This is page numbers 2121 - 2162 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 health.

Topics

Tribute to Nolan Swartzentruber
Members' Statements

Page 2124

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Nolan Swartzentruber arrived in Iqaluit in 1974, assuming assigned duties as a classroom teacher at Nakasuk Elementary School followed by tenure as vice principal at the said school. Beginning in 1978, he served as the principal in Nuiyak school in Sanikiluaq, immersing and enjoying the lifestyle of the small traditional community, fishing for cod in Hudson Bay, watching the community boat arrive on the beach after a successful walrus hunt; observing the landing of the planes on the ice in 1978 with a herd of 60 reindeer on board, replacing a vanished caribou to be released and hunted in future years; listen to the excitement when a polar bear was spotted near the community; and standing amazed by the talents of the skilled soapstone carvers.

In 1984, the family moved westward to Fort Simpson. During this time, he served as a principal and later was hired by the Deh Cho Divisional Education Council as director. Here, below the treeline, he spent many weekends cutting deadfall, stacking firewood, and preparing for the winter. He enjoyed outdoor trips navigating the Dehcho River, loving every minute of the peaceful and pristine landscape while harvesting fish, camping, hunting moose and caribou.

During his tenure as educator, he engaged with various projects with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment in Yellowknife, served on the ECE Strategic Plan Steering Committee, ECE Teachers' Training Steering Committee, ECE's Financial Steering Committee, Principal Certification Program, Western Arctic director and superintendent/president, Association of School Board administrator. He was invited to sit at the negotiating table for NWTTA contractual agreements in 2009. He was recognized by his peers, awarded NWTSA distinguished service award.

He demonstrated an ongoing lifelong love of learning, always engaging in novel information and acquiring new skills. Hobbies included stain glass, photography, film development, woodwork, fix-it projects, and music. That which he learned, he passed on to the students and community members. He was accepting, fun-loving, friendly, always there to lend a helping hand. He vowed lasting relationships formed during his 36 years in the North.

He was an honourable man, Mr. Speaker, holding himself to high standards, and remaining true to himself and his beliefs. Central to his life and most important were his three girls: his wife, Fanny; daughter, Sharon; and granddaughter, Trinity. He was deeply loved and will be sorely missed by everybody that knew him. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Tribute to Nolan Swartzentruber
Members' Statements

Page 2124

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Nahendeh. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and community. Members' statements. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Item 6, acknowledgements; Item 7, oral questions. Member for Hay River South.

Question 588-19(2): Incentives to Work
Oral Questions

February 25th, 2021

Page 2124

Rocky Simpson

Rocky Simpson Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. These questions are for the Minister of education. Can the Minister tell me what his department's plan or approach is to getting those who are very capable but not willing to work off the couch and into the workforce using the tools at his disposal? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The NWT has the highest employment rate, the lowest unemployment rate in Canada, but it's not evenly distributed. We have communities where everyone who wants to work is working. Then you have small communities where there're people who might want to work, but there're no jobs. Over half our small communities have less than 50 percent employment. We have a number of different problems. In regards to the people who don't want to get off the couch, that's a tough one. How do you motivate them? I think the best way to start is to start young. ECE's doing a number of things, including career and education advisors, to help young people figure out what they want to do with their lives, show them what opportunities are available, what education they will need to get there, and all of that. I think that is going to be a boom to our labour market in the coming years. There are a number of different things that we're doing. The Member provided his questions to me earlier, and I think that I will be able to provide more of those comments as he asks them. Thank you.

Rocky Simpson

Rocky Simpson Hay River South

What concerns me is that, if we cannot motivate those NWT residents not willing to work, then this government, along with business, are forced to recruit from not only outside the NWT, but outside Canada. Can the Minister confirm what labour shortages exist in the NWT and how we expect to encourage Northerners to fill them?

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

I always remember when I was a relatively new MLA and the Premier stood up at that time and said there's more jobs than people to fill them in the territory. I never really thought about it that way, but that really is the truth. That's why we bring in thousands of people a year to do work. What we really need to do is ensure that our northern residents are trained to get those jobs. We might still need people from the South. We likely will, but that's okay as long as we're keeping money in the North and northern people are working.

In 2015, ECE completed with the Conference Board of Canada a labour market forecast, and at that time, it was forecasted that between 2015 and 2030, there would be 28,500 job openings in the Northwest Territories. We're doing the work now to update that to 2035. Interestingly enough, we're also looking at doing the work that we already did but also focusing on new and emerging economies, things like infrastructure projects, housing construction projects, tourism and knowledge economy, and mining and remediation. They fit in nicely with things like the earth resources specialization, the new polytechnic. There's a big labour shortage. We know we need tradespeople. I could stand up here for hours talking about all the needs we have. We need teachers. We bring in hundreds of teachers every year from the South. You're not going to get an argument from me that there's a labour shortage.

Rocky Simpson

Rocky Simpson Hay River South

Employers are frustrated. They try and employ Northerners, but most are working. Some of those who are capable and available refuse to work. What, if any, incentives, does the Minister's department have to encourage people to get out and take a job?

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

There is a number of things the GNWT as a whole does. Supplementing wages is one thing so that employees can be paid a higher wage, things like our wage top-up program. We also have a wage subsidy program through ECE that supports employers who hire people who might need training. We help those kinds of people who need the training who maybe don't have the opportunities to get the big jobs yet. We are developing a polytechnic university in order to help train people to get the jobs they want. The plan is to make it as easy and accessible for people to get educated and get trained as we can. We have a small community employment program where we hand out millions of dollars every year to communities and businesses to create jobs in communities. There's a number of things that we're doing. I wish there was a silver bullet to address this issue, but there's not. We are casting a wide net.

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. Don't get me wrong. Not all people who are unemployed are lazy. Some just need a chance. I also expect some need to be challenged as they must possess skills that they can survive off of little government support they receive or funds they receive from their parents. I would ask the Minister if there's any way we can have those capable people provide community service or work with employers in return for the monetary compensation they receive so they can acquire skills and possibly find out what interests them and hopefully move forward with their life. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

We do have, like I mentioned, the small community employment program, which does just that. It puts money into communities to create jobs. I will also note that this is one of the reasons that I wanted to have a look and review of the Income Assistance program. The Member mentioned a few times that maybe it's easier to just not work than to work, and then perhaps, that's keeping people on the couch, so to say. Is there a way that we can use those programs to help people get passed that point, get over the welfare wall, as they say? That's something else that we're doing. Again, there's a number of wage subsidy programs. We have our Skill 4 Success initiative, which is focusing on increasing the number of people in trades, and there are programs in there that help pair employers with apprentices and get people into those programs. Basically, what the Member is asking is: what does ECE do? Everything we do is to try to get people employed, get them into the regular market. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

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

Frieda Martselos

Frieda Martselos Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On May 27, 2020, I asked the former Infrastructure Minister about what specific directions were given to our government from the federal government about the Fort Smith airport changes. This Minister told me that Transport Canada provided this direction in a form of updated standards and regulations for airport runways. The former Minister also offered to share these Transport Canada standards with me. My question is: will our current Infrastructure Minister commit to sharing with me these standards, along with any information regarding previous Fort Smith airport runway standards? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Minister of Infrastructure.

Diane Archie

Diane Archie Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Aerodromes Standards and Recommended Practices, which is also known as TP 312, is a public document. As a result of that, yes, I will have my office forward the PDF copy of this Transport Canada document. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Frieda Martselos

Frieda Martselos Thebacha

I understand the airport runway standards are only changed by the federal government, which is the entity who sets the standards by which airports are designed and operated. Can the Minister clarify whether the Government of the Northwest Territories requested that the Fort Smith airport runway standards be changed, or were the change of standards initiated solely by the federal government?

Diane Archie

Diane Archie Inuvik Boot Lake

Changes to the Aerodromes Standards and Recommended Practices are initiated by Transport Canada in consultation with the Canadian Aviation Regulation Advisory Council. They apply to the entire country and are not specific to any airport. Transport Canada works with the International Civil Aviation Organization to maintain global consistency so any airline or pilot proceeding to an airport with Transport Canada certification knows the airport environment complies with both national and international standards and knows what to expect.

Frieda Martselos

Frieda Martselos Thebacha

Can the Minister explain how often reviews of airport infrastructure are done in the NWT? Are reviews done periodically within a set time frame, or are they done subjectively, based on the decisions of the Minister and the government of the day?

Diane Archie

Diane Archie Inuvik Boot Lake

Airport reviews are done regularly, and they are generally done in conjunction with some of the capital planning processes and when the department is planning any major upgrades.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

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

Frieda Martselos

Frieda Martselos Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Department of Infrastructure insists that the changes done to the Fort Smith airport addresses both the current and future operational needs of the airport. If that is indeed the case, the Minister explain, then, why the entire leadership of Fort Smith, along with 550 citizens, disagrees with this statement? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Diane Archie

Diane Archie Inuvik Boot Lake

People need to realize that the type of aircraft that the airport is certified has not changed. The Fort Smith airport is still classified as a category IIIB airport, which is large enough to accommodate aircrafts such as a Boeing 737 or an Airbus A320 series. These aircrafts do not currently land in Fort Smith. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

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

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My Member's statement today was needing help in our small communities for mental health issues. Is the Minister of Health willing to work with us Regular Members and myself, in particular, to get these teams into the communities to assist our local people who need help in our small and remote communities? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.