Thank you, Mr. Speaker. NWT residents have long heard about the potential of their territory. Of a future filled with opportunities and choices that could be realized thanks to the rich and varied wealth of resources that lie within our geographic boundaries.
We are a region that continues to be in the spotlight of the international stage and at the forefront of many discussions and debates.
I have just returned from ministerial meetings of the Arctic Council in Nuuk, Greenland. The meetings were attended by Foreign Affairs and other senior Ministers from each of the eight circumpolar nations.
The world is realizing what we have always known to be true: that the Arctic holds a special and strategic place in the world, economically, environmentally and politically. And our own country is more aware of Canada’s Arctic energy resources and the potential and significance they hold.
But potential is all we will have until we take action and realize it.
When we took office as a 16th Assembly, almost four years ago, Members talked about taking that action, about establishing the foundation on which future Assemblies and governments could build a unified, prosperous and self-reliant territory. A territory that is the master of its own destiny; a territory that represents our nation’s global potential, leadership and strategic position in the Arctic region and on the Arctic Council; and a
territory recognized across Canada as a unique and contributing member of the federation.
We captured a picture of that future in our vision statement: Strong individuals, families and communities sharing the benefits and responsibilities of a unified, environmentally-sustainable and prosperous Northwest Territories.
We needed to first complete the difficult tasks of putting our fiscal house in order, to address immediate and escalating costs, and to help ensure the sustainability of our core programs.
We established tighter control on our costs. We improved our budget process to make it more controlled, planned and accountable. We organized our work and resources into five initiatives designed to meet the collective goals and priorities of Members of the 16th Assembly.
We backed up our strategic initiatives with solid investments. We took steps to align our budget with our priorities so appropriate resources were directed to achieving our vision.
Mr. Speaker, these early efforts proved fortuitous at the midway point of our term when the NWT, like the rest of the world, was forced to reckon with the most serious economic downturn in a generation.
Thanks to our initial fiscal diligence, we found ourselves well positioned to make the investments we needed to protect our residents and businesses, and even to leverage an unprecedented amount of federal economic stimulus investment from the Government of Canada.
In fact, we put in place a record three-year $1.1 billion capital program for roads, bridges, schools, health centres, houses and other critical projects across the NWT.
Our investments helped to stabilize the territorial economy and build much needed public infrastructure. At a time when Canada’s economy has slowed due to the international recession, our plan provided significant investment in the NWT and substantial employment and contract opportunities for our residents and contractors.
As important as this investment, however, was the manner in which it was undertaken from the ground up.
Operations and maintenance funding to community governments has increased 20 percent over the past four years. Water and sewer funding over the same time period has increased 30 percent.
Gas tax funding has increased to a stable funding level of $15 million a year. Community public infrastructure funding has been maintained.
Community governments are now playing an increased role in targeting the priorities and investments in their communities. The certainty we have built into their funding is allowing them to invest and plan for their future.
In fact, community governments have used their funding from the GNWT to leverage and cost share $45.5 million in Building Canada Plan funding and $2.7 million in Infrastructure Stimulus funding for community public infrastructure projects.
Now we are returning to more conservative spending, taking steps to ensure that the bottom line that we will leave for the 17th Assembly will be fiscally sound and financially stable.
Mr. Speaker, we’re approaching the end of our term as a 16th Assembly. For four years we have focused on ensuring that the work we are doing and the initiatives we are putting in place will serve and benefit our territory and its residents long past the term of this government.
We have identified and implemented over 140 initiatives and investments dedicated to advancing the goals and priorities of the 16th Assembly.
These initiatives and investments, above and beyond our day-to-day work as government, recognize and reflect the importance of looking beyond the immediate and short-term needs of our territory and people, towards our vision and our future.
Our work towards a strong and independent North has positioned our government and territory as leaders in Canada in terms of recognizing Aboriginal rights and aspirations.
We have worked with our territory’s regional leaders to identify and lay the groundwork for a political forum that will eventually allow NWT leaders to speak together on matters that concern our territory.
We have moved forward with pivotal initiatives, such as the Water Strategy, the NWT Species at Risk Act and the Wildlife Act. We have done so collaboratively with our Aboriginal partners, ensuring traditional knowledge, land claim agreements, and Aboriginal and treaty rights were properly addressed in the development of our legislation.
We have undertaken an ambitious four-year $60 million investment program focused on reducing our dependence on imported oil, mitigating the impacts of our energy use on the environment, and reducing our cost of living in the NWT.
In keeping with the NWT Greenhouse Gas Strategy introduced in 2007, the GNWT is on track to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from its own operations to 10 percent below 2001 levels by the end of this year.
By the end of this Assembly we will have invested more than $155 million in upgrades, construction, and retrofitting for public housing and homeownership units.
The implementation of our Healthy Choices Framework is promoting active living and healthy foods through the promotion of healthy choices. It is supported in part by increased investment in sport, recreation and youth funding and has expanded from promoting healthy eating, physical activity, and living tobacco free to include important work around injury prevention, mental illness, and healthy children and families.
Key investments have been made in school infrastructure, specifically in Inuvik, Fort Good Hope, Yellowknife, and N’dilo.
We have provided funding to schools to increase teacher resources and allow high schools to enhance their trade programs. In particular, the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative is working to improve education outcomes specifically for Aboriginal students.
We have made substantial progress in our eHealth initiatives to promote, protect, and provide for the health and well-being of our residents.
We have opened new territorial facilities to support our residents suffering from dementia and adults with special needs and disabilities.
We have made substantial investments in support of the business sector: almost $10 million to promote the NWT as a tourism destination; over $7 million for business development through our SEED program; almost $14 million targeted for skills development and training; and $1.4 million for a national marketing campaign to encourage Canadians to live and work in the NWT.
We have maintained a competitive tax regime for NWT businesses, including corporate and personal tax rates at or below the national average and no territorial sales tax.
We have completed the electricity rate review and adjusted electricity rates in the interest of lowering the cost of living and enabling businesses in many of our highest cost communities to be more competitive.
We have also made substantial infrastructure investments on highways, winter roads and airports that are improving connections between communities and helping address our high cost of living.
In recent months we have advanced a project considering the feasibility of a fibre optic data and satellite link down the Mackenzie Valley which could eventually lead to improved services to the residents in those communities.
We have made considerable investments to support policing in smaller communities, implementing the new backup policy and instituting programs aimed at reducing alcohol and drug-related crimes.
Changes to the capital planning process have increased efficiencies in the planning, designing, contracting and building of public infrastructure.
We have replaced the GNWT’s 30-year-old financial information system with a new system for accountability and management, a key component of the government’s efforts to implement modern management across the GNWT, as well as tools that will support the GNWT’s information, analytical, reporting and business needs.
We are piloting single window service centres and government service officers as a means to make government services more accessible to residents, primarily in remote communities.
We have introduced legislation to create an NWT Heritage Fund that can serve as a source of long-term benefits for NWT residents.
And we are implementing the 20/20: A Brilliant North strategy to strengthen and support our public service and make it even more reflective of the population it serves.
In all of this, Mr. Speaker, we have also pursued an aggressive agenda at the federal level.
Never before has the Northwest Territories enjoyed the level of engagement from Canada or a Prime Minister that we have today.
We have successfully sold our message that northern development needs to be more than a political statement; that northern sovereignty is best realized by empowering the communities and the people that live here; that investment in our territory will result in opportunities for all Canadians; and most importantly, that NWT residents must have the capacity and authority to protect and manage public lands in the Northwest Territories to ensure that our territory’s abundant resources are developed in a sustainable and responsible manner and that the financial and economic benefits from development in our territory stay in our territory.
For the first time in many years we have seen real progress on large files that we, as NWT residents, have been talking about for a long time.
In March the Government of Canada, through the National Energy Board, endorsed the construction of the Mackenzie Gas Project. The lengthy regulatory process is now complete.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has stated that the federal government will make a package available to deal with infrastructure issues and other challenges that arise with the project. We have discussed the possibility of a pipeline down the valley for decades, and it seems we are now only a few steps away.
We know also that the next federal budget should include the investment in the first stage of the Mackenzie Valley Highway from Tuktoyaktuk to Inuvik. From the beginning we have been committed to moving this project forward. All-weather transportation is essential to our future prosperity; roads and bridges that can be used year round by our residents, tourists, business and industry.
We have been working closely with Ottawa and our Aboriginal partners to prepare the way through necessary project description reports and to add to our inventory of over 33 bridges that are now in place along the route of the future highway.
Mr. Speaker, any real foundation for the future will need to move beyond the reliance that we have on the federal government so that we can govern, guide and advance development in our territory ourselves. That is why we have worked towards and are now taking the next steps to negotiate a final Devolution Agreement with Canada.
Negotiations to devolve administrative responsibility for public lands and resources are about giving the future of the Northwest Territories a chance. They are about giving our young people opportunities to grow their territory and to achieve success.
Our term as a 16th Assembly has been focused on building and putting in place a foundation that will allow us to advance our territory to the next level.
Once completed, devolution will unlock the tools and instruments with which NWT residents and their governments can shape, build and sustain their future. Northern decision-making will serve to provide clarity to our regulatory regime, our taxation infrastructure, our land and water agreements and countless other areas in which our investment and business partners are asking us to provide some level of certainty.
Decisions about the North should be made in the North by northern people. It’s easy to say, but at the same time it’s incumbent on us to take an active role in shaping our destiny for ourselves. We can’t simply wait for others to hand us the ball. At some point we have to seize it and run with it. Mr. Speaker, this government has done that.
Four years ago we set out to provide a foundation for our future. In everything that we have done -- the initiatives, the investment, and the manner in which we have chosen to implement and advance our work -- I believe that we are accomplishing what we set out to do.
We have invested in programs and services to strengthen our people, our businesses and our communities.
We have advanced the business case for national investment in our territory, its resources and development.
We have established tools to protect our environment and ensure that our development is sustainable for the long term.
We have worked with our territory’s regional leaders to identify a governance structure that will allow us to work together.
And we have begun the all important final negotiations process to ensure that decision-making and resource revenues are turned over to the people of the NWT.
I believe we have a foundation in place from which we can honestly and realistically address our future. The task of realizing this future rests with those chosen to lead us forward.
When the 16th Assembly adopted our vision titled “Northerners Working Together,” we didn’t just mean MLAs working together, we meant businesses working together, communities working together and governments working together.
Last year, collectively, with the NWT’s Northern Leaders’ Forum, I began the process of asking NWT residents to describe the future that they envisioned for themselves and their territory; to identify areas of importance and concern; and to articulate the direction of growth that they wanted for their territory over the next 20 to 30 years.
This Thursday I will table the results of our discussions in a document titled “Forging the Future – Anchored in our Past, Building on our Present.” It reflects a vision of our future developed with the input of residents, young and old, industry, businesses, non-government and not-for-profit organizations.
It is my hope that this document and the priorities that it identifies will become part of the conversation that NWT residents must have in the next few months -- in our boardrooms, community meetings and summer assemblies -- and this fall here in the Legislative Assembly as we elect the next Government of the Northwest Territories.
We will need to continue to work together if we are to fully tap into the possibilities that we know exist in our territory. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Minister responsible for Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bob McLeod.
Mr. Speaker, by actively supporting the harvesting and marketing of wild fur through the Genuine Mackenzie Valley Fur Program the Government of the Northwest Territories is taking action to diversify the economy. This will provide all communities and regions with opportunities as identified in the 16th Assembly’s vision of Northerners Working Together.
Over $815,000 worth of genuine Mackenzie Valley furs were sold at a wild fur auction held in Seattle this past March, and over 90 percent of the pelts shipped to auction were sold. This is an increase of 47 percent from last year’s sales, and most importantly, our trappers and their communities will benefit from these increased sales.
This year there was an increase in demand for Northwest Territories furs, especially from buyers in Russia and China. Five genuine Mackenzie Valley fur species achieved top prices at auction, outperforming the same species all across Canada and the United States. These species are mink, marten, fisher, arctic fox and red fox. Top prices worthy of noting is our marten with a top price of $150.37, arctic fox at $67.91 and, finally, red fox at $164.92.
These prices underscore what we already know, that fur from the Northwest Territories is amongst the best in the world and our trappers are very skilled at their trade. Providing quality wild fur is no easy task, but our Northwest Territories trappers regularly offer high quality, well-handled fur pelts for sale at auction.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to waive Rule 34(6) so that all Ministers’ statements filed with the Clerk can be delivered today.
---Unanimous consent granted
To date nearly $1 million has been generated in sales for trappers and their families across the Northwest Territories.
Fur sales last year were negatively affected by the downturn in the economy. Now we are seeing the effects of the global recovery. Throughout dramatic swings in market, the Genuine Mackenzie Valley Fur Program has proven very beneficial to trappers. The program provides stability through guarantees on prices and benefits.
The Genuine Mackenzie Valley Fur Program is about promoting self-sufficiency and self-reliance. It also aims to create economic diversity for residents in the territory.
We still have two options remaining this season and I hope to see even more high sales so our trappers and their families will continue to benefit.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation, Mr. Robert McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Government of the Northwest Territories recognizes that shelter is fundamental to the overall long-term well-being of the Northwest Territories residents and is a major factor in creating sustainable, vibrant, safe communities, one of the priorities of the Legislative Assembly.
The GNWT continues to focus on ensuring, where appropriate and necessary, that there is sufficient supply of affordable, adequate and suitable housing to meet the housing needs of NWT residents. To guide housing activities that support this mandate, the GNWT has undertaken a Shelter Policy review. I rise today to update Members and the general public on the work being done for this review.
The Shelter Policy review is a broad-based examination of the government’s approach to housing programs, services and supports to residents. This review will provide a way forward that will outline the long-term visions for housing in the Northwest Territories, with a particular focus on policies and resources required to fulfill the GNWT and the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation’s mandate regarding housing supply that is affordable, adequate and suitable to meet the needs of NWT residents.
We will be looking at the approach to programs, services and supports along the spectrum or continuum of shelter needs experienced by Northwest Territories residents. This includes areas such as homelessness, transitional and supportive housing, independent social housing, market rentals and homeownership. Consideration for emerging needs and population demographics -- a growing population of seniors, for example -- will be some of the many factors considered under this review.
The Shelter Policy review is a collaborative effort between the NWT Housing Corporation and the Department of Executive. As this is a broad-based review of programs, services and support that the GNWT provides in the area of shelter, the departments of Health and Social Services, Justice, and Education, Culture and Employment will also be participating in the review.
Through the Shelter Policy review we are looking at how we have delivered housing in the past, how we can currently deliver housing, and how we may deliver housing in the future. This Shelter Policy review provides an important opportunity to shape the future direction of housing programs, services and support delivered to NWT residents.
The Shelter Policy review also includes an evaluation of the NWT Housing Corporation’s Housing Choices suite of homeownership programs and a review of the NWT Housing Corporation’s approach to how it calculates rent under its Public Housing Program. Both of these are in progress now.
The GNWT will need to hear from NWT residents on issues and challenges around housing if we are going to be able to address housing needs in the Territories. The Shelter Policy review process will include engagement with NWT residents and clients of GNWT housing programs, services and support, as well as regional workshops with community representatives. These engagement activities will be taking place over the course of May and June.
The engagement with Northerners on Shelter Policy will also take into account what the GNWT has heard during the consultation with Northerners on issues associated with poverty over the last few months. Housing has been one of the central themes raised during these meetings and a lot of suggestions on future direction were received. Information collected during these consultations will be of value during the Shelter Policy review. Views of Northerners on priorities related to housing were also obtained through a survey that was recently completed and this information will also be considered as the Shelter Policy review proceeds.
The recommendations from the review will help the GNWT determine how to best address housing challenges and pressures in communities, and increase the supply of suitable and affordable housing in NWT communities, including housing for community service providers. An overall approach to these and various other housing issues will be examined.
While we were fortunate to have seen an investment in housing infrastructure over the past five years of $100 million by the GNWT and $100 million by the federal government which has resulted in new construction, renovation, and repairs that were clearly needed, we still need to examine our overall approach to declining Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation funding for the operation and maintenance of Public Housing Program units.
Based on this review, the GNWT expects to put in place a consistent policy framework around the principles and interrelationship of GNWT housing activities which will allow us to fully address the various housing needs of NWT residents. Reviewing our Shelter Policy is one of the actions that the GNWT identified under our strategic initiative to reduce the cost of living. We expect the results of this review will be available during the 2011-2012 fiscal year and look forward to announcing a renewed approach to housing delivery in the NWT that will assist the GNWT in providing a balanced and coordinated approach to delivering housing to those in need and for those whom the current approach may not be working.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Our news these days is full of images and descriptions of natural disasters around the world: earthquakes, tsunamis, typhoons, hurricanes, tornadoes. Many times we sit and watch the news and say we sympathize but thank God that’s not here. Not to be predicting the negative today, I want to say that we do have disaster on our doorstep.
It’s impossible to think that our neighbour, the province of Alberta, could have almost virtually lost the infrastructure of a town of 7,000, thankfully with no loss of life or injury to this point. Alberta is burning. There are 115 fires in northern Alberta right now, 36 out of control and a summer forecast for record heat and dry conditions. These predictions, these forecasts affect our territory and need us as legislators to pause and think what we’re going to do and how we’re going to address this potential for fire hazard this year.
If a province with the communications system, infrastructure, technology and financial resources as that of our neighbours in Alberta, as I said, have almost lost a community the size of Slave Lake to fire, how will we fare if we are subjected to similar circumstances this summer?
I’d like to later today ask the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources if we have sufficiently budgeted for our fire season. What contingencies do we have? What reciprocal agreements do we have with other jurisdictions to assist us if such an emergency occurs? What kind of emergency preparedness do we have in our communities at this time? What’s the status of our community firebreaks? Just in general, what has our government done to prepare itself in the eventuality that these conditions, these climatic conditions which are out of our control, should cause disaster in this territory as well this summer?
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I want to express my great disappointment with the recent decision by the Minister of Health and Social Services to cancel the Midwifery Program in Yellowknife.
Two years ago at this time Members on this side of the House articulated concern for the long-term survival and sustainability of this program in Yellowknife, the NWT’s largest community. In the two years since, many Yellowknife families have been able to use the services of YK’s one and only midwife, but many have not. All reports have been positive. Mothers are very pleased both with the birthing options available to them and the services provided by the midwife.
Since October 2005 Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority has provided midwifery services in Yellowknife. When announcing the new program in 2005, the Health Minister of the day promised funding to expand the program from one to two midwives. Five and a half years later the program still operated with just one midwife. Today, six years after the program was started, there is no midwifery service in Yellowknife. It should be obvious to the Minister from the number of protesters outside the Legislative Assembly today -- about 70, I’m told -- that there is a demand in Yellowknife for midwifery services.
The practice of midwifery is an ancient one and I believe one well suited to the unique geographical conditions of the NWT. We should be expanding this particular program to more communities, not reducing it. We should be considering the practice of traditional midwifery in our smaller communities, something that our ancestors did naturally many years ago.
The department has stated that it will conduct a Midwifery Program review and expansion analysis, although no time frame has been identified to receive the results of that review. I support that action as necessary to properly plan for, develop, and then fund a viable Midwifery Program, but the Yellowknife Midwifery Program should be continued while that review and analysis is undertaken.
In his letter to Members last week, the Minister indicated he wants to receive input from MLAs. Well, here’s mine: find the money and reinstate the Midwifery Program at Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Programs and services are fundamental to saving our vibrant communities. To have healthy communities we must have programs and services in place in all 33 communities in the Northwest Territories so that all our children can grow up healthy, elders can retire in their home communities and not have to worry about being sent away, people can find work in their communities and raise their families, and also apply for support to local economies to support them.
Not having programs and services gives us a situation where we have have and have-not communities when it comes to programs and services. That must stop.
In every community the fundamental pillar for community self-reliance is programs, services, and ensuring that the well-being of the residents are taken care of, regardless whether it’s the aged, the ill, and the young children, so that the programs and services we deliver throughout the territory are universal, you can get a program in Tsiigehtchic similar to a program in Yellowknife.
Programs are what make communities. Without having the proper resources in place for programs and services, we have some 30 percent of communities in the Northwest Territories that don’t have wellness programs, nursing programs, policing services. Thirty percent. That has to stop. Without programs and services in all communities, core services are being delivered in the have communities and the have-not communities are suffering because of it. We must stop this practice and give all residents of the Northwest Territories the proper services and programs they require to live meaningful lives, live in the communities that they come from, and not be stuck in the situation of which community is vibrant and which one is not. We have to ensure essential services are delivered in all our communities and they do meet the requirements that the residents require.
At the appropriate time I will have questions for the Minister of Health.
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In small, remote communities in Nunakput, recruitment and retention of good teachers is a serious problem. Every year we have a huge number of teachers coming and going. This affects the learning of our students.
In the community of Tuktoyaktuk we have a teacher who will be retiring after almost 30 years teaching in the community. I had the honour of being one of Anna Marie Cameron’s students, as were my children, and many others also had the honour, as well. Her absence from the school will leave a large void that will not be easy to fill. In addition, all of her hard work will never be forgotten. However, unfortunately, she will not be retiring alone. Many others will also and leaving the community of Tuktoyaktuk: Mrs. Robin Hayslip, 27 years; John and Monica Dawson, 10 years; Gary Dufferais, nine years; and Sandra Roberts, two years.
The contributions of these teachers in the community of Tuktoyaktuk will never be forgotten. Their legacies of developing capacity in Tuktoyaktuk will benefit the future generations of students and youth in the community. The teachers in housing subsidy contract with the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment in our community is extremely important to the ongoing quality of our education and the success of our students. In the past, the Minister committed to continuing this arrangement and effort for the renewal of the extension. The contract expired March 31, 2011.
Mr. Speaker, it’s very important for our schools and students. Many communities lack adequate accommodation for their teachers. This upcoming school year, the recruitment and retention of good teachers in small, isolated communities such as Tuktoyaktuk and all across the territory is critical to the continuing success of our students all across the territory, Mr. Speaker.
Recently, this government initiated the Come Make Your Mark campaign. This campaign is an attempt to attract people to our North. But many residents have said how can we attract people to the North when housing conditions are so desperate. Housing has been identified as one of the most important reasons when it comes to recruitment and retention of teachers.
These developments go to the very core of our challenge facing small communities.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
Mr. Speaker, these developments go to the very core of the challenge facing small and remote communities, especially in the Nunakput region. Due to the unique geographic challenges and the enormous operating costs, our communities are continuously disadvantaged while trying to provide the same services to the people that we serve and the students, Mr. Speaker.
I will have questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment at the appropriate time. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. [English translation not provided.]
I am pleased that my colleagues are speaking about the needs of the small communities today, Mr. Speaker. It is the basic expectation of communities and parents that their children will have a school to go to. While this government has been out building super schools and super bridges, it has not been meeting that very basic expectation in Trout Lake.
As I have already repeated in this House many times, Trout Lake has been without a school since the old Charles Tetcho School burned down many years ago. What was supposed to be a temporary measure holding classes in the recreation centre has turned into something long term and it’s unacceptable, Mr. Speaker.
Once again the community raised this with me as a priority when I visited last month. Like any community, of course, they want their young people to succeed, and for this they need access to good education. Teachers and students are doing their best with what they have, but we are letting them down by not giving them an appropriate living environment; a real school, not just a recreation centre.
No larger community would tolerate this situation. When will this government start paying attention to the needs of our small communities? I feel like a broken record, having raised this so many times, but, unfortunately, the Minister has also been a broken record by saying again and again that we need to have discussions. When do the discussions stop and when do we see some real action, Mr. Speaker?
Enough talking. Let’s get out the hammers and nails and give the children of Trout Lake the school they need and deserve. Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, want to speak for the small communities I represent in the Sahtu.
Mr. Speaker, the community of Colville Lake, like Tsiigehtchic, Gameti, Sachs Harbour and some other smaller communities in the North, is in desperate need of fair services in their community. Mr. Speaker, I was reading a note this morning from Colville Lake from last year, and these elders were talking about fair access to nurses in health care centres. These two elders stated that when they went to the hospital, because these other people in the community that are trained mainly as the CHRs are less qualified, they gave them apples and oranges and told them to come back when they were feeling better. Later on the nurse came in from Fort Good Hope and they looked after them.
They’re saying why is it that we can’t get a nurse to spend a week or longer, because these other people, they’re not qualified to go any further than dispense Tylenol or other kinds of pills, and they really can’t diagnose any type of sickness.
My people need help in our communities. We need to start there. First things first with our education, with our justice, with our health; we need to start there, Mr. Speaker. This government needs to know that there are about 10 communities without an RCMP presence in their communities. We have other communities that have RCMP so it’s not an issue for them. In the Sahtu we need nurses. It’s an issue. We need midwifery in our communities. We’ve done that before and we can do it again. Let’s go back to our people and let’s show them that they’re the ones who take control. Let’s help them.
I will have questions for the Minister after, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m rising today to salute the artistic and social advocacy achievements of my constituent France Benoit. Ms. Benoit has just returned from the screening of her short film, Hand to Toe, at North America’s largest and most prestigious documentary film festival, Hot Docs, in Toronto.
Ms. Benoit is the first filmmaker from the NWT to have a film selected by Hot Docs. Hand to Toe - An Exploration in the Art of Giving, played to sold-out crowds last week in Toronto. It will be screened in 10 other film festivals in both Canada and the United States.
The film is director France Benoit and videographer Gary Milligan’s intimate portrait of the Yellowknife Salvation Army’s weekly foot washing program. Every Wednesday men and women from the streets gather to share an evening meal and have their feet washed. Winter and summer they take a load off, swap stories and experience warmth, water and tenderness. In return, the volunteers who provide this service make meaningful connections with their community. Hand to Toe dives foot first into these lively nights with this artful black and white exploration into the art of giving.
Thanks to financial support supplied on very short notice from the North Slave office of ITI, Ms. Benoit was able to attend both the Hot Docs Film Festival and the forum, a major marketing endeavour where filmmakers are able to meet with producers and broadcasters from around the world. The National Film Board has been impressed by her visual exploration of the art of giving and has decided to fund France to direct another short film using the same techniques and artistry.
Over the last year -- and thanks in no small part to the advocacy of Ms. Benoit and others over recent years -- ITI has been gathering the facts and forging partnerships for a renewed approach to supporting and developing our home-grown new media industry. There has been broad and inclusive discussion with more than 20 of our new media artists and entrepreneurs. Practitioners have been involved in a major review of the industry and development of recommendations for government support programs. For the first time this year the NWT economic review and outlook has begun reporting information on the new media industry’s contribution to our economy.
I congratulate the Minister for this work and the approach being taken, and look forward to an informative product and ambitious recommendations. Colleagues, please join me in congratulating Ms. France Benoit for this major recognition.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Since the beginning of the 16th Legislative Assembly, I and others, as you’ve already heard today, have been raising the delivery of midwifery services throughout the NWT as a concern and an opportunity. These services continue to remain popular and provide significant value to residents of the Northwest Territories. Until recently, there have been three midwives practicing in the Northwest Territories, two in Fort Smith and one in Yellowknife, Ndilo and Dettah.
Recently, the Minister announced that the midwifery services here in Yellowknife have been placed on hold and that a review of the services throughout the Northwest Territories is currently underway.
Mr. Speaker, the Midwifery Profession Act, proclaimed in 2005, provides for the licensing, registration, and regulation of registered midwives in the Northwest Territories. Midwives have been active intermittently in Yellowknife since 2006 and in Fort Smith for over 10 years. Midwives are health care professionals who provide low-risk women with the necessary support, care and advice during pregnancy, labour, delivery and after birth. Their care includes preventative measures, detections of complications in mother and child, and accessing further medical assistance if there is a need.
The midwife has an important role as a health counsellor, an educator, not only for the mother but also for her family and the community. Midwives may practice in any setting, such as homes, clinics or hospitals. Women in midwives’ care do not normally see a physician unless complications arise. That reduces the workload on general practitioners currently performing routine examinations on expectant mothers. Obstetricians and gynaecologists are open to the partnerships with midwives to make sure that mother and child receive quality care.
Mr. Speaker, midwifery is publicly funded in five jurisdictions, including the Northwest Territories. The province of Alberta has recently allowed insurance coverage to midwife services. Although there is growing popularity for midwives here, an increasing number of expectant mothers are being turned away due to the limited funding for midwifery programs.
Mr. Speaker, there is clear public support for midwife services here in the Northwest Territories, including here in Yellowknife. As a government, we need to take advantage of the opportunity at hand and expand the role of midwives throughout the Northwest Territories. There is a clear opportunity for us to support community and regional births and reduce the overall costs on our health care system.
Mr. Speaker, later today I’ll be asking the Minister responsible for Health and Social Services some questions on the current review being conducted by the department, and the future of midwives within Health and Social Services here in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On Friday I spoke about what’s happening on the streets of Yellowknife and a young woman of 16 who is caught up in drug abuse and risky behaviour. Her mother is struggling to find help for her, with only frustration and anxiety to show for it. The lesson her mother is learning is that she can count on no one for help. Not school officials, not Social Services and not the police. As she says, this has been a nightmare and it just keeps getting worse.
I’m going to use her words to tell you this story, Mr. Speaker. “The RCMP were called to the mall because three girls, aged 15 and 16, were drinking alcohol in public. One of the girls was my daughter. The mother of one of the other girls called me. When I got to the mall my daughter was gone.” Mr. Speaker, she’d already told the RCMP her daughter was on the run, but they never even called her when they encountered her daughter and took away the vodka. The mother asked the police why the kids were not taken into custody until their parents could pick them up. The answer, she says, was they just kept going around and around to the fact that they took the alcohol away from them.
Mr. Speaker, this was another chance to intervene for the good of these young people that got away, but that wasn’t the mother’s first dealings with the police.
She had talked to them about her daughter’s two thefts, totalling close to $1,000. During another incident in the mall, her daughter admitted to the RCMP to taking the money, but they said it still wasn’t enough to lay charges and they refused to escort her daughter home.
Mr. Speaker, this seems like wilful blindness on the part of the police. It’s a ready willingness to let young people go their own way no matter how destructive their behaviour. The police seem determined not to use minor infractions of the law as a tool or an aid in turning a young person’s behaviour around. Obviously, these young people were supposed to be in school in the first place.
Mr. Speaker, these young people are not legally adults until they turn 19 years old. When they’re in the throes of destructive behaviour, and maybe even falling into addictions, they are not capable of making good decisions for themselves. It’s wrong for our educators, social services staff and police to pretend otherwise for the sake of convenience or cost cutting. When we refuse to take action and refuse to help parents struggling with all their hearts to save their children, just what are we doing?
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
To answer that, I’ll quote this young woman’s mother again. “So here I am, losing sleep, wondering if my child is safe, what she is doing, and praying that the RCMP will not come to my door and tell me she is dead.” Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.
Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. I’m sure the youth of Fort Resolution are pleased to see a beautiful youth centre being constructed in their community. On behalf of the community of Fort Resolution and its youth, I’d like to thank the Hamlet of Fort Resolution and the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs for their roles in making this youth centre a reality.
Mr. Speaker, in order to maximize the use of the youth centre, the Department of MACA must put some funding towards the community for hiring a qualified youth worker that can develop and implement youth programs at the youth centre and within the community.
Mr. Speaker, the days of just supervising youth are long gone and now we need to deliver some constructive, meaningful programs and activities that will build upon the infrastructure that will be finished soon.
There is a need for youth programs and youth activities, youth development work, counselling programs, to mention a few things that are essential to ensure that we optimize the youth centre. However, Mr. Speaker, the Hamlet of Fort Resolution does not receive enough funding in the youth area to hire a qualified youth worker.
Mr. Speaker, I am informed by the hamlet that their budget is very limited and they cannot afford to hire a qualified youth worker that would be able to develop and deliver the programs for the youth of Fort Resolution. Many times in this House I have spoken of youth, and I think that everyone in this Assembly knows that the youth are our future and we must do all we can to ensure the youth are impacted positively as much as possible.
Mr. Speaker, a good, solid strategic plan that looks at improving the lives of the youth today will have long-lasting benefits for all the people of the NWT tomorrow. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Like my colleagues, I rise today with great concern that the midwifery services have been temporarily suspended in Yellowknife effective May 6th. I believe that this is an incredible disappointment to many families who want access to this excellent service that was being provided to mothers and newborns.
Over the past several years many MLAs, including myself, have been calling upon this government to expand the much needed services in our community, and now the Department of Health and Social Services is conducting a program review and expansion analysis to develop options for the territorial Midwifery Program. Mr. Speaker, all they had to do was just listen to MLAs to hear it was working.
Well, this is both a welcomed and disappointing surprise, Mr. Speaker, because at the same time we’ve been calling for the expansion, now they have to shut down and think about how they want to do it.
Mr. Speaker, there was only one person providing midwifery services here in Yellowknife and truthfully was working way beyond any person’s natural ability and capacity, while at the same time, sadly, they had to turn people away because the demand was so great and the need for this service has continued to grow.
As we all know very well, midwives in Canada are trained specialists who care for women throughout their pregnancy and birth, and further they offer aftercare services to mothers and babies for the first few weeks after that birth. Mr. Speaker, in my view, the midwives are a fundamental part of our health care team of our future in the Northwest Territories.
As I’ve said before, in Fort Smith there are two midwives providing these services, and I continue to hear rave reviews of the work and services they provide their community where resident physicians are sometimes difficult and hard to find. To add to that point, last year in my travels, I crossed paths with the National Midwifery Conference being held in Edmonton. The midwives from all across our nation who were taking part in that program discussing what they’re doing there had nothing but great things to say about the examples being done here in the Northwest Territories. More specifically, they commented about the great work being done in Fort Smith as a blueprint to the future success of midwifery in Canada.
Building upon that success in Yellowknife, there has been only one midwife for some time. It was a huge challenge, but clearly she was up to it. Now the local program has been suspended. If I can describe it this way: the program here in Yellowknife was a gleaming beacon of success with unprecedented support from the public, health care partners, mothers, families, and politicians like myself. With support like that, perhaps it was doomed from the beginning.
I will have questions for the Minister later today.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to advise the House of the passing of a charismatic, true man of the North: Mr. Edwin Lindburgh of Fort Simpson. He was 81 years of age on May 3, 2011. Our thoughts and prayers are with Mr. Lindburgh’s wife, Sue, his daughter, Carol, and all his family and many friends. He will be greatly missed by the people of Fort Simpson, Nahendeh, and people from all over the world who met Edwin Lindburgh over the years.
