Debates of May 28, 2004 (day 15)

Mr. Speaker, I have an emergency statement. Mr. Speaker, since the House met yesterday, I have been provided with new information concerning the conduct of the Honourable Henry Zoe at the Royal Canadian Legion on the evening of May 15, 2004. I have been able to verify this information with those involved in the incident. In light of the new information this morning, I have relieved Mr. Zoe of his responsibilities as Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs and as Minister responsible for the Public Utilities Board.

Mr. Speaker, those of us who have the privilege as serving as a Member of this Legislative Assembly or as a Member of Cabinet have an obligation to uphold a high standard. This standard has not been met in this case and it’s for this reason I have taken this action.

Mr. Speaker, it is clear that Mr. Zoe has some personal issues that he must attend to and I strongly encourage him to do so. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Being a Friday morning, I also had the privilege doing a job shadow/teaching experience at the Weledeh Catholic School on the afternoon of May 10th. Mr. Speaker, this was the most pleasurable experience I’ve had in many years. As you are aware, I have spent many years teaching youth across the Northwest Territories, both wilderness and survival skills. Mr. Speaker, what I did find out from sharing our stories is how do we know each other’s regions, communities and way of life, although we claim to be true northerners? Since this is a nice, Friday morning, I wanted to reflect back on the many, many stories I have listened to during the course of my lifetime from my own elders back home as I grew up in Aklavik and on to Inuvik.

In my reply to the opening address, I dedicated a sentence to those who were not indigenous to the North but came north to follow the immense opportunities that

are afforded to newcomers. Mr. Speaker, many Members here will not recognize the names, but it’s important to speak well of our elders who do tell stories of explorers, trappers, traders and those who immigrated to the east side of the Mackenzie Delta.

So to my friend, Buster McLeod, thank you for educating me on the important role of the now deceased who helped develop the history of our small region. The names he has given me are: Billy Phillips and Mrs. Leyland, Earl Mirander, Old Tom Throne, the Werville brothers, Pierre Tazzi, Lalu, Big Rock, Pierre Coyen from Loche Creek, Pascal Baptiste, Albert Ross, Adolf Koziak, Jim Harris, Jack Billips and the Norris family at east branch.

Mr. Speaker, the members of the pioneers of the east branch of the Mackenzie Delta bring back fond memories for those elders who remain with us today. On behalf of myself and those who participate, I would also like to thank both the teachers at Weledeh and St. Joe’s Catholic schools for inviting me to share the history of the Mackenzie Delta. I also look forward to going back on June 14th and 15th to teach more about the Mackenzie Delta and the North. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is the time of year when nearly everyone in the community of Tuktoyaktuk goes out on the land for their annual subsistence harvest of game, fish and geese. During my travels to Husky Lake, I became aware on Sunday, May 23, 2004, of a local resident who was considered lost. This individual did not report or return home and after he was reported missing, the family was concerned and contacted the local volunteer search and rescue team. The RCMP, the Canadian Rangers and local volunteers put their plan in place and conducted a vast search. On Monday, May 24, 2004, I was in the community of Yellowknife when I heard that they found this individual. He was safe, but tired and hungry. I did not have time to call the parents and give them my regards on the safe return of their son.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize and thank the RCMP, the Canadian Rangers and the local individuals of Tuktoyaktuk and the air charter companies for the successful search and rescue. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This morning I would like to talk about the importance of the traditional spring hunts we have in the Sahtu as well as other regions in the Northwest Territories. This time of the year, Mr. Speaker, when the days get long, many people across the North are preparing for a spring hunt out in the bush. The signs of the spring unfold before our eyes, especially hearing the geese and the ducks. It brings a lot of joy in people’s hearts. For a thousand years, people have enjoyed this tradition and exercise our right to live off the land. Families come together. They work together and, most importantly, they learn to live together. In the bush, each one of us has a very important role to contribute towards survival and the understanding of our culture. The spring hunt is an important time for harvesting from the land, to value our time with family and to appreciate our culture. For thousands of years, people in the Sahtu have participated in the spring hunt. The substance relationship to the land, the animals, defines the spiritual, emotional and physical identity of the people of the Sahtu. The spring hunt is a very special time of the year for my people. I wish all those on the land who go hunting and fishing a safe journey home and ask that they keep this important part of our tradition within our communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Mr. Speaker, I wish to speak this morning on an issue of aboriginal language and culture. I see that the government’s newly released strategic plan calls for NWT indigenous cultures and languages that are a source of strength for present and future generations. Certainly this is a laudable goal that we hope will be achieved. The plans state further that this goal will be accomplished by implementing school programs to support culture, language and partnership with families and communities. I am concerned, Mr. Speaker, what the strategic plan means in terms of concrete action by the government and whether or not it will be enough to provide for aboriginal languages and cultures that are truly a source of strength. If we are going to implement meaningful school programs that support aboriginal language and culture, I wonder who will teach these programs. For any school program to be successful, qualified professionals are needed to teach the program. Yet, Mr. Speaker, I find no mention in the strategic plan regarding professional development for aboriginal language instructors.

Last month, the Alberta government unveiled a new plan to increase language learning in its goals. That plan calls for a regime of scholarships and bursaries that will encourage professional educators to develop language-related teaching skills. I believe we, too, need to take similar measures in the North. Without qualified teachers, what will a school program accomplish?

Already we have a lack of qualified aboriginal language teachers, and in most communities we have at best aboriginal language teaching assistants. Even they are in short supply. We are also finding that our qualified aboriginal teachers are going elsewhere for education, teaching and for jobs, taking with them what little professional expertise and skills we do have.

In short, Mr. Speaker, I don’t believe the government’s plan goes far enough. Much more is required in terms of planned action by the government and I will be pressing the Minister of Education to provide us with more. Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker.

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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there are some children in our schools today who, for a variety of reasons, have ongoing behaviour problems and just are not able to function and learn in a regular classroom environment. Unfortunately, in some cases, schools are dealing with this by suspending the students, often for long periods of time. The parents of the students are concerned about what kind of education their children will get if they are forced to be absent from school on a regular basis. Parents and teachers are also concerned about how distractions created by these students with behavioural problems are affecting the learning of others, and that’s very understandable. Mr. Speaker, suspensions might serve as a deterrent for students who cause occasional problems and in a very few cases, they might be appropriate as a last resort. However, when you have the same students being suspended over and over again, the system is failing. How many of these students are able to complete their Grade 12 and what happens to those who end up dropping out?

In Yellowknife and in the South, there are alternatives to mainstream education for students with behavioural difficulties so they can get the education and help they need to have a chance to becoming productive adults. There is a clear need for similar programs in Hay River and it’s something I hope we will see in the near future. Mr. Speaker, all children are entitled to an education and we are giving up on some of our students in Hay River and this cannot continue. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My Member’s statement today is going to centre around the creation of the new Business Development Investment Corporation or BDIC. What I find very interesting is at the end of the life of the last government, this initiative had some life. It had some real energy. Six months into the life of this 15th Legislative Assembly, the government has been eerily silent on this subject. It is important to give our residents an opportunity to have the one-window, one-stop-shopping avenue for business matters and concerns. It is also important to me, as a Member, to know what is happening with this initiative; where it is going to be located, the cost of it, and the impact on human resources that are currently in place. There are many questions that still surround this initiative and I will have some of those questions, Mr. Speaker, at the appropriate time in today’s proceedings. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier this week my honourable colleague, Mrs. Jane Groenewegen, spoke about the government’s responsibility to make clients aware of important program rules and criteria changes on a timely basis. It has come to my attention that this is not happening in some cases with the student financial assistance program and that is causing unfair hardship. In one particular case, I am aware that a student has signed a loan, a contract, Mr. Speaker, for 10 monthly instalments of $1,100 to help fund her education. Unfortunately, she has learned two months before the contract was to end that she would only be receiving nine instead of 10 payments of $1,100. Her school only runs five days into the month of June. Mr. Speaker, without getting into how the government can get away with the terms of a legally binding contract, I have to question the fairness of what is going on here. Most of us have experienced the stress of exams. I have to say personally, I am glad that they are long past. I know that the last thing that a student needs to go through in the middle of this is to find out that their financial support is being cut off. These students often engage in work placements and do not have time to find work hours beyond their studies. They depend on financial assistance to meet their basic needs while pursuing their studies. Mr. Speaker, this government actively promotes the value of higher education, and the benefits it offers to individuals in this whole Territory. We recognize that education is a worthwhile investment and it pays off many times over. That is why we have student financial assistance programs. Do we really want to create situations where students after months of study, and months of investment by the government, suddenly are faced with sacrificing vulnerable study time, or worse, dropping out so they can find work to pay bills for that last month that they are being cut off? Mr. Speaker, I think this is truly a shame. At the appropriate time, Mr. Speaker, I will be offering questions to the Minister because I am concerned. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I hope the seniors of the community will forgive me if I speak about something that is not related to seniors this day.

Mr. Speaker, on Wednesday I had the opportunity to attend the good luck send off for the Skills Canada NWT/Nunavut team that are currently, as we speak, competing for the NWT in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Mr. Speaker, this year, the team consisted of 20 gold medal winners from the NWT and six from Nunavut. I have, over the years, enjoyed observing and partaking in some of the events that they have held. I have watched a lot of territorial games, and I hope that someday I get to go to the national games and cheer them on. I believe that this is a very, very important initiative, and it goes a long way in developing all kinds of trades and skills among our youth. Given the vibrant economy we have, this is more important than ever.

Mr. Speaker, I might also add that even though we are a very small population, Nunavut as well as the NWT have done exceptionally well in past years in these competitions. We have won many gold medals, and second and third places, and personal bests among all of our participants. So on behalf of this assembly, I would like to wish every competitor the very best, and I know that they will do the NWT proud.

I would like to take this opportunity to just recognize by name all of the participants from the NWT: Stephanie Bourgeois in restaurant services from St. Patrick’s High School; Mike Broussard in electrical wiring from GAP Electric; Maggie Butz in hairstyling, she works for Essentials 98; Brett Fehr in auto services, he works at Kingland Ford; Chris Fournier for Web page design, he goes to Sir John Franklin High School; Dale Johnson in carpentry, he works for Clark Builders; Mandy Lyons in prepared speech from St. Patrick’s High School; Lance Lennie in carpentry from St. Patrick’s High School; Olivia Patterson in hair styling from Sir John Franklin High School; Tyler Provincial in TV video productions from Diamond Jenness School in Hay River. Mr. Speaker, may I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement?

The Member is seeking unanimous consent to conclude her statement. Are there any nays? There are no nays. You have unanimous consent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, colleagues. Continuing on with the participants: Kelvin Redvers in TV video productions from Diamond Jenness High School; Justin Shelley in culinary arts from Sir John Franklin High School; Mara Smith for worksite safety from Sir John Franklin High School; Jeremy Studney in aircraft maintenance from Buffalo Airways; Stephen Walsh in welding from Kingland Ford; Kyle Wheaton in small powered equipment from Sir John Franklin High School; Allen Christiansen in heavy duty equipment mechanical from Finning; Duncan Hamre in IT PC network support from Sir John Franklin High School; Henry Saturos in diamond polishing from Aurora College; and, Elizabeth Aitkens in aesthetics from Sir John Franklin High School. So I would like to conclude again, Mr. Speaker, by wishing them very well. I know that they will do very well, and I look forward to hearing their reports. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this morning I received a call from one of my constituents who has a son as a client of Health and Social Services who has developmental disabilities and who is located in an aboriginal institution in Edmonton. Mr. Speaker, herself, the staff and the clients when they met with one of the government representatives yesterday were very stressed by the process which has been taken by this government in dealing with the clients who are sent to southern institutions to receive proper care. Mr. Speaker, the institution, clients and the staff were meeting with Members who represent this government and were told at the onset of the meeting, and I quote, Mr. Speaker, “I will meet with you to discuss options of relocating, but I will not answer any questions as to why.” Mr. Speaker, if this government is to develop better working partnerships with aboriginal organizations and have more transparency, we have to demonstrate some type of initiatives to begin this process. It seems that this government is being directed and manipulated by people who do not have any interest in this government’s vision or goals because they do not have to live in the North. Mr. Speaker, I will be asking a number of questions on this matter later in the day. Mahsi.

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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the last few days, we’ve been advised in the business community in Yellowknife of difficulties encountered by the Aurora World Corporation. This is the leading company, I believe, in Canada for the aurora winter viewing tourism industry, especially associated with the thousands of Japanese who choose to come to Canada in winter to view this natural spectacle. Mr. Speaker, in a previous life, in the late 1980s, I was involved in the tourism industry here in the NWT when this industry was just being created. It was a remarkable thing to watch professionals from the Canadian, the Japanese and the northern tourism industries get together and say there is something here that could work. It is totally unique, it is untried, but we want to give it a go, and we did and have in the space of about 10 or 12 years developed a remarkable piece of the Canadian tourism industry. The difficulties encountered by the Aurora World Corporation are unfortunate, but they are being dealt with, and of course as information has indicated, our government is indeed one of the investors that is exposed here. I think at this time the most important thing that we can do here in Yellowknife, here in the North, is express our confidence and our commitment in this industry, that we have to let the hundreds of workers who are affected in the service industry know that this government and this assembly wants this industry to continue. We want the investors to know that we are on side, and especially at this time, Mr. Speaker, we want the Japanese visitors, the people who are making the choice and putting down the money to come and visit us this coming winter, to have confidence in what we are doing. That is the message I want to put forth and put out today on behalf of this industry. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I listened to the debate in the House yesterday, and I would like to address a number of issues raised by Members. First of all, questions were raised about my attitude towards this matter in the House yesterday. I want to assure all Members that I consider this matter very serious. I would like to once again, Mr. Speaker, offer my sincere apology to the staff and members of the Royal Canadian Legion, and to any other people that I may have offended by my conduct on May 15th. I have also considered the concerns and questions raised by Members in question period yesterday concerning the steps I am taking to ensure that this incident does not occur again. Over the past couple of days, I have sought guidance from my family, my colleagues in this House, and from a number of my constituents about this matter. I have reached a decision to seek treatment and personal healing to deal with my problems. Mr. Speaker, effective immediately I will be leaving to begin this healing process. I’ve asked all Members for their forgiveness for my actions, and for my absence to deal with my healing. Thank you.

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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to take the opportunity to recognize a friend of mine, Richard Archer, upstairs. Thank you very much.

Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Mr. Villeneuve.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would just like to recognize two of the Pages in the House today from Deninu K’ue, Elizabeth Giroux and Tyler Yuremchuk who are both Grade 8 students who attend Deninoo School in Fort Resolution. They will be working as Pages for the duration of this Third Session of the 15th Legislative Assembly. Mahsi.

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Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Along with my friend, the honourable colleague from Tu Nedhe, I would like to also recognize the Pages from the Chief Albert Wright School in Tulita, Karen Iliopoulos and Brendyn Lennie, also Vital Manual, and the chaperone George Iliopoulos from Tulita. Thank you.

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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member’s statement I spoke about the NWT student loan agreement that was cut off on short notice. The students that sign these contracts are in real need of financial support, and they count on the money that they are promised by the government. Mr. Speaker, my question is to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. In what circumstances does he consider it appropriate for his department to change the amount of a student loan agreement, a signed contract, without the student’s knowledge or consent? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Dent.

Return To Question 165-15(3): NWT Student Loan Agreement

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would expect that the only occasion we would see that sort of incident happening would be if it was found out that some information was wrong in the application or that the funding had been improperly accessed. If there was some reason to believe there was a problem with the way in which the funding was allocated, that might be the situation. It is difficult to respond to a general question of that nature, and it is unfortunate that I don’t have the specifics of this case to be able to follow up on it. Of course, it would be difficult to give a precise answer without knowing the particulars. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Supplementary To Question 165-15(3): NWT Student Loan Agreement

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister tell me what efforts his department takes to warn students that the amount of their loans may be reduced later on in the year, and what do they do to notify students on a timely basis that their loan amounts may be addressed? What notice do they provide if any? Thank you.

Minister of Education, Culture and Employment Mr. Dent.

Further Return To Question 165-15(3): NWT Student Loan Agreement

Mr. Speaker, it is clear in the regulations that if the information provided by the student in their application is wrong or if there has been a mistake made, that the amounts can be changed. Typically, there would be no notice given that the amounts would be changed because unless there was something wrong they wouldn’t be changed. So my understanding of the program is if there has been a change, it must have been because someone was unaware of the full particulars, and maybe they weren’t set out properly in the application. But the role of the student financial assistance officers should be to help counsel people to make sure that they make as few mistakes on their applications as possible. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Supplementary To Question 165-15(3): NWT Student Loan Agreement

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I’d like to thank the Minister as well. Mr. Speaker, what I am trying to describe here is we have a signed contract where students are supposed to receive 10 payments, but they are receiving nine. They are officially being cut off, and it has been put into writing because technically they are one day short of attendance into the June month period. So they are attending five days, whereas they need to be attending six days to receive any money. So that was the reason they are being cut off from any future payments. Would the Minister commit today to investigating and addressing this situation that I have described here, where we have students in the middle of their exams and this support is needed at this time? Would he consider reinstating a signed contract for the original loan amount? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Dent.

Further Return To Question 165-15(3): NWT Student Loan Agreement

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Minister has no flexibility in student financial assistance. The regulations must be followed explicitly. The Minister cannot bend the rules. So I would be quite happy to investigate the situation if the Member would subsequently provide me with the name, and certainly follow up. The student always has the right of appeal to the Student Financial Assistance Appeal Board, and I would encourage the student to make that appeal. Again, just from what I’ve heard, it sounds like someone made the inadvertent mistake of not recognizing part of the regulations, because the six-day rule would have to have been in the regulations, and there should have been some awareness about that on filing of the application. Thank you.

Final supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Supplementary To Question 165-15(3): NWT Student Loan Agreement

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you for the willingness, Mr. Minister, I can hear in your voice to address this matter. Mr. Speaker, I guess lastly, does the Minister consider it serious that a signed contract is broken? Does the Minister take that very seriously? Thank you very much.

Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Dent.

Further Return To Question 165-15(3): NWT Student Loan Agreement

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I take very seriously the issue of providing student financial assistance to people who qualify for it. We need to have as many people who are enrolled in post-secondary opportunities as possible. But as I said, the only reason I am aware of for changes is if something is wrong in the application or the regulations are not being met. So in that case, it would be clearly laid out in the regulations that there could be changes if the application hasn’t been done correctly or there is some other problem. So, yes, I take student financial assistance very seriously, but I expect that all of the rules and regulations have been followed in this situation and there has probably been no breach, but an appeal to the Student Financial Assistance Board would answer that question too. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As well, I have a question to the Minister of ECE and it is with regard to my earlier statement. On May 10th I was privileged to address over 70 students and a number of staff at Weledeh Catholic School. I wanted to ask the Minister today if his department is willing to produce an enhanced northern history curriculum component into the teaching modules so that the students may get a better awareness of each other’s regions, communities and lifestyles? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.