Good afternoon, colleagues. Before we begin today, I’d like to take this opportunity to extend the condolences of this Legislative Assembly, our Members and our staff, to the families of all those affected by the ongoing and tragic events in our nation’s capital earlier today. Our thoughts and prayers are with you during this difficult time.
Colleagues, I want to draw your attention to the presence at the Table today of the Honourary Clerk of the House, former Speaker, Minister, Commissioner, Sergeant-at-Arms and Honourary Captain, Anthony W.J. Whitford.
---Applause
Mr. Speaker, the safety of Northerners is a goal shared by Members of this Assembly and the Department of Transportation as we strive to build safe communities and a safe transportation system, in all modes, for the benefit of our residents.
Mr. Speaker, Parachute Canada is a national organization dedicated to preventing injuries and saving lives. Parachute has declared this week to be National Teen Driver Safety Week. Although young people only make up 13 percent of licenced drivers nationally, they account for 24 percent of road fatalities. Additionally, 40 percent of speeding drivers in fatal crashes are between the ages of 16 and 24. These shocking statistics have to change.
Learning to drive and earning a driver’s licence marks a key milestone in life, and new drivers across the Northwest Territories are benefiting from our graduated licensing program. New drivers are required to earn experience before receiving the privilege of a full driver’s licence. Our objective is to
ensure new drivers have experience and comfort behind the wheel, making NWT highways safer.
Mr. Speaker, the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators is the steward of the National Day of Remembrance for Road Crash Victims, which takes place on Wednesday, November 19, 2014. We must never forget the victims of motor vehicle accidents and to continue all efforts to make our highways, winter roads and community roads as safe as possible.
Mr. Speaker, the Department of Transportation has several road safety initiatives including the new Alcohol Ignition Interlock Program that prevents drivers from starting their vehicles if their blood alcohol level is above a pre-set limit. This keeps impaired drivers away from the wheel and leads to greater safety for all road users.
Highway transport officers work closely with the RCMP to patrol all of our highways to keep drivers safe. But changing behaviour takes time and persistence. I am pleased to see partnerships with community groups and industry that remind people that we can all do more to reduce injuries and fatalities on our highways.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to publicly acknowledge the ongoing efforts of SADD, Students Against Impaired and Distracted Driving. This student organization is an important partner in encouraging youth to make healthy choices that help to keep our highways safe. I offer my best wishes for success to SADD as they take part in events planned this month to encourage their peers to make positive choices.
Distracted driving is an issue the Department of Transportation takes seriously. In Canada, distracted driving contributes to more serious injuries than impaired driving and speeding. Research has shown that a texting driver is 23 times more likely to crash than a non-texting driver.
Since passing legislation in 2012 to discourage the use of hand-held electronic devices, 673 drivers have been convicted for using a hand-held electronic device while driving. We have also nearly tripled the fine for distracted driving from $115 to $322. The department will continue to impress on drivers that distracted driving is just as dangerous as impaired driving.
Mr. Speaker, the Department of Transportation holds public safety as a high priority. When it comes to road safety, the best tips are obvious: don’t drink and drive; don’t speed; don’t text and drive; and always buckle up. We can all do our part to make our roads and trails safe. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Ramsay.
Mr. Speaker, now that the Government of the Northwest Territories is responsible for administering the territory’s onshore petroleum resources, we are looking ahead to effectively plan and manage the NWT’s world-class oil and gas potential for the benefit of all residents.
To encourage future exploration and responsible development of oil and gas reserves in the territory, the Department of Industry, Tourism and investment is preparing for its first ever call cycle for oil and gas exploration rights.
Mr. Speaker, at this stage, the petroleum rights issuance process is moving forward with the call for nominations, which may then be followed by a call for bids. During the call for nominations phase, interested parties have four weeks to recommend parcels of land to the GNWT that should be made available for oil and gas exploration. Once the results of these submissions have been assessed, the government will decide which parcels will be made available to prospective bidders in a call for bids. The Petroleum Resources Act requires that the call for bids must remain open for a minimum of 120 days.
I want to emphasize that receiving a nomination for a particular parcel does not automatically mean that the GNWT will offer it up for future oil and gas exploration or a call for bids. Nominations are a first step in a broader call cycle process, which can take up to a year for the entire process to be completed, including the issuance of exploration licences. The process allows our government to manage the pace and scale of oil and gas development in our territory in a clear and consistent way that reflects northern priorities. At the same time, the certainty provided by clear processes helps promote the territory’s competitive position and improves business and investor confidence.
Mr. Speaker, the GNWT is careful to consider the views of the public, stakeholders and Aboriginal governments in its decisions on oil and gas development. With the NWT’s unique interests, ITI has engaged with Aboriginal governments and organizations that may be directly affected by new exploration projects. During the month of September, officials from the GNWT met with representatives of the Tulita, Deline and K’asho Got’ine district land corporations, the Gwich’in Tribal Council and the Inuvialuit Game Council to seek their views on the issuance of petroleum exploration land in their respective areas. This is one of the more important and critical parts of preparing the call for nominations. The consultation and engagement process gave us a better understanding of what lands must not be opened up for development. We will continue to engage with Aboriginal governments and organizations in our decision-making, reflecting the crucial role they play in the future of the NWT.
In going through the consultation and community engagement and the call for nominations process, our government also learns more about the suitability of our lands for petroleum development and our level of attractiveness as a jurisdiction for industry investment that will help inform future plans and decisions.
The information gathered during the call cycle is also valuable as we proceed with the development of an NWT Oil and Gas Strategy, as recommended in the NWT Economic Opportunities Strategy. The Oil and Gas Strategy will serve as the blueprint for oil and gas development in the territory for the next 20 years and is a key component of this government’s vision to build a strong and prosperous territory that provides opportunity to our regions.
Mr. Speaker, devolution was a major step for this government, one which could not have been completed without great effort and collaboration with our partners. The call cycle builds on these partnerships with a collaborative process that demonstrates this government’s ability to move forward and foster a supportive environment for responsible, sustainable development. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday in my Member’s statement, I talked about the cost of living in the Northwest Territories. As we watch the news, we can see the price of crude oil has dropped 25 percent in the very last weeks and months. I would challenge the retailers of these petroleum products in the Northwest Territories, to ask them why the prices for our home heating oil and our fuel at the pump has not gone down accordingly.
They used to say that it was inventory in their tanks and they only got it in every so often, so although the price of crude may change or the price per barrel of oil may change, that it was a long delay before we’d see the change in the price. But, Mr. Speaker, now we have the Deh Cho Bridge. They can bring the fuel in every day if they want to.
I would like to ask questions later on today about what our government is doing. At the beginning of the 17th Assembly, I posed a question to the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, as the consumer affairs Minister, and asked him what our government was going to do to protect consumers of the Northwest Territories from unfair prices, price setting, prices that are not reflective of what world prices are. At that time the Minister committed to begin tracking within his department the correlation between the price of crude oil and the price that we were paying as consumers at the pump and at the truck when they deliver home heating oil to our homes. I would like to ask the Minister later today how he’s doing with that correlation and that report. I’d like to see what it looks like.
I also raised, at that time, that in the Atlantic provinces of Canada, they actually have price regulation. I think these are things we have to think about. When we talk about the cost of living, the Government of the Northwest Territories has intervened to shield consumers of the cost of the anticipated increase in the cost of power with a $20 million injection so that consumers wouldn’t have to bear that. Yet we have a seemingly essential commodity like petroleum products which people can put any price they want on it with literally no restraint, no monitoring and no regulation by this government whatsoever.
As I said, later today I’m going to be asking the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, in his role as protector of consumer rights, what this government has thought of doing, because we are not seeing the decrease in the price that we are seeing on the news and this is a big issue. Winter is upon us. We need cheaper fuel. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Our territory has experienced very limited economic growth in recent years and our maturing diamond mines have reached their end of life cycle. Coupled with the decline in mining, oil and gas exploration, we have seen the NWT decline in investment spending in the last six years. In fact, since our peak of investment spending in 2007, we are down by 27 percent. As a result, our NWT gross domestic product, that is our GDP, has fallen to pre-2002 numbers.
Another way to look at this decline is to look at our mineral exploration, which has fallen from 6.8 percent of the total Canadian mining output in 2007 to a whopping low of 2.2 percent in 2011, and we are only slated to be at 3.3 percent of the Canadian total this year. In the end, it’s abundantly clear, the NWT has been slower to recover than all three northern territories and we should ask ourselves why.
The public has been led to believe the new Mineral Development Strategy and a new Economic Development Strategy are expected to ensure sustainable growth and balanced benefits across the NWT, yet we are left to imagine on how this will happen. Strategies don’t secure success, but targeting investing does. So I ask, even with yesterday’s tabling of the Mineral Development Strategy Implementation Plan, where are these strategic and meaningful investments in the current budget. I can assure the residents of the NWT, there are very few.
The current budget reflects very little in new spending in support of ensuring our economic freedom, to promote NWT as a place of business, to create jobs and, of course, prosperity. In fact, the oversubscribed Mining Incentive Program, which was touted yesterday as being overwhelmingly popular, is in reality the only economic stimulus of sort this government has done for some time.
Ironically, Cabinet’s claim of wanting to implement even more to achieve this Assembly’s vision of a prosperous territory is plagued with a huge problem. The issue – and if you’re not aware by now – is that we are riddled with debt, both short-term and long-term, with no light at the end of the tunnel.
Clearly, spending ourselves into a corner with an out-of-date fiscal and macroeconomic policy is in no way garnishing our vision of a prosperous economic territory. In fact, it’s doing the exact opposite.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
Mr. Speaker, if mining is truly the pillar of the NWT economy and it represents the largest private sector contributor to the NWT economy, then let’s stop the current piecemeal approach and let’s stand together with measured, meaningful and strategic financial solutions to secure a more robust mineral-based future. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have an increasingly urgent need for seniors housing in the NWT. My community, Yellowknife, is blessed with a visionary, committed organization whose reason for being is care for seniors. I speak of Avens – A Community for Seniors.
Avens is unique in the NWT’s health system as it is the only independent organization that runs a health care facility in the NWT. The Aven Campus has four facilities which house seniors across the continuum of care. Aven Manor, the oldest and the original Avens facility, will soon be declared unfit without a major retrofit.
To prepare for the retrofit or the upgrade, Avens engaged in more than 25 formal conversations with stakeholders, to gauge the needs of seniors across the NWT. Three messages were heard.
First, the needs of seniors have increased and Avens is integral to ensuring that infrastructure and programs exist to serve our seniors.
Second, investment into the existing infrastructure at the Aven Campus is important to keep employees and residents safe from harm.
Thirdly, they heard that Avens needs to ensure that their vision aligns with the current realities of our health care system.
More and more every day, Avens gets calls from NWT seniors and their families, asking about options for either affordable housing or extended professional care here in the North. Many of these calls are desperate, a family with an immediate and pressing need, but there are very few options available to our seniors. Avens is full and has no room for any more residents, whether they are local people or from other parts of the territory.
The results of several studies undertaken lately, and some by the GNWT, on seniors demographics and their continuing care needs shows numbers that are frightening. By 2026 the seniors population in the NWT will have doubled. In Yellowknife it will almost triple what it was in 2011.
The current infrastructure plan of the Health and Social Services department will not provide the needed facilities in any sort of reasonable time frame so that the increasing number of elders in the NWT can be properly accommodated. Health and Social Services and, by extension, the government, seems to be placing emphasis and our scarce dollars on an Aging in Place Strategy and not on the development of facilities to house seniors who can no longer live on their own.
I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
I’m very concerned that the badly needed Avens expansion and renovations will not get the government support it needs to begin construction in earnest next year.
The government needs to find a way to support the Avens project. It’s imperative that they assist them to find the necessary funding so that Avens can advance their vision for seniors and their expansion project. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. [English translation not provided.]
We had quite a summer in the Deh Cho. The record-breaking fire season had a significant impact on communities in my riding, as they did across the NWT, leading to smoky conditions and difficulties in travel.
Kakisa had a very close call when the fire came within 100 metres of some homes. Despite this scary experience, I’m happy to say that no structures were lost in or around Kakisa and residents began returning home from a weeklong evacuation on July 4th.
On behalf of all people in my riding, I want to thank everyone who assisted with the evacuation of Kakisa and a special thanks to the hardworking fire crews who put their own lives at risk to ensure minimal property damage and no loss of life in the 2014 fire season.
Fire renews the forest, and morel mushrooms are one of nature’s bounties brought by fire. This is proving to be a big year for morels as a result of fires in the Fort Providence area in 2013. Next year’s crop of morels should be even better.
Morels are highly prized to the food industry where they are known to fetch as much as $240 US per pound, highlighting the need to regulate the harvest of mushrooms and other non-timber renewable resources to the benefit of the people of the NWT.
I also want to mention the Deh Cho’s promising biomass industry that holds for the Deh Cho communities. My constituents will be excited to see progress be made to the advancement of projects in wood pellet manufacturing and similar initiatives.
On June 4, 2014, the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources signed an MOU on forest industry development with the Deh Gah Got’ie First Nation chief, Joachim Bonnetrouge, and the Fort Providence Metis president, Clifford McLeod, paving the way for a forest management agreement to be signed this Friday in Fort Providence.
This is an important time of the year for those who live a traditional lifestyle, and many people in the Deh Cho are taking advantage of the mild autumn to take part in the fall hunting season that will sustain us through a long winter. It is a time for elders to pass on their knowledge to young people in their communities, and it is a time for families to harvest the country foods that will sustain them through a long winter.
I wish everyone a safe, sustainable and prosperous hunt. While the Deh Cho is a wonderful place to live and raise a family, its residents continue to be concerned with problems such as substance abuse, family violence and a lack of job opportunities.
I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement. Mahsi.
---Unanimous consent granted
As I was saying, our residents continue to be concerned with problems such as substance abuse, family violence and the lack of job opportunities, especially for local youth and people who are not available to work in the mining sector. In the final year of the 17th Assembly, I strongly encourage community members, leadership and governments to work together to reach the goals of healthy, vibrant and sustainable communities in the Deh Cho. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are so many important issues before us to talk about; however, I feel emotionally compelled to say a few words about the horrific tragedy in Ottawa today. Truly a very difficult day for all Canadians and our Armed Forces who, truly, we are all very proud of. I’m really saddened by the passing of the soldier who was honestly standing up for Canada. This attack wasn’t just on him, it was an attack on all Canadians and I’m confident we will rise in his name again to stand strong.
Anyone I’ve talked to today, without question, has found this an incredibly emotional and disturbing issue. It’s very hard for someone like myself not to feel emotional about those attacks. All of those folks attacked were innocent and they did not deserve anything like this.
To my knowledge, the attacker’s motives are not known, and in many ways may never be understood. However, the families hurt by this will deserve answers, some of which may be difficult to get. I am certainly sending my prayers to the family of the affected soldier who was standing there for us. He was on guard for Canada in front of our National War Memorial.
I call upon all Northerners to pause today to appreciate the dedication, the risks and the service our armed service personnel put forward each and every day in our nation and across the world for all of us.
I know this isn’t over yet and our RCMP are doing their very best to catch all those involved, and I have every confidence in their service as well.
Thank you to Kevin Vickers – he’s the Sergeant-at-Arms in Ottawa, a distinguished man in his own right – for taking down this horrible person in Parliament today. His actions probably could have saved many other lives, not just politicians but many staff who devote themselves to this country and the democracy we all fight so hard for.
This action of this terrible person has made me very angry. It’s made me angry in a way of saying, why would someone do such a horrible thing to another person? This can only be described as a horrific act. I feel no other way to describe it. I feel awful. I can’t believe he would do this.
I am grateful that I live in Canada, and I know many of us are as well. We have an amazing Armed Forces personnel, who each and every day I am grateful we have for all of us as Canadians. So, as they daily stand for us, whether it’s in Yellowknife, in Hay River, whether it’s in Ottawa, whether it’s in Afghanistan, they are there for us. So now, more than ever, we need to make sure that we are all there for them. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’re embarking on a big project this fall and it’s the first phase of our Junior Kindergarten. Twenty-three communities will be taking it on, and as the Minister stated, it is optional to all those schools who want to do the Junior Kindergarten program. I understand the importance of this, getting our four-year-olds ready for kindergarten, getting them into the schools; however, there are still a lot of issues that have come to the forefront as we brought this program into the schools in 23 communities. We were not sure if the schools were ready, if the staff were ready, in fact, if the communities were ready.
Some of the issues that have been brought up: whether or not we have enough materials for the students, the Grade 4s; whether we have enough adequate space in the schools. Other things that have been brought to my attention are enrollments at daycares, enrollments at daycares like the Children First Centre, where four-year-olds will now be able to go into the schools in the second phase of this program. Plus, the added extra duties put on our educators who, in some cases, might become sort of like a babysitter – changing diapers, taking kids to the washroom – when they didn’t go to school for those things.
I see the importance of this in the small communities where there are no daycares, where we want to get our students ready for kindergarten. However, when we get into the regional centres and the city of Yellowknife, we do have a lot of daycares out here that do rely on the revenues for the four-year-olds that attend their facilities. The Aboriginal Head Start programs that rely on federal funding based on the amount of enrollments that they have in their programs.
Yesterday I made a comment about how this government donated funding to an infrastructure for children, the Children First Centre in Inuvik. This government is footing money, gave money to a building, only two years later to take kids out and put them into the high school. This is an organization that relies on the revenues from the students that are coming in there. Now we’re taking out one of their ways that they make money and put them into a financial situation, putting financial stress not only on the Children First Centre but on all other daycares, all other facilities in the regional centres as well as those in Yellowknife.
Mr. Speaker, I will have questions today for the Minister of Education on how he is consulting with these groups to ensure that when we go into phase two that we are ready to implement Junior Kindergarten and that we do support daycare and early childhood development. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Our natural environment has been taking a beating lately. Unprecedented wildfires, debilitating drought, these changes in our climate have yielded increased costs of firefighting and electricity, lost homes and loss of income because of tourism impacts.
A particularly tragic loss is the additional blow to already severely depleted caribou populations from the extensive loss of their winter habitat. The collapse of one of our most valuable and culturally important resources, our once strong and life-sustaining Bathurst and Bluenose-East caribou herds, may be one of the greatest concerns to all people of the North.
Recent UN studies have shown that since 1970, worldwide wildlife populations have been reduced by half, half as many fish, half as many mammals, half as many birds. We see this trend in the NWT; in particular, we are losing two of our great caribou herds. For thousands of years these animals have sustained First Nations people of the NWT. If conservation efforts fail, the herds may soon be gone.
Mr. Speaker, it doesn’t look good. When I see community hunts planned, despite chiefs knowing the desperate plight of these herds, I know we do not yet grasp the situation. When I read that communities are simply resigning themselves to wait until winter to hunt because they haven’t seen any yet, I know that hope of recovery is dwindling. When I hear that cow caribou are being shot, any at all from these herds, I know that the children of today may very well not have the privilege of living in a time of caribou plenty as we have done. They may not get to practice their caribou culture as their First Nations parents have done until recently. We must act now to reverse these trends to avoid the horrifying reality of no more caribou.
Step number one is to stop shooting caribou. It may be all kinds of factors that caused the decline, but until we stop the killing of the remaining animals, the caribou will not recover. This is immensely sad and a tough reality, tough on elders whose very bones are made from caribou and cry out for them, tough on chiefs who must lead their people, a travesty for children meant to grow up with caribou abundance and all it means to people of cultures.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
I ask the Minister to call everyone to the table to find a solution to a loss that will now affect generations to come. First Nations, long-time Northerners, those who hunt for food and scientists all have important perspectives to offer and a stake in finding a path that will allow our caribou to bounce back and eventually thrive.
But first, stop shooting caribou from these decimated and declining herds. A world without caribou is too horrible to contemplate. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When I got up this morning at 5:30 to make my coffee, I was pouring the water and was wondering: how safe is this water here in Yellowknife? I thought about that after the coffee was percolating, I drank it and was thinking: how safe is our water in the Sahtu?
Hearing about the fracking issue with oil and gas, who is monitoring our water? I know we have a Sahtu Land and Water Board, we have a Sahtu Land Use Plan, we have a constitutionally protected treaty, called the Sahtu Dene and Metis Land Claim Agreement, we have provisions in there, we have people from the region, from our communities who are on these boards who make these decisions, we have scientists, we have traditional knowledge people about the water. Actually, the water, Mr. Speaker, is very powerful. Powerful, powerful. It is a living entity to our people. It is alive and it is so powerful that it heals itself.
But you know what, Mr. Speaker? A lot of people are saying, how come the water is so low this summer. There were areas that, when we went caribou hunting or moose hunting this fall, there were low waters. Even a good old jet boat couldn’t go around some of the islands, and they only take about two inches of water, because I own one and have driven from Fort Simpson to Fort Good Hope with my son, and believe me, the Mackenzie River is powerful. God’s creation is powerful. So I want to know about who’s monitoring the water, who’s looking after it.
In Great Bear Lake in the early days of the mining, there was 720,000 tonnes of hazardous material dumped into that lake. If you look at Imperial Oil’s water licence for the next 10 years, they’re taking billions of litres out of the Mackenzie River that will run through its plant system. They’ll put billions of litres back into the Mackenzie and it will flow down to Good Hope and further down. Who’s monitoring the quality?
I want to ask the Minister, at the appropriate time, because water is life, there’s no doubt. Ask any of my people how precious it is. You can take a bath and you cook with it and you have your good, fresh coffee in the morning at 5:30. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Constituents of Fort Liard, Nahanni Butte and Lindberg Landing have had a summer of discontent with the Nahanni bison herd in that area. The bison have been ruining property, digging up gardens, ruining plants and trees and being a significant hazard to the residents. In fact, one resident was literally trapped in her car as a large single male rested against her car door, damaging it and also trapping her inside. She is elderly. Her family and friends fear that she may be injured if this happens again.
The Minister of Environment and Natural Resources committed to the development and implementation of a bison management plan in the spring of 2013. The strategy suggested two years to prepare a plan specifically for this Nahanni herd. In the short time, it states that the ENR will increase its efforts to keep bison out of the communities, including increasing public education materials. Residents are discontented that there appears to be little effort since then to help them.
Increasing the quota for harvesting is another measure that they were considering. I was advised by a resident of Fort Liard that to the south in northern BC, the Champaign and Aishihik First Nations had similar bison problems. Once again, harvesting the bison near and close to their communities, the bison are smart, and then they were shy to enter these communities and private property areas. So, Nahendeh residents would like the ENR department to seriously consider harvesting near their communities and private property areas, such as Lindburg Landing, for protection.
Nahendeh residents continue to expect more and continued action from the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources to help with this serious bison problem.
I will have questions for the Minister at the appropriate time. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to speak today about a boat trip that happened in Fort McPherson last month. On September 23rd a total of 12 homemade boats, which we call scows, and 38 people, young and old – the youngest being three years of age and the oldest in their late 70s – travelled from Fort McPherson up the Peel River some 75 miles. All boats were back home on Sunday, September 28th.
Our people have always been nomadic. We travel where food is, or we follow where the food is, depending on the season. This huge group of 38 people were successful in harvesting moose, catching fish and, at the same time, taught the youth how to butcher the meat and how to preserve the meat for future use.
This trip was made in order for the younger travellers to see the great country of ours and to visit historic sites along the way.
The Peel River has many legends and many historic points to visit along the way. For example, The Lost Patrol of 1911. One of our greatest leaders from the Gwich’in Nation, Chief Julius Salu, travelled extensively in the area. He hunted, trapped and fished in the Peel River and the Peel River Watershed. This great man has significant ties with each family in the Fort McPherson area, his traditional territory. During this trip the elders told stories, and a trip can’t be complete without laughter. Many jokes were told along the way.
The youth were engaged in the lessons from long ago. They were taught basic survival skills and they were there to assist the elders when they needed it.
Whether it be in the Mackenzie Delta or in any other riding, more of these trips need to take place. There is nothing that can compare to being out on the land away from the community. Peace and quiet and a place to collect your thoughts, but at the same time working from morning until night, setting up your camp, gathering wood, setting your nets, cooking meals, and the list goes on.
I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
These trips and future trips up the Peel River will have a lasting effect on anyone who travels there for the first time and witnesses how beautiful our land is. Let’s continue to support initiatives such as these and keep our culture alive.
I’d also like to thank all of the departments that contributed to this on-the-land program. Thank you, mahsi cho.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize a number of people in the gallery today. First I’d like to recognize some second-year contemporary social welfare policy class from Aurora College and they are Phuong Bui, Alyssa Carpenter, Kyla Cherwaty, Noel Hernandez, Gerri Hunter, Alanna Menard, Lauren Moir, Stephanie Rabesca, Kassandra Spoelder, Jordon Moffitt and Rhea Kaye, and I apologize if I got any of those names wrong.
I’d also like to recognize a number of fourth-year nursing students. Allison Andrews, Alyssa Bird, Michael Bishop, Caro Cheiner, Jessica Harrison, Samantha Hicks, Simone Julien, Stephanie Kranci, Sabine Kruse, Caterina Marrai, Julie Purcell, Chelsea Thior, Marteen Silverson, Joanne Spencer, Sari Valensky and Ginny Wainwright. Once again, I apologize if I pronounced any of those names wrong.
Thank you and welcome to the gallery.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Mr. Beaulieu.
Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Earlier I made another statement on the students in the gallery today for Students Against Impaired and Distracted Driving. In the gallery today we have Colton Rieger-Steed, Mitchell Rankin, Ryan Kendall, Dylan Pye, Denika Anderson, Shania Tymchatyn. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Mr. Bouchard.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize a constituent, a strong proponent for agriculture in the Northwest Territories and also the proponent for Polar Eggs, Mr. Kevin Wallington, and I also recognize Wendy Morgan, former Hay River resident and my adopted constituency assistant. I know she’s Jane’s, but she helps me out lots here too. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I too wish to recognize the SADD group. I’ll recognize them as a whole and I’ll thank the Minister of Transportation for highlighting them in his Minister’s statement today. They do great work.
I’d also like to recognize one of our distinguished Table Officers, and I’m sorry to say, my favourite Table Officer – sorry, to the present company – yes, it’s you, Mr. Anthony W.J. Whitford. It’s always great to see you. Although you’re not my constituent, what I’d say is you’re a constituent of every MLA in the North. We all truly dearly love you, sir. Good to see you.
