Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wanted to quickly rise today and make note regarding yesterday’s debate. When you interjected yesterday, I should have sat down and not commented further, a rule I know, and know well.
I wanted to take this chance because I’d reflected upon it yesterday afternoon, approached you last night to talk you about my error and I wanted to make note on the official record. I want to thank you for your guidance and your ear last night on this particular issue and I appreciate your leadership in the House. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. NWT artisans and filmmakers make a positive economic and cultural impact on our territory and today I would like to highlight some initiatives to support and grow the arts, crafts and film sectors.
Through the office of the film commissioner, the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment has been working closely with the NWT film industry over the past year. Last year the GNWT met with film and media arts representatives for a review of the territorial film industry. They identified the need for a fully interactive and information rich website to promote filming and film industry services here in the NWT.
ITI has now developed this website in collaboration with the newly formed NWT Professional Media Association. I am pleased to say the finishing touches are being put on the site, so to speak, and we are planning its launch in the next few weeks. This site will be a go-to resource for the film
industry, both inside and outside of the Northwest Territories.
Not only will it promote the NWT as a filming destination and provide production companies with information on filming here, it will also promote the local film and media arts industries by showcasing their credentials through a film suppliers guide. This guide also contains listings of local businesses that provide specific areas of expertise, products and services to assist film productions on location here in the NWT.
Local filmmakers can also check the site for information or other resources such as funding programs.
We know better than anyone that there are talented filmmakers at work throughout the Northwest Territories. I would like to take this opportunity to recognize and congratulate Mr. Andrew Silke, who’s short film, “Amelia,” was selected to screen at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival in France. Everyone in the cast and crew was from the Northwest Territories and production was filmed here.
---Applause
Providing support to the arts and the film industry is a joint effort between ITI and the Department of Education, Culture and Employment. ITI provides support for NWT businesses, including those involved in film production through its Support to Entrepreneurs and Economic Development Policy. I’m pleased to say that the department funded a significant portion of Mr. Silke’s travel costs to attend the Cannes Film Festival where he is today. ECE provides support to the film industry through the NWT Arts Council and northern film and media arts contributions programs and also made a funding contribution to support this project.
The last time this Assembly met in February, I committed to reviewing the idea of developing a diamond jewellery skills program for local artists. ITI is looking into options for developing a jewellery workshop or something very similar to that. The workshop would be built upon local artistic talents and provide a new skill set for NWT artists who are interested in using raw and processed materials in the NWT.
It could also help to raise the profile of locally made jewellery products. Focusing on small-scale opportunities to support the local arts sector is an important element to support this sector.
ITI invests nearly $1 million annually into the arts and crafts sector. Of this amount, approximately $600,000 is under the Support for Entrepreneurs and Economic Development Policy. Through the policy, funds are distributed to over 150 artists and community groups hosting art festivals throughout the NWT. The remaining funds are geared towards promoting and supporting NWT artists in various ways through the NWT artists database, the Arts Branding Logo Program, community workshops and other arts promotions.
Mr. Speaker, we all want an economy that is diversified and provides all communities and regions with opportunities and choices. Supporting programming for the NWT film industry and the arts and crafts sector is one way to maximize opportunities and support economic diversification of the NWT, a key goal of this Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I’m pleased to advise this House that a ceremony was held today to celebrate the tremendous contributions that people across the territory have made to education.
The Department of Education, Culture and Employment allows the Education Hall of Fame to recognize that we all play an important role supporting the education of our children. It reflects the valuable contributions that educators, volunteers, board members, administrators and other community members make.
Mr. Speaker, for this year’s celebration, nominations poured in from every region and seven people were chosen from across the territory. The 2012 inductees embody the commitment, diligence, creativity and passion that we want education to inspire in us all.
The first inductee is Helen Kitekudlak from Ulukhaktok. She began teaching over 40 years ago as a teenager. She believes in making a positive and lasting impression on her students and in working with each student’s strength to help them learn.
Ms. Betty Barnaby from Fort Good Hope recently received her Bachelor of Education degree from Aurora College. Throughout her 20-year career, she has always believed in the power of education and instils that belief in her community.
Ms. Margaret Thom of Fort Providence has spent more than 20 years as a school community counsellor, teaching students and staff traditional values at Deh Gah School.
Mr. Kevin Atoniak of Fort Smith spent 30 years as an instructor for Aurora College’s Environment and Natural Resources Technology Program. His efforts have seen approximately 200 graduates and have provided the Department of Environment and Natural Resources with 20 percent of its entire workforce.
Ms. Chris Baron from Behchoko has spent 25 years teaching kindergarten to Grade 5 in the Tlicho region. A strong advocate for literacy, she strives to teach every child to be the best that they can be and to appreciate their own cultural identity.
Mrs. Angela James of Yellowknife began her teaching career more than 20 years ago, holding positions as teacher, principal and now director of early childhood and school services and has been a driving force for Dene culture in education throughout her career.
Throughout his 24-year career, Dr. Curtis Brown has been a strong advocate for alternative programming and expanded opportunities for students. His efforts while serving as principal at Chief Jimmy Bruneau School received national attention and the school was heralded as “the school where students are dropping back in.”
Of these distinguished people, some are with us today in the gallery.
Mr. Speaker, this is our third group of inductees into the Education Hall of Fame. They are truly passionate people who inspire us to do more, be better and believe in ourselves.
Building on the strengths of Northerners is one of the goals of this Assembly and I hope all Members of this Assembly will join me in honouring the inductees into the Education Hall of Fame and thank them for dedicating their life’s work to the students of the Northwest Territories. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Deputy Premier, Mr. Lafferty.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to advise Members that the Honourable Robert C. McLeod will be absent from the House for a portion of today’s proceedings to participate in a multilateral conference call regarding the long-term plan for public infrastructure. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When I got elected into the House here and during my campaign I told everybody that I would bring each and every issue to this table, whether it was personal, whether it was government, to get the right and appropriate answers that needed to be addressed.
For the last two months I’ve been dealing with a certain individual in Inuvik who has been having problems with this government, who was actually employed by this government at one time as a contractor. Last week we heard a lot of questions and concerns in regard to contracting and this one takes the cake.
We had a local contractor in Inuvik who just recently lost a contract to a southern company through the BIP process, the Business Incentive Policy. He is now unemployed. All his staff are unemployed.
Now he’s looking to find answers. He’s not looking for retribution. He wants answers. He wants answers on how he as a local contractor can lose the contract to a southern company when in fact this government had called him during the process and told him that he had won the contract, only to find out a few days later that he had in fact lost it. It was confusing to him. He didn’t know what was going on. He found out that he lost it during the BIP process and the awarding of that.
This government needs to be more transparent, something that it preaches a lot, and it needs to be fairer, something that it preaches on a daily basis. I’m not seeing this happen.
Over the last two months I’ve been really working to try to find answers for this contractor in Inuvik who is also a very good volunteer not only for Inuvik but for the Northwest Territories. While I was asking questions, I got moved from one department to another department, only to go to a third department who told me to go back to the first department, second. It was a very long process and was very confusing for myself, which made it more confusing for this individual.
Myself and this individual are going to work really hard to make sure that we do find the answers to this situation and how a local contractor, a person who’s going to get an award from this government for the good work that he does throughout the Northwest Territories. This is not over. We’ll take this as far as we need to take it to find the answers that we need so that other small contractors throughout the North don’t go through the same process.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’re all very proud of our NWT artisans; artists of many different mediums, designers, craftspersons. Certainly the Minister of ITI uses any opportunity he can to promote our arts and crafts industry to the world. We had a lovely example of that earlier today.
As the agent of the GNWT who promotes tourism for us, the organization NWT Tourism should also be promoting and supporting NWT artists and craftspersons. It would seem logical that they would use their website to do that promotion.
After I was contacted by a constituent on this issue, I took a look at the NWT Tourism website and perused the “authentic NWT souvenir items” on display there. The items are few but what is most disconcerting is that none of them seem to be from or made in the NWT. One can buy licence plates, luggage tags, pins and maps. They look great. Wonderful northern scenes, but they can hardly be called authentic northern souvenirs. Where are the products made by NWT residents? Where are the products from NWT shops and NWT businesses? None to be found on that website.
Why are we not promoting products from community craft stores, from our resident photographers, from our musicians, from our painters, from our carvers, from our arts and craftspeople, from our authors? We’ve talked often enough about the need to boost our economy to diversify our economy. This would seem to me to be a great way to do it but we are not.
NWT Tourism should be acting as a broker or promoter for any NWT resident or business making products which could be considered northern souvenirs. There should be links from the NWT Tourism website to all NWT craft stores which have their wares on-line; links to all NWT artists or craftspersons who have an on-line display of their products made in the North: photos, moccasins, mitts, carvings, paintings and prints, books, Ragged Ass Road signs, I Break for Ptarmigan stickers; the list could be very long.
I appreciate there may be some wrangling required to set things up. Contracts would need to be put in place to protect both artists and broker, but surely we have the skill and the capacity to do that. If there’s another reason why NWT Tourism is not promoting NWT products on their website, I’m all ears to hear it. At the moment we’re failing our creative people and missing out on a wonderful opportunity to grow our territory.
I will have questions for the Minister of ITI at the appropriate time. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. For many years the community of Tsiigehtchic has been asking for a full-time nurse to be permanently stationed there. It is not just the community’s leadership asking for a nurse. Three years ago satisfaction surveys of the regional health services identified the people’s desire for a local nurse. Freeze-up and breakup of the Mackenzie River always disrupts some services, but health care is actually better in Tsiigehtchic at this time. That is because it is the only time there is a full-time nurse in the community. If it can be done during freeze-up and breakup, surely it can be done for the rest of the year.
Returning a nurse to Tsiigehtchic was even mentioned in the Department of Health and Social Services business plan in 2010-2011. The idea was that it would enhance primary care in the community. It was the right thing to do then, Mr. Speaker, and it is the right thing to do now.
Community wellness is a priority of this government, so I am at a loss to explain why no nurse has been stationed in Tsiigehtchic for all these years. The lack of housing is sometimes mentioned as a barrier, but it is not the problem now. The community has set aside housing, should a full-time nurse be able to come to the community.
The community has done its part. People have been very patient. If we are very serious about improving health services in our small communities, there will be a nurse for Tsiigehtchic. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. The Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With the warmer weather and our ferry back in the water, our NWT roads will once again be bustling with more traffic and tourists. As one of many people who have had near white-knuckle misses with bison on the highway, it’s not if you will have an encounter with bison, it’s more likely when.
I have some residents of Range Lake wanting me to mention and seek a long-term solution to prevent bison/human conflict in the NWT. As the number of collisions and probability of human fatality is increasing with increasing traffic, the expansion of herd areas due to flooding in the Mackenzie bison sanctuary is very evident, and improved road conditions over the last 20 years is making the encounters that much more problematic.
Ultimately, the GNWT has undertaken the following actions under the Wood Bison Management Strategy for 2010-2020 to address this concern. Some of the action items have been the expanded harvest in the Tlicho and Nahanni regions, allowing harvests in the area along Highway No. 3, increased public education, improved road signage and the use of campaigns such as Drive Alive. Good as these initiatives are, there is still the physical issue of North America’s largest land mammal competing in the same arena of chance as motorists. Harvest strategies, deterrence measures and more signage, albeit great tools, are no match when the probability of chance occurs.
Therefore, Mr. Speaker, we as the government need to look outside the box for a long-term, viable solution to protect animals and motorists. We need to create and manage the proper mitigation strategies that would include in-vehicle warning systems like on-board animal detectors, or better yet, the use of reflective ear tags so that visibility becomes the driving force of safety. We understand that ear tagging and collaring could be done in a way to minimize the stress or injury of the animal. This is a given. The true hurdle would be those groups who could possibly object to such intrusive intervention, and it is with these groups we need to collaborate fully.
In the end, with the proper safety program of electronic reflective tagging, we, for the first time, can solve the issue of safety and scientific herd monitoring all with the same keystroke.
I will look forward to asking the Minister of ENR later today to seek his support of the extension of the Bison Management Initiative with the use of reflective ear tagging for wood bison on our NWT highways. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to begin my Member’s statement today giving best wishes to the NWT Fishermen’s Federation who are hosting their annual general meeting today, and apologies that I cannot be there for them. However, I would like to discuss the fishing industry in my Member’s statement today.
The NWT Fishermen’s Federation has been a vital part of the Hay River industry and a traditional economy in the Hay River area. I am concerned with the future of the industry. Some of the issues that are faced by the industry right now are the high costs of gasoline, training and getting people to join the industry, opening up new markets, and supporting through all of our commercial organizations and government facilities.
I would like to know today, with my questions to the Minister of ITI, how the department has been involved in this NWT Fishermen’s Federation. My questions today will be for the Minister on how the department is working on new programs to develop the NWT fishers in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Teachers and schools was an important focus today with the Education Hall of Fame ceremonies. I want to continue that theme today by raising, once again, the need for new schools in Trout Lake and Nahanni Butte. I hope that they can begin their school year with some news of progress towards the creation of new schools in those communities.
I know you remember that the Nahanni Butte school is an old log building and the people of Trout Lake technically don’t have a school. They are still using the recreation centre there. This has been going on for years now and it’s very frustrating for the parents, teachers and students in both communities.
Earlier this year the Education Minister informed me that work on replacing the Charles Yohin School in Nahanni Butte will not begin until 2016, four or five years from now. It is an even longer wait in Trout Lake. Work on the new Charles Tetcho School is not scheduled to begin until 2018-19.
The whole generation of students will be stuck in the current inadequate facilities. It pains me to hear all this talk about our priorities for healthy, educated people and our strategy for Aboriginal student achievement even as the basic learning environments are neglected in Nahanni Butte and Trout Lake.
Students in our small communities deserve the same opportunities as in the larger centres. If this government is actually going to deliver on its stated priorities, we will finally see some action on putting schools in Trout Lake and Nahanni Butte. I will be pushing for that as we move into planning for the next capital budget.
Later today I will ask the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment if he is making any real progress for these communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The government says it will seek input this summer on the vision, principles and objectives that should frame the management of our lands and resources in the future. I have called upon the government for some years to seek this input from the public. When devolution does occur, we must be ready to put in place a new management regime that reflects our values, priorities and environmental needs. I congratulate the government on beginning this work and look forward to hearing the details.
Meanwhile, the federal government seems intent on disassembling environmental protections and collapsing the regional land and water boards into a single NWT board. The loss of habitat protection from the Fisheries Act and the imposition of artificial deadlines for the completion of environmental reviews are especially disturbing. This government has said it will work to ensure federal changes maintain proper environmental impact assessment in the NWT. I look forward to details on this as well.
The proposal to eliminate regional land and water boards will seriously reduce local control over the pace and scope of development provided in the MVRMA in May. It could result in the elimination of 14 regional and six Yellowknife positions. In addition, 20 board positions offering honoraria to regional board members will be lost. Communities and regional residents will lose key local sources of information and the knowledge, experience and capacity regional staff provide.
Will we also lose resources at the time of devolution as the federal government pares down programs? If these changes are inevitable, there are some basics that we should insist upon to retain local insights and participation. The first is preservation of current board budgets reassigned to resident regional technical experts and analysis that provides expert advice to remaining board members. Regional board offices must remain active to ensure community presence and points of contact for concerned input, completion of the development of land use plans and common standards and guidelines for development proposal review and provisions for special regional concerns must be established. Future board meetings must be held rotationally in communities, not just Yellowknife, and GNWT and Aboriginal governments need the mandate for appointing board members.
Public oversight and environmental protection are at a crucial crossroads. As we prepare to assume the stewardship of our shared resource birthright, we’ll need to be ready to ensure citizens’ aspirations and environmental safety are protected.
I will be asking questions of the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources and Finance. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Northwest Territories has a unique program to help senior citizens and disabled persons in our communities. The Senior Citizens and Disabled Persons Property Tax Relief Act provides for tax exemption for eligible individuals to assist with their needs and help them remain in their own homes as long as possible. This well-intentioned law came into force in 1988 and the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs has been reviewing it throughout the better part of my political career. A review and amendments to this act are long overdue.
Currently the act discriminates between eligible persons living in general taxation area communities and municipal taxation area communities. In the municipal taxation area you can only receive an exemption if the co-owners of the property are also eligible applicants or dependents. So if you are 67 but your spouse is 63, you are not eligible for tax relief until both of you have reached the age of 65. Likewise, if you are disabled and a co-owner of your home is not, you do not qualify for a property tax exemption. In the general taxation area there is no such condition.
This policy is extremely unfair. This benefit should assist the elderly and disabled members of our society regardless of their living arrangements. Just how many senior citizens and disabled persons are the sole owners of their homes? How many people give up the opportunity to work full time so that they can care for a member of their household who is disabled and requires extra help in their older years? We have a small population and we should be able to provide assistance to those who are less able to provide for themselves.
Time and energy went into proposing changes to this act in the last Assembly, but we need to do more than just talk about the issue. Amendments to this regulation/legislation are long overdue. These changes may require more public consultation and lead to debate, but that is what we do here. We work to make legislation in the best interests of the people of the Northwest Territories. Changes to this act must come forward so that we can provide reasonable, equitable benefits to residents who are among the most vulnerable in our society.
Mr. Speaker, we should adopt some of the slogans of some corporate entities, like “Get ‘er Done,” the Royal Bank “Can Do,” the Athletic Shirt “Just Do It.” Mr. Speaker, let’s get ‘er done. Thank you.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’d like to talk about tanning equipment because it’s time that we have some type of discussion on tanning beds, booths, lamps and their use for cosmetic purposes. The public discussion and information is really required.
It’s an issue brought forward to me by a number of constituents who have had grave cause in some of the recent findings, because tanning devices, as we know them, do cause cancer. The World Health Organization officially classified them as a carcinogenic item back in 2009.
The average person doesn’t know that some tanning beds emit ultraviolet radiation five times more intense than the midday summer light. Research has also told us that they’ve found that a person’s risk of getting skin cancer increases by 75 percent if they use these tanning beds before the age of 35. Naturally, Canada has guidelines for tanning gear, but not much in the way of regulation, so responsibility is really left up to the customers and some of the organizations that run these things. Studies, of course, show that tanning beds are particularly – and I stress particularly – risky for children who use them, but again, we don’t have any laws to prohibit that.
So many jurisdictions have banned or even restricted the use of tanning beds for young people and I’ll point out a few. Around the world we have places like Nova Scotia, Australia, and even France who have thought about this and taken serious steps to provide measures to protect our young people. It’s time maybe that the Government of the Northwest Territories finally consider some type of regulation on this type of industry to protect our folks who are young.
This gives us a chance to come up with some guidelines and public discussion on ensuring that our people under the age of 18 are protected. Adults can obviously make their own minds up and use the equipment as they feel they can, and certainly most of our adults are in a position to understand the risks, but I would say that it’s time that the Health Minister come forward with some type of discussion to make sure our youth are protected.
Justifiably, there are many laws on our books that are there to protect our young people until they are reaching an age where they can make smart and responsible choices on their own. I think the tanning bed equipment should be one more of those issues added to the list that puts our young people ahead of personal vanity.
Later today I will have questions for the Health Minister to see what he will be willing to do on this particular subject.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With rivers breaking up and lakes melting across the NWT comes a time that many people look forward to: the summer sport fishing season. Sport fishing has a great sustainable tourism potential for our communities that we perhaps do not make as much as we could. There should be business opportunities for local guides, hotels, bed and breakfasts, restaurants, stores, boat and equipment rentals, and arts and crafts. However, the large number of RVs and trucks gathered by the winter road crossing and campgrounds near Fort Providence especially can be overwhelming at times. Unfortunately, we do not always see these people coming into the community and spending their money locally.
At the same time we need to be careful that the fish stocks stay healthy and that we are not overfishing or damaging their environment. There are special restrictions in place for particularly sensitive areas. For example, the Providence Creek is closed to sport fishing from April 15th to May 30th and there are special limits on jackfish and pickerel for the Horn River and Mills Lake as well as the Mackenzie River Management Area which includes the Kakisa and Fort Providence regions to just west of Hay River. There are also special limits on grayling in that area.
The federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans is responsible for the regulations, and both the DFO officers and our local ENR officers enforce them. DFO does some monitoring of the fish in the area; however, overall there have been very few studies on fish, fish habitat and harvest numbers in the Northwest Territories.
Fish are a very important resource for all the Deh Cho communities as food, as part of our culture, and now economically as well. The communities know this best and I think we need to be looking at ways for them to get more directly involved in protecting the management of sport fishing in the area. We should not be relying entirely on the federal government to do this. The GNWT also needs to be working with the communities more closely to figure out how to benefit from the tourism traffic that is already on our doorsteps and how to ensure that it remains sustainable.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. It gives me great pleasure to recognize 2012 Education Hall of Fame inductees here with us in the gallery. First is Helen Kitekudlak from Ulukhaktok, Betty Barnaby from Fort Good Hope, Chris Baron from Behchoko, Angela James from Yellowknife, Margaret Thom from Fort Providence, Kevin Antoniak from Fort Smith, and Dr. Curtis Brown from Fort Smith. Congratulations. Thanks for joining us here in the gallery.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ve got a few people to recognize. First up I’d like to recognize Margaret Marshall. She’s a constituent.
As well as Liz Wyman, a constituent who is also the chair of the Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority, and of course Liz Wyman is no stranger in the business community. She’s a very successful lady.
As well, the next two people I would like to recognize are Michele Letourneau and Annemieke Mulders. I believe they’re sitting up front here. For many of you, you may recognize their names. They’ve been rightly fighting for fair and safe access to their dwelling through the rental office process, a saga continuing on today.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also would like to recognize all the people who have been inducted into the Education Hall of Fame and thank them for amazing work that they’ve done through their careers to date.
I especially want to mention Angela James, who has been the principal down at K’alemi Dene School, as well as, of course, the K’alemi Dene School Choir which performed during the ceremonies earlier this morning.
In relation to that, I’m also very pleased to recognize two of our Pages also from K’alemi Dene School who are well represented today in many ways: Brent Betsina, to your right, Mr. Speaker, and Johnny Ray Johnson-Black, to your left. I’m very pleased to have them in the House. I’m not sure if this may be the first time K’alemi Dene School has been in the House, but I’m very happy to see them.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s not very often that I get an opportunity to recognize people in the gallery but I have two special people from my home community and constituency of the Deh Cho. I hope they’re still here. Mr. Jim and Mrs. Margaret Thom.
