Good afternoon, colleagues. Welcome back to the House. Before we begin the business of the day, I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the passing of a former member of our Legislature, Mr. Arnold McCallum. Mr. McCallum was first elected in 1975 during the 8th Council/Assembly and served in this House until 1987 for the riding then named Slave River.
Mr. McCallum passed away Sunday, May 25, 2008, in Digby, Nova Scotia. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his friends and family.
Mr. Speaker, I am proud to announce that the new RCMP detachment is now open in Sachs Harbour. This has been a priority of both this and previous governments for many years and has finally become a reality. A corporal and constable are now in the community providing full-time policing services. They will be able to respond immediately to any situations that arise and will work on crime prevention activities with community members.
The detachment in Sachs Harbour was closed in 1992 due to resource issues. Since then officers from Inuvik have provided regular patrols and responded to emergencies. The community has been very successful in keeping the crime rate low, but this government felt a full-time police presence was required because of the logistics of responding to urgent situations.
Simply put, it can take several hours to get to Sachs Harbour in an emergency, because a plane has to charter in from Inuvik. This government felt this response time was simply not good enough and committed to re-establishing the detachment. As Members know, this was not an easy task.
First, the federal government had to agree that infrastructure for new detachments was a priority on the long list of national policing priorities. I want to thank the former Minister of Justice, Brendan Bell, for his successful work to lobby the federal minister of this issue.
Then the RCMP had to work through the logistics of repairing the detachment and hiring officers. This is a special posting. They wanted to make sure they had the right people for the job.
I am pleased to announce that Corporal Eric McKenzie is one of our former G Division officers who used to police Sachs Harbour when he worked at the Inuvik detachment. We are always happy to welcome officers back to our community. Their experience is crucial to our policing efforts. I would also like to extend a welcome to Constable Todd Midgett. I am looking forward to meeting both officers in person at the detachment’s formal opening scheduled for July 10, 2008.
This detachment will make a real difference in the lives of people in Sachs Harbour. I am proud to be able to make this announcement today. Community safety is a priority for this government, and this new detachment is a huge step toward our goal of increasing police presence in all the small communities.
I would like to congratulate RCMP G Division for all their work in making the detachment a reality. Thanks must go out to MLA Jacobson, Mayor Eldridge and the people of Sachs Harbour for their advocacy and support for the project. It is through the combined efforts of government, the community and the police themselves that we can truly progress towards making a community that is safer for everyone. This is a tremendous achievement for the community of Sachs Harbour.
The honourable Minister Responsible for the Workers’ Compensation Board, Mr. Miltenberger.
Mr. Speaker, every year we join together to celebrate North American Occupational Safety and Health, or NAOSH, week. This year NAOSH week was May 4 to 10. First marked by an agreement between Canada, Mexico and the United States in 1997, NAOSH week focuses on creating safety cultures at home, at work and at play. It reminds us of the importance of preventing injury and illness.
This year’s theme, “Start Today, Live it Every Day!” expands on last year’s theme of making a lifetime commitment to safety and health. It is never too early or too late to start learning about and practising safety.
As part of this year’s activities, the organizing committee planned several exciting safety and health-related events. Over 80 students from Yellowknife schools explored the Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission’s trail map to safety. The trail map to safety, held May 9, featured safety demonstrations and activities facilitated by the commission and Life Care Planning. The commission also visited local Yellowknife classrooms throughout the week to deliver safety talks and play the safety trivia game “Are You the Safest Link?” CJCD hosted the “Are You the Safest Link?” radio trivia game three times a day from Monday to Thursday. Listeners called in and answered a series of safety-related trivia questions to win prizes provided by the commission and BHP Billiton Diamonds. The Department of Transportation hosted video lunches in Inuvik, Fort Simpson and Hay River to help raise northern safety awareness.
NAOSH week culminated with a well-attended Yellowknife community event in the Centre Square Mall parking lot from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on May 9. In addition to the Northern Territories Federation of Labour free barbeque and Arctic Response safety demonstration, the commission held its second annual “Ready, Set, Go Safe!” team challenge where local area teams participated in the safety trivia showdown “Are You the Safest Link?”
NAOSH week event participation grows every year. This year a total of 16 teams of four members each, representing a wide range of employer groups, took part in the challenge.
In closing, I would like to thank everyone who helped make this year’s NAOSH week activities a success. The Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission continues its commitment to build on the successes of these events to develop northern safety cultures for which we can all be proud. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Before we go on, colleagues, I would like to draw your attention to the presence in the visitors’ gallery of the Consul General for the Republic of Indonesia, Mr. Saptomo. Accompanying him is the Consul for Protocol and Consular Affairs, Ms. Bakrie. Welcome to Yellowknife again, and welcome to the Assembly.
Mr. Speaker, as a Member of the 13th Assembly since 1995, I came into office with a $150 million deficit with the government at the time. We had to make some tough decisions and had to make some tough choices in regard to how we were going to do to deal with the deficit situation we were in.
Back then the Government of the Northwest Territories provided staff housing to staff throughout the Northwest Territories, and the government of the day decided to sell off that staff housing to deal with the deficit situation we were in with regard to trying to recoup some $75 million to pay down the $150 million debt that we incurred.
We also had to make tough decisions in regard to programs and services, and also amalgamating departments by moving department personnel, eliminating the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources, and also amalgamating departments into Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development.
The loss of programs and services through the Northwest Territories, especially in small communities.... We have not been able to recuperate from that decision. Today we have some major problems simply in recruiting and retaining professionals in our communities. One of the main drivers of that is the lack of housing for staff.
Our communities are still recuperating from those decisions and yet have never been able to get back what they lost. The simple things we take for granted, such as programs and services like being able to see a doctor, dentist, the nursing professions in the communities, are being limited because of not being able to recruit and retain nurses and teachers in our communities. That decision is still affecting us today.
What do we do from here on in and going forward? We have to ensure our decisions, the impacts....
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
Unanimous consent granted.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues.
Whatever decision we make going forward has to be one that’s seen over the long term — not just four years ahead, eight years ahead or, as in my case, 12 years ahead, but 20 years ahead, to ensure that whatever we do here…the implications and impacts will be minimized and the long-term effects resolved, so that we’re able to find ways of filling those gaps and don’t have to live with them long into the future.
With that, I will be asking questions to the Premier on this matter.
The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to talk to you, our Premier, MLAs and all people of the Northwest Territories. I am gravely concerned that this budget does not address some crucial issues.
As the Premier said on CBC this morning, we have to start taking actions to secure the future. Unfortunately, this government does not appear to have a good grasp of the key issues we face today. In a nutshell, government planning and budgeting must recognize and respond to the full implications of climate change and the rising costs and uncertain availability of oil. Almost daily, between reports of catastrophic weather events, scientific reports reveal that we have woefully underestimated both the magnitude and speed of climate change. Impacts include the loss of species, decreases in food production, increasing disease and transportation issues, loss of cultures, landscape change and so on. We feel impacts in every aspect of our lives, our business and our government.
As Rajendra Pachauri said when he accepted the Nobel Prize on behalf of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: “If there’s no action before 2012, that’s too late. What we do in the next two to three years will determine our future. This is the defining moment.” Mr. Pachauri said this last year.
The Minister of Finance proposes to spend one-third of 1 per cent of the budget on mitigation and adaptation to climate change. Worse than this, Mr. Speaker, is the absence of a comprehensive, government-wide program to aggressively reduce the cause of climate change and to change how we do business in the NWT. We need a workable relationship with the natural world; we identified this need in our vision, goals and priorities. Time is running out. We need action to secure our future.
The second crucial issue to residents of the NWT is the declining availability of oil as we pass peak oil — the point where 50 per cent of our global resources have been used up, and thus the high cost of oil today and in the future. Mr. Speaker, we have used up the cheap oil, the price is soaring, there is no ready economic alternative, and availability of oil is increasingly uncertain. We in the North are currently totally dependent on oil; it’s the foundation for our heating, our food, our shelter, our health….
Mr. Bromley, your time for your Member’s statement has expired.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
Unanimous consent granted.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This shortage of oil was forecast, but it’s happening now.
Mr. Speaker, both of these issues are upon us. The 16th Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories will decide our future. The opportunity, the responsibility, the requirement for immediate, comprehensive and effective action is ours. In light of the facts and today’s communications, we cannot deny that we are fully aware of these issues. History will record our response to these critical challenges. The time for action is now. Mahsi.
The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.
A lot of Members have already gone on record discussing the proposed budget and the process that has been undertaken today. Given that today we may be voting on the first and second readings of the budget, I thought it would be timely for me to talk about the process as well.
It has been suggested by Cabinet that the 11 Members on this side of the House have been adequately briefed and involved throughout the entire budget process, including the cuts themselves. When it comes to reductions, the 11 Members prepared a list of potential reductions, not focused on job cuts, and provided them to Cabinet for consideration. We were told that there were some good ideas but they would need research before they could be implemented. That makes sense. However, if research into our ideas is required, I would suggest that research into the changes put forward by Cabinet would also need to be reviewed and researched as well. Instead, they put their ideas forward as part of the budget.
To me, they don’t appear to be the most logical and appropriate cuts given Cabinet’s commitment that job cuts would only be as a last resort. Some departments made no attempt to reduce other than by cutting jobs themselves, which is contrary to the original message. With respect to the job cuts, we’ve also been ignored. During the last session, we asked that job cuts be a last resort. We were also given the understanding that we, as Regular MLAs, would be notified before potentially affected staff.
On February 28, 2008, we received a letter from the Minister responsible for Human Resources indicating that jobs are being cut. Unfortunately, staff were being notified at exactly the same time. That hardly gave us an opportunity to discuss the potential cuts with Cabinet and offer alternative solutions. Further, the package we did receive did not include a list of potentially affected positions; rather, it just said staff were being notified. We didn’t receive a list of potentially affected employees until three weeks later, long after staff had been told.
The worst part about this whole situation is that the Minister of Human Resources went on record in the March 3, 2008, issue of News/North indicating that MLAs had been told about the notification in a briefing and a letter. I don't personally recall the briefing.
As a Regular Member I don't personally feel that I've been adequately briefed and/or involved in setting the priorities for the proposed reinvestment either.
When it comes to the reinvestment, Regular Members have continually asked to participate in the setting of priorities. We have continually been denied that opportunity and been told that we won't be invited to participate in the strategic reinvestment committee. The entire process has been lacking, and the net result is, in my opinion, not in the best interests of the people of the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
Mr. Speaker, the Deh Cho Drum took the recent contamination of the Trout Lake oil spill so seriously that they called it the Exxon Valdez of Trout Lake.
Trout Lake is a small, fly-in-only community in the Nahendeh riding. People take pride in their traditions, their pristine surroundings and still live off the land. They use the lake for drinking water and to fish and to provide sustenance. They have protected their environment for a long time and are proud for the food it provides to them.
At this time people in my constituency are still very concerned about what was allowed to happen: 9,500 litres of diesel fuel escaped from a seeping pipe at a Northland Utilities power station tank. Nine thousand five hundred litres in one 45-gallon drum is 200 litres, Mr. Speaker. That's 50 drums of diesel fuel that spilled onto the land, and some it made its way onto the lake. The diesel fuel soaked through the soil and into drainage ditches and, like I said, made its way onto the frozen lake.
This contamination was avoidable. How could it happen? Once again, this was a preventable accident. The community of Trout Lake wants answers. I want answers. The people want to make sure that nothing similar can happen again.
Since the spill occurred at the beginning of May, most of the fuel has been cleaned up, and everybody tells the people of Trout Lake not to worry, but worry they do. Now their precious water is being monitored, and specialists are planning for decontaminating the poisoned soil. Northland Utilities has installed new flexible piping and has looked into changing the fuel pipes from the bottom to the top of their tanks.
To make sure that all is done right, the environmental protection unit of Environment and Natural Resources is monitoring all of the damage control and cleanup.
Once again, this did not have to happen. I want to know: what had they done before the spill occurred to protect Trout Lake? I will have questions for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources at the appropriate time. Mahsi cho.
The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.
Mr. Speaker, I'd like to use my Member's statement today to discuss recent events and decisions made in regard to park operations here in the North Slave region.
Three weeks before the parks and campgrounds were set to open on May 15,, it appeared that ITI was going to implement a new set of rules for seasonal campsites. The allotment was going to change at both Prelude Lake and Reid Lake. The available duration was set to change, as was the pricing.
All of these proposed changes were developed in isolation by ITI. There was no public consultation. There was no consultation with Regular Members or Members who would be hearing complaints from the public.
How is it possible that ITI could have eight months since the end of last park season to come up with a plan and consult, and the best they could do was to cause a public uproar by proposing to change operations just weeks before the parks were set to open? It was only after considerable outrage by the public and Members of this House that ITI decided to stay with the status quo for this year, and I do thank them for that.
To me, all of this was completely avoidable had the department consulted with the public. I believe and hope that the Minister and the department got the message. I also believe we need to be doing more to get additional seasonal sites in our parks so that as many residents and tourists as possible can have access to sites to camp in.
I worked as a parks officer in the North Slave region for eight years, and I learned very quickly that campers are a very passionate and vocal group. Certainly before any changes are contemplated or made, the public is going to have to have an opportunity for meaningful input into the process.
I also want to say how completely ridiculous the reservation fees are for the public booking campsites. They've been lowered this year, and I guess we should be thankful for that. However, I just do not understand why money paid to reserve a campsite is not offset against actual camping fees. It costs enough for families to go camping in the North Slave region as it is, and to add cost to the reservation is absurd.
I'll have questions for the Minister of ITI at the appropriate time. Mahsi.
The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Mr. Speaker, I think that as elected leaders and politicians, it's very important that we have the ability to make decisions and be able and prepared to back those decisions up with clear communication and a rationale for those decisions.
I have tried to be very transparent and clear when I raise my voice in this House to speak out on issues. I have expressed that I have concerns with the budget that has been presented. I've spoken in the House and in the media interviews about why I have those concerns. I make no apologies for that. I have the right, in fact the obligation, as an elected Member to hear my constituents, weigh the evidence and the information before me, and act accordingly.
So I was disappointed when I heard the Premier on the radio phone-in show on CBC this morning say that he is not good at political gamesmanship. I'm not sure what the insinuation is here, but I want to assure you that there is no political gamesmanship here. I'm not good at it either, and I have absolutely no interest in it. I am committed to good government, consensus government, clear vision and direction, and our ability to communicate that vision and direction to the people of the Northwest Territories.
In the same interview the Premier, in response to a question about whether Members were sufficiently consulted, said that new Members he could understand. I don't know why the Premier would differentiate between new Members and returning Members.
The fact is that we had a compressed process. Maybe a better product would have come forward in the fall, or maybe it wouldn't have. But when the opportunity to include Regular Members presented itself, our requests were denied. We asked for participation in the capital planning priorities. We asked to have membership on the strategic initiatives committee. We asked to be at the table when new projects were identified under the Building Canada Fund. Our written requests were denied. We submitted a report to the Premier on cost-saving ideas. They were set aside for future consideration.
After all this, a budget comes forward, and many Members now say that this is not our budget. Regular Members do participate through standing committees. We responded to the Main Estimates. Most of our recommendations were not accepted by Cabinet. Is it any wonder that we say that this is not our budget?
Later today, at second reading, I will elaborate further about why I feel that the month of June would be better devoted to taking this budget back to the drawing board and why I cannot support this budget.
The limited ability to further delete items cannot fix this budget for me. The Premier has already clearly stated in the House, on Friday, that they are not prepared to move on the budget reductions or the reinvestments. I asked the Premier, and I quote, "Would the Premier agree to return to an interim status quo budget until such time as we can come together and not take these very, very drastic measures that are proposed in this budget?" and the Premier's response was no.
The honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, Mr. Robert McLeod.
Mr. Speaker, the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline has faced one delay after another in the past few years, and reading the paper this morning, I see where the Joint Review Panel's report has been delayed again. First we expected it in 2008, and now I hear 2009. I'm not sure when in 2009 that it's coming. First they extended it; they added another seven months on to their hearings. You know, it could be December of next year for all we know. That's going to add almost another year and a half on to the whole process.
The reason I keep speaking to this is I represent an area that's invested quite heavily into being ready for the pipeline, and the longer the delays continue to go on, the more it affects them and their businesses. The price went from $4 billion to $16 billion, and who knows what it's going to be a year and a half, two years from now.
This panel has had 21 months of hearings, 630 days. The paper said they had 115 days of hearings. At least 525 days where they could have been working on their report.
I understand that this is an independent board. I think sometimes we may have given them a little too much independence — giving them independence to the point where they're extending as long as they like. I'm not sure if this government had input into any terms of reference that may have been set aside for this board.
The pipeline is important to the residents of the Beaufort-Delta. You know, I believe that the pipeline will go through. It’ll be controlled development. We’re not going to just push this through, and I appreciate the fact that we have to have due process and look at all the different effects this might have on the land and the environment, but I do think that too many delays have affected this project.
I have a habit of sometimes saying what I really think, and I have a habit of saying what other people think. I am just wondering — and I have people asking me — if an honorarium had a large part to play in the delays.
The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The government has put an increased emphasis on support for trades training and apprenticeship opportunities over the past few years. What hasn’t been discussed enough, as far as I’m concerned, is the fact that the trades training programs, in my mind, still have a number of gaps.
One area in the trades that is definitely needed in the North is cooking trades, a Red Seal Program. There’s a high demand for certified cooks in our diamond mines, exploration camps and in the food service industry in our North. The demand for skilled cooks will only increase when the Mackenzie Gas Pipeline Project eventually moves forward.
There is a camp cook program offered through Aurora College, but this is an entry-level program that does not provide the necessary training for work as a fully licensed cook, a Red Seal tradesperson.
I believe we need to expand the cook training program opportunities in the North. I believe that it’s something we could do, and I believe it’s something that’s direly needed. People should not have to travel south — whether it’s to Edmonton, Calgary or beyond — to receive this training. We have facilities here in the North. We even have facilities here, potentially, in Yellowknife. I’ve had the opportunity to take the Education Minister down to see what a good program could look like.
Later today I will be urging the Department of Education, Culture and Employment to take a serious look at this, to fully implement a fully accredited Red Seal cooking trades program here in the North so that all our northern students can get true training here in the North, exactly where we want them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.
Mahsi. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to talk about the concern for residents in Lutselk’e and the lack of culturally sensitive professional counselling services.
Currently there are no professional counselling services readily accessible in the community, and there haven’t been since 2006. The agency responsible for providing these and other health and social services is the Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority.
The Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority is doing a good job providing these important services, particularly when there is staff turnover, and that is a constant problem. However, when residents are in need of professional mental health services, there have been some problems in accessing those specialized services. This is due in part to another problem dealing with professionals.
Mr. Speaker, because many of these positions require some kind of professional designation and are highly technical in nature, these individuals are highly educated, non-native people from the south. Residents have complained that when they need these mental health professionals, they are not able to effectively communicate with them because of what they refer to as cultural insensitivity on behalf of the professionals.
The residents are trying to express important family social information for the professional, but with limited education. In many cases even with limited knowledge of the English language it is difficult to accurately convey their concerns and their needs. More often than not, they feel they are being dismissed as having a bad day, and they are left at the end of the day not getting the needed professional counselling they desire. As a result of this, they get frustrated and stop seeking assistance from these individuals.
Unfortunately Mr. Speaker, there have been three suicides in the community of Lutselk’e within the last 24 months, the most recent a couple of weeks ago. These incidents are a tragedy to the whole community. Recently a constituent told me....
Mr. Beaulieu, your time for your Member’s statement is expired.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
Unanimous consent granted.
Recently a constituent told me that there are many other young people in the community that are in desperate need of proper counselling. This is a very serious concern for the community of Lutselk’e. I can understand the challenges our government is facing, working in these times of fiscal restraint, but when you have three suicides in the span of 24 months in a community of under 400, we need to review the programs and services that are being delivered, in areas such as effective cross-cultural training for our front-line staff in these communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Mr. Speaker, I’ve had the chance to do a small review of the Budget Address heard last week, and a number of statements in the address made me go, “Huh?” I’d like to discuss a few of those and the questions they raised in my mind.
We had some communication last week about how the government is accommodating employees who have been affected by budget reductions. There seems to be a genuine desire on the part of the government to make the transition as easy as possible, but where are the actions that show us that desire? I haven’t seen anything.
The Minister of Human Resources said that GNWT policies don’t allow certain actions that could better accommodate staff whose positions are being reduced — early retirement, for example. I would think that if the government is serious about needing to reduce positions, we would be looking at every available possibility to smooth the way. Surely we can amend policies or, at the very least, agree to waive them for a specified period of time to accomplish the easy accommodation of our affected employees. After all, it seems the government writes the policies.
The Budget Address indicated that there are plans for approximately $500 million of capital investments over the next four years but that we will only incur $17 million in debt in doing so. I suggest that we would be better off retaining the 111 affected positions set to be reduced and use more of our borrowing power to pay for the capital investments.
Page B2 of the address document includes a graph titled Revenue and Expenditure Growth. It shows revenues increasing faster than expenditures, at least to my eye, and contradicts the Finance Minister’s statement that expenses are outgrowing our revenues. I am unable to reconcile the words and the picture.
In summary, Mr. Speaker, I am particularly disappointed in three aspects of this budget: that there is no new revenue source; that budget reductions seem to target jobs first, not as a last resort; that there is no coordinated approach from the government for the consideration of saving the environment — reducing greenhouse gas emissions, for example; energy planning; and minimizing climate change through all of our programs and services. Energy conservation, climate change prevention and mitigation should be at the front of and integral to everything that we do as a government: new buildings, roads, bridges, economic development, utility costs — everything.
As I mentioned in my statement last week, few departmental budget briefings presented a good rationale or justification for the content of their budget. I hope to see that information during budget debate. I need convincing that the various departments’ proposals are the right ones. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The honourable Member for Thebacha, Mr. Miltenberger.
Mr. Speaker, yesterday I had the opportunity in Fort Smith to attend the installation of the new bishop for the Mackenzie–Fort Smith diocese, Bishop Murray Chatlain.
We also at the same time celebrated the retirement and dedication of years of service of now Bishop Emeritus Denis Croteau. Bishop Croteau will be staying in the North. He will be working in communities in the North as well. He is going to take his vast experience in compassion and caring to the fields of the Lord outside of Canada.
I’d like to take this opportunity to recognize and welcome Bishop Murray Chatlain into his new role. He has a huge area to cover. He has many challenges. He is very young and enthusiastic, and clearly the Pope made a wise decision in picking the new bishop, and I welcome him to this new diocese. Thank you.
The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
