Good afternoon, colleagues. Welcome back, colleagues, as we reconvene the Fifth Session of the 17th Legislative Assembly.
It finally looks like spring has come to the Northwest Territories. I know we have all been very busy since the House adjourned in March, but I hope you were able to spend some time with family and friends, to get out on the land and maybe even take part in a spring hunt.
This spring is of particular importance to the Northwest Territories for another reason. April 1st marked the long-awaited transfer of the authority to govern our land and water resources from the Government of Canada to the Government of the Northwest Territories. We begin a new era for our territory and our government.
As part of that process, I am pleased to advise this House that I have been informed by Madame Clerk that the Honourable George L. Tuccaro, Commissioner of the Northwest Territories, assented to the following bills on March 26, 2014:
Bill 1, Reindeer Act;
Bill 2, Archaeological Sites Act;
Bill 3, Surface Rights Board Act;
Bill 10, Northwest Territories Lands Act;
Bill 11, Petroleum Resources Act;
Bill 13, Devolution Measures Act;
Bill 14, Waters Act;
Bill 15, Oil and Gas Operations Act;
Bill 16, NWT Intergovernmental Agreement on Lands and Resources Management Act; and
Bill 17, NWT Intergovernmental Resource Revenue Sharing Agreement Act.
Colleagues, I would also like to take a moment to acknowledge two of our territory’s greatest assets: our elders and our youth.
First, I had the pleasure of hosting the third Elders Parliament, which took place here at the Assembly from May 5th to 9th. Elders from across the territory met in the capital and shared their experiences, their stories and their concerns. Our elders were eager to tackle the big issues of the day and provided much food for thought. In spite of the serious work that was done, I have to say that our hallways and committee rooms also rang with laughter. There may be a lesson there for us.
Thank you to the participants for contributing to such a meaningful event, to our sponsors for assisting us, to the staff for organizing the event and to those Members who also participated. I hope the elders enjoyed the event as much as I did.
Moving on to the youth, please join me in welcoming our Pages for this sitting of the Assembly. It is always a pleasure to have them in the House. We have students from Sachs Harbour, Wekweeti and Yellowknife joining us during the next two weeks.
Colleagues, it is now my duty to advise the House that I have received the following message from the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories. It reads:
“Dear Mr. Speaker, I wish to advise that I recommend to the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories, the passage of
Supplementary Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 3, 2014-2015
Supplementary Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditure), No. 1, 2014-2015
during the Fifth Session of the 17th Legislative Assembly.
Yours truly, George L. Tuccaro, Commissioner.”
Thank you, colleagues.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to welcome Members back to the continuation of the Fifth Session of the 17th Legislative Assembly.
This is our first session since the transfer of authority for public land, water and resources from the Government of Canada to the Government of the Northwest Territories. Devolution was the most significant development in the political evolution of the Northwest Territories since division, and I want to again thank Members for their support and participation in making this long-held goal a reality. We will continue to look to Members for support and input as we implement devolution. This includes a review of legislation already underway that will give all stakeholders the opportunity to provide input into how our territory will refine its regulatory regime and land and resource management system.
Devolution is a work in progress, Mr. Speaker; it was not a one-time event. Devolution has given this government and this Assembly new powers and created new opportunities for us to partner with Aboriginal governments on protecting our environment, managing our land and responsibly developing our resources. We will continue to refine and improve the way we use those powers and work with our partners to create a brighter future for all our residents.
Our partnership grew earlier this week, when I was pleased to welcome three more signatories to the Devolution Agreement: the Acho Dene Koe First Nation and Fort Liard Metis Local No. 67, Salt River First Nation and Deninu Kue First Nation. These are the first Aboriginal community governments to become parties to the Devolution Agreement. They join the five regional Aboriginal governments that had already signed on: the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, NWT Metis Nation, Sahtu Secretariat Incorporated, Gwich’in Tribal Council and Tlicho Government.
Our government is committed to ensuring all the people of the Northwest Territories benefit from devolution. As the public government for all the people of the Northwest Territories, we have the primary responsibility for ensuring that devolution has a positive impact on all residents and communities in the territory. But ours is not the only government that has a role to play.
From the start, the participation of Aboriginal governments as our partners was a priority. As large land owners in this territory and holders of unique constitutional rights, it was important to have their involvement in negotiations and planning. It will be equally important to have their partnership as we implement devolution.
That is why we are establishing the Intergovernmental Council, where all participating governments will have an opportunity to identify and work together on common interests relating to the management of northern land, water and resources. That is why we have agreed to share a quarter of the new revenues we will receive from resource development with participating Aboriginal governments.
Devolution has the potential to create a strong, prosperous territory, Mr. Speaker, one that provides opportunities for its residents to succeed and supports those who need our help. We can better realize our vision of that territory when capable, well-resourced governments are working together, sharing a common understanding of, and commitment to, the best interests of all our people.
Our government has committed to keeping a seat at the table for all Aboriginal governments that want to participate in devolution. We understand that they have their own priorities and respect the independent decisions of each of them. But we do continue to engage with all remaining Aboriginal governments in the spirit of respect, recognition and responsibility to find ways that they can participate. Sometimes that means a new approach, as we have taken with the communities that signed on this week. I remain hopeful that we will eventually see full participation, and we will continue to work towards this goal.
This government committed to a smooth transfer of responsibilities, Mr. Speaker, and we have achieved that. With the help of the Government of Canada and our Aboriginal government partners and the hard work of our staff, we were ready for business when doors opened on April 1st. That day, we welcomed 132 former federal employees to our government, many joining our new Department of Lands, where their knowledge, experience and commitment to the public service is greatly appreciated. The Department of Lands plays an important role in administering public land in the Northwest Territories, land use planning and sustainability and coordinating our government’s review of development proposals.
Responsibilities for mineral and petroleum management have been assumed by Industry, Tourism and Investment. The new NWT mining registrar registered its first mineral claim, the first claims registered under territorial, not federal, legislation, on April 1st. The oil and gas regulator is processing applications from operators in a timely fashion and moved quickly to inspect Strategic Oil’s Cameron Hills operation, finding everything in order. Staffing of the petroleum resources division in Inuvik has been very successful, and we will be moving to initiate a call for bids in the very near future.
Environment and Natural Resources has also taken on its new responsibilities for managing water and cumulative impacts monitoring. During April, Minister Miltenberger approved two amended Type A water licences, demonstrating our capacity for undertaking new responsibilities in a thorough and timely fashion.
Mirroring existing federal legislation governing land, water and resources in the Northwest Territories was an important part of having a smooth transfer. That did mean that several pieces of devolution legislation were enacted by this House without the usual opportunity to hold public meetings on the bills. We appreciated the agreement of the Standing Committee on Priorities and Planning to let these bills move quickly through the system so we could meet our target effective date of April 1st.
At the time, I committed to undertake a public review of devolution legislation, and I am pleased to advise that we have begun this review. Beginning last week, a new section of our devolution website was launched that will help Northwest Territories residents to better understand the new devolution legislation and give them the opportunity to ask questions and share their views about it.
Links to all the new devolution acts and regulations are available on the site and there is an explanation of the legislative process and how the devolution legislation was developed. There is a form for asking questions, and all questions and answers will be posted to the site.
The review will run for the next three months and will be promoted throughout the territory. In the fall we will report back to the Assembly and the public on what we have heard. While we do not anticipate immediate changes to the framework of devolution legislation that we have just established, our government will use the feedback to inform decisions as we implement devolution and consider options for future improvements.
Mr. Speaker, one of the other benefits of devolution is consolidating the Northwest Territories’ position within Confederation. The prosperity that can and will flow from the responsible development of Northwest Territories resources will not only benefit our residents, it will also create new economic opportunities for the rest of Canada and make ours a “have” jurisdiction contributing to national wealth. Politically, acquiring province-like responsibilities and powers puts this territory on a more equal footing with other jurisdictions and positions us to play a more prominent and active role on the national and even international scene.
Nationally, our leadership role was already growing: Minister McLeod chaired last summer’s meeting of Canada’s Housing Ministers and Minister Ramsay co-chaired the annual Energy and Mines Ministers Conference. Minister Lafferty is also leading work on Aboriginal educational achievement on behalf of the country’s Education Ministers.
We look forward to continuing to increase our national profile and role. Earlier this month I attended a meeting of the Aboriginal Affairs Working Group in Winnipeg. This important group was established by Canada’s Premiers and includes the leaders of the five national Aboriginal organizations. Together we work to address issues of importance to Canada’s Aboriginal peoples. Following the next annual meeting of Canada’s Premiers in August, I will assume the chair of this group on behalf of the Government of the Northwest Territories.
I believe other jurisdictions can learn from the respectful government-to-government approach to Aboriginal relations that we have developed in the Northwest Territories. I look forward to working with this group over the next two years and hosting them here in the North, where they can see first-hand the positive effects of the partnership approach we have pioneered.
Later next month I will have the honour of co-hosting meetings of Canada’s federal, provincial and territorial Ministers responsible for the Status of Women with Minister Kellie Leitch. This will be an important opportunity to share our experience dealing with issues like violence against women and women in resource extraction, an area in which the Northwest Territories is a leader.
This summer I am also looking forward to representing the people of the Northwest Territories at the Western Premiers Conference and the annual meeting of the Council of the Federation.
Internationally, Minister Ramsay will be assuming the presidency of PNWER, the Pacific Northwest Economic Region. This group works to promote regional collaboration and enhance competitiveness in international and domestic markets. Participation in this forum is a continued opportunity to promote the Northwest Territories and its economic interests.
This summer will also see Inuvik playing host to the Inuit Circumpolar Council’s 12th General Assembly. This event takes place every four years and brings together Inuit from Alaska, Canada, Greenland and Russia to discuss Arctic issues and address developments affecting the Inuit world.
The timing of the ICC General Assembly during Canada’s chairmanship of the Arctic Council underlines the increasing importance of the Arctic. There is great potential in the North, particularly for resource development. As the world’s eyes turn in our direction, we have to ensure that development is sustainable, respects traditional lifestyles and manages the risks associated with challenges like climate change and increased traffic and activity in Arctic waters. Our government is working closely with Canada to promote Northwest Territories interests during its chairmanship, and we have been pleased to host a number of Arctic Council meetings already.
Mr. Speaker, I have said many times that the future belongs to the Northwest Territories. Devolution has put us on the path. With new responsibilities and a growing role nationally and internationally, we are ready to make our mark. It will take work and cooperation to turn northern potential into prosperity for our people and communities. We cannot take our advantages for granted or sit back and let others do the work and lead the way. We need to make prosperity happen; we cannot just “let” it happen.
Our government has a balanced agenda focused on people, the environment and the economy. We will create opportunities for our people and ensure they have the support they need to take advantage of them with initiatives like Early Childhood Development, the Anti-Poverty Strategy, the Mental Health and Addictions Framework and Education Reform. We will manage and protect our environment according to northern priorities and values with plans like the Land Use and Sustainability Framework, Water Strategy and Energy Conservation and Alternative Energy initiatives. We will promote the long-term growth and stability of our economy with investments in transportation and communications infrastructure and plans like the Economic Opportunities Strategy, NWT Power System Plan and Mineral Development Strategy.
Now is the time for Northerners to join together and decide together what kind of territory we want this to be, how we want to support our people, manage our environment and grow our economy. Putting Northerners in charge of the decisions that affect them was the purpose of devolution. We have made a good start in the past two months and I am pleased that partners continue to come to the table. Our government is committed to continuing to work diligently to advance a dynamic agenda on behalf of the people of this territory. We will not be resting on our laurels or slowing down in our remaining months. I look forward to working with our partners and with Members on fulfilling the promise of devolution together and creating a strong North where individuals, families and communities share in the benefits and responsibilities of a unified, environmentally sustainable and prosperous Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have some serious concerns about the medical travel escort system that our government has in place. Clearly, it is not working. We have medical patients who are travelling whose request for escorts are being denied by this government.
I have spoken to this issue in the past and I’ve brought it to the Minister’s attention and heard promises to make changes. Today I’m speaking for my riding and other people in the Northwest Territories.
We need to get the system right and make our patients comfortable while they are away from home, while they are undergoing surgery and other medical issues that would be less stressful to manage if they have an escort.
Right now I have a constituent who is in Edmonton undergoing chemotherapy for the next four weeks. My constituent has a letter from her doctors, stating that she requires an escort. She was ready to travel from her home community. Days before going to Edmonton, she was told that her escort was denied by medical travel.
This news was shocking, disturbing and emotionally traumatizing for my constituent. She is a very young lady, unsure of how chemotherapy will affect her body, and depressed over the fact that she will be away from her home for four weeks.
We need to do more for our people. We are continually asking for help from the Minister, pleading for our people and wanting to reassure them that we are doing the best to represent their needs.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will have questions later today.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. Colleagues, before we go on today, I’d like to welcome back into the House a former Speaker and former colleague, Mr. Tony Whitford. Welcome back to the House, Tony.
Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. It is only getting more expensive to live and work in our remote communities in the Northwest Territories. Fuel prices are the main driver of the cost of living. Many of our remote communities, like Trout Lake and Nahanni Butte, are supplied with fuel through the petroleum products division of the Department of Public Works. They have once again increased the fuel prices.
Elders in my riding tell me they are very concerned about the most recent increase in the fuel prices. Most elders are on a fixed income, and fuel prices have a direct impact on the quality of life. They love getting out on the land with their boats and quads; they also need to heat their homes, along with all constituents.
The situation of higher and higher fuel prices is unacceptable. The government must find ways to reduce the cost of fuel to our small and remote communities. Small communities should not be penalized because of their remoteness.
Earlier this month elders from across the Northwest Territories stood in this House and voiced their real concerns about the cost of living and the quality of life of the people of the Northwest Territories. Many elders are caring for grandchildren that do not receive financial support that foster parents do. Increases to the cost of living affect their ability to provide for themselves and for children. The government should immediately commit to reviewing subsidies like the Seniors Fuel Subsidy program every time there’s a rate increase and seek ways to reduce prices. Seniors in our communities get asked for a lot of things: vehicle use, money, time, food and shelter. We simply must bear the reality of small community residents in mind when prices go up. We need to invest in alternative energy projects that make a real difference in our communities and have a noticeable impact on the cost of living and even return to the barging of fuels for those on the Mackenzie River.
Our people know about living off the land. Communities in the Deh Cho have good conditions for small scale agriculture as well as leading technologies like solar energy. We need to combine traditional knowledge with the modern world to make a difference in the North, and in the meantime, I urge the government to stabilize energy costs in the remote and small communities before we think of ourselves and our people. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also want to join you in welcoming back the Members from a good spring and from a good spring hunt if you went out and did some spring hunting and come back to work. I want to use this Member’s statement, as I did in my last sessional statement, to offer my condolences on behalf of the Sahtu region to all people who have felt loss in their communities of their loved ones. From time to time, as I said in my last statement, we get so busy with our jobs and as we do many things in our small communities, especially when we have close relationships with our family members, it gets pretty hard when a person leaves us.
Like my father-in-law has said, when the good Lord wants you, then the Lord will take you no matter what you do. It leaves us in our communities with a sadness of a loved person leaving our community and the impact it has on our lives.
The beautiful thing in all the Northwest Territories, we even see it in larger centres, is that people pull together, strangers pull together no matter what and offer condolences to the families, to the grandparents or aunties or uncles, but people come together. That’s the beauty of the humanity of the people of the Northwest Territories. I should say that in small communities, because it’s more intimate, that we put aside our differences for the day for the family and we support the family.
That’s what I wanted to say, how much the people of the Sahtu have done this in their communities, in Colville Lake, Fort Good Hope, Norman Wells, Deline and Tulita. Even the community in Tuktoyaktuk, or here in Yellowknife, people in the Deh Cho, the Beaufort-Delta, Akaitcho, right down the valley people pull together in hard times and I want to say how important it is to teach those types of traditions and values to our children.
I wanted to say and offer to the families who’ve lost loved ones since the last time we had a sitting, and I’ll get back to business tomorrow on the Sahtu needs. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yellowknife Education Districts 1 and 2 are not receiving the funding or support they need to deliver the education that the students of Yellowknife deserve. The edict requiring that pre-kindergarten be delivered by Yellowknife authorities without being funded by ECE places an unfair burden on the budgets of these two districts. It lessens the quality of the education they can provide to the students of Yellowknife. Already teachers are being laid off and student-to-teacher ratios are increasing.
A service previously provided by local daycares and schools on a user pay basis must now be funded from strained budgets with no plans for recovery in the coming years. It is another case of this government robbing Peter to pay Paul. We fund competing priorities through a merry-go-round of cuts.
Teachers’ pensions are another case of failure. The teachers of Yellowknife deserve the same pension plans as other teachers across the NWT, yet the Minister refuses to provide the GNWT’s fair share of money, according to his formula, as required by their funding formula of 80 percent GNWT to 20 percent taxpayers of Yellowknife, a formula, again, that the Minister claims to subscribe to. The work of teachers across the Territories through ECE should be equal, but apparently in the eyes of the government some teachers are more equal than others.
If the GNWT is serious about attracting families to the Northwest Territories from southern Canada, or retaining them, they must provide quality education everywhere in the Territories, including Yellowknife. If the GNWT wants to add programs that they feel need to be offered in all territorial schools, such as pre-kindergarten, they must fully fund them in all territorial schools. If the GNWT wants to attract and keep qualified and gifted teachers to work for its largest school districts, it must make sure that the terms of employment are attractive.
To download these financial responsibilities to the Yellowknife school boards and the taxpayers of Yellowknife completely is unfair and short-sighted and against policy. Support for all of the school boards in the North is essential and should not be done at the expense of or on the backs of students in Yellowknife. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On March 27, 2014, employees who are members of the Union of Northern Workers received a notice regarding the 2014-2015 northern living allowance rates that were going to be implemented on April 1st. In that message that they got the notice there was a link showing which communities increased and which ones decreased. As a result, we had numerous communities across the Northwest Territories who are employees of the GNWT decrease in the amount of northern living allowance, one of them being my community of Inuvik. Employees ended up losing about $383 at the end of the day when these negotiations happened. Now, that might not seem a lot when you compare it to other communities such as Aklavik or Tuktoyaktuk, which decreased by about $2,600, but that $383 in the community of Inuvik when fuel costs are going high, gas prices are very high, electricity costs are going up, child daycare has just increased in our Children’s First Centre, that $383 does play a big difference.
The way the northern living allowance is calculated is based on two components, and that’s transportation and the cost of living. However, in the NWT Public Service Act, under Section 41.(7), it states that it prohibits the GNWT from negotiating terms in the Collective Agreement which deal directly or indirectly with payments to employees relating to owner occupied or rent or leased premises, and it includes utilities such as fuel, electricity, water, rent and mortgage. Anybody that lives up in the Beaufort-Delta knows that there is a high cost of living, and once this notice came out we did get a lot of e-mails sent to my office, a lot of phone calls in regards to why is this happening when we know that we have a high increase in the natural gas.
We are working on an Anti-Poverty Strategy here with the 17th Legislative Assembly, and when we decrease the northern living allowance for people across the Northwest Territories, it just goes against the fact that we’re trying to keep people over that poverty line.
I will have questions today for the Minister of Human Resources and talk about how we can mitigate this, how we can change it, what actions do we need to take as a government. I just want to say the good thing is that these northern living allowance rates are updated and negotiated annually, and I think that we need to make those changes now so that in future we don’t have to deal with these kinds of situations.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. The Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Some months ago we had discussions in this House about changes in the way GNWT jobs were advertised. As of October 1, 2013, the Department of Human Resources stopped putting individual job ads or listings in print media publications. Instead, they opted for a half-page or larger ad promoting the GNWT as an employer. The substance of the ad told people to go online, go to the HR website and look there for available jobs in our public service. This change was touted as an improvement in how we advertise for GNWT jobs, a way to reach most job seekers and so on. But recently I have noticed a change in the way that GNWT jobs are being advertised, at least in our northern newspapers. Let me give a few examples.
The Northern Journal, Tuesday, April 18: four job-specific ads for an air attack officer, regional environmental coordinator, water resources officer and apprenticeship plumber. News/North April 28th, the usual big ad “Come Work with Us” and job-specific ads for information system coordinator and finance officer Liquor Commission. Again, in News/North May 26th, a specific ad for an area manager of Public Works and Services, Fort Simpson.
Why the change? Is this one step forward, two steps back? The Minister of Human Resources vigorously defended the department’s change from specific job ads to the one generic ad urging applicants to make their applications online. Admittedly, the concerns of MLAs were considered, but what I heard in the responses from the Minister was: “Thanks, but you have nothing to worry about. It’s all good. This is an improvement.” To be fair, Members were advised that residents unable to access the job site online would have access to available jobs through postings in their community.
But now I see us doing twice the advertising it seems. In most newspapers there is both the generic apply online ad and several position-specific ads, and that seems like a waste of taxpayers’ dollars to me. There are few enough of those available to us and we shouldn’t be wasting them. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just before lunch today I received a call from a lady, and she called to thank me for being very vocal on a number of important issues. She, like many others, felt very disappointed that the justice system has personally let her down by their recent demonstration of their lack of leadership in a system that would rather keep people in the dark than by doing their job by informing the public when an inmate is at large.
She told me, knowing that a prisoner was at large in Yellowknife for seven days made her feel, as a woman, very vulnerable and questioned who was worrying about her. I couldn’t answer that question. She wondered, like many others were wondering: was the inmate’s privacy way more important than hers? I couldn’t answer that question either.
I wish I could say this was the only conversation I’ve had on this topic, but the fact is it isn’t. The Minister keeping the public in the dark to avoid embarrassment is all the public saw, and that’s what I believe took place. People want to know: when does the public interest start to matter over an escaped inmate’s interest?
So, while the Minister is doing who knows what, citizens are asking me and telling me that they’re very uneasy about this situation. But it’s easy to keep the public in the dark, pretend it never happened, point fingers at the RCMP and say it’s not our job, it’s theirs to tell the public. What’s even more disturbing is it’s treated as if it’s not serious.
What type of offender are we talking about? Well, let’s highlight some of this stuff off the public record: impaired operation of a motor vehicle, dangerous operation of a vehicle. What about uttering threats to an RCMP constable? Failure to stop at the scene of an accident. There are more uttering threats to another individual. There are assault charges. There is unlawfully being in a dwelling. Oh my goodness, there’s another wilful obstruction of the RCMP and even conveying more threats to more RCMP constables. Oh, and I should make sure I mention, apparently being at large wasn’t his first time; he’s also had another charge at being at large unlawfully. So there is a bit of a history here.
When does it matter to inform the public? I’m standing with the public because I believe the public’s interest has certainly been denied. Offenders’ rights seem to matter more to this government, not the public. Keeping the public in the dark was a choice; it was definitely a choice. In the end were we just protecting the public’s interest? I don’t think so. We were protecting the Minister and the offender’s interest.
All I’m going to say is that I’d rather see that the inmate’s privacy rights were waived in this regard and the public shown that they matter more, because I stand with them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. We need legislation to manage the commercial use of non-timber forest products in the NWT. Within a matter of days, morels and other species of wild mushrooms will have reached their prime picking season in the NWT. A large number of commercial harvesters from BC and Alberta are coming to the Deh Cho to pick mushrooms in the areas that burned during last summer’s forest fires, where these mushrooms grow best.
Wild mushrooms are considered gourmet food because they cannot be cultivated and must be applicably identified and hand-picked from the places where they are found. As a result, mushroom harvest is very competitive and products fetch high prices on national and international markets.
If these mushrooms are harvested in the NWT, some of the profits should stay in the NWT. All a harvester needs right now is an NWT business licence in order to pick and sell wild mushrooms from the NWT. Local harvesters are concerned that they will be pushed out of picking locations, especially on traditional Dehcho lands.
My constituents urge the GNWT to increase the price of business licences for out-of-territory harvesters as a way to regulate wild mushroom harvests before we get a new Forest Management Act. As Members of the Legislative Assembly, we all have a role in the creation and implementation of the acts of the NWT. When we consider the magnitude of legislation devolved in the Devolution Agreement compared to a tiny morel mushroom, the regulation of non-timber forest products should be well within our reach. A new Forest Management Act is essential as we take control of lands and resource management, expand biomass initiatives and commercial harvest of wild mushrooms, berries, syrup and other forest products.
Both the Nisga’a tribe of BC and the province of Saskatchewan regulate non-timber forest products. We need to settle the Dehcho land claim so that the Dehcho people can develop innovative tools like the Nisga’a have to manage resources on their lands. My constituents and I thank ENR and ITI for their commitment to support territorial mushroom harvesters. We ask that you further strengthen the measures we have available.
I urge government to move forward on the development of new legislation, ensure compliance with the legislation we do have, raise the cost of business licences for out-of-territory harvesters and continue to support the territorial entrepreneurs who are trying to make the best of a local resource this season. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Like my colleagues, I’d like to welcome everybody back to the session here today.
The Premier indicated in his sessional statement, today is the first day of our new government since devolution. An exciting time for the Northwest Territories. While I was home after spring session, everyone asked me: So, how is this going to affect us? So that was the concern from most of the public. That’s the thing going on. We sit here today, we have a lot of questions, we’ve made our statements. Really, what has changed in the government? It’s very subtle and we have a bunch of questions about how things are going to go forward.
The Premier indicated turning northern opportunities into prosperity. We are definitely looking forward to the new Northwest Territories through devolution, but we also have a bunch of questions. We’re going to have a bunch of questions during this session and going forward.
The review of legislation, how is that going to be done, how is that going to be effectively done so that the public and the Northwest Territories have input on the legislation coming forward? I guess I do have some concerns over a three-month period that’s mainly in the summer. I think we should be looking at a longer period of time so that people can react.
The other issues that are going forward is resource revenue sharing money. What are we going to do with that? What are we going to do with the Heritage Fund? The Premier indicated that we took over the federal jobs and I think that’s a consistency that probably a lot of people don’t see a lot of difference because they’re the same people, the same faces, but we also created a bunch of jobs. So I’m just wondering where those jobs are, have they been filled, and I guess I’ll have questions for the Premier later today. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. The Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Volunteers in many organizations are valuable and appreciated assets who make our territory a safe and better place. So when lives are in danger, the Civil Air Search and Rescue Association, or CASARA for short, are such volunteers who are ready, willing and trained to work as spotters alongside our Royal Canadian Air Force, or military aircraft and ground vehicles. With roughly 80 members in Inuvik, Norman Wells, Hay River and Yellowknife, these CASARA NWT volunteers are nationally funded by the Department of National Defence and work in conjunction with 10 provinces and two territories with access to 375 aircraft and 2,596 certified pilots, navigators and spotters.
CASARA NWT can be tasked by the Department of National Defence, the RCMP, or a community SAO. However, most of their missions are for the RCMP throughout the Northwest Territories. In fact, to put in perspective how busy they are, there are on average six air searches on Great Slave Lake alone each year.
Although these volunteers are funded for training and operational readiness by the Department of National Defence, many of these volunteers are employees of the GNWT, and it is through my observation the GNWT could play a more integral role to recognize the importance of these volunteers in the context of better access to training. Let me explain.
Currently, the GNWT Human Resource Manual has provision for five days per year of special leave for training for firefighters and CASARA volunteers. As generous as this may sound, most of the southern training courses for these volunteers are scheduled on weekends, so when our GNWT volunteers want to access this provision to travel on Friday and return on a Monday, they are denied. Sadly, the approval process for the special leave to attend training has been found to be inconsistent across the NWT as most GNWT managers do not allow special leave to be used for travel and only to be used for actual training days. This, unfortunately, leaves these GNWT volunteers using other leave credits or loss of earnings to travel to required course locations. Therefore, it is in the best interests for the safety of all Northerners that a simple direction be provided to the GNWT supervisors to include travel for training as part of the five-day Special Leave Policy.
I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
Let me be perfectly clear. This is not a request for an increase of special leave days, only a consistent application of the Human Resource Manual provision by GNWT supervisors. I can assure you if there was more consistent application of this special five-day leave, this would encourage current members to remain within Civil Air Search and Rescue and help attract new volunteers to join and strengthen this valuable contribution and the safety of our residents.
Later today I will have questions for the appropriate Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Hay River Territorial Park beach is a great draw for both residents and tourists, and I am pleased to see the strides that ITI is making to increase its level of safety. I would like to share some of these safety developments with you today.
A number of safety recommendations were made by the Lifesaving Society of Alberta and the Northwest Territories in the safety audit that it conducted for ITI in July of 2013. ITI will be implementing all of the water safety recommendations at both Hay River and the Fred Henne beaches this summer. Permanent lifejacket loaner stations will be in place this summer. These stations will be available at both beaches for swimmers who are not equipped with a personal floatation device. ITI has also developed new signage with simple messaging to promote public awareness and education. Signage includes information regarding beach rules, a map of the beach, safety equipment and facility locations, as well as hazard identification and emergency contact information. An emergency phone will be installed this summer season as well as beach safety equipment such as throw bags and ring floats. The swim area will be identified with markers this summer, something that hasn’t been in place for many years.
While not a recommendation of the audits, ITI is also ensuring that there will be supervision at both beaches this summer. Trained beach attendants will be on the beaches starting mid-June and remain there until Labour Day weekend. There will be two beach attendants in Hay River Territorial Park beach on duty seven days a week. These attendants will be trained in water rescue in up to 1.2 metres, aquatic emergency assistance, First Aid and CPR. The Lifesaving Society will provide training and is developing guidelines and procedures. Beach attendants will educate beach goers on safety behaviour on the beach as well as monitor the designated swimming area to ensure that children aged seven and younger are within the arm’s reach of a guardian 16 years of age or older.
ITI is working in conjunction with the GNWT Drowning Prevention Group to promote public education throughout the NWT related to water safety. These initiatives, led by the Department of Health and Social Services, are not specific to territorial parks, but rather, broader-based water safety. They include public education, building community capacity, social marketing and community-based research. As an example, during Water Safety Week there will be a news release promoting water safety awareness.
We are dedicated, as a government, to creating sustainable, vibrant, safe communities, which is the goal of the 17th Legislative Assembly, and the steps we are taking now will help us reach that goal.
I would like to seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
I have made reference to the Fred Henne Park, and I have made reference to the Hay River beach, and as we know, most NWT communities are located on a river or a lake. I would like to also encourage the government to further expand this initiative to promote water safety to these communities, because summer is finally here and you can be sure that kids are going to be jumping in the rivers and lakes on those hot summer days. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I have a return to oral question asked by Ms. Bisaro on March 13, 2014, regarding junior kindergarten.
Ms. Bisaro asked about the endorsement of Aboriginal Head Start programs and use of such programs as Junior Kindergarten in the eight Northwest Territories communities where such programs operate.
I must applaud the Western Arctic Head Start Council for providing quality early childhood programming for the past 17 years in the Northwest Territories and for their contributions they have made to help children, families and communities.
The eight Aboriginal Head Start programs that operate in the NWT are funded by the Government of Canada, which is why they are able to offer free half-day programming in their communities.
In addition to federal funding, all the NWT Aboriginal Head Start programs are eligible to receive funding from the GNWT’s early childhood programming. The implementation of junior kindergarten will not affect either the federal or the territorial funding that the NWT Aboriginal Head Start programs receive. They will still be able to offer the same quality, no cost half-day programming to three- and four-year-old children. Junior kindergarten is not meant to compete with Aboriginal Head Start; rather, it offers parents across the NWT another consistent choice regardless of where they live or what their economic situation is.
Although there are eight NWT Aboriginal Head Start programs operating, the fact remains that 25 communities in the Northwest Territories do not have Aboriginal Head Start. Ten communities have no licenced child care or early learning options at all. The majority of all other licenced preschool programs, daycares and family day homes are fee-based. It’s difficult to find safe, affordable space for licenced early childhood programs within many of our communities.
It is the mandate of the Department of Education, Culture and Employment to offer consistent programming in every community. It would not be fair to offer a free full-day program in one community but not in another.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Colleagues, before we start, I’d like to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Ms. Corin Robertson, the United Kingdom Deputy High Commissioner to Canada, from their embassy in Ottawa. Welcome to the House.
---Applause
Travelling with her today is Mr. Rupert Potter, British Consul General from Vancouver. Welcome to the Northwest Territories.
---Applause
Honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m pleased to recognize two visitors from Scotland, Pat and Jim Thom, and also I’d be remiss if I didn’t recognize that Pat grew up in Yellowknife at Giant Mine townsite and some of you long-time Yellowknifers may remember her as Pat Spence. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As you know, Rocher River is still part of my riding of Tu Nedhe, so I’d like to recognize my auntie Vivian Kelly, who originated from Rocher River, and also her daughter, my cousin, Linda Wood. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize two constituents with me today here in the House, Ms. Linda Wood and also Vivian Kelly. Welcome. Also, I’d like to welcome the UK Deputy High Commissioner in Ottawa, Ms. Corin Robertson and, as well, Mr. Rupert Potter based in Vancouver. He’s the Consul General with the British government in Vancouver. Welcome, folks, and enjoy the rest of your visit here. Thank you.
