This is page numbers 1253 - 1276 of the Hansard for the 19th Assembly, 2nd 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 work.

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Eulogy for Mary Louise Norwegian
Members' Statements

Page 1260

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mary Louise Norwegian of Rabbit Skin River was born to Joseph and Elizabeth Augier Norwegian, March 8, 1938. She was very close to her dad, who taught her everything traditional and how to survive in the wilderness. She was the second-youngest of her siblings. She had four sisters and five brothers.

Her favourite times of the year were spring and fall. In the springtime, she would trap beaver, catch fish, and collect birch sap for syrup. In the later summer, she would travel up to her cabin on the Horn Plateau, where she would hunt moose and caribou, fish, and pick berries. On quiet fall days, she would spend time sewing and doing other crafts. As well, she enjoyed watching the ducks, geese, and swans that would stop by the cabin at her lake as they said good-bye, as they continued on their journey south. She used to say, "This is the most beautiful place on Earth. It must be like this at heaven's gates."

She did her very best to raise her children, eight, as a single parent, and passed on her traditional knowledge. Mary Louise was very proud of the fact that she was the first traditional woman to own her own home and land in the village of Fort Simpson. She had the opportunity to go on a traditional exchange program to Siberia for a couple of weeks. She would always say, "The people are so kind to us and would share what little they had with us." Many times, she got close to death. There was one time she was alone at her cabin and cut her thigh to the bone with a chain saw. When she would tell this story, she would say, "My bush radio saved my life."

For many years, she worked at the Fort Simpson health centre as an interpreter and a caregiver for elders, and she prepared loved ones for burial. She received a Wise Woman Award and was very honoured for this acknowledgement. She always said she was thankful she had the education and always challenged herself to be better. Life could be rough, especially at residential school, but without education, it could be a lot worse. She never gave up. She told her nephew, "Living off the land only is over. We cannot go back. Learning and training oneself is to be the best you can be so you can learn to use our precious lands properly and help each other."

In her last few years, she suffered from Parkinson's disease and wasn't able to go to her cabin, but her spouse of 25 years, A.J. Augier, was by her side, cheering her up and assisting her where he could. He held her hand to the very end, as she took her last breath on July 20th. The family would like to thank the staff at the long-term care home for the excellent service they provided their mother during her time there. She will be sadly missed by all.

Eulogy for Mary Louise Norwegian
Members' Statements

Page 1260

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Nahendeh. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family. Members' statements. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery.

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

October 15th, 2020

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The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

I would like to welcome two people of the media here with us today. I would like to thank you for joining us. It's always good to have an audience. I hope you are enjoying the proceedings.

Item 6, acknowledgements. Item 7, oral questions. Member for Monfwi.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Masi, Mr. Speaker. [Translation] I made a statement regarding a treatment centre, so I would like to ask Health and Social Services a question. [Translation ends] The Minister of the Health and Social Services department promised to consider [microphone turned off] ...treatment in the territory and followed by mental health and addiction recovery action plan. Mr. Speaker, the TRC's 94 recommendations, number 21, states that: we call upon federal government to provide sustainable funding for Aboriginal healing centres to address physical, mental, emotional, spiritual harms caused by residential schools, and to ensure the funding of healing centres in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, I have a question for the Minister of Health and Social Services. My first question is: in light of her department's promises that I've stated in my statement, when can Northerners expect an end to the ill-advised practice of sending Northerners to southern institutions for addictions recovery? Masi.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Monfwi. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Member for Monfwi for that question. I'm unaware of a promise by the Department of Health and Social Services to revisit the question of southern-based in-facility addictions treatment. In fact, recently, in response to a call for proposals, six facilities in total, two new, were approved for southern-based addictions treatment. The reason it's in the South is because people can get in right away. They can choose the place they want to go. They can be in a co-ed or a gender-specific facility depending on their preference. They have access to a range of services, which we simply don't have in the Northwest Territories. I just want to be very clear that where we're focusing as a department is on aftercare on things like on-the-land healing and what supports we can put in place to help people hang on to their sobriety when they come back. Thank you.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Obviously, there is a bit of a challenge here to accept that six new southern institutions that we've continued to send our people for some sort of addictions treatment there. People leaving the North, again, funding and money leaving the North, we're talking about millions. We're not talking about ten thousand here and there. Millions, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to know what option is the Minister considering for the return to residential addictions treatment here in the Northwest Territories. Once we had that before, could we have that again in the Northwest Territories?

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Thank you to the Member for Monfwi for that question. The departmental budget for addictions treatment this year is $2.3 million. There has been a decrease in the number of spaces available, which is why the department added two more facilities so that there is appropriate distancing during the pandemic. We know that 45 people have attended in-patient treatment in the first six months of this year. Fifteen of them have completed their program. We're going to be low on numbers this year, there are more typically around 200. The last treatment centre we had open in the NWT was Nats'ejee Keh on the K'atl'odeeche First Nation. It failed for the reason that other treatment centres had failed: a lack of suitable staff, the inability to be able to do intake at any time, and issues around confidentiality and people actually wanting to leave the North and all of their triggers for substance abuse and have a new start in the South. Thank you.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

We have new, I guess, southern institutions that the department is planning to work with. At the same time, given the amount of time that individuals can apply to go to southern institutions there is a waitlist at Poundmaker's of up to six months. If we had that here in the Northwest Territories, utilizing our own people, our elders, our healers, on-the-land program, it would go a long way. The next question I have for the Minister is: since there is no option to consider Northwest Territories residential healing centres here in the Northwest Territories, to what extent has the Indigenous governments, Indigenous healers, Indigenous elders, been engaged or consulted in developing those options as called by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission calls for action numbers 21 and 20?

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Thank you for the question, Member for Monfwi. The situation with facility-based treatment is to provide a range of options. Poundmaker's is one of the six. Aventa, which is for women, is another; Edgewood in B.C.; Fresh Start, which is for men in Calgary; and an Indigenous Healing Centre called Renascent in Toronto and another called the Thorpe Healing Centre in Lloydminster. There are a lot of different choices there for people to make. This is a matter of public policy that affects all residents of the NWT. Also, more particularly for Indigenous organizations, there is on-the-land healing, which has a dedicated fund of $1.8 million and which is available to all Indigenous government organizations that make applications for it. That money is still available for this year. I really would encourage the Member to ensure that his IGO has applied for this money so that they can do their own on-the-land treatment. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Monfwi.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Masi, Mr. Speaker. The Minister talks about choices. We don't really have many choices here in the Northwest Territories. We have six southern institutions that we send our own people there. They come back. I've witnessed myself, in my region, one individual came back from treatment, ended up back on the street, and unfortunately, the individual passed away this past summer because there was no after-care program. This is a real issue, a real live issue, Mr. Speaker. The Minister talked about the on-the-land treatment program funding. What kind of funding is available compared to the southern institutions that we're spending millions? How much are we spending here in the Northwest Territories on-the-land program? Has that been also incremented over the years? That will be my final question, and I will come back to it as well, Mr. Speaker. Masi.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Thanks again to the Member for Monfwi. The budget for the on-the-land healing program is $1.8 million. The budget for the southern treatment is $2.3 million, so there is a difference there of $500,000. The on-the-land treatment program was last increased last year in the last main estimates. There is a robust amount of money available there. As I mentioned before, that fund has not been completely spent. On the contrary, only a couple of Indigenous government organizations have applied for it. I really encourage everyone who has connections with on-the-land healing to make applications to this fund so that this piece of after-care can be made available to all our residents. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions, Member for Frame Lake.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Merci, monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister of Finance who has the lead on the Dominion Diamond Creditor Protection matter. It's my understanding that GNWT also has to consent to the transfer or signing of the water licence, land leases, land-use permits, and environmental agreement covering the Ekati Mine to any new entity. Licence and permits must be in place for any new owner to operate. Can the Minister confirm that the GNWT must consent to the assignment of a number of licences and permits to any new entity for the Ekati Mine? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Minister of Finance.

Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is one of the critical roles that the GNWT plays, is that we are responsible as part of the bidding process that we would ensure that any prospective bidder, any prospective buyer, can undertake the requirements of the environmental licence and that includes undertaking or accepting the securities in a reasonable form. Thank you.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

I want to thank the Minister for confirming that. If the insurance companies would not agree to the sale of the Ekati Mine to the new entity, it raises questions of what our Cabinet's position is. Regular MLAs were not consulted in any way on this sale. Can the Minister tell us what Cabinet's position was or is on the sale to the new entity and who else it was conveyed to and when?

Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

It's not the GNWT that gets consulted on the sale of this company between private entities. There is an ongoing negotiation that is taking place between Dominion Diamonds and prospective bidders. It's not one into which the government should be putting its hand. Ultimately, in this case, being a CCAA proceeding, the court would be overseeing that process and would be overseeing that sale. What the role of the GNWT is, is to again ensure that our environmental process is respected, that securities are held in an appropriate manner, and at that point that is our role, that is the role that we perform.

As far as the thoughts of Cabinet, number one again is to preserve that environmental process that we have, and number two is to provide an environment and an atmosphere that will ensure a profitable mining industry. If we are able to do that, then it is certainly my hope that there will be, ultimately, a successful bid on the table and that the mine will reopen, but it's certainly not our role to reach inside of that private entity process.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

I want to thank the Minister for that. Of course, we are at the table in those proceedings. Apparently, we have legal counsel there, and we do have a say in terms of the transfer of any of these licences, so I hope that it is exercised in a reasonable way and that this side is consulted. The Dominion Diamond news release said that the insurance companies that issued the surety bonds refused to agree to the sale to the new entity, so can the Minister explain what is going on? Why won't these insurance companies agree to the sale of the mine?

Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

I certainly wish I could give a detailed explanation of what is going on, but again, there is a large degree of what is going on is between private entities. I realize that, on the one hand, one news release is saying perhaps that one side of the deal walked away, but it may well be that another party might be saying the opposite, that it was, in fact, another member of that negotiation that were the ones that walked away or wouldn't agree. I think there needs to be some caution exercised before one of us here necessarily assumes what is happening. From our perspective, some of the parties are keeping us informed on their perspective, on what they see happening in that sale.

Again, our role, really, is to ensure our end of it is moving along in a reasonable fashion, and that is protecting the environmental process and ensuring that, to the extent that there is a bidder who may require the assignment of the environmental securities or the environmental agreement, we do what we need to do to ensure that that happens expeditiously. The Government of the Northwest Territories is not going to suddenly upend or change the environmental process that exists, the environmental agreements that exist, so at this stage, if the Member requires me to allay those fears, then I am certainly happy to do that. Our hope is that this mine will reopen and, if it does, it will be assuming the environmental agreements that are already in place.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. Of course, we all want to see the mine reopen, but I just don't want our government to get short-changed or the environment to get short-changed in the process. For the first time I can recall, GNWT accepted surety bonds as financial securities for this particular mine. Insurance companies don't stay in business by paying out. Can the Minister tell us whether it is Cabinet's position that these surety bonds should be converted to or replaced by the more reliable and irrevocable letters of credit issued by a Canadian chartered bank, and whether the GNWT has put this as a condition of sale or assignment? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

It was always an expectation that, over time, the surety bonds that were being held for this particular mining industry would convert over to irrevocable letters of credit. Right now, to be very simple about it, it's not a concern right now. From the perspective of the government, the surety bonds that we have can be called upon by the government if we need to, so from our perspective, they provide adequate security and assurance that, if the bonds needed to be called, if the securities needed to be called, they would be there. What they did provide was some flexibility to the company when it was initially undertaking the environmental agreement process. So that flexibility was there. It comes with protection for the GNWT, and at this point, there is really, from our perspective, no concern in continuing as it is right now and no intention of changing or reducing the level of security that we have or the form that it's in. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.