Good afternoon, colleagues. I’d like to draw your attention to the presence of the House Honourary Clerk and Table Officer, former Commissioner, former Speaker, former Minister, former Member, former Sergeant-at-Arms, Honourary Captain of the Royal Canadian Navy, Mr. Anthony W.J. Whitford.
---Applause
It’s always good to have Mr. Whitford back in the House with us as a Table Officer working with us. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment continues improving its programming to ensure adult learners have the tools they require for fulfilled, prosperous lives.
The department has been developing a process for adults to receive their high school diploma, called the Adult Recognition Model. Through the Adult Recognition Model, adults enrolled in Adult Literacy and Basic Education programs may receive high school credits for a combination of academic course work and knowledge or skills they have gained through life experience.
They work through the Prior Learning and Assessment Recognition method, by developing a portfolio of formal and informal learning to demonstrate the skills, knowledge and abilities they have already acquired.
This process also includes a link between the K to 12 school curricula and the adult literacy and basic education curricula. Adult students will now have an easier transition between high school and adult
education. They’ll have recognition of their academic achievement and prior learning.
We have already implemented this model in Fort Smith and Yellowknife, with plans to expand to Inuvik.
This great work has taken several years to accomplish and is recognized by the Nunavut government as a best practice they would like to adopt. We recently entered into an agreement with them to share resources from our Adult Literacy and Basic Education program, including the new ARM process for recognizing a student’s life experiences in calculating high-school credits. This agreement allows Nunavut to use all of our adult literacy and basic education curriculum and resources, providing a foundation for their own curriculum development.
Mr. Speaker, learning comes in many forms and occurs through all aspects of our lives. We learn at our jobs, from our peers, our families and elders. This new approach helps learners connect education to other aspects of their lives and gain a greater appreciation of their strengths and skills.
One of our greatest resources is our people, and we must provide them with the tools to realize their potential. These new tools give them the opportunity to earn recognition on their paths to leading prosperous lives. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to advise Members that the Honourable Tom Beaulieu will be absent from the House today to attend to a personal matter. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I have to give praise when praise is due. This year I’m pleased to say that the Department of Transportation was able to maintain Highway No. 7 in a very drivable condition. Luckily, because we had a dry summer, road conditions did not deteriorate as much as in previous years. As a result, the region experienced an increase in tourism.
Highway No. 7 is the route to some of the Deh Cho’s most spectacular attractions, with mountain views and plenty of wildlife to be seen along the way. Tourists on Highway No. 7 can stop to fish for pike, pickerel, or grayling, have a picnic, or visit scenic Fort Liard and purchase unique Dene crafts such as birchbark baskets. Blackstone Territorial Park is on Highway No. 7 and is the entry point for rafts, canoes and kayaks on the river system, as well as people coming out of the famous Nahanni National Park Reserve.
I am pleased that more visitors were able to access these attractions on Highway No. 7 and very pleased with the attention that the Department of Transportation paid to this important road in my riding. But as I said, it was an exceptional year and we still need more improvements on Highway No. 7.
The first 20 kilometres of Highway No. 7, from the British Columbia border towards Fort Liard, should be chipsealed. This project would stimulate the regional economy by providing lower costs, and safe and reliable transportation infrastructure. Chipsealing would provide a firm road not only for residents and tourists but also for industrial users such as the planned Canadian Zinc Mine in the Deh Cho region, Nahendeh region.
Later today I will have questions for the Minister of Transportation on chipsealing the first 20 kilometres of Highway No. 7.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to congratulate the new Hay River Metis Government Council. My colleague Mrs. Groenewegen and I would like to thank the newly elected council: President Wally Schumann, Vice-President Trevor Beck, treasurer-secretary Jacqueline Carriere, director Heather Lynn Jones-Hubert, director Rhonda Plamondon, director Connie Belanger, director Karen Lafferty, and director Tanner Froehlich.
We look forward to working with this newly elected Hay River Metis Council, and look forward to seeing their many activities and exciting projects they have on the go.
Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my two-part miniseries on the GNWT’s poor performance of its WSCC Safe Advantage program, its last year’s doubling of penalties totalling over $500,000, and its continued skyrocketing claims cost, it is only befitting that yet again we ask the question: Is NWT business subsidizing our government’s poor ratings and costs to WSCC?
What started yesterday as a hypothesis in design, slowly unfolded into a series of blundering questions and replies surrounding the GNWT’s recent WSCC double penalties and out-of-control claims costs experience. In fact, since yesterday I have been showered with e-mails from businesses from across the territory asking basic questions. Why did my rates go from 50 cents in 2000 to now $1.95 per $100, a 290 percent increase over 13 years? Why am I paying thousands of dollars every year and I had only one claim of $500 in the past five years? Why do they say premiums I pay are based on my claims experience, yet I have not submitted one claim in my eight years of being a business owner, yet I am being assessed at a ridiculous increase this year? This is what the economic engine of our territory is saying and we cannot ignore their pleas.
Furthermore, as I review the transcripts from yesterday, the Minister of Human Resources went on to say on record, in reference to the WSCC Safe Advantage program, “Our concern is with the actual administration of the program.” This Minister further elaborated that these concerns were brought and shared with the WSCC, and that the GNWT expected an opportunity to provide input so the GNWT’s views could be addressed, and we were informed that the WSCC would comply. I’m sorry; do other businesses that are in the double-penalty situation have the luxury of doing exactly that? Can business question the clearly established Safe Advantage two-part questionnaire? The answer is no, they cannot. They don’t have the luxury of questioning those fines, penalties, or attempt to manipulate this program. What gives the GNWT this unfair advantage over regular, hardworking business owners? The answer is it shouldn’t.
The clearly cash-strapped WSCC may very well be a victim of a downward trend in the investment market and they maybe have dished out more rewards than they’ve collected in penalties; however, did they collect the appropriate amount of payroll fees from their largest client who appears to be showing non-exemplary demeanour in claims growth and safety programs, and has an apparent ability to question the means test that they themselves agreed to be measured with? This, I am sure, is a question in the minds of many business owners.
With that, I will be asking the Minister responsible for the Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission later today these very questions.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It gives me great pleasure today to celebrate the launching of the Aboriginal Head Start child-centred curriculum. I visited the Aboriginal Head Start Centre in Ndilo last week and spent some time with Reanna Erasmus, chair of the Western Arctic Aboriginal Head Start Council. Reanna is very excited and proud of this Aboriginal Head Start curriculum, and rightly so. It is history in the making.
Aboriginal Head Start is an early intervention program for Aboriginal children and their families. It was introduced in 1995 to enhance child development for Aboriginal children. There are eight Aboriginal Head Start programs in the NWT: Fort McPherson, Fort Providence, Fort Smith, Hay River, Inuvik, Paulatuk, Behchoko and Ndilo.
The Western Arctic Aboriginal Head Start Council was established in 1998, and in 2009 the council began the process of creating a made-in-the-North Aboriginal Head Start curriculum. They realized that having such a curriculum would make it easier to deliver better quality programs. It would create a framework for staff that would provide consistent programming across the eight centres, and be a guide for new staff to follow. The council also recognized one of the most important features of early childhood curriculums: that children learn through play.
On October 16, 2012, the first edition of Aboriginal Head Start child-centred curriculum was launched in Ndilo. This curriculum is the result of more than a decade of research and development, with researchers, people at the community level, the GNWT and the federal government. The curriculum is designed to allow each Aboriginal Head Start site to build its own program through six components: Aboriginal culture and language, education and school readiness, parental and family involvement, health promotion, nutrition, and social support.
This first edition pilot curriculum is intended to be a model for other Aboriginal Head Start programs across Canada, and the plan is to market the curriculum to raise funds to develop a teacher’s guide for this curriculum. The curriculum is already getting attention across North America. It is a product made in the North, by Northerners, for Northerners to help meet the needs of NWT children.
Congratulations to the Western Arctic Aboriginal Head Start Council on this achievement. Thank you to them for your vision and initiative to produce this valuable educational resource.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Unfortunately, the ever-increasing degree and frequency of impact of federal actions on our territorial interests, and the lack of consultation and respect for our needs requires equally frequent response. Federal trade negotiations which damage our ability to protect our economy are another example of federal disregard for hearing and addressing our concerns.
A specific example is the recently revealed Canada-China Trade Agreement. It provides China with the right to claim damages against any level of government in Canada for decisions and laws that result in a reduction of their “expectation of profits.” Claims proceedings will be held in secret and if negotiations fail, an arbitration board will decide. Their decisions will be secret and not subject to judicial review.
For example, when any requirements are set under socio-economic agreements for NWT employment, purchasing, training, even environmental conditions on developments such as a form of carbon pricing applied under NWT policy, Canadian policy or Tlicho policy could be construed as affecting expectation of profits. How could the federal government be looking out for our interests and ink such a deal?
On a broader front, we have the ongoing Canada-European Union Free Trade Agreement, or CETA, negotiations, as yet still largely secret. A deal there could be signed before the end of the year. Drug policy changes that Europe apparently seeks would increase already high drug costs in Canada by controlling use of generics. Drinking water, sanitation services, transit, health care, energy, public education and health care, currently largely government services, are all treated as commodities under CETA. New procurement rules could limit our socio-economic benefits powers.
These interests are critical to our people and, just as with Bills C-38 and 45, the federal government operates in flagrant disregard of our interests. We may not be able to stop them, but we owe it to our public to break the silence or, in the worst case, our support. Thank goodness for leaders such as the Quebec government which showed the power of example when it took the blinders off the CETA process and invited input from across its society and economy.
I will have questions for the Premier and Minister of Intergovernmental Relations on this further example of federal sell-off of territorial interests and how we will make our concerns known to the federal government. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I had the opportunity to look at a media transcript of an interview that I did with respect to the Inuvik-Tuk highway. Just so that it isn’t only the sensational clip of saying maybe it is 50 percent off, the fact that the road is on sale, 50 percent off isn’t a good reason to buy it. Maybe I should make that a little more fulsome explanation on where I stand with this project.
We are inching closer to the information that we need to proceed with a project such as the magnitude of building a road between Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk. Our government is doing the preliminary work. We are doing the feasibility in the sense of the geotechnical. We have been investing in that. When we have collected all of the information, we will go back to the federal government with that information. We will then have that discussion with them.
The federal government has alluded to financial commitments to participate in the construction of this project because it is something they support. Who can argue with nation building and coast-to-coast ability for people to access the Beaufort-Delta, the Arctic in this way? You cannot argue with that. But we as a government, in terms of our contributions, still need to have a fulsome discussion of the pros and cons.
Is this a project that we can afford, not only for the initial capital expenditure but the ongoing operations and maintenance of a road of this size and in this location? These are all questions that we have to ask ourselves and we have to cost out.
There has been reference made to the fact that this would be a tremendous boom to an economy that is something right now in the Beaufort-Delta. That is a very valid argument. I am completely empathetic with that situation. Maybe there are other ways this government can help support that region, as well, without a 200 to 300 million dollar highway if that turns out not to be the way we are going to go. Quite apart from the highway, we should be looking at ways to help all of the regions find things that can be done in their area to boost their economy.
There are many questions. We need to have that debate. We need not to take extreme positions, but it is our job, as the keepers of the public purse to, when we are going to spend money, ask all of the questions and have an absolutely fulsome discussion of those questions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When I first came into the session here, a lot of my colleagues gave a lot of congratulations to mayors and councillors that had been elected in their ridings or throughout the Northwest Territories. Today I would like to take the opportunity to congratulate the mayor and council for the official swearing-in ceremonies last night in the community of Inuvik.
With that said, I would also like to take a few seconds here to congratulate and thank the former mayor, Mr. Denny Rodgers, for his strong leadership, his strong advocacy for the community of Inuvik and the residents, as well as being a strong supporter of the Children First Society. He went above and beyond some of the duties of a mayor, and he did it with a lot of great work in the community and is also a good mentor in terms of some of the leadership in the community, as well, with his councillors.
I would like to congratulate former Premier and newly elected mayor of Inuvik, Mr. Floyd Roland, and all the other eight councillors. I look forward to working with all of them. It’s a good mixture of returning members as well as new members on council, and I know over the next three years we’re going to have a strong community with some strong leadership and some very strong advocacy for territorial initiatives and priorities of the 17th Legislative Assembly, such as the Inuvik-Tuk highway and the fibre optic link. Moving forward, I think as leadership in the Beaufort-Delta, we will have a really good group of people working there. I congratulate the mayor and councillors for their official swearing-in ceremony last night in the community. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to offer special recognition to the Minister of Education today. We completed yet another capital with nary a dollar to plan for a stand-alone campus in Yellowknife for Aurora College.
Not only is there no money for this project, there is no timeline. The Minister seems content with the perpetual rental of the college at its current location. I can remember when this was a short-term solution because we were going to build a real campus. There was some real excitement and energy behind that prospects of where we were going next with northern education at the post-secondary level. However, since then, various Members have raised the topic more than 30 times, by my count by going through various copies of Hansard and documents, Mr. Speaker. More than 30 times Members have been promised discussions, plans, partners, and more discussions with results in due time. It seems to be a new kind of time; perhaps the 12th of never, or maybe after that. So I’m not sure if this will ever come to pass.
I believe the college’s Board of Governors are as equally frustrated as I am, if ideals of expressing and delivering further enthusiasm on northern post-secondary education continues to be met with stony silence and clear, firm inaction.
The years have gone by. There have been at least two Aboriginal groups who have expressed partnership opportunities to work with Aurora College to help build a stand-alone campus in Yellowknife. There are real groups with real opportunity and enthusiasm to be our partners, but apparently no deal has ever come to fruition, nothing has ever really been explored, we’ve heard nothing and our partner potential fades away.
The only thing that’s ever been built so far are the false hopes for students, staff and the general public, who expect us to help work toward developing a northern university. Again, nothing that will come to pass. Instead, Aurora College seems to be forever in limbo as the Education Minister sets new records on ignoring this issue.
The future of Aurora College in Yellowknife is akin to something like swimming in quicksand: the harder they struggle to reach their dreams, the deeper in disappointment they sink. If this Minister does not care nor ever want to do anything on this initiative, I call upon his honourable credentials and say be honest with northern students and the northern people that you are not going to do anything. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As residents of the Northwest Territories, we often take our abundant sources of high-quality fresh water for granted. Every year the Government of the Northwest Territories makes water and sewer contributions to the communities to operate standardized water and sewer services for all residents. Compared to people in many parts of the world, we are blessed, but I want to ensure we are getting the best value for money.
Enterprise and Kakisa, two communities in my riding, get their water from Hay River. The water is drawn from Great Slave Lake, treated at Hay River’s water treatment plant and then trucked 40 kilometres to Enterprise and 140 kilometres to Kakisa by a private contractor. Enterprise bills users on a set rate. Kakisa, due to its small population, does not bill individual users for water. Hay River is responsible for the operations and maintenance and replacement of the water treatment plant.
Enterprise reported a little over $200,000 in water and sewer expenses last year, and trucking water generated close to $60,000 in revenue for the community. Kakisa paid about $170,000 for water and sewer. MACA is proposing an increase in water and sewer funding to these communities this year, but last year’s funding fell short of the communities’ expenses for 2012.
Both communities want to provide water to their residents independently. The Northwest Territories has some of the finest and most abundant sources of water in the world, yet this government seems to think it makes better economic sense to burn diesel fuel to haul water down a long, dusty highway. Private industry uses basic water treatment technology to serve work sites with a higher population than Kakisa, yet we are told a water treatment plant would cost roughly $2.2 million, plus ongoing costs for operation and maintenance.
We understand governments are under pressure to adhere to national drinking water quality guidelines. We are all familiar with the horror stories of Walkerton and the terrible water quality problems on reserves down south. We know we need to provide water to our communities at a higher standard of quality. At the same time, it is disappointing that a small community like Kakisa cannot even provide water to its homes and buildings. Just as there must be a simpler, less-expensive way to provide power than diesel, there must be a simpler, less-expensive way to provide water to this community.
I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
If you want to achieve real changes to the cost of living in our northern communities, we need to look at local solutions and develop unique approaches to the needs of our communities.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It gives me great pleasure again to welcome Jeff Corradetti to the House. Welcome, Jeff. You’re making a habit of this.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The legal consequences of the China-Canada Trade Agreement will be irreversible by any Canadian court or others for 31 years after the treaty is given effect. To sue a Chinese company requires only a minority share in a Canadian asset, and they’ll be able to challenge Canadian federal, territorial, provincial, et cetera, decisions outside of the Canadian legal system and Canadian courts. Our ability to ensure local benefits under socio-economic agreements or set out environmental conditions that diminish profits is questionable.
My question is for the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations. I’d like to ask what input we have had to these agreements. I am assuming this is a concern of the government and have we strenuously objected to those provisions.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The question the Member is asking is very timely, considering we have just returned from a recent Council of Federation visit to China and noted the considerable interest in investing in Canada by the Chinese and vice versa. I can assure the Member that the CETA that he is referring to is not a trade agreement, but rather a bilateral agreement with China that will provide for reciprocity and protect investors that invest in China.
I appreciate the Minister’s comments. I wish they were relevant to my question.
I guess I would ask him again, national health spending on pharmaceuticals increased about $7 billion between 2005 and 2010. Under the CETA proposed provisions, costs would increase a further 22 percent. Our Ministers have told us these are significant proportions of our costs. We can’t be silent on this.
Will the Premier vigorously communicate to the federal government the negative consequences of such an agreement to our interests and ask that the drug provisions not be allowed, or has he done that already?
I’d like to answer his question but he keeps changing his question. I think now that he’s asking questions about the European Trade Agreement, we are participating in those negotiations and we are providing our input into those discussions.
Some people, obviously, would call this agreement with China selling out the farm. Obviously, from our recent visit to China that the Premier mentioned, there is no lack of interest. I don’t see the need to sell the farm in order to generate business with China.
In terms of the European Trade Agreement, other provisions would also limit territorial and provincial jurisdictions’ abilities to legislate local purchasing preference, exactly what our BIP, for example, was created to achieve. These were enabled under the NAFTA provisions to protect these provisions.
Has the Premier written, or will he write to the Prime Minister and state this government’s strong opposition to the creation of any such restrictions under a new European Trade Agreement?
There are 24 FEPAs, as we call it, that are in place or underway. There are no negotiations with regard to the bilateral agreement between Canada and China. It’s been negotiated, it’s been agreed to so that there is reciprocity between both countries and the investments made by Canadians in China would be protected. It is going forward for approval and we are waiting to see what happens there, because it will provide benefits for investors both into Canada and by Canadians into China.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I assume from the responses so far that, in fact, we have had no input to that agreement with China, that bilateral agreement. The Quebec government has invited comments from its citizens to add the public voice to its opposition or input. This government has announced its intention to consult the public on a new economic development strategy.
Will the Premier ensure that any consultation on new Cabinet policy invites our citizens to state their views on the need for local preference policies, and in the meantime express our concerns to the federal government over the potential loss of this power?
A large part of the rationale for engaging in all of these different free trade agreements is to reduce our reliance on trade with the United States. We need to broaden our trade with other countries. We are doing so. We are consulting. We did meet with the NWT Association of Communities and presented to them the discussions we were having on CETA. As part of the development of a new economic strategy, we will make sure that we seek all input.
