Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Before I begin, I too wish to acknowledge our fantastic students that are here in the gallery today. I was very impressed with their flash mob as well. It was clearly a statement that this generation is standing up to bullying and they’re certainly saying, in their own way, bully no more. I want to thank them for that.
I’d like to follow up on some concerns I expressed last week about the northern workforce at our mines. The Government of the Northwest Territories has negotiated and signed a total of five socio-economic agreements with industry over the last 17 years and this progress, in the sense of negotiation for Northerners, is a good thing.
Oil and gas exploration and new mineral development strategies are opening up the North, and there will be increased opportunities and developments and, potentially, jobs for Northerners. There is one particular problem. The only one out there who knows if these are Northerners working in the North is Revenue Canada because they’re the only ones empowered to audit the residency. Are we supporting paper Northerners or, as they are they commonly known, ghost Northerners?
I’m calling for more accountability and reliability on this particular reporting these mines must do. We’ve all heard the story about someone cashing in and getting that great job at the mine and then moving south. It’s time to deal with myth and fact. What is the reality before us? How many Northerners are truly northern hires and how many of the Northerners they’re reporting are true residents of the Northwest Territories? How many maintain a post office box and only check it here once every two weeks when they fly into the North to go to work and then they fly south to go live? Do we have a senate problem here in the Northwest Territories? Let’s get some health care cards, driver’s licences and tax information. Let’s prove it once and for all. True accountability for these jobs that are being reported. This is not about putting the spotlight on good behaviour, this is about emphasizing bad behaviour.
Several years ago the mining workforce was surveyed on residency issues but we need more solid information, clear reporting, consistent reporting, honest reporting, and perhaps maybe the only way to do it and make sure it’s done right is to get third-party reporting to ensure the mines are living up to their contractual agreements that they signed with the people of the Northwest Territories, not just the Government of the Northwest Territories but the people of the Northwest Territories.
I’ll be asking Minister Dave Ramsay, does he stand with Northerners or does he stand comfortably in the good arms of industry? Is he protecting their interests or is he protecting northern jobs that belong to northern people?
