This is page numbers 3793 - 3836 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.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Members' statements. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.

Member's Statement 1005-19(2): Curling
Members' Statements

Page 3796

Lesa Semmler

Lesa Semmler Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, over the past couple of years we've had COVID and a lot of our kids have not been able to play the sports that they are used to playing on an annual basis. Curling is a big sport up in the Beaufort Delta, as you may know, but last week curling was alive and well here in Yellowknife, especially for our youth. Teams looking to represent Team NWT at the 2023 Canada Games. There were teams from Inuvik, and I'd just like to recognize the teams from Inuvik, Team Wainman, Team Gillis, and Team McNeil, with Team Wainman winning that spot representing the girls at the 2023 Canada Games.

And then swiftly after that, they turned in for the 2023 UA teens. So the team Wainman and Team Gillis, both from Inuvik, tried in that tournament with Team Gillis and Team Skauge fighting for the position, and Team Skauge was the winner of that and they will be representing Northwest Territories at the UA teens in 2023, and I'd just like to say that I'm glad to see that our kids are back out being able to participate and take up these competitions throughout Canada. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Member's Statement 1005-19(2): Curling
Members' Statements

Page 3796

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Members' statements. Member for Nahendeh.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to announce that Darwin Norwegian and Malerie Hardisty Norwegian of Fort Simpson are the award-winning recipients of the 2021 Aboriginal Sport Circle of the Northwest Territories Coaches Award. Darwin and Malerie were nominated by Lauren O'Keefe out of Fort Simpson.

Aboriginal Sport Circle Northwest Territories traveled to Fort Simpson on March 5th, 2022, to present the 2021 Aboriginal Sport Circle Coach Award to Darwin and Malerie. Because of COVID, they hosted a small family dinner to acknowledge all the accomplishments that Malerie and Darwin have had in the community. I have seen the award, which they will receive, and they are amazing-looking carvings.

Taking the following quote from Lauren's nomination, Darwin and Malerie have benefitted Fort Simpson, the community of their residence, by creating a fun and inspirational environment for youth and adults to explore the slowpitch softball. Darwin's coaches players on rules and regulations and techniques. Darwin provides endless encouragement for new players who join by posting online often.

Malerie and Darwin, in effort with the local recreation director, are also responsible for organizing teams from outside the community to come to softball tournaments in Fort Simpson. These tournaments provide the opportunity to build new friendships and learn new skills from other athletes.

Mr. Speaker, I have witnessed first-hand their commitment to the sport and the community of Fort Simpson. As well, I have witnessed them develop a team that travels outside the community to participate in other community tournaments. To them, it's about having fun regardless of the results on the field.

In speaking with Aboriginal Sport Circle of the Northwest Territories, they enjoyed hosting the dinner in Fort Simpson and presenting the award to both of them.

Mr. Speaker, I truly agree that they are truly well deserving and it is an honour to say thank you to Darwin and Malerie for their commitment to the community. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Nahendeh. Members' statements. Member for Yellowknife South.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to provide a personal tribute to Harold R. Johnson, who died last month. Mr. Johnson was Cree from Montreal Lake First Nation in northern Saskatchewan. He straddled two worlds - as a logger, trapper and miner but also as a Harvard-educated lawyer and writer. Above all he was a storyteller.

I met Mr. Johnson in May 2019 when I read his book, Firewater: How Alcohol is Killing my People and Yours.

He reflected on decades he spent as a Crown prosecutor witnessing the damage caused by alcohol abuse - death, life-transforming injuries, families disrupted, lives enslaved by addiction. He believed that alcohol touched every part of our lives whether we drink or not.

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Johnson didn't believe in what he called the victim model of dealing with alcohol. He said it didn't offer solutions. It offered excuses to continue alcohol abuse and perpetuate the trauma of colonization and residential schools. He said, "Alcohol doesn't dissolve stress. It dissolves the rules and the feeling of responsibility that creates stress.... We can never fix the problem if the problem is not ours."

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Johnson didn't believe in law enforcement as the answer either because it wasn't holistic enough and nor did he believe in residential treatment because of low long-term success rates. Nor did he think banning alcohol worked because bootleggers control the supply and both Indigenous governments and police efforts to curb are unsuccessful.

I found his analysis and ideas compelling because they offer hope people can gain control over their relationship with alcohol.

Mr. Johnson wanted to inspire people to change the story they tell themselves about alcohol. Mr. Speaker, he promoted local solutions where sober leaders turned their communities into treatment centres where the whole community is involved in finding healthy alternatives. Changing the story means having sober people in our communities tell the story of their sobriety.

Harold and his wife Joan developed a pilot project in northern Saskatchewan to put these ideas into action. They shared their extensive knowledge with community leaders in the NWT last June and they have helped to inform the development of our alcohol strategy.

Mr. Speaker, Harold Johnson left us too soon at age 68 but his legacy of bringing the problem of alcohol abuse to light, along with ideas for solutions, will live on for years to come. Most of all, he inspired us and me to learn and tell a new story. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Yellowknife South. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family at this time. Members' statements. Returns to oral questions. Recognition of visitors in the gallery.

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

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The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Colleagues, I'd like to welcome Mr. Anthony W.J. Whitford aka Tony, former Member, Minister, Speaker, Sergeant-at-Arms, Commissioner, and honourary Clerk of this House. Welcome.

Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Thebacha.

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

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Frieda Martselos

Frieda Martselos Thebacha

I too would like to recognize Tony, my friend, born and raised in Fort Smith. And we welcome you back any time that you want to come home.

And I'd also like to recognize another member, Mr. Speaker, and that is Jason Lepine. Jason Lepine was my official agent in my first election for MLA, and is a prominent member of the Metis Nation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Page 3797

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Acknowledgements. Oral questions. Member for Hay River South.

Rocky Simpson

Rocky Simpson Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The questions will be for the Minister responsible for human resources, and they'll be short and sweet.

Mr. Speaker, in recognition that the Affirmative Action Policy has evolved since inception, what does this government see as the barriers to reaching Indigenous employment targets under this policy? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

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

Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the barriers are multifold, and that's a part of the reason why we have launched the Indigenous Recruitment and Retention Framework. It's one that looks not only to recruitment, which is certainly one of the barriers, but also to retention. And Mr. Speaker, the barriers, as I've stated, they're manyfold, meaning that they're not only structural within the Affirmative Action Policy or other tools or techniques or a lack thereof, they go into the very fact of people's -- you know, the need to understand who we are as a territory, living well together, and other aspects of that, understanding who we are as a territory, and all of the work that happens over at ECE to ensure that the residents of the territory have the best possible education so they are able to apply to all the jobs that are available to them. So multifold, Mr. Speaker, but that's, again, a big part of why there is now our framework to respond to them. Thank you.

Rocky Simpson

Rocky Simpson Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And now 30 years later, will the Minister commit to finding workable solutions to overcome those barriers? Thank you.

Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

Yes, Mr. Speaker. And, Mr. Speaker, again, I don't want to be belabour the Indigenous Recruitment and Retention Framework, but if one spends time on both the framework and on the action plan that goes with it, it is now an effort to look at each department's needs, each department's barriers. There are different barriers in different departments because of the nature of the work in those departments, because of the nature of the jobs in those departments, and that's exactly the point of having this, is that there's now going to be that individual look but within a framework, with measurable targets, and with those targets tied to the performance measures of the senior people within those departments. So yes, absolutely, that's exactly the point. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Rocky Simpson

Rocky Simpson Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Minister commit to a complete review of all current positions within the government with a focus to staff those that are vacant or about to become vacant with Indigenous persons through direct competition for Indigenous persons only or direct appointments or transfers? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So Mr. Speaker, I can't make that commitment. Every department does have its own area of responsibility for their hiring and for their positions and vacancies. But again, one of the points here for each department is that once they have targets that they have to meet, they're going to have to use all the tools and tricks available to them, whether that's the various policy items that I know the Member's already spoken of, the Indigenous recruitment, retention -- or sorry, the Indigenous Gateway Program, internal management training, education plans, all of that needs to be used so that each department's meeting their targets.

It's not enough to simply put people into roles that they -- for the sake of the numbers. That's not what we want. We want to have a public service where people are being brought in and then trained up within and moved into positions that are appropriate to their training and being given the training to achieve them. So that requires a plan and it requires some thoughtfulness. Mr. Speaker, I do think we are now on that path. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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, we need to be bold if we want to see change. So I ask the Minister, will the Minister commit to a temporary suspension of the Affirmative Action Policy and departmental targets and replace it with a one-year moratorium on non-Indigenous hires and transfers throughout this government in favour of a focus on Indigenous recruitment? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate that we're trying to find solutions but if we simply -- we are already going to do a review of the Affirmative Action Policy. We are certainly looking at the Public Service Act. We're doing the recruitment and retention framework, and we now are looking at having a GNWT action plan. The framework and the action plan are new. We didn't have that overarching look at what's going on across the entire GNWT before. And again, I don't want to minimize how important that is. So if I'm to suddenly turn around and say well, we're just going to up end all of the way in which we hire right now, the work that it will take to do that is going to stop the work that we're doing on the Affirmative Action Policy. It's going to stop the work to roll out the framework. And Mr. Speaker, those are both things that are looking at the real structure and the barriers that we have and the systemic barriers that we have. That work has to get done. I want it to get done. And I want it to get done in this Assembly, Mr. Speaker. And so that's where I want to focus our attention. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

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

Question 992-19(2): Fur Industry
Oral Questions

March 7th, 2022

Page 3797

Ronald Bonnetrouge

Ronald Bonnetrouge Deh Cho

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I spoke at length of the need to assist many of our residents who don't know where to turn for income. The school students have the Take a Kid Trapping program, but many of our young adults, or the young men, who don't excel in school and didn't leave the community don't have the luxury of such a program. Can the Minister of ENR commit to tailoring a trapper training program for our young adults? Mahsi.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Deh Cho. Minister responsible for Environment and Natural Resources.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I thank the Member for that question. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources has a number of existing programs that support trapping. ENR provides ongoing trapping training in the communities across the NWT for trappers to ensure they can get top quality for pelts sold at auctions. We have new actions that can help support young and middle-aged adults, as well as women. ENR has been working with the Indigenous governments to develop a pilot program for trapper mentorship. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Ronald Bonnetrouge

Ronald Bonnetrouge Deh Cho

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, income assistance payments are on the rise. Our healthcare system is stretched due to injuries stemming from excessive alcohol and drug use. We require this government to come up with initiatives to getting our residents back to work and curbing the excessive use of alcohol and drugs. This is affecting many of our young adults in our communities. Will the Minister commit to providing funding and developing an action plan to revitalize the trapping industry for our communities? Mahsi.