just ticking off boxes. They were open-ended questions. We are compiling that now. We will be providing it within the next few months.

I feel that the best way of working in consensus government is actually working with committee. What I am proposing, and I haven't actually, but I'd be sending a letter to committee and asking them to meet with them to be able to look at the draft framework prior to, actually, a finalization. The more we work better together, the more effective our framework will be. You can expect that within the next couple of months, that I will be sending a letter to committee, and that we will be bringing this forward to do the work that we need to do. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Daniel McNeely

Daniel McNeely Sahtu

My next question is: is the Minister willing to make herself and staff available to, in the absence of this framework material, have engagements in Sahtu communities?

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

We do have regional representatives who are in the Sahtu who can actually make themselves available at any time that the MLA would like them to go in and to approach their community. Myself, though, as a Minister, might be a little bit tougher. I would have to check with my staff. My last review of my calendar says that I am booked up, and in fairness, I have even had to talk to other MLAs and say that I can't do constituency tours for four or five days, because I don't have that. I am working day and night and weekends now. We have a lot of work to do. I am willing to be available if I am available, but I don't think that I have more than one day available in my calendar per week going forward.

Daniel McNeely

Daniel McNeely Sahtu

Thanks for that reply. As mentioned earlier, if the Minister's party will include the Minister and staff, if the Minister is taken out of that party there, will the department heads look at travelling dates to the Sahtu communities to pass this message on? I see nothing about renewed vision, as I mentioned earlier, and getting that communication out to the communities is the gap that we need to fill in excelling the aspirations and good feeling of our students. When will the Minister make her staff available?

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

What I am hearing in that statement is that we are not doing a good enough job of actually getting out there and letting communities know. I do apologize for that if that is the truth. We do have regional representations. I will mandate that they actually get into the communities. All of them, not just the Sahtu. All of them should be going out and talking to Indigenous governments, municipal governments, principals, teachers, superintendents, et cetera, to be able to promote and answer any questions on their programs. If we are falling behind on that, I will make sure that that is a priority of mine, to make sure that our regional reps are getting into the communities and doing their jobs.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.

Daniel McNeely

Daniel McNeely Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I look forward to working with the Minister on a proposed schedule of dates and the individuals. Will the Minister commit to doing that, as well, so we can take advantage of the end of the school after graduation month in June, so that the message could come from the Yellowknife head office to the smaller communities? Thank you.

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

I will commit to working with the MLA, but I also will commit to actually challenging the MLA to come to me and explain to me why, in his opinion, not on the floor here, but in his opinion, that our regional directors don't have that ability, because that is what their job is. I am willing to meet with the MLA and discuss why it should be that headquarters would have to go into the regions versus the people whom we have hired to do that. It might be a bigger issue. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

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

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have questions for the Minister of Education, considering that early childhood development is a very important way of doing business. I think that the numbers are that the government will save $7 to $10 on every dollar spent today of future money that could be spent on that particular youth or child.

I would like to ask the Minister a question about attendance. My understanding of attendance in junior kindergarten and kindergarten is that, initially, step one is that the students will decide whether or not they are going to attend. It is not compulsory that they attend. Step two is they do enrol, and they do attend, but they are not treated like the other students. Even if they are enrolled in junior kindergarten and kindergarten, they don't have to attend. Is that correct? 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. In all fairness, I mean, we try to get all children into programming, because the greater the chance of success, actually, if you do have early childhood intervention. The act is pretty clear, though. In 12(1) of the Education Act, it states that a child who is six or under -- and I am going to paraphrase a bit, because I have summarized this from the act, but that is the section. It might not be the exact. Children who are older than six and under 16, the act is very explicit, shall register for school. Then 19(3) says children may register if they are under that age.

What that says is that it is compulsory for children who are between six and 16 to register for school. Children who are outside of that age, under six or over 16, may, but they don't have to. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh

There is no requirement for anyone under six to register, but my question is: if they choose to register at four and five, at that point, the registration is out of the way, are they treated like all other students insofar as attendance goes?

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

The act in section 27(1), again, I am going to paraphrase because I didn't write it all down. It says that children who are between the ages of six and 16 shall attend, and actually, there is a financial penalty if they don't attend. I believe it is $100; we don't want to make students afraid of school. It says that the parents shall ensure that the child attends, as well. Under that, there is nothing that says that they have to; so, no, children under six or over 16, it does not say that they shall attend.

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh

I am still not clear on, once the person does register, whether or not they have to attend school. I am going to ask the question a little bit differently. How does the funding work? If you have students who are JK and K in your school, I am assuming that it is a per capita funding for students. How does that work? If they register, but don't attend, are they counted in the funding?

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

The calculation of the funding for JK and kindergarten is the same, when it comes to people in seats, as the older grades, grade 1 to grade 12, and that is any child who is registered by the end of the beginning of the school year, end of September, I believe, that school or that school board or authority is provided funding for that child seat for the whole year. The calculation is done once a year at the end of September, and it carries forward through, and then it is done again at the next school year. Any child who moves in between there, if they register and they decide to drop out, or they don't attend regularly, that counts as actually still paid for that child to be there. It isn't a jeopardy for the schools, if the child does attend or not.

In saying that, though, I have made a commitment to look at the funding formula, do a complete review of it, and those things will be taken into consideration.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

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

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, assuming that the education system is beginning to engage students who are four and five years old, I'd like to ask the Minister if students four and five years old who don't register need to have a viable alternative?

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

No, at this point, I don't believe. I mean there could be other acts that I'm not aware of, but I do not believe, personally, that there is any act or law that says that a child that is not enrolled in junior kindergarten or kindergarten has to have a viable option. In fact, within our Income Support Program, one of our productive choices says that, if you're parenting a child under three, you can actually stay home with that child, because lots of research shows that the best early childhood development for a child is to actually have their family around and their parents, ideally, with supports. No, there isn't a requirement that, if your child is not in junior kindergarten, you have to have something else. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Merci, Monsieur le President. Earlier today, I made a statement about land use planning in the Wek'eezhii management area. To be clear, while I take issue with why GNWT is picking up all the costs related to this effort, I support land use planning there. The Tlicho agreement refers to a land use planning body being established by agreement. Can the Minister of Lands tell us whether that body has been established, and what it is called? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister of Lands.

Louis Sebert

Louis Sebert Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Government of the Northwest Territories and Canada are currently concluding consultation on the draft terms of reference for the Wek'eezhii land use planning committee and planning office for the public lands in the Wek'eezhii.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

I want to thank the Minister for confirming that there will be a Wek'eezhii land use planning committee. Can the Minister confirm who will sit on this committee and whether it has the same general functions and duties as the land use planning boards established pursuant to the federal Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act?

Louis Sebert

Louis Sebert Thebacha

It is currently proposed that the Government of the Northwest Territories, Canada, and the Tlicho Government will sit on the land use planning committee. The general functions and duties of the committee will be the same as those pursuant to the MVRMA. The Wek'eezhii land use planning committee and planning office will develop and recommend a final plan to governments for approval.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

I want to thank the Minister for confirming my understanding of how the committee is to work, and similar in function to these other boards. One of the features of the land use planning boards for the Gwich'in and Sahtu settlement areas is that they continue on into the implementation phase of land use planning by checking on the conformity with proposed land uses once a plan has been approved. Can the Minister explain whether the Wek'eezhii land use planning committee will have a role in the implementation of any land use plan approved for that area, and tell us what that role would look like?

Louis Sebert

Louis Sebert Thebacha

The proposed role of the land use planning committee in implementation is similar to that of other planning boards; that is to say, following plan approval at committee's ongoing roles, a plan implementation will include determination and conformity of proposed activities with the approved plan where proposals are referred to the committee to make the determination, consider requests for exceptions to the plan, where the plan provides for such a role; monitor implementation of the plan, and carry out periodic reviews, and make recommendation to the parties to amend the plan.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Merci, Monsieur le President. Again, I'd like to thank the Minister for confirming my understanding of how this committee is going to work. The legal authority for completed plans in the Gwich'in and Sahtu settlement areas are set out in some detail in the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act. Section 22.5.3 of the Tlicho agreement says: "The parties may by agreement establish a land use planning body and a mechanism for the preparation, approval, and implementation of a land use plan that applies to Wek'eezhii, other than national parks." Clearly, the authority of such a land use planning body over implementation is found in the Tlicho agreement, but there's not a lot of detail of how land use planning will be done or implemented. Can the Minister tell us whether there is any other statute or regulations that will provide guidance or legal authority to improve land use plans under the Tlicho agreement?

Louis Sebert

Louis Sebert Thebacha

The Tlicho agreement is the legal instrument, and it will be coordinated with the MVRMA through section 24.1(f) of the MVRMA. 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. Last year's shipping was affected by sea ice in the Beaufort Sea, and it looks like, this year, forest fires may affect the delivery of goods to Nunakput communities. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister of Infrastructure give an update on the department's contingency plans to ensure that petroleum products and dried goods get delivered to communities along the Mackenzie River and also to communities in Nunakput? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister of Infrastructure.

Wally Schumann

Wally Schumann Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I've said in this House over the last couple of days, first of all, we moved up the sailing season to try to alleviate the situation. We've been working with the fuel supplier, and now we have these fires that have started in Alberta which throw some of those plans into jeopardy, where we'll have to go back and rejig this. As I've updated the House today, we're working with our fuel supplier and looking at trucking things to Hay River in the short term, depending on how long it takes CN Rail to ramp their system back up and get their services available to Hay River. We'll continue to do that. If that becomes an issue, we're going to be looking at trucking, like we said, around the Liard Highway.

One of the things that I didn't mention yesterday, that I forgot to mention, actually, is about what we're going to try to do for the IRC communities, and we need to get this information out. I believe the department has posted our schedule, as I've said, and I'm glad that the Member has asked us this question, because he can post it on his Facebook page and help us get the message out there, as well. Because we're changing our sailing season, we want some people to be well aware of that because we're moving the dates up. We want to stage all the IRC, our coastal community stuff. We want to stage that stuff in Tuktoyaktuk by mid-July with all our barges, and be loaded, and tugs ready to sail, as long as sea conditions are safe at that time. That's going to change the dates a bit, so I want the community members to be well aware that that's going to change a little bit, so they've got to try to get their freight to the terminal in Hay River a lot sooner.

We're going to work closely with the Coast Guard, as I said yesterday, to hopefully have their vessels there to have adequate ice-breaking services to help support us if need be. We will continue to work with the communities and the IRC and the residents of the coastal communities to make sure that these goods are sitting, as I said, in Tuktoyaktuk in July, mid-July, to do that. If the fires become an issue, the long-term trucking plan is to continue to work with them and the railroad. I will continue to update all Members in this House. I know we're only sitting for a few more days next week. I can probably update the House next week on where things are at, as well, but throughout the summer, we'll continue to try to get the message out there the best we can, and maybe email all Members on this situation.

Herbert Nakimayak

Herbert Nakimayak Nunakput

It's good to see that the Minister and the department are working on the fly on issues like this, as sometimes they may get bigger and bigger within a 24- or even 12-hour window as we see the fire growing in the territory. This fire is getting bigger every day, and I'm concerned that this may have negative effects on the communities in the Far North. As we've already experienced phone and fax line issues in remote communities, my question to the Minister: has the Government of the Northwest Territories thought to FireSmart and important infrastructure like communication towers, fibre lines, and other means of communication we rely on in the Northwest Territories on a daily basis?

Wally Schumann

Wally Schumann Hay River South

As I have updated the House, we are monitoring these fires in Alberta as closely as we can and working with the Alberta government. The Alberta fire crews are taxed right to the max. I think that they are trying to protect as much critical infrastructure as they can right across the province. There are a number of fires going on there. They are doing the best that they can, and we thank them for what they are doing and are certainly glad that crews will be able to go out there and support them as well.

We are not aware of any impacts on communication infrastructure serving the North at this time, but we will keep a close eye on the situation. One of the other things, I guess, based on this question, that has come to my thoughts sitting here was, you know, the Yukon government is looking at putting their fibre line in from Tsiigehtchic to the Yukon as a redundancy line. I know that is not in place right now, but that is something that will certainly be a welcome addition, to have redundancy built into the system around that type of infrastructure. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. The time for oral questions has expired. Item 8, written questions. Item 9, returns to written questions. Item 10, replies to the Commissioner's opening address. Item 11, petitions. Item 12, reports of standing and special committees. Item 13, reports of committees on the review of bills. Item 14, tabling of documents. Minister of Finance.

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following documents entitled "Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 2, 2019-2020"; and "Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures) No. 2, 2019-2020". Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Tabling of documents. Member for Kam Lake.

Kieron Testart

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I hereby table two documents, one entitled "Role of Caucus and Regular Members' Caucus in Nunavut"; and "Discussion Paper on Parliamentary Group Model." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Tabling of documents.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Pursuant to Section 21(3) of the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act, I hereby table the Legislative Assembly Board of Management Record of Decision 285-18-2019 for Amendment to Indemnities and Allowances and Expenses Regulations.

Pursuant to Section 21(3) of the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act, I hereby table the Legislative Assembly Board of Management Record of Decision 286-18-2019 for Schedule C Amendment Regulations 2019. Masi. Item 15, notices of motion. Item 16, notices of motion for first reading of bills. Minister of Justice.

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Louis Sebert

Louis Sebert Thebacha

Mr. Speaker, I give notice that, on Wednesday, June 5, 2019, I will move that Bill 58, Justice Administration Statutes Amendment Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

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

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Great Slave, that, notwithstanding rule 4, when this House adjourns on May 30, 2019, it shall be adjourned until Tuesday, June 4, 2019, and further, that, at any time prior to June 4, 2019, if the Speaker is satisfied after consultation with the Executive Council and Members of the Legislative Assembly that the public interest requires that the House should meet at an earlier time during the adjournment, the Speaker may give notice, and thereupon, the House shall meet at that time stated in such notice and transact its business as it has been duly adjourned to that time. Mahsi.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

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

Some Hon. Members

Question.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed?

---Carried

Masi. Motions. Item 18, first reading of bills. Minister of Finance.

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River South, that Bill 54, Standard Interest Rates Statutes Amendment Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. The motion is in order. The motion is non-debatable. All those in favour? All those opposed?

---Carried

Bill 54 has had its first reading. First reading of bills. Member for Mackenzie Delta.

Daniel McNeely

Daniel McNeely Sahtu

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, that Bill 55, An Act to Amend the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act, No. 1, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. The motion is in order. The motion is non-debatable. All those in favour? All those opposed?

---Carried

Bill 55 has had its first reading. First reading of bills. Member for Yellowknife North.

Cory Vanthuyne

Cory Vanthuyne Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River South, that Bill 56, An Act to Amend the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act, No. 2, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. The motion is in order. The motion is non-debatable. All those in favour? All those opposed?

---Carried

Bill 56 has had its first reading. First reading of bills. Item 19, second reading of bills. Item 20, consideration in Committee of the Whole of bills and other matters: Bill 30, an Act to Amend the Human Rights Act; Committee Report 15-18(3), Standing Committee on Government Operations Report on the Review of Bill 30, an Act to Amend the Human Rights Act; Minister's Statement 151-18(3), New Federal Infrastructure Agreement; and Minister's Statement 158-18(3), Developments in Early Childhood Programs and Services, with the Member for Hay River North in the chair.

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The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

I will now call Committee of the Whole to order. What is the wish of committee? Mr. Testart.

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Kieron Testart

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Committee would like to consider Committee Report 15-18(3), Report on the Review of Bill 30, an Act to Amend the Human Rights Act, and Bill 30, An Act to Amend the Human Rights Act. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

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The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Testart. Does committee agree?

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Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

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The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, committee. I will ring the bells in 10 minutes. Until then, we are in recess.

---SHORT RECESS

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The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

I will now call Committee of the Whole back to order. Committee, we have agreed to consider Committee Report 15-18(3), Standing Committee on Government Operations Report on the Review of Bill 30, An Act to Amend the Human Rights Act. I will go to the chair of the committee for opening comments. Mr. Testart.

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Kieron Testart

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Standing Committee on Government Operations concluded its review of Bill 30 during the previous sitting of the Legislative Assembly and provided a substantive report on the record there. We discussed a number of important areas of necessary changes to the Human Rights Commission to move it to more of a restorative model that is less adversarial and requires less precise procedural and legal knowledge to participate in its proceedings. These changes greatly modernize and update the structure, and committee supported them fully.

There were a few areas of the bill that committee felt very strongly needed some tweaks, and importantly, during our public consultations on the bill, Members noted that members of the public were quite interested in seeing stronger protections for genetic discrimination put into the bill, which was attempted to be moved during the clause-by-clause review and was not concurred with by the government. The Minister provided lengthy reasons for that at the time.

We will be considering the bill later in these proceedings, so I won't mention anything further on that point, but I do think that this is good legislation, it is much-needed legislation, and it is primarily driven by the review that was done by the Human Rights Commission and will greatly serve to enhance their ability to protect, promote, and sustain the fundamental human rights afforded to the citizens of the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

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The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Testart. Are there any general comments on the committee report? Mr. O'Reilly.

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Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Thanks, Mr. Chair. This is, again, I think, a good piece of work, and I want to applaud the work that the Minister did to bring the bill before the House. This is the first time that I think it has gone through a comprehensive review. The Human Rights Commission itself was behind many of the changes in shifting the system more to a restorative approach, which I think is a good thing, but also clarifying some roles and responsibilities so that our citizens can better access their human rights as well.

I support many of the changes that were made to the bill. I think that there is one big outstanding issue that, of course, we are going to discuss, but good work on the part of the committee, the Human Rights Commission, and the Minister to work together to get the bill to where it is before us today. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

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The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Any further general comments on the report? Mr. Testart.

Kieron Testart

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this Assembly recommends that the Human Rights Commission develop an evaluation framework for assessing the efficacy of moving to a restorative process, which includes in its methodology a gender-based analysis and an assessment of the impacts on Indigenous people, and further, that the findings of this review be tabled in the Legislative Assembly in the first sitting following April 1, 2021, at which time the amendments to the Human Rights Act made by Bill 30 will be fully implemented. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Testart. There is a motion on the floor. The motion is in order. To the motion. Mr. Testart.

Kieron Testart

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This is a peculiar motion in our proceedings as it makes a recommendation, not to government, but to a statutory body, the Human Rights Commission. Committee felt that this was an appropriate way to address a concern that we heard around ensuring that this process was meeting its targets.

Although we are fully confident that the Human Rights Commission is going to be reporting on this in its annual statutory reports, this just gives a very clear indication of what we heard and what we feel would be effective for the commission in evaluating the efficacy of the restorative process that they have laid out. Hopefully, a future Assembly can take that report and see what has happened and provide other comments and feedback at that time. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Testart. To the motion. Minister Sebert.

Louis Sebert

Louis Sebert Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Cabinet will be abstaining on this motion. Thank you.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Minister. Seeing nothing further, I will put the question to committee.

Some Hon. Members

Question.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

All those in favour? All those opposed?

---Carried

Thank you, committee. Committee, do you agree that this concludes our consideration of Committee Report 15-18(3), Standing Committee on Government Operations Report on the Review of Bill 30, An Act to Amend the Human Rights Act?

Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, committee. This concludes our consideration of Committee Report 15-18(3). Committee, we have agreed to next consider Bill 30, An Act to Amend the Human Rights Act. I will give everyone a moment to get your grey binders out. I will ask the Minister responsible for the bill to introduce it. Minister Sebert.

Louis Sebert

Louis Sebert Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am here today to discuss Bill 30, An Act to Amend the Human Rights Act.

I would like to thank the Standing Committee on Government Operations for their review of this bill and for the constructive feedback that they have provided. A number of motions were made in committee, and I am pleased that the bill has improved as a result.

Bill 30 amends the Human Rights Act to improve the delivery of human rights services and enhance the protection of human rights in the Northwest Territories. The amendments arise from recommendations by the Human Rights Commission's comprehensive review team, which brought together constitutional and human rights experts to review the NWT Human Rights Act on the occasion of its 10th anniversary.

Specifically, the amendments proposed fall under four major themes: first, valuing and incorporating a restorative approach throughout the human rights system, and encouraging early resolution where possible; second, improving efficiency in operations by consolidating the commission and the director functions into one single agency, the Human Rights Commission; third, emphasizing the commission's responsibility to protect and assure the public interest through the identification of systemic discrimination and the application of broader systemic remedies; and fourth, affirming the rights of transgender and other gender diverse persons.

The bill will also make a number of non-substantive miscellaneous amendments to improve the clarity and readability of specific provisions of the act.

I would be pleased to answer any questions that Members may have regarding Bill 30.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Minister. I will turn to the chair of the Standing Committee on Government operations which considered the bill for any opening remarks. There are no opening remarks from the chair. Minister, would you like to bring witnesses into the Chamber?

Louis Sebert

Louis Sebert Thebacha

Yes, I would.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Minister. Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the witnesses into the Chamber. Minister, would you please introduce your witnesses for the record.

Louis Sebert

Louis Sebert Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Chair. To my right is Mark Aitken, assistant deputy minister, Department of Justice. To my left is Kelly McLaughlin, legislative counsel, Legislation Division, Department of Justice.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Minister. I will now open the floor to any general comments on Bill 30. First, we have Mr. Testart.

Kieron Testart

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am hoping the Minister can provide some detail on something that occurred during the course of our review of the bill. The committee, as announced in its report, received a letter from the Minister from the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association to the Department of Justice's assistant deputy minister outlining the insurance industry's views on prohibiting discrimination on the basis of genetic characteristics. The committee understood at that time that this letter was, in fact, solicited by the Department of Justice. Can the Minister confirm if that is true? Thank you.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you. Minister Sebert.

Louis Sebert

Louis Sebert Thebacha

Yes. That is true.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you. Mr. Testart.

Kieron Testart

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Did the government, at any time, reach out to advocacy groups for those suffering from genetic disabilities to solicit their thoughts on this issue as it relates to Bill 30? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you. Minister.

Louis Sebert

Louis Sebert Thebacha

Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I understand that the department's Mr. Aitken actually spoke to the Coalition for Genetic Fairness. Thank you.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you. Mr. Testart.

Kieron Testart

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Why was that information not provided to committee? Thank you.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you. Minister.

Louis Sebert

Louis Sebert Thebacha

Thank you. I understand that it was after the standing committee review.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you. Minister, when you are done speaking, just say, "Thank you," or something just to let the tech people know that we can change the mic. Mr. Testart.

Kieron Testart

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chair. There was a point in time where this letter, in fact, was tabled in this Assembly after committee research materials were tabled. Can the Minister commit to tabling whatever correspondence he has received from the Coalition for Genetic Fairness? Thank you.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you. Minister.

Louis Sebert

Louis Sebert Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I understand that there was no correspondence. There as some indication that they might be sending some or were going to send some, but nothing was received. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you. Mr. Testart.

Kieron Testart

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

Thank you. Given that, can the Minister relay what their feedback was on this issue? Thank you.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you. Minister.

Louis Sebert

Louis Sebert Thebacha

Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I wonder, since that conversation or that exchange was with Mr. Aitken, whether he might respond to that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you. Mr. Aitken.

Aitken

Thank you, Mr. Chair. On April 4th, I had a phone call along with a policy officer for the Department of Justice with Bev Heim-Myers, and she is the chair of the Canadian Coalition for Genetic Fairness. I outlined the fact that Bill 30 was before the Assembly, that there was a proposal to bring forward motions that would add genetic characteristics as a prohibited ground. The coalition is in support of adding genetic characteristics as a prohibited ground to the Human Rights Act. Thank you.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you. Mr. Testart.

Kieron Testart

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Nothing further at this point. Thank you.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you. General comments on the bill. Anything from committee? Mr. O'Reilly.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Thanks, Mr. Chair. The Minister tabled this letter from the CLHIA in the House on March 8th. Can the Minster or his staff tell us whether there has been any representation to this government from either insurance brokers or individual insurance companies that there might be consequences if genetic diversity was added to the bill, such as things like withdrawing potential coverage from the Northwest Territories? Have they received anything like that? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you. Minister.

Louis Sebert

Louis Sebert Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I understand that we did not approach any individual insurance companies or brokers. Thank you.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Thanks, Mr. Chair. That wasn't really my question, but I am glad to get that information. Has our government received any correspondence, communications from individual brokers, individual insurance companies, that they would withdraw coverage for residents of the Northwest Territories if genetic diversity was added into this bill? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you. Minister.

Louis Sebert

Louis Sebert Thebacha

I understand that we have not received, Mr. Chair, any communications from insurance brokers or companies, but they may not be aware of this legislation or this amendment. Thank you.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that this government has not received any communications from individual companies or brokers that anybody is going to withdraw coverage from our residents. The federal government has already done this. It was a private member's bill, but it was passed in the parliament. What has been the experience? Have insurance companies withdrawn coverage from any areas of federal jurisdiction as a result of the passage of the bill at the federal level? What has been the general experience? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you. Minister.

Louis Sebert

Louis Sebert Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Chair. My understanding is that, generally speaking, this area is an area of provincial and territorial legislation. I think that the federal government has some role in the insurance industry, but I am told not for personal insurance. I doubt if there has been any effect at that level, if that is the question. I am sorry. I may have lost myself a bit here. I also understand that the federal legislation is before the courts. Perhaps Mr. Aitken can speak to this, Mr. Chair. Thanks.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

It has been a while since that constitutional law course, Minister. Mr. Aitken.

Aitken

Thank you. The private member's bill that Mr. O'Reilly is referring to is Bill S-201, and it was federal legislation. It had several components, but the two that are of most concern here are: the first relied upon the criminal law power to add a prohibition for using genetic tests without the express permission of the person and for asking for genetic tests in any capacity with very serious fines, I believe in the order of $1 million.

The second component of the bill was to add genetic characteristics to a number of federal statutes as a prohibited ground to the Canadian Human Rights Code, and also to deal in the Canadian Labour Code.

The first part of the bill that created the criminal law prohibitions relating to genetic testing was taken before a court in Quebec, and several months ago, the Quebec Court of Appeal actually ruled that it's unconstitutional because it is using the criminal law power to intrude into an area of provincial jurisdiction which has authority over insurance. I understand that that decision of the Quebec Court of Appeal has been appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada, and I believe that the hearing is scheduled for either October 10th or 11th of this year. Thank you.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that explanation of what was in the federal legislation and what it covered in status, and so on, but is there any evidence that, as a result of this, in the federal legislation, any insurance companies have vacated the marketplace or refused coverage in any areas of federal jurisdiction as a result of the passage of that bill? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you. Mr. Aitken.

Aitken

Thank you. Companies have not withdrawn from the jurisdiction. They are complying with the prohibitions related to genetic testing. In our discussions with the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association, they pointed out that genetic testing is actually a very small component of insurance. Most insurance policies do not have a genetic testing component at all. Their concern was with medical histories and family medical histories and personal medical histories, and every life, health, and disability insurance policy deals with those aspects. In most cases, there's no reference to genetic testing at all. Their concern is much more with family medical history, the questions that relate to family medical history, and how those questions can be evaluated and used by the industry, than they are with the genetic testing component. Thank you.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the deputy minister telling me about the concerns of the insurance industry, but there's no evidence, then, that this has caused any market disruption by including genetic characteristics as a prohibited ground in the federal legislation. I just wanted to establish that.

My next question is about, and I did read one of the documents that my honourable colleague from Kam Lake tabled from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada. It's called the Potential Economic Impact of a Ban on the Use of Genetic Information for Life and Health Insurance. It's a very helpful document, because it helped me understand this a little bit better. There's this concept of adverse selection, where the insurance industry has this concern that, if somebody finds out they have a genetic disorder, they become more likely to buy insurance if they can afford it, I guess, in the first place, which just seems rather bizarre to me. The paper from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada does say that, in their view, this is not an issue, at least now, because a lot of people have not had genetic testing. This may be something that might require a change or review in the future, once people understand, if they have genetic characteristics, that might lead them to have medical disorders in the future. Has the department reviewed this paper by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, and do they agree with its findings? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you. Mr. Aitken.

Aitken

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, I have reviewed the paper. In fact, I asked the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association about the paper when we had our first call. They indicated first that they didn't agree with the conclusions about adverse selection. The second thing they said is that their concern is not so much with genetic testing, but is with the much broader area of family medical history. They feel that adverse selection would, in fact, be a factor, though, for both genetic testing and family medical history. They didn't agree with the paper. Thank you.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Thanks, Mr. Chair. The conclusion, as I read it in the report, is we conclude that, for the present or near future, near-term future, a ban on such information would likely have no significant negative implications for insurers or for the efficient operation of markets such as life insurance. That says it all to me, Mr. Chair.

I just have one other sort of general question. This notion of adverse selection, how does something like no-fault insurance work for auto insurance in BC in terms of people's driving records and so on? I know it's a state-run system, but they seem to have overcome that through no-fault insurance, and it hasn't collapsed. Why is this adverse selection something that our government, the department, seems to have adopted and is driving the position that Cabinet is going to take on whether genetic diversity should be included as a prohibited ground in the first place? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you. Minister.

Louis Sebert

Louis Sebert Thebacha

Yes. Of course, the insurance situation in British Columbia is a state-run insurance. As I say, the concern of the industry is that someone might find out this genetic component, and then decide to load up on insurance. It's quite different than insurance involving automobiles, I would say, because you don't have your crash first, and then go and get insurance. I think it's a different situation. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you. Mr. O'Reilly.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the Minister's answer on that one, and I don't think I have anything further other than to say I haven't heard any clear evidence that the insurance industry is going to vacate the market here in the Northwest Territories, so I don't know why the Cabinet is so worked up about this and does not want it included in the bill. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Further to general comments? Seeing none, does committee agree that we move into a clause-by-clause review of the bill?

Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, committee. I will call out each clause, and if committee agrees, please respond accordingly. If any Members wish to move motions, please raise your hands high. I'm not a mind reader, so I don't want to miss any motions if any are to be made. Please turn to page 1 of the bill, and I will begin calling clause. Clause 1.

Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, committee. Clause 2. Mr. Testart.

Kieron Testart

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that clause 2 of Bill 30 be renumbered as subclause 2(1), and the following be added after that renumbered subclause: (2) the second recital of the preamble is amended by adding "genetic characteristics" after "disability". Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Testart. There is a motion on the floor and it is being distributed. Is there an extra copy of the motion? The motion is in order. To the motion. Mr. Testart.

Kieron Testart

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This amendment amends the preamble to the act to address genetic characteristics as a prohibited grounds. It is not a substantive clause, as it is a perambulatory clause. However, any subsequent amendments to address this issue are going to require it. I will speak to just the general principles of why banning genetic discrimination is a fundamental concern that has been raised over the course of standing committee's review of the bill and has been discussed and debated closely by Members.

As the Minister noted in his opening comments, the Human Rights Commission undertook a comprehensive review of the NWT's Human Rights Act in 2014 on the 10th anniversary of the act's coming into force. That review, concluded in 2015, recommended that the act be amended to include a prohibition against discrimination on the basis of genetic characteristics.

With the commercialization and sale of home DNA test kits by companies such as 23andme, more and more people are undertaking genetic testing to learn more about their genetic heritage. The Human Rights Commission noted in its 2013-2014 annual report that genetic discrimination is an emerging area of concern regarding the treatment of individuals based on genetic characteristics. They noted that there is a concern that many people may be at risk of having their genetic information used against them. This is causing people to refuse to undertake genetic testing when recommended by their doctors for fear that they may face discrimination from a prospective employer or insurance company.

The Human Rights Commission stated that the NWT was once seen as the forefront of human rights protections, and they would like to see it continue to play a leading role. This was communicated to the honourable Minister of Justice in a letter by the NWT Human Rights Chair, Mr. Charles Dent, dated June 24, 2016. The GNWT opted not to conclude genetic characteristics as a prohibited ground of discrimination in Bill 30.

Since the Human Rights Commission's comprehensive review was completed, Canada became the last G7 nation to prohibit discrimination on the basis of genetic characteristics. Federally, Bill S-201, the Genetic Non-discrimination Act, creates criminal offences, as we have heard, for requiring a person to undergo or disclose the results of a genetic test in order to obtain goods or services or to enter an agreement. It also added genetic characteristics as a prohibited ground in the Human Rights Act.

GINA, the United States' Genetic Information Non-discrimination Act of 2008, is a United States Act of Congress designed to prohibit genetic discrimination in health insurance and employment. It prohibits group health plans and health insurers from denying coverage to a healthy individual or charging that person higher premiums based solely on a genetic predisposition to developing a disease in the future, and it bars employers from using individuals' genetic information when making hiring, firing, job placement, or promotion decisions. Senator Ted Kennedy called it the first major new civil rights bill of the new century.

As the committee's review of the bill was drawing to a close, as we learned at the top of this committee hearing, the Minister shared a letter with standing committee expressing the concerns of the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association. What we have gotten through questions with the Minister is that this letter was solicited and perhaps driven by concerns raised by the Supreme Court challenge through the Quebec Court of Appeal.

However, it is concerning to me that the genetic advocacy groups were seen as somewhat of an afterthought in consultation on this bill. Again, this section was not added to the bill that was brought before committee, and this letter that was brought forward was after the bill had already been through the committee review process.

I acknowledge that there is a concern, and when you are treading new ground, there are often people who will have to adapt to those circumstances. However, there has been substantial study done on this issue by both the Senate of Canada, the federal Information and Privacy Commissioner, and other industry and advocacy groups, who have presented no compelling evidence that it will adversely affect the provision of insurance in a jurisdiction, the rates of premiums, or any other substantive matter that would impact the ability for Northerners to obtain health insurance or other forms of insurance.

The hypothetical that was posited by the Minister just recently about an individual who was diagnosed with, let's say, Huntington's Disease, and then decided to buy 30 insurance policies and not be allowed to be knocked of that because of a genetic condition, I think, is a long shot. I think that people who are diagnosed with chronic medical diseases have a lot more to worry about than exploiting the insurance system for personal gain, and I think that that should not be the basis for this concern. I think that the basis for this concern should be relying on what we heard from the public, and when standing committee went on the road and consulted with Northerners directly, the question was put to all of those who attended, whether this bill should ban genetic discrimination, and it was universally thought that that should take place, in a small community like Fort McPherson to our hearings in Yellowknife.

This is something that I believe is strongly supported by the public. This is much talk about pre-existing conditions and how they adversely impact health and wellness and put unnecessary financial strain on citizens, not just American citizens, where it is a much larger concern, but also Canadian citizens and Northerners, as well. I think that, if we can do anything to alleviate those concerns, to ensure that people are not discriminated against for genetics, especially after we have come so far with technology in making genetic testing and genetic information easily discernible and available, this is going to be an increasing resource. Companies are going to use it to understand their consumers; individuals are going to use it to understand their own health and wellness; and governments are going to use it to understand their citizens. The Chinese government is already undertaking a massive genetic cataloguing of its citizens, and of course, they do not have the same kind of human rights protections that we have in this country.

I think that we should, again, return to our leadership role in this country and show that we are progressive, we are ready to lead on this issue, and we will stand up for what our citizens deserve, which is to have their genetic characteristics prohibited from discrimination.

When you look at the fact that the rest of the G7 world has ensured these protections are in place; United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France. These are leading nations, and the fact that Canada is only now just getting on board, and we have provincial governments concerned around it encroaching on constitutional freedoms, well, we don't have to make those arguments, because we are not encroaching on our own freedoms. We can do this, and we can show Canada and the world that the North, again, is leading on public policy and making a difference in the lives of their citizens.

I encourage everyone to support this motion, so that we can get this started and ensure that genetic characteristics are a banned grounds of discrimination in the Human Rights Code. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Testart. To the motion. Mr. O'Reilly.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I support much of what my colleague, the MLA for Kam Lake, said. He served as chair of the committee. Not a lot of us actually have a copy of the report in front of us. I just want to quote from one paragraph, Mr. Chair. This was to try to capture the views of NWT citizens on this issue.

"In each of the smaller communities to which the committee travelled, committee heard support for the inclusion of genetic characteristics as a prohibited ground of discrimination under the act. Mr. Mike Keizer, a Parks Canada employee from Fort Smith, expressed his support for prohibiting discrimination on the basis of genetic characteristics. So did Ms. Lauraine Armstrong, also of Fort Smith, who noted that the fear of being discriminated against might serve as a deterrent to some people getting genetic testing that could help improve their lives. Mr. Richard Nerysoo, of Fort McPherson, told the committee that prohibiting discrimination on the basis of genetic characteristics 'is a good thing to pursue,' but offered the view that prohibiting discrimination on the basis of an unrelated criminal charge or conviction could be more challenging to implement."

That is the paragraph, Mr. Chair, that I wanted to read. This is not the committee making this stuff up. This is what they heard from our citizens. I think that people have a choice here. Do we want to side with our citizens, or do we want to side with the insurance industry? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. To the motion. Minister Sebert.

Louis Sebert

Louis Sebert Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We completely understand the rationale for adding this new ground. While I will talk about insurance, our main concerns are not related to the interests of the insurance industry, but rather to the interests of our residents.

I have to say that, because this very major decision is being raised by a motion here in Committee of the Whole, there has been no opportunity to engage in meaningful consultation. What this motion proposes affects the interests of our residents and of the small insurance brokers and agents based in several of our communities. They likely know little or nothing about it.

It is an important point, because this is a very significant change to our human rights legislation and is, in no way, routine. You heard from the ADM about the jurisdiction that provinces and territories exercise in the area of insurance, and we note that none of them have enacted genetic characteristics as a prohibited ground.

It is not that there has been any lack of opportunity at the provincial or territorial level. Since 2016, every province and territory in Canada, except Newfoundland and Labrador, has amended their Human Rights Act or Code, and eight of them have dealt with their prohibited grounds. None of them have taken the leap proposed in this motion. There has to be a reason. If we proceed in the absence of others, it makes us vulnerable.

Since we have become aware of the issue, we have been doing what research we can, and we have consulted with both the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association and with the Coalition for Genetic Fairness, an NGO advocating for the rights of Canadians who face genetic illnesses and conditions. What we have learned leaves us very concerned that adding genetic characteristics as a prohibited ground could dramatically affect the future ability of NWT residents to purchase life, health, or disability insurance. Again, our concern is related to the ability of our residents to obtain the insurance that they need.

Our research has shown that questions about personal health and family history are critical to the process by which insurance companies evaluate the premiums for a policy or decide whether to issue a policy at all. This risk evaluation process is called underwriting. The Northwest Territories is a very small market for insurance providers. We are not Ontario. Given that the questions asked of applicants for life, health, or disability insurance, or the information obtained from their doctors, are intended to ascertain genetic characteristics for the purpose of determining risk, it seems likely to place the insurance provider squarely in violation of the NWT Human Rights Act if it is amended as proposed in this motion. Given that individual insurance companies would either have to develop an entirely new process for underwriting insurance in the NWT market or they could often no longer offer their life, health, or disability insurance products in this jurisdiction.

Insurance companies are, by their nature, risk-adverse. Balancing the value of the business resulting from this very small market against the risks and costs, we fear that insurance companies would make an obvious business decision and perhaps walk away from this market. In the last sitting, I tabled a letter from the president of the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association dated March 5th, and in carefully guarded language, it suggests this very prospect. The letter states that "if the Northwest Territories were to adopt such an approach, it could put the territory very much offside the prevailing market rules across Canada and could negatively affect accessibility to affordable insurance products to the residents of the Northwest Territories going forward."

If insurance companies do withdraw from the NWT market, it is not open to our residents to purchase life, health, or disability insurance in another jurisdiction. Insurance can only be issued by a company licensed in accordance with the laws of the jurisdiction of the applicant's residence, in this case, the NWT Insurance Act. Our residents would have no option to look elsewhere to buy insurance.

It is worth noting that this concern stretches beyond individual applicants seeking life, health, or disability insurance, but to those participating in group plans, such as employees in our public service. Our research has shown that some of the benefits now made available as supplemental options are based on the provision of individual information that might also be offside the amended Human Rights Act. For that reason, Cabinet will be opposing this motion. Thank you.

The Chair

The Chair Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister Sebert. Next on the list, we have Mr. Vanthuyne.

Cory Vanthuyne

Cory Vanthuyne Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I think that Members from this side have spoken quite eloquently about this already, but one of the points that I have raised with the committee in the past in deliberations or discussions on this is that we are already very aware that early detection of genetic defects or propensity to illness is a benefit to an individual. Genetic testing, obviously, will enhance one's ability to gather and organize information that may predict a person's future potential or disabilities.

We struggle here in the territory with very challenging and difficult health situations. We have some of the poorest health stats in the country, especially as it relates to our Indigenous population. It is arguable that the Indigenous population in the North has a very limited genetic record versus, say, western or European societies or peoples, and the ability to access insurance, to me, is secondary to one knowing how one might direct their life choices in order to avoid the need to even have insurance in the first place if they are able to make better sound decisions in their life. It would sound better to me that advancing the health of our individuals and, therefore, our society is something that we would want to support. It seems clear to me, as well, Mr. Chair, that, when one knows their genetic makeup and their propensities to potential illnesses or defects, then they can build also a much stronger relationship with their doctor or doctors, therefore leading to better health outcomes. For those reasons, I will be in support. Thank you.

The Chair

The Chair Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Mr. Vanthuyne. Next on the list, we have Mr. Simpson.

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This recommendation came from the Human Rights Commission. The Minister stated that there was no time for consultation, because we are just seeing this now on the floor of the House. It was in the report. It has been years since that report. This committee, which undertook the review of this bill, read the report. When the committee went on the road, they asked explicitly, in every community that they went to, how people felt about this clause. It is a little disingenuous to say that there no consultation. There was consultation; it's in black and white in the report.

The Minister and the department knew about this recommendation. They read the report. They chose not to engage. The Minister stated that the small, local insurance providers probably don't even know about this. That is because the department never went to talk to them about it. There has been no meaningful alternative presented by the department. With other bills, there is a lot of back-and-forth between the committees and the departments, and in the end, we come to something that we can all agree on. We have seen nothing from the department to address this issue of prohibiting discrimination based on genetic characteristics.

The only reason that I see that this is being opposed is because of fear, fear of a lobbyist group. I have never before seen a document tabled in the House from a lobbyist group, and then an entire Cabinet position based on that document. This is the sort of thing that people think about when they think about politics. That is why a lot of us got into this, because of practices like that. We want to stop practices like that.

This might not be a perfect solution. This motion might not be the perfect motion, but it is better than anything that the department has brought forward. Because of those reasons, I am going to be supporting it. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Simpson. To the motion. Mr. Thompson.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Chair. First of all, I am going to support the motion. I took offence by the Minister saying there was no consultation process. I sit here and I have looked at it. If there needs to be changes and there needs to be some work done, there are some conversations and there are some changes and there are some recommendations. I didn't see any of this. What I saw was the report. The committee did a really good job, and here we go. It is about the people of the Northwest Territories. It is not about the industry.

It concerns me that we are listening to a lobbyist group. We had a lobbyist group attend a public meeting on Tuesday. Am I supposed to sit there and go, "Well, there is a lobbying group. I should be sitting there and supporting them"? No. You are supposed to be making decisions for the people of the Northwest Territories, and that is what it is about. It concerns me that we are being scared of the insurance company. I think my colleagues on this side here have spoken well about this, and I can't add anything further except I will be supporting this motion. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Chair

The Chair Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Mr. Thompson. To the motion. Ms. Green.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am in support of this motion because I am in support of evidence-based decision-making. I have talked about it consistently through the life of this Assembly. What I have heard and seen from the evidence that the committee has collected, this amendment that they are proposing is a reasonable amendment. I haven't heard any reason that it should not be adopted on the evidence.

I have heard a lot of speculation instead from the government side of the House. What they have done is set up a series of straw men to knock down that shows that somehow this is going to be the end of insurance as we know it. I don't for one moment think that insurance companies are going to forfeit their profits in the Northwest Territories because we will legislate that genetic characteristics are a prohibited grounds of discrimination. I realize that they are not going to reconsider their decision. I regret very much that they are not evidence-based decision-makers, but that is the reality of this place at this time. Thank you.

The Chair

The Chair Daniel McNeely

Thank you, Ms. Green. To the motion.

Some Hon. Members

Question.

The Chair

The Chair Daniel McNeely

Question has been called. The Member has requested a recorded vote. All those in favour.

Recorded Vote
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 5710

Committee Clerk Of The House Ms. Franki-Smith

The Member for Kam Lake, the Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh, the Member for Nahendeh, the Member for Frame Lake, the Member for Yellowknife Centre, the Member for Hay River North, the Member for Yellowknife North.

Recorded Vote
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 5710

The Chair

The Chair Daniel McNeely

All those opposed, please rise.

Recorded Vote
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 5710

Committee Clerk Of The House Ms. Franki-Smith

The Member for Nunakput, the Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, the Member for Range Lake, the Member for Great Slave, the Member for Yellowknife South, the Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, the Member for Hay River South, the Member for Thebacha, the Member for Sahtu.

Recorded Vote
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 5710

The Chair

The Chair Daniel McNeely

All those abstaining, please rise. The results of the recorded vote: seven in favour, nine opposed. The motion is defeated.

---Defeated

Recorded Vote
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 5710

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Clauses 3 and 4.

---Clauses 3 through 5 inclusive, approved

Recorded Vote
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 5710

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Clauses 6 and 10. Is committee agreed?

---Clauses 6 through 27 inclusive, approved

Recorded Vote
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 5710

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Clause 28. Minister Sebert.

Louis Sebert

Louis Sebert Thebacha

Mr. Chair, I move that Clause 28 of Bill 30 be amended (a) by deleting subclause (1) and substituting the following:

28.(1) Complaints accepted under Section 29 of the Human Rights Act before August 1, 2019, shall proceed in accordance with the Act as it reads on July 31, 2019.

(b) in subclause (2), by striking out "March 31, 2019," and substituting "July 31, 2019." Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Minister Sebert. The motion is being distributed. The motion is in order. To the motion.

Some Hon. Members

Question.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried.

---Carried

Thank you, committee. To Clause 28 as amended. Does committee agree?

Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, committee. Clause 29. Minister Sebert.

Louis Sebert

Louis Sebert Thebacha

Mr. Chair, I move that subclause 29(1) of Bill 30 be amended by striking out "April 1, 2019" and substituting "August 1, 2019." Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Minister. There is a motion on the floor. It is being distributed. The motion is in order. To the motion. I will put the question to committee. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried.

---Carried

Thank you, committee. Clause 29, as amended. Does committee agree?

Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, committee. That was the last clause. We will return to the bill number and title. Bill 30: An Act to Amend the Human Rights Act, as amended. Does committee agree?

Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you. Mr. Testart.

Kieron Testart

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that Bill 30: An Act to Amend the Human Rights Act be ordered read for a third time as amended. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you. Mr. Testart. There is a motion on the floor. To the motion.

Some Hon. Members

Question.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried.

---Carried

Thank you, committee. Bill 30 is now ready for third reading as amended. Does committee agree that this concludes our consideration of Bill 30?

Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, committee. Thank you to the witnesses. Sergeant-at-Arms, you may escort the witnesses from the Chamber. What is the wish of committee? Mr. Testart.

Kieron Testart

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that the chair rise and report progress. Thank you.

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Testart. There is a motion to report progress. The motion is in order. All those in favour. All those opposed. The motion is carried.

---Carried

I will rise and report progress.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

May I have the report, Member for Hay River North.

Report Of Committee Of The Whole
Report Of Committee Of The Whole

Page 5711

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Mr. Speaker, your committee has been considering Committee Report 15-18(3) and Bill 30, An Act to Amend the Human Rights Act, and would like to report progress; that Committee Report 15-18(3), the consideration thereof is concluded, and that Bill 30 is ready for third reading as amended. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Member for Mackenzie Delta, that the report of the Committee of the Whole be concurred with.

Report Of Committee Of The Whole
Report Of Committee Of The Whole

Page 5711

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. The motion is in order. All those in favour. All those opposed. Motion carried.

---Carried

Masi. Item 22, third reading of bills. Minister of Justice.

Louis Sebert

Louis Sebert Thebacha

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River South, that Bill 29, An Act to Amend the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, be read for a third time. Mr. Speaker, I request a recorded vote: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Member is requesting a recorded vote. The motion is in order. To the motion.

Some Hon. Members

Question.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Question has been called. All those in favour, please stand.

Recorded Vote
Third Reading Of Bills

Page 5711

Clerk Of The House Mr. Tim Mercer

The Member for Thebacha, the Member for Hay River North, the Member for Mackenzie Delta, the Member for Sahtu, the Member for Yellowknife North, the Member for Kam Lake, the Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh, the Member for Nahendeh, the Member for Frame Lake, the Member for Deh Cho, the Member for Nunakput, the Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, the Member for Range Lake, the Member for Great Slave, the Member for Yellowknife South, the Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, the Member for Hay River South.

Recorded Vote
Third Reading Of Bills

Page 5711

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

All those opposed, please stand. All those abstaining, please stand. The results of the recorded vote: 17 in favour, zero opposed, zero abstentions. Motion carried.

---Carried

Bill 29 has had its third reading. Third reading of bills. Minister of Infrastructure.

Bill 35: Supply Chain Management Professional Designation Act
Third Reading Of Bills

May 30th, 2019

Page 5711

Wally Schumann

Wally Schumann Hay River South

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member from Thebacha, that Bill 35, Supply Chain Management Professional Designation Act, be read for the third time. Mr. Speaker, I request a recorded vote. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. The Member is requesting a recorded vote. The motion is in order. To the motion.

Some Hon. Members

Question.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Question has been called. All those in favour, please stand.

Recorded Vote
Third Reading Of Bills

Page 5712

Clerk Of The House Mr. Tim Mercer

The Member for Hay River South, The Member for Thebacha, the Member for Hay River North, the Member for Mackenzie Delta, the Member for Sahtu, the Member for Yellowknife North, the Member for Kam Lake, the Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh, the Member for Nahendeh, the Member for Frame Lake, the Member for Deh Cho, the Member for Nunakput, the Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, the Member for Range Lake, the Member for Great Slave, the Member for Yellowknife South, the Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.

Recorded Vote
Third Reading Of Bills

Page 5712

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

All those opposed, please stand. All those abstaining, please stand. The results of the recorded vote: 17 in favour, zero opposed, zero abstentions. Motion carried.

---Carried

Bill 35 has had its third reading. Third reading of bills. Mr. Clerk, orders of the day.

Orders Of The Day
Orders Of The Day

Page 5712

Clerk Of The House Mr. Tim Mercer

Orders of the day for Tuesday, June 4, 2019, 1:30 p.m., day 78:

  1. Prayer
  2. Ministers' Statements
  3. Members' Statements
  4. Reports of Standing and Special Committees
  5. Returns to Oral Questions
  6. Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
  7. Acknowledgements
  8. Oral Questions
  9. Written Questions
  10. Returns to Written Questions
  11. Replies to the Commissioner's Opening Address
  12. Petitions
  13. Reports of Committees on the Review of Bills
  14. Tabling of Documents
  15. Notices of Motion
  16. Notices of Motion for First Reading of Bills
  17. Motions

- Motion 39-18(3), Referral of 2030 NWT Climate Change Strategic Framework 2019-2023 Action Plan

  1. First Reading of Bills

- Bill 57, An Act to Amend the Employment Standards Act

  1. Second Reading of Bills

- Bill 54, Standard Interest Rates Statutes Amendment Act

- Bill 55, An Act to Amend the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act, No. 1

- Bill 65, An Act to Amend the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act, No. 2

  1. Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

- Minister's Statement 151-18(3), New Federal Infrastructure Agreement

- Minister's Statement 158-18(3), Developments in Early Childhood Programs and Services

  1. Report of Committee of the Whole
  2. Third Reading of Bills

- Bill 30, An Act to Amend the Human Rights Act

  1. Orders of the Day

Orders Of The Day
Orders Of The Day

Page 5712

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

[Translation] This House stands adjourned until Monday, June 4, 2019, at 1:30 p.m. [Translation ends]

---ADJOURNMENT

The House adjourned at 5:15 p.m.