Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise to acknowledge and congratulate my constituent Michael Gilday, a member of the four-person team achieving a new world record in the qualifying rounds of the men’s 5,000-metre speed skating relay.
Competing at the International Skating Union World Cup in Calgary this weekend, Michael Gilday and his teammates, Charles Hamelin, Francois Hamelin and Oliver Jean, set the record at six minutes and 32.909 seconds. The team finished with a Bronze Medal in the final 5,000-metre relay race Sunday night. Gilday also finished Friday with a Silver Medal in the 1,000-metre individual race.
I invite all Members to join me in offering hearty congratulations to Michael and his teammates. Michael, you make us proud.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise on this day to congratulate Mrs. Georgina Bassett. Georgina Bassett was ordained a Minister on September 16, 2012. She is the first person of Slavey heritage to be ordained as an Anglican priest. She first became a deacon in 2009, but started her journey eight years ago.
Georgina and her husband, Steve, own and operate a fuel delivery company. She had been taking correspondence courses to study for the priesthood and plans on taking more in the future.
Mrs. Bassett was also named the Hay River Citizen of the Year for 2011. She was presented with the Alfred Mansell Award and commended for community involvement, including her volunteer work as coordinator of the Hay River Thrift Shop.
One of her dreams is to eventually build an Anglican church on the Hay River Reserve. There was one before, then it was flooded and never rebuilt due to lack of funds. I’d like to acknowledge the achievement of Mrs. Georgina Bassett.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement today, I talked about Health and Social Services to get their social workers to work in collaboration with our local RCMP. I think we can create a pilot project here in Yellowknife that could be extended throughout the North. With every opportunity that we can build positive relationships, I think, is a good thing.
In the context of working in a helping hand approach, would the Minister be willing to look at and examine a situation as described through what the Vancouver Policing Services uses, by getting some social workers out there on the street working through a drive-along program with the RCMP to talk to people and get to know what some of their problems are and work to help solve them?
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister of Justice, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Department of Health and Social Services is willing and prepared to work with the Department of Justice and RCMP to see if this type of program, where the social worker rides with the RCMP, is possible.
Would the Minister be willing to help designate someone from the Department of Health to work with me and the RCMP to help raise the profile of this particular issue? In the coming months, I realize this is not something that, if you said yes today, we’d start tomorrow, but in the months we could prepare and build a bit of objectives and work together to a collaborative solution to help people, namely youth of course, but to help people on the streets in the night that do need that little assistance.
Yes, I am willing to appoint someone to work on the committee.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I just want to follow up on my Member’s statement on the lack of social workers in Fort Liard with the Minister of Health and Social Services. Currently, like I had indicated, they have been short staffed all summer. It’s really impacting the health and wellness of the community. When can the people of Fort Liard expect to see another social worker at work in the community of Fort Liard?
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don’t have that information on when the vacancy… I suppose there is a vacancy in Fort Liard, but I am prepared to look at filling that vacancy as quickly as possible.
I look forward to that information. The point is that it’s a critical need and I’m hoping that the Minister can urge working with the Human Resources department to ensure that position is being filled and that the gap that’s there now has coverage.
On another line of questioning with regard to early childhood education, what kind of work is the Department of Health and Social Services doing right now to improve childhood programs in Fort Liard?
I thought I heard Food Challenge Program but I’m not familiar with that. I thought we were talking about Healthy Families. I’m lost. I didn’t hear if he said food challenge.
I’ll ask Mr. Menicoche to reaffirm his question.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I’ll be happy to restate that question. What kind of work are the departments of Health and Social Services and Education doing to improve early childhood programs in Fort Liard?
As the House knows, the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Social Services is working on early childhood development. Our role there is working on expanding the Healthy Family Program across the Northwest Territories, including expansion in the Deh Cho.
Can the Minister inform me when the Healthy Family Program will be brought to Fort Liard? What is the scheduling date for that program?
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Just to remind the Members to stay on topic. You changed the topic from social workers to programming. Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My understanding is that the program in the Deh Cho is rolling out now. We have expanded the program in 2013 to include a base in Fort Simpson and having satellite operations of the Healthy Family Program in Fort Liard and Fort Providence.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for keeping us on track. With that, I’d just like to ask the Minister when we can see results of that in the community of Fort Liard.
I can have the department check into the status of the program specifically in Fort Liard and report that back to the Member.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Premier following up on questions that I had during the spring session and are with regard to the changes in federal laws, environmental laws in particular. I had previously asked the Premier questions on the major changes underway in that area – withdrawal of habitat protection in the Fisheries Act, collapse of our regional land and water boards into one, creation of artificial mandatory deadlines for completion of assessments, and so on. The Premier said he had belatedly written the feds inquiring about the Fisheries Act changes, but I’ve never heard back about the response he received. The new federal omnibus bill proposes even further changes.
I’d like to ask the Premier whether we were informed in advance or consulted on these latest changes which extend the radical alteration of the federal government’s management of our northern environment.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Member for his question. We have written a couple of times to the federal government with regard to the changes that we understood were proposed for fisheries. We have yet to receive a response. We have not been briefed on the provisions of the omnibus bill, although we did get briefed on the proposed changes to the MVRMA.
Thanks to the comments from the Premier. A sad state of affairs indeed.
In changes to the Navigable Waters Protection Act under the new omnibus bill, 45, I understand Canada removed environmental protection on all but 97 major lakes and 62 rivers. Even some heritage rivers have had their protection yanked. Environmental review would no longer be required for any dam, road crossing, pipeline, mine, or bridge affecting water bodies not on that specific list. Reviews will be the responsibility of provinces except here, which is federal. We have that many lakes and rivers in the Weledeh riding alone.
Can the Premier confirm whether we were consulted on the composition of that list and confirm to this House what water bodies in the NWT, if any, are left on this skeleton-like remains?
We were not apprised of any changes to the Navigable Waters Act. We are now in the process of asking our departments to review the list to identify what the implications are for the Northwest Territories.
Thanks again to the Premier. An even sadder state of affairs indeed. Apparently we are expected to pass mirror legislation to adopt the federal regime as our own at the time of devolution and will be resourced just for those responsibilities, is my understanding. So here again the federal government is ransacking the environmental protection regime in anticipation of devolution without our input or approval, leaving us to try and shore up the regime later with our own resources.
Can the Premier remind me why devolution is a good deal and what resources we’re going to use to bring environmental responsibility back to the NWT after this is all said and done?
This doesn’t affect devolution. This is a national initiative that is being put forward by the Government of Canada.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish the federal government had a similar compartmentalization in their views. Every day seems to bring new details on the federal mangling of our environmental law. Meanwhile, we’re out consulting on the land use sustainability framework that is intended to influence the nature and content of our future resource management regime. Obviously, we’re dealing with a moving target. We can be consulting one night and find that things have changed the next morning.
I’d like to ask the Premier why we are asking our citizens what kind of land use sustainability framework they want, when we seem committed to meekly accept whatever hollow regime Ottawa finally passes our way. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think the Member recognizes that we’re dealing with a majority federal government and we are moving forward in what is in the best interests of all the people of the Northwest Territories.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement today I addressed the public’s seemingly lack of regard for distraction driving legislation as it pertains to cell phone use while driving. Can the Minister of Transportation indicate as to how many convictions, tickets and warnings have been issued in the NWT since the inception of this law as of January 1st of this year?
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The latest data that the Department of Transportation has on tickets issued under the distracted driving legislation goes until almost the end of May, and that resulted in 30 tickets being issued. As to the amount of warnings, I’d have to get that number for the Member.
I think everyone in this room and I think people listening would probably indicate that that is a fairly low number of convictions in distracted driving in the NWT. What is the Minister and the department doing to reinforce this law?
The House, the last Legislative Assembly passed that legislation. It came into force January 1st of this past year, or this year. We have the law in place. It’s a fine of $115. It’s three demerit points. We have had a public awareness campaign, Leave the Phone Alone, through our Drive Alive program. We have efforts like that. But at the end of the day, people that still choose to use their phone… I haven’t heard the concerns that the Member brought up today in his statement. I know, speaking on a personal note, it’s made me leave my phone alone. I believe three demerit points and a fine of $115 is a real hit if you get caught using your phone while driving.
Thanks to the Minister for the comments there. Public perception seems to be polarized on the issue on the use of cell phones while driving. Too many, as we indicated, are taking the chance of not getting caught, as they’re feeling no fear of such activity. Is it time to raise the stakes? I think many of us are saying yes.
Would the Minister consider improving the safety of our territory with an amendment of the act which authorizes the removal and confiscation of the illegal and dangerous use of a mobile tool while driving?
This is fairly new legislation. The numbers that I gave the Member earlier, 30, that doesn’t include the last four or five months. We’ll get updated numbers for the Member.
But it’s like seatbelts. When seatbelts, you know, wearing a seatbelt came into force, it took the public, it took people awhile to put on a seatbelt and wear a seatbelt for safety reasons. Nowadays you do not get into a vehicle and not put a seatbelt on. I do believe that through public awareness, through enforcement, tickets being issued, people losing demerit points, I do believe that as we move forward and the legislation is in place for a while, that people will not use their phone when they’re driving. I do believe that will certainly happen.
As to an amendment to the existing Motor Vehicles Act under the distracted driving, this is the first I’ve heard of that, and that’s something obviously this government can consider.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Dolynny.
