Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I think that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission does deserve to be recognized for their truly incredible amount of hard work here in the Northwest Territories. There is a lot to do yet. I’m excited that we can stand in this House, have a presentation with them and to commend them for their hard work.
I know that as I travel to the communities in the North, especially to my communities in the Nahendeh, that people were excited to see them and I think the excitement was about a chance to be heard and for their stories to be heard. Their role is like ours as MLAs. I think that they do want to make a difference in the people’s lives with so many people impacted in all the regions throughout Canada.
I’d like to concentrate on some of the positive things in the Ministers’ statements today, talking about getting out to the jails and having the residential school system and syndrome explained in our schools with the curriculum change. All those little things make a difference in our people’s lives, and they should be commended on that and the many other great things that should be coming out as they complete their work.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to rise and thank the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that has done some tremendous work to bring to light the experiences of our people that have gone through the residential school.
I, too, went through the system. I kind of wanted to shed light in terms of some looking-forward philosophy.
One of the things that has really created a big imprint in my life is just re-learning the aspects of our culture. One thing that’s very prominent in my mind is the legend of Yamoriah and the story of creation and how this land was created. I always felt that at some point in our lives, as we go forward embracing this culture and our past, that at some point in our lives, whether it’s this generation or the future generations, that we will become giants, like the two brothers that graced this land and created a lot of the paths and trails that we lead. Eventually our people will become giants and serve in this society and try to help out this world.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. To the motion. I’ll allow the mover of the motion to have closing remarks. Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to say thank you to the honourable Member for Thebacha, Mr. Miltenberger, for seconding this motion. Mr. Miltenberger, I recall, said, I think it was in 2005, seven years ago, I remember having this discussion in 2005 and at that time it was very emotional, very charged, and very good.
The Premier did say that we are the only government in Canada to recognize this day and I want to say something about this government. It’s an honour to be amongst you as my colleagues, to say we’re still the only government, we are leaders up here, believe it or not, in the eyes of Canada, that we can take a step forward, as Mr. Nadli said, and become giants and say we forgive and want to move on. Truly, in the eyes of Canada, there’s a people, survivors around here, as Mr. Miltenberger said, there are four, five, six, seven of us that grew up in the system, for good or bad, for right or wrong, we know the experience. We became pretty good in sports. So good some of us want to be NHL hockey players or basketball players. Some of us even met our sweethearts and married them there. We had family. We have family right across the North. We have family from Tuk, Sachs, Deline, the Wells, Providence, Simpson. We have brothers and sisters. We grew up with them. That’s the beauty of this institution. When Mr. Miltenberger says he wants to look and try to see the good side of it, that’s what I look at today. That’s what I look at today.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission is helping us. They are telling us the strong message that you’re okay. Those messages are pretty powerful when you’re five years old or six years old and told that you’re no good. Don’t speak your language. Those messages go right to the core of who we are and hurt us as we grow up. We have to keep working on ourselves. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission is doing that. Just go to our jails and you’ll see the victims. The victims that worked all their lives on not being good enough. They are so bad that we have to put them in jail. Go through that system.
Today I’m very proud to be here in the House amongst my colleagues, and putting this painful, painful past behind us. It feels good. I feel good about what we are about to achieve. We are reaching a turning point in history of each of us, each and every one of us. A few years back I said we took the leap, we started sharing our pain and our humiliating experiences at the residential schools. When our whispers grew into a roar, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, like I said, was founded by the survivors. We needed to give voice to our truth and nothing but the truth. Can the government handle our truth?
There is a turning point in our history as well. Through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, all Canadians are learning about the human cost of national policies towards Aboriginal people, other people, and education, institutionalized racism, and the oppressions that are black marks of the worst kind and Canadians are ashamed of it.
There has been an official apology from the Prime Minister of Canada four years ago, something we as survivors believed would happen and that did happen.
Believe in your dreams and don’t let anyone steal your dreams. What we can be proud of as Canadians, as Aboriginal people and non-Aboriginal people, is that today, together we are facing history. We are brave enough, as a nation, to be honest with ourselves and the world, about our past and for what we want the present to be and our path to the future. The stories of the residential schools will go into our history books. We are already working on that here in the Northwest Territories along with Nunavut.
We will, all of us, all Canadians, look back on the residential school era as a terrible low point, like the low points of human wars. Like Martin Luther King, we Aboriginal people have a dream. We see our children’s children as well educated in their own tradition and the histories and the language, and the western knowledge, as people call it. We will govern ourselves within Canada. We will share. It is our way. It is our law as told by a great leader Yamoriah, who symbolizes the beaver, the pelts, and the arrows, and the Bear and the Mackenzie rivers banks flow through Tulita. This is more than just a dream. It is happening. We will say to our grandchildren, see how far we have come? We want to see how far you can go.
That, my friends, is partially the legacy of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. I thank the commission and their staff for all the work they have done, the planning, the listening, the encouraging, the enabling, the healing.
I am so proud of the people who are speaking out and the courage they have shown. I thank them all right here in my heart. People like Lawrence Thrasher, who was the first person to speak at the TRC hearing in Tuktoyaktuk. He was a good gospel singer and he sang at that hearing right from his soul. People had just been hanging around thinking about the awful things they had lived through, and the abuse that was going on that has ripped out of the residential school. I want to quote Lawrence’s words that day: “Somebody needs help here today too. We know it and I say it’s time to release. It’s my Inuvialuit people. Time to be bold and to be brave. Time to be light and start a new life.”
Lawrence passed away not even two weeks ago. He knew, like we know, that it’s a long road that we are travelling. We are far from it. There is a lot of healing yet to be done. Different people in different communities are at different stages of their journey. We have to support them. We have to be strong in our commitment to this.
I do want to thank the ones who spoke up in times when residential school wasn’t the hot topic like today, to thank the parents for helping us when we didn’t know what lies ahead of us, and to the ones who gave their lives for me and all the survivors to stand here today. I do want to thank this government for recognizing the residential schools and to be an example to the rest of all of Canada, that as a government we do recognize our people. For that I thank you for this special day.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The Member is seeking a recorded vote. All those in favour, please rise.
Mr. Yakeleya, Mr. Bouchard, Mr. Blake, Mr. Beaulieu, Mr. Abernethy, Mr. Miltenberger, Mr. McLeod – Yellowknife South, Mr. Lafferty, Mr. Ramsay, Mr. McLeod – Inuvik Twin Lakes, Mrs. Groenewegen, Mr. Dolynny, Ms. Bisaro, Mr. Nadli, Mr. Hawkins, Mr. Menicoche, Mr. Moses, Mr. Bromley.
All those opposed, please stand. All those abstaining, please stand. Eighteen yes, zero no, zero abstentions. The motion is carried.
---Carried
Colleagues, we’re going to take a 30-minute break in the Great Hall to meet with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. I urge everybody to come out and visit a little bit. Thank you very much.
---SHORT RECESS
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha, that Bill 5, Legal Aid Act, be read for the first time. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The motion is non-debatable. The motion is carried.
---Carried
Bill 5 has had first reading.
Item 19, second reading of bills. Item 20, consideration in Committee of the Whole of bills and other matters: Tabled Document 2-17(3), Commissioner’s Opening Address: Creating the Conditions for Success; Tabled Document 17-17(3), Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 7, 2010-2011; Tabled Document 18-17(3), Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 4, 2010-2011; Bill 1, An Act to Amend the Student Financial Assistance Act; Bill 3, An Act to Amend the Human Rights Act; Committee Report 1-17(3), Standing Committee on Government Operations Report on the Review of the 2010-2011 Annual Report of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of the Northwest Territories; Committee Report 2-17(3) Standing Committee on Government Operations Report on the Review of the 2010-2011 Northwest Territories Human Rights Commission Annual Report, with Mrs. Groenewegen in the chair.
Okay, Members, I’d like to call Committee of the Whole to order. The Speaker has put us in Committee of the Whole and listed off all the documents that are before us. I would like to ask what is the wish of the committee today. Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Committee wishes to review Tabled Document 27-17(3), Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 1, 2012-2013.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
We’ve had a break so we will just proceed with our business at hand. Mr. Miltenberger, with your opening remarks, please.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I am here to present Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 1, 2012-2013. This document outlines a net increase of $4.601 million in operations expenditures for the 2012-2013 fiscal year.
The major items included in the supplementary estimates are:
$250,000 for the Department of Finance to provide appropriation authority to transfer funds from the Consolidated Revenue Fund to the Heritage Fund.
$200,000 for the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs to continue the Ground Ambulance Program.
$900,000 for the Department of Health and Social Services to provide funding to increase prevention and promotion activities in 2012-13.
$367,000 for the Department of Health and Social Services and $49,000 for the Department of Justice to support initiatives that support the design and implementation of phase 3 programming and evaluation of past activities of the Family Violence Action Plan.
$215,000 for the Department of Justice for funding for the implementation of a pilot alcohol and drug treatment program at the South Mackenzie Correctional Centre.
$1.7 million for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to increase funding for alternative energy initiatives in 2012-13.
I am prepared to review the details of the supplementary estimates document.
Thank you, Minister Miltenberger. I’d like to ask the Minister if he would like to bring witnesses into the Chamber. Mr. Miltenberger.
Yes, Madam Chair.
Does committee agree?
Agreed.
I’ll ask the Sergeant-at-Arms to please escort the witnesses to the witness table.
For the record, Mr. Miltenberger, could you please introduce your witnesses?
Thank you, Madam Chair. I have with me the deputy minister of Finance, Mike Aumond; and deputy secretary to the FMB, Sandy Kalgutkar.
Thank you, Minister Miltenberger. General comments. Seeing no general comments, we’re ready to move to the detail. I’ll ask the Members to turn their attention please to the Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 1, 2012-2013, and turn to page 3 of the document. The Department of Finance, operations expenditures, deputy minister’s office, not previously authorized, $250,000. Total department. Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Again, welcome to the Minister and the department here today. I can tell you that the committee here and Regular Members are quite pleased with the fact that the Department of Finance has come forward to, I guess, commence the beginning of the Heritage Fund in a way that was meant for the people of the Northwest Territories.
My first question has to deal with now that we’ve seen some commitment in this, and I know we’re waiting for some of the devolution pieces of the puzzle to come forward. Can the Minister indicate, is there a plan of action with further funding, and if so, what is that formula? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Madam Chair. The $250,000 will be ongoing, so it will be another $250,000 next year until we come to some greater certainty with devolution and other potential revenue streams. Thank you.
Madam Chair, again, we do appreciate the Department of Finance recognizing the need to commence the starting point for this fund. Given the fact that we have very low interest rates and the return on investments in the investing world is somewhat questionable, can the Minister indicate as to what vehicle and what type of vehicles will this money be invested to accrue the highest possible return for the people in the Northwest Territories?
Madam Chair, I’ll just make a couple of comments and I’ll ask Mr. Kalgutkar to provide some of the technical detail. We are going to ensure that this fund is very carefully invested, that it’s protected. It’s been put away for enough time to accrue some value. So we’re not going to be chasing after any high-risk investments, but I’ll ask Mr. Kalgutkar to speak to some of the technical detail. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister Miltenberger. Mr. Kalgutkar.
Thank you, Madam Chair. The Member is right; it’s going to be invested in fairly conservative instruments like very high-grade investment stocks, as in accordance with our investment regulations. The Heritage Fund Act does require the Department of Finance to develop regulations, once we start making investments into the fund. So we will prepare those and have the committee review those before making any investments that committee wants to review.
In terms of some additional information, if we continue to invest $250,000 a year annually, at the 10-year checkpoint the act requires that Assembly do a 10-year review of the fund. We will have built up about $2.6 million in principal and interest in the fund. After 20 years, we will have built up about $5.6 million of interest and principal into the fund. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Kalgutkar. Mr. Dolynny.
Madam Chair, again, I appreciate the level of detail. Can the department indicate if there was a target level interest accrual for the first year of this fund?
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Mr. Minister.
We are aiming at 1.2 percent.
As mentioned by Mr. Kalgutkar, there are various investment monies or investment opportunities that this money will be put in under, as they said, a guidance or profile. Can the department indicate who advises this investment? Will Regular Members have the opportunity to be part of the investment strategy and help coordinate a stronger thinking tank, so to speak, with this money in the future? Thank you.
Madam Chair, Mr. Kalgutkar indicated we will be coming back with the regulations. We will be reporting on the fund. It’s put away for 20 years. The whole intent of doing that is to keep it as politically tamperproof as possible. We want to keep that in mind as we move forward. We will have some role for ourselves, but this will be done according to the standard practice of managing our investments within the policy framework and regulations that are going to be set for this Heritage Fund. Thank you.
Correct me if I am wrong; I heard that this will not be reviewed for a period of 10 years. Is that correct, Madam Chair?
Madam Chair, this fund will be reviewed on an ongoing basis, but there are some built-in checkpoints in the bill. It is put away for 10 years. There is a major review after 10, but it’s going to be monitored and reported on on an annual basis.
Madam Chair, I have one final question. Does the department have any plans of action should interest rates rise exponentially which we don’t hope? But if they do, does the department have the flexibility within the profile of investing to take advantage of interest rate fluctuations should interest rates rise appropriate during the course of any given year for investing?
Yes, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Next I have Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I am very happy to see this money being submitted to the fund, contributed to the fund this year. I think the Minister would agree it’s a sort of token amount. We want to get started. Will the Minister be coming forward with a program of more significant contributions starting next year? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Minister Miltenberger.
Madam Chair, we have agreed and we are going to put in $250,000 a year. We are going to come up with the business planning process that’s starting. Again, if at the end of the day the consensus is – I’m not sure what the Member has in mind with significant – but if that is the end result of the decision of this Legislature, we will look at that. But going forward at this point, we have $250,000 a year ongoing. Thank you.
Madam Chair, the Minister raises a good point. For example, we had $2.3 million worth of diamonds alone leaving the territory in 2011, so that sort of thing indicates that resources are clearly leaving. In terms of investing in the future, the opportunity is now. I think on the area of investment, I appreciate the suggestion that that will be brought to committee. I think we would certainly want it to be an ethical investment. If there were ways to support investment in the Northwest Territories and so on, those things would be of interest. Is there a body of regulations developed for the fund or is that plan to be done? Thank you.
