Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, wish to acknowledge a couple of constituents. First off I would like to recognize Brendan Callas. He’s a constituent of Yellowknife Centre and he was recognized earlier today. I know I’ve got a few others up there. It’s actually a pleasure to give note to Kim Doyle, who is my constituency assistant and it’s the first time I’ve gotten to recognize her in the gallery. She’s a very hardworking lady and I appreciate all the work that she does.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’d like to recognize first of all a constituent from the Weledeh riding, Master Kienan Ashton. Kienan today was visiting me in my office and he and his friend Jesper were very proud to shake the Premier’s hand. Also Jack Panayi of Ms. Parisella’s class. Also Sophie Clark and Grace Clark, twin members of the Aurora Fiddle Society Fiddlecats.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to take this opportunity to recognize my two Pages from Hay River North: Tassie Lockhart-Drygeese and Chantelle LaFleur. I’d also like to recognize their chaperone, Kathleen Lockhart-Drygeese. Thank you very much, ladies.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ve made my Member’s statement on the graduates from the Sahtu. There are about 25 students this year. I want to ask the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment if there is any mechanism within this department to track graduates that are graduating this year to see how successful they will be in post-secondary institutions, or what they will be doing a year from now or two years from now. People like my nephew or other people in other communities that are graduating this year.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Through the divisional education councils in the regions we monitor those students that are graduating from secondary school. Post-secondary is a bit different. Students are on their own, but we track them through student financial assistance. Once they’re sponsored by the department, we know who those students are, which field they’re in, the year they’re in the program. We’re definitely keeping track of secondary and their pursuance of which program they’re interested in. That is information that is available through the divisional education councils as well.
I have a list of 25 students that are going to graduate in the Sahtu this year. I’m going to challenge the Minister and the department. Next year at this time in the House I’m going to ask about these people who graduated. Some of them are going to be in post-secondary, maybe some of them may be working, training in other institutions. I want to challenge the Minister, this department, I’m giving them a heads up that I’m going to ask them where these students are, how are they doing, have you tracked them, and things of that nature. Is the Minister up for the challenge?
First of all I’d also like to congratulate those 25 students that are graduating. It’s always great to hear the graduates of the Northwest Territories. I wish them all the best, whether it be post-secondary, workforce entry, even on-the-job training or further upgrading. We’ll do what we can as a department, but we have to work with the organizations at the community level too. They are keeping track of their community students, whether it be in the workforce. We can’t really keep track of those students who enter the workforce. We keep track of those students who are still in the K to 12 education system and through SFA, will monitor who the students are, the ones that we’re sponsoring. We’ll be keeping tabs on those students that are graduated this year and see where they’re at next year, but we have to keep in mind that communities will have to work with us as well to provide that information.
I think the communities have been saying this. We need to work with the department. I again challenge the Minister, for example, young graduate Samuel Kodakin, next year I want to ask if the institution has talked to him, the department, have you gone to school? If not, why not? Are you working? Has it helped you? Those type of things to see where the graduates have gone once they finish school. Maybe he’s going back to Aurora College to do upgrading to further his career in another field of specialized knowledge and needs to do that. I want to ask the Minister, that type of tracking, keep track of these students who are graduating this year to see where they are. Ask the questions. Do the interviews with them. Let them know that we want to see them succeed. I want to ask the Minister that type of detail working with our government.
That’s the very reason why we need the assistance of the principals, the teachers, the guidance counsellors, the school boards, the chairs, the board members, the leaders, to give us that information. We cannot keep track of 3,000 students on an individual basis where they plan to be. We’re going to do our part to monitor the best we can as a department, working with the career counsellors at the community level, the regional representatives through our department. Yes, we’re going to be working with the department, and I take up the challenge to work with the community organizations. We have to look out for all the students so they can be successful upon their return to the Northwest Territories.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As Members in this House, we are all proud of our graduates this year. I ask the Minister, there’s nothing impossible. There’s a can-do attitude here. Can he set things in motion that can look at how we track the increase of students. It’s not impossible. We can do it. We have 5,000 people in our workforce here. We can do it if the Minister puts things in place in motion that can be done. Can the Minister make it so?
Since it’s Friday, we have to all think positive and, definitely, it’s doable. It’s an initiative. It’s an opportunity that we need to work together, a collaborative approach to monitor those students that have graduated this year, where they’re going to be next year, the next five years, 10 years. Definitely, we’ll do our part and work with the communities in the regions. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Colleagues, before we go on, I’d like to thank my two Pages here in the House. On my left I have Ms. Brianna Wolki from Paulatuk. Thank you, Brianna, for all your hard work. To my right I have Jerry Ruben-Bennett. I feel safe with my Pages around. Moving on. The Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are to the Minister of Justice, recognizing that the issue of family violence has to be dealt with across many departments. As I noted, the numbers speak to a dreadful situation of family violence and suffering in our communities: 223 family violence cases; 483 children witnesses; the second highest rate of family violence in the country and so on. The need for action is clear and desperate. Will the Minister of Justice commit to making action on family violence one of his foremost program priorities, and implement a plan to carry out the 19 recommendations of the phase 3 Coalition Against Family Violence report, and work with all of his Cabinet colleagues on integrated solutions? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The Minister responsible for Justice, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There’s no question that the NWT has one of the highest rates of family violence in Canada. This has long-term negative effects on the physical, social and economic health of the people of the Northwest Territories, so it’s clearly something that we all need to be working on, both on this side of the House and that side of the House.
On May 3, 2012, Premier Bob McLeod, as Minister of the Status of Women conference, confirmed his support, and Cabinet’s support, for the Coalition Against Family Violence’s prioritized recommendations to further address family violence. These are a social media campaign, the piloting of the 24-week program for men who use violence, and community outreach that projects the increased safety for women and children in their care. That’s the commitment of Cabinet and the government to move forward on this, and you will see some of this stuff actually has appeared in our budget this time around. There’s some money in the budget for an additional family violence coordinator with the RCMP, so we are working on that.
Personally, I am committed to this. I will work with my colleagues, and quite frankly, we all need to work together to find real solutions to this. I’m committing the department to working in collaboration and partnership with my colleagues and we will work with the Regular Members and we’ll try to find some real solutions. Thank you.
Thanks to the Minister for those comments and commitments. His reference to the Premier’s commitments, I think that’s very important and it’s appreciated. We need to now turn those commitments into action, and I know this side of the House will be willing to work with our Cabinet on that.
Ms. Alice Black’s death could have been prevented if there was police stationed in Gameti. Her killer was wanted on a criminal warrant at the time of the events. RCMP were unable to secure his arrest because they make only occasional visits to the community. They didn’t know it well enough, I suspect. We have a new police services agreement and it’s said to give us more control on the stationing of officers. Advocates repeatedly point to the need for beefing up police presence as a proven means of protecting families at risk of violence. What plans are in place to increase the number of communities with resident RCMP officers? Mahsi.
There are a number of communities in the Northwest Territories that don’t have permanent RCMP located in them. I have been meeting with communities, and I will continue to meet with communities along with the commanding officer of the RCMP, to work on community-based solutions. The RCMP may not be the right choice for every community every time, and we need to look at creative opportunities. I have met with the community of Tsiigehtchic and we are working on something there. I have met with the community of Colville Lake and we’re working on something there. I do plan to get to every community in the Northwest Territories, where we can have an opportunity to try to find some of those real solutions that work for the communities. Thank you.
I appreciate the Minister’s comments there. I know it’s tough. Resources are tight and so on, but I’d say the evidence speaks for itself here. Increasing the number of community shelters is also a critical need. Shelters now exist in only three communities. Lack of a place of refuge frequently means that women must stay in their homes and be subjected to repeated assaults. Not only that, funding for outreach programs has been cut for communities lacking shelters. What steps is the Minister going to take to provide women and children with places of safety from abuse and assault?
We do have some programs in place. One of them is the emergency protection orders that are available to individuals in this situation. We do have the new RCMP family violence coordinator position, which is going to be a real important resource to RCMP in the field, to help them focus priorities and focus solutions for individuals.
With respect to shelters and whatnot, that’s going to take more than the Department of Justice. We need to be a partner. We’re willing to be a partner. I will commit to working with the Minister of Health and Social Services, and my other ministerial colleagues, to address this. We will discuss this, obviously, in the Social Envelope Committee, and we will continue to work with our colleagues on that side of the House. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks again to the Minister. I know the protection orders mechanism has certainly been much appreciated and seems to be helping the situation. The 2008 survey of attitudes towards family violence shows too many people still think that family violence is a matter to be handled solely within the family. That’s the same place violence occurs. The need for a campaign of public awareness and education is a primary recommendation of both the Coalition phase 3 recommendations, as the Minister has mentioned, and of Ms. Menard, in the coroner’s report on Ms. Black’s death. The Minister says he is seeking further details on the form of such programming, and that’s good, but will he commit to making the introduction of that programming a priority for the coming year’s business plans? Mahsi.
I have had an opportunity to talk to representatives from the Coalition Against Family Violence, in particular, about the social media campaign, and I’m looking for information from them on what types of programs they see, what kind of campaign they see, because they’re saying exactly the same things: We have to change the attitude, we have to change the fundamental beliefs and ideas around family violence. I will work with my colleague, once again, and the Premier, who has indicated that we support the prioritized recommendations of the coalition. We will be working on this and we will be having more discussions, once again, with Ministers and Regular Members as we move forward.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In March 2010, former Minister McLeod talked about signing a contract with Ruskin for $6 million to $8 million. Minister McLeod of the day, continues to refer to the firm schedule on the Deh Cho Bridge. My question for the Minister of today, that is: Who is still responsible for the Deh Cho Bridge contracts, certainly, the implementation that is, is why isn’t the fixed price and the fixed schedule being fulfilled by our contractor Ruskin on this particular project? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, that was a decision the previous government made to get into the current contractual obligations with Ruskin. That contract follows a typical DOT contract which shifts only some of the risk to the contractor. It’s not a fixed price. There are eligible areas where we could see costs being overrun. That was a decision the previous government had made. Thank you.
The Minister keeps trying to do a smoke and mirrors show on this particular problem. He says the old Minister. Every time he keeps referring to the old Minister. The old Minister actually signed the contract. That’s the difference here. The present Minister is responsible for the implementation for the contract while it’s still active, live, valid, et cetera. The Minister keeps avoiding that reality. Why does the Minister refuse to take responsibility for the present legal contract? Has it already been struck down and thrown away that we’re not aware of? We need some clarification why he’s refusing to deal with the present contract on the books. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, we have a team of lawyers that have been working on the contractual obligations, what our responsibility is going forward. I know the Member continually wants to go back to decisions that were made by the previous government. I have said it yesterday and I will say it again today, decisions that I have made since I became Minister last fall are decisions that I take responsibility for, I am accountable for. With our best advice and the options that were presented to us, we are doing the best for the taxpayer here in the NWT to get this project finished. We will continue to work toward that end to finish this project in November. This is the best option that was available to us to allow us to do that. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister keeps misunderstanding the issue. It’s not going back to a story long told in history. This is an active contract. So maybe that’s particularly the question that needs to be asked. In some way or some form, has the 2010 contract signed with Ruskin with the GNWT as a partner to get the bridge built, has that mysteriously dissolved in some manner and been replaced with some formal acknowledgement and information passed on to Members?
Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned earlier, the contract that the Member is talking about from 2010, we are working within the confines of that contract. It is not a fixed price contract. There are opportunities there and the contractor is paid as progress is made on that project for fixed prices, yes, but there are opportunities for costs to continue to go on. Certainly, we have taken every look at our options. Again, going forward, this is the best option for us. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. All we hear are options of somewhere between $7.2 million and $9.5 million. There has been no clear explanation as to why that money is really needed. All we hear is the platitude saying our lawyers say this, but where is the real discussion in our committees, in the Assembly about that particular discussion? Has the AIP formally been signed as the Minister pointed out? Has it formally committed us to some type of contractual obligation that we have no other choice of supporting it? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I have been quite clear in answering other questions from other Members yesterday. I will say it again. Going forward, this money has helped us negotiate our way out of a myriad of claims, construction claims on the project. We are going to work together with the contractor to see the project get completed this fall. I am not sure if the Member would prefer that we throw our hands up, we fight with the contractor, we go to court for years and years to come, we spend untold hundreds of thousands if not a million dollars-plus on legal fees and we don’t have a bridge open this fall. That was one of the options. But going forward, we are taking the option that chooses to work with the contractor to negotiate an end to the claims that are out there and gets us some budget surety and also schedule certainty. That is what we have done. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are addressed to the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. On May 28th the Minister made a statement in the House. He talked about an accountability framework that has been developed by MACA in conjunction with the Local Government Administrators of the NWT and the NWT Association of Communities. I applaud that. I wanted to just ask the Minister a couple of questions relative to this accountability framework and his statement. There are a few things that I would like to get clarification on.
It is not clear to me from the Minister’s statement, and I would like to ask the Minister if he could kind of advise me and the House what is the purpose of this accountability framework. What is the intention of the department and of its partners in establishing an accountability framework for communities? Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Because we have given the communities a lot more responsibility and a lot more financing, the purpose of the accountability framework is to work closely with the communities to have a pretty transparent system of how that money is dealt with. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, thanks to the Minister. We give communities a grant, an infrastructure contribution and we have given them the responsibility of using that money. Does the Minister mean that the department is trying to keep tabs on communities? Is that kind of what this accountability is intended to do? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I wouldn’t say it is to keep tabs on the communities. I would call it work closely with the communities to ensure that public funds are spent the way they should be. It is more of a communication tool. We want to make sure that public funds are well looked after. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, thanks to the Minister for that. I appreciate that. I firmly agree with the Minister that we should be making sure that public funds are used properly. But in the Minister’s statement there is a statement he made that I really don’t quite understand. I would ask him to clarify. The Minister stated, “We will be asking communities to provide quarterly reports to ensure the framework continues to meet their needs.” Does this mean that communities are required to do quarterly reports on their spending or does it mean something else? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, we do keep tabs on the community spending. We work with communities. This here is just to see if this accountability framework is meeting their needs. Is it working for them? Is communication between the community and MACA? Are there ways we can improve? Thank you.
