Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize a constituent of Yellowknife South, Ms. Kelly Arychuk. I’d also be remiss if I didn’t recognize a long-time hockey supporter, minor hockey, senior hockey, old-timer hockey, the only guy I know that has an arena named after him -- I’m sure he would have brought his cow bell in if security would have let him -- Mr. Ed Jeske.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I’m pleased to recognize Marilyn Hardisty in the gallery here today, a former resident of Jean Marie River. Welcome.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. If we’ve missed anyone in the gallery today, welcome to the Chamber. I hope you’re enjoying the proceedings.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to acknowledge the recent grand opening of the Chief T’Selehye School in Fort Good Hope. The official celebration began on January 14, 2011.
I’d also like to thank the people who made this happen. My appreciation to Minister Jackson Lafferty and to the Government of the Northwest Territories. Congratulations to the community of Fort Good Hope, especially to the parents, teachers and the community.
Chief T’Selehye was a strong leader, and may the school produce more such leaders in the future.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is directed to the Premier and is in light of my Member’s statement and specifically the lack of consultation that seems to be taking place between the Dene leadership.
I’ve received a phone call from Billy Erasmus, who put a formal request into the Government of the Northwest Territories to host a Dene leadership meeting, which includes all the Dene leaders throughout Denendeh, regarding the Mackenzie Valley on this issue that are before us on devolution. The Dene people are the ones that are most impacted by this decision and we do have treaty obligations, whether it’s from the old treaties 8 and 11 or the modern day treaties.
I’d like to ask the Premier what it’s going to take for this government to assist those groups to get to the table, have their issues put forward, and when are we going to hear them out so we can understand where they’re coming from by allowing these meetings to take place.
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Premier, Mr. Roland.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I must take exception to the manner the Member raised in his Member’s statement about how this government has been pathetic in reaching out. The fact is, during the life of this government, the 16th Assembly, we set up the regional leaders approach that had all the regional leaders, presidents, grand chiefs at the table to help set the discussion about what we share and how we do work and things. At the table we also recognize that we’re not always going to agree on subject matters that come forward.
In fact, this agreement-in-principle that the Member is referring to bring people back to the table on, if you look at chapter 4, the general provisions of the devolution agreement, from 4.5, 4.6, 4.7, 4.8 all talk about Aboriginal rights and interests and how this government and the federal government and the parties that sign onto this would work in ensuring that those rights are protected throughout the Northwest Territories in this devolution process.
Aside from that on the specific question of support for Aboriginal governments, we have supported Aboriginal governments by providing funding directly to the regions to take part in devolution discussions.
Further to that, the meetings in the Sahtu, for example, we have supported those meetings with funding, along with attending those meetings and will continue to do that.
As we all know, all groups are not part of the Northern Leaders’ Forum which some groups are not taking part in. Yet the Dene leadership forum includes all the Dene leadership throughout the Northwest Territories, which allows them to have that discussion among themselves for those groups that are not part of the Northern Leaders’ Forum but do take part in those discussions.
I’d just like to ask the Premier, since he made a reference to the wording in the agreement under the land claims agreement, which is protected under the Canadian Constitution, it’s pretty clear that the Government of the Northwest Territories shall involve the Aboriginal governments in developing implementation of a northern accord agreement on oil and gas which is negotiated in accordance with the element of the land claims agreement. I’d just like to know, if you have a constitutional agreement which clearly stipulates that you shall involve them, and then on one hand you’re saying, well, if you’re not at the table, you can’t talk, I’d like to know what we’re going to do to have an inclusive system that includes First Nations leaders to have that discussion either amongst themselves to develop their positions and bring them forward so the Government of the Northwest Territories and the people of the Northwest Territories can see exactly what the First Nations positions are.
The process we have used has been absolutely inclusive. In fact, it’s through the modern treaties, as the Member has referred to them as, the land claims and self-government discussions and the ones that are in negotiations that set up the regional leaders process.
Every one of the regions has been a part of that process. It’s been at those regions, those regional leaders, the grand chiefs and the presidents that have said they’re the decision-makers that affect their claims and the people they represent, not the Dene Nation national chief. So we’ve worked with those regional leaders through this process.
In fact, through the Northern Leaders’ Forum, which is a side to the regional leaders table, Mr. Erasmus asked to be a part of that and I took it to the regional leaders. They accepted that he could be a part of that process as an observer, because, again, they held that right to be the decision-makers. So we’re working with the decision-makers.
This agreement-in-principle, clearly with the involvement of those who wanted to be at the table and chose to be at the table helped with the wording in this around those protections, and about the sharing of authorities, and about the resource revenue sharing piece. These are included in this agreement-in-principle that we’re working on and going forward towards negotiations on, because we had involvement in the early days and we’ve left it open to come to the table and be a part of those decisions, be a part of that discussion and help set the future course of the Northwest Territories.
I’ll try to get back to my original question. Will the government consider funding the meeting coming up next week between the Dene Nation and the Dene leadership so that they can basically develop their position, see exactly what their issues are, and format that discussion and make their positions clear to the people of the Northwest Territories and the Government of the Northwest Territories?
The groups have been involved from the earliest days, right from 2002 forward up until the protocol work we were doing. All groups were involved in that. We looked at the request from the Dene Nation, reviewed it to see how we could look at doing this work and reaching out, and the decision was to work with the regional approach that we put together at the start of this Assembly and we’re continuing to do that. We have contacted the Dene Nation and informed them our approach will be with the regional and community leaders.
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Final supplementary, Mr. Krutko.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again I’d like to ask the Minister, there’s been a lot of push by the Premier to go community by community. I think before you do that, you’re undermining the Aboriginal leadership by doing that and not recognizing that they are elected officials with just as much authority as we have. I’d like to know if we are undermining the Aboriginal leadership without having that dialogue with them first, before we go into the communities. The same thing applies to ourselves as MLAs and Members of this House. What are we doing to get those Aboriginal leaders, show them some respect, and treat them as real leaders in the Northwest Territories and quit ignoring them?
The Member continues to stand up in this House and, in a sense, show disrespect to the process that we have put in place through regional leaders. The Member has at least in his mail copies of the letter and correspondence that we’ve sent to regional leaders to say we are working with them going forward with the regional leaders, so the grand chiefs, the presidents and the community leaders, the chiefs from their communities. We’ve invited them to give us times when they would like to meet and discuss how we proceed forward. So we’ve communicated on that behalf and await responses. In fact, we’ve acted on the first response we had from the Sahtu and the door is open for those who want to come forward and have these discussions on how to move forward.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Human Resources. It has to do with the promise that was made last year that Mr. Miltenberger stated May 18th. I want to ask the Minister when the Cross-Cultural Awareness Training Program will be available to all GNWT employees as was promised last year.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister responsible for Human Resources, Mr. Bob McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Unfortunately he never communicated that information to me. No, I’m just… We have been working diligently on developing a Cross-Cultural Awareness Training Program for the Government of the Northwest Territories. Our 20/20: Brilliant North Public Service Strategic Plan makes cross-cultural awareness and diversity awareness a priority for this government. We developed a framework agreement that promotes exactly that and we’ll be rolling it out in the new fiscal year, 2011-2012. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I want to ask the Minister when the department rolls out this cross-cultural training program, when, I guess, is the time frame in terms of dates as to when he thinks that it will be delivered in the Sahtu region.
We’ve awarded a couple of contracts so that we can develop a Cross-Cultural Awareness Training Program that can be delivered. We are working with communities and we are also involving Aboriginal governments, those that are willing to participate. We’ve written to all of them and invited them to participate. We also will be tendering and awarding another contract to develop a training curriculum framework for our e-training component of this cultural awareness program. My expectation is it will be early, probably the summer of 2011. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, can the Minister inform me and inform the House if the ground-roots people from the Sahtu region, in terms of their unique cultural way of living, are involved in part of the cross-cultural awareness training the same as the Gwich’in or the Akaitcho and the other diversity cultures in the North here. Is the Sahtu involved?
As I said, we have written to all of the Aboriginal governments inviting them to participate in the development of the cross-cultural awareness training. I would have to check to see if the Sahtu government has responded in the affirmative. But we are also developing a guide that would outline the training on the land or experienced-based training that’s available out there, and my expectation is that our Cross-Cultural Awareness Program that will be developed will involve people in the regions and elders and so on. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Your final supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. From experience, sometimes we find that some people are very well-expertised in putting together training programs, but they still don’t get it in terms of them facilitating or delivering a cross-cultural or any type of training program. How will the people in the Sahtu be in the forefront of actually teaching the program or putting the program together in terms of this cultural training that would be greatly received, hopefully, by the GNWT employees?
The contract has been awarded and we’ll address those issues. Our expectation is that all new employees that are new to the North, new to the government, will undergo the cross-cultural awareness and diversity-awareness training. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.
Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement I spoke of apprenticeships in the small communities and how this government should try to take advantage of the Apprenticeship Program and to try to get some deferred maintenance requirements done. I mentioned that across NWT and GNWT buildings, there is a deferred maintenance backlog of over $300 million.
I want to ask the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment: does the Minister know what the deferred maintenance requirements for each community are? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Those are the areas that we need to explore with each department. Each department has their own mandate. They have their own goals and objectives to deal with the communities, whether it comes to apprenticeship or training on the job at the community level and also employment. So we need to gather that information. I can definitely share that with the Member as well. Mahsi.
Mr. Speaker, I’m trying to get the appropriate department, I guess, to start looking at employment rates. It’s very difficult to kind of place this issue, like the Minister responded, on one department. I’m also trying to find some sort of champion, I guess, from Cabinet to be able to lead something like this. Again, I want to ask the Minister if he knows, if the Minister or the department knows what industry needs for the demand of trades personnel are in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, we do have data. We’ve conducted a survey in the past and we also have an MOU with the mining industry and they’ve identified how many apprentices will be required, how many positions will be required, training programs and the local employment. Just recently the Rio Tinto Diavik, they’ve hired on I believe it’s nine additional apprentices. That’s above and beyond what they’ve committed to. So kudos goes to the team. But others, the corporations and the bands have identified what’s going to be required in the next five to 10 years down the road. We do have the information on that and we are working with that information as we develop a plan to move forward on identifying budget, within the budget, to allocate that funding specifically to the communities such as Fort Res and Lutselk'e in the Member’s riding and other communities as well. Mahsi.
That’s good news, Mr. Speaker. It sounds like there’s been some activity with the industry. Now, in as far as the department themselves go, the department of Housing, Public Works, MACA, ITI, and their needs for work to be done, just any sort of work that has to be done, most of that type of work, when there’s contracts and so on, there’s a requirement for trades personnel to be on-site. I’m wondering if the Minister has discussed any sort of plan with departments such as Housing, Public Works, MACA and ITI in as far as the need for trades labour goes for their work. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, there’s always an ongoing discussion interdepartmentally, whether it be MACA, PWS, Housing, and within our Education department and other departments, as well, that may require whether it be apprentices or training on the job, and we do what we can as the department to assist in those areas because we do have the funding allocated under apprenticeship and an on-the-job training as well. Mr. Speaker, I’ll continue to work with those departments and strengthen the working relationships that we have and identifying those key areas of interest that are out there in the Northwest Territories and in the communities that we need to push for. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Your final supplementary, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, that’s positive. I think that’s in the right direction. There seems to be some good planning, I guess, going on for future needs and I’m talking about trades, although I’m ultimately trying to get some apprenticeships. Will the Minister commit to developing an overall plan for trades and apprenticeships, for both, to address the total needs of all trades requirements in the NWT including government and private industry? Thank you.
That definitely is part of the plan within Education, Culture and Employment. We need to have short-term and long-term plans as well. Just identifying some of the key areas in the Member’s riding, we’re happy to share that information on the 18 journeypersons in Fort Res mostly in the heavy equipment operators, three journeypersons in Lutselk'e, carpentry, heavy-duty mechanic and housing maintenance, and also two registered apprentices in Fort Res. Those are just, I think, a start for us and we need to identify those key areas working with the departments and also the corporation, the band council at the community level and also the community government. We need to identify what is required at the community level and we are more than willing to work with the communities in developing those key areas as well. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services and focused on the Centre for Northern Families which has obviously, according to the news, found itself in a fairly desperate financial situation. Mr. Speaker, the Centre for Northern Families obviously plays a big role in our city here and in society in general across the Territories in helping women who find themselves in dire situations, women and their children. I am wondering, Mr. Speaker, beyond the stabilization supports and modest funds that are provided to NGOs delivering critical services, what progress has the Minister made in helping to get the centre squarely back on their feet. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Member knows, the Department of Health has been working with Education, Culture and Employment to review the situation and come up with the options. I do not have the most recent information. I have asked the staff to look into that and I will get back to the Member. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I am certainly aware that the department has been working with them, but this work hasn’t resulted in any progress. That is a huge disappointment. I have a specific question.
The Minister committed to providing a secondment from GNWT some years ago now, I believe, to actually assist this important NGO to get back on their feet. Has this been done? If not, when will it be done? Mahsi.
Mr. Speaker, that was one of the options that I was discussing with Education, Culture and Employment. It should be noted here that ECE and Health are a joint funder and supporter of this program. I know that the staff had been working with the organization. I will update the Member. I have asked for the information, I just don’t have it in front of me. Thank you.
