Mr. Speaker, I rise today, on behalf of all members of Cabinet, to once again congratulate and thank all Members of this House. We are grateful for and humbled by your support, and we pledge to work hard, in cooperation with all Members, in the service of all the people and communities of the Northwest Territories.
Each of us elected to this Assembly recognizes that our territory is one of immense potential and that realizing even a share of that potential can mean a vibrant and prosperous future for our people.
Beyond the immediate challenges of housing, infrastructure, the economy and health care, we must identify a path of action by which we can realize our great future.
Our territory is too large, too diverse for one region or people to determine the right path for our territory’s future.
But our territory is also too small to be fragmented by issues that divide us. If we are to move forward, we will need to do it together, building on the good work done by the 16th Assembly.
We know, from experience, that our challenges will be significant, but our collective will to make things better for our people is strong. This Assembly must be the forum in which we find and reach consensus for the good of our territory.
I am encouraged by the goodwill shown by Members and Aboriginal leaders to find better ways of working together. I have spoken with many regional Aboriginal leaders in the past few days to assure them that we are serious about improving our relationships. This will be an important priority of our government.
As the Prime Minister has already indicated, Canada also realized our great potential. This was echoed during my call with the Honourable John Duncan, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, yesterday. The federal government looks forward to continuing to work with us toward our shared objectives for a strong, healthy NWT.
All of our relationships with other governments are important, but our progress will be directly linked to how well we work together in this House.
Mr. Speaker, we have much to do. My first priority is to get our government up and running. Ministerial portfolios will be assigned by the middle of next week.
We look forward to working with all Members to set the strategic priorities for the 17th Legislative Assembly and to working with you over the next four years. I am confident that together we will build the consensus it will take to move our territory forward. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Premier, Mr. Bob McLeod.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to advise Members that the Honourable Tom Beaulieu will be absent from the House today to attend a funeral in Fort Resolution. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Premier. Colleagues, I’d like to welcome Mr. Sam Gargan, former Speaker, former MLA for Deh Cho. Welcome to the House.
---Applause
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to profile an incredible bunch of people and their achievements with limited resources. I will outline some appropriate GNWT responses to this inspiring example.
Some months ago Weledeh constituent and philanthropist Les Rocher made the old Pentecostal Church on 49th Street available to the Yellowknife arts community until the building was to be demolished. With little other support than the exceptional volunteer energy of its membership and access to recycled materials and a wellspring of talent, this amazing group of artists organized concerts, workshops, literature readings, exhibits and musical performances and more, something for almost every weekend for the past six months.
Culminating with a Hell Yeah Halloween Happening and Demolition Ball this weekend, the artist-run community centre has built a glowing reputation for its arts productions and community response.
During the election period the ARCC sponsored an all-candidates forum, which I and other Yellowknife MLAs were privileged to attend. We fielded many questions seemingly all from talented Weledeh constituents. The messages were clear. First, the NWT arts community is vibrant, ready and willing to act with a modicum of support and it is imminently worthy of diverse forms of investment.
Second, GNWT has a significant role to play in researching and facilitating how and in what form an NWT arts centre could come to be.
Third, we need to adopt policies for consistently including the arts in all public facilities.
Fourth, Aurora College should partner with an institution like the Emily Carr University of Art and Design for equivalent northern programs and our talented students.
Mr. Speaker, an arts centre can come about in many ways, but it can also run into difficulties when not based on sound experience and the right model. GNWT needs to work with the NWT arts community to examine models from other jurisdictions and to make recommendations for such a centre for the NWT.
As in other jurisdictions, GNWT should also dedicate at least 1 percent of its office building space to the arts in every community. As a specific recommendation, I would like to see us include an arts demonstration, exhibit and sales space on the ground floor of the GNWT office building being planned for construction where the ARCC now stands.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted.
Just to pick up again on that last specific recommendation, I would like to see us include an arts demonstration, exhibit and sales space on the ground floor of the GNWT office building being planned for construction where the ARCC now stands.
Finally, let’s direct Aurora College to establish an arts program, perhaps in conjunction with the Emily Carr University of Art and Design, during the life of our term. Such activities have a proven record for strengthening our communities' identity and our economy.
Mr. Speaker, I look forward to seeing this done. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want Members and the public to know the basic state of affairs in Deh Cho communities as we start our term in office.
Poor housing is a major problem. There are tremendous needs and they vary from community to community. Almost 42 percent of households in Fort Providence and on the Hay River Reserve are having serious problems with their homes. This is much worse than the Northwest Territories average. Many of these houses are under the control of our government, particularly in Fort Providence, so we should be able to do something about it.
It is worth noting that in Kakisa and Enterprise, where most residents own their own homes, housing problems are close to the territorial average of 32 percent. Even that is a higher number. We have to tackle our housing problems across the Northwest Territories.
The population is rising in most Deh Cho communities, particularly in Enterprise. The population has grown 44 percent since 2001. Only in Fort Providence has there been a slight decline.
So let’s move on to education and jobs. On the Hay River Reserve only 39 percent of residents have completed high school and the number isn’t much better in Fort Providence. Compare that to the Northwest Territories average of almost 70 percent.
In my riding, only Enterprise is close, and the employment rate there is above the Northwest Territories average.
We must educate all our young people, and provide upgrading and training for people who do not complete high school. Where education is failing, many people are without jobs. Only 36 percent of people aged 15 or older are working in Fort Providence. It is 41 percent in Kakisa and 44 percent on the reserve, still not very good. Compare that to 71 percent in the town of Hay River.
We have got to create more jobs in our smaller communities. All the issues I’ve mentioned, among others, are root causes of crime. In my riding, statistics are only available for Fort Providence. The crime rate in my community is double the Northwest Territories, which is itself seven times the national average. We can’t solve these problems overnight, but we have lots of capable people and lots of opportunities. The potential in the forestry industry is largely untapped. We could build log homes and manufacture wood pellets.
Tourism is another sector we should focus on in the entire Deh Cho region, which includes Nahanni National Park. Tourists spend about $1.7 million a year. There are only nine licensed tourism operators. By comparison, there are 16 in the Sahtu.
I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted.
In my riding we have Great Slave Lake. We have great rivers and spectacular waterfalls. We will have the new Deh Cho Bridge. Highway traffic is expected to increase over the next five years. We have people with strong skills in traditional crafts and art who can both produce goods and teach. I look forward to making progress in all these areas.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Today I just want to speak a bit about health care in my riding. It was an issue that was brought to my attention as I campaigned. People in my riding are losing confidence in the delivery of health care. I would like to urge our government to help work with me to restore the confidence of the people in the health care system.
There were several instances over the past six months that people really questioned what happened. Great credit goes out to the staff on the front lines, but still people really want to believe that their needs are being taken care of. In the December sitting I will further detail those needs, but I just wanted to let the government know, the new Minister of Health, whoever that may be, that will be one of my primary objectives as I move along here representing my people of Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. At this time I would like to thank Mr. David Krutko, former MLA for the Mackenzie Delta, who has served 16 years as our MLA in the Mackenzie Delta.
I’d also like to take this time to reassure the constituents of the Mackenzie Delta that I am working on the important issues that we are faced with in our communities.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. The Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. During the election campaign, going door to door talking with my constituents, one particular concern came up again and again. They expressed their desire for this government to provide assistance to solve that concern.
I speak, of course, about the extreme and urgent water and sewer infrastructure situation in the Northland Mobile Home Park in my riding. Concern was expressed to me by park residents but also by many other Frame Lake constituents. This is a problem that all Yellowknifers are concerned about and a problem that Yellowknifers expect the GNWT to help with.
Community government is firmly onside to help the residents of Northland. The City of Yellowknife has provided in-kind assistance to the park for at least 10 years. By recent city council motion they have committed to continue that assistance and to try to find financing for the infrastructure replacement project.
This government, on the other hand, has refused to provide any assistance to the park residents or the city, apart from a brief mention of support for the project in two letters to the Minister of Infrastructure for Canada. The GNWT has refused to accept any responsibility for the current plight of the Condo Corporation No. 8, even though I feel they should bear at least some moral responsibility.
Recently the City of Yellowknife, acting on behalf of the condo corporation board, wrote to the GNWT with a proposal; a proposal for a no-interest loan from the GNWT to the City of Yellowknife, a loan which would significantly reduce the repayment costs to the residents. The cost of interest over 35 years is about $13 million, almost the same as the cost of the project. The monthly repayment costs, if they include interest, are out of the reach of most park residents. Eliminate the interest, and the monthly condo payments are reduced to an amount that condo corp residents can afford to pay.
The Premier, in his remarks Wednesday, stated that the GNWT could provide a loan guarantee. That won’t do it. It won’t reduce the repayment costs to the point where it is affordable for residents.
We’re not giving money away here. The proposal is for a loan, not a grant. The cost to this government on an annual basis is minimal, but to my constituents, with their limited budgets, it’s huge.
The trailer park is home to about 1,100 residents, over 2 percent of the population of the NWT. Were it a stand-alone community it would be the seventh largest community in the NWT. It’s time for this government to do the right thing: to provide the help my constituents need.
I will have questions for the Premier at the appropriate time. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Also during my campaign tour in the Sahtu region I spoke to many people in Fort Good Hope, and actually spent extra time there because of the amount of related cancer deaths in Fort Good Hope. When I left, there were people that were being diagnosed. As of yesterday, somebody else was diagnosed with cancer in Fort Good Hope. That’s about eight people. About nine people died in Fort Good Hope of cancer.
People are afraid of the water they are drinking. People are afraid of the water quality in the Mackenzie River and eating the fish that they have every winter, every fall and summer. People are scared because there were old federal government buildings that were condemned because of asbestos and people working in those buildings at a time when they were taken down and they weren’t using proper safety precautions. There are a lot of questions in Fort Good Hope. Why are there so many deaths related to cancer?
We need to give the people in Fort Good Hope, and any other community, some answers. Some time ago they did a study in Aklavik on the cancer. That study stopped. There is research for circumpolar on cancer. The Dene Nation has done some surveys. There are some groups out there that need to be supported and funded to bring the answers to my people.
When I was in Good Hope, not a very good picture to see a loved one die with children around them looking at their father on the bed and dying. We need to get some answers from this government. Whoever the Health Minister is, I’m going to hold them to account, that the people in my region need not suffer anymore, and to get down to the bottom of why people are getting cancer so much in Good Hope. Is it the water? Is it the federal government building that’s condemned? Is it the water in the Mackenzie River? We need to help each other and stop dying. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the Premier and the Executive Council members on officially being sworn in on October 27, 2011.
I would also like to congratulate you, Mr. Speaker, on being elected as the first-ever Inuvialuit Speaker in the Legislative Assembly.
I would like to take this time to thank the Honourable Mr. Miltenberger and Deputy Speaker Mrs. Groenewegen on being elected to their fifth terms in the Legislative Assembly. Their wisdom, knowledge and leadership will be a benefit to us new Members, coined the Fab-Five, over the next four years.
I would also like to congratulate the Honourable Mr. Tom Beaulieu on his Cabinet position and becoming the first-ever acclaimed MLA for Tu Nedhe.
In the brief time that I’ve been an MLA and being here in the Legislative Assembly, I have witnessed a lot of history and some change within the 17th Legislative Assembly. Proof is with the meeting that we had with the Aboriginal governments prior to the selection of the Territorial Leadership Committee.
I am confident that the Members of the Legislative Assembly, the Executive Council, with support and direction from our Premier, will continue to make history and make change that will benefit the people of the Northwest Territories.
I would also like to give a special thank you to all the staff of the Legislative Assembly, who have committed long hours and endless support to make the transition for us new Members a comfortable one and with our new jobs and our new roles. As stated yesterday, I look forward to working with all Members and staff to carry out our jobs in the best interests of people in the Northwest Territories. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I indicated yesterday, I look forward to working with my fellow Members in the Legislative Assembly. As the government moves forward, we also need to look back and thank some of the people that have been here before.
It’s been a privilege to replace the Honourable Paul Delorey as the representative for Hay River North. Mr. Delorey was first elected in the 14th Assembly in 1999 and he has served three terms, a total of 12 years, for Hay River. During the 15th and 16th Assembly Mr. Delorey sat as the Speaker of this House. He has represented Hay River in the Northwest Territories very well.
I am using today’s Member’s statement to thank him for his hard work and I wish him well in his future endeavours. I know Mr. Delorey will continue to represent Hay River. He has already committed to helping junior curling in Hay River. I am sure he will be working on his own to-do lists, and I would like, also, to thank his wife and his family for their commitments during his time served.
As a new MLA, I will be using him as a source of information and direction. Good luck, Mr. Delorey, and thank you very much.
The Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to speak a little bit about consensus government, which always seems to come into sharper focus around election time.
I believe that we do not have to make a choice between consensus government or party politics. Sometimes if we find the things that we don’t like about consensus government, we think the only alternative is party politics. I don’t agree with that, but we have a consensus government that can be improved upon and can become more consensus.
The Cabinet that we have selected and have now been sworn in are the front line as we advance on tackling the issues and the challenges facing the Northwest Territories. I would like to see us as the Regular Members being that next line behind them, like a rear guard to support them in their role and to help in more ways than what we have in the past.
I spoke with the Premier, Mr. McLeod, when we walked into the Assembly the other day. We come in here as 19 Members. We’re all equally qualified to take on any of these roles. Some have more experience, they’re from different regions, have different backgrounds and perspectives, and that’s why we choose people to take on various areas of leadership within this group of 19. But I think there’s more opportunity for the Cabinet Ministers and even yourself, Mr. Speaker, to turn to the Regular Members on this side of the House to assist you in doing the duties of a Cabinet Minister.
Oftentimes it’s a hectic and busy time. There are functions to attend, there are conferences to speak at, there are all kinds of activities, and in this next four years going forward I would like to see this Cabinet consider the skills and experience and talents on this side of the House and allow us to help you in the performing of your duties both in formal and informal ways.
Mr. Speaker, during the last few days we’ve heard from people on the matter of consensus government. We read an editorial in the paper from a long-time news person, Mr. Jack Sigvaldson. We saw an interesting letter from Lois Little. We saw interesting commentary being put forward by Charles Furlong. These are all, I think, comments and expressions of interest, in how our government is run, by the public that we need to take seriously and we need to listen to, because I don’t think that the way we do things now…
Mrs. Groenewegen, you have now exceeded your time for your Member’s statement.
Mr. Speaker, could I please seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement?
---Unanimous consent granted.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, colleagues. Consensus is not clearly defined in the NWT Act. There is room for improvement. We have discretion, and we have the latitude to change the way we do things and to improve them, and I look forward to working with Members of this House to accomplish that in the next four years. Thank you.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The other day we’d heard from Mr. Miltenberger that there was a report coming forward to this particular Cabinet regarding recommendations for addictions. I’d like this government to be known as a government that took action on the addictions problem.
Before the Premier hands out the portfolios, I’d like him to seriously consider giving whoever takes the Department of Health and Social Services a clear and precise mandate that they must finally take up arms and deal with the addictions problems.
I don’t need to lecture this House about how closely homelessness is related to addictions, but I’ll tell you that they are interrelated in a way that affects poverty, that affects employment, that hurts people in the sense that they may lose their jobs, it may lead to crime, it has serious impacts on family. The list is endless.
The attitude of the past government has been that there are one or two places to serve or deal with addictions problems. I will tell you that we have very little results to show from it that we’ve proven anything that we’ve done it right.
Stanton is not a treatment facility for addictions. With all great respect, Nats’ejee K’eh is not a treatment centre for dealing with crack or meth. We must take up arms against this cause. Even if we only move this file inches forward, we must never surrender to these types of demons, because they are stealing the souls of good people and they are destroying the lives of families.
As I understand it, as I said, this issue will be coming to the Cabinet table. If this Cabinet wants to do something on this particular file, they can. They need to have a clear instruction from the Premier and a mandate to do so. They will have my support if they wish to do this, but I wish they not sit on their particular hands as they have in the past.
Finally, the downtown has a day shelter, and it was meant to help people who have homeless problems and to give them somewhere to go during the day. Critical to that function is it gives them some options of what to do next. We need to look at building interrelationships with other NGOs, but how to fight the (a) homeless problem, but (b) also give people options for their particular addictions. This government should not, and I hope will not, lose their partnership that they have with the City of Yellowknife, BHP and, of course, the Department of Health. It would be a sorry state of affairs if we did nothing yet another term on the fight against addictions.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize Mr. Grant Hood, who is the SAO for the Town of Inuvik and a constituent of Inuvik Twin Lakes. Welcome.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you so much, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize Dehcho Grand Chief Sam Gargan in the gallery, as well as a former resident of Fort Simpson Mr. Denezeh Nakehko. Welcome.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize two members of the Enterprise Hamlet Council: Mr. Craig McMaster and Mr. Dean Maher. Hopefully I got their names right.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.
