Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories recognizes the importance of educating our youth about the natural environment so they may manage the land for future generations with knowledge and respect. As part of Managing this Land Strategic Initiative, the department acknowledged the importance of educating our youth to understand and embrace sound stewardship values, to ensure the continued health and wealth of our land and Territory into the future.
At the appropriate time today, Mr. Speaker, I will be tabling a copy of The Nature Journal, a learning aid and resource tool for students to learn about the land and environment. The Nature Journal was developed for NWT youth by the forest management division of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. The Nature Journal will give our youth a way to connect with their environments. It will allow them to reflect on and value nature and encourage them to learn about their land and environment.
The Nature Journal provides ideas and activities for exploration and is organized around seasonal themes. One of the activities is to pick a tree to observe over the course of a year. It is hoped youth will draw, write and make wishes for their tree and carry out explorations about some of the animals and birds that inhabit the woodlands near their homes.
Mr. Speaker, in his book, The Last Child in the Woods, author Richard Louv reflects on the disconnection between youth and nature as a result of the growing use of technology. Video games, television and computers are keeping youth indoors
and there are real concerns about the growing disconnect between them and nature. We see it frequently in the North. Children are spending less time outdoors. There is simply no place for them to plug in, so they do not want to go outside. Richard Louv described this phenomenon as a nature deficit disorder. He coined this phrase as a result of research he carried out to determine the extent of this disconnect and consequences of this behaviour. This research has spawned a movement where students and parents are taking measures to ensure that youth spend more time outdoors learning and playing.
“Young children learn through sound, sense and seasons of the outdoors,” said Mr. Louv, and the best way is through unstructured exploration and play. More and more educational materials and programs are being developed that focus on connecting children and nature in more meaningful ways. The Nature Journal is intended to provide youth in the NWT with more opportunities to get outdoors, to explore, touch, feel, smell, and hear the sounds and sights of nature.
The Nature Journal can be used by individuals, in group activities, or by teachers to enrich classroom learning. The concepts and information in the journal are northern based and focus on northern ecosystems and biological conditions. A plan is being developed to distribute and promote The Nature Journal in public libraries and schools throughout the North. I hope that this learning aid will be of value to our youth and I look forward to hearing about its use on the land and in the forests of the NWT.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Minister responsible for Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bob McLeod.
Mr. Speaker, this is Tourism Week in Canada. It is a chance for us to highlight the tremendous importance of this sector to our national and local economies, and to our lives as Canadians. More than any other sector in the Northwest Territories, tourism offers spin-off benefits and the potential to establish and grow viable and sustainable ventures in every one of our 33 communities.
Last season, tourism contributed over $137.9 million to the Northwest Territories economy; not just to individual owners and operators, but to service suppliers in accommodations, transportation, the food and beverage industry, travel trade, and the conference sector. This is one of the reasons why our government is investing almost $8 million into tourism in the coming fiscal year.
An agreement signed last month between Canada’s three territories and the Canadian Tourism Commission will help us optimize opportunities and cost savings by marketing the Northwest Territories tourism product along with the Yukon and Nunavut under the shared identity as Canada’s North. It is an agreement that will provide valuable dividends as we work to capitalize on unprecedented opportunities to raise the profile of the Northwest Territories at the 2010 Olympics and Paralympics in Vancouver.
The government’s Tourism 2010 Plan and the $15 million it represents in direct and leveraged investment is one of the most significant commitments ever made for tourism in the Northwest Territories. The introduction of the Tourism Diversification and Marketing Program last year is another good example of our tourism dollars in action and has enabled many of our operators to take steps to re-invent or expand their products and operations to meet the trends and demands that we anticipate will provide growth for our tourism industry in the future.
This summer, Industry, Tourism and Investment is offering marine safety training courses to tourism operators and their guides to ensure that they meet the new regulations that have been implemented by Transport Canada. These tourism-based initiatives and others are the tools with which we are working to balance and increase the diversity of the Northwest Territories’ economy, maximizing opportunities and contributing to an improvement in the quality of life for all Northwest Territories residents.
Tourism counts in our economy. In the next few weeks you’ll be seeing public service announcements on television reminding people about the importance of this industry and what it means to our Territory in employment and diversification.
This Wednesday, as part of the national celebration in Ottawa, the Tourism Industry Association of Canada will announce distinguished Canadians who will be inducted into the Canadian Tourism Hall of Fame. This honour publically recognizes individuals who have made tourism their life’s work and made a positive impact on the industry. I am proud to say that the names of Merlyn and Jean Carter, founders of Carter Air Services, and Nonacho Lake Lodge have been included on the list.
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The Carters pioneered our fishing industry and Merlyn was mentor to many bush pilots who have gone on to great success. Exceptional service, leadership, and integrity will always be associated with the Carter name here in the North. Congratulations to Jean and her family.
I would like to take the time today to recognize the board and staff of Northwest Territories Tourism who, in its role as our destination marketing organization, is an important and valued partner in our efforts on behalf of the tourism sector. As well, I would like to recognize the work of CDETNO, who market the Northwest Territories to our French speaking audience.
And finally, I would like to acknowledge the efforts of my departmental staff who are working with and on behalf of our tourism industry to deliver training programs and services.
I would like to pay tribute to the hardworking men and women who make up the Northwest Territories tourism industry. At every level, these individuals’ determination, strength, and resilience have built our industry, and their service and reputation are the face of our Territory to the world.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am pleased to announce the launch of a new career website for the Department of Health and Social Services. The Department of Health and Social Services, in collaboration with the Department of Human Resources, has developed a recruitment and retention website, www.practicenorth.ca, aimed at current and potential Health and Social Services professionals in the Northwest Territories. Www.practicenorth.ca will become the central recruitment backbone of the department, complementing the department’s existing activities and acting as a content hub for existing and potential recruits.
Eighty percent of job seekers now use the Internet as a primary resource for employer information and to locate appropriate opportunities. We need to attract these on-line candidates and this new website will help us do so. We know that almost everyone has access to the Internet either from school, home, or work, public cafes, and libraries. Www.practicenorth.ca will extend the department’s recruitment initiatives on-line and communicate directly with candidates.
The career website will contain up-to-date dynamic information pertaining to living in the NWT and working in the NWT as health and social service professionals. Potential recruits and professionals across the NWT will have access to information about career enrichment, including bursary applications and professional development initiatives, and quick access to job opportunities and contacts within each of the NWT’s eight health authorities.
Www.practicenorth.ca will also use peer-to-peer stories to develop a clearer understanding about the work-life balance of a health and social service professional in the NWT. This section will provide potential candidates with an opportunity to hear first hand personal experiences from our health and social service professionals in the NWT.
The career website is an important step forward and it is an important part of responding to and recruiting today’s professionals. The career website applies relationship marketing that will pull potential candidates to the information they are interested in, rather than pushing the information out to non-segmented markets through traditional forms of recruitment.
As we continue to compete with all other provinces and territories in recruiting health and social services professionals, I am confident this new website will provide us with technological advantage that will complement our existing recruiting methods.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Minister responsible for Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Robert McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In February 2009 I spoke to Members about the challenges that community governments face as they assume increased authority and responsibility. The skills required to manage and govern a local community in the Northwest Territories have expanded significantly and many community governments are challenged to recruit and retain capable staff.
Capacity challenges are not just limited to small communities. All communities can face capacity challenges at some point and capacity is not static. A once stable, well functioning community can be challenged after a turnover of management, staff, and council.
I am pleased to confirm that in collaboration with the Minister of Human Resources, the Honourable Bob McLeod, we are partnering with the Northwest Territories Association of Communities and the Local Government Administrators of the NWT to look at how we can strengthen the capacity of local government administrators and also ensure that local elected leaders have the skills they need to enable staff to implement their vision and maintain stability in the local government. This public service capacity initiative will support initiatives that sustain local government administration and also help local leaders to recognize what they need to do to hire and keep their key staff.
During the recent Northwest Territories Association of Communities’ Annual General Meeting in Inuvik, MACA sought advice and direction of delegates on how new programs that support building capacity can best be implemented to meet community government needs and interests. The one hour on the AGM’s busy agenda that was dedicated to this consultation stretched well beyond the allotted timeslot as leaders and administrators provided rich insights, recommendations and advice that will help guide the design of strategies to build capacity.
In addition, the first elected training session took place a day before the AGM on roles and responsibilities and codes and conflict. I would like to commend the 47 mayors and councillors, almost double the number who registered in advance, who took the time to participate in the elected leaders training. Building their skills as leaders is an important part of building overall government capacity.
Based on the advice we received, work will now begin on developing strategies, including an intern program that would offer communities funding to hire a qualified intern who would be supported to learn from the local government administrator, and a mentorship program that would establish a network where senior administration officers and band managers in the NWT can connect with each other for support and advice as they address issues and challenges. Other potential supports include a handbook and tool kit that would provide go-to resources that can assist local government administrators on all issues related to the requirements of the job.
Capacity challenges can affect all of our communities, and because our communities and our challenges are diverse, the strategies that we develop will need to be broad and flexible to respond meaningfully to the wide range of issues facing community governments, and to provide appropriate levels of support.
Mr. Speaker, when we talk about refocusing government, and we talk about improving human resource management, we need to focus on the long term. Building local government capacity is not a short-term issue that will be resolved within a year or two. This is a long-term partnership that requires a multi-pronged approach with a range of strategies in order to make a difference.
I’m very optimistic about the opportunities this initiative is going to open up as we move forward collectively. MACA’s commitment to building community capacity will ensure that community governments are able to lead effectively while remaining responsive, resilient, vibrant and sustainable. I look forward to providing regular updates to committee and Members on the activities undertaken as part of this very important initiative. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Gwich’in and Inuvialuit people have been harvesting for thousands of years in the Mackenzie Delta, Beaufort Sea area in regard to their ability to sustain themselves in regard to hunting, trapping and fishing. Mr. Speaker, throughout the history of the North we have seen where communities were built where peoples’ camps were located, where they raised their families by way of hunting and fishing.
Mr. Speaker, throughout the Northwest Territories, these sites still exist. Families still enjoy the summers, going out to their fish camps or going out to their trappers’ cabins to continue on with their subsistence harvesting, but, more importantly, carrying out a cultural way of life.
Mr. Speaker, this government must do everything it can within the government, within its departments, and must acknowledge and understand the importance of subsistence harvesting for the aboriginal people in the Northwest Territories. Mr. Speaker, whenever there’s a conflict between government priorities or government initiatives which has a direct implication on subsistence harvesting, regardless of affecting someone’s ability to set a net, in regards to where a family’s cabin was for hundreds of years, where people have harvested in those locations, and more importantly, where the land claim agreements have specifically identified areas of special harvesting for those aboriginal groups in those areas.
Mr. Speaker, I’m talking about a particular conflict that I’ve been dealing with for the last number of years, along with the Minister of Transportation and the Department of Transportation, and it’s in regards to the Nazon camp on the Inuvik side of the Mackenzie River, which was there long before the highway was even built. This is a camp that continues to be used by the Nazon family every summer to fish. Yet, Mr. Speaker, the last number of years the government has moved the ferry operations closer and closer to the camp’s embankment and the locations where they used to set their nets.
Mr. Speaker, this government has to acknowledge, find ways of resolving these disputes and not to have to continue to stand up in this House and talk about something that all it will take is the Department of Transportation to move back to where they’ve been offloading their ferries for the last 15 years and, more importantly, move 50 yards down the road, or 50 feet down from where they’re located right now, so you avoid this conflict.
Mr. Speaker, I will be asking the Minister of Transportation questions. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, a supplementary appropriation approved by this House is devoting $2 million for reconstruction of the Dettah road this year, with the expectation of further funds next year. The people of Dettah and all who travel there heartily welcome the beginning of the work to build a proper road to this growing community. As anyone who drives the road knows, the work is sorely needed. Making this road construction a priority for use of the Building Canada Fund monies is an encouraging demonstration of our determination to make this project happen. We’re making an excellent start and moving to act for a group of people who, despite their proximity to our capital, have been ignored for too long.
Mr. Speaker, my understanding is that considerably more than $2 million or even $4 million will be needed to bring the road up to a serviceable standard. I will ask the Minister later to report to this House on the amount of the latest cost estimate for the entire work. In any event, the cost can’t have gone down and $2 million won’t take the work even halfway to completion.
Mr. Speaker, there have also been some creative proposals for making the road construction a capacity-building and training development project possibly involving the Yellowknives Dene First Nation, Deton’cho and the Mine Training Society. A project that prepares local partners to take on further major contracting opportunities, such as the eventual realignment of the Ingraham Trail around the Giant Mine property, would add considerable value to the project. Road construction would not only provide its major primary benefits to Dettah residents and other users, it would pave the way to greater opportunities by growing our local capacity to take on major contracts.
Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the Minister and this House for assigning the funds to get this project underway. I ask the Minister and all Members to recognize that when we start something with strong commitment, we need to keep that priority alive right through to project completion. Perhaps we will have more access to federal dollars to help us in this work. Whatever the source of funding and whoever our partners are, I ask that we be prepared to maintain our commitment to the project and spend good money after good, right through to project completion. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, last Friday the Union of Northern Workers and the Public Service Alliance of Canada held a demonstration outside of this Legislature in opposition of the sale of the NWT Power Corporation to ATCO. They are very clear: The NWT Power Corporation is owned by all residents of the Northwest Territories. It’s our asset and it must remain a public asset. I agree with them.
History has shown that selling public power corporations to private interest has not resulted in lower power rates for residents over the long term. Just look at the results of the sale of the Yukon Power Corp to private interests. In the end, rates went up to the residents of the Yukon who were previously the owners of their public corporation. In Nova Scotia the province is in the process of reversing the sale of their public power corporation. They’re buying it back after the sale to private interests drove the cost of power up.
Ultimately, I believe that the two reviews that Cabinet are currently conducting are good first steps in finding ways to improve the provision of power throughout the Northwest Territories and, hopefully, reduce the costs of power for all residents. I look forward to the findings of these reviews.
I also support the ATCO review. I believe that it would be irresponsible not to conduct a comprehensive review of a proposal of this magnitude. I don’t believe we should sell the Power Corporation. Conducting this review, in my opinion, will help this government assess future opportunities and possibly identify some improvements which are required within our Power Corporation. All reasonable ideas and suggestions should be considered.
Having said that, I know the confusion still exists. During my discussions with individuals participating in the demonstration, I was asked some specific questions on process that I need to have clarified later today.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member from Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I want to go back to something I raised in February in this House and that is the need for the runway lights in Jean Marie River and Nahanni Butte. In my recent tour to these communities, I found that concerns on this matter are growing. For the most part, these communities are reached by air, and the lack of runway lights diminishes the safety for air travel for residents. Lack of runway lights can also make it difficult for essential services, such as emergency medevac, to travel to Jean Marie and Nahanni Butte at night or during inclement weather. Thus, a resident or visitor may be left without necessary emergency care.
Most community airports across the NWT are equipped with basic infrastructure, such as adequate runways, navigational aids and runway lighting. This ensures that communities can be safely accessed by air 24 hours a day year round. The Minister of Transportation has stated that public safety is the number one priority in his department. Airport runway lights are a matter of public safety.
I ask the Minister to make a commitment to include airport runway lights for Jean Marie and Nahanni Butte in the 2010-2011 capital plan of his department. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Member from Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I want to speak about the Government of the Northwest Territories’ efforts in securing federal investment in our Territory. For four years we heard former Premier Joe Handley tell us the Deh Cho Bridge project was contingent on the federal government coming forward to help us pay for that bridge. We waited and waited for that investment and, obviously, none came and the government decided we would pay for it ourselves. Mr. Speaker, we will be paying for that bridge upwards of $4 million a year every year indexed for the next 35 years.
Mr. Speaker, why didn’t the federal government step in with a sizeable effort? The GNWT is now left holding that bag, and it’s a very expensive bag, for 35 years. Last fall people in our Territory were very excited that the Prime Minister and many other federal Cabinet Ministers were in Inuvik, a big announcement was coming and many here were hoping that this announcement was for funding for the Mackenzie Valley Highway, the Deh Cho Bridge or some other big investment in our Territory. However, what we received was an announcement of a new icebreaker to be named after former Prime Minister John Diefenbaker. I can’t say, Mr. Speaker, that I blame the federal government entirely. It points to the fact that we need to get our act together politically here in the Northwest Territories to ensure we can present a common message and front to the federal government.
Some recent examples of how our neighbours in the Yukon have been very successful in getting substantial investments have led me to believe that the Yukon government seems to understand how Ottawa works. The Yukon has, in the last couple of years, received some very big investments, like the $28 million for the Canada Games Complex in Whitehorse, $5 million to help the agricultural industry in the Yukon -- and that comes from the Growing Forward Initiative, a $1.3 billion fund -- and, more recently, a $71 million investment in the Mayo Hydro Facility enhancement and stage two of the Carmacks-Stewart Transmission Line.
Mr. Speaker, where is our government at when it comes to getting the federal government to help fund such things as the advancement of agriculture, recreation facility infrastructure and hydro development, just to name a few? Mr. Speaker, I’m not suggesting that we don’t appreciate what the federal government gives us; I’m very thankful for that. The problem, as I see it, is our inability to deliver a cohesive, unified message. Mr. Speaker, we’d better try to figure this out, otherwise the opportunities will continue to pass us by. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today, as well, I would like to speak about the issue of the consideration of the ATCO proposal as it relates to the Northwest Territories Power Corporation.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the Premier for coming down to Hay River and meeting with us after the end of the last session as we requested him to do. We had a chance to meet with the employees and then have a much larger meeting at the Power Corp itself with the management and the employees together. I thought it was a very productive exercise. Unfortunately we hadn’t done that sooner because I think a lot of the concern and misunderstanding about what was being looked at could have been avoided and averted if we had taken a slightly different approach on this. Like so many other things that our government looks at, sometimes when things are not communicated well it gives the opportunity for there to be a big resistance built up to something which if clearly explained, people might have more understanding and they might be able to support it.
My colleague Mr. Abernethy mentioned the words “sale of the corporation.” I have never yet heard that the sale of NTPC was on the table. The only thing I have heard was that an unsolicited proposal for a merger between ATCO and NTPC was brought forward. We have to be clear in our language and I know that the UNW was here at the Legislative Assembly and, of course, understandably, they are concerned about government jobs and would oppose privatization.
As the Premier explained to the employees in Hay River that day, is that it is incumbent on this government to explore and look at the business possibilities and potentials of partnering with an organization who has much more money for energy development, hydro development than we do as a government. One of our problems is that we do have a debt wall and we have limited resources. So as we move forward, we’re trying to balance the interests of those very valued NTPC employees at headquarters and across the Northwest Territories with the interest of the consumers of the Northwest Territories, and it would not be responsible of this government not to consider options that may be able to really be in everyone’s best interests. Certainly if the ATCO merger did proceed, they would need good and qualified employees as well.
So I think that the meeting in Hay River was good and later today I’ll be asking the Premier questions so that people can be further updated and informed. Thank you.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Member from Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.
Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. (Translation) Mr. Speaker, today I’m going to talk a bit about housing, people that own their own houses and their rental units, the way they’ve been handling the way they work with the housing programs and I want to ask the Members, I will ask the Minister of Housing. (Translation ends)
I have had the opportunity to meet many constituents across Tu Nedhe over the last two years. Housing problems continue to be the number one issue as far as most constituents are concerned. Mr. Speaker, I believe that the NWT Housing Corporation staff need to develop an overall housing development plan in each of the communities of Tu Nedhe.
Mr. Speaker, this housing development plan must look at all aspects of housing in each community. Therefore, this plan must look at public housing, homeownership, market housing, housing for staff and land status.
Mr. Speaker, I’m not suggesting the NWT Housing Corporation complete a housing development plan in market communities, that would be too cumbersome. I am primarily speaking about smaller non-market communities where the majority of the housing units were put on the ground by the GNWT through the NWT Housing Corporation.
Mr. Speaker, the NWT Housing Corporation will soon have a needs survey completed. This needs survey will be a key document in developing this plan. I feel that it is imperative that the housing development plan be completed, as it can serve as a blueprint as to what happens in housing over the next few years.
Mr. Speaker, this plan will also provide certainty to the LHO staff, the Housing Corporation staff, the MLA and the Minister and, most importantly, the constituents. I’ll have questions for the Minister of Housing at the appropriate time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member from Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I’m concerned about the increasing number of evictions from public housing and I’m equally concerned about the fact that the Ministers who are responsible for Housing, Education and Health and Social Services do not appear to be working together to reduce the number of evictions.
Last year, a report on homeless women and families in the NWT said that the number of homeless women is in the hundreds. Where do these Ministers think that these evicted families are to go? Who is to support them? What are their options in finding housing in their community or elsewhere?
Clearly, we seem to have a growing class of people who require housing, Mr. Speaker. We all know that the GNWT is facing increased demands to provide shelter and shelter funding.
Mr. Speaker, for example, if someone was to be evicted in Yellowknife and they wanted emergency shelter through the YWCA, they could be waiting six, nine, or even 12 months to get through that waiting list for emergency shelter. So what do they do?
What happens when a family, a northern family, is evicted from public housing? Is Health and Social Services supposed to step in and provide housing now? What should we do? Because the problem becomes continuously obvious that the Ministers are not preventing evictions. Why can’t the local housing authority, the local health authority, and certainly the clients work together ahead of time to prevent evictions? Especially ones that are related to arrears.
The solution is this simple: If we had a staff person working on intervention rather than eviction, this would go a long way to solve this problem, and I suspect that the cost for these authorities would be a lot cheaper than putting someone in an apartment or a hotel for the night because they’ve been evicted to the street. The cheaper solution and the long-term solution is to get them on their feet through the local housing organization.
Having an eviction hanging over your head cannot be a healthy environment for that family. So how many evictions are coming up? Well, I’ve heard unconfirmed reports that potentially 50 families are facing eviction outside of Yellowknife. Then should Yellowknife be getting ready for the wave of people coming this summer?
What is the GNWT doing? Well, I can tell you what the GNWT isn’t doing and I certainly hope that these Ministers will see this problem, organize, and start having someone working with these clients in advance of this problem, because when an MLA gets a phone call at 2:00 p.m. on Friday at the end of the month, there’s not much we can do about a Supreme Court order that orders an eviction.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today my Member’s statement is on medical travel cancellations and the concerns that we are having in Nunakput. We all know how it feels when your flights are cancelled for whatever reason in the Northwest Territories. It happens a lot because of bad weather and mechanical problems. However, when medical travel is cancelled when the patient is in severe pain, it becomes a serious problem.
In February I asked questions in the House about how procedures and policies are used to evaluate whether the patient should be medevaced and I also expressed my concerns about the air carriers cancelling scheduled flights which include medical travel passengers. The Minister responded indicating that the airline has the right to cancel the flight due to lack of passengers that day. Whether the air carrier has the right or not is not the issue. The issue is the residents in the small remote communities should not have to wait for the medical appointments while their flights are being cancelled time after time, especially if the patient is in severe pain. Every resident of the Territory needs to have access to adequate and timely medical care.
A constituent told me of a situation when they had to wait due to a cancellation, because of lack of passengers for several hours. Later a chartered flight did land in that community, but they had no room for additional passengers.
In my communities there is only one air carrier. This community has the influence to coordinate other contracts such as medevac, medical travel, food mail, and postal service. So the airlines do not have to cancel flights due to lack of passengers.
Someone in the medical field needs to review the patients who have their travel cancelled, to reconsider or coordinate other travel arrangements such as medevacs. Other patients have serious medical problems. Expecting patients to wait for a full flight and good weather does not work in the small communities when you have flights in every other day in some communities that I represent.
I will have questions for the Minister of Health at the appropriate time.
Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Like most Members of this House, I’ve received calls and e-mails from constituents who are concerned about the selection process used by the GNWT in the hiring of summer students. In my two years here, I’ve heard many times about the importance of our people, our residents, our children to this Territory. If this government is serious about our commitment to Northwest Territories students and we really do want them to return to the NWT to work, that we really do value them as NWT born and bred, then the Department of Human Resources must develop a better process to ensure fairness and equal opportunity in the hiring of summer students.
The Minister will say that a selection process is in place and, yes, it is. But the results of that process are haphazard and inconsistent. Success for the student that would be landing a GNWT job often depends on who knows who or who their parents know. There is no one method used to hire our summer students. Deputy ministers are left to their own devices when hiring students for their department.
This lack of a coordinated approach leads to the perception of favouritism, and often favouritism is actually the reality. I’m aware of at least three instances this year alone where the child of a deputy minister or a director has been hired for that department as a summer student, and the hiring occurred after other non-relative students had been told that there were no jobs available in that department. Such cherry picking cannot be tolerated.
I believe the first change in this hiring process must be to restrict the hiring of family members within a department for summer student employment. We should also consider paying our students less so that we can employ more of them.
The Department of Human Resources must take a more active and coordinating role where the hiring of summer students is concerned. The Human Resources staff are our experts in this area. They do hiring day in and day out; the various department staff do not. Why do we insist on an informal, unfair staffing model just because we’re hiring students?
This government contends that we want to be transparent and fair. At this point we are not and I call on the Minister of Human Resources to conduct a formal review of the summer student hiring process and effect some change for the better.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With the recent concerns about the Alberta tar sands and the idea of using the Mackenzie River as a super highway, it seems to me that harm to the Mighty Mackenzie is going to happen. We have to take action. We cannot allow one of Mother Nature’s wonders to be hurt.
The Mackenzie River is 4,200 kilometres long. It touches many of the communities along the Mackenzie Valley. An elder once said the Mackenzie River is like the blood veins in our bodies; it gives us life. The Mackenzie is in our blood. Having just spent 10 days at my family’s camp at Old Fort Point, right on the Mackenzie just a short distance from Tulita, I’ve been asking myself what we can do to protect the river, this river of life, from harm.
Witnessing one of Mother Nature’s wonders is an awesome experience. For example, the spring breakup of the Mackenzie River, so powerful, so beautiful, and yet so frightening all at the same time.
The GNWT is developing a Water Strategy. We all know that as a small government it’s hard to stand up to the big governments like Alberta and Ottawa. It’s like David and Goliath. Yet we must take a stand for what is right and just.
There is one step that we can take right now that will help protect the Mackenzie River. We can get the Mackenzie River designated as a Canadian Heritage River. This would be one of the additional tools that could help protect the Mackenzie River and demonstrate this government’s commitment to good government environmental policies. I can’t imagine there would be any issues meeting the Canadian Heritage criteria for the Great Mackenzie River.
I’ll follow up with the Minister in regards to these questions.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Member for Yellowknife South, Mr. Bob McLeod.
Mr. Speaker, today I rise in the House to recognize the achievement of one of my young constituents of Yellowknife South, Kristin Chapman.
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Kristin recently travelled with her fellow NWT representatives to the Youth Bowling Canada National Championships in Toronto from May 2nd to the 4th. Kristen brought home the Gold Medal as the Bantam Girls 5-pin Singles National Champion.
---Applause
During the three-day event, Kristin bowled a total of 20 games, which works out to two games each against the 10 other provincial and territorial champions. She compiled a record of 14 wins and six losses, edging out the silver medalist from southern Ontario by one point. Kristin also took home a plaque for high single during the event with a 232 total in a match against British Columbia. That was a pretty impressive weekend’s work for a nine-year-old.
To put her achievement into perspective, there are currently over 23,000 bowlers registered across Canada in Youth Bowling Canada programs. The Northwest Territories has two such programs: one in Hay River and one in Yellowknife. Provincial and territorial champions travel each year to the national championships to compete in three divisions: Bantam, Junior, and Senior.
While many of the larger jurisdictions have had much success at this event, the Northwest Territories traditionally goes in as underdogs. Kristin also had the distinction of being the only Bantam girl who was a two-handed bowler. As such, many of her competitors appear to have underestimated her and she set out to prove them wrong.
The third time was the charm for Kristin as she finished last and second last in the first two times she attended the nationals, so she understandably had modest expectations. However, the experience allowed her to remain calm and avoid the nerves that overtook many of her competitors. Going into the final day she had a very slim lead over second place Alberta and third place Southern Ontario, both of whom she had to play to earn the gold.
Kristin’s greatest strength was that she was able to raise her game when it really counted. She went into the late stages against both Southern Ontario and Alberta and won both matches with clutched final frames to secure the wins. This young lady has nerves of steel.
She was also recognized by the other competitors and parents alike for her happy, smiling demeanour and sportsmanship…
Mr. McLeod, your time for Member’s statement has expired.
