Mr. Speaker, later today, at the appropriate time, I will be tabling the NWT Economic Opportunities Strategy Advisory Panel’s “What We Heard” report.
This report summarizes more than 80 engagements with our territory’s residents, private sector, governments and other stakeholders on the opportunities and challenges that they see for the NWT economy.
The advisory panel’s report documents what people had to say, it includes informed observations based on the perspectives and expertise of individual panel members, and it provides 90 recommendations to guide the drafting of the final Economic Opportunities Strategy.
These recommendations support several messages that the advisory panel has heard:
People are essential; we cannot advance our economy without a growing healthy population.
Our resources, including our people, are largely unrealized.
Economic opportunities and development must be considered according to the benefits that will be provided to the NWT and its people; and
We must build our economy from the ground up, using the local entrepreneurs and community-based businesses that provide the sustainability and growth of our community economies.
Mr. Speaker, our government has a vision of a territory in which a strong economy provides jobs and opportunities for our people and their communities. We are developing and implementing
plans and strategies that will make this vision a reality. Our work is interrelated. Initiatives to develop and sustain our grassroots economy, for instance, will be affected by the Mineral Development Strategy. Economic development is integrated with labour development, as it is with the Land Use and Sustainability Framework and our work to address poverty. Investments in managing our land and environment help us use our resources wisely and sustainably, while continuing to protect the health of our land and our people. A thriving economy is made up of healthy, educated people. We need people to own and run businesses and employees to work in them. People need education, training and healthier lifestyles to play a role in the economic life of the territory.
Our government is working hard to finalize a Devolution Agreement that will provide us with the authorities and resources to build our territory’s economic future. When we do, we will need to have strategies in place to guide the critical economic planning and decision-making that we have fought so hard to gain. Effective governance ensures that economic development leads directly to social development and protection of the environment. We can’t have one without the others. As our economy grows, we will be able to make more investments in prevention and early childhood to stop problems before they occur. The GNWT already has substantial social, environmental and economic responsibilities. Devolution will enhance our capacity to manage those responsibilities.
The NWT Economic Opportunities Strategy is one example of this foundational economic planning.
The process to develop this strategy was initiated by Members of this Assembly in 2011 when we took office, with a promise to invest, first and foremost, in partnerships and building solid relationships. Alongside a sustainable Mineral Development Strategy, it was identified specifically in our Caucus priorities. We have said, many times, that it is only by working together that we will be able to realize the full potential of our territory and the kind of future we envision for our people.
Mr. Speaker, the process that we are following to develop our Economic Opportunities Strategy is evidence to this.
The work is being led by the NWT Economic Opportunities Governance Committee, of which the GNWT is a member alongside its partners: the NWT Chamber of Commerce, the Northern Aboriginal Business Association, the NWT Association of Communities and Canada’s Northern Economic Development Agency, CanNor.
Government and business have come together, and now, thanks to the work of the advisory panel, our partnered approach has been extended to our territory's many leaders, stakeholders, organizations and residents.
Together, our goal is a strategy that can be a guide for a partnered approach to supporting the growth and development of NWT business and industry over the next decade. It will provide a tool for us as leaders to move forward in the same spirit of partnership and cooperation in which it is being created. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Colleagues, before we move on today, I’d like to welcome back former Member, former Premier, Mr. Joe Handley is in the House today. Welcome.
---Applause
The honourable Minister of Justice, Mr. Abernethy.
Mr. Speaker, the people of the Northwest Territories know their needs and priorities and communities should take the lead on determining how to address issues, like community safety, that matter to them. The Department of Justice is committed to assisting communities, and the NWT has been recognized throughout Canada as a leader in community-based initiatives like our community justice committees. Today I would like to speak to Members about another initiative we are introducing to support our people and their communities, the Community Safety Strategy.
Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, crime, violence and substance abuse continue to be issues that our people struggle against. Left unchecked, these problems can create a cycle of harm that spreads its effects throughout our communities and damages the sense of belonging, safety and wellness that a strong, healthy society should provide. Dealing with the effects of crime and violence alone is not enough. To create the sustainable, vibrant and safe communities that are a priority of this Assembly, we need to be working to strengthen the social fabric of our communities and establish feelings of confidence, trust, engagement and partnership among our people.
Our new Community Safety Strategy will help bring an end to this cycle of harm. Like our community policing plans, this strategy takes a community-first approach that empowers them to identify their own priority safety issues. With support from our government, they will work to set their own goals for resolving these issues and develop plans to address them. These will be community plans, Mr. Speaker, that will be effective, sustainable and responsive to local needs because they will have been developed by their residents.
The goals of the strategy are to increase involvement, help people learn what they can do to create healthy, safe communities and encourage innovative ideas. We also expect communities will benefit from increased capacity as they gain experience in developing their own safety plans. The growing sense of empowerment, confidence, accountability and self-reliance that will come from taking charge of their own issues will also help to reverse the cycle of harm and build the social cohesion that all healthy communities need.
Many of our communities have said they want to stop bootlegging; this strategy will help them make plans to do that. It will help them work together on plans for youth and elder initiatives or on-the-land programs that fit with their priorities. Through this strategy, the Department of Justice will be there with the support and tools that communities need to achieve their own safety goals.
Mr. Speaker, the community of Tulita is ready to start working on their own Community Safety Strategy and we will be holding our first sessions there in the next few weeks. This will be followed by sessions in two additional communities in the near future.
A strong, prosperous territory is built on a strong society sustained by a healthy environment, Mr. Speaker. The Community Safety Strategy is one of several strategies this government is working on that will support our citizens, grow our economy and help us protect our environment. This includes work like the Anti-Poverty Strategy, the Early Childhood Development Framework, the Land Use and Sustainability Framework, the Economic Opportunities Strategy, Energy Strategy and Mineral Development Strategy. We know similar approaches to community safety have met with great success. I look forward to telling Members about the difference the Community Safety Strategy is making in our communities in future sessions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Minister of Transportation, Mr. Ramsay.
Mr. Speaker, achieving our vision of a strong, prosperous territory requires a balanced approach that advances our economic, social and environmental priorities. This government is moving forward on all those fronts, and the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk highway demonstrates our commitment to each of those areas.
The construction of the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk highway will be the largest capital project undertaken by the Government of the Northwest Territories. The Department of Transportation, working with our local contractors, has been putting Tuktoyaktuk and Inuvik residents and equipment to work, upgrading the access road to Gravel Source 177, creating local jobs and business opportunities in the Beaufort-Delta region.
A joint venture consisting of local companies undertook the work to upgrade the 19-kilometre access road south of Tuktoyaktuk to Canadian highway standards.
A significant amount of work has been completed since the start of construction in March 2013. The upgrading of the Source 177 Access Road is now 90 percent complete. Tuktoyaktuk and Inuvik residents worked around the clock to blast, excavate, haul, dump, spread, and upgrade the access road before the cold began to leave the ground. The first big push of highway construction activity is now winding down as the weather in the Delta warms up.
DOT contractors are using a highway construction technique that will not disturb the continuous Arctic permafrost that would become fragile if disturbed.
Instead of cutting into the land, geotextile fabric is being applied to the frozen ground with granular material placed on top, creating a layer of insulation that protects the permafrost from degradation. Crews also extended culverts in addition to raising and widening the access road’s embankment.
This upgrade work employed almost 150 Tuktoyaktuk and Inuvik residents, and involved 14 northern, local, Inuvialuit and Gwich’in contractors.
Mr. Speaker, with almost 50 pieces of heavy equipment working on the project, our contractors reported that every available dump truck, grader, CAT, water truck, driver and mechanic in Tuktoyaktuk received the benefit of gainful employment during the spring construction period. Local contractors will continue compacting, levelling and grading the embankment and side slopes over the summer.
Geotechnical work was also completed, with over 30 people primarily from local communities employed on the investigation project. We are looking forward to the anticipated positive results of the investigation and analysis. The borehole samples taken along the alignment, borrow sources, and bridge crossings will provide the geotechnical information necessary to complete the 100 percent design of the new alignment and bridge structures this summer.
I am encouraged by the extensive and immediate local employment provided by the Source 177 upgrade and geotechnical works. These local employment opportunities will continue through the summer as Navy Road upgrade work commences in Inuvik. I am looking forward to the extensive employment opportunities during the upcoming winter and ongoing as we move forward on the construction of the new highway.
The total Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk highway construction is expected to require some 5.8 million cubic metres of embankment material, which means local employment on the construction project will continue to grow in the coming years, and the maintenance of the highway will provide local jobs for generations to come.
I congratulate the local citizens, contractors and leadership who are helping to make the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk highway project a reality that will result in long-term employment, training, economic, social and other benefits.
Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories has a vision of a territory where strong individuals, families and communities share in the benefits and responsibilities of a unified, environmentally sustainable and prosperous NWT.
This vision is the Department of Transportation’s motivation to rely upon Northern experience, talent and skill to build the northernmost segment of highway that will connect Canadians from coast to coast to coast. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to talk about the investment of our children and the people in our communities, especially in the community of Deline. Investment in our education, in our people, is very, very critical. I met with the Deline leadership this morning and they talked solely on the investment of their children, to the point where in 1995 was the first time the government said to the community we want to bring Grade 12 into your communities. The people in Deline said yes, providing you bring the resources that allow sufficient Grade 12 programs. Nothing to this date has honoured that commitment.
The people in Deline say we do like Grade 12 but the resources are not there. We only had three extra teachers that have come along. But the education is not the same type of education they have in Yellowknife or Hay River or Inuvik. We are still waiting for the resources. This is why students are being sent to Yellowknife, where the parents have to pay their housing, their food, their airline tickets, and the government will not help them get a better education.
It has been proven just today, as Mr. Ramsay talked about in his statement about education being a key point to economic growth, sustainability, wealth and prosperity. People in Deline also are reminded of that. People in Deline know that the quality of education makes it all worthwhile in their community. They have ?ehtseo Ayha School. They say we need to rebuild that school and have a quality of education brought into our communities. We have not heard anything since 1995. The government’s going to bring that type of education into the communities. That’s why they said we’re not too sure, but we were okay by having this Grade 12 come in our communities. They want to come back to the government and say are we going to get the same type of facilities and resources in our communities if you’re going to give us Grade 12, because now students and parents are sending their kids out to Inuvik, Fort Smith and Yellowknife to get the kind of quality of education they want to see their children get.
I will have questions for the Minister on this topic.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. During the last sitting of the Legislature, I did a Member’s statement on health care card renewal. Many weeks have gone by, and I have to tell you that this has turned into an almost fulltime job for us in our constituency offices to deal with the myriad of people who cannot seemingly get a quick response to getting their health care cards renewed. I’ve checked with some of my other colleagues and Hay River is not alone. At first I wondered if it was a conspiracy.
It gives me no pleasure to stand up here and complain, as you know. We must always express all the things we’re thankful for. I am thankful for our health care system. I am thankful for those cards we have. I am thankful that we can hand them to any place in Canada and they will take care of us. I am thankful that we pay no premium, but you would think that issuing new health care cards on a new program that coincides with people’s birthdates would not have been this difficult.
Let me give you a few examples. I had a constituent that showed up for a medical procedure in Yellowknife three days before her birthday when her card expired, only to be told by the health care professional that she, in fact, had to pay for the service and then she would get reimbursed later. Her health care hadn’t even expired yet and they were telling her this. Where is the communication with the people on the front line that are telling health care professionals what to say? Somebody’s got to be in charge of this.
I had a senior constituent in the south who had a $1,500 bill and was told just pay it and you’ll get reimbursed. Well, I have a news flash: Most people don’t have $1,500 sitting in their back account to pay for a health bill when they’re not expecting it. Most people don’t have that. A lot of people don’t have that kind of money, and health care procedures can be extremely expensive. Now, through a lot of phone calls and a lot of wrangling and stuff being faxed and phone calls back and forth, that situation was resolved, but that is a real life example.
I had a husband and wife in Hay River that both sent their applications out for renewal at the same time. The husband got his card back; the wife didn’t.
We have pharmacists in Hay River that are actually bankrolling, are carrying the costs of medication for people whose health care cards have not come in and, out of the goodness of their heart, are financing the pharmaceutical for the client. That’s not their job. We should not be asking them to do that.
I’ve heard rumors that maybe they lost some of the data in Inuvik. I don’t know about that, but I did make the same statement several weeks ago.
I will have questions again today to the Minister of Health and Social Services on the process for health care card renewal. Thank you.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister of Transportation spoke today of a new road. I want to raise my issue of my own road, Highway No. 7. I asked Members to keep their hands on the steering wheels and eyes on the road. We need to focus our resources on Highway No. 7. This well used, unreliable transportation corridor failed again, mostly simply, with a common washout at kilometre 221.
These road failures are common and a huge inconvenience to business, industry and the general public. Even people who are not travelling suffer from the delays in the delivery of goods and services due to the road closures and poor highway conditions. It is a disincentive to development and a barrier to what should be one of the most prosperous regions of the North.
I was recently in Fort Liard, on my spring visit, on the newly reconstructed portion of the highway from the border. There were dust clouds arising from vehicles travelling barely 20 kilometres an hour. Earlier this year Highway No. 3 was a scene of a tragic accident under conditions that were arguably better than what we often experience on Highway No. 7.
This terrible tragedy is avoidable. We cannot lose any more lives. Furthermore, industry plans to have at least 250 trucks moving between Fort Liard and the border this summer.
I call upon the Department of Transportation for a full dust control program for the safety of the residents of the Deh Cho communities, the travelling public, from the border all the way to Fort Liard.
I have made light of road conditions on Highway No. 7 many times as an MLA, from highlighting the attractions of bathtub-sized potholes, to comparing chipseal to pie crust made to be broken, but Highway No. 7 is our only road. It is a key piece of infrastructure just like any bridge, airport, ferry crossing or ice road. It is a gateway, a lifeline and a road home. People depend on this Highway No. 7 to make a living. To encourage companies to stay in the North, maybe we could build or even reconstruct, in this case, the highway that meets our national transportation standards.
Once again, on behalf of all the residents of the Northwest Territories, especially those in the Deh Cho, I call upon this government to get to work on Highway No. 7 and put its money where the rubber meets the road. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to focus on a difficult issue of seeking equity on parental custody arrangements to serve the best interests of children and parents caught up in divorce.
Data shows that when it comes time to determine custody arrangements in divorce, children are most often put in the exclusive custody of the mother. Statistics Canada indicates this is so in 80 percent of cases, with fathers at 7 percent of cases and shared custody in only 13 percent.
Our family courts make custody determinations on the basis of individual circumstances. The first priority must be to set conditions in the best interest of children. There is a growing voice in our society pointing out that our 13 percent rate of shared custody and a 7 percent rate of exclusive custody by fathers could indicate a built-in bias. As a role of fathers as equivalent parents and caregivers evolves in our society, we need to ensure this new reality is reflected in family court decisions.
Family health and early childhood research shows that children prosper and develop best when they have the advantage of the blended parenting of a mother and a father. Equity in custody arrangements allows both parents to forge deep bonds with their children. It promotes gender equality in parenting of children and recognizes both parents as significant contributors to a child’s development.
Setting custody conditions providing a meaningful role to both parents can contribute to reductions of disputes, and child financial support arrangements are most often performed when access to both parents is assured.
This government has taken progressive steps to use the trauma of divorce by instituting pre-divorce counselling programs and parental educational alternative dispute resolution services. Parenting coordination and counselling services are essential supports to minimizing the impact of divorce on children and ensuring an ongoing role for fathers as well as mothers. It should be expanded.
Research shows that the best parent for the child is both parents. When that’s no longer possible in a home, we need to ensure that the additional efforts to meet the best interests of the children include every possible measure to share parenting equitably.
Children don’t do divorce, parents do. Let’s examine our attitudes and ensure both parents have a full opportunity to raise a healthy child under creating arrangements. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is said teachers open the door for our youth. I say government needs to fix this door. The recent pleas for better housing from our territorial teachers and from the NWT Teachers’ Association should be a wake-up call for residents and for this government. A recent housing summary report asked this government to do something concrete to alleviate the longstanding issue of housing shortages and unacceptable living conditions across the North. This April 29th report further brings awareness and understanding of the current barriers faced by this housing crisis and calls for solutions to fix the door of affordable and acceptable housing for teachers.
A tall order? Maybe, but the consequences of not carrying out the number of recommendations will in itself create the ultimate fate of education in the North. We need to heed to the basic essential standards that teachers are looking for. We need to take proper care of them, which means providing affordable and adequate housing where it is needed.
We further realize that there are many other needs in our small communities, as well, and that this ask cannot trump those other basic expectations of our communities. In other words, we need to make the proper and meaningful investment in everything that is right to make our small communities safer and economically viable.
Ultimately our investment in proper living conditions for our teachers will pay dividends of better retention of these professionals, produce a higher quality of education being delivered, resulting in a higher student achievement and, in return, produce stronger and more prosperous communities.
We need to open the door to change. So I will be asking our Minister of Education, Culture and Employment later today if his department is in the business of fixing this door of opportunity. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just recently we had a bunch of graduation ceremonies through our three campuses in the Aurora College throughout the NWT. I’ll just read off some numbers for you here. We had 84 in Yellowknife at the Yellowknife Campus, 41 at the campus in Fort Smith, and a whopping 16 in Inuvik. Something is wrong here with the numbers and it’s not because we’re not getting the enrollments into the school, it’s because we’re not putting the programs where the programs are needed within the communities that are asking for them.
We have great facilities in the community of Inuvik at the Aurora College and we have an excellent staff. However, I’m very concerned about the future and the success of the Aurora College campus.
The government needs to focus and support by investing in our students, in our families, in our organizations and the communities who want to build capacity within our northern society. In fact, just earlier today we heard from the Economic Development Strategy that people are essential. We cannot advance our economy without a growing, healthy population.
Furthermore, it says a thriving economy is one made up of healthy, educated people. We’ve heard reports; we’ve heard news reports in the NWT that we can’t meet our needs within the diamond mine industry because we don’t have the skilled labour workforce. Well, we can do something about that. We can start investing in our Aurora College programs not only in certain areas such as in Yellowknife where we have a lot of diamond industries, let’s look north, let’s look north to the Aurora College campus where we have a lot of students that come from the Sahtu and the Beaufort-Delta region that are going to be impacted with all of the big projects we have on the horizon.
Such projects as the fibre optic link, the satellite stations, Inuvik-Tuk highway, Mackenzie Valley Highway, offshore drilling, everything that’s been said over the last 19 months that we’ve been sitting in the House. The government, the Minister, his department, the board of directors of the Aurora College have a great opportunity here to invest in the Inuvik region and the Sahtu region, by putting more programs in the Aurora College campus to create local capacity so that we have local people leading the way for all these projects that we have on the horizon.
I will have questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment later today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I want to speak again about the Aurora College housing policy. About a year ago I stated in this House that I believe the Aurora College housing policy is discriminatory. Nothing has changed in the 12 months since I made that statement. I still believe this policy to be discriminatory and I believe it is a human rights issue. Why do I believe it’s discriminatory? There are a few reasons.
Unlike other learning institutions across Canada where students are treated on a first-come, first-served basis, the Aurora College policy is written to specifically exclude local students from Aurora College housing. The policy unfairly affects students at all campuses, not only Yellowknife but Inuvik and Fort Smith as well. If no college housing is available, the student must live in market housing at market rates. Why do we expect local students to be able to expect market rent housing when we don’t have the same expectations of non-local students?
As well, there’s no consideration for household income in the evaluation criteria for the allocation of student housing. Why is it not a consideration as an extenuating circumstance?
In addition, the policy is lacking in clear definitions and often contradicts other GNWT generally accepted policy, the GNWT Affirmative Action Policy, for instance.
In practice, there are many inconsistencies between the Aurora College housing policy, as written, and the actual application of that policy. I appreciate that housing cannot be supplied to every student, but to deny Inuvik, Fort Smith and Yellowknife residents even the chance to apply for housing in their community is unfair. There seems to be a recognition that the policy is not working but no will to correct it. An organization that recognizes a policy failure should be acting to revise that policy and provide equal opportunity to all.
That being said, I understand the college has been doing an in-depth review of their housing policy over the past five to six months, and I understand it will be an agenda item to be discussed at their June board meeting. I commend them for this action and I look forward to a fair policy as a result of their debate. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My Member’s statement today is on the reinstatement of the Beaufort-Delta Health and Social Services Board.
One of the main reasons for setting up regional health authorities back in the 1980s was to provide for local input and influence on the way health and social services are delivered.
In the Beaufort-Delta, people had a way to voice their concerns up until 2010. That’s when the last government dismissed the board and appointed the deputy minister of Health as the public administrator. Then, in 2011, a public administrator was appointed. That was shortly before the territorial election. At the time, the public administrator told the media that after the election a new board would be appointed.
The current Minister confirmed that in this House last year on February 8th. He said, “The department will work with the Beaufort-Delta Health and Social Services Authority to appoint a full board as soon as possible.”
Now, here we are 16 months later and we are still without a board. That’s three full years without a voice in our health care system and no way to set regional priorities for service. It is very frustrating for everyone in the region. We continue to have communities without nurses and a lot of other problems. It is action that is lacking along with the accountability.
When there is a regional board, its members have to listen to the people and explain the decisions they make. That system designed by the government was in place for well over 20 years. The government is very overdue on keeping its promise to the region and I will have questions later today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Since the middle of May, people of the Northwest Territories have been enjoying our many campgrounds. Our campgrounds have seen good ties with families and friends and are home to many cherished memories. They also welcome visitors to the Northwest Territories who sometimes travel remarkable distances just to enjoy spending a few days.
Our campgrounds attract a lot of tourists, and many of them are elders. We do not recognize seniors in our current rate structure. Earlier this year Cabinet agreed to increase the tourism marketing budget. We could create even more incentive to visit the NWT by offering a senior discount for out-of-territory visitors to our campgrounds.
The North American population is aging, and as more people retire they want to travel as much as they can. A large number of RV tourists are seniors. Even a small discount on their campsite is a meaningful way to welcome them to the NWT, recognize the respect we hold for elders in the Aboriginal culture, and help offset the expense of travelling all the way up here.
The cost of implementing a discount will likely be offset by increased numbers of visitors, who might even decide to extend their stay. At certain campgrounds you might look at ways to build a discounted rate into a special elders package that can include visits to nearby locations, boat tours, fishing, or late summer aurora viewing. The possibilities are endless.
The NWT has a huge tourism potential in every region. We have an opportunity to tap into the growing market of retirees who enjoy the open road and the adventures waiting for them north of 60, and offering a special rate for elders on campground visits is a key to unlocking that potential.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier this year, along with my colleague, we had concerns about the health care card renewal system and the way the process is going. We continue to get these concerns from constituents, and we’ve also heard from our colleagues throughout the Northwest Territories that this continues to be an issue.
We are getting examples of people that are asked to apply three months before the expiry of their birthdate, and those cards are expiring without getting renewals or even notification that they’ve been renewed and updated. The department, when we’ve asked them about this, have given us several different examples or excuses and also have indicated that, well, worst-case scenario, have them pay for it and we can pay them back later.
I don’t know how we can ask that from our residents when they don’t have the confidence in us renewing their health care cards, never mind us paying them back thousands of dollars.
I’m not here to complain about the staff or take any shots at the staff that are implementing this health care. My concerns are how it was implemented. Residents are getting applications mailed back to them several times. These applications are missing a certain piece of information and instead of phoning them and getting back to them right away, it’s mailed back to them, asking for them to give the information and then send it back through the mail system. Very slow. No wonder we’re not getting them approved in time.
Also, residents are calling the 1-800 number and the mailboxes are full. Obviously, we don’t have enough manpower on this issue.
I would also like to take the time to thank the medical clinics, the health centres, the pharmacies that have been helping our residents to fill out these applications and get things done. We’re not halfway done through the year and this process still hasn’t been solved. I think we need to put more resources to a solution to this, and if we need to put more resources to it, I would recommend we put some of it into an insurance type of program for the South Slave, and obviously, I would be supportive of it being in Hay River.
I will have questions for the Minister of Health later on today.
Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. The Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As our government prepares to take over land management, it’s time to examine our policies, and perhaps it’s time to look at trespass legislation. I’m not talking about the hunters or snowmobilers who enjoy their time as they sneak across the hinterland, or those people who are out picking berries or walking their dogs. I’m talking about those people who interfere with public and private property within our northern communities.
This is a very real issue. I’ve travelled the North and I’ve heard complaints both in Inuvik, Norman Wells and, yes, even here in Yellowknife. Many Yellowknife Centre business constituents have come to me and talked to me about difficult challenges they’ve had to deal with when it comes to people obstructing public access. It’s time to do something.
Right now their hands are tied and they’re looking for leadership from their government. When you have someone blocking the entranceway of a building and you’re trying to provide customer service, and you have someone accosting just passersby, they’re not technically breaking a law. You don’t think the RCMP has anything better to do? They call. They don’t come. There is nothing the business owners can do. It is frustrating for business people.
If you’re a homeowner, do you need to have to put up a fence for people who constantly are walking across your property and showing no regard?
It is time this government takes a quick look at this situation and says, is there a strategy? Possibility? Is there a way we can start thinking out of the box? Is it time for trespass legislation? Is it right for the North?
There may be several solutions out there, but trespass legislation could be one of them. For example, a store or a restaurant owner or a mall owner won’t tell our hotelier. They all want to provide good general public access. But again, if someone is obstructing it, they may not technically be breaking a law, but they are interfering with good harmony of good, normal, law-abiding citizens. The variety of reasons is far too many to talk about here today, but I can tell you poor abuse of behaviour tends to be the highlight of the bigger problem.
It would give people like storeowners and property owners the ability to say, please move on, stop blocking my customers and allow me to have my space that I pay for. Again, they may not be breaking a technical criminal code, but we must do something. It is time to empower our people with the right opportunity.
Places like Saskatchewan and many other provinces have enacted and updated their laws to deal with trespassers and help them deal with this problem.
Once again, we need some timely action from this particular government. I have raised this issue on a number of occasions. I am hoping Minister McLeod will have a chance to look at this issue, take it seriously and see what we can do for all northern residents. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I have a return to oral question asked by Mr. Bromley on February 21, 2013, regarding the Giant Mine Remediation Project.
There are a number of tools that will be available post transfer date related to setting securities. The Northwest Territories Waters Act has provisions for securities which are set by the boards. The boards also set securities under the Mackenzie Valley Land Use Regulations. Post devolution, in addition to the boards’ processes that were mentioned, the Government of the Northwest Territories will have the authority to set securities under the Territorial Land Use Regulations. The GNWT will also be responsible for the mirrored version of the Territorial Lands Regulations which do not specifically mention securities; however, security provisions can be included in individual leases.
As we prepare for the transfer date, the GNWT will be reviewing existing NWT legislation and transferring federal legislation, regulations and policies to identify issues to be addressed. Differences in environmental securities between existing territorial legislation and regulations and the new mirrored legislation will be assessed as part of this review process. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize our 2013 Educational Hall of Fame award recipients in a ceremony we held this morning. They are Beverly Masuzumi of Fort Good Hope, Bill Gilday of Yellowknife, Andy Norwegian of Fort Simpson, Jill Taylor from Hay River, Anne-Mieke Cameron from Yellowknife. We have a couple more, they’re not here, but they will be presented. I’d like to also recognize Dolphus Nitsiza, who is here from my constituency in Behchoko. I’d just like to say congratulations to all the Education Hall of Fame inductees and welcome to our Assembly. Mahsi cho.
---Applause
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.
