This is page numbers 2989 - 3034 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 know.

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Eulogy for William Konisentia
Members' Statements

Page 2992

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on July 22nd, the community of Nahanni Butte lost a respected Elder, William Konisentia.

William was born at Netla on September 23, 1943. He was the second eldest child in the family of Joseph and Margaret Konisentia. He was raised in the Netla River area until families were relocated to Nahanni Butte in the early 1960's. The family was happy with this move as this is where William met his sweetheart and future wife Bella Matou. On May 18, 1967, they got married in the log-built church.

They were very fortunate to have six children. They enjoyed life together, especially when it come to having picnics along the Liard River. When family talked about their time together, it always involved making a lunch in the largest kitchen in the world - outside.

William was a very hard working man. He took pride in looking after his family. He was an amazing trapper and hunter. Where possible, he would go out to provide for his family. Trips involved him and some of his siblings and later on involved his children. He was very proud of his children. Besides trapping and hunting, he would take on work as it came his way. He was very proud of the slashing job that three of his brothers and three cousins did for Can Jay Exploration. They were known as the 'Can Jay Boys' and the best slashers, efficient and fast workers. They were in such high demand that they did work in BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and the NWT.

William loved his family deeply, and once you received a nickname from him you were family. His favorite was Snoopy.

The family would like to extend their gratitude and appreciation to all those who came to pay their respects to William. Mahsi for showing him support, love and compassion. The family are grateful for everybody's kindness during this difficult time. Mr. Speaker, he will be sadly missed by all of us. Thank you.

Eulogy for William Konisentia
Members' Statements

Page 2992

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Nahendeh. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and community. Members' statements. Returns to oral questions. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Acknowledgements. Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I rise in regards to my Member's statement regards to helping our communities recover funding through our lockdown that we've been having up in the communities, all across the Northwest Territories, whoever's been locked down or having road checks and stuff like that, they're not getting any help or funding from our government. They could correct me today if I'm wrong.

Mr. Speaker, does the GNWT policy require all small communities to pay for the COVID response during the outbreak including isolation centres and road check stops? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Nunakput. The Honourable Premier.

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

No.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Not Honourable Premier but the Member wants to ask questions of the Minister of MACA.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the Member for the question. Before I answer the question, I'd like to thank the leadership from Tuk. I had numerous phone calls, as well as the Minister from Health and the Premier. They worked very hard. I know there was numerous phone calls. Also, I'd like to thank the SAO from the community and the regional superintendent for Municipal and Community Affairs.

In regards to the question that the Member asked, so in regards, the community received over -- well, received $213,506 through three payments as COVID started in the territories. So we were able to give that to the community.

In regards to isolation centres, if it's medically-appointed, then it's very much about the COVID Secretariat. They look after that there. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So all the -- I guess across the territory, that includes everybody that has a -- was locked down, our COVID Secretariat with the outbreak for the isolation centre. What about the road, the check stops? Is the community going to be reimbursed for that through MACA because it's coming out of the local community's purse. And that shouldn't be. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the Member for this question.

So the Government of the Northwest Territories gave the community $213,506. We gave that money to the community, and they could use it for however they see fit. If they were going to use check stops and they wanted to do that, that money could be used there.

We didn't ask for an inventory checklist or invoice, receipts, and that. We gave the money to them to help them deal with the COVID situation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we need more money. Tuk is running in a deficit in regards to what's happening with the COVID outbreak this last two weeks. Everybody's been tired and stressed and trying to do what they can. My leadership has been running ragged. We've been on phone calls all day, with the Premier and Health Minister. I thank them for that, but the thing is, Mr. Speaker, if the COVID Secretariat is going to call a lockdown, they should be paying the bill and not saying they gave the money. And we should be worrying about it after the outbreak. Like, is everybody COVID free, then we should worry about paying the bills. But in this case, it's upfront. People -- the community doesn't want to pull the trigger because in regards to having to pay out themselves. And again, then it's going to take away from the community itself. If they call the outbreak and lock the community down, at that time they should be paying the bill, Mr. Speaker. And is this government going to do that for us? Thank you.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as we move forward and as we learn from our experiences with this COVID issue, the biggest thing is that in my communications with leadership and that is for their SAO to reach out to our superintendent. Reach out to them. We're willing to work if there's some challenges or concerns that community have, then we can work with them.

We are trying to help as best we can, getting clarity where we're doing things. But the biggest thing I have to say is get the leadership to get their SAO to reach out to our superintendent, because they can work together. They've been doing a great job pre-COVID, during COVID, and hopefully at some point in time post-COVID. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Nunakput.

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I just -- no, I don't want to take away all the good work that's been done by my leadership by our government in regards to providing all the help they could with the health and our medical staff up in Tuk have been awesome. They flew in people, Arlene Jorgensen. Thank her so much in regards to the service that she's been doing for the people. But this is the biggest thing, is to make sure that we are able -- if we're able to help the community in paying their bills instead of shortchanging, taking busing away from here, and doing -- taking other monies from other pots of funding, to make sure our government comes forward to help them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we're not trying to shortchange people. We're trying to work with the municipal governments. We're all learning as we move forward. Like I said, we've given the community of Tuk over what I think was $213,506 that they can use to help deal with this COVID. If there's some deficiencies or there's some challenges, I just need their leadership to work with their SAO to reach out to our regional superintendent.

Now if it's a COVID Secretariat, she is able to work with that. If it's a health is there, if it's a municipal and community affairs, she's able to coordinate this. So I understand this is very challenging. And again I have to applaud all the small communities and all their leadership for all the work they've been doing through this. It's amazing that we're able to be so successful. But again, it's about working together and more than willing to have -- like I said, get the SAO to reach out to our superintendent, and we'll start working that way. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Hay River South.

Rocky Simpson

Rocky Simpson Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister of Justice confirm how many outreach legal workers we have in the NWT and what their role is when it comes it dispensing legal advice information and how are small communities accommodated in that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Minister responsible for Justice.

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is one legal aid outreach lawyer in the Northwest Territories. There is also one court worker who works in that office. People call the Legal Aid Outreach Clinic for a number of different reasons, most commonly, by far, is for family law questions. So questions, you know, what steps do I take now that I'm separated? What do I need to do to get a divorce? A lot of questions where they just need guidance and where to go. And from there, people can either get a lawyer or take the appropriate steps.

Traditionally, there's been a lot of travel with the Legal Aid Outreach Clinic. But this past year and the previous year there's been no travel unfortunately. Before that, there was a significant travel to most communities in the territory going back to between 2014 and 2019. But anyone in the NWT can call the Legal Aid Outreach Clinic. Thank you.

Rocky Simpson

Rocky Simpson Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister confirm how many NWT residents use the service of the legal outreach lawyer and if those services occur mostly in Yellowknife. Thank you.

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So in the 2020-2021 fiscal year, there were 692 people who accessed the Legal Aid Outreach Clinic. 46 percent of those people were in Yellowknife and the rest were throughout the territory, and it roughly breaks down to the populations of the specific regions. So the South Slave region had about 15 percent of the people, the Inuvik region about 15 percent, and so on. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Rocky Simpson

Rocky Simpson Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, one of the issues that I guess I come across is that when people come into my office, they're looking for I guess more than legal advice. They're looking for assistance in drafting, you know, documents.

So I'd ask the Minister, would the Minister consider expanding the legal outreach lawyer's responsibilities to include the drafting of documents for clients in less complicated matters. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I know when people go to the Member's office, they go there looking for free legal work is what they go looking for and he obliges on a regular basis. So I'm thankful for that, and I know his constituents are.

The Legal Aid Outreach Clinic does provide assistance with some forms, but probably not the variety of forms that the Member's talking about.

I can look further into that. The issue comes down to the fact that that office is stretched pretty thin as it is. Their workload is maxed out so we would really need additional staff in order to do that type of work, and I would love additional staff, and I'll leave it at that for now. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Hay River South.

Rocky Simpson

Rocky Simpson Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my colleague from Yellowknife North brought up increased employment. So with my next question, and also the comment just from the Minister about requiring extra staff, the Minister can make more employment, create more employment in the communities.

So will the Minister commit to reviewing the need to expand the current number of legal outreach lawyers to include Hay River, Fort Simpson, and Inuvik. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I have identified this as a priority with the department.

There are court workers in those communities, and I know that they do provide quite a bit of assistance. As MLA, I often send constituents to them, and they do help. I know that we have asked the outreach clinic to make sure they're keeping good records on who's contacting them and about what issues, and I know they have that. I read some of those stats here and so we're doing our best to make a case to get some more positions but I can't promise anything at this point. But I would be as happy as the Member to see that happening. Thank you.