Mr. Speaker, healthy, educated people are a priority for this Assembly and our government continues to investigate ways to support our children’s development and give them the right start in life.
We have many strategies across the GNWT that work together to provide supports for northern children, families, residents and communities. One of these is Building on the Strengths of Northerners: A Strategic Framework toward the Elimination of Poverty in the NWT. This framework addresses five priority areas: children and families, healthy living, safe and affordable housing, sustainable communities and better integration of services.
I am extremely pleased to announce that with funding provided in support of the Anti-Poverty Strategy, we have identified $650,000 to contribute to a new Healthy Food for Schools Program. With assistance from the NWT Bureau of Statistics, we have established the formula for distribution, taking into account food cost indexes, school student populations and median incomes of communities.
Mr. Speaker, research clearly shows that children who eat nutritious food are more physically active, alert and attentive. These children have better school attendance and are more successful at school.
The Health and Health-related Behaviours among Young People in the NWT report from 2012 identified that many of children and youth in the NWT often go to bed hungry because there is not enough food at home.
Providing healthy food through universal programs is one of the best ways to reach those who need it the most. These funds will allow schools to build on existing programs and potentially expand them to increase the number of serving days and increase the age range of students they support.
In addition to the Food for Schools funding, the Anti-Poverty Strategy is also providing $150,000 for the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs’ Active After School Program. This funding will be used to provide healthy snacks for children and youth participating in MACA’s after-school programs.
Funding for these important initiatives will help support children and youth to access healthy and nutritious food in both school and in after-school settings.
Research and best practices show that partnerships are the way to build the strongest school meal programs. Our government continues to do its part and we encourage schools to continue to use existing partnerships and seek new partners, where possible.
Mr. Speaker, we are on the right track. With every investment our government makes in children’s health, well-being and development, and in families’ ability to ensure their children can access opportunities for healthy growth and learning, our collective future becomes brighter. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Robert McLeod.
Mr. Speaker, two years ago the 17th Legislative Assembly made supporting sustainable, vibrant, safe communities one of its goals. Today I wish to advise Members on Municipal and Community Affairs’ efforts to help achieve that important goal. I am referring to efforts that are underway to help ensure the safety and security of Northwest Territories residents by assisting with community emergency preparedness.
Communities in the NWT have experienced natural, technological and human-caused hazards in the past and will continue to do so in the future. Emergencies related to these hazards can occur at any time and in any place, with or without warning. Planning for and responding to emergency events is an ongoing process involving all levels of government.
Over the past several years, community governments have made considerable progress towards improving their emergency response capabilities.
Eleven communities have created new emergency response plans since 2011, while eight have updated their existing plan. MACA will continue to work with communities to assist them in updating or creating emergency response plans, and last month MACA delivered its first table-top exercise in Whati, which is now available to all communities to help validate current plans.
Mr. Speaker, emergency preparedness involves continual planning and capacity building. Our collective efforts need to help ensure all communities reach a suitable level of readiness. To this end, MACA is engaged in several important initiatives that will help lay a foundation with which to support and strengthen community efforts.
This summer, MACA’s School of Community Government, in partnership with the Department of Transportation, will begin delivery of first responder training to community volunteers and staff. These skills are critical in responding to emergencies outside medical facilities and at remote locations.
Mr. Speaker, the department recently completed a territorial hazard identification risk assessment which provides community governments with guidance concerning risks that pose the greatest threat to people, property, environment and the economy. This tool can be used to update community emergency plans, develop municipal disaster risk mitigation plans and guide development of emergency response exercises. These tools are especially important as we enter into this year’s forest fire season.
MACA has also started work on modernizing the Civil Emergency Measures Act to ensure it provides the Government of the NWT and community governments with effective tools to respond to hazards in our current environment.
This year MACA will begin updating the Northwest Territories Emergency Plan, which has not been thoroughly reviewed since 2001. It is time that we ensure the plan provides the GNWT and its partners with proper guidance to implement an effective territorial response when necessary.
As clearly demonstrated, keeping residents safe in our communities involves a number of key elements all working together. Success is achieved by partners coming together to ensure effective planning and capacity.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to commend community governments for their continued efforts in this important area, and once again, I encourage their continued support and participation in the work ahead of us. I would also like to remind all residents of the NWT that emergency preparedness is everyone’s responsibility. Every household should have a plan for an emergency ready in case of an emergency. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister of Human Resources, Mr. Beaulieu.
Mr. Speaker, June 15th to 21th is National Public Service Week. This year’s theme is “Proudly Serving Canadians.” National Public Service Week provides an opportunity for us to celebrate the contribution and accomplishments of public service employees across Canada and especially here in the Northwest Territories.
A strong territory needs a strong society. All residents of the NWT should have the chance to enjoy the benefits of living in a prosperous, well-governed territory and to participate fully in a healthy, just society. The GNWT is committed to helping our residents achieve their aspirations for themselves, their families and their communities by providing the right support, programs and services, and we rely on a dedicated and engaged public service to deliver those programs and services.
Providing quality programs and services to our residents requires an engaged public service. Employees who are engaged not only in their daily work but also in communities of interest help make the public service the best place to work. Our employees are interested in the environment, diversity, Aboriginal relations, health and safety, and work together to offer solutions to improve programs and services for residents and employees. Our employees are involved in charitable and social activities which contribute to community well-being where they work and live. These actions tell us our public service employees are engaged in contributing to the quality of life here in our territory.
Mr. Speaker, earlier today the Premier recognized employees and individuals who contribute through their efforts and actions to the success of the public service in helping residents achieve their aspirations. The 2014 Premier’s Awards recipients are:
Award for Excellence Individuals – Tom Wasylyshyn with the Department of Justice in Fort Smith;
Award for Excellence Employee Teams – the Devolution Implementation Team, the Accountability Framework Development Team and the “NWT Days” Team;
Award for Collaboration – the Aboriginal Cultural Awareness Training Group, the Northern Sustainable Housing Project Design Team and the Wildlife Act Working Group;
Dave Ramsden Career Excellence Award – Warren St. Germaine with the Department of Finance.
I invite you to join me in congratulating the recipients of the 2014 Premier’s Awards presented this morning.
Mr. Speaker, it is an exciting time for the NWT. Our new authority and responsibility for public lands, water and resources bring significant changes. Northerners are now making decisions about the things that matter most to them: about our economy, about our environment and about the kind of society we want to be. On April 1st, in addition to the devolution of new authority and responsibilities, we were very pleased to welcome 131 former federal public servants into the GNWT who bring experience, expertise and enthusiasm for these new responsibilities.
Under our NWT Public Service Strategic Plan, work continues so we can enhance the capacity and effectiveness of our public service. We continue to build and maintain a representative workforce. We reaffirm learning and development as an ongoing priority in the GNWT public service. We work to ensure occupational health and safety. We build understanding and awareness of diversity, particularly an appreciation of the rich cultures upon which our territory is founded and which inform our programs and services.
Mr. Speaker, in April the Government of the Northwest Territories was honoured to be acknowledged as one of Canada’s Top Employers of Young People for 2014. This national award recognizes our employment, culture and career management initiatives as being some of the best across the country in supporting younger workers to advance in their careers.
The 2014 Internship and Summer Student programs are underway, providing young Northerners with unique work experience. I am pleased to advise that as of May 29th, 228 summer students have been hired with approximately 49.5 percent being indigenous Aboriginal and 48.2 percent being indigenous non-Aboriginal. Summer student orientation sessions started earlier this week, providing these youth information on their opportunities and responsibilities as GNWT employees as well as information on diversity, cultural awareness and occupational health and safety.
Mr. Speaker, the public service has accomplished a lot in support of Believing in People and Building on the Strengths of Northerners. They have proudly served NWT residents. I invite Members to join me in thanking public service employees for a job well done. There is still more to accomplish in our term and I know that with our engaged public service we will be successful. Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mr. Speaker, last week I informed the Assembly that officials from the Department of Education, Culture and Employment would be meeting with officials from the two Yellowknife education authorities to compare financial numbers about junior kindergarten. I would like to advise the Assembly of the results of those meetings because I think they confirmed that there is a lot of incorrect information floating around about junior kindergarten.
Mr. Speaker, there seems to be too much opinion and not enough facts about junior kindergarten, which is why I tabled a detailed fact package in the Assembly on Tuesday. I encourage all Members, parents and the public to look at it on the Department of Education, Culture and Employment’s website. Today I would like to highlight some of these facts because I am very concerned that we are forgetting how important and beneficial this program will be for children in every community in the Northwest Territories.
Mr. Speaker, there is no question that the Yellowknife education authorities, like every other education authority, will help finance the implementation of junior kindergarten through re-profiled funds. Junior kindergarten will not be introduced in Yellowknife until 2016-17, so these two education authorities will see their budgets reduced in 2014-15 and 2015-16. However, as the fact package clearly shows, in 2016-17 both Yellowknife boards will get a significant injection of new money. This will come from two sources: their share of the reallocated junior kindergarten implementation dollars because they will start delivering junior kindergarten, and the new money that they will get because of the 16 to 1 pupil-teacher ratio commitment that I made in this Assembly.
Mr. Speaker, working with the officials from the two boards, we have identified maximum and minimum funding estimates for this new pupil-teacher ratio money based on two projected enrolment scenarios. I would like to confirm that Yellowknife Catholic Schools is projected to receive a budget increase in 2016-17 of between $580,000 and just over $1 million dollars, depending on their student enrolment. Yellowknife Education District No. 1 is projected to receive a budget increase of between $1.14 million and $1.25 million in 2016-17. This important fact has been missing from the debate about how we are funding junior kindergarten in Yellowknife. I believe this makes a very powerful statement that Yellowknife is not being treated unfairly, as some people might have us believe.
Mr. Speaker, it has been said that the Northwest Territories has one of the worst pupil-teacher ratios in Canada. This is not true. Our territory-wide pupil-teacher ratio is 13.8 to 1, which is right on the Canadian average and comparable to most southern jurisdictions.
It has been said that we are not spending enough on kindergarten to Grade 12 education in the Northwest Territories. Mr. Speaker, the facts say something very different. The Northwest Territories is one of the best funded education systems in Canada. We spend just over $22,000 on every student, and the Canadian average is approximately $12,500 per student. We spend more than the other two territories and nearly double the Canadian average.
Mr. Speaker, it has been said that we are going to steal money from the dedicated Inclusive Schooling funding that assists students with unique needs. This is not true. Junior kindergarten implementation will not impact the approximately $26 million in Inclusive Schooling funding that education authorities receive for this purpose alone.
It has been said that I am forcing education authorities to spend their surpluses on junior kindergarten implementation. As I have already said in this Assembly, this is not true. It is up to them how they spend this pot of taxpayers’ money that was originally provided to them to deliver the best possible education program.
Mr. Speaker, we have even heard some people say that the junior kindergarten curriculum “lacks benefits for four-year-olds” and is “harmful to some aspects of child development.” This play-based curriculum was designed by professionals to be developmentally appropriate for both four- and five-year-old children. It was also built on the foundation of our cultural curricula, to help young children be confident and proud of who they are and where they come from.
Mr. Speaker, this is not a perfect world where resources are unlimited and there are no competing priorities. Our fiscal reality demands that the government exercise prudence and look at where it spends money, to see if it could do better by re-profiling some of it. Mr. Speaker, that is our duty as a responsible government and we did just that.
Some people might say that we should just wait and deliver junior kindergarten in a year or two, when our fiscal situation might improve. But this overlooks the immediate benefit that junior kindergarten will have for four-year-olds in many of our small communities. Junior kindergarten is an investment in the future of our children. Delaying it doesn’t just defer the expenditure to another year, delaying it deprives our children of a chance to get the kind of support now that can give them lifelong advantages. Twenty-nine communities were given a choice whether or not to deliver junior kindergarten in 2014-15 and 23 communities have now said yes. We must deliver on that promise.
Mr. Speaker, change is often difficult and some people fear the unknown. But we should not lose sight of the most important fact that has remained throughout this debate: almost everyone supports junior kindergarten and agrees that it will help families across this territory. For some it will be the only child care option in their community. For others it will save the family up to $1,000 per month. Free, safe, optional, play-based junior kindergarten is simply the right thing to do for our children. At the end of the day, that is what really matters. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My statement today is on municipal services in Fort McPherson. Over the past couple of years, the hamlet incurred a deficit of over $2 million. This deficit has affected the hamlet, the employees and the users of the services. My constituents continue to call, asking why they have to pay back the deficit, which the hamlet council took upon themselves for better services, only to be pulled deeper into debt.
I want to ask the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, where is the control? At what point does the department step up and say there’s something wrong? Where are the auditors? Who authorizes funding to council when there is such a deficit? The department needs to realize that responsibility is shared.
Municipal service costs in Fort McPherson have drastically increased and this is affecting everyone. The local housing authority is not getting any extra subsidy for the increase in water, elders are not compensated for extra costs and they have a fixed income every month. Homeowners are barely making it as it is. Now they have to pay almost three times what they were normally paying.
Is there any way that the department can work with the community to lower the municipal service bills so that community members could gradually adjust to the increase? The department should consider a five- to 10-year payback on a deficit, not recover it in one year at the expense of community members. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. CKLB Radio has been a prominent member of the NWT media community since the 1980s and has been a forum of news, Aboriginal issues, culture, languages, public service announcements and entertainment. The station, with a following of about 20,000 residents, produces Aboriginal language programming as part of its schedule. It plays an integral part of the Aboriginal culture, and with a wide geographic predisposition to deal with, it’s a gathering place of sorts for many.
CKLB also has many Aboriginal listeners who get another perspective on life and culture in the NWT that is provided by mainstream media. Its small revenue helps support its operation, but not much more. Luckily, it receives some core funding from Heritage Canada; however, this core model has not increased in over 30 years.
Its owner, the Native Communications Society, is always on a lean funding base and the station has struggled to keep up the maintenance of its community transmitters and, sadly, has been unable to implement new technology for communication. To draw an analogy, the station is a Timex watch working in a digital age.
There has been a long-standing relationship with the work of the society and CKLB in supporting many GNWT initiatives over the years. Some of these initiatives include promotion, use of Aboriginal languages, education, information of GNWT programs and event broadcasting.
Admittedly, the GNWT, through inconsistent community broadcasting grant programs or broadcasting contribution programs, has played a very small role in revenue stabilization. It has never contributed in ways to help upgrade CKLB to current technology. Clearly, it would be a tragic loss to all in our territory if CKLB wasn’t able to maintain operation.
Therefore, at the appropriate time, I will be asking the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment for his role in the state of northern and Aboriginal broadcasting in the NWT, with the hopes of a renewed commitment from his department and the GNWT. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I assume, along with myself and yourself, that all the Members here will encourage all the youth of the Northwest Territories who are congregating in Hay River tonight to be in the 24th Annual Track and Field for the Northwest Territories.
---Applause
This event, like I indicated, has over 1,100 athletes and a couple hundred volunteers from the community that are helping to feed, to house and to manage where everybody goes. My assistant is out there working on the shot put event right now. The weather typically is either hot or cold or rainy, and this year we got cold. It’s not going to be raining, but it’s cool out there, so we can dress for that.
Obviously, this event is a fun event for the kids to go out there and compete. We have kids who are four and five years old, all the way to teenagers.
This also is an event that some of our competitive athletes use to springboard into the other national events. One of our great athletes of the Northwest Territories, Brendan Green, was a track and field athlete at these events. I commend this event as a springboard to be more competitive out there.
I’d also like to thank the Members who are travelling down with us for the opening ceremonies tonight. I encourage all the kids. Run, kids, go run!
Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This morning my colleague and I had the privilege of joining the Minister of ENR and the Premier in our Caucus room of our Legislature here to witness the signing of the Forest Management Agreement Memorandum of Understanding between the GNWT and the Deh Gah Gotie Dene Band and the Fort Providence Metis Nation.
This was an historic milestone and brings one step closer the dream of a proponent in Hay River, Mr. Brad Mapes, who has wanted to set up an operation to manufacture wood pellets in the Northwest Territories.
We know that we have a very vast resource of inventory of vegetation and forestry in the Northwest Territories. It’s a renewable resource, and when we can harvest that and put that into the manufacture of pellets, it’s a win-win for everyone. It will certainly create a lot of employment and industry in Hay River. It will create a lot of employment and industry in the regions around Hay River as those folks become involved in the jobs that will be harvesting that vegetation.
In order to get to this milestone today, though, I want to say that we have to give some recognition to the folks at forest management under ENR, because in order to come up with this agreement, there were many hours of work that had to first go into doing an inventory of what’s out there, what can be sustainably harvested over the years to come, and also to come up with the actual Forest Management Agreement. Many, many hours of work, and compliments to the folks at forest management under Minister Miltenberger’s guidance for getting us to this point.
I understand that there will be a celebration in Fort Providence in conjunction with what took place in the Caucus room this morning, but I just wanted to take this opportunity today to thank and congratulate all the parties to this agreement for this milestone, and we look forward to its continued and future success.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to take this opportunity to acknowledge, appreciate and give a sincere thank you to the Inuvik fire department. The Inuvik fire department currently has 40 members, including the fire chief, the deputy fire chief and the dispatch. Only the fire chief and the deputy fire chief are career firefighters. All other members are volunteers, and in fact, this might be the biggest volunteer fire department in the Northwest Territories. Our longest serving volunteer firefighter has been doing their job for over 30 years, as well, so his commitment, his experience that he has is helping train all our new rookies that we get into the department.
I wanted to take this time because just recently, as Members might have seen in the news, the Inuvik fire department battled a blaze in Inuvik for over 10 hours initially, and did more hours of control throughout the night and the following days. A lot of these firefighters are family members, they have full-time jobs, they volunteer for other organizations, as well, and I think this is a great opportunity to show them our appreciation and say thank you for the work that they do.
Under the leadership of fire chief Mr. Jim Sawkins, the Inuvik fire hall is about to become a training hub for the Beaufort-Delta region, building capacity not only in Inuvik but in the surrounding communities of the Beaufort-Delta region. Hence, firefighters now don’t have to travel to Yellowknife to get their training and they can stay closer to home.
I just want to commend the volunteer fire department on their dedication, commitment and the sacrifices that they do make protecting the residents of Inuvik, creating a safe community for the residents and also for saving lives, saving property, going above and beyond what they’re asked to do. Today the Inuvik fire department is actually participating in a very worthwhile program called the PARTY program, Preventing Alcohol and Risk-Related Trauma in Youth, in partnership with the youth centre, and they were doing work in terms of getting people who are in accidents out of vehicles.
Like I said, I just want to take this opportunity and I hope Members will join me in thanking the Inuvik fire department for all the work that they do in Inuvik and going above and beyond their jobs and being great members of society and residents of Inuvik.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. The Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Last week I spoke about the concerns that fuel prices are driving up the cost of living in the small and remote communities. The NWT Energy Plan suggests all kinds of ways to reduce fuel use over the long term, but people need immediate relief. Eliminating goods and services tax on gasoline and home heating fuel is a simple way to bring down the price of fuel in small communities to more affordable levels right away. The GNWT helps stabilize the cost of fuel when it purchases fuel in bulk to ship to remote communities that are not on the road system, but people pay for this fuel at a fixed price and that price is never going down. In fact, this year the price has increased about 20 cents per litre over the price of last year. It’s going to force seniors and low-income earners into desperate situations. It makes even average wage earners rethink their choice to live and work in remote communities in the Northwest Territories. Our small communities need more people, not less.
People will no longer be able to afford to live there. Cost to government will only increase, putting even more pressure on our programs, plans and services. We must take action to reduce costs immediately. I urge the GNWT to negotiate with the federal government to eliminate GST and bulk fuel purchase for small communities, much like the break small communities were getting when we had the food program.
We must reduce energy costs. That should be the main priority for the remainder of this Assembly and set a clear direction into the next. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Not too long ago the Premier made a public proposal presented to the NWT Status of Women Council to establish a mock women’s parliament, similar to the Elders and Youth Parliaments that we currently have every second year.
The Premier’s intent was to provide an event that would create interest in and motivate women for territorial politics, and heaven knows we need more women to be elected to this Assembly.
The idea has generated a lot of opinion and discussion since. Many people, both men and women, have expressed their disappointment and, yes, disgust at the idea of such a parliament. Others have defended it.
To the Premier’s credit, he has recognized a void in the elected leaders in our Assembly and has put forward a strategy for change. Like the idea or hate it, contemplation of a women’s parliament has started a much needed conversation, one that asks how we go about electing more women to this territorial Assembly.
A women’s parliament could be a tool to affect some of the necessary change, but I feel there are many other things which we could do instead, which we should do first and we could have a much greater impact. At the outset is the matter of missing resources.
The NWT Status of Women Council operates on a shoestring budget, more so since the federal government cut funding to status councils all across Canada. The GNWT could properly resource the NWT council so that organization could expand their activities, could be proactive in evaluating programs and services for gender equity and equality in government actions. They could look at gender issues across government and across our cultures. When was the last time our NWT council researched and produced a report on the equitability of women in any NWT organization or business? When was the last time that they made a presentation to a public policy forum or environmental assessment hearing? A long time ago, no doubt the result of minimal staff and reduced funding for this type of work.
We could fund them to do an analysis of gender in board appointments. I suspect it would show a disproportionate number of men appointed to our NWT boards and agencies. The council could be funded by the GNWT to run a campaign school every year, not once every four years.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
Thanks to my colleagues. I must point to the British Columbia Women’s Campaign School held annually with high-powered presenters, expert women speakers, drawing participants from all over BC and even across Canada. The school is open to women running for any office and to women interested in working on or for a political campaign. The NWT Status of Women Council could be mandated and funded to reach out to do work to increase the participation of women in elected positions, something that happens in Newfoundland. They could establish a mentorship program and/or set up online resources for potential candidates, for example.
The possibilities are many and we have to look no further than other Canadian jurisdictions for ideas and strategies. The conversation has been started. Is there will within this government and this Assembly to keep it going? Is there the will to make some changes and achieve one goal: more elected women MLAs? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Over the last week, Members and I have spoken to the issue of high costs of living in NWT communities. The high cost of living is directly linked to the cost of fuel. It has become clear that the only way to reduce fuel cost is to reduce fuel use.
The NWT Energy Plan was an important piece of policy work for the 17th Assembly. It lays out a framework for how we will supply energy to our communities and industry. The planed proposal ties Kakisa and Fort Providence into the hydro grid and expanding hydro power to create the NWT grid.
Mr. Speaker, I strongly support these actions. With the opening of the Deh Cho Bridge, the GNWT has new options for extending a transmission line to Fort Providence, Dory Point and Kakisa. For too long, these communities have paid for diesel power while their neighbours just a few hours to the south have cheaper, cleaner hydro power.
One option is to run a low voltage line from the Taltson power plant directly to Kakisa and Fort Providence. Another plan would be to run a high voltage transmission line around the west side of the Great Slave Lake to connect the Taltson and Snare power systems. A low voltage “step down” line would reach Fort Providence and Kakisa.
There are many benefits to developing a grid. The major challenge is cost. A transmission line to Fort Providence is estimated to cost between $20 million to $30 million. This sounds like a lot of money, but we must consider the long-term payback of hydro power. Hydro dams don’t have the gigantic environmental footprint that fossil fuels do. Once diesel is burned, it’s gone forever. Water, properly managed and protected, can supply energy as long as the river flows.
The Kakisa and Fort Providence transmission line appears in the Energy Action Plan but not in our budget. We need to earmark some dollars for future development. We must seek opportunities to partner with industry wherever possible. We need to get industrial customers online while projects are in the review process, ensuring no opportunities are missed, even opportunities we have yet to discover. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This spring I’ve had the opportunity to go on the land with my family. I brought my little boy out there. He’s 12 years old. Being out on the land for 11 days, I truly believe that the land is alive and well, and the land is the boss. The land has certain laws that when we’re in a certain type of environment that we really don’t understand. I know that when I was with my son, we were talking about walking with his grandparents on the land. His grandparents from my side of the family are not alive anymore, but they have put a place where we can go and fish, hunt and trap and enjoy a good life.
All over the Sahtu, there was excitement that people were going out on the land. Close to 300 or 400 people went out and they used the modern technology of a helicopter for the business they have with the helicopter companies. A lot of them took advantage of that. Historically, there are a lot of trails in the Northwest Territories and in the Sahtu region. Even in our land claim, Chapter 12, it states we are going to strengthen the traditional way of life and the people.
I want to continue that and support the traditional use of our lands. It’s stated clearly in our land claims and our hearts that that is given by our elders. Our Sahtu Land Use Plan states that, traditional knowledge states that. Spring hunts are exciting times. Ninety-four percent of people in Colville Lake use traditional foods and the other areas, about 7 percent. We have a high number of harvesters in our area, 112 trappers and 60 percent so far that we’ve identified have cabins in the Sahtu area. Over 400 sites have been identified. Take a Kid Trapping is powerful.
This summer we are going to hike the Canol Trail. So far there have been 87 hikers on that trail in the past eight years.
I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
I want to thank Members and colleagues and say, in my grandmother’s words, when I asked her about her husband, Chief Albert Wright, about the future, Chief Albert Wright said, “Go onto the land. In the future it’s going to be very valuable.” That’s where I take my inspiration when I hike – in the past years there have been 87 hikers on the Canol – is to go on the land, live on the land. You know what? If we continue to go on the land and teach our children the value that anything in life that you want, you need to practice it first. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As spring arrives and the trees leaf out, it’s clear that money is not growing on those trees. But perhaps our Minister of Finance has a different view.
Our government is deeper in debt than it has ever been, yet the Minister wants a spending spree that will put us another billion dollars in the red. We continue to aggressively pursue more and more massive and expensive infrastructure projects that we can ill afford, while seeking ever-increasing debt limits. We spend big on infrastructure for large private sector projects that never materialize, stranding us with unaffordable costs and few benefits. Some might call this living beyond our means; others, perhaps, dreaming in colour.
Unfortunately, added to the financial costs of these so-called investments are the cost of foregone investment in truly sustainable development; increased, rather than decreased, cost of living; and impacts which often run counter to the intent of our Land Use and Sustainability Policy.
The government refuses to come to terms with reality with what projects, policies and directions are actually environmentally, socially and economically sustainable. Growth in the number of migrant workers snapping up jobs more suitably filled by the unemployed and skilled workers of the NWT continues unconstrained, fuelling the leakage of $500 million in wages and over $33 million in tax dollars from our territory every year. This grows annually.
Meanwhile, our soaring debt builds up on the backs of fewer and fewer people. This demands a revenue response, of course, so there’s no surprise that government is bent on aggressive resource exploitation that will service this black hole.
It doesn’t have to be this way. We know what is required for truly sustainable development, development that strengthens our social fabric, supports our different cultures, creates local and lasting jobs and real economies, and is environmentally benign or restorative.
Clearly, a new approach to territorial financial planning and a move to development versus exploitation at all cost are needed. It ain’t rocket science, as attractive as such rocket science might seem.
When will the Cabinet come to us with fresh, new proposals based upon sound and effective policy and focused on truly sustainable development? People in the Northwest Territories are waiting. While we enjoy spring, we know fall will be here soon enough and even the leaves will disappear. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m going to use the opportunity here to return to a subject I’ve raised in this House before and it’s the health care card issue.
In the past I’ve raised with the Health Minister, more accurately the former Health Minister, about the need to move towards photo ID cards. As many of us will remember, and certainly want to forget, the last health care card renewal was no thrill with any standard we should be looking back to as a benchmark. So we should use this opportunity to be planning forward with better health care cards.
The recent issue of cards, I believe, are good for about three years. That would certainly give us substantial time to proceed at a very smart and strategic way to copy other jurisdictions such as Ontario and even British Columbia.
A photo health care card comes with many incredible advantages, security certainly being the first. We have to recall that many photo cards can carry substantial basic information such as things like bar codes that show valid information, indicate a person’s wishes if they choose to be an organ donor. They even have a person’s signature on these.
Of course, in talking to seniors, they will all tell you a health care card is just like gold. Nothing is more important than your health care opportunities, because the NWT’s health care system is second to none, so it must be protected.
There are opportunities here to proceed in a manner that makes a lot of sense, and in some ways it could eliminate our general I.D. card. Now, we could find ways to work this out for those who can’t show up and have their photos taken, but there are many opportunities that could help here. We could blend this nicely with our Electronic Health Record system. Regardless of what language you carry, there could be a bar code on the back and they can scan it and know everything they need to know about you.
A photo health care card issued to our residents proves that they are residents, because they have the picture to match who they are, and if they’re done under a secure situation, just like our driver’s licence, we could ensure that all residents can have them.
May I remind you it was only a few short weeks ago we were listening to the federal government talk about taking voting opportunities away from our citizens because they didn’t have photo I.D. The opportunities of photo health care cards are endless, and now is an opportunity.
Let me finish with this. A few years ago we had found that we had over 4,000 extra health care cards. This would give us a great chance to audit them properly and ensure that when we are giving health care to our citizens and supporting them in the way that they are meant to be supported, we can guarantee that they are who they are.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. First and foremost, I’d like to recognize all the Pages that are here today working for us, and it has been a long session as well. I’d like to thank them for their services. More specifically, for two Pages from Wekweeti, they are Autumn Football and Laylu Judas who are with us today. I’d like to say mahsi for your services.
I’d also like to recognize my former constituents, but they’re still from Behchoko in my view. That’s Debbie Lemouelle and also Stephanie Lafferty who are here with us. Welcome.
