Good afternoon, colleagues. Today I would like to honour the memory of our elder Mrs. Elizabeth Blake from Tetlit Zheh, who was an example for our communities. She was a beautiful mother and a loving jijuu.
Elizabeth Blake was born on November 5, 1914, in Caribou River, Yukon Territory. She grew up living off the land, working hard to make a living. Married to Fred Blake, they had 14 children, 60 grandchildren, 89 great-grandchildren and 19 great-great-grandchildren.
Raising a large family out on the land was hard work. Elizabeth Blake enjoyed trapping, snaring rabbits and tanning moose hides. Later on, she was an active member for the Women’s Auxiliary of St. Matthew’s Anglican Church.
This hardworking woman was dedicated to her family and she made sure each member felt special.
Elizabeth Blake was a keeper of the Gwich’in culture.
Elizabeth Blake passed away on February 21, 2013. We offer our deepest condolences to her family and friends.
On a personal note, I never ever did go through Fort McPherson without stopping at her house to have tea with her because she’d always tell stories. She was just an awesome lady. To her families and friends, our thoughts and prayers are with you.
Mr. Speaker, when we developed our strategic plan, Building for the Future, residents told us that we needed to examine our home ownership programs and
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Beaulieu.
Mr. Speaker, as this Assembly is aware, cancer is the number one cause of death in the Northwest Territories. Lung cancer causes the greatest number of cancer deaths, but the most commonly diagnosed cancers are colorectal cancer in men and breast cancer in women.
When I travel to communities, this is one of the biggest concerns that people talk to me about. Our communities want to understand this disease better, and people want to know what actions they can take to change these trends.
Mr. Speaker, today representatives from the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer are in Yellowknife to meet with Health and Social Services officials and invited community guests to talk about the First Nations, Inuit and Metis Action Plan on Cancer Control.
The Canadian Partnership Against Cancer is an independent organization that works to implement Canada’s cancer control strategy, from looking at improving prevention and screening, to conducting research and improving supportive care. Today’s meetings build on our past collaboration with this organization. Over the years the partnership has supported our healthy choices programs such as Drop the Pop. They have provided technical support to the Department and Authorities. More recently, Mr. Speaker, we turned to this organization to help us respond to requests from Fort Good Hope and Fort Resolution to help them take action against cancer.
The purpose of today’s meeting is to discuss the implementation of the First Nations, Inuit and Metis Action Plan on Cancer Control, and explore opportunities for further collaborative work.
Part of the discussions with CPAC will include a review of some of the NWT’s cancer-based initiatives. This will include looking at how we implement our cancer screening programs against colorectal, cervical and breast cancer. This will help to identify priority areas where they can support our initiatives.
Mr. Speaker, we are looking for ways to provide information on cancer to communities, and looking at how we can provide better support to individuals and families affected by cancer. We must continue to prevent cancers, where possible, through regular testing at health centres and through healthy lifestyle choices, including proper diets, exercise and avoiding drugs and alcohol.
Moving forward, we will continue to build on lessons learned from last summer’s cancer sharing circles in Fort Resolution and Fort Good Hope. I am pleased that both of these reports have been shared with communities and remain available on the department’s website.
We are also pleased that Canadian Partnership Against Cancer will return in June. This will be the first time their board of directors meet in the Northwest Territories. We look forward to hosting the board as they advance their important work to reduce the burden of cancer for all Canadians.
Mr. Speaker, today we have with us Dr. Adams and Ms. Lee Fairclough. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mr. Speaker, Aboriginal languages are important pillars of our Northwest Territories society, they create a strong sense of identity and belonging, and we must actively work with our language communities to ensure our youth identify themselves as language and cultural ambassadors. March is Aboriginal Languages Month, and I urge all language groups to actively participate in the celebration of language and culture in their communities, not only during the month of March but at every opportunity throughout the year.
In our ongoing commitment to the preservation and revitalization of Aboriginal languages, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment continues to develop language resources to encourage use in the home, community and schools. Over the past year, five Dene language apps for Apple products were developed, and we are nearing completion of the Inuvialuit and Cree language apps. The South Slave Divisional Education Council also worked with the community of Fort Resolution to create the Chipewyan Dictionary, and students were involved in the entire process.
Mr. Speaker, we are seeing a new direction to focus our efforts in language preservation and promotion with our students and youth. Through efforts of some of our local and territorial filmmakers, media and film arts are emerging as a new opportunity to create an identity for the cultures and languages of the North. I have spoken previously about fusing our cultures with technology, and the importance of supports and resources in place for our residents that are telling their stories through these channels. I am very excited about the possibilities.
Mr. Speaker, as part of our ongoing engagement process with the language communities, the department is hosting the second annual Aboriginal Languages Symposium from March 20 to 21, 2013. One hundred twenty-five delegates from across the territory will converge in Yellowknife to discuss ways in which to promote, preserve and revitalize our Aboriginal languages, especially with young people, a group critical to our success.
The symposium will also be used as a platform to validate the Aboriginal Languages Secretariat implementation plan and priorities with stakeholders, raise awareness, and share best practices.
Mr. Speaker, I want to recognize all those who dedicate their time to revitalizing and maintaining their Aboriginal languages. Languages strengthen our greater NWT community by creating an identity and cultural foundation for all of us. As a priority of the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, we will continue to further language and culture initiatives that help preserve, promote and revitalize these important pillars of our society. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Beaulieu.
Mr. Speaker, March is National Nutrition Month. Nutrition Month has been celebrated worldwide since 1980 and it focuses on the importance of healthy eating and the positive impact it has on our health and well-being.
Healthy eating is important at every stage of our lives. Proper nutrition contributes to the development of healthy babies. It supports physical growth and brain development in early childhood. Kids who eat healthy foods do better at school. Young athletes need to eat well to fuel their performance. As we all grow older, healthy eating helps to avoid chronic disease.
This can lead to serious health issues like type 2 diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure. If we do not address this now, our children will grow up to be less healthy and have shorter lives. This is why it is important that we focus on improving the health of our children by preparing healthy family meals, which means getting the healthiest ingredients and taking the time to cook healthy foods.
With busy lifestyles, we do not always cook, but we should still make sure we provide healthy food for our children to support their growth and development.
Mr. Speaker, in January Health and Social Services, and Education, Culture and Employment held an early childhood development roundtable. Everyone shared their fundamental belief that children must be given the best possible start in life.
One of the best ways to do this is to give children the foods they need for proper growth and development. This begins with pregnant mothers eating proper foods.
Once the baby is born, families and communities can best support the mom and baby by promoting breastfeeding and then giving them healthy foods to eat as they grow and develop.
Mr. Speaker, I really cannot state more strongly that parents need to invest in children right from the start with the right foods. Not only does unhealthy food risk a child’s overall health, but poor nutrition negatively affects proper brain development, making it hard for a child to learn at school.
Too many sweet foods lead to obesity and tooth decay. Too much sugar, salt and fat at an early age leads to chronic diseases. In the NWT, too many baby teeth are extracted, more than half of our population 18 years and older are either obese or overweight, and diabetes is on the rise.
The Department of Health and Social Services are taking steps to respond to these issues. This year we are working on healthy food guidelines for early childhood development. We are also sending out 2,000 dental kits to families with young children, and providing training for Healthy Family program workers.
We will create “Healthy Beginning” tool kits for early child development workers that support healthy eating and active living. Drop the Pop is supporting school-based activities to reduce high-calorie, sugar-sweetened beverages. In November the NWT/Nunavut Chapter of the Canadian Public Health Association and the department held a workshop with representatives from local governments, NGOs and businesses that explored how communities can prevent chronic diseases by taking steps to create healthier environments through partnerships.
Mr. Speaker, healthy habits are ingrained early in life and are very hard to change as people get older. If we don’t change course, the sad truth is that today’s parents are predicted to outlive their children because they will develop chronic diseases like cancer, diabetes and heart disease.
We must all pull together. We are doing this with partners like the Northern Nutrition Association and our very own registered dieticians. We are very proud that we have registered dietitians and members of the Northern Nutrition Association providing services through the health and social services authorities. Through partnership with the Northern Nutrition Association and authorities, there will be several events taking place to recognize National Nutrition Month. The association will host a Facebook and twitter feed, the department will post nutrition tips and nutrition videos on its website, and dietitians throughout the territory are volunteering to hold menu planning sessions for organizations such as Bailey House, and grocery store tours.
Through these initiatives and partnerships, we will help to improve the health of our territory’s children, our most valuable resource. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The Deputy Premier, Mr. Lafferty.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to advise Members that the Honourable Bob McLeod will be absent from the House today and tomorrow to speak at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada Conference in Toronto and meetings with federal Ministers in Toronto and Ottawa. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The role of Regular Members in setting spending priorities is one of the most important features of consensus government. When we insist on changes to budgets, Regular Members are expressing their highest priorities and we expect government to act. This government has failed miserably in that over the last year and I am fed up.
Last year Members prioritized $1.25 million targeted to finalize an Early Childhood Educator Program at Aurora College to graduate fully qualified professionals. Also included were developing community family centres and supporting community early childhood programs for young families. We have now learned that of the hundreds of thousands approved for training development, very little was spent, program development was limited and the program is now stalled.
At the community level, funds committed to family centres were held until the end of the fiscal year and then dumped quickly out the door. Hundreds of thousands are apparently being reallocated in the last weeks of the year for quick and inappropriate expenditures relative to the purpose for which they were intended.
The budget was passed in June. ECE dithered over it until November before even issuing a call for proposals. Today the money is being hustled out on last minute, bulk small purchase items in a mad rush to spend it before it disappears.
Last minute expenditures include internally duplicating the program that has already been contracted out by ECE, a program that has been in place for over a decade. Now even the museum is being told to spend early childhood dollars.
This wastage is precisely what gives government the bad reputation we often have. Let’s not forget the ECE money was moved from Inclusive Schooling, so that program suffered for what gain to early childhood development?
We set priorities. Cabinet drags its feet and continues on with its own agenda. What’s the point of consensus budgeting, Mr. Speaker?
How can we have any faith in Cabinet to take direction from the will of the House with performance like this? Where were the updates and debate over reallocation if necessary?
I will be urging committees to demand spending priority work plans from Cabinet with actions, milestones and progress reports.
I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
I will be asking for an internal audit of how the government has performed in carrying out the Members’ amendments of past budgets, and I will seek advice from the Auditor General on the propriety of taking the money that Members vote for one cost and spending it on another. This has got to stop.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The current GNWT directive on inclusive schooling states the following: “Inclusive schooling is intended to ensure equal access for all students to educational programs offered in regular classroom settings.” This very statement is symbolic of what is wrong with how inclusive schooling in the NWT is currently being funded and addressed at the department level.
It is time to revisit and redefine the directive and the funding formula for inclusive schooling. We must consider this, also from the ECE directive, “What inclusion is not:
It does not mean having all students learn the same thing at the same time in the same way.
It is not simply placing students with exceptional needs into the regular classroom without essential supports and services.
It is not an easy solution for meeting the needs of exceptional students.
It is not the sole responsibility of the classroom teacher.
It is not the sole responsibility of the student support assistant.”
What I hear from teachers, students, parents and community members is that this is now what inclusive schooling looks like in many classrooms in the NWT. In the absence of adequate classroom support staff and an appropriate funding formula, the students are being shortchanged under this directive.
Inclusive schooling should not be about ensuring equal access, it should be ensuring equity for NWT students. “Equity does not mean treating all students in the same way, but rather responding to the individual needs of each student and providing the conditions and interventions needed to help him or her succeed.” That’s from Ontario’s Inclusive Education Strategy.
I want to share a statement to me from a parent who is struggling with an inadequate learning environment for her child. She says, “I urge you to reconsider the current funding allocation for children with special needs. My son is not getting the education he needs to prepare him for life and what it holds for him. This will severely restrict his ability to make a living and support himself.”
I know educators, parents, education councils, authorities and board members want the best for the children in their care. In order for teachers to do that, to properly respond to individual student needs, existing barriers must be identified and eliminated.
I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
This means the department has to work with those education councils, authorities and boards to come up with a funding formula that ensures success for NWT students. I have the following question for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment: Will you revise our approach to inclusive schooling to ensure all of our students can achieve success?
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am rising today to talk about the Hay River Homecoming that’s coming this June 28th to July 1st. Hay River invites all its former and current residents to stay in the community, come back to Hay River and enjoy the festivities that are being organized. It is a time for people that were in the fishing industry, people that worked for NTCL, NorthwesTel, GNWT, or just lived in Hay River to come back, experience Hay River and take part in this great event.
I want those former residents to look up on hayriver2013.ca. There’s a website there. You can register your name. They need to know who is coming. You can see some of the lists on the website of those people who have already signed up, who’s coming back to Hay River to see the community and take part in the events. There’s going to be a community fish fry, pancake breakfast, blessing of the fleet and, obviously, a Canada Day parade.
There are a group of people in Hay River right now that have been working for over a year planning this homecoming. It’s going to be a great event. I’d like to thank those people that have already put in their time and there will be a great many more that put a lot of effort into this event. I’m just reminding everybody that’s lived in Hay River to come back home to Hay River June 28th to July 1st, and please register at hayriver2013.ca.
Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. The Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today is March 4th and a respected elder in Aklavik is celebrating her 98th birthday. Respected elder Mary Kendi of Aklavik reached 98 today. The family are preparing to celebrate their mother’s birthday on Saturday, March 9th, at the Sittichinli Community Complex in Aklavik, and the community is invited to share in this event.
Mary was born in Aklavik on March 4, 1915. Mary attended the residential school in Hay River from 1920-1923. Mary and Alfred Kendi were married on July 1, 1932, and had nine children.
Mary lived the traditional lifestyle and taught many the wisdom passed down from her ancestors. Mary did traditional sewing and sewed traditional clothing for a living. Her involvement with the Women’s Auxiliary brought her to Africa, along with Bella Ross, in 1977. The family would like to recognize their mother’s accomplishments at this event this coming Saturday.
Colleagues, please help me in wishing Mary Kendi a very happy birthday today.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. Mary Kendi, happy birthday on Saturday, and I hope you have a good day. The Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. For the first time in history, the NWT will have a bridge that crosses the Mackenzie and that’s a great thing. Although we are now reaping the benefits of a truly all-season road, which also includes the additional costs that the government promised would never happen, many citizens can’t help but keep asking, could the government have done this for less.
This Assembly approved an extra $10 million last spring to finish this project before the end of 2012, and as far as Minister Ramsay is concerned, that’s all water under the bridge for now. But the reality remains that this cost of the additional project could have gone on to status quo and would have cost us less, if not close to half. What would have allowed us to distribute the rest of the remaining construction process over the following year but instead we swallowed an additional $10 million in a one-lump-sum fee to the contractor so they could rush around the clock to increase the risk of the project but make sure they delivered it by November 2012.
May I remind this House that this additional $10 million – we already had a contract for it, so they didn’t actually need it – was just extra money. It could be defined, as many citizens have told me, was this an extra $10 million of slush or simply gravy? It’s funny that an additional $10 million carrot was dangled by Minister Ramsay to get this bridge done by last fall; but the fact is they already had a contract in place to complete it, so why the additional $10 million?
As we continued to needlessly negotiate a fixed contract, this reminds the other contractors out there who want to do government bidding on northern projects that all they have to do is just wait until we’re held over a barrel because that’s when we’re ready to pay more. The taxpayers pay more.
We could learn many lessons from the Deh Cho Bridge, and I would normally urge the department to do a thorough analysis. But, you know what? My expectations of hope of that being a reality are probably very few. The only way to get to the bottom of this is to call the Auditor General in and ask them about the likelihood of actually learning anything.
The NWT, as we all know, is contemplating major infrastructure. Do you think we’ve learned, once again, on how to do things properly? My expectations and hopes have certainly been dampened. If we avoid making further promises that we cannot keep, we can only then deliver full projects the way that they were meant to be, on time and on budget. We should stop diluting the process and be honest with Northerners.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mahsi. [Translation] Thank you for allowing me to give this message in the Tlicho language. I have a lot of respect for many elders and Behchoko residents that I have met in my years as a pharmacist, so I have made a promise to myself that I would learn to speak some Tlicho during my term of being an MLA.
It is important that during Aboriginal Language Month we need to promote and use our language every day at home, in the community and at work. We need to celebrate our languages. We need to always encourage people to learn about them and to use them. Our children need to see us using our languages in our home, in our drum dancing, during play and during storytelling.
I know that the Tlicho language is very strong and many speak it in the Northwest Territories, but Aboriginal language use is on the decline. We have five Aboriginal languages to date that we have less than 500 residents who can speak it. I am very fearful that in the future these five Aboriginal languages and their cultures could one day not be here. This would be a sad day for the North.
Thank you for letting me speak your beautiful language and join me in celebrating Aboriginal Languages Month. [Translation ends]
Thank you for their help, and thank you for allowing me to celebrate Aboriginal Languages Month in my own special way. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I have spoken many times about the lack of jobs in the communities in my region and the lack of opportunities for our young people to make a good living. It is true that there are a lot of mining jobs in our territory. In a few communities people have had some success getting those jobs, but it is not easy in communities that are a little further away from the mines. In my region very few people are working at the mines.
Unemployment is highest in our small communities. You would think that we would focus our training for jobs in the mining sector, but that is not the case. Mine training is not delivered in most of our small communities and it should be. Progress towards production has been made at the Prairie Creek Mine. Canadian Zinc is expecting a drop of its Type A water licence in the next few weeks. When the mine finally opens, there will be more than 200 new jobs available.
Canadian Zinc signed a socio-economic agreement with this government back in August 2011. The company committed to hiring 60 percent of its workforce in the North. At that time the Minister of Education noted that this is an excellent opportunity for Northerners to benefit from meaningful jobs and training, particularly in the Deh Cho. Unfortunately, that does not seem to include the communities in my Deh Cho riding.
To my knowledge, the only training that has taken place has been in Fort Simpson, Fort Liard, Nahanni Butte and at the mine itself. Aurora College was one of the main partners in delivering this training which was spearheaded by the Mine Training Society. The federal government also contributed $200,000 through CanNor.
Opportunities in mining and other development must extend to the communities in my riding and that means getting some training done very soon. I am also concerned that Canadian Zinc may not meet its target for northern hires as training is only offered in a couple of communities. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This past summer I was fortunate enough to attend parliamentary training down in Quebec where I learned of a couple of jurisdictions who created this legislation for mandatory and coerced treatment, that anybody who is a harm to themselves or to others that ended up in the emergency rooms would have to go under mandatory treatment. That really got me thinking and wondering if there is some type of legislation that we can implement here in the Northwest Territories.
Well, I did a lot of research. I talked to some of the jurisdictions, some of their MLAs, to discuss how we can try to do this up in the Northwest Territories. At first they said it would be challenging, but I was very optimistic to see if we could continue to pursue this.
It wasn’t until we went down to Ottawa for NWT Days where I had the opportunity to set up a meeting with the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse, and chat with their policy and staff and try to see if there is some type of legislation that we can introduce into the House by a motion to ensure that we protect our citizens and our residents that end up in the emergency rooms, that end up in the jails, that need the help when they are harming themselves or others.
So it wasn’t until last week when I had a good chance with our research staff, and we looked and talked about whether or not this is something possible that we can implement in the Northwest Territories, and the same discussions we had would be it would be really challenging due to the lack of resources that we have in the Northwest Territories. Well, as a result of the lack of resources that we have, a lot of people are slipping through the cracks and not being recognized or getting the help and the treatment that they need.
So last week when I went home, I took home with me the Mental Health Act. I said if we can’t create new legislation, let’s look at the type of legislation we have here and see how we can amend it, see where we’re failing, and see how we can fix this so that people who are ending up in emergency rooms, that are ending up in the correctional facilities, in the jails, how we can help them and get them back into the help that they need so they can become healthy residents.
Well, I reviewed the Mental Health Act over the weekend and there were a lot of sections that raised a lot of questions for me. I’m glad I had the opportunity to do so. Today I will have questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services, as well as the Minister of Justice on how we can address those. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In follow-up to my Member’s statement with regard to the Mental Health Act, my questions today are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. The interpretation of a psychiatrist under this act means a medical practitioner who holds a specialist certificate in psychiatry issued by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada or an equivalent qualification acceptable by the Minister. I’d like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services how many psychiatrists under this interpretation we have in the Northwest Territories.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Stanton Territorial Health Authority funds two full-time psychiatrists. The Stanton Territorial Health Authority has one psychiatrist on staff and uses locums at the Dalhousie Global Psychiatry Team to cover the second position. A second psychiatrist will be joining the Stanton Territorial Health Authority staff in the summer of 2013. Additionally, Stanton Territorial Health Authority has the equivalent to a quarter full-time equivalent psychiatrist dedicated to providing child and adolescent psychiatry services.
The reason I’m asking these questions is because a lot of the sections in the Mental Health Act deal with the information and services provided by psychiatrists.
In terms of the locum, the Minister said we had one full-time psychiatrist at Stanton Hospital and the second one is a locum. In terms of the locum psychiatrist that we use at Stanton, how many days out of the year is that locum here to provide services and assessments to residents of the Northwest Territories, to patients? How many days out of the year does that locum provide those services?
Two positions, one is filled full time and the other one is filled by locums, and more than just one psychiatrist also filled in addition to the locums that we are using from the Dalhousie Global Psychiatric Team. I think that the second position is filled fully by locums and the Dalhousie Global Psychiatric Team. I am assuming that it would be one full-time equivalent being filled by those locums.
