Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I indicated in my Minister’s statement, I will be tabling, this afternoon, “What We Heard: Report of the NWT Economic Opportunities Strategy Advisory Panel.” Two members of the advisory panel are here with us this afternoon. Its chair is well known to all of us, a former Premier, Minister and deputy minister in our Assembly and government, Mr. Joe Handley, and beside Mr. Handley is Mr. Rory Campbell. Rory is a former deputy minister of Economic Development and also Agriculture and Foods for the Alberta government, certainly a very valuable member of the panel who provided the external perspective in the panel’s engagements on the strategy. Thank you.
I’d also like to recognize all the Education Hall of Fame inductees and all the other visitors that we have here in the gallery today. It’s good to have a crowd here today. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m pleased to recognize two constituents of Yellowknife South visiting here from William MacDonald School, Braden Helyar, student, and Mr. Paul McDonald, a teacher at William MacDonald. Thank you.
Thank you. Mr. Speaker. Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize a couple of constituents from the Great Slave riding. First, Emily Gosselin, who is with us here as part of William MacDonald School, as well as Bill and Cindy Gilday.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to give a special welcome in the Legislature to my partner Lucyanne Kendo and her daughter Brittany Jewel Kendo. I’m proud to have you by my side and that you get the chance to see me here live. As well, a very big welcome to my daughter Diedra Villeneuve and her partner’s mother Donna Huntis, who is in the gallery as well. Last, but not least, a congratulations to Mr. Andy Norwegian on the Education Hall of Fame Award today. Mahsi cho.
Thank you. Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s with great pleasure that I recognize Anne-Mieke Cameron, a resident of Weledeh who received the induction into the Hall of Fame today under the Premier’s selection. So, congratulations to Anne-Mieke. It’s great to have her in the riding. She’s probably accompanied by her husband Les, and I can’t really see these folks, but I’d also like to offer my congratulations and welcome to all those people that received the award today and were inducted into the Hall of Fame.
I’d like to welcome William Mac student Delaney Taylor, a resident of Weledeh. I’d like to recognize Joe Handley, former Premier, a former resident and former MLA of Weledeh. I’d also like to recognize Amanda Mallon, a resident of Weledeh, a long-time teacher recognized in many ways, and also any other Weledeh residents that I can’t see behind me. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am extremely blessed to have two schools in my riding, one of which is William MacDonald School, and I want to officially welcome everybody from William MacDonald here to the House and I hope you have a great tour. I have a number of students here from my riding and I’m very pleased to recognize Seth Casaway, Dawson Chwelos, Jaiyden Demeies, Bryce Jeske, Brooke Pelley, Blair Russell, Paige St. Jean, Leah Thompson-Astels and Alliks Traverse.
I would be remiss, Mr. Speaker, if I didn’t recognize two of my former colleagues, Mr. Bill Gilday and Ms. Anne-Mieke Cameron, who I worked with a while ago, I won’t say a long time ago, but congratulations to them and to all the Education Hall of Fame recipients. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have quite a list of people to recognize in the gallery, so bear with me. First of all, I’d like to say congratulations to the Hall of Fame education recipients. From the Sahtu, Beverly Masuzumi. I’d like to congratulate her. She and I went to high school together and now she’s in the Hall of Fame and I’m in the hall of… Well, I can’t really say, Mr. Speaker.
---Laughter
And all the other deputies. Mr. Speaker, I’d like to recognize former Premier Handley, the Canol hiker who did the whole 222 miles on the Canol hike. I’d also like to recognize Rory Campbell, also a member of the economic strategy team. Welcome to the Assembly.
I’d also like to recognize people from the Sahtu from the community of Deline, the birthplace of ice hockey in Canada. I’d like to recognize Paulina Roche, Phebie Kenny, Jimmy Dillon, Freda Taniton, Danny Bayha, David Modeste, Tommy Betsidea, Diane Andre, Gina Dolphus, Joanne Tutcho, Betty Tetso, Michael Neyelle, Andrew John Kenny, Frederick Kenny, Morris Neyelle, Raymond Tutcho, Leonard Kenny, Patricia Modeste, Leon Modeste, Christine Gaudet and Brian Gaudet. Mr. Speaker, I would like to welcome them to the Assembly.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Blake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize Brittany and Lucy Kendo from Tsiigehtchic. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to recognize one of the William MacDonald students who I believe is a constituent in Yellowknife Centre. Alexia D’Astous MacDonald. I hope I said that correctly. Thank you for coming today.
I’d like to use the occasion to recognize a long-time friend, Terrance Courtorielle, up in the front there. We’ve known each other since we were kids. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Bouchard.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize the Princess Alexandria School Grade 6 class, their teacher Jennifer Tweedie; their chaperones Terrance Coutorielle, Ken Cunningham and Colleen Cochrane; and the students. I’d just ask the students to stand up as your name is called. Your name is going into the record of Hansard, so your names will be here forever. Riella Bordey, Marcel Cayen, Hannah Courtorielle, Elli Rose Cunningham, Keisha Giroux, Jacob Harder, Kadin Hare, Zackary Horton, Ashley Lamalice, Carson Smith, Tori Blake, Carson Borchuk, Lisa Boutilier, Katesha Buggins, Shayla Buggins. I’d also like to recognize our new Education Hall of Famer Jill Taylor. Congratulations, Jill. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s also my pleasure to welcome, for the 11th year in a row, the Grade 6 students from Hay River. I’d like to thank all that coordinate that, so today I’d like to recognize the other half of the group. Chaperones Rodger Blake, Sherryl White and Charlene Lafferty; and students Ira Cayen, Jayden King, Hunter Krushaar, Megan Kruger, Mathew Lafferty, Dustin Lamalice, Sierra Balsillie, Madison McPhee, Alicia Nadia-Hancock, Morgan Roach, Jimmy Roach, Trevor Sabourin, Bradyn Schofield, Ethan Schofield, Nickolas Zuwala, Taylor White. I would also like to add my congratulations to a very well-deserved recipient to the Education Hall of Fame today, Jill Taylor, who does many, many things in our community. That could be a Member’s statement unto itself.
I’d also like to recognize my constituency assistant from Hay River, Orlanda Patterson, and my constituency assistant from Yellowknife, Wendy Morgan. I’d also like to recognize Mr. Bouchard’s constituency assistant, who was very helpful in planning this trip, Myrtle Graham. Thank you.
I’d like to welcome all guests here in the gallery. Thank you for taking in our proceedings today. It’s always good to see a full house. I’d like to also welcome Debbie Gordon-Ruben in the House here as a former constituent of mine up in Nunakput. It’s always good to see people from home.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. In the 20-year capital needs infrastructure plans, I see that that the ?ehtseo Ayha School is not scheduled for new construction until 2020, 2021, or 2018; I’m not too sure. They have two different dates on here. I want to ask the Minister, in regard to this project, if he would be willing to work with the people in Deline and if he could look at moving this project to a closer date other than seven or eight years from now, in regard to the new school.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. This project, along with others, will certainly be a part of the capital planning project. There are upgrades that will be happening within the ?ehtseo Ayha School in Deline. Those are just some of the upgrades that we are working towards. Then the long-term plans will be part of the capital project for the particular school along with other schools.
I will continue to commit to working with the DEA and DECs to make that happen, and also the leadership of Deline.
The parents of Deline are sending their children out of that community. There are other communities in the Northwest Territories where they’re seeing that their children are getting better education in the larger centres such as Yellowknife, Inuvik and Hay River or Smith. The facility in Deline, the school is not adequate to give them the same type of equivalent education as the larger centres. If we can look at that issue here and help the people in Deline look at a proper facility with proper resources, proper students, then the parents would keep their children in the school.
I want to ask the Minister, the time length of the construction to have this new school, would he be looking at working with the community of Deline to see if there are ways that we could bump up the capital process of this infrastructure so that it could be built within a five-year period?
Those are exactly the types of discussions we are currently having. We’ve heard from the Deline leadership, also the DEA, and also the DECs for their regional perspective on expediting certain capital infrastructure from the communities on to our capital plans. As part of the educational renewal process that’s before us, we’ve involved the community members, and we’ve listened to the small community capital initiatives. Those are in the forefront of our discussion as we move forward.
One of the pillars on the educational renewal is to focus on the small communities, whether it be the funding, the capital projects and so forth. This is an ongoing discussion we will be having, and we want to expedite those capital projects that are in play for a number of years so we can move forward.
We have about 850-some-odd days left of this Assembly, roughly two years, and we have two cycles of our infrastructure, two cycles of O and M. That is giving us a short window of opportunity to work with the people, work with the people in Deline and this department, this government. Can the Minister commit within a two-year time frame to sit down with the leadership in Deline and say this is the type of design, what type of design are you thinking about if you were to take this project and go through the capital plan process so that within two years we know that they could look forward to a new school?
Mr. Speaker, I can definitely commit to meeting with the leadership. There has been discussion and also conducting a regular system of all facilities in the Northwest Territories. Deline will be part of that process along with my colleagues from Public Works and Services. We work diligently together on those educational infrastructure facilities and will continue to work with DEAs and DECs because they are the primary contacts. They give us excellent feedback on which capital we should be focusing on. We will be meeting with them and also the leadership that is here with us. We will continue to push that forward. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Part of the Minister’s commitment is to sit down with the Deline leadership to look at the ?ehtseo Ayha School and the new school for that community. In the Minister’s meetings, can he also sit with the leadership and talk about what kind of support this government can give for parents who are sending their kids to Yellowknife, Smith, Inuvik, Hay River for a higher education and to see where the government can possibly help these parents who are now paying for their own kids to get an education by sending them outside of their community?
Mr. Speaker, most definitely those are discussions that we need to have with the Deline leadership, the DEAs and DECs as well. Just offering some of the initiatives that have been undertaken by Beaufort-Delta, as an example, e-learning is a prime example that we will continue to invest. There have been discussions on fibre optics. Those are just some of the discussions that we will continue to have. Education renewal is another one that they have been part of and will continue to push this forward. It is a big piece of work for the Northwest Territories and the Legislative Assembly. We want to make those changes that reflect on the small communities. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As you enter the Northwest Territories, we are quite fortunate to have rest stops and campgrounds right from Enterprise leading up right to Yellowknife. My question is to the Minister of ITI.
In these campgrounds that we have, I wanted to come to an understanding. Right now we are at the height of tourism season starting. What kind of rate structure does ITI have for campgrounds for daily to long-term usage in the campgrounds? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Those rates would vary from campground to campground and region to region. We have our campgrounds operated by contractors. We also have seasonal passes that are available to the public and to tourists that travel into the Northwest Territories. The rates would vary somewhat from region to region. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, what are the common types of services that one can expect if you do use the campgrounds, or perhaps on weekends or daily rates? What kind of services should people expect? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, services available would be dependent on which park or campground the tourist would find themselves in. We are constantly looking at upgrading services and facilities in our campgrounds and parks around the Northwest Territories, but as Members know, it is always a challenge to find capital dollars to be putting into campgrounds.
We are fortunate enough to receive $2 million to upgrade facilities around the territory this year. We are looking forward to upgrading some facilities. Some would have shower buildings, kitchen shelters, and electrical hook-ups for RVs, depending on which campground you would be in. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, as you know, we come from a culture of habit and respect for elders and especially senior citizens that travel long ways, especially as we turn to increase our potential in tourism. Why is there not discounted rates for senior citizens that use the campgrounds, especially as they travel a long way to be up here in the North? Mahsi.
That’s an issue that I can take back to the department, but predominantly tourists and folks that arrive in the Northwest Territories in RVs would be seniors. So we will take a look at that and I thank the Member for raising that concern. I do believe there are senior discounts on season-long passes. As to campground, a nightly rate, and there’s a discount for seniors, again, it may vary by park, but I’d be more than happy to get that information back to the Member. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Nadli.
I’d like to thank the Minister for making a commitment, but I’d like to take it a step further. Can he commit to an immediate discount of rates to seniors, in terms of using the daily campgrounds, effective immediately? Mahsi.
That would be difficult in that we have contractors operating some of our parks around the Northwest Territories who would be looking for a certain revenue stream in the operation of those parks. So for this coming season I wouldn’t be able to commit to that, but as I mentioned to the Member, for next season we could work with contractors that aren’t offering discounts to senior citizens and see if we can come up with a plan to offer discounts to senior citizens in our campgrounds. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are addressed to the Minister of Justice and I want to follow up on his statement from today about a Community Safety Strategy.
I was really pleased to see, and I totally agree with the Minister’s statement, that the people of the Northwest Territories know their needs and priorities, and communities should take the lead on determining how to address issues. I think that this is going to be a great initiative and I just would like to ask the Minister some questions about getting a little further information about this particular strategy and what it means.
My first question to the Minister would be to advise me and the House on how this particular strategy was developed. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The Minister of Justice, Mr. Abernethy.
