I’m pleased that the Minister is willing to at least sit down, engage in discussion, and, he’s right, there may be some possibility if there is some inventory around. I’m not sure what size of tower is needed but, once again, if the Minister would follow up with his officials, make contact with NorthwesTel to see how we can make this a reality for the safe travelling of the public in Fort Simpson and travellers flying into Fort Simpson.
I think I already committed to doing that. I’ll say it again; we will follow up with the Member and gather the information that we think is required and relevant to the situation, and get back to the Member.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The recent news has been replete with stories detailing federal plans to cut 776 Environment Canada jobs and slash the department’s budget from $1.1 billion to $883 million by 2014. This was preceded by years of declining support for Environment Canada, and Minister Flaherty assures us this is just the beginning of the cuts. I’d like to ask the Minister of the Environment how these cuts will affect Environment Canada’s operations in the Northwest Territories.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Minister responsible for Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I had opportunity to talk to Minister Kent when he was here a number of weeks ago. These cuts are going to be felt across the land. They’re going to be felt in the Northwest Territories.
Specifically, I sent information out, for example, on the closing of water monitoring sites where we have 23 and they’re closing 21; all 10 in Nunavut, two on the boundaries between Nunavut and Northwest Territories that are important. They’re going to discontinue monitoring through national parks. There’s no monitoring on the Mackenzie River. There’s a whole list of implications for us. We are negotiating devolution based on what was there and is now gone. We have the transboundary agreements that we’re negotiating where water monitoring is essential. There were promises made by the federal government when they released their plan to put a panel in at the oil sands.
Going forward there are also clear obligations in land claims to provide and protect water, keeping it substantially unaltered is very clear in there. In fact, it’s so clear we used that statement in our Water Strategy. The federal government is a signatory of our Water Strategy that speaks to protecting and doing all the good things we’re supposed to do. This is going to have a significant impact.
Thanks for the bad news that the Minister has provided there. It sounds pretty grim. Many of the environmental monitoring functions performed by Environment Canada are referred to as mandated requirements. Meaning if the federal Minister issues a licence or authority with conditions requiring regulatory agencies to monitor compliance, the federal government is legally obligated to provide the resource necessary to carry out the monitoring. This legal compulsion would presumably govern the monitoring requirements arising out of authorities granted for the operation of our mines, the Mackenzie Gas Project, and so forth. When the specifics of the cuts are announced, will this government be doing a cross-check to see whether the cuts cripple the federal ability to meet its mandated monitoring responsibilities?
Yes. As the cuts proceed, as the federal government continues with its deficit reduction plans, we’ll be monitoring, as we are right now, the impact of what we know, what we’ve heard, what the actual final configuration looks like and who’s left after the cuts are concluded.
As we negotiate devolution, we started devolution negotiations at a certain point in time with certain resources available. Clearly, there’s been a change or will have been a change. We’re going to have to adapt as we go on down that road as well. At the same time we are going to see what we can do and how do we adjust so that we can keep moving and make sure the federal government -- which still has, until we sign the Devolution Agreement, legal responsibility for the land and water -- honours its obligations to us.
I appreciate the Minister’s remarks. The recent Hill Times I think was the 8th of August item quotes a federal spokesman as saying that the department will ensure the department is spending its resources on priorities like improving air quality and cleaner water. Those are nice words. Our Minister of Environment, though modest in stature, clearly throws a big shadow. Will the Minister be holding the federal government to task if their gutting of the department doesn’t live up to this dialogue?
I’m sure the Member’s not calling me fat, so I won’t take offence to that comment.
I would suggest this Assembly and, of course, more importantly, the 17th Assembly is going to have to deal with a number of significant issues like this as we move forward with devolution and as we move forward with the deficit reduction impacts that we’re going to feel over the next three or four years coming out of the federal government. There’s going to be some difficult circumstances and money is going to be a priority issue both to us and as we negotiate arrangements with the federal government to honour the mandates and the federal responsibilities that they have, and to ensure that what programs we take over in fact meet the obligation that was initially signed as we laid out the AIP where there were numbers laid out for A-based funding and such and the numbers of positions. So I would say to the Member that we are all collectively going to have a responsibility so that when an MLA or Minister stands up to do his job or her job, that they know that the Legislative Assembly is there and what they’re saying is pushing forward the position of this Assembly.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Minister’s comments again. I certainly hope that the 17th Assembly will be standing firm and be prepared to do that work. However, I understand the Prime Minister will be in town this week to demonstrate his devotion to northern interests and will be meeting with the Premier. Can the Minister assure me that our dismay at any erosion of Environment Canada monitoring programming in the NWT will be brought forcefully to the attention of the Prime Minister?
That is a question best put to the Premier. I would indicate to the Member that, of course, the opportunity will be taken full advantage of and that the Premier will be speaking on issues of great significant importance to the people of the Northwest Territories.
If there are any questions about that particular issue, I would suggest that the Premier would be best suited to respond.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the Minister for the most recent remarks and follow up on his advice and ask the Premier if indeed this issue will be brought forcefully to the Prime Minister’s attention when he has the opportunity to meet with him this week.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Premier, Mr. Roland.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The process we’ve been engaged in, number one, we have a meeting of the three northern Premiers to get together to discuss a pan-territorial approach to the opportunity to sit down with the Prime Minister. Following that, we also, from a Government of the Northwest Territories perspective, looked at our initiatives that are underway and highlighted some areas of concern for discussion with the Prime Minister purely from the Northwest Territories perspective. The AIP and devolution is a big part of that and, of course, any impacts that the federal government will be making on decisions on that eventual turnover is of concern to us.
We’ve gone through a process. I have yet to sit down with the other two northern Premiers to talk about our approach on a pan-territorial level. From a Government of the Northwest Territories perspective, we do have a number of areas. The environment is always a big factor when we talk about those issues and how it fits with the devolution package as well.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. The time for question period has expired. Item 8, written questions. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to return to item 5 on the orders of the day, recognition of visitors in the gallery.
---Unanimous consent granted
We’ll return to item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to recognize my lovely wife and my lovely supporter. I want to recognize her for being here in the gallery to see us work and to be here supporting me.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s also my pleasure to introduce and recognize Martin Knutson, who is president of the NWT Wildlife Federation and also a director of the Canadian Wildlife Federation. I would also like to recognize Lee Mandeville, a resident of Weledeh and a fiddler extraordinaire, as everybody knows, and any other residents of Weledeh in the audience.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Welcome to everyone in the gallery. I hope you’re enjoying the proceedings.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank some of the Members in the House that will not be seeking re-election, that being David Krutko from our side of the House. It was good to work with David. He’s got lots of experience, as we all know; 16 years. I enjoyed a lot of good advice from David throughout my four years as MLA for Tu Nedhe.
I’d also like to thank Premier Roland for his work for the people of the Northwest Territories.
I’d also like to thank you, Mr. Speaker, for doing such a good job, in the four years I’ve been here, running this House.
I’d also like to officially announce that I am seeking re-election in Tu Nedhe and talk about some of the issues that I’ve worked on over the last four years.
We had a lot of housing issues. We addressed a lot of housing issues. I thought the government did a good job of addressing some of the issues and heading towards addressing some of the issues. They were sometimes a little bit slow in getting to the issues, but I recognize that sometimes things do take some time.
I found that there was a lot of work done in education by the government. I thought that it was a good move in Tu Nedhe for us to bring the career and technical services back into the schools so that the kids have the opportunity to work with their hands and things like that. In the past they used to have what was referred to as industrial arts classes, but those classes were shut down over a decade and a half ago in some cases. The students never did have those items to work with and now there’s new machinery and so on being purchased in Lutselk’e, and also there’s already in place a shop in Fort Resolution doing work on some of the preschool and daycare for support for the students as they move out of elementary school into higher grades.
I thought in this Assembly the youth had received a tremendous amount of support. I know that in Fort Resolution they’re about to open a brand new youth centre, and in Lutselk’e we are still working on coming up with some sort of youth centre.
I thought there were a lot of improvements to the government infrastructure, highways, municipal infrastructures and so on. I felt that the work done by the Committee on the Sustainability in Rural and Remote Communities was very important for the small communities. We’ve seen the Access Road Program which was usually sitting at approximately $300,000 go to around $1 million and that was something that came as a result of that committee that was responsible for the sustainability of rural and remote communities. I thought there was a lot of work done for the youth through that committee, where an additional almost million dollars, $850,000 was put in towards supporting youth ambassadors and youth sports and so on.
The trapping programs through ITI that were doubled and went from about $500,000 to something in excess of a million dollars and I thought that was very good, the single-window thing. That’s something that all of the small communities should eventually be getting something through the single-window service. They’re testing it in a few of the communities, and I think that could be the future of the government, and the next Assembly, and the Assemblies after that. I think the people that filled those positions played a very important role.
I thought that the government was doing some work to try to improve the employment rates in the small communities. Right now the employment rates in the small communities are very low. They’re usually running in the 30 to 40 percent right across the territory. When you compare that to the larger communities, the larger communities have employment rates that are around 80 percent, 70 to 80 percent. That’s good. It’s a positive thing for larger communities, but more jobs have to go into the smaller communities, and I think that’s something that future governments should be working on and something that’s very important. There are a lot of key positions that could easily be in there once the housing issue is sorted out and so on.
With that, I just thought I’d make those comments to the opening address. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ve thought about this moment, the last opportunity to use the replies to opening address to cover a lot of time, I guess. Sixteen years. One thing I’ve learned over the years, when I was a rookie MLA, that was one thing, I was very brief and to the point and rarely ever used a request for unanimous consent to conclude my statement. The one thing I make a joke about now is when I go to speaking at certain events, I’ve learned that every year as an MLA and every term allows me to speak longer, so I don’t think I’ll beat the record for a reply to the opening address. That’s not the intention today.
But I would like to say, as I’ve announced in the past, that I will not be seeking re-election in the upcoming territorial election, marking 16 years as a Member of this Legislative Assembly. As I thought about it, a few times I’ve sat down and tried to write some things down, thinking about some of those early days and the work we’ve done and the challenges we’ve faced as Members of the Legislative Assembly. But it was hard to do because there were a lot of things to cover and what are the highlights that one wants to touch base on. But I just wrote a few notes down to say a few things.
First and foremost I have to give an apology to my children. I have pictures of a couple of the boys when I first got elected and they were in bunting bags, as we call them. New babies to this world. In their whole life they’ve seen their father work in this environment. My apology is that I’ve sacrificed much of family time, birthdays, school events, and tried to catch as much as possible, but still, as many have said, and many people across this North know about my personal life, they’ve had to live through that, and I apologize to them for that.
But I’d also like to say thank you for your continued support. Geez, I thought I taught my boys to be men and don’t cry and don’t show the soft side, but I save that for the harder times, I guess, amongst my colleagues. I think this happened when I did my speech for the candidacy of this position and I referred to my father. But I’d like to say thank you, boys, and my daughter in Fort Smith, for your support and continued being there. We’ve been through some difficult times and I’ve been able to reconnect, in a way. I must say, technology is a wonderful thing, because I think I talk more with my boys through texting than the verbal communication. To have them show up here is a surprise and I thank you boys for showing up.
As I thought about that and saw them, and one thing I’ve shared with Members is my father, before he passed away, used to say, and he’d introduce me to his friends at many events, and he’d be talking to them and he’d say, I’d like you to meet my little boy. People would look over and then they’d look up because he was so much smaller. Well, I get to do the same now. When I say I’d like to introduce you to my little boys, pretty soon Mitchell, who’s the youngest, will actually be taller than me, so I’m going to have to be kind in my older days so they don’t put me in the home too soon.
On top of the thank yous, I also have it to say to the people of Inuvik. For 16 years and four elections they have supported me and returned me back to the Legislative Assembly, and twice by acclamation. I thank the people of Inuvik for their trust and their support through all of these times.
I remember when a number of us came -- there were four of us in this Assembly who were first elected in 1995 -- we came into a time when there were difficult choices to be made, as the government had announced previously in the 12th Assembly about a $100 million deficit and reductions we’re going to happen. The division of the territory was about to occur. We had to make some tough choices back in 1995 that affected many lives in the North and not all of those choices were the perfect ones, but we had to make those to try to keep our North moving forward and survive the difficult times, and we’ve done that through those times.
I remember telling the people back home that no matter what happens in this Assembly, I’m always coming home and always going to face the music, so to speak, and I thank them through those times. I used to be known, even by some of my friends back home, as, oh, here’s the guy that took away my VTA, as being one of the Members of government at the time. We had to make some difficult choices, and I think every Assembly since then has been faced with some difficult choices to be made in trying to progress and move forward as the Government of the Northwest Territories.
Since 1995 through to 2011 to say thank you to the people of Inuvik. It’s been an honour and a privilege to serve them in the role first as MLA for Inuvik and then later Inuvik Boot Lake, and I look forward to returning home and spending more time there and also see what the future may bring and what role I can play in the work of Northerners in the future.
Also, I’d like to say one of the things in my first elections, my campaign slogan used to be “Work here, play here, live here,” and the very essence that if the government’s going to be making tough choices, then it should be someone who’s living there who would be affected by those decisions who should be making those decisions and not someone from away, as they say, or from a farther jurisdiction. I must say that that slogan even fits today in my role as Premier of the Northwest Territories now, and even as Minister of the Government of the Northwest Territories. Your family and your community grows. When you take on a position as Minister and Premier, you take on an added constituency, not just your home constituency where you were elected but the whole territory, and look to try to make decisions that benefit in the long run all of the people in the Northwest Territories.
In a sense, my constituency base, in a real way, has grown to the Northwest Territories, and work here, play here, live here still applies today because decisions being made that affect our families, our homes, and who benefits from those decisions, to a large degree and some of the biggest decisions being made are being made by others away from the Northwest Territories. But they come and seek our input and ask us to make a few comments on a few things.
There will be a day, Mr. Speaker, when Northerners will be making all of the decisions, putting conditions and benefitting from the decisions of development to be made. I’m hoping that as I look at my sons now who are, well, one is 21, 19, 16, and 12, my daughter, 22, 23? So they are well into their… They are starting to become young men and women in this world and starting to live their own lives. I have grandchildren now and they will be facing a future that will be impacted by decision-making. I would rather have them impacted by decision-makers in the North because I know whose door I can knock on and go see them instead of writing a letter and waiting for someone else to speak on my behalf thousands of miles away.
So as we look at that again, that constituency, I must say to the people of the Northwest Territories, thank you. Thank you for the opportunity to serve you as your Premier and as the Minister of this government. As well, it has been a privilege and an honour to serve at this level within government.
Then I have to go to the Members of the Legislative Assembly for you putting your trust in me to move forward. I know we faced some challenges during the life of this Assembly. I think every Assembly I have been part of has had challenges. We’ve all grown through some of these things and we’ve all worn some battle scars at times.
I must say, earlier in question period when Mr. Krutko asked some questions, Mr. Miltenberger leaned over and he says, “you get one more opportunity,” like two old bulls meeting in the centre of the ring and we are going to bang heads again and try to make a difference and see who’s left standing. I must say there’s times when I probably will miss some of this sparring and back and forth.
At all times, I must say, and I recall a comment made by a few folks early in my time, very early, in fact, when I announced back home in Inuvik in ’95 that I was going to seek the position of MLA. I sat down and had a coffee with someone I had worked alongside on the community council and they asked if I really wanted to do this, and I confirmed I did. He asked, or made a statement actually, he says, “Well, you’re going to get the education of a lifetime.” I must say, for the record, Paul, you are very close to what was said. It’s been an education through the process and continues to be.
One of the elders earlier on in that first election, after the election and I had won, approached me and said, -- it was Tommy Wright, a respected elder in our community and has been through difficult times -- “I don’t know whether to congratulate you or say condolences.” I looked at him and he could tell I was somewhat confused by that, and he pointed out, “Well, in politics you have to compromise. That is something that is always difficult to do.” His words ring very true even today to the last order of business we will do as a government. It is the art of compromise to see what we can do as Members to come up with piece of legislation. Nobody gets all of what they want. We all try to get something that makes sense for us and benefits the people of the Northwest Territories overall.
So for the people of the Northwest Territories, I say thank you very much for your kindness, for your gratitude, for your challenging comments, for your inspiration to get the job done. What I would say to the people of the Northwest Territories, and especially the youth with the engagement process we went through in the last year, get involved. Get to the voting stations and make your vote count because your future and the decisions about your future are going to be made by those who are successors and come back to the 17th Assembly. It is only by getting involved that you can affect change. If you are going to sit back and complain about what decisions are being made but choose not to vote, then you live with the consequences. Pay attention to who is out there and who wants to come to this place, and why they want to represent yourself as an individual and your constituency here in the Northwest Territories. Get involved as we had with the youth conference and it was their way to get engaged, but not necessarily. Yes, youth conferences are good and important, but realistically as you get involved by showing up at the meeting, ask some questions, become informed and vote. Your vote counts.
I would say to the people of the Northwest Territories, as I’ve said on many occasions, many meetings, whether it’s been in the Northwest Territories, Alberta, B.C., Ottawa, internationally, the future of the Northwest Territories has great potential. Our future is yet to be told. We are about to turn the page and really start to take our place in Canada, to make our national anthem ring true, “the true North strong and free.”
In working with Members of this Assembly, working with our federal government and the decisions to be made and the decisions being made by the federal government, yes, there are some negative sides, but the North has never had so much attention placed on it as we’ve had in the last few years. We have to take advantage of that. We have to continue to work those channels and make things happen.
Now, I would be remiss if I was to say that throughout my -- it’s weird to hear this -- career as a politician, my first days as I walked in here, in fact, I think for the first year when people would meet me for the first time or I would go back home, they would say how is it to be a politician. I used to say I’m not a politician; I’m a Member of the Legislative Assembly. I would refuse to have that word associated with the work I did, but I had to succumb to that. The fact is that I am, we are politicians. That is the definition we fall under. At times that is not a very good thing in the eyes of those out there, but I respect the Members of this Legislative Assembly for the work they’ve done and how they’ve carried themselves. Yes, we’ve disagreed, and we’ve butted heads, and we’ve had to deal with some huge challenges through our time. But if you look at our future, not many of us, when we first came, and I think of the four of us who were here in 1995, probably thought much beyond that first term and some of us thought we might not be re-elected because of those tough choices.
I think as long as we get to the people of the Northwest Territories and tell them what’s happening and show them that we’re doing our job, that they might not agree with it but they respect the fact that we get back to them and show them what’s happening. Through that, they return us back to this Legislative Assembly. I think Members who have since come on and become new Members and now may be midway through your career or just getting started, there’s going to be lots of opportunity to share the work with this Assembly with members of the public. Don’t be afraid, even in the toughest days, to go out and tell them why we’ve had to make certain decisions.
Throughout my work in this Legislative Assembly, I could not do it without the support of key people right from the community, community groups and organizations, community leadership, and then to this level of territorial leadership. Even behind that, I think all leaders in the North, all of us, we have to say thank you to our staff that help us get the job done.
I must say there are days when I’ve closed the door and a few staff have heard me in not so rosy terms talk about my frustrations. They didn’t hand me their resignation. They stuck with me, and kept me, and helped me do my job by getting the necessary information, sharing that information with Members and so on. Right from my constituency assistants -- and I have had a number of them through the 16 years, so I won’t go down a list -- but they are very important in our communities to get our message out and help us keep the community informed. So I thank those who have helped me in my community, in my constituency office, get my job done right up until this day as we get close to shutting down those offices. My assistant of the day is preparing to move on and go back to school and get a further education and move up. I am very happy she’s decided to do that.
So without the support of key people in certain places and through the constituency years as an MLA, that was important, and through this Assembly on the many standing committees I was part of as a Regular Member right through to becoming chair of committee and as a Minister to work through our staff to make sure we have order of business done and move things forward.
In my time as a Minister I have to thank my staff, they are up at their desks right now taking care of the phone calls, getting the letters done, to those who have come forward here who have helped get our message out as a government, to inform the public in both good and bad times, to give me advice even though sometimes I don’t take it, to make decisions and move things forward. Thank you for helping us get our job done.
The one thing I’ve said to many people back in the community, and I say it almost any place I go now, is when people say, well, you’re Premier, you’re boss, or you’re MLA, you can make decisions, I encourage the young people in schools to learn to write. Learn to write policy. Because you can affect government by that first draft that comes across a Member’s desk, a Minister’s desk, even a Premier. They have to gather information and present it to you, and from there we may have our own opinions and ideas from our constituency, but it’s through the writing of that and preparing it and moving it forward that, yes, it changes through the system, but it’s important work that’s done out there by those people who are in the backseats and help prepare documents. That doesn’t go towards the side of those who often said, well, it’s the deputies and so on that run government. Clearly, we make the choices, we face the consequences, and we decide on how we move forward.
Thank you to the staff that have helped us do our job, and helped us through the day-to-day work process, and lived through some of the frustrations that they get to hear us share at times, and also share with us at times when good decisions are made or when we get good news of initiatives that are made by another government that positively affected us.
This job has given me a chance to see this country in a way that I’ve never seen it before; a chance to see the world that I would not have seen through that. As a boy growing up in Inuvik until I took my apprenticeship as an automotive mechanic, the only places I saw beyond Inuvik was the Mackenzie Delta up to Aklavik and to Tuktoyaktuk, or as the old-timers call it, Tuktoyaktuk, to see them and the fishing camps, and the whaling camps, and the hunting places that we travelled to on a yearly basis. This job has given me a chance to interact internationally with people and, as Mrs. Groenewegen has put it, to be able to share with them the richness of our land and our people. To plant the seed of abundance that we have here and to come and meet us and be a part of our lives at some point. To work with us in partnership like so many joint ventures we have with Aboriginal governments and organizations in the private sector now.
It’s been an interesting process. It’s been a good one. I’ve said in a recent interview that much of that has happened in my personal life and my life with this government and this family here in the Legislative Assembly, that I don’t know if I would ever say I’d change the way I do things. I may have approached things differently, but life happens, and things change, and we have to grow and accept and move on with life.
With that, I must say the one thing I’ve listened to, right from the earliest days before I got involved, about leaders needing to be leaders and making decisions and moving on and make the right decision and work together and respect each other, coming right from my father’s own words about how to be amongst other people. I know there are days when he would be saddened on my approach and my stubbornness and things, but at the same time I know as he was alongside of me on the election day in 1995 and I was the successor, the only one, as I said to many, who had a bigger smile than me was my father, David Roland. God rest his soul.
He encouraged me just before the last territorial election. As Finance Minister I was feeling a little weary, and having to go into the meeting rooms and to many assemblies, and into this House as Finance Minister saying no, we’re not able to do that, no we’re not able to invest. [English not provided] was the name given to me in Colville Lake: No Money is the term, because they had heard me say that so much. But it’s through that work that we’ve done and the words of our elders that you continue to try to move forward and find a way.
At that time I recall that I was seriously questioning running again for territorial government. I sat quietly with my father in his kitchen and we were sipping tea and he sipped his tea and he looked up and he said, “My boy, when’s the next election?” I said, “Oh, it’s October coming up.” “Oh.” And he looked down and sipped his tea. Then he looked up one more time. I hadn’t spoken to him about how I was feeling and if I should do this anymore. He looked at me and said, “My boy, one more time, and this time top job.” I looked at him, I swallowed a little hard, and I said, “Okay, Dad. Yes. I’ll go one more time.” And his words have rung true again in the fact that Members of this Assembly saw fit to support me in that campaign for this position.
It’s with that in mind that when you look at some of our elders and listen to their stories, the relationship we have -- and I’ve heard it so many times and I know that some Members feel that that relationship is somewhat bruised right now with the Aboriginal leadership. Clearly, in the 16th Legislative Assembly we tried to establish a formal process of government to government. The regional Aboriginal leadership meeting process. I heard and Members have heard right from my earliest days, whether it was at town council to a Member of the Legislative Assembly to a Finance Minister to now, that Aboriginal leaders and Aboriginal governments and organizations through land claims, through self-government have rights established. Whether they have those rights established through a land claim or not, there are court cases to back that up. As people of the Northwest Territories we need to recognize that.
Through the regional Aboriginal leadership process over a year and a half ago, almost two years ago, in a meeting in Dettah I put before the regional Aboriginal leadership the concept of the Council of Federation. To say why can’t we as Northerners, northern governments, use a concept like this where we can work together. Of common interest. It doesn’t take away anyone’s authority. If you look how we’ve become members of the Western Premiers’ Conference as well as the Council of Federation, it was by the Premier of the day, and it was Mr. Kakfwi who signed that document and made us formal players at those tables where we’re not waiting anymore outside for someone to come in when it came to our specifics. Where our deputies don’t go and meet with a deputy down in Ottawa to establish our annual budget. We get to do that. We get to decide how we spend that, what kind of revenues we raise and so forth. We’ve come a long way, and that relationship I believe is still there for us to build on. I hope that the future government and the leadership in this Assembly and the Aboriginal leadership in our territory come together again for the greater good of our whole territory.
As I said earlier in my statement, every day we talk and say let’s talk some more, it means someone else is benefitting from the resource extraction in the North. Every day we talk about, well, let’s talk a little bit more about this clause or someone in Ottawa or some senior level staff is making a decision or advising a Minister in Ottawa how a decision should be approved and what conditions should be attached. It’s time for us to take our rightful place. We’ve started to do that through this Assembly. We will continue to do that through our relationship-building with Aboriginal governments.
I must say there are definitely frustrating days and disappointing days, because as much as I’ve heard leaders tell me that they have a rightful place and they have to be a part of the decision-making process, and I absolutely agree, and we go through that process, there are far too many times when it comes time to make the decision we back away because it isn’t the perfect deal. Right now the history of the Northwest Territories has more “we just about made it” than “we made it.” I hope that devolution will move the full course and will have the support of all the Aboriginal leadership. They will come to the table, they will take their rightful place at that table, and they will help design the relationship government to government. The opportunity now exists. It’s not a matter of talking about creating that opportunity. It is there. It is now decision time to say we will be a part of it or not. But because a leader or a group, and for a number of reasons, decides that’s not our time, we respect that as well, but that should not stop us as a whole territory from moving forward.
As I listen to Members of this Assembly, even through this sitting, the call for more money for health centres, for schools, for the environment, requires resources. We’re going to have to get those from someplace else. If we don’t get it from someplace else, then we have to look internally. In fact, at the start of this Assembly when I held the position of Finance Minister, I presented a tough budget that would see us shrink government to reinvest in the critical important areas of this government. We didn’t achieve all that we wanted but we moved the yardstick. The one thing I’ve learned through this job is it’s important to move the yardstick. Staying status quo and moving nothing really means we haven’t done much, and we have to question ourselves have we done the job.
I’ve gone on for longer than I intended, but I must say that, if I can, the one message I would leave for those who seek re-election and to be elected as Members of the 17th Legislative Assembly is don’t be afraid to make the tough decisions. Some of us have been around since 1995. You have to make tough decisions. If you want to protect that future we have, if you want to protect what we could be, we’ve got to make tough decisions. They’re not all tough out there and there are some good decisions we make that will positively impact lives, but sometimes, as I use the analogy of a house, we’ve all gone through it from the smallest first house we’ve been a part of to the bigger house we build as our family grows, that the moving experience is never a good one. In times when we start to unpack those boxes we packed up so carefully and said they were so important, when we bring them to the new place and we open them up and we look at them, we wonder why did we pack this. What purpose does it serve today? Yes, it was good and it’s an important memory and it’s a part of who we are, but at some point we have to decide as a collective there’s a future we want to be a part of.
The one thing I have to say as Members is that we can’t, and we have to lose the image. In some circles we have an image, and I must say I share this in frustration but I will say this now, there are times in our Assembly and in past Assemblies when, like the groundhog, when we come out in the sun and we see the shadow, we scuttle back into the ground because we’re afraid of what might happen. It’s time to lose that image. It’s time to take the next step. Venture out a little further than we have in the past.
I know that by making those tough decisions, that we actually spare the suffering of many people in the North. If we don’t make those key decisions to move forward and we don’t make tough decisions, all we’re doing is delaying, in some cases, an inevitable of more pain and suffering to go through. We’ve heard this many times. A thousand cuts. A little here, a little there, a little bit. Squeezing of government. A little here, a little there, a little bit. But the demand for improved services continues to grow and we’re unable to meet that in many cases because we haven’t made key decisions to move forward.
I would say that as we look to our future we know it is bright. We know we have a very good future in front of us. It is going to be the leaders of the day that will make the next decisions of how much we will venture out, how we will take on that future, how we will be players and partners in Canada.
The one message I have been sending consistently to Ottawa since my time as Finance Minister, and now as Premier, is give us the tools. We can make the decisions and we can be government. We have to get past that hat-in-hand mentality of going to the federal government and saying your poor cousins to the North need some money. It is time to take the next step and take our rightful place, make those tough decisions, and be able to build on a future that is sustainable.
I want to thank Members of this Assembly for standing with us through a tough time, for working to find the best solutions. Yes, at times, even us as a government may promote things, or as a Minister we have to take a step backwards in the interest of all people. I think we’ll see an example of that in the next little bit.
Mr. Speaker, your work in this Assembly, your representation of the people you represent, and for keeping order in this House, I thank you. There are days that I’ve approached your office with some frustration and you’ve helped me through those days and we’ve continued to get the business of government done in your role. Even in your role you’ve also managed to carry forward the interests of the people of your constituency, a difficult job to do from the position that you hold. I want to say thank you to you for your guidance and stewardship over our Assembly through our time together. I hope that some of our discussions have rubbed off in a positive way. Though you are my elder, in a sense, in this Assembly one might consider myself an elder as well.
We often joked sometimes when we first came, I must say, Minister Miltenberger… I’ll save this for a later time, but when we came together he was a new Member along with myself, and I remember our first discussion we had, I walked away scratching my head and thinking he must have a big brother, but since that time we’ve become very close comrades. He made a comment to me -- and I have a picture now hanging on my wall in the office -- and he said this a long time ago, he said, “I’ll go with you into a dark alley and stand with you.” I must say thank you, Michael, because we’ve gone through many dark alleys as colleagues and we’ve emerged still standing together, sometimes battered and bruised, but still standing and still looking to take on the next day, the next issue, the next challenge we faced as a government. I must say there were the early days when I think I provided him advice to say tone it down a bit, tone it down. He has been a colleague to my side for quite some time and he reminds me as I stand up at times, be statesmanlike. So thank you for those words.
To my Cabinet colleagues, I know I presented a tough budget the first year and convinced yourselves to take that approach. Then we went to the Members and we had our discussions and went through that process. Thank you for standing with me. In some of those most trying days that I faced, your words of encouragement have helped me stay the course and stay focused in the work that we need to do for the people of the North. Thank you very much to my colleagues and my Cabinet colleagues and Members of this Assembly. We may not always agree on what this day holds, but I can say this: that we, when working together and understanding our differences, can still build on what we have left or what we will leave. We can build on what we’ve been given, and when we leave, leave a stronger foundation. I hope that through some of our difficult times we can look at our time together in the 16th Assembly and say we’ve built a stronger foundation for a better future. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to take some time today to comment on my time here at the Ledge. It’s certainly not 16 years. It’s only been four, and that’s quite short in contrast to the Premier, but I just have some comments that I’d like to make and summarize where I’m coming from today after four years here.
It’s certainly been an interesting four years, to say the least. I came to this job full of optimism and hope and looking forward to the new experience. I think I am a person who believes in planning, strategic planning, certainly, I think, is really important to me, and I thoroughly enjoyed the strategic planning session we had early on in our first year. I came away from that feeling extremely positive, pumped up, ready to tackle absolutely anything and all the problems of government and the NWT, and fully expected that we’d fix a lot of those. We tackled a lot of those. It certainly wasn’t smooth. There certainly have been ups and downs during this Assembly’s life.
I may not be as optimistic and as positive as I was back in October of 2007 but, in general, it’s certainly been an enjoyable experience for me.
I’m very proud of the part that I played in advancing the operation of the Food Rescue Program here in Yellowknife. The opportunity to sponsor the Donation of Food Act was really gratifying and I am very pleased that my little bill had such a positive impact. I’ve been very vocal and, I think, pretty passionate about social issues. It’s a strong interest of mine that’s probably rather obvious. I am that way because social issues are the areas that are closest to our constituents and they affect our constituents the most.
In my time here, the constituent concerns that have come to my office in the last four years basically fall into four categories: health, social services, housing, and income support. That’s the majority of what I think all of us deal with. But I’ve enjoyed being able to help people with their problems and to get them fixed, sometimes, certainly not all the time. I lay that blame, of course, at the feet of the Executive.
Another highlight for me was participation in the Child and Family Services Act review. Committee heard so many heartrending stories on our travels through the territory. It was an excellent series of public hearings. We learned, I learned particularly, so much about the impact that that particular act, the Child and Family Services Act, has on our residents, particularly in the manner in which we implement it. We heard that firsthand and it’s an experience I will not likely have again. I learned so much from it and I think it was a very valuable experience for me. The chance to consider the input that we heard from that public hearing and to make recommendations to the government to try and fix the Child and Family Services Act was something that I really appreciated, and I think it’s probably one of the biggest opportunities I felt as a legislator to try and make improvements in our legislation.
That review process proved to me that our system does work. I had my doubts along the way, certainly, in the last four years, but I do believe, in general, standing committee activities can be extremely valuable and can be productive and assist us in being good governments.
Consensus government is a really strange animal. Many of our residents have said to me that it’s time to give it up, that we need to go to a party system, but I do not believe that. I think our governance model has been strengthened by some of the actions that we’ve taken in the last few years. I think the development and the publication of our caucus protocols, principles and conventions have clarified the work that we do here in the Legislature, and I think that it’s improved the relationship between the Executive and Regular Members.
As chair of Caucus, I have to say that I have appreciated the cooperation that I have received from all Members of this House throughout the four years. We had meetings here, we had meetings in retreats, and I want to thank each and every one of you for the cooperation and the good discussions, the brainstorming that we did on many occasions.
One thing that I am somewhat regretful about, though, is I still couldn’t get Members to tow the line to the starting time. I almost got you guys there but we never did actually start on time, and I hope that the next time around the next chair of Caucus can get you guys there.
I want to provide my perspective about government programs and services, and some of the things that I am regretful about, and some of the things that I’m positive about. I think there’s quite a bit that’s been left undone. There’s been an awful lot accomplished, but I think there have been a number of things undone and I’d like to highlight those:
I believe we need an ombudsman office.
I believe we should be assisting communities in establishing 911 service.
I believe that we have to not only commit to, which has been done, but we have to get serious about starting the development of an Anti-Poverty Strategy.
I believe we need to continue the reform to Health and Social Services, well, our health system, pretty much, to minimize the costs and create more efficiencies and more effective delivery.
I believe we need to re-examine the level of health services that we provide to all of our communities, especially to our smallest communities.
I believe we need to be really careful about electricity rates. I think the government has taken a bit of a blind view in regard to the recent electricity rate system changes. I’m very concerned for the effect on rates when the rate freeze is lifted in a year or two. I believe we’ve robbed Peter to pay Paul and the bill will still be due and payable when the two-year freeze is done.
I am dismayed that finding a solution to the infrastructure needs at Northland Mobile Home Park was not a priority of this government.
I believe that the whole Supplementary Health Benefits Policy implementation was a horrible experience. It certainly was for me. It’s not one I wish to repeat. I see that process as a great example of how not to do things. Those who most need extended health benefits coverage still don’t have it. They have no access to extended health benefits, and that’s something that the next Assembly must tackle.
I believe we need a better focus on homelessness within all government, and the establishment of a secretariat would do that, in my mind.
I believe we need to revise our housing rent scale and provide a better continuum of housing for residents who struggle to provide for themselves. I think the Shelter Policy review which is now being undertaken will go a long way to helping us with that. I am anxious to see the recommendations.
Lastly, but certainly not least, I believe we need to find a way to get all partners to the devolution negotiating table and I think it can be done, but I think everybody involved has to be open and give a little bit.
I have to say, though, that my biggest regret is the consistently narrow view of many Members on the issues facing the NWT and us here at the Ledge. I regret that some Members are unwilling to consider the decisions we make from a point of view that is good for the whole territory. I found that too often the focus is only on their own riding. Yes, absolutely, each MLA has concerns specific to their riding, and they have to focus on their own riding, and that should be a large part of an MLA’s focus, but there are certainly decisions we make that we have to take the view of the whole territory. I am dismayed that many people did not balance the impact that their decision would have on the whole of the NWT. They only consider their own riding.
This may sound like I’m all gloom and doom, everything has been negative, but I am not all doom and gloom. It hasn’t been all that bad. There have been positives, Mr. Speaker, and the recent amendments to the Motor Vehicles Act are a very positive one for me. The signing of the AIP was also a positive for me. It’s about time we started down this road. The increase to minimum wage was very much a positive, and lastly, a positive for me has been the interaction with Members on the floor of the House and in meetings wherever we happen to hold our meetings.
We’ve debated issues, sometimes heatedly. I’ve never agreed totally -- I shouldn’t say never -- I often did not agree with opinions expressed by either other Members or by Executive across the floor, but it was all good. I appreciated the differing views and I think one of the things about debate is that we do have to have differing views. It forces us to think outside our own box. It forces us to consider other options that we may not have thought of. If we don’t have open and free debate, we’re never going to advance in the direction that the Premier is telling us that we need to go.
I’m very thankful that I’ve had the opportunity to represent constituents in this great institution. I want to thank Frame Lakers for their support and counsel as I’ve gone about my job.
I would be remiss if I didn’t thank Ledge staff. Thank goodness you’re around. You’re an awesome bunch and you do make us look good. I have to thank you for that.
I also have to thank my CA, Kerry, who is now working at the Department of Justice. She left me in June and left me high and dry, so to speak, but she provided great service while she was here.
So as the 16th Assembly draws to a close, I want to say it’s been fun. Some days have been pretty dark, but it’s been fun. I look forward to campaigning. I look forward to seeing constituents as I go door to door. I want to wish all my colleagues well, whether it be on the campaign trail or on other non-political pursuits.
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Premier, MLA Krutko, I want to thank you for your years of service. I want to thank you for the counsel you’ve provided me and the opinions and the learning that I’ve been able to get from listening to you and interacting with you. I think each one of you can come back and tell us if there really is a life after politics.
Best of luck to everyone in the coming months and, as the saying goes, thanks for the memories. Thanks, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I read in the newspaper the other day that Cece McCauley is wondering if I’m running. Well, Cece, I’m seeking re-election for the 17th Legislative Assembly.
Mr. Speaker, there are so many other Member’s statements that I wanted to do while I was here, because of our time, and acknowledgements and stuff like that.
Again, it was said, first of all, I want to give the condolences on behalf of the people of Nunakput to the families that are affected by the plane crash in Resolute Bay. The community of Tuk has been through that, and only time heals. It’s never going to be the same. You just try to strive for another day. So our thoughts and prayers are with the First Air family and all the families that were affected, the Government of Nunavut, the mayor and council of Resolute and all the people in the community and all the people in Nunavut. We want to let you know that our thoughts and prayers are with you and you’re not alone.
This week we lost a leader, Mr. Jack Layton. I know he was a hardworking Member of the House of Commons and a leader of the NDP. Every time you watch, you pick little things up off of him. He’ll be sadly missed by his family and friends and all of Canada.
Mr. Speaker, there are so many people to thank. My mayors, Ray Ruben and Janet Kanayok, and Mervin Gruben, Priscilla Haogak, and all the council back home for all their support and taking calls from me and asking advice. I thank them all.
It was a tough four years, but in that four years, like Wendy said, I was one of those guys that always worked for my constituency first. It was tough some days, but I always thought I got better after the first two years, after I had all my campaign promises done.
---Laughter
So it was all good. Working here with all the Members, it was really a good experience.
For yourself, thank you, Mr. Speaker, for all the advice you have given me and all the little pep talks on the side about making my Member’s statements a little shorter and be more concise on the questions. Thank you for all the support.
Thank you, Floyd, for always being there and always giving me advice. Another Inuvialuit beneficiary, thank you so much.
Mr. David Krutko, you know that I always call him Battleaxe because that was what he was. He never took no. He always worked hard for his people. If only the people could see what he’s done in the backrooms in the meetings, they’d be so impressed, because that’s one Member that this Legislative Assembly is going to miss as well.
Again, all the support from the Regular Members, thank you so much. I look forward, once being re-elected and put into the 17th Assembly, to work hard together to make things happen all across the North.
For my Ministers, thank you all. Michael McLeod, it started off with Norman on 177 and it ended up with you. Thank you for the 22-kilometre road that you built in Tuk and thank you, Cabinet, and all the Regular Members. We even have the federal funding coming forward now with the $150 million to finish off the Tuk-Inuvik highway.
The biggest thing to me is all the new airports we have going into the communities; the James Gruben Airport in Tuk and the David Nasogaluak in Sachs Harbour, I look forward to all the openings in the new session. Mr. Minister, your staff, Doug Pon, thank you very much for all the assistance you have given Nunakput.
Mr. Bob McLeod, Mr. Minister, thank you for all the... It’s not only you but everyone as a whole. You know with the harvest funding for Sachs Harbour, for each community I represented, I needed to make jobs in the community. We did that. We had the funding for the muskox harvest with all the new equipment for the community to provide that harvest. That is needed. Qiviut is $490 an ounce. It’s a high commodity. It’s warmer than cashmere.
Also with Ulukhaktok’s Arts and Craft Centre, you know it’s an awesome place. Some beautiful art comes out of that. I know you committed to us for Tuk for our new carving centre. I can’t wait. I’m looking forward to that.
Robert C., thank you so much for being there. With all the stuff that we, I guess I wouldn’t say argued about, but trying to get things done for each other, give and take. Thank you so much for your support and your guidance too. I still look forward to working with you in the future.
Jackson, thank you for, you know, I always think, when I think of Sachs Harbour, of my good buddy Andy Carpenter because when I was first elected, the first five or six months in, we got the new RCMP building detachment in the community and that was probably one of my biggest things I’ve done. I think of Andy and our slogan, “we’re back.” That’s a big service to the community.
With Mr. Michael Miltenberger, thank you for all our talks and guidance on some of the issues. With the finance and the support you’ve given to us with regard to all the stuff that I brought forward and trying, always with an open-handed approach, to work together to get things done. To me anyway.
Myself and Mr. Roland are missing a big meal today back home in Tuktoyaktuk. A big feast for Adam and Annie Emaghok for their 60th wedding anniversary. I couldn’t say that under acknowledgements because I didn’t have it in early enough. I have to say it here. Adam and Annie, congratulations on your 60th wedding anniversary and all the best. I can’t wait to come home and have a cup of tea with you. Once Mr. Roland’s back home he can come up and sit with us too. It’s your auntie and uncle.
Also with the Ministers. Not only that, I’d like to thank Mrs. Groenewegen, too, for P and P chair. Thank you, Jane, for all the support and guidance with the issues.
My colleague Mr. Ramsay for being chair of EDI and always trying to make things happen for everybody on different projects in the communities.
For myself, all our staff here at the Ledge: Mr. Mercer, Mr. Schauerte, Jennifer, Lee Selleck -- my go-to guy in the back there. Go there with two minutes’ notice on some changes. He’s always there for you. Colette Langlois, thank you. The clerk’s office, Tanis and everybody. And Gail. Thank you so much. Sorry, Gail. I didn’t have it written down. At the end of the day you make our jobs easier here and the guidance that you give us to try to simplify stuff for some of the Members. Thank you.
I thank Mr. Hawkins for being my seat-mate, I guess, for the last four years. Always whispering when I’m talking. Thank you so much.
Kevin and Glen, thank you, and Bob, and Wendy. Thank you, Regular Members, again for being there.
All being said, back home my own staff, my CA, Donna Bernhardt. Thank you to her for all the hard work that she’s given to me over the last four years and all the commitments she’s done for the people of Nunakput. I always got good, always being there and doing a great job. My other right-hand man, Phil Moon Son. Thank you, Phil, for all the work you’ve done for Nunakput.
For myself, I would like to thank all constituents for being there over the last four years. I’d like to thank my wife, Jenny, for being there with me. You know I got sick the last couple months and getting through with some issues that I ended up in the hospital with. I thank her for that and I thank my family for being there and putting up with this job. Like Mr. Roland said, you sacrifice your kids. At the end of the day that’s all we’ve got: family.
Thank you so much. I look forward to the 17th Legislative Assembly, coming back and representing the people of Nunakput. Quyanainni, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following two documents entitled Interactivity Transfers Exceeding $250,000 for the Period April 1, 2010, to March 31, 2011, and Northwest Territories Liquor Commission and Liquor Licensing Board 2010-2011 Annual Report.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Minister responsible for Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bob McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following two documents entitled Government of the Northwest Territories Contracts Over $5,000 Report for the Fiscal Year Ending March 31, 2011, and 2010-2011 Grants and Contributions Results Report, August 2011.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister responsible for Human Resources, Mr. Bob McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following two documents entitled 2010 Public Service Annual Report, Government of the Northwest Territories, and 2011 Employee Satisfaction and Engagement Survey and Human Resources Client Satisfaction Survey.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister responsible for Transportation, Mr. Michael McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document entitled GNWT Response to Committee Report 1-16(6), Report on the Review of the Report of the Auditor General on the Northwest Territories Deh Cho Bridge Project - 2011.
