Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’m pleased to share with Members the infrastructure achievements of community governments in the Northwest Territories. Community governments are important partners for the Government of the Northwest Territories as we work towards achieving our goals of this Assembly.
Beginning in 2005 with the federal New Deal for Cities and Communities and then in 2007 with the GNWT’s New Deal for NWT Community Governments, community governments began receiving funding to invest in their own infrastructure priorities. While not all community governments have advanced at the same pace with this new funding, we have seen impressive results in many areas and we should all celebrate these success stories.
Community governments are now investing in core municipal infrastructure, including upgrades or construction of new roads, improvements to solid waste sites, and upgrades or construction of new office buildings and fire halls. Aklavik, Behchoko, Colville Lake, Fort Liard, Fort Providence and Kakisa are examples of community governments who have chosen to make their infrastructure investments in these areas to provide enhanced programs and services to their residents.
Using a wide range of infrastructure programs offered by the Government of Canada over the past five years, community governments have been able to invest heavily in water and sewer infrastructure,
solid waste sites and energy savings projects in community public buildings.
Most recently, nine of our community governments took advantage of Canada’s Infrastructure Stimulus Program by undertaking 10 different projects throughout the Northwest Territories, of which four are already completed.
Most of these community governments decided to join forces to leverage funding under the Building Canada Plan to upgrade water treatment facilities in order to meet the Canadian Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality. To the community governments of Fort Good Hope, Fort Liard, Fort Simpson, Inuvik, Jean Marie River, Lutselk’e, Trout Lake and Wrigley, I extend my congratulations on your success in this area and for improving the quality of drinking water for the residents in your communities.
I believe that it is important to also note that while our community governments are not only delivering on important infrastructure needs, they are doing so in an environmentally conscious manner. In Fort Good Hope, the community government decided on a high-efficiency heating system and building insulation package in their community office complex, and in Dettah the new community complex includes a high-efficiency wood pellet boiler.
Finally, I would like to highlight some of the projects community governments have completed to support health and well-being of their residents. In Tulita, the youth will now be able to swim in their above-ground pool. In Gameti, they are now enjoying their new recreation centre. In Enterprise, the new community centre has meeting rooms, recreational and fitness facilities, and many other features to keep the young and old busy 24 hours a day. In Paulatuk, the youth are enjoying their new youth centre. In Ulukhaktok, the residents are utilizing their community centre. Fort Providence and Fort Resolution chose to upgrade their arenas, while here in Yellowknife the soccer players and other users are enjoying the new fieldhouse.
We are very proud of the success that community governments are achieving as important infrastructure projects are completed. Municipal and Community Affairs will continue to support community governments as they address their priority needs and we look forward to continuing to work with community governments as they bring forward new projects that reflect the needs and priorities of residents.
Mr. Speaker, the funding that the Government of the Northwest Territories provides to community governments for their infrastructure priorities helps us achieve our vision for sustainable, safe and vibrant communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. February 21st to February 25th marks Education Week. This is an important time of the year when we celebrate the academic achievements of students across the Northwest Territories and also recognize the many educators who support and strengthen our educational system.
Since last September I have had the pleasure of hosting forums in various regional centres as part of the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative. Through these forums, I have met incredibly talented youth. These bright students have courage and determination and are committed to not only for their own futures but the future of others by building a stronger North. I am honoured to share the stage with them at the forums and appreciate the knowledge they continue to bring to discussions.
Some of the youth have shared stories of the people they turn to for support and to rely on. Teachers are often among those identified and Education Week is a great time to acknowledge their efforts. The Northwest Territories Teachers’ Association Thank You for Making a Difference annual campaign is all about students recognizing their teachers. The Teachers’ Association gets nominations from students from all over the Northwest Territories who want their teachers recognized for the difference they make in their lives. All our teachers deserve our gratitude for everything they do. I congratulate everybody who received nominations and those receiving Thank You for Making a Difference awards.
Mr. Speaker, learning doesn’t start nor stop when you walk into or out of the school. Learning is a lifelong journey that includes the family and the community. Education is a shared responsibility, and by working together we can help our students receive the education that they deserve.
This Education Week the department is challenging all residents of the Northwest Territories to take part in the Thumbs Up campaign and identify ways that they can help support the education system. It is about recognizing how each of us is doing a good job and also listing ways that we can continue raising the bar even higher, Mr. Speaker. Residents can get their Education Week package at the regional Education, Culture and Employment centres or from their community school.
Mr. Speaker, we are achieving success on this Assembly’s goal of healthy, educated people and I encourage the Members to join me this week in celebrating the contributions of many people across the North who are helping us to get there.
In closing, I would again like to thank the teachers and educators across our Territory who commit so much of themselves so their students can be successful. I also want to thank our partners in the communities, the Aboriginal governments, the industries, and Aurora College, who continually work to improve education and training opportunities for our people. Finally, a big thanks to our many students for their commitment to bettering themselves while challenging us to better ourselves too. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Premier, Mr. Roland.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to advise Members that the Honourable Michael McLeod will be absent from the House today to attend the Western Transportation Advisory Council meetings in Vancouver. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s important that we run a government that serves the people. Mr. Speaker, to do that, we need to be aware of the culture that we’re living and working in.
In the Sahtu region, this government has many employees who really need to know about our culture. I don’t know why there are no cultural awareness programs for territorial government employees. We have them for teachers and they’ve been very successful. They are proper both for the teachers and in the communities. It’s a very simple program to implement, Mr. Speaker.
I propose that we make it mandatory for government employees working in the region to learn about the culture of that area. The program should include traditional activities and some basic language skills. This should be done properly, in a one-week program. People in the communities should be involved in it. This would have added advantage to helping government employees meet people from around the region, learn from one another and build relationships and work together. Most importantly, a cultural language program will help improve our government services.
I am not raising this issue out of the blue, Mr. Speaker. Last May 18th, the Deputy Premier stood up in this House and made a good promise. Mr. Miltenberger gave us his word that the Department of Human Resources would have a cross-cultural awareness program developed, including an on-the-land component, available to all GNWT employees by the end of the fiscal year. Time is running out, Mr. Speaker, and we have not yet seen that program going out in the Sahtu region or anywhere else. I know the Minister of Human Resources is part of this department’s plans for a Brilliant North. The action plan states that cross-cultural awareness training will be rolled out this year. I look forward to seeing that happen, especially in the Sahtu region. I expect local people to be involved in the training plan and teaching our way of life.
I will be asking the Minister of Human Resources questions about this training program at the appropriate time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Domestic violence is all too prevalent, Mr. Speaker, but domestic violence involving women and girls is an area that is especially concerning. The NWT is not immune to domestic violence, unfortunately. We are reminded on a daily basis of incidents that have occurred in one or more of our communities. Most of them report violence against women. Not only does the violence have an impact on the victim, but the offender’s actions affect everyone around the victim, children most often, but other family members and friends are also impacted by the trauma. They all must continue to deal with the impact of the violence as the victim struggles to recover physically and mentally and as they try to assist and provide support to the victim.
There is also potentially the trauma of a court case. Often the stress on the victim is too much and they turn to drugs and alcohol to deal with it. That creates another vicious cycle and children again bear the brunt of the resulting damage.
As a government, we provide resources to assist the victims of family violence, and shelters are the most visible and noticeable result of our funding. Some of our communities have shelters for women and girls, but many do not. That is something which must change, Mr. Speaker.
As we have heard earlier this week, there exists worldwide an organization called V-Day which strives to create awareness of violence against women and girls. The NWT Chapter is called V-Day North, and for four years now volunteers have been highlighting this issue and creating awareness through public events. There will be three events this year. The first is a live comedy event tomorrow night. The second is the screening of a documentary film which will be held February 28th, and the third is a play that will take place March 10th, 11th and 12th. Each event has a minimal entry fee of $10, I think. Most of the proceeds are donated to NGOs here in Yellowknife, with 10 percent going to fund shelter programs in Haiti. Those two NGOs are the Alison McAteer House and the Centre for Northern Families, both of which provide shelter and support for women and children fleeing violence.
On behalf of them and V-Day North, I encourage everyone to attend one of the V-Day events coming up. A small contribution from each of us will have a huge impact on these two shelters and their clients. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to speak about the importance of early education and how I believe that ECE should support junior kindergarten in our future years.
The GNWT has two strategic initiatives in this area. One provides funding for the languages initiatives that supports local language programming for preschool children and the second provides some assistance to regions to assist early childhood providers. In Yellowknife, preschool programs and preschool bilingual programs are offered on a fee base. There is also a program at the Yellowknife Catholic Schools for children who, for various reasons, are referred by the community agencies that need the extra assistance and need a head start.
Last summer Yellowknife Education District No. 1 offered a short summer program, without fee, to support pre-kindergarten students. Mr. Speaker, from all indications that I have been told, this was a significant success and a great head start for those kids rolling into kindergarten. These are valuable initiatives I believe we need more of.
I support universal junior kindergarten in the NWT. Mr. Speaker, at a UNESCO World Conference on Early Childhood Care and Education, the key message was that education is essential for development and there is no better place to set development on the right track than in the first few years of a child’s life.
It is clear that a child’s life chances often play out well before the first day in school. By providing junior kindergarten, we can help to level that playing field and to ensure that every child has a solid foundation that literacy can be built upon. By reaching all children earlier, they will find they will be better served and can find problems and identify them, if necessary, and that need support such as eyesight, nutrition and the ability to play. Mr. Speaker, this gives the system the ability to tap into resources early, and as we all know, early intervention is the key to overcoming struggles of that nature.
Mr. Speaker, we all support universal education through many messages we talk about here, but we must ensure that there’s a level playing field for all our children, and it begins at junior kindergarten. Mr. Speaker, accordingly, these students who receive early education and a solid foundation in literacy and numeracy, these adults go on and become more productive citizens in our lives. Mr. Speaker, they turn out to be true, real contributors.
Mr. Speaker, finally, the UNESCO director general says this is the greatest investment in a child’s life.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ll have questions for the Minister of Education later today.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.
Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. [English translation not provided.]
Mr. Speaker, today I would like to speak about the Apprenticeship Program and its impact on small communities. In our small communities we have to bring trades personnel in to do work on our units and on our buildings. This is due to the lack of trades personnel at the community level.
Mr. Speaker, this is not to say we have no tradespeople at all, we do have a few, but much more is needed. For now, every tradesperson in a small community should have an apprentice working with them. In a community such as Fort Resolution and Lutselk’e, we have many skilled people that can do carpentry, plumbing and even electrical, but for the most part they are not certified and they need to be certified tradespeople in order to take advantage of the opportunities that are available to them within the community and the mining industry. This is another way of putting people in the small communities to work.
Mr. Speaker, I believe that this government has to do all it can with all of the departments working together to plan and organize all the work necessary at the community level. Mr. Speaker, the deferred maintenance alone in the GNWT buildings is over $300 million, not to mention any new construction our industry needs. With all of this work needed in our government, our government must coordinate itself, led by the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, to take advantage of this, seize the opportunity to train and certify people and continue the work on the government’s objective to create a society that’s independent and self-sufficient.
Mr. Speaker, the bottom line is the small communities have the human resources needed to do the labour on these projects in the communities and around the communities. This government must find a way, find the money and develop policies to help people in the small communities sustain their economy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m going to speak today about the management of health authorities in the Northwest Territories.
Mr. Speaker, this issue is nothing new to anyone sitting here today. I and other Regular Members have been asking the government the entire time I’ve been here for a better way to fund and manage our health care system. Mr. Speaker, the government continues to take the easy way out when it comes to dealing with deficits at the authorities. They continually throw money at it through so-called one-time funding requests or through supplementary appropriation.
Mr. Speaker, let me recap one-time funding and appropriations to authorities: 2002-2003, $3 million; 2004-2005, $2.2 million; 2006-2007, $2.9 million; 2007-2008, $4.9 million; 2008-2009, $25 million; for a total of $38 million. Most of the trouble it would seem at the Stanton Authority started after the board was disbanded in November 2002. In April 2003, then Health Minister Miltenberger issued a press release where he stated it is important that Stanton Health Authority have a fully functioning board to provide leadership and direction to the organization. Mr. Speaker, here we are eight years later and still no board at Stanton. The red ink continues to spill and the government has no answer to the management and financial control over our health care system.
Mr. Speaker, you would think that for a government that is on very shaky financial footing, that we would have taken steps to get financial control back from the authorities. Mr. Speaker, what we should do immediately is collapse all authorities, establish advisory boards in each region, establish one board of management for health and social services with balanced regional representation. We must get financial control back. It will lead to more seamless and effective management of the resources we do have, the mobility of health care professionals, equipment and the provision of services will improve under one board.
Mr. Speaker, this is something the government must act on, and while we’re doing this we should also address the issue of the employees at the Hay River authority, include them once and for all in our system.
Mr. Speaker, I’m at a loss as to why this government has not acted on this matter and somewhere around the next corner there lurks another supp, I am sure. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. [English translation not provided.]
The community of Wrigley has really excelled at Dene hand games over the last three years. I am very proud to speak about that today, proud that they have a strong cultural belief system, they practice it and support each other and their youth. The Dene hand games is one of our strongest cultural experiences for the Dene of the NWT, on par with drum dancing, which we all love.
I believe our government should be supportive of this and provide resources to support the Dene hand games. We must make efforts to support and sustain this. As you know, we have spoken many times. Our small communities have limited fundraising abilities and low employment rates, yet in the community of Wrigley the energy and dedication of the residents, the band office and parents make it possible to travel and participate at hand games tournaments throughout our North and even in northern Alberta.
Mr. Speaker, the Wrigley hand game players have always done well wherever they go. They have requested assistance from our government, but we have no programming for this. The communities are not asking for full sponsorship, only a contribution to assist them in travelling for this important cultural activity. The band offices support it, the parents support it, the people support it and our government must support it.
We have a successful Youth Ambassador Program and I believe we can have a cultural ambassador program to support this. Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Over the last seven years the Mine Training Society, which is a partnership between industry, Aboriginal and public governments, has been training Aboriginal Northerners so that they can obtain long-term, meaningful and well-paying jobs in the mine and mine services sector. The Mine Training Society was originally an initiative of the Government of the Northwest Territories. It started 15 years ago as an adhoc committee put together by the Minister of Education of the day, Charles Dent, along with the Chamber of Mines, Diavik Diamond Mines, Yellowknives Dene First Nation and Indian and Northern Affairs. Together they began the process of community-based training for Aboriginal Northerners, which led to the creation of the Mine Training Society.
In 2003 the Mine Training Society, with support of the Department of Education and Indian and Northern Affairs, developed the Northern Mineral and Industrial Skills Strategy. This strategy resulted in the Mine Training Society becoming one of the first of nine Aboriginal Skills and Employee Partnership, or ASEP, agreement holders with Human Resources and Skills Development in 2004.
The Mine Training Society has been working with ASEP since 2004. Since that time it has worked with its partners to train over 900 people, of which 600 have obtained employment in the mine and mine service sector. Using funds from ASEP in the amount of about $16.8 million, the Mine Training Society partners have invested an additional $18.6 million in support of training. This further partnership investment has been used to support the development of best practice programming like the Underground Miner Program as well as purchasing infrastructure support for Aurora College, such as the underground mine simulator that is housed at the Yellowknife Campus.
Mr. Speaker, organizations like the Mine Training Society are a necessary component in the economic development of the Northwest Territories. By focusing on the creation of a skilled Aboriginal workforce for the mine and mine service sector, the Mine Training Society is facilitating economic opportunities for residents in many of our small communities throughout the North. It is imperative that we see the continuance of this organization as a unique partnership of industry, Aboriginal governments and public government. It produces measureable and very tangible results for the North.
Mr. Speaker, later this afternoon I will be speaking to the motion before the Legislature regarding the Mine Training Society and the Aboriginal Skills and Employment Partnership program. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In February 2009 I told this Assembly about a Weledeh constituent who is taking on the Workers’ Compensation and Safety Commission. I’ll update you today on his progress.
The basis of this dispute is the fact that while workers can receive compensation for the psychological pain resulting from injuries, WSCC practices doesn’t allow compensation for physical pain. Psychological pain settlements are made according to a written standard which rates severity. I have read the policy. There may be a provision for a physical pain standard to determine compensation, but WSCC has not developed a standard and does not allow physical pain claims.
My constituent believes this is wrong. For three and a half years now, despite the severe pain and debilitation caused by his injuries, he has fought to have this changed. He’s mounted his case with savvy determination and minimal legal assistance. Recently he took his case to the NWT Human Rights Commission for a ruling on WSCC’s position. In their recent decision, the Human Rights Commission agreed to refer the matter to adjudication. We now await the adjudication hearing.
Throughout this struggle my constituent has repeatedly stated his determination to go on, not just for himself but for all injured workers who have been denied the compensation for pain as well as psychological injury. My constituent has also had to negotiate bottlenecks holding up current benefits. For example, I recently had to intervene so that my constituent no longer has to buy his medication out of pocket and await WSCC reimbursement. Sometimes out of work or with no money for medication, he has had to borrow from family for lack of a mechanism to send the bill directly to WSCC.
Mr. Speaker, I can’t overstate my admiration for this amazing and dedicated man, and gratitude for the opportunities I have had to help him out in small ways. The adjudication will be coming shortly. If it succeeds, I expect to see the WSCC reviewing the complete list of all those who’ve been turned down for pain compensation, and a WSCC action plan to pay complete compensation to these injured workers. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Treaty 11 has been around for some 90 years, since it was signed in the summer of 1921. Mr. Speaker, the reason for the land claim settlement was because of the discovery of oil in and around Norman Wells. In order for the government to allow industry or people to move into the Northwest Territories and obtain the right to that oil, they had to have a treaty signed with the First Nations people in the Mackenzie Valley, which included the Treaty 11 area that went all the way to the Beaufort Sea.
Mr. Speaker, the whole reason for treaties some 90 years ago was to open up the North to allow a legal transfer to take place between the indigenous people of the Northwest Territories, the Government of Canada and the Dominion of Canada to allow for that to take place.
That is no different than what we’re talking about here in regard to devolution between the Government of the Northwest Territories taking powers from the federal government and imposing that right over indigenous people in the Mackenzie Valley like they did some 90 years ago. But since then, Mr. Speaker, the people in the Northwest Territories, the Dene and Metis people, have woken up to the reality that they have rights that have not been implemented under their treaties, especially in the area of lands and resources and the management of those lands and resources in the Mackenzie Valley, and that’s what we call the modern day treaties.
In those modern day treaties it’s pretty clear that they have the right to lands and resources, not only ownership rights but the rights to royalties and any revenues that flow from those additional Crown lands outside the lands they already own.
Mr. Speaker, the federal government and the Government of the Northwest Territories has treaty, Constitution and land claims obligations that are entrenched in Section 35 of the Canadian Constitution. What’s happening here in the Northwest Territories, Mr. Speaker, is pathetic. We are leaving out one of the largest landowners in the Northwest Territories from a fundamental process, by exclusion, by ignoring them and not taking them seriously and allowing them due process, hearing them out, giving them the resources so that they can have the meetings they need to discuss the issues that are before them. Because they make waves, they’re pushed off the table and they’ll sign with anybody that’s on our side and agrees to everything that we’re telling them, but not deal with the people who are impacted by this decision.
At the appropriate time I will have questions to the Premier on why the Dene people have been excluded from this process.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Although not a constituent, it’s my great pleasure today to recognize an old colleague -- and I don’t mean old in age, but a colleague I worked with quite a long time ago at Sir John Franklin School -- Mr. Ed Jeske. With Ed up there is Vivian Squires, who will soon be the new executive director for the Yellowknife Seniors’ Society.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Member for Thebacha, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize a few people in the gallery today. Ms. Denise Yuhas, a very successful businesswoman and one of the best constituency assistants in the business. Bonnie Lynch, one of our northern trained and very capable nurses; and Ms. Theresa Beaulieu from Fort Smith as well. Welcome to the gallery.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess my recognition of visitors in the gallery will sound a little bit like déjà vu thanks to Ms. Bisaro. I too would like to recognize Mr. Ed Jeske. He’s a very well-known and wise, respected constituent. Accompanying him, as Ms. Bisaro had mentioned, is the lovely and charming Vivian Squires, who has just returned as the executive director to the YK seniors. Welcome to them both.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize a few people joining us in the gallery today on behalf of the Mine Training Society: Hilary Jones, the general manager, Rachelle Beaulieu, Marilyn Hardisty, Jessica Enzoe Riddle, and Kelly Arychuk, the chair.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don’t get to do this very often but today I would like to recognize my granddaughter, Julianne Groenewegen, in the visitor’s gallery. I’d also like to recognize my very long-serving constituency assistant, Wendy Morgan, who is also in the visitor’s gallery today.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to welcome any Weledeh residents and I’d also like to recognize the Mine Training Society folks and Jane Arychuk, head of our Aurora College campus here, and, of course, my long-time and old-time mentor Ed Jeske and his accompanist Vivian Squires.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Member for Yellowknife South, Mr. Bob McLeod.
