Good afternoon, colleagues. Today, before we get started, I’d like to pay tribute to my wife’s grandmother, who passed away this past summer. I’m reading her eulogy.
Delia Bourke, nee Cardinal, was born outside Fort Chipewyan in the area known as Ambarass Portage in the winter of 1926. Her parents, Jean-Baptiste and Mary Adelle Cardinal, resided in Ambarass Portage in the spring and winter months while working on their trapline. The remainder of the time was spent living in Fort Chipewyan, where they raised 14 kids while they fished and lived a traditional way of life on the land.
Delia was the second child born out of all of her siblings and left home at a very young age. In 1945 she met her late husband, Victor, and they were married shortly after on September 12th the following year in Fort Fitzgerald, Alberta. Soon after, they welcomed their eldest son Fred and daughter Doris.
In 1961 the small family moved to Fort Smith where they resided there for their remaining years. While living there, Victor and Delia had a total of 16 children: eight boys – Fred, Albert, Allan, Donald, Lloyd, Raymond, Tommy, Edward and Curtis – and five girls – Doris, Dorothy, Nancy, Rita and Judy.
Victor worked at Northern Transportation Company while Delia stayed at home and raised her children. Having 16 children back in those days was a tough feat as the town was still developing and not able to provide the necessities; hence, the family would resort to hunting and picking berries just as their parents had done in the past.
Delia did not live a fancy, expensive or flashy lifestyle, but she knew what was important to her and that was her family. As her family grew, she remained the very core of the family, a focus of love and affection to everyone she knew.
Delia’s mother, Mary Adelle, always taught her girls to take care of all the family responsibilities and have a traditional woman’s role in the household. You can truly see how that tradition carried on
through Delia’s life, as she always lived her life fulfilling those roles that her mother taught her so well. Delia’s hobbies are also a reflection of her mother’s teaching, as she loved to cook, pick berries and sew. She was very resourceful when it came to their day-to-day lives raising all the children. Delia would sew most, if not all, of her own and her children’s clothes and also made her own animal hides to sew moccasins and mittens. Beading was also one of her favorite pastimes.
Delia’s life seems to have been simple and uncomplicated as a stay-at-home mother, but raising her own 16 children and many grandchildren is what she believed she was destined to do. Delia truly loved children and you could see that love whenever she would meet a new addition to the family. With numerous amounts of grandchildren, great-grandchildren and even great-great-grandchildren, you can see how Delia was surrounded with love each and every day. Even in her sick condition, she always kept a high spirit and greeted everyone she met with a smile.
One story that a family member shared was how New Year’s was always a time of celebration to enjoy with family. I thought I would share this because of the amount of people who have a memory about that time. Passed-down traditions still remain very dear to the entire Bourke family, as family functions surrounded by loved ones are commonplace. From the food to the conversation and laughter, the family all had numerous amounts of stories that would be too much to mention today, but those traditions stem from Delia’s side of the family and friends.
Delia’s family and friends have shared countless stories and memories in helping to write these words. A recurring theme that arises from all the shared stories is perseverance, humility and humour. Living 86 years, with many of those years as a widow and losing loved ones, Delia persevered and lived with humility. Having a sense of humour is quite an understatement to those who knew her. She always made everyone laugh, and loved to talk and tell stories, most of which ended in laughter.
Although we spoke today a lot about her very early past, the recent past is more a reflection of how Delia’s demeanor and character touched the lives of many people that had the chance of meeting her. She made a big impression on all staff at the care home and even those who hadn’t known much about her shared just how sweet of a lady she was. Delia’s husband passed away in 1991 and throughout all these 22 years that he’s been gone, she still would say that Victor was the love of her life. With her endless stories she told about him and her family, you could see just how much love they had for each other. Now Delia is reunited with her husband and children in the Kingdom of Heaven.
We all have fond memories of Delia and these we must hold dear in our hearts and cherish them, as she cherished us. Just before closing, I wanted to mention a small story that sums up just how Delia lived her life and how her spirit was still high and strong. In the days before Delia had passed, she asked her daughter Doris, “How old am I again?” Doris replied, “You are 86, mom.” Delia then replied, “Really? I don’t feel that old. I still feel like I’m 16.”
I would like to convey my sincere appreciation for their support and generosity to: Honourable Michael Miltenberger, Dennis Bevington for attending the funeral of Delia; and Mr. Ken Hudson, president of the Fort Smith Metis Council; and the Kaeser family and Kaeser’s Store, for all the hard work they do when you pass through that community. They really do a good job. Thank you so much.
Mr. Speaker, bullying is a complex social issue and has potentially devastating effects on student achievement, attendance and mental health. Unfortunately, we have all seen the most shattering results of bullying across Canada, and we are focused on ensuring this does not happen in the NWT. Everyone has a role to play in making sure our residents are safe and feel safe in their communities, at home, and at school.
We responded to a motion for anti-bullying legislation by proposing amendments to the Education Act in the spring session. This includes a definition of bullying and cyber-bullying, a Territorial School Code of Conduct and requirements for district education authorities and district education councils to implement safe schools plans. We are very pleased at standing committee’s approach to include the students across the NWT in their public consultations on Bill 12.
Further, we have developed a Territorial Safe Schools Plan, which includes policies and procedures that we have shared with the education councils and authorities. We are finalizing a workbook that includes guidelines, intervention and procedure reporting.
Mr. Speaker, this is a multi-year investment with many partners, including Aboriginal governments, the Northwest Territories Teachers’ Association, school administrators, other government departments, families, communities and students.
In all of our research, and working with our partners across Canada, we have found that youth must be the voice of bullying prevention awareness. Through blogging, videos, mentoring, poster campaigns, and standing up against these issues, individually and in groups, youth across Canada are emerging as ambassadors. They will be key to the awareness campaign beginning in the next month. It will include multimedia tactics such as radio, web, and videos to target student participation, as well as resources for parents and communities.
A strong, prosperous territory begins with a strong society sustained by a healthy environment. Safe schools are an investment in a future where all of our children grow up to become healthy, educated members of society and can participate in creating safe, sustainable and vibrant communities. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Minister of Human Resources, Mr. Abernethy.
Mr. Speaker, increasing employment opportunities where they are most needed is a key priority of this Assembly. We need to connect our labour force with the available public service jobs across the NWT. As part of our Workforce Planning Strategy, the Department of Human Resources is developing a Regional Recruitment Program. It will incorporate unique approaches to recruitment with on-the-job training so that people across the North have opportunities to be supported in their development as public servants.
The GNWT actively recruits Northerners to fill vacant positions, especially in the regions. At any given time, there are approximately 150 to 200 vacant regional positions available within all departments, boards and agencies in communities. The Regional Recruitment Program will assist to place Northerners into these vacancies. This program is a tool that will help with the decentralization efforts.
Mr. Speaker, up to a maximum of $15,000 per trainee is available to fill vacant regional positions with a candidate who can train on the job to be able to perform 100 percent of the job duties. Funding support can be used in a variety of ways, including sending the trainee to another community to learn on the job from co-workers, paying for training courses, or other creative approaches that position the candidate for success in the position.
Mr. Speaker, the Department of Human Resources will provide support to managers through a new decentralized regional recruitment officer position. This position works with hiring managers, trainees, regional training committees and regional employees of the Department of Education, Culture and Employment. Together, they will develop specific plans that set out the training and development needed for the individual to ultimately be successful in the position.
Work is underway to implement this program before the end of this calendar year, and trainees are anticipated to start to be on the job early in 2014.
Mr. Speaker, having the staff in place to deliver programs and services to all residents is a key priority. Filling vacant regional positions with Northerners is a great way to develop our labour force and provide opportunities where they are most needed. I am very excited about the potential of this program to help reduce barriers to entering the workforce and support employment and training across the NWT. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Ramsay.
Mr. Speaker, responsible oil and gas development has the potential to grow and diversify the Northwest Territories economy, and help create a sustainable, prosperous territory. Nowhere has this reality been more apparent than in the Sahtu region. There is a lot to learn when it comes to ensuring our residents are prepared for rapid development, and any development continues to minimize environmental and social impacts. Today I would like to share the lessons learned during a recent trip to the Bakken oil formation in Saskatchewan and North Dakota.
I recently led a tour of the Bakken oil formation, to learn more about challenges and opportunities of rapid development, drilling operations and community engagement. This group included members of the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Infrastructure, MLAs, Aboriginal and business leaders from the Sahtu region, National Energy Board staff and GNWT representatives.
I would specifically like to extend my appreciation to Mr. Norman Yakeleya, MLA for Sahtu, as well as Mr. Bob Bromley and Mr. Robert Hawkins, representing the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Infrastructure, who assisted on the tour to represent the NWT Legislature.
We met with government officials in Saskatchewan, to hear how they regulate tight oil resource developments. We also visited various drilling operations and saw how they create unprecedented job growth and opportunities while protecting the environment.
North Dakota’s unemployment rate is one of the lowest in the United States due to this development. In fact, we were told that the Aboriginal groups who are located at the centre of these developments have a zero percent unemployment rate.
Mr. Speaker, we spoke with members of the Three Affiliated Tribes on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota, to hear how they are dealing with and benefitting from the booming development, and heard about how the tribes are taking advantage of the opportunities this development presents. We also had an opportunity to discuss their views on best practices and issues of environmental sustainability.
The general consensus was that drilling has been operated safely and sustainably, and has been the key to unlocking significant riches for the tribes. Some of the Native American contractors offered to help people in the NWT prepare for development and production in our area.
The one thing we heard time and time again was how important it is to prepare residents to seize the opportunities from this development.
That is a priority of this government: to ensure development continues in a timely yet environmentally sustainable way, and that local residents and businesses benefit to the fullest extent.
We committed to present the facts to the public about hydraulic fracturing and to hear any concerns. To this end, we have been working with the communities of Norman Wells and Fort Good Hope, to support workshops to ensure residents are informed and can ask any questions they have. Participants from Colville Lake, Fort Good Hope, Norman Wells, Deline and Tulita have attended or will attend upcoming workshops. Each workshop is being delivered by the Indian Resources Council, a neutral third party that was suggested by community leadership.
Mr. Speaker, these are the lessons we have learned: We need to work with industry to ensure we know where they need assistance. We need to continue to push for infrastructure such as roads and additional housing so we are ready for this development boom.
We learned that these areas experienced the same issues with lack of infrastructure as any area that experiences rapid and significant development, and how they are overcoming these challenges. We learned that drilling can be done responsibly and in an environmentally safe way and that it has been the key to prosperity in these areas. Most importantly, we realized how imperative it is to continue to work with community leadership and residents, to ensure they are fully prepared for the effects of development.
The departments of Environment and Natural Resources and Industry, Tourism and Investment have been working jointly on the development of hydraulic fracturing guidance documents. Work on this initiative continues and these guidance documents will be shared with the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Infrastructure and we look forward to receiving your input.
Ensuring NWT residents benefit to the greatest degree possible from any development is a major priority of this government. We will continue to benefit from this exploration growth, and our residents will be well-positioned to seize training and job opportunities. We need to get our people working, so they can be free of poverty and make the choices that are right for their families.
By taking the time now to learn more about development and maintain our consistent dialogue between industry, NWT residents, and Aboriginal organizations, we will ensure the petroleum resource sector continues to be part of our diversified economy that provides all communities and regions with opportunities and choices. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I want to make my Member’s statement to commend the Department of Transportation on a program that just keeps growing within their mandate. That’s the Drive Alive! program, Mr. Speaker.
These programs do change communities and society’s views towards public safety. So far, from what I can see, they’ve been very effective. The recent one, called Buckle Up NWT, is one that had a very creative and innovative idea of having a contest to promote seatbelt use. I’m happy to say that Hay River was the community that won that contest and I also congratulate the other communities who also participated in that program. Certainly I don’t think Hay River would have won this contest without the support of our local volunteer fire department, our local police detachment, our fire chief, Ross Potter, and his volunteer firefighters, who are very, very active in our community in promoting safety at all times and they seized upon the opportunity to be involved in this Buckle Up NWT Program.
As a result, we had the good fortune to have Ms. Leela Gilday and Godson also accompany her and come down to Hay River with department officials and put on a concert at the Hay River Golf Course. It was amazing. I’d like to have them back again. I don’t know if we could afford it, but in this case the Department of Transportation sponsored this and it was amazing to see them in action.
In closing, I just want to encourage the Department of Transportation to continue with these creative initiatives that they undertake to promote safety. I understand there’s another one that has been announced today by press release, which is to encourage the safe driving of young people. These are seemingly maybe small steps, but every bit helps and it’s good to see this kind of initiative coming from our government and the Department of Transportation. I just want to thank them today. Thank you.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’d like to talk about my community of Aklavik and the Willow River road project. We’ve discussed this project numerous times and I feel that I need to remind the Minister that funding needs to be secured in order for this project to take place.
There is a Mountain Road Committee set up consisting of leadership from Aklavik, which also includes a few elders. This committee has been pleading for the Willow River road project to be included in our budget, an allocation of sufficient funds to be committed to this project. At this time I might add that my constituents in Aklavik were very happy for the funding received in last year’s fiscal budget to assist with Willow River road. However, to keep the momentum going, we’d like to have a steady flow of funds going to Aklavik for that road to be all-weather and community accessible.
Would the Minister take a look at our budget and continue with a training program that Aklavik residents can take advantage of? We also have local businesses and contractors in Aklavik that are willing to train local residents if funding allows.
The Mountain Road Committee also completed a feasibility study. This study has yet to be implemented, due to lack of funding. I urge this Assembly, again, to take a serious look at the project that Aklavik has been requesting for so many years. Results of the road would only have positive impacts on the community of Aklavik: access to gravel year-round for the community’s use; family outings such as picnics and scenic drives; multi-use for the school in terms of educational purposes; and lastly, to attract tourists to Aklavik and also big game outfitting. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. There has been discussion lately about the educational renewal in the Northwest Territories. In theory, the renewal is supposed to strengthen student success and enhance the quality of education in small community schools. It’s also supposed to improve the way we measure student achievement.
I’m pleased the Department of Education recognizes the need for a renewal. However, along with many of my constituents, I’m not confident they’re headed in the right direction.
The thing is, parents in my constituency are terribly concerned about the poor quality of education in our small community schools. They’re afraid of the future of their children. Why is that? A big reason is that their children aren’t learning the right material. As a result, they just aren’t passing the Alberta achievement tests.
Let me tell a couple of stories to illustrate the point. Two Grade 11 students in my riding are at the top of their class. They’re bright kids. They’re really into physics. But they both scored around 30 percent on the departmental exams. Two Grade 3 students were at the top of their math class, but in Grade 4 when they took the Alberta achievement test, they scored in the bottom 25th percentile, which is a virtual fail.
These students are not being taught what they’re expected to learn. They aren’t learning the NWT curriculum in a way that prepares them for standardized tests. It’s a sorry situation when our best and brightest can’t even pass departmental exams.
What is even worse is the department’s response to the dismal results on the Alberta achievement tests. You might expect to see them redouble their efforts in order to fix this problem. Instead, they want to eliminate the test altogether. That’s not a viable option. It only sweeps the problem under the rug, leaving us without a standardized measurement of student achievement.
Education renewal is being advertised as an open process guided by input from the public. For the record, my constituents want quality higher education, not another way of justifying poor results.
I will have questions for the Minister of Education at the appropriate time. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We came, we saw, we can frack. With the recent tour down to North Dakota and eastern Saskatchewan, I want to thank the Minister for taking us, the leaders, members of the committee, on the exploration of hydraulic fracking in that region.
Hydraulic fracking in the Sahtu promises to secure our energy future if we do it right and responsibly. We are looking at hydraulic fracking as our path to greatness, and anything to do with greatness is a risk. For example, people put men on the moon, and that’s a great risk.
I want to say that our land is rich. For example, just look at the recent approval of another giant mine in the Yellowknife area, and we’re hearing about producing our potential on the hydro development by examining transmission lines to the South.
The Sahtu Dene Council clearly stated their support for economic development opportunities within the Sahtu region. This opportunity will create employment for its members. The GNWT statistics profile reported in 2010-2011 that the majority of the Sahtu members were on income support. Tulita, population of 552, had 286 clients. Fort Good Hope, population 585, income support clients 254. As you can see, the results from these stats, a lot of my people, the majority of my people were on income support for that year. That tells us that our people are dependent on this government and income support, and that is their main source of income.
The Sahtu chiefs are in favour of development; however, they want to be sure that their concerns about ecological integrity of our lands, waters and animals are protected.
I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
Our land is powerful and has many promises. What we do as keepers of the land will determine the quality of the life we live.
I call upon this government and our people to take the time to learn about hydraulic fracking and about the balance that we need to consider, and also about having the EDI committee play a role in the upcoming guidelines and public education involving hydraulic fracking in the North. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am going to speak on something that has always been near and dear to my heart and that is the mental health and addictions. I know we have been almost beating this to death, I guess you could say, and we do that for a reason, because we want to protect the people of the NWT.
It was great to have the Minister of Justice table in the House yesterday the 2012 coroner’s report. It just so happened that it happened at the same time I decided to do my Member’s statement. However, what I did last night and this morning was I reviewed that report. I just want to share some stats with Members and people of the Northwest Territories today.
In 2012 there was a total of 99 deaths in the NWT, 19 which were accidental, eight were suicide, five homicides, five that were classified as undetermined or unclassified at all, and 62 were natural deaths.
I would like to speak to the suicide portion of that. Unfortunately, of the eight suicides, five had confirmed the presence of alcohol. I look at these stats in 2011 and 2010 as well. In both years, of the seven suicides in each year, four of them also confirmed presence of alcohol. Suicide is very big to me because in 2012 six of these eight suicides happened in the Inuvik region. That needs to be addressed.
Before I go on, I will talk a little bit about the accidental deaths, which were also very alarming. Of the 19 accidental deaths, 12 were alcohol or drug related. All the cold exposure of motor vehicle accidents and any blunt head trauma incidents all involved alcohol.
This goes to show that all the work that we’ve been doing over the past two years that we’ve been in session here, plus all the work and all the questions Members have on this side of the House do need to be addressed and do need to be answered too. We do need to revise the Mental Health Act. In fact, the last time the Mental Health Act had any significant amendments was actually assented in 1985 and there hasn’t been any significant amendments since then. We do need detox beds or detox centres and not beds, and more seriously, we do need treatment centres to combat these issues. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I continue with lessons learned from our fracking tour and applying those lessons to the North. Too much of anything can be a bad thing. Fracking is about too much of many things, too much of so much that I made a list:
too many trucks on too many roads;
too many wells flaring too much gas;
too much fresh water going down a well and too much dirty water coming back up;
too many pipelines, oil pipelines, gas pipelines, freshwater pipelines and produced water pipelines,
too many workers coming in from faraway places; and driving it all,
too much money.
This is what scientists call cumulative effects. One well, fracked under perfect conditions, can appear to be a manageable risk, so when big money is involved, things can get out of control, and that is what we saw in North Dakota and rolling across the globe today.
We learned that a loaded truck of gravel kicks up 100 pounds of dust per mile. Massive North Dakota traffic creates 10-inch-deep ruts in paved highways. Imagine what they will do to our winter roads, and we thought last year was a bad winter.
We learned that oil wells produce gas that must be flared if there are no gas pipelines. In North Dakota they flare so much gas, you can see from outer space a frack field lit up like New York City. Again, imagine what the Sahtu will look like here.
We learned that each pad with four wells requires 600 truckloads of water, 2,500 tons of sand and 1,200 barrels of chemicals. We learned that you need a multi-well pad every four miles in every direction.
We learned that each well goes deep into the Earth through layers of water and oil that should not be connected. When sealed, their integrity is meant to last forever. Go figure.
In Saskatchewan, abandoned wells are considered one of that government’s biggest liabilities. We learned that what is sent down the well is bad, but what goes back, so-called produced water, is much dirtier. We may feel like we have unlimited fresh water, but only 6 percent of our water is refreshed through rain and snow each year.
We learned that fracking does not just fracture the earth deep underground. Fracking development also fractures the landscape with a network of roads, well pads and pipelines. We know that this completely changes the way our northern land and animals function. And we learned that once you start, you have a hard time stopping.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
We learned that once you start, you have a hard time stopping. Workers and companies come from all over, and local people get priced out of their own communities.
We do need development, but it must be sustainable. Tomorrow I will explore what is the sustainability question here, and suggest an alternative economic development that benefits local economies and every single resident.
I will have questions today for the Minister of Environment. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. October 18th to the 26th is designated Teen Driver Safety Week across Canada, and it’s a great time to raise awareness and talk about the reticence that teen drivers might have and hopefully they can improve their skills and awareness and hopefully prevent injury. More importantly, this awareness talks about some of the extra risk-taking behaviour of some of our teens, and hopefully deal with some of the lack of experience they may have as drivers.
For the record, our Graduated Drivers Licence Program in the NWT, administered by the Department of Transportation, is a great program and I believe a lot of these are encompassed within that program. But we should never go too far. We should always look outside the box and look for opportunities for our young people to not only become better drivers but to actually get drivers’ licences themselves.
So keeping this theme in mind, in recent travels to the Sahtu I was able to speak to a number of business community leaders and business leaders, and talked about some of the opportunities our teens, our young people, are having to achieve. One of the comments that came up time and time again is that our teens do not have drivers’ licences. Once they graduate, it’s very difficult for them to find work, because a lot of them show up for jobs without a driver’s licence and they’re turned away. So we started talking about some solutions here, amongst some of these business leaders as well as community leaders, and I talked to some of my colleagues all over the Mackenzie Delta and all the way down to the South Slave. One opportunity showed itself here, and that opportunity would obviously involve the Department of ECE and the Department of Transportation. That is talking about the sponsored driver education training and licensing that we can put in the schools.
These young people are our future and we keep talking about economic opportunities that await them and we talk about all the mineral development infrastructure and everything that we’re doing, but these jobs require, a lot of times, prerequisites such as a driver’s licence. I know many of you out there are thinking well, geez, Daryl, what about the liabilities, the costs, administration. I agree; these are things we need to iron out. But we need to invest in our future; we need to invest in our youth. We have to give them purpose and we have to provide these ladders of opportunity.
Need I remind our Members here, their 17th Assembly Caucus priority is Believing in People and Building on the Strength of Northerners. Teen driver training education and licensing in schools is a very simple step that will have huge benefits. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to carry on from my statement yesterday and address another provision that I feel is lacking in the Residential Tenancies Act. Sections 30(1)(b), 37, 38 and 40 of the act reference the landlord’s responsibility for tenant safety. I agree with my constituents, who believe that the act does not go far enough towards ensuring tenant protection.
Landlords should have to make sure their buildings are safe and secure from crime. This will mean patrolling their parking lots, laundry rooms and hallways on a regular basis. This means educating their tenants about security threats and taking them to task if they allow unsafe practices in their buildings, things such as not escorting guests out of the building or allowing strangers entry into the building. Yellowknife, unfortunately, has a number of examples of lack of safety in this area on which we can draw.
Even if the rental property is a stand-alone dwelling with one tenant, landlords must be held accountable to provide adequate outdoor lighting, motion sensor lighting and working alarm systems. The RCMP should be enlisted to perform security audits and the reports should be shared with tenants. Landlords, in my view, should be held to a higher standard than individual homeowners in regard to safety and security. The act requires a landlord to make premises reasonably secure. I believe this determinant is in the act, but it does not specify how to do that.
Yellowknife has a number of multi-use buildings, particularly in our downtown, and the city is moving towards developing more. We have buildings with commercial space and residential space beside or above that commercial space. Occupied space of commercial spaces do not generally represent a problem, but if the commercial part of the multi-use space is unoccupied, the landlord must do a lot more so that the space and the whole building is adequately secured at all times in order to ensure the safety and the protection of the tenant or tenants. This is a difficult issue to correct.
The Residential Tenancies Act already has clauses which reference landlord responsibility. How much more should be required? Of that I’m not sure, but I do believe some sections or some regulations should be made stronger. So I ask the Minister of Justice to consider this problem, this concern, as he and the department consider amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’ve all been hearing loud and clear about the problems in the city over this past summer. These are problems, destructive problems of violent behaviour that has been reaching and affecting all people from across the city from tip to tip.
When in a civil society did we call this normal? When do we consider this acceptable? I assert to you it is not normal, but the calls of action I think have been over shone by the calls of status quo.
Politicians have been called to lead, but in my view, they seem to rather be led. Politicians are expected to act, but all I hear from our politicians across the way is you’re asking what would others do.
It’s time this government wakes from its deep slumber. There is more going on in this city and there is more going on in this territory with the hopes and dreams of the sugar plums of devolution dancing in their heads.
There are real problems in this territory that are being ignored by the hopes of devolution. A year ago I asked the Health Minister, and he agreed to the idea, about creating a collaborative plan, working with the RCMP and Health. It was an idea I brought to the table. It was an idea about getting social workers to join in partnership with the RCMP on our most active nights down on the streets. It would create a positive relationship, a great contact, sometimes when people need friends most. It would help people to provide guidance of those who are in trouble and in need of a little help. It gave them the opportunity sometimes to find a friend who had no friends.
As I’m sure is no surprise to this Health Minister and to many people in this room, many of those folks who are in the throes of addictions have nowhere to go. Many people on those destructive tailspins end up making choices that change their lives, but seriously affect the lives of many others. So the unacceptable behaviour continues and the slumber goes on.
I read even this morning in the paper, as recently we see that destructive behaviour once again rearing its ugly head as it preyed upon an innocent family at three in the morning and threatened their safety. The people want more foot patrols by the RCMP and you can see they’re responding, but the RCMP cannot do this alone. They need a collaborative partnership with Health.
So, once again, I call upon this sleepy Cabinet and, more specifically, the tired and restless Minister who is doing nothing on this problem to get social workers on our streets and help our people and take back our city. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On October 15th Professor James Anaya with the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples concluded a nine-day visit to Canada. As a Special Rapporteur, Professor Anaya has a mandate from the UN to monitor the human rights condition of Aboriginal peoples worldwide, to address situations in which their rights are being violated, to promote practical solutions to human rights abuses by governments.
In his closing statement, Mr. Anaya said, “From all I have learned, I can only conclude that Canada faces a crisis when it comes to the situation of indigenous people of this country. The well-being gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people in Canada has not narrowed over the past several years, treaty and Aboriginal claims remain persistently unresolved, and overall there appear to be high levels of distrust among Aboriginal peoples toward government at both the federal and provincial levels.”
This is a damning indictment of the government’s treatment of Aboriginal peoples in Canada. When is the Government of Canada going to listen? When are they going to do right by Aboriginal peoples, to recognize not only their fiduciary obligation to deliver programs and services but their moral obligation to improve the lives and living conditions of Aboriginal peoples in Canada?
While I’m glad to see rapporteur Anaya shine a light on the truth on the appalling conditions faced by Aboriginal peoples in Canada, it is unfortunate that he did not come to the North. The last visit of a rapporteur to the NWT took place 13 years ago. What has changed since then?
In 1999 elders figured prominently in addressing the UN Rapporteur Martinez regarding the testimony of treaty-making and promises. Today most of those elders have passed on and those promises are unfulfilled. Elders like Ted Landry of Fort Providence, who is regarded as a Dene political historian, are incredulous about the lack of integrity displayed for the Government of Canada in honouring the treaties it has made. Since the Royal Proclamation of 1763, which marks the first big recognition of Aboriginal rights for the Crown, Aboriginal peoples have struggled to see those rights realized. Here we are 250 years later and we still have unsettled claims in the NWT. Self-government negotiations are underway.
I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
Here we are 250 years later and still we have unsettled claims in the NWT. Self-government negotiations are underway in almost every part of the NWT but only one Aboriginal group, the Tlicho Government, has achieved the goal of governing its own people. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have made my Member’s statement on the hydraulic fracking that potentially is going to happen this year in the Sahtu. The company of ConocoPhillips is going to do two exploration wells. With the recent trip to the Bakken formation and seeing the activity down in North Dakota and southeastern Saskatchewan, it certainly was overwhelming. There you can see the different jurisdictions, the different rules that apply in that area, and so it is like the Wild West, really. Up in the Sahtu we have some provisions and some regulations in place, plus we have some time to do it right and do it responsibly.
I am going to ask the Minister of ITI for getting it right and doing it right and doing it responsibly what are types of things we need to look at between now and when Conoco starts their experimental, exploratory hydraulic fracking this winter, so we know that we’re in control, we’re in the driver’s seat on hydraulic fracking in the Northwest Territories.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My belief is we are on the right track when it comes to getting ready and preparing ourselves. Part of that getting ready has been the fact-finding tour to southeastern Saskatchewan and to North Dakota. Also, last year we had another fact-finding mission to Calgary. I think more of the education component has to be front and centre, especially for community leaders, people in the communities in the Sahtu who are going to be most impacted by development. We also need to continue to work with community governments, leaders in the area. We have to continue to work with industry.
In speaking to industry, the Northwest Territories today has the toughest regulations when it comes to oil and gas, and the development of oil and gas, the exploratory drilling of wells. It’s the most costly and most regulated part of North America, from what I understand. We need to ensure that we continue the dialogue and continue to move forward with the sustainable development of our territory. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, with the technology of hydraulic fracking and understanding that there is a risk to the hydraulic fracking, we saw that in the Bakkens and we’re certainly going to see it in the Northwest Territories.
I want to ask the Minister what types of mechanisms are in place right now to limit, to address some of the risks that potentially could happen. It is no different than the people in NASA when they started out to put a man on the moon. There were risks associated with it. It is no different than what we are doing in the Northwest Territories with hydraulic fracking. How are we going to address these risks that this new technology would bring us prosperity or it could bring us devastation?
