Mr. Speaker, I rise today to provide Members with information on the housing needs data that has been collected through the 2009 NWT Community Survey.
According to this new data, core housing need in the Northwest Territories has risen from 16 percent in 2004 to 19 percent in 2009. Household need varied across our Territory from a high of 36 percent in the Nahendeh to a low of 14 percent in the North Slave. Approximately 27 percent of households in the Beaufort-Delta were in core need compared with 36 percent in the Sahtu and 17 percent in the South Slave.
The increase in core housing need is the result of increases in the number of dwellings that do not meet our adequacy standards, meaning that a unit is either in poor physical condition or lacking the basic facilities for a healthy living environment. This problem continues to be more prevalent in our smaller communities than in regional centres. Between 2004 and 2009, adequacy problems in smaller communities increased from 27 percent in 2004 to 37 in 2009.
Mr. Speaker, the increase in core housing need between 2004 and 2009 was anticipated by the NWT Housing Corporation. Though this period saw the Housing Corporation spend over $155 million in federal and territorial housing funding to build or repair approximately 1,750 units replacing or repairing older public and private housing units.
As well, Mr. Speaker, it should be noted that the downturn in the economy in the months prior to the
collection of this data also has an impact on this data, as a household is considered to be in core housing need only when household income is not sufficient for the residents to deal with on their own. The increasing cost of living in our communities has made housing in general less affordable. As affordability problems continue to grow, the ability of the corporation’s homeownership programs to meet the needs of some residents is impacted, leading to gaps in programming and services. As Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation, I have asked my officials to closely examine the gaps that exist between our housing programs and to come up with solutions to fill those gaps.
Mr. Speaker, it is also important to note that eight communities in the NWT saw their overall core need decline from 2004 to 2009. Those communities are Fort McPherson, Sachs Harbour, Tsiigehtchic, Norman Wells, Hay River, Hay River Reserve, Lutselk’e and Kakisa. Four of these communities -- Fort McPherson, Sachs Harbour, Tsiigehtchic and Kakisa -- have seen the number of households in core need drop below 30 percent. These are positive developments for these communities and we will continue to invest in all of our communities in an effort to improve housing conditions.
Mr Speaker, the increase in core housing need reaffirms the message we have been sending to the federal government as recently as this past December during the federal/provincial/territorial Housing Ministers meetings. While the investments made in northern housing by Canada in recent years are welcomed, they are not enough even to maintain housing need as it currently stands, let alone to make progress in improving conditions.
We will need new federal housing programs for the North that deliver based on need rather than on a per capita basis. I have joined with my territorial colleagues in calling for a new approach to northern housing as the only way that we will improve housing conditions north of the 60th parallel. This new approach would include investments in new capital construction as well as the reinstatement of funding for the operation and maintenance of new and existing units.
As Members are aware, I have expressed my concern with the continuing and escalating decline of federal funding through CMHC for the operation and maintenance of public housing units. It should also be noted that while we appreciate the funding provided for housing through the Northern Housing Trust and Canada’s Economic Action Plan, at the end of this coming fiscal year, this funding, which provided our Territory with $100 million between 2006 and 2011, will end. There is no indication that funding for new construction will be extended beyond this date and the only federal assistance for new construction will come in the form of much smaller programs that are allocated on a per capita basis. This will greatly impact the ability of the NWTHC to address housing need in our Territory.
However, Mr. Speaker, we cannot continue to sit back and wait for the federal government to make investments, or to simply continue to cost-match these investments and hope that our housing conditions will improve. This government must continue to forge partnerships with all levels of government, with individual households and with all relevant stakeholders, in an effort to aggressively tackle the housing needs facing our communities. Our approach must include programs and housing designs that are created by Northerners for Northerners. It must find ways to address the unique needs of our smallest communities as well as our largest centres and it must ensure that where gaps exist in the ability of residents to house their families, that this government is there to provide meaningful solutions to housing problems.
Later today, at the appropriate time, I will table the first report from 2009 NWT Community Survey which provides information on housing needs. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bob McLeod.
Mr. Speaker, 2009 was a challenging year for the Northwest Territories mining industry. The economic downturn saw spending on exploration and deposit appraisals go down significantly in our Territory.
But it’s during tough times that we must not lose our focus. We must not waver in our efforts to ensure our economy remains strong, and we must not waver in our attention to one of the largest sectors of that economy: mining.
That is why I will talk today about some of the work this government is doing to support the mining industry and ensure we have a sector where development occurs, where that development is done responsibly and where Northwest Territories residents benefit from it.
One way we are working to keep our mining sector strong is through constant dialogue with industry stakeholders such as the Northwest Territories and Nunavut Chamber of Mines. Mr. Speaker, I’m pleased to see the chamber’s new president, John Kearney, who is also president of Canadian Zinc, join us today in the House along with some of their chamber directors.
---Applause
I have met with Mr. Kearney and we have agreed that the chamber and the government will work together to raise awareness of the importance of mining in the Northwest Territories with the federal government.
Mr. Speaker, I’m pleased with some of the good work the chamber is doing on a number of fronts, such as this work to improve relations between the mining industry and our aboriginal communities and its promotion of infrastructure development in the North.
Through this dialogue, we can find ways to work together to ensure we have win/win scenarios for both the Territory and the mining industry. Both Mr. Kim Truter, president of Diavik Diamond Mines, and Mr. Paul Harvey, president and chief operating officer of Ekati Diamond Mine, who are with us today, can attest that a good example of this kind of cooperation is the Northern Mining Workforce Initiative Memorandum of Understanding between our government and three diamond mines. The goal of the memorandum of understanding is to improve the skills of our Northwest Territories workforce and attract and retain our residents to work at the mines.
Other government initiatives that support the mining industry include our partnership with the federal government on gathering new geoscience data through the Strategic Investment in Northern Economic Development program. This work is critical to the success of exploration projects and I’m pleased the funding for this program has been renewed.
We are also supporting the mining industry through our involvement in the Northwest Territories Mine Training Society as we work towards training more aboriginal people and Northerners for jobs in the mining industry.
We also continue to lobby the federal government to build much needed infrastructure in our Territory, like the Taltson Hydro Expansion Project. It is projects like this that will contribute to sustainable and responsible development.
Finally, we continue to push the federal government to address the issues that are impacting the effectiveness of our regulatory regime. In fact, the federal Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs, Mr. Chuck Strahl, recently announced in Yellowknife that the federal government will be releasing a series of responses to the McCrank report on regulatory improvement in the North this spring. Our government, industry and all Northerners await the federal government’s response to this report.
Mr. Speaker, the mining sector is a source of significant employment in the Northwest Territories, creating over 2,000 direct jobs each year. And aside from the direct benefits, the industry generates significant employment in the transportation, services, trades and construction sectors.
We also have a wealth of mineral potential with world-class deposits in everything including gold, diamonds and tungsten.
Some of that potential, like the rare earths deposit that is being pursued by Avalon Ventures, could lead to mines that will be open for decades and employ hundreds of Northwest Territories residents.
Mr. Speaker, a prosperous mining industry, one where mining companies and Northwest Territories residents benefit, will go a long way towards providing our Territory with a diversified and healthy economy that provides all regions and communities with choices as envisioned by the 16th Legislative Assembly through Northerners Working Together. That is why we must continue to do what we can to support a strong mining sector here in the Northwest Territories.
In closing, I would like to congratulate Mr. Kearney on his new role as president of the chamber and I look forward to working with him and his board. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mr. Speaker, this Assembly is well aware of the damaging effects of drugs on our communities. Drug dealers prey on the most vulnerable among us. They target young people who think bad things will never happen to them. They go after people with mental illnesses who are struggling just to get through a day. They knowingly sell drugs that are laced with other drugs to people who already have addictions. They do this on purpose, so they have more people to sell to. And if this weren’t troubling enough, we know more deadly drugs such as crystal meth is already here.
The substance abuse problem is not the same in every community. In some regions, bootleggers are causing trouble for communities. In other regions, people with gang affiliations sell crack and ecstasy on the streets and in drug houses.
What is the same is this: Wherever I go in the North, people tell me they want to take action. They want support for community-based responses. And they want information about what works in other places. That’s why this government has developed a unique campaign to meet those needs. The campaign is funded as a strategic initiative under Building our Future and it has ties to the Healthy Choices Framework, another strategic priority of this government. Its development has involved the departments of Health and Social Services, Education, Culture and Employment and Municipal and Community Affairs, as well as the RCMP.
The theme of our campaign is “Not Us!,” not our families, not our schools, not our communities, not our Territory. Not us! We are tired of watching drug dealers hurt our friends. It’s time to come together and say that we won’t let it happen anymore. Not us! is the campaign that will help people make commitments to themselves and their families and with others in their community so that drugs don’t take over. We’re focusing on prevention by promoting healthy choices and lifestyles and the role of personal and family responsibility.
Although this campaign will have some common features throughout the Northwest Territories, it is designed to help communities take a stand against drugs in a way that recognizes their unique needs and strengths. We knew this had to be different, so the focus is on providing support and resources that will help one community at a time. It’s a community first, community-driven campaign.
Here’s how it works. Our community justice division will help interested community groups, including community justice committees, to develop a plan for fighting drugs. It will be different in each place. Some communities want to work with kids. Other communities want help to get their local social agencies working together more efficiently. There’s no right or wrong plan to deal with drugs. Local people know what local needs are.
To support the community work, we’re developing a website, public service announcements, and promotional items communities can use. We’re also developing kits that can be used to create community-level campaigns. Schools can make their own posters using Not Us! themes. Youth groups can make their own Not Us! T-shirts. Even individuals can create their own items. Our website will have community sections, run by communities. They decide what they want their sections to be. Some will want to post their customized resources there. Others will want to link back to their own websites. All of these actions, whether they be community-wide or by an individual, are great. This campaign is all about supporting these actions. It strengthens local programs that address addictions and mental health.
As Minister of Justice and Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, I am pleased to see the partnerships on the campaign in tackling drug problems. As well, the involvement of the Department of Health and Social Services, Municipal and Community Affairs and the RCMP is essential to this work. We have very talented staff in our communities who work on addictions issues every day. We want to support them.
We are working with a group of Hay River residents to launch the territorial Not Us! campaign there on March 29th, while also profiling the work the community has done. I’ll be there and I invite the Members to attend too. After that, we’ll start visiting communities all over the NWT and help those who are interested in launching their own campaigns. In some places, people will want to talk about alcohol. In others, we’ll talk seriously about hard drugs like crystal meth, crack and ecstasy. Wherever we go, we’ll work with families, communities and schools to improve the physical and mental well-being of our youth. We’ll encourage people to find common-sense solutions that will work in the long term.
Reaching every community in the Northwest Territories will take time. But it will be worth it to give communities new ways to protect their families from dangerous drugs. I am looking forward to working with Members of the Legislative Assembly and every community in the Northwest Territories on this important initiative. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to offer my thoughts today on why combating poverty requires a strategy for coordinated action across all government departments. The face of poverty tends to be seen as a crowd of statistics and social indicators, percentages and rates. We deal with the aspect of poverty through some very good and necessary programs, but unless all these programs are locked together in a united approach, the chances of success are poor.
Poverty happens on a person or family at a time. Let’s consider an example of the challenges out there. Take the case of a single mom or dad who’s finally had the courage to overcome substance abuse through a territorial treatment program. That person goes home sober, but finds her problems have just begun. Through repeat applications with assistance from an educated cousin, arguing with government people, and downright desperate persistence, she manages to get housing and some income support for food. No child care spaces are available, though, and with poor literacy, good work is hard to get. With no local transportation, medical appointments and an important job interview are missed, but she didn’t have the clothing or confidence anyway.
Having no money for her kids’ sports equipment or activities to build health and with a lack of good parenting skills, her level of stress as a mother increases. How long will she be able to stay sober and how the heck can she get ahead?
Mr. Speaker, we can’t deal with our problems in isolation. We may have the basics of a roof over our heads and some food on the table, but just as people have to tie together all the elements of their approach to life, this government has to coordinate all its efforts to effectively reach the one goal: eliminating poverty, one person at a time. I can’t think of a bigger priority for this government nor one with such huge benefits than ending the tragic poverty of so many of our citizens. An informed and well-implemented plan can get us there.
Looking through the lens of poverty we need to identify and fill the gaps, ensure the coordination and target our resources if we are to succeed in eliminating poverty. When we consider modest actions like reducing the cost of living through tax credits or making public transit available, support for small businesses, making land available for local food production, a key consideration must be the elimination of poverty.
Other jurisdictions taking this approach are achieving remarkable success. It’s time we developed an integrated approach in consultation with business, interest groups, the public, and all government. Let’s get it done.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My Member’s statement is on the wealth of the Northwest Territories, the wealth of enriching culture and resources, non-renewable resources.
When I was looking at the Sahtu atlas the other day, again I was looking at the amount of resources the Sahtu have to offer to the people of Canada and the Northwest Territories. I was thinking about this. How could such a rich country as the Northwest Territories, or even the region of the Sahtu or any other region in the Northwest Territories, how could we be so poor? We fight hard for people. How could we be so poor? We ask for houses that Mr. McLeod has given his ministerial statement on housing issues in the Northwest Territories. Or when the Minister of Health gives a statement of health in the Northwest Territories. Or even our Education Minister. How is our region here in the Northwest Territories, the Sahtu, so poor?
You know that in the Northwest Territories, the Norman Wells oilfield pumps about $500 million every year in oil down from Norman Wells to Zama. We pump $500 million a year. Yet there are things like health care, education, teachers, paved roads for the communities for dust for the elders. We aren’t able to get that. Now they’re looking at other potential oilfields, natural gas fields. They are in the billions, if we’re to get this pipeline and anchor them into the line. They are in the billions of dollars that this region of the Northwest Territories could have.
Even with the mining, they discovered tungsten up in the Yukon/Northwest Territories border. It’s the world’s largest deposit of tungsten. Even in solvent resources on the Yukon/Northwest Territories border there’s the lead and zinc discovery, the world’s largest. I will be having questions on this issue here on how the Northwest Territories, especially the Sahtu, can start benefiting from these resources in the North.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Northwest Territories Housing Corporation a number of years ago introduced new programs such as CARE, HELP, STEP, to improve the delivery of assistance programs to homeowners in the Northwest Territories. There was a lot of praise, a lot of hope, and a lot of expectations from the residents of the Northwest Territories, especially homeowners, that they were going to see a real improvement in the programs. Yet today I still have a lot of my constituency coming forward and applying year after year and being refused on one excuse after another.
The aging infrastructure in our communities is some 30 or 40 years old, especially when you look at the old HAP units, the SHAG units. This infrastructure needs repairs. I know we put a lot of repairs into public housing infrastructure, but the intent of these programs was to find a way to assist homeowners by doing these important retrofits and making their homes energy efficient, bringing them up to existing regulations by way of health standards, electrical standards and safety standards. Yet we continue to see a gap in those people who have taken the time and own their homes.
A lot of our seniors, who we praise to stay in their own homes, shouldn’t be in an institution. Yet, Mr. Speaker, today we still have elders in our communities, and I’ll use an example in Fort McPherson of an elder who’s 96 years old, his wife is 95 years old. They live independently. They have a wood stove in their house. The old man is 96 and still packs wood into his own home. He requested a Monitor heater so he’d have a secondary heat system so he doesn’t have to pack wood into his home. He applied for a program about a year ago but he’s still waiting for an answer.
Mr. Speaker, I think it’s critical that this government does everything it can and if we have to revamp the program again, maybe do an assessment of what the program is to ensure that it is doing what we intended it to do, but, more importantly, are we reaching the people it was supposed to: the homeowners, the people that have made the investment, the people that remain in their home communities and have taken the risk, raising their families and staying in our communities? But again the affordability is there. So, Mr. Speaker, at the appropriate time I will be asking the Minister of Housing questions. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier today I presented the Premier with a belated Christmas present, one that I had been safekeeping for him. In December of last year, in the absence of any Members of the Executive Council, I accepted a present from a group of people, people representing social organizations in Yellowknife and the NWT as a whole. This informal alliance of 14 organizations had come to the Legislative Assembly to give the Legislative Assembly a Christmas present, a gift of past reports which detail the causes and effects of poverty in the NWT, and they asked for only one present in return. To quote the group: “All we want for Christmas is an end to poverty.” That present for the alliance -- an end to poverty -- is one that this government needs to start work on.
There’s no doubt that poverty is the root of all kinds of social ills. The effects of poverty are evident in our schools, in the overloading of our health care system and so on. If the NWT government turns its mind and its considerable power to a coordinated attack on poverty in our Territory, the results will be positive both from a fiscal point of view and for the well-being of our people.
In trying to determine if we had a poverty strategy or a policy with the GNWT, I discovered an income security report from 2007 titled “Breaking Down the Barriers to Poverty: Promoting Self-Reliance.” From the Minister’s message in that report comes the following quote: “Self-reliance is the key to the success of our Territory.”
This paper outlines a new philosophy in the vision we have for breaking down the barriers to self-reliance and eliminating poverty in the Northwest Territories. The Minister goes on to say poverty is difficult to escape. As this paper lays out, it’s not just an issue of money. In order to eliminate poverty, our governments, agencies and communities will need to work together to align the supports and services needed by individuals to succeed. This work will take some time, but the philosophy outlined in this paper and the changes to our system that will follow represent an important step for our government, but one that we believe is worth taking.
But now, in 2010, I don’t believe we’re any closer to eradicating poverty than we were three years ago. The changes referred to by Minister Dent have not taken place. I don’t believe that the coordination of departments and agencies and services has taken place. Our people are no more self-reliant than they were in 2007. It’s time for us -- and by that I mean the government, non-government organizations, local governments and NWT residents -- to take a serious look at how poverty impacts our Territory, our government and our people.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted.
We need to take a serious look at how poverty impacts our Territory, our government and our people. It’s time for us to take some real action. Minister Dent was correct in one thing in 2007: our governments, agencies and communities need to work together. And as my colleague Mr. Jacobson likes to say, let’s get ‘er done. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
Mr. Speaker... [English translation not provided.]
Mr. Speaker, I have spoken many times in the past about the need to improve the roads that link the communities of the Nahendeh riding and I would like to speak about it again. I am pleased with the chipseal work to be done on Highway No. 1 this year and the improvements to the access road to Jean Marie River, the construction of the access road for Nahanni Butte and the Shale Creek Bridge upgrade. I trust that the Department of Transportation will have everything scheduled by now and the work will be completed without a hitch this spring. These improvements will help make part of the Deh Cho safer for driving. These roads also link our communities to our neighbouring provinces and territories and to the Mackenzie Valley.
You might understand better why my constituents are impatient about road construction if you recall that in 1972 the federal government announced that they were going to build a highway from Fort Simpson to the Dempster in four years. The construction of the Mackenzie Highway began but was stopped in 1977, with the completion of only 210 kilometres. It didn’t get quite as far as Wrigley. However, this year the federal government and the GNWT are funding the preparation of a project description report for the construction of an all-weather road all the way down the Mackenzie Valley to Inuvik and from Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk.
This is a very important step and when this road is built, and also if and when a pipeline is built, it will certainly be important to have good roads for access by the workforce and transportation of equipment. There should also be consideration and support of upgrading our highways leading to both Alberta and British Columbia, especially the needs of Fort Liard to have the final 18 kilometres of Highway No. 7 reconstructed towards the B.C. border.
Mr. Speaker, I recognize the work completed by the Department of Transportation to date. I urge early completion of our projects in the Nahendeh riding this spring. There will be many benefits to the region, our NWT economy, tourism, and to the safety of the travelers this summer. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last week, Cabinet announced the transfer of public housing and rental subsidy from Education, Culture and Employment back to the NWT Housing Corporation. Mr. Speaker, I completely agree with the decision.
I know many of my colleagues support this transfer. Since public rental subsidy moved to Income Support, there has been a disconnect between the rental subsidy and the local housing organizations. A gap was caused when subsidized rent changed to market rent. The market rent and the gap wasn’t something the client did, but was caused by the lack of communication between ECE and the LHO. There were serious delays in getting rental subsidies to the people who rely on the program. These people had to contact two offices to accomplish one thing -- pay rent -- and the result was that many clients and LHOs developed arrears. Some people even got evicted because of this, Mr. Speaker, and the rigid policies that surrounded the record of assessment.
Mr. Speaker, the arrears that people developed since the transfer of the program in 2007 should be forgiven. Seventy-five percent of housing tenants do not receive income support. These tenants are now called income support clients, and a lot of people feel their dignity has been compromised. They fell into arrears that developed because of the administration problems created by the Government of the Northwest Territories. We should own up to this mistake, Mr. Speaker, and forgive the debt.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister told us he wants us to keep some of the improvements ECE tried to make when the program returns to the Housing Corporation. That might be a good idea, but when they sit down to review the policy, they should consider the people first, Mr. Speaker. The Cabinet should bring forward a bill to forgive all the arrears that are a result of the transfer in the 15th Assembly. Mr. Speaker, our people deserve a fresh start. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to again discuss the high cost of living here in the Northwest Territories today, and especially the community I am most familiar with, and that is Yellowknife.
Mr. Speaker, let me be clear; as a government with shrinking revenues, we cannot afford to lose one person from our Territory. It costs us $22,500 every time someone packs up and leaves, usually broke, because they are sick and tired of all their money going to pay bills. If a family of four leaves, it’s over $90,000 that leaves with them. This is happening. People are leaving and our government has got to pay attention to the main reason why, and that is the high cost of living.
We seem to have our heads buried firmly in the snow when it comes to finding any meaningful or tangible ways we can help people reduce the cost of living. “Working poor” is a term that accurately reflects many people in this city. They work hard every day, some of them with two or three jobs in the service industry. Others are our own government workers who, after paying rent, mortgage, utility costs, gas, food, taxes, child care and other monthly expenses, are left with nothing to put away for their family’s future. In fact, even though people are earning more today than 10 or even 20 years ago, there’s little question people today are worse off and we seem like we’re tripping over ourselves to try to make people pay more.
From the smallest items, as if we’re not paying enough for food, charging 25 cents for a plastic bag at the grocery store and for which most people have many other uses for, or spending -- oh, yeah -- we’re not quite sure how much yet on a bridge that will undoubtedly increase the price of everything that is transported across it. We are creating ways to make people pay more.
We need to be all over the federal government to get some relief for people. Like how about tax credits for interest paid on mortgages? How about government-run child care centres? And please, let’s get this heritage fund established already. It’s long overdue. But, then again, savings is a foreign concept to this government. Let’s get the federal government to help fund it from the hundreds of millions of dollars they take every year off of our resources .
This government has not done enough to address the high cost of living. We can’t wait for a Cabinet committee to come forward with ways we can address this.
I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted.
Like I said, we can’t afford to wait any longer. I think the time has come. We can’t wait for a Cabinet committee to deliver on this. I think the time has come for this government to form a joint committee with Regular Members of this House, to finally get a cost of living special committee off the ground and try to find a way and means in which we can help people out here in this Territory and this city.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’d like to use my Member’s statement to talk about a frustrating experience that a number of Members in this House share. It’s about a bureaucratic approach that continues to drag success down when people are trying to do the right thing.
The issue I would like to discuss in this House is about organ donation in the Northwest Territories. Now, I know that we have a small population and that Stanton cannot provide the highly specialized transplant services that many people do need in the world. But, like most organ harvesting and transplant operations that do have to happen, we send people to Edmonton. Like many of us, we’ve assumed that our health care services would be there, but it’s a sad story when I have to tell they are not.
Organ donation and transplant process we had thought was supported through the medical travel, but a number of Northerners who have tried to donate keep running into a wall when they try to support their loved ones. Some Northerners are transplant recipients. Some Northerners are transplant donors. The NWT health care system needs to pay particular attention to this system. We need clear policies and procedures that help people who want to do the right thing.
In absence of the policy, I could tell this House endless stories about people trying to get support and hitting a wall of pre-op care, medication for post-care, travel assistance with their loved ones. It’s a frustrating experience when it’s a very emotional time. I could tell you a story about a family who had to have a kidney operation and a child was giving it to their parent. They were upset to the point that they wondered if it would ever happen. In the end, they made the decision of saying they would do it if the government won’t help. Fortunately enough, the process did kick in as a one-off in that experience. I think that’s part of the problem. It’s turned into a one-off experience without a clear policy.
I think there’s leadership in the department that could help solve this problem. With National Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Week coming forward this April 18th to 25th, I’d like to hear the Minister maybe talk about the fact that we’re now going to have a policy in place to make sure that any NWT citizen that wants to go through this process, whether they want to be a living donor or they need a donation of a specialized organ, that the territorial government will be there for them, to help them in that time of need and crisis. I believe we can do better for our citizens and I’m sure we can.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In keeping with some of my colleagues’ talk about the cost of living today, I want to talk about power. This is something that’s been on the minds of many Northerners and this government in recent months, that’s for sure.
When knowledge of the unsolicited proposal came out, it sent the employees at NTPC into a state of wondering about their future. Mr. Premier came to Hay River and met with staff and management and communicated the GNWT plan as we were moving forward. Work is now proceeding on the electricity rate review as we attempt to wrap our thoughts around the challenges of delivering reliable, affordable, and sustainable energy to our residents and businesses. Residents and businesses in communities large and small, remote and urban, thermal and hydro, and definitely on a wide spectrum of differences, all of this to the backdrop of our constituents appealing to us, as legislators, about the high cost of living in the North. Our population decline must be partially related to the high cost of living, which necessarily includes the cost of power.
So the NTPC review is done. But it’s only one piece in a much larger puzzle. No review of NTPC or any search for potential efficiencies within that organization is going to be the entire answer to our high cost of power. We need to look at the whole issue of electricity regulation, generation, distribution and costs.
Power is an essential service. The GNWT, in some schizophrenic role in a bad movie here, actually plays all the main parts in this movie. The GNWT in some way either controls or owns the regulation, the rate levelizing, the generation, the distribution, and, to top it all off, they are the main customer as well. We take great pains to put ourselves at arm’s length from all of these processes. How much does this cost to put all of this at arm’s length? What is the added value of putting all these processes at arm’s length?
Enough studies, enough reviews. Let’s get to the most straightforward way to get affordable power to our residents.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.
Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. [English translation not provided.]
Today I would like to talk about the GNWT’s hiring practices. As mentioned in this House before, the economies and employment opportunities in our smaller communities like Fort Resolution and Lutselk’e can only realize limited potential. Yet, in spite of this, many of the residents continue to live in these communities because it is home and has been their home for many generations. It is true that some migrate to larger centres, but for a good many, they remain committed to their community and will go out and get their education and return to their community. However, with only limited GNWT positions up for competition every so often, many of these individuals, for some reason or another, are overlooked.
I understand the GNWT’s hiring practices are guided by principles of fairness and equality, but in reality this is not the case. It places greater emphasis on education than it does on experience. Unfortunately, the reality of this is that many aboriginals do not possess a masters or even a degree-level education as compared to non-aboriginal persons that come north. So when these competitions come up, many aboriginal applicants are screened out because they do not have that degree or a masters.
The hiring practices of the GNWT do not reflect the population it serves and, therefore, can be seen as serving only a certain sector of the population and failing others as far as GNWT employment opportunities go.
Mr. Speaker, even though many do not possess a masters or a degree level of education, they possess many years of direct hands-on experience in the area they are applying for. In addition to this, they also possess the ultimate grasp on the dynamics associated with living and/or working in the smaller, isolated communities. Too often the non-aboriginal hires only last a few years before moving. Doing so means added cost to the GNWT and additional expenses related to turnover. The hiring practices of the GNWT are flawed and need to be…
Mr. Beaulieu, your time for your Member’s statement has expired.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted.
Mr. Speaker, the hiring practices of the GNWT are flawed and need to be reviewed so it can reduce the high turnover costs and, more importantly, allow equal opportunity for those who do not possess specific education requirements but do possess the related experience to do a good job. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I’m pleased to recognize members of the Northwest Territories mining industry that are here today: Mr. John Kearney, president of the NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines and president of Canadian Zinc; Mr. Lane Dewar, prospector and a director of the Chamber of Mines from Yellowknife; Mr. Chris Hrkac, senior geologist and exploration manager, GGL Resources, Yellowknife, and a director of the Chamber; Mr. Trevor Teed, prospector and a director of the Chamber here from Yellowknife. Also joining us today: Mr. Paul Harvey, president and chief operating officer, Ekati Diamond Mine; Richard Morland, vice-president, operations, Ekati Diamond Mine; Mr. Dave Nickerson, former MLA, Member of Parliament, also sits on the board of Tyhee and Canadian Zinc; Mr. Mike Vaydik, long-time general manager of the Chamber; and Deborah Archibald, director, minerals, oil and gas, with the Department of ITI. Welcome.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize a friend of mine, Trevor Teed.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know he’s been recognized already, but I’d like to make a special mention of Mr. Paul Harvey, who’s the president of Ekati. He and his wife worked here two years back, moved to Australia, probably transferred, but they liked it so much they moved back to Yellowknife, to the Territories, in my riding of Range Lake. So I would like to welcome him and his wife back. Thank you.
